His talk with the Emperor had been fruitful and enlightening. With the support of his majesty for the western temple, the endeavor seemed more feasible then ever as it landed a lot of credibility to the project.

Still there was more convincing to do.

Wu Zhe walked up to the Scorpion quarters, hoping that the Lady of the Scorpion would agree to meet with him.

Shosuro... presumably the young woman in front of him was Shosuro... opened the door to him. She was... hard to describe. Everything about her was so standard and expected that he wasn't sure he would remember exactly what she looked like if he turned around. Her kimono was... probably some kind of reddish and black, as one would expect of a Scorpion.

"Ah, you must be Wu Zhe. Please, come in." She stepped aside.

''Thank you Lady Shosuro'' he followed her instructions...even if he was not sure if this was Shosuro or not...it...was hard to focus on her.

She nodded, not correcting him. This was apparently the girl. "Would you like some tea first?" She gestured to a table set up with a pair of cushions and tea service.

''Only if it is convenient for you Shosuro-sama. I do not wish to intrude more then I already do''

"Not at all..." She poured the tea, inviting him to sit down. "What did you need?"

The Wu bowed again in thanks and took the seat indicated

''I wish to speak about the temple project I talked about with Bayushi Kogi-san. Perhaps have you already heard of it?''

"I would like to hear about it in your own words, if you don't mind."

He nods and begins his explanation

''Togashi-no-Kami tasked us with establishing four temples around Shinomen Mori, one at each cardinal direction. Their purposes is not known and the ones holding the temples do not matter as long as certain practices are maintained.''

He brought the tea to his lips

''The eastern temple would fall in the scorpion lands...more specifically yours from what the Blessed Son of Heaven told me. I was not aware of this when I spoke to Bayushi-san...I must apologise for this.''

She shook her head. "No harm done. I would not expect you to know the details of the layout of our lands. But yes, my lands approach the Shinomen Mori in the west. Do you know what sort of practices my uncle dictates in specific?"

''I am sorry but I am not quite sure as I am not one well versed in esoteric matters.'' he replied with an apologetic smile ''I am aware that a request like this with so little information is difficult.''

She nodded quietly. "Yes... but I understand a little bit, I think. I don't think he would do something like this lightly. If you can get the project going, there will be a place in my lands for your temple, though I would like to invite the Brotherhood to it."

''I already spoke to Nozomi-sama of the Order of Heroes and our project coincides well with what they already had in mind. His Imperial Majesty will support the construction of the western temple financially due to it's remote nature and the Lion clan seems on board with the southern one but I am not sure if they promised anything. All in all the project seems healthy at this state.''

"I see. It is good to hear that things are mostly agreed upon."

''Barring any unforeseen event I have now good hope that we will succeed. I thank you for your support in this task.''

"Of course," she bowed a little bit toward him. "I was considering inviting the monks to my lands anyway. This is serendipitous."

''It certainly is'' he replies as he bowed to her as well

''I am sure the details can be discussed at another, better time, unless your ladyship wishes to bring something else on the table pertaining the matter?''

"Not in particular. Thank you for bringing this to me, Wu-san."

''It is us who are thankful''

/scene?

/scene