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Even though Yoka walked into main keep and up the stairs to the young mistress's bedroom, she could still hear the conversations in Moon Gazing Hall as clearly as if she was there.
'The little brat's got taste, the freshest squid…even the tea is fragrant. She sure knows how to enjoy life. I'm looking forward to the sake.'
'She has no filial piety at all, holding parties in her brand new castle instead of mourning the dead.'
'Didn't the Terazawa clan get wiped out a long time ago?'
'It's only been three years. Her clan was murdered in such a brutal way—even Karatsu Castle was burned to the ground—and then rumours spread that her father did it before committing suicide to atone for causing the Shimabara Rebellion. But when she was found alive one year ago and the truth was revealed, what did she do? Pestered the shogun to return her domain and then ran about garnering sympathy votes from the masses.'
'She even managed to get this whole castle rebuilt in a month. I heard the shogun sent an army to help her do it.'
'How shady! Do you think something underhanded happened? The shogunate has never returned a domain they once confiscated—and to a brat at that.'
'Indeed, it's very suspicious.'
The five officials were quiet for a while when Reika entered the room with the sake. But once she left, they started talking about Rin again.
'She's just a brat, so what if she's the appointed bugyō over us? She's only a figurehead.'
'Thank goodness for that, otherwise our little arrangement would've been revealed.'
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