When people feel fear, they tend to shrink back, but one cannot shrink back forever. Mitsuko got out of bed and tidied her appearance in front of the mirror once more. The petite young woman in the reflection had largely recovered her composure. After finishing up, Mitsuko took the short sword from the drawer, placed it back into the hidden compartment at the bottom of her satchel, put on her leather shoes, and walked out of the room.

Hearing footsteps, Mrs. Morita hurriedly stood up from the tatami in the main room. "Mitsuko, what should I prepare for lunch?"

"Mother, I'm going to Tokyo University. Please eat by yourself," Mitsuko replied.

Mrs. Morita looked at her daughter's expression, a trace of worry appearing between her brows. But she said nothing about it, simply instructing, "Come back early, and be careful on the road."

Mitsuko nodded and walked quickly out of the house. Unlike her departure that morning, this time she walked with urgency. At the corner of the alley, she almost collided with some children returning from their labor. Seeing Mitsuko, the children surrounded her, laughing. "Where is Auntie Mitsuko going?"

The term "Auntie" made Mitsuko feel both annoyed and amused. Feigning unhappiness, she said, "Call me Big Sister!" As she spoke, she took some candy from her satchel and distributed it to the children. This was a habit she had formed at some point; back when He Rui lived here, whenever he met children, he would share candy with them if he had any in his bag. In those days, Mitsuko was the one receiving candy; now, it was her turn to bring a little sweetness to others' bitter lives.

Bidding farewell to the children, Mitsuko headed straight for the bus stop. After boarding the clanging streetcar, she somehow felt a sense of relief. Before hearing Prime Minister Hara Takashi's words, Mitsuko, as a reporter, had frequently interviewed ordinary people. After the Great War in Europe, Japan's economic situation had suffered a significant impact. One clear indicator was the deterioration of the import-export trade; many factories in Tokyo that had supplied products to exporters during the war had now closed down.

The number of unemployed workers was increasing, and wage levels had begun to drop. Meanwhile, prices continued to rise. People who had once managed to get by were now finding life much harder than before.

Thinking back to His Excellency Hara's words, Mitsuko could now understand his helplessness. At the very least, Mitsuko believed that if His Excellency were not forced into a corner, he would never coerce a young woman. As for what exactly His Excellency's goal was, Mitsuko dared not be certain. Fortunately, the purpose of this trip was to seek an audience with Professor Taira Toyomori of the Tokyo Imperial University Law School. With Professor Taira's knowledge and his relationship with He Rui, Mitsuko believed she could receive guidance from him.

In the Law School office, Mitsuko found Professor Taira reading a book. He didn't look up until Mitsuko walked right up to him. He then smiled in pleasant surprise. "Mitsuko, long time no see."

He stared at Mitsuko for a moment. Before she could speak, Professor Taira picked up his meerschaum pipe, pocketed his tobacco and matches, and pointed to the door. "Let's go. We'll talk outside."

Tokyo Imperial University was Japan's premier university. The campus was not only large but also beautiful. It was late October, and the leaves of several maple trees on campus had turned a deep crimson, making the tree crowns look like burning flames.

There was a bench under the trees. Professor Taira took off his black-rimmed glasses and began to pack tobacco into the meerschaum pipe, which displayed exquisite brown veins. "What happened?" he asked.

Mitsuko knew that Professor Taira occasionally met with Prime Minister Hara to offer advice, so she dared to tell him part of what had transpired.

Throughout her recounting, Professor Taira remained silent, showing no surprise on his face. When Mitsuko finished, he puffed slowly on his pipe and asked deliberately, "What do you think His Excellency's objective is?"

Mitsuko answered sincerely, "Sensei, I came here to ask you. With my shallow knowledge, I cannot understand His Excellency's intentions."

Professor Taira knew that Mitsuko naturally couldn't accurately grasp Prime Minister Hara's objective; this was determined by her background and experience. For Professor Taira, however, he could not only understand why His Excellency would do something so 'out of line,' but also felt sympathy for his forced helplessness.

Professor Taira organized his thoughts and asked, in the tone of a professor guiding a student, "Mitsuko, if you went to Shenyang right now, what would you do?"

"Sensei, I would tell He-kun exactly what happened."

"Would you ask He-kun to accept these demands?"

Mitsuko shook her head hurriedly. "I would never make such a rude request of Big Brother He Rui."

Professor Taira nodded. "That is the correct approach. So, what do you wish to know?"

After thinking for a moment, Mitsuko voiced her desire. "I want to know the reasoning behind this."

Professor Taira gave a light chuckle. "Very well, I will attempt to explain it to you. But you must understand one thing: if you don't know, you can still choose not to go to Shenyang. But once you know, you will have no choice but to go."

"...Yes." Mitsuko made up her mind.

"Facing the current pressure, His Excellency Hara truly wants to resign. However, resigning does not mean His Excellency will withdraw from politics; he hopes to continue working for Japan's future."

Hearing this, Mitsuko didn't know how to analyze Professor Taira's words for a moment. If His Excellency intended to resign, why go to such great lengths? On second thought, she felt she should listen more, so she followed Professor Taira's narrative and asked, "What expectations does His Excellency have of He-kun?"

"An ordinary person might think His Excellency is making demands of He-kun. Given He-kun's current strength, His Excellency is certainly not ordering him, because He-kun would never accept orders from him. So, when His Excellency raises these expectations, what answer does he want?"

After saying this, Professor Taira knocked the burnt tobacco out of his meerschaum pipe and began to pack it with fresh tobacco.

Mitsuko tried her best to follow Professor Taira's train of thought, her mind in a tangle. Suddenly, she had a new idea and asked tentatively, "Is it that His Excellency wants to see if He-kun agrees to cooperate, and wishes to gain some benefit from that cooperation?"

Professor Taira was pleased. Mitsuko was not limited by her status or nationality; she was beginning to touch upon the essence of the matter. The political entity known as the 'State' seemed omnipotent to ordinary people, but in contests between political entities, one could not be so overbearing. States were divided into tiers; globally, Japan was merely a second-rate Great Power. Facing first-rate Great Powers, Japan also had to make compromises.

Since Mitsuko understood the basics, Taira continued directly. "His Excellency Hara has no intention of threatening He-kun. The demands he raised are merely to solve Japan's primary contradiction at present. If He-kun is willing to cooperate with His Excellency, he can also raise his own demands. And the person who travels between the two, bringing back news, is you, Mitsuko."

Mitsuko couldn't quite understand why it had to be her. "Sensei, couldn't His Excellency's secretary undertake such a task?"

"This is a matter of official versus private relations. If it were His Excellency's secretary, He-kun would likely ask right away: Are you representing the Japanese government? Which level? Or do you represent Prime Minister Hara personally? Or do you only represent yourself? Diplomacy is extremely serious; any point of suspicion must be eliminated. But a private relationship is different. You represent only yourself. In certain times, this is an advantage."

Mitsuko couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. She realized she had truly overestimated herself, thinking His Excellency would treat her with the requirements of a government official. Looking back now, that was completely impossible, as she was neither a government official nor a party member. She had absolutely no subordination relationship with His Excellency...

As she was thinking, she heard Professor Taira laugh. "Mitsuko, you didn't think you would be severely punished by His Excellency if the mission failed, did you?"

Mitsuko froze; she hadn't expected Professor Taira to voice her worry. Just as she was wondering how to explain, Professor Taira stood up. "That you worry so much shows you truly hold Japan's fate in your heart. A purely selfish person would never care about the country or their friends. Mitsuko, please maintain this attitude."

Seeing that Professor Taira was about to end the meeting, Mitsuko felt even more questions bubbling up. She quickly stood up and said, "Sensei, is this diplomacy?"

Hearing this question, Professor Taira lit his pipe again, took a puff of fragrant smoke, and then said, "This is the faction represented by His Excellency Hara wanting to reach a cooperation agreement with He-kun's Northeast Government. Only if an agreement is reached can His Excellency use this cooperation as a basis to negotiate with other domestic factions. If he cannot reach a cooperation agreement with He-kun, and His Excellency's demands were announced directly, it would become His Excellency Hara declaring war on He-kun."

Considering the scope of the entire nation of Japan, Mitsuko's thinking instantly opened up. Although she didn't know if 'other factions' referred to specific groups or the various powers representing the entire nation, she could still feel her horizons broadening.

Amidst her awe and excitement, Mitsuko remembered that Professor Taira hadn't answered her question, so she pressed, "Sensei, surely what His Excellency wants me to complete is not a diplomatic mission?"

Professor Taira couldn't help but sigh. "If some form of cooperation could truly be reached, and His Excellency was still Prime Minister at that time, then perhaps it could be called diplomacy. However, in Japan, there is perhaps only one consensus, and that is a victory like the First Sino-Japanese War."

Morita Mitsuko was stunned. She watched as Professor Taira knocked the ash from his pipe, speaking with a sense of weariness, "You know everything you should know. Go back and prepare for your trip."

With that, ignoring whether Morita Mitsuko had any more questions, Professor Taira walked away with his hands behind his back. Mitsuko watched his retreating figure, thinking about what the Professor had said, especially that last sentence. She suddenly didn't know if her trip was the right thing to do.

If the only consensus within Japan was 'a victory like the First Sino-Japanese War,' didn't that mean Japan was going to go to war with He Rui?