"Yes, Your Majesty." Hirobumi Ito replied.

"Does this man have any brothers?" Emperor Meiji asked again.

"As far as the minister knows, this person has a brother, but due to political disagreements, he has long cut off contact, and this time his brother did not come to his funeral." Hirobumi Ito replied.

"Itoqing, will this person have a twin brother?" Emperor Meiji asked again quietly.

When Ito Hirobumi heard Emperor Meiji's question, he suddenly remembered the portrait of Lin Yiqing he saw at Okubo Ritsu last time, and couldn't help but shudder.

Don't......

"The minister heard such rumors from Okubo-kun, who entrusted Yanagihara-kun to secretly visit the Qianguo, but he has not received any news yet." Hirobumi Ito said.

"So, it's strange that Okubo already knew about this person, but he didn't take action." Emperor Meiji said with some dissatisfaction, took out a newspaper clipping from the file box and handed it to Ito Hirobumi.

"This is a Quan Dianshou (i.e., Yanagihara Aiko, Yanagihara Maeko's sister) cut out of a foreign newspaper, and I ordered someone to do the translation, Ito-qing take a look." Emperor Meiji said quietly.

Ito Hirobumi took the clipping and only glanced at it, and his brow furrowed.

The briefing included a large-scale copper engraving of a Qianguo official at an engagement banquet, with three smaller busts of two men and one woman underneath the engraving.

The logo text of the copper engraving has been translated, and the content of the inscription reads: "The engagement ceremony of Mr. He Ruzhang, the minister of the Qianguo State to Japan, for his sister Miss He Yunqing." Under the three portraits, they are "Mr. He Ruzhang, Minister of the Qianguo to Japan", "Mr. Hayashi Yat-ching, Instructor of the Kagoshima Naval Academy", and "Miss He Yunqing, the sister of He Ruzhang".

Ito Hirobumi looked at the caption under the copper engraving and portrait, which stated that He Ruzhang held a grand reception at the Qianguo Consulate in Kagoshima and held an engagement ceremony for his sister He Yunqing, and the groom was also from Qianguo, named Lin Yiqing, who was now teaching at the Kagoshima Naval Academy. The two met because Miss He was unfortunately sick and dying in Kagoshima, and Lin was proficient in medical skills and cured him, so the two fell in love, and He Ruzhang allowed Sister to marry Lin as his wife, and so on, etc., there is no lack of exaggeration of Lin's talent and Miss He's beauty.

Although it was a simple newspaper clipping, after Ito Hirofumi read it at this time, somehow, the feeling of uneasiness in his heart became heavier and heavier.

"Don't Itoqing think that this Mr. Lin Yiqing and the deceased Mr. Lin Yizhe look too similar?" Seeing that Ito Hirobumi was silent for a long time, Emperor Meiji said on the side, "Moreover, this person is now teaching in Kagoshima and is an all-round civil and military talent. ”

"Your Majesty is saying that this man ...... Zhenhe is very similar to Lin Yizhe. Ito's voice was involuntarily a little hoarse.

"The person who can be favored by Xixiang Qing should not be an ordinary person." Emperor Meiji continued.

"Your Majesty means that this person is likely to be Lin Yizhe's brother, and also a pawn that he left outside the Qianguo?" Ito Hirobumi looked up at the emperor and asked with some hesitation.

In fact, this is also the real thought that suddenly came to his heart after reading the content of this newspaper clipping just now.

Emperor Meiji nodded, apparently on the same page as Ito Hirobumi.

"Itoqing, you said before that Yanagihara-kun was once fooled by Lin Yizhe, so although Yanagihara-kun's talent is high, it is not as good as Lin Yizhe." Emperor Meiji said, "I am very suspicious now, this man is still fooling us until after his death. ”

Listening to the emperor's last words, a cold sweat broke out on Ito's forehead.

"I think that Okubo should pay more attention to this person, instead of sending a killer to assassinate Saigo Qing and cause such a big trouble!" Emperor Meiji's voice turned stern again, "Now that the eyes of the world are focused on me, if the responsibility of the mastermind behind the scenes is seriously held accountable, and let the world know that my Secretary of Internal Affairs is going to assassinate my general, what is the prestige of the government?" Where is my dignity? Isn't Japan going to become the laughing stock of the world? ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Meiji was visibly excited, his breathing became rapid, the green tendons on his forehead flared up, and his body began to tremble.

Seeing Emperor Meiji's appearance, Ito Hirobumi was shocked, hurriedly stepped forward, and grabbed him before the military attaché.

Looking at the look of concern and worry in Ito's eyes, like a loving father looking at his son, the emperor's heart swelled warmly, and he gradually calmed down.

"Your Majesty is angry, Your Excellency Okubo has made a big mistake on how to deal with Saigo-kun, and the minister has always been resolutely opposed to such an assassination, but now the main thing is how to deal with the aftermath! What the minister said just now is only the opinion of the minister, and now His Majesty should listen to the opinions of the ministers. Sensing that Emperor Meiji was also as entangled in his heart as himself, Ito Hirobumi let go of his hand, took a step back, and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, you are leading the empire forward, and you must not be biased and only follow the opinions of one or two people to make decisions." ”

"I see. Thank you, Ito. Emperor Meiji looked at Hirobumi Ito, who was standing alone, and said in a small voice.

He understood that Ito had already guessed his mind.

And the last thing he said just now was that he was worried that he would be too dependent on him and lose the judgment that a great emperor should have!

Only those who care about themselves and love themselves the most will say such things to themselves!

Hearing the emperor's last words of true feelings, Ito Hirobumi's heart was also surging.

"Ito-kei go back and rest! I am going to convene a meeting of the Imperial Court to listen to the opinions of the ministers, and Ito-ki will definitely invite me to attend at that time. The Emperor slowed his tone and said gently.

"Your Majesty, take care of the Holy Communion and rest a lot! The minister retired. Hirobumi Ito said.

Emperor Meiji bowed slightly, and Ito bowed and retreated.

Emperor Meiji watched Ito Hirobumi's back disappear, turned around silently, took the portraits of Lin Yiqing and Lin Yizhe, and compared them.

"The Quan Warden said that you should be twin brothers, do you have any relationship?"

"What do you want to do to serve Xixiangqing?"

"What Okubo did this time is certainly inappropriate, but how could Saigo Qing use it so well? This is not at all like what Saigo Qing did! Will there be any problems for you? ”

"If it's really you, even Okubo Qing has been calculated by you, then your terrible is not much worse than Lin Yizhe......"

Emperor Meiji muttered to himself, put the portrait and newspaper clippings back into the file box, and slammed the lid shut with his hand.

Emperor Meiji looked up at the cherry blossoms outside the window, his eyes shining with a scorching light.

――――Dividing Line――――

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