You've known each other since you were very young? Wei Yue was taken aback when she heard this.
It's important to understand that the Japanese Imperial Family, under the management of the Imperial Household Agency, is extremely traditional and conservative. Among these traditional relationships, the most conservative aspect is the distinction between men and women, with male superiority being a prime example. Within the Imperial Palace, where the Imperial Family resides, female imperial relatives are forbidden from walking on the main path and must instead use side paths. Even when giving speeches in public, female members of the Imperial Family are limited in their speaking time compared to male imperial relatives and must maintain a certain distance from them.
At the press conference following the engagement of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, Masako was warned for speaking only 28 seconds longer than the Crown Prince. A royal official who was keeping track of the time immediately reminded her that this was not allowed.
Therefore, under these circumstances, Miyuki and Yoshiko will not have any interaction unless they are classmates.
As the eldest son of the Minamoto clan who would inherit the family line, Mitsuki naturally attended many imperial gatherings. Generally, apart from maids, no women attended these gatherings; only the Empress occasionally attended, and even then, she would only stay briefly before leaving. Therefore, gatherings of female imperial heirs took place at a different time and in a different place.
So if Wei Yue hadn't seen photos and news reports, he would almost never have known what his fiancée looked like, which explains why he was dissatisfied with the marriage.
Yoshiko chuckled, “In the fourteenth year of Heisei, I was only eleven years old. I remember that year, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, my grandfather summoned nobles and ministers to the Seirakuya to enjoy the cherry blossoms. He even granted special permission for his eldest son to come to the palace. Wasn’t it around that time that Gen-kun entered the palace with his uncle? Actually, there was another gathering at the Imperial Palace at that time, which was for women. It was just in another palace.”
"Back then, my grandmother and I were entertaining the ladies of noble families at Fugetsu-ju to enjoy the cherry blossoms. It was so boring; they were all so hypocritical. I knew about the Miyamoto girl, Gen-kun. She was such a frivolous and mischievous person, but in the palace, she acted like a well-behaved child, even blushing when she saw male servants. And then there was the Odagiri girl. She clearly loved American rock music the most, but when my grandmother asked, she actually said she loved Kabuki. And then there was the Inuyama girl. Even worse! She had the appetite of a glutton, capable of eating an entire table of food by herself, yet she only ate a tiny bit at the banquet that day. Her mother, Lady Inuyama, even said that she had a small stomach and couldn't eat much. It was as if eating less would make her a lady."
Jiazi said a lot. Her words clearly revealed her personality: she valued authenticity and disliked hypocrisy. Despite being a princess, she hadn't let the tedious and dull royal life suppress her true nature; she retained her pure and honest character, unlike those self-important noble girls who were used to boasting and embellishing. This gradually lessened Wei Yue's resistance.
"And then? Your Highness just left like that?" Since she felt a little less emotional, Wei Yue asked the question as a way of showing support.
Yoshiko took a sip of tea to moisten her throat, which was a little dry from talking so much. She rarely had the opportunity to speak so much at once. In public, she had to maintain the decorum of royalty. A smile was enough; and in front of people of equal status, she was under the "surveillance" of the Imperial Household Agency, so she had little interest in speaking. But now, in this special "arranged marriage" setting, she had the opportunity and the inclination to talk more.
"Of course, it wasn't anything special anyway. It was just some socializing, and I left after sitting for a short while. My grandmother won't blame me." Jiazi continued, "It's just that the palace is very big, and I didn't have much to do, so I just wandered around. Later, I got tired and went to rest in the Floating Cloud Pavilion. There are many books there, and I often go up there to look at them when I have nothing to do."
"And then you saw Qing Le House?" Wei Yue asked with a smile.
“Of course.” Yoshiko smiled rather mischievously. “Fuyun Pavilion isn’t actually close to Seirakuya, but it’s high up. Standing on the railing on the west side of Fuyun Pavilion, you can look down at Seirakuya. I hadn’t thought of that, but the sound of the jade flute coming from Seirakuya was just so beautiful that I couldn’t help but want to go and see who was playing the flute—Yuan-kun, you were there at the time, do you remember who was playing the flute?”
Wei Yue remained silent, because in his memory, the person who played the flute in Qingyue House back then was him.
Seeing that Miyuki didn't speak, Yoshiko seemed to understand something. She smiled and continued, "I followed the sound of the flute to the railing on the west side of Fuyun Pavilion, but I was too short to see anything. So I carried a stack of books from inside the house to stand on. Later, I was scolded by those 'ghosts' in the Imperial Household Agency for this."
"I was standing on the books, and my eyes were fixed on the Qingyue House. I saw my grandfather leading a group of people to move the banquet from inside the palace to outside, to the courtyard outside the Qingyue House. But no one touched their chopsticks; everyone's eyes were focused on the cherry blossom tree. However, they weren't admiring the cherry blossoms, but rather watching the boy playing the flute under the cherry blossom tree. The flute music was so beautiful; I often dreamed about it afterward."
As Yoshiko spoke, she looked into Mitsuki's eyes.
One can imagine what a beautiful scene it must have been.
In early spring, a handsome young man dressed in a white kimono stood under a cherry blossom tree, playing a flute. The flute's melody was plaintive. A gentle breeze blew, fluttering the young man's white robes. Cherry blossoms fell softly, landing on the young man's clothes, making them look like a layer of patterns, as gorgeous as embroidery.
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