The Imperial Line, its side-branches and direct vassals underwent a major overhaul in the aftermath of termination of the Gozoku rule. Yugozohime's own family was not exempted from the purges that ensued. She slew her elder brother, heir apparent Soujiro, by her own hand, ordered execution of the Otomo daimyo her new Emerald Champion Doji Usan personally saw to, and made the newly appointed one, Otomo Hokusai, put her second brother Harada, once fostered to the Crane, under house arrest for the rest of his life. Her third brother Kentaro, brought up by the Shosuro, met unknown fate. Her two sisters, once wed out to the Dragon and the Crab, were forced to relinquish all pretences to the Throne for themselves and their progeny. The whole Imperial family, the Nasu, was nigh on dissolved and violently purged, saved just by Shiba Gaijushiko's timely intervention and their acceptance into the Shiba. Daimyos of the Seppun and the Miya, Nishiko and Tsugimasa, were forced into early retirement for their alleged complicity in sustaining the former corrupt regime, and Otomo Reju, who had abandoned the Triumvirate a few years earlier, was nevertheless exiled to the Badger. Her uncle Muhaki who had aided in Imperial restoration was the only one to remain unscathed, though even him would shed his Otomo name upon being asked by his niece to found the Tortoise. Yugozohime's consolidation of power was truly unprecedented, leaving little space for prominence of cadet branches of the Imperial House. It eventually paved the way for a smooth enthronement of her daughter, Retsuhime, in 453.

In a sense, the near-death experience of 442 seemed to have changed Yugozohime. The stand the Clans had made for the Battle of the White Stag, especially seeing the Left Hand and the Right Hand acting in unison, and even the troublesome Mantis doing what they're supposed to, reassured her that her Empire was on the track for re-consolidation under her reign, while at the same time the arrival of the gaijin in Rokugan had shifted her perspective from domestic affairs to a more global-strategic level. On Muhaki's advice she eventually did allow a Merenaese embassy in the Imperial Court. After Mochihime's death her next Emerald Champion turned out mellower than his predecessor, and the Empress trusted Hokusai to stamp out opposition and any further challenges to her rule. In addition, her union with Usan proved to be blissful, and she ultimately gave him no less than three more children, all daughters. When she chose to retire early and relinquish the Throne for her eldest daughter to claim it and define an era by herself, she did so without deep regrets. She did remain in the capital in advisory position as a nun of Four Temples for a few years more, but watching her daughter having her strength to rule without her mother's burdens, she slowly extricated herself from matters of the world and accepted full inkyo.

Retsuhime did indeed take inspiration from her mother's play book and was decisively expedient in securing an untroubled reign for herself. Flanked by her mother, granduncle Muhaki and faithful Otomo Hokusai, she married out all her younger sisters to both end their potential claims and consolidate support for the throne - to the Crane, the Phoenix and the Mantis, respectively. Herself, she went against tradition and chose a Matsu consort, what seemed to be a politically sound move but also seemed to have drawn Benten's ire nonetheless - he gave her no heirs. Whether of incapacitation or her choice was unknown, though the Empress was seen with a few other men in the Forbidden City on regular basis, Shiba Murayasu among them. Had she not been who she was, there would have been talk... This contributed to her growing mutual unease between her and the Lion leadership, though might have been easily glossed over if not for some of Retsuhime's other moves. Most notably, a series of Edicts that fostered technological and cultural innovation by appending the ritsuryo system of criminal and administrative law. Possessing and using aritfacts of foreign cultures as well as having gaijin attendants was no longer penalised. In law, culture and custom, many behaviours considered morally dubious were now decreed as standing in no contradiction to Bushido or Imperial Law. Otomo red tape was constrained. Otomo Hokusai never questioned his Empress, but his work became harder with each passing year, with less and less in his toolkit to apply pressure on the Clans and with scales for balancing ever wavering. The Otomo had no experience or idea how technological and intellectual development could figure in the balance of power between Clans. The Lion were still predominantly strong in the traditional way, but on the fringes everyone from the Crane to the Scorpion to the Minor Clans to the Phoenix to the Dragon were developing new ways that may have been tipping matters in their favour. How to calculate those dynamic assets? Should he even try to balance the rising power of the Tortoise, the Clan headed by his Empress' dear granduncle? In 460, Retsuhime went even further - she issued an edict laying an obligation on all Clans to seek progress and advancement. That caused havoc within the Lion, least ready or willing to do the Empress' bidding. Relief would soon come, however.

The year 462 started a series of Yobanjin invasions that would plague the Empire for the next two decades. While the Badger and the Crab mostly managed to repel the first wave, other tribes attacked the Phoenix and the Dragon in great force a decade later. In that year Muhaki died, what was tacitly perceived as a blessing by traditionalists, as one of the most vocal proponents of progress having ear of the Empress was no more. Hokusai and other advisers argued that the Phoenix wouldn't manage to repel the invasion and the Right Hand should intervene. Quietly mourning, Retsuhime consented, despite her confidence in the prowess of the Shiba. Partly because it was in fact authorisation of what was already happening as the Lion were marching to shatter the gaijin siege of Castle of Faithful Bride, a Lion enclave in northern Phoenix territory. But as the Lion Champion Akodo Toru entered the Phoenix lands, Lion diplomats at the Imperial Court pushed for a motion to let their Clan seek 'progress' in military organisation of the Empire and hence award their lord the title of shogun, the military commander to expel the barbarians, envisaged in the Book of Sun Tao. And again, in the face of Otomo and Seppun support for the move, Restuhime agreed, though just for the duration of the campaign. It went a long way to allaying tensions between the Right Hand and the Throne. The Lion declared themselves in conformity with the Edict, and set the precedent for their right to push back against barbarian influences.

Ultimately Toru was in no hurry to conclude the victorious campaign, using the time to strengthen Lion influence over the Imperial Legions at the expense of the Emerald Champion, Doji Shioden, who in turn raised political hell to end the northern deployment and strip Toru of the title, ultimately succeeding in 483. For the Scorpion support Shioden sent a Legion still loyal to him to the Plains of Thunder to protect the foundation of the outpost that would become Ryoko Owari. For a brief moment all-too-familiar fault lines recreated themselves - the Clans of former Triumvirate clashed in courts with the Lion and their various supporters, the Crab, the Boar, the Dragon and the Badger, and prevailed, with the Throne and the Otomo ultimately favouring the former. This was a bitter pill both for Retsuhime and Hokusai - the end of her reign would end on a lower note, amid worries about succession. Three of the Empress' younger sisters, the so-called Three Matrons - Asako Ryohime, Gusai Renhime and Daidoji Rokahime - began testing political grounds for their favoured children to adopt the Otomo name and be found eligible. However, on the day she moved to Tengoku in 487, the elderly Hokusai announced that the throne would go to the grandson of Otomo Harada, second son of Kusada. No one remembered Karada having children in his house arrest, but who would question the Otomo daimyo? The coronation went well, all the insignia accepted to be carried by the new Emperor, who chose to be known not by his name, but only as Hantei the Ninth. Hokusai suddenly passed away the day after, and his daughter Oborozukiyo took over the matters of the family with consent of the new Son of Heaven.

There could probably be no starker difference between late Retsuhime and her successor. While she had been a temperamental celebrity Empress, he turned out practically impersonal, distant, almost otherworldly. It took a while for the Imperial Court to adjust to the new quality on the Emerald Throne. The Emperor remained behind the screens and ever spoke calmly. He was more keen to take part in intellectual discussions than in political wrangling, letting Oborozukiyo, who he named his Chancellor, preside over thornier issues. During his reign various monastic orders, also those of the Dragon and the Phoenix, grew to respect him greatly. Members of the Brotherhood became a more frequent sight in the capital. He seemed most tolerant to those of his subjects who were coming to him to report their discoveries, experiments, hypotheses, or paradoxes they have encountered. He undoubtedly continued Retsuhime's line in embracing progress. Thanks to him his eldest son formed a close friendship with one Togashi Moho. In the way he spoke, he seemed friendly, contemplative... Unless there was a shugenja in the room. Then he simply didn't take to the dais and the court would wait until the priest was removed from attendance, such has been his disdain of them, though no-one ever knew whether it was genuine or contrived. Probably the only people who would know more about him were his two sons, his Doji bride and Oborozukiyo. To all else he has remained a mystery, the Veiled Emperor.

Those who thought his gentle and withdrawn demeanour meant he was not keen on asserting full Imperial authority were soon to be relieved or sorely disappointed. Right after the havoc Isawa Takao had sown by confronting the Oracle of Fire the Emperor immediately mandated Oborozukiyo to restrict if not outright ban shugenja careers in Imperial structures, civilian and military alike. It was followed by penalising, fines and other punishments for using magic in undesignated public places. Any trayu-jiiai duel (with just one caveat, the Jade Championship) would be considered as without an Imperial sanction. Imperial Edict on Education in 490 which cut the shugenja from Imperial institutions of higher learning by emphasising their secularism became the tipping point for the Elemental Council and their thinly veiled de-facto secession, only more sealed by the Emperor agreeing in 491 to the idea of daimyo Seppun Kentoshi to create the Office of the Jade Champion to replace some prior Isawa prerogatives with an Imperial authority. That fractured the Phoenix and thrust them into internal squabbles.

The hit against the Scorpion came in 495, when during an Imperial Winter Court in Kyuden Ikoma Otomo Oborozukiyo confronted Scorpion Clan Champion Bayushi Hajioki on the ninja organisation his brother Aramoro had been quietly assembling. After a short 'ninja' debate the Emperor ordered Hajioki to cause the unit's dissolution, what led to executing Aramoro, leaving the Scorpion with long-term problems like some of the clandestine formation going renegade, in addition to losses in prestige. That revealed Scorpion post-Gozoku long-term strategy of quiet increase in capabilities, making their neighbours more wary. Shioden was targeted less directly, by the Throne awarding tax exemptions on the trade in innovative technologies without decrease in fiscal expectations put on the Emerald Champion. For instance, after new metallurgical developments the lucrative arms exports of the Boar Clan couldn't be taxed, as was in case with many Tortoise operations. Shioden started to funnel Crane funds into the Imperial coffers so as to prevent his public shame and his position being questioned. It became even harder as foreign plague sprang out into Crane provinces in 498. If there ever had been any chance or hope on anyone's part for a new Gozoku, by then it was largely thwarted.

But by then the Emperor had turned even more distant end even less publicly active, perhaps because of his own failing health or the plague contracted by his heir Hohiro. For a time it was not certain whether Hohiro would live through the illness and younger Jama was briefly considered the new heir for the Emerald Throne. But as the heir apparent recovered, it came clear that all Jama could expect was an Otomo life. Still before the Ritual of Abdication, Oborozukiyo helped Jama smooth out the future transition by bestowing the title of superintendent on education on him so he could supervise the work of Reju colleges. His father approved, and the young scion quickly got down to work.

The Hohiro or Jama question has been, or was, a broader one, mostly because of their divergent philosophical outlooks. Hohiro is perceived as a traditionalist and even though he pays lip service to his father's reformist agenda he does attract most support from the Lion and other conservative segments of Rokugani samurai class, also within the Seppun and the Otomo. Jama, on the other hand, seems to be progressively minded and a more willing inheritor of his father's legacy, though still maintaining friendly ties with the Lion or the Crane. Apart from age, what speaks in favour of Hohiro is that he already has an infant son with a Doji wife, so the future of the Imperial Line is more or less secured; Jama is still unmarried. The fault lines across the support groups for each in the Imperial Families themselves are blurred and shifting as to those in the know personal qualities come to the fore. Jama is said to be charismatic and a man of action, while Hohiro more insecure and self-conscious, though a stricter follower of Bushido at the same time. Some assume that so many things have already changed in Rokugan that tweaking line of Imperial Succession to hand-pick a better scion is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Among the Otomo, Oborozukiyo has quickly risen to be as crucial in maintaining and coordinating the Imperial rule and Imperial bureaucracy to no lesser extent than her father was in his days. The challenges are no lesser still, with social and economic change becoming more evident across the Empire. The Otomo have it harder in maintaining the whole structure of Imperial rule than ever. Oborozukiyo does her best, and is a titan of work that leaves little time for private life. She has an heir with a recognised consort, using her Imperial position to have legitimate children outside of marriage, though even to that one she's never been a good mother. Her successes are mostly professional, causing dismantling of the Scorpion spy network looming most prominently among them. Getting the educational system held by her vassals the Reju right, with Jama's aid it might be her next big thing. Oborozukiyo strives not to let the Otomo become anyone's best friend and keeps practically all Clans at an arm's distance, watching. She's been firmly pushing against the efforts of the Three Matrons to promote Asako Itsuo, Daidoji Kamei or Gusai Ryoshida to important position in the Empire.

Unlike the Otomo, who still have a clarity of purpose, the Seppun under their daimyo Kentoshi are in a crisis, and it was the Emperor himself that has thrown them into it. Known to just a few, immediately after enthronement the Son of Heaven dismissed the Hidden Guard from service, his lack of tolerance for shugenja extending even to them. While he did offset it partially by allowing many monks from four ancient Seppun temples of Yakushiji, Daikandaiji, Kawaradera and Asukadera to frequent his court, the family shugenja, represented by the daimyo's younger brother Matoshi were getting increasingly frustrated. It were mostly the Seppun who spearheaded the creation of the Jade Office to find a purpose for themselves in new circumstances. Kuni Tokaji as the Jade Champion has proven to be as much a problem as he is a solution for Seppun woes. Matoshi is his second-in-command, and has ensured that a sizeable group of Seppun priests has become the core of the corps. While neither Kentoshi nor Matoshi take firm stances on the succession issue, for them the fact that Hohiro's closest confidante is a Dragon monk and for Jama - a Crane shugenja, is rather telling. Like the Otomo, the Seppun try not to play favourites, though their deep traditional ties with the Phoenix are at all-time low, while the Jade Office gives them more reason to work closer with the Crab and the Scorpion. Among the Minor Clans, their relations with the Centipede, especially in the area of their convergence in the Dragon's Breath City, and with the Boar, with Tsi swordsmiths being their meaningful connection, are more cordial than most, though the Seppun have no problem with any of the remaining Minor Clans, even if they don't deign to deal with the Sparrow too often.

The Miya are staunch supporters of Hantei the Ninth out of loyalty to the Throne, but also because of his progressive notions. Most of their leaders have ever been keenly aware of the salience good socio-economic conditions to have a stable Empire. They were glad that an era of backwardness did not settle in after the fall of Gozoku, and legitimate rulers of the Empire have found their own way toward development and progress. In addition to their many traditional roles of the heralds of the Emperor, the advocates of observance of the Imperial Law and peacemakers they've taken it upon themselves to epitomise what Emperor-led progress means. It's mostly been in fervent development of road infrastructure, regulating rivers, helping in introduction of new crops and agricultural techniques, the sort of whole year of Emperor's Blessing, and grander. In a sense, they are in part to the post-Gozoku Emperors what the Nasu were for the Triumvirate. Because of that the Miya find themselves cooperating with thee Crab often, especially the Kaiu, through their familial connection of the Anou. In general, however, the Miya have just a few baselines for collaboration with any of the Clans. One of those baselines is respecting the autonomy and the right to develop for the Minor Clans. The Miya have been looking favourably on the alliances he Tortoise have formed with other Minor Clans, as well as on the development of the Four Colleges of the Reju, and of all the Imperial Families are generally most comfortable with the ideas of good-natured pragmatism, secularism and progress. In fact, many of them are fascinated with gaijin cultures and have been the least biased toward them. Even if Miya Sasuke's mediations with the gaijin failed so miserably and propelled conflict in 442, it was never for the lack of good intentions. Once Merenaese embassy was established in Otosan Uchi, many Miya have been one of those most keen to engage foreign diplomats.

In the earlier part of the century, still during the Gozoku era, Miya had developed close ties with the Kitsu through marriage, favours and gifts, but it collapsed with the betrayal of Kitsu Uragiri, and these days the Miya see the Lion in more ominous terms, especially because of all their hostility for progressive agendas and those who espouse them. In fact, Miya ties with the the Lion and the Crane have been strained by plays written by Miya Mai. While her 'Emperor's Blessing' earned her both acclaim and the patronage of her daimyo Miya Yukitada, her next works, darker, more cynical and dealing with uncomfortable issues, made the man later regret it. This was especially true for the 'Tools of War' where she took liberties in powering up the account of the brief Lion-Crane war over Osari Plains with more 'gaijin pepper' and foreign weaponry used extensively by her in-play Crane. An incident with hanabi used for special effects led to serious burns that made her drop the actress career and focus on writing plays. She died forgotten and in poverty in 497, but after her passing her popularity picked up, and these days Hantei Jama is known as supporter of her works. While the Miya don't pick sides on the succession issue, the progressive Hantei scion could find quite a bit of backing among them.