"Minister of the Army. Regarding the recent incident in Hankou—you reported that the Japanese casualties were due to an accident, correct? Is that the truth? Or were those who couldn't escape in time slaughtered by rioters?"
"Y-Yes, Your Majesty. W-Well, we received reports that it was an accident..."
The Minister of the Army was clearly unable to hide his agitation.
"Is that so? According to certain sources, there were eight fatalities and over a hundred wounded, both severe and minor. Furthermore, it's said that the Japanese military's counterattack resulted in hundreds of casualties among Chinese civilians. This contradicts your previous report entirely. Does this mean someone is deceiving Us?"
The Minister of the Army panicked. The information the Emperor possessed matched the reports he himself had received. There must be a leak within the Army... No, perhaps it came from the Navy.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Well, uh, information can sometimes become distorted. I will contact the field again to confirm the accuracy of the details."
The Emperor was seething internally. Why won't they report the truth? How can they lie to the Emperor so brazenly? He recalled the words Takashiro had once spoken:
"No one was telling the truth anymore."
"Very well. Then We shall wait—'just once more'—for the correct report."
———
The next day, the Minister of the Army arrived to deliver his report.
"Your Majesty, I deeply apologize. The information from the field was chaotic, and the correct details were not properly relayed. In reality, eight civilians were killed, and our troops, attempting to assist them, opened fire on the rioters, resulting in significant casualties among them."
Realizing he could no longer conceal the truth, the minister blamed the discrepancy on "confusion on the ground."
"I see. So the accurate information did not reach the General Staff due to the chaos at the scene?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. It is shameful, but that appears to be the case."
"Very well. Then there is nothing to be done. However, Minister, you must now understand how dangerous China has become. The Foreign Ministry has taken the lead in persuading Chiang Kai-shek to recognize the Qing Empire's independence and cooperate in combating the communist forces. Would it not be possible to pass a cabinet resolution aligning with Our proposal? At this stage, the Americans might even be willing to purchase our local assets at a favorable price."
Though inwardly exasperated, the Emperor managed to respond with diplomatic restraint.
"Yes, Your Majesty. As you command."
Thus, the decision was made to withdraw Japanese personnel from mainland China—except for Manchuria. While the leased territories themselves remained under Japanese control, the rights to their assets and economic activities were to be auctioned off.
Additionally, it was decided that Japan would cease all aid to Zhang Zuolin, the de facto ruler of Manchuria. For Zhang, who had relied on Japanese military backing, this was nothing short of a bolt from the blue. Fearing retaliation, the Japanese military reinforced security along the South Manchuria Railway and in Japanese residential areas in Manchuria.
At the same time, they schemed to have Aisin-Gioro Puyi—residing in the Japanese concession in Tianjin—issue an imperial edict for Zhang Zuolin's suppression.
June 1927
Japanese Concession, Tianjin
"I am deeply honored to be granted an audience with Your Majesty. It has been too long—since Beijing, four years ago."
A military officer clad in the uniform of the Great Japanese Empire Space Force had come to visit Aisin-Gioro Puyi. She was a petite woman, standing only about 150 cm tall.
"You are... Xianshi (顯㺭), aren't you? I heard you had cast aside your womanhood, but to think you've become a Japanese soldier."
"Yes, Your Majesty. After my audience with you in Beijing, I eventually abandoned being a woman. Now, I am neither man nor woman—merely a Manchu, acting solely for the revival of the Qing Empire."
The Space Force officer who stood before Puyi was Aisin-Gioro Xianshi (愛新覺羅顯㺭). Born into the Qing imperial family, she was given away at the age of eight to Kawashima Naniwa, a Japanese man, as his adopted daughter. Her father, Aisin-Gioro Shanqi, had been close to Kawashima at the time and casually remarked, "I'll give you a toy," before handing her over. She was then given the Japanese name Kawashima Yoshiko.
At seventeen, Yoshiko attempted suicide with a pistol. Though she survived, she resolved to abandon her identity as a woman from that moment on. The reason for her suicide attempt was said to be the realization that she had been treated as nothing more than a "toy" by her adoptive father.
How tragic.
Before her stood a man who had once believed China to be the center of the world, a man who had once held everything in his grasp. And now, here she was, intending to use him for her own ambitions.
Kawashima Yoshiko curled her lips into a smirk as she reflected on her past.
At eight years old—born into the Qing imperial family, only to be handed over to a Japanese adoptive family. By then, the Xinhai Revolution had already stripped the imperial clan of all power.
Raised as Kawashima's daughter, she was sent to school and brought up like an ordinary Japanese girl. At seventeen, she fell in love with Lieutenant Yamaga Tōru of the Matsumoto Regiment. But when her adoptive father learned of this, whether out of jealousy or some other reason, he violated her.
In response, Yoshiko shot herself in the left chest with a pistol.
Miraculously, the bullet missed her heart and major blood vessels, sparing her life.
Why am I still alive...?
Lying in a hospital bed, Yoshiko questioned herself. Born into the Qing imperial family, only for my country to fall, given away as a "toy" to the Japanese, forbidden even to love—what meaning does my life have?
It was then that Takashiro Soryu appeared before her.
"What will you accomplish?"
He had asked her that abruptly.
Accomplish? What can I, who have nothing, possibly do? I am powerless—tossed about by the currents of fate, my life played with like a plaything. What did I even want to do? For what purpose have I lived?
"I... I want myself. I want to live as I choose... I just wanted a world where that was possible... But I couldn't do anything..."
She forced the words out.
"And is that where it ends?"
"Huh?"
"Will your fight end there?"
"N-No! I didn't want it to end like this either! I wanted to seize the best possible future!"
"If you have the will to fight, then I shall lend you strength."
"With that power... can I change the future?"
"That depends on you."
"I have a duty as a member of the Qing imperial family! As Aisin-Gioro Xianshi, there are things I must protect! I need power for that!"
"Struggle. Prove that you have the will to fight. Remember—true strength lies not in power, but in the way you wield it."
That's right. I want a world—a country—where I can live as myself. Until I achieve that, I'll discard everything. And I'll use everything to my advantage. I'll carve out my own nation from the world that made me suffer like this!
And so, Kawashima Yoshiko knocked on the gates of the Great Japanese Empire Space Force.
Thank you for reading Chapter 54!
The dashing beauty, Kawashima Yoshiko, has finally made her entrance!
As we approach the climax, I'll continue writing with all my might! If you thought, "This was interesting!" or "I want to read more!", I'd be overjoyed if you could bookmark or rate the story!
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