The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 605 Murderous Intent

"The seal of the King of Japan?"

Yoshida Takeshi read it out in a hoarse, hesitant voice.

"Yongle... imperial edict?"

Most Japanese scripts are inherited from those of the Central Plains. As a goldsmith, he often needs to inscribe seal script on goldware, so he can understand these characters.

But... what does that mean?
Does "King of Japan" refer to His Majesty the Emperor?

This gold seal appears to be the seal of an imperial edict bestowed upon the King of Japan by a person named "Yongle," but... who is this "Yongle," and how could he bestow such an edict upon His Majesty the Emperor?
Before he could sort out his thoughts, Miyoshi Ryota picked him up, placed him in front of the furnace, and slapped the piece of gold that Lu Wushuang had brought in front of him.

clang!
Ryota Miyoshi slashed at Takeshi Yoshida with the still-dampened blade of his sword, and said coldly.

"An hour."

He then glanced, intentionally or unintentionally, at the corpses of the "Yakuza" on the ground.

Yoshida Takeshi shuddered and realized—he had no time to care about His Majesty the Emperor. The other party had killed more than a dozen people in the blink of an eye, clearly a more vicious group than the Yakuza. He had no choice at all!
So he forced himself to suppress his fear, wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve, and instinctively threw the gold nugget into the furnace.

In a corner of the room, Lu Wushuang smiled and said to Li Miao.

"I wonder if this goldsmith can do a good job."

Li Miao took a sip of tea.

"It doesn't matter, as long as it looks real. The Yongle Emperor is long dead. Now, whichever seal I say is real, is real."

"If he's not satisfied, he can send a letter to the Great Shuo court to ask... Oh, by the way, go find me a radish."

Lu Wushuang tilted her head.

"radish?"

Although she didn't understand, since Li Miao had spoken, she didn't ask any more questions, turned around and went out the door. A moment later, she came back carrying a basket of radishes.

Not only radishes, but also a set of kitchen utensils.

"Sir, how shall we eat?"

She rolled up her sleeves.

Li Miao smiled.

"It's not for food... never mind, you can make something to eat first."

As he spoke, he reached out and picked up a large radish, then condensed a sharp burst of true energy with his fingers, swished it a few times, and slammed the radish onto the table.

With a whoosh, only a square piece remained in his hand. Li Miao dipped it in his teacup, pressed it down on the table, glanced at the tea mark it left, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Hmm, my skills haven't gotten rusty yet."

Lu Wushuang stepped forward and peeked inside, her eyes widening in surprise.

The marks left by the tea on the table clearly form four large characters: "Emperor's Treasure"!
Li Miao pinched his chin and smacked his lips.

"Oh yes."

"There are also sealing, copying, and official seals."

After saying that, he picked up another radish, and with a flick of his finger, he carved seals such as "Seal of the Cabinet", "Supervisor of the Ministry of Rites", "Seal of the Ministry of Rites", and "Official Seal of the Ministry of Rites".

Once the carving was finished, they were laid out in a row on the table. Looking at them, one could see the official seals of the Emperor's cabinet and the six ministries, which made one feel uneasy—it just smelled like radish.

At this moment, Lu Wushuang also realized what was happening.

"My lord, is this... a false imperial edict?"

Li Miao said with a chuckle as he tucked his sleeves into his hands.

"What are you talking about? Only an imperial edict that the emperor doesn't recognize is a fake one. All my seals are genuine."

He picked up the "Emperor's Treasure" and shook it.

"As long as it's carved by me, even if it becomes a national treasure, the emperor will recognize it. How is it fake?"

Lu Wushuang sighed and nodded.

"Yes, sir is right."

Having said that, he turned to look at Yoshida Takeshi, who was busy in front of the forging furnace, and said in a low voice, "In that case, with the golden seal conferred by the Yongle Emperor and the imperial edict of the current emperor, there should be no chance of failure."

Li Miao smiled and waved his hand.

That's true in theory, but in the end, it will definitely come down to fists.

He pointed to the gold seal that was being cast.

"The gold seal used by the Yongle Emperor to confer titles upon the King of Japan is still in Japan. In other words, Japan now has two gold seals that can confer titles upon the Emperor."

Which one is real?

Li Miao shook his finger.

"Whoever wins is the real winner."

After saying that, he turned to look at Ryota Miyoshi, who was supervising Takeshi Yoshida as he cast the gold seal.

"Speaking of which... Little Deer, have you told this kid what we're going to do?"

Lu Wushuang shook his head and sighed.

"No...it's best if he doesn't know."

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"You're quite ruthless."

Lu Wushuang smiled bitterly.

"As an assassin, his heart is cold to the core. Moreover, when it comes to the Central Plains, the inheritance of martial arts, and your life, the thoughts of two Japanese are... insignificant."

Now, their plan is clear.

Last night, the sword saint who was loyal to the previous emperor talked a lot with Lu Wushuang, almost telling her everything he knew. But where in the world is there kindness without a reason?
He told Lu Wushuang everything in order to make a deal with her.

The Shinto sect killed the Emperor and his bloodline in order to prevent Li Miao from stirring up the world's affairs in a short period of time, and then use this opportunity to achieve the unification of the six paths.

The key point of this plan is that... before Li Miao leaves Kyoto, there cannot be a new emperor ascending the throne, nor can there be anyone capable of inheriting the throne.

They couldn't stop the Shintoists from massacring the Emperor's bloodline. But precisely because of this, Nanako became the only bloodline to escape the Shintoists' massacre, and in their eyes, the only one qualified to inherit the Emperor's throne.

“I know what Lord Li wants to do in Kyoto, and the Shinto Church knows it too… but, could we perhaps try a different approach?”

“There is more than one way to stir up the world’s affairs than killing the emperor… Putting someone on the throne as emperor would probably have a similar impact on the world.”

The swordsman reached out his hand to Lu Wushuang.

"Let the Shintoists take Nanako Sasakura away. They plan to execute her and the Emperor tonight... We will protect her and kill the current Emperor."

"Then, we will give her proof that everyone will recognize her as a descendant of the Emperor."

"Finally, Lord Li, in the name of the Great Shuo Dynasty, will bestow upon her the title of... the title of the next Emperor!"

"Japan will be cleansed of the shadow of Shintoism and become a vassal state of Japan. Lord Li can also use the influence of the establishment of the emperor to achieve the unification of the six routes. We... will also become the vanguard in dealing with Shintoism."

“We will offer everything… financial resources, military strength, material resources, and even our lives, just to reach this deal with Lord Li.”

Let's turn our attention back to the present.

Li Miao tapped the table with his knuckles and said casually.

"You don't trust them."

Lu Wushuang nodded.

"But you still handed Nanako over to them... You were thinking that even if they were lying, as long as Nanako became Empress—"

knock.

Li Miao tapped his knuckles on the table.

"Then I have someone I can kill."

“You want me to kill Nanako to achieve the unification of the six paths... So, you didn’t tell Miyoshi Ryota anything.”

(End of this chapter)