The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

got a problem with that, then tell it to Tentei."
    "This is why there's no guestimating when it comes to the precepts of Heaven. Well, fine. Anything else?"
    "Even given the consent of all the kingdoms, invading another kingdom under force of arms is prohibited. There are no exceptions. Without the acquiescence of the Royal Tai, troops cannot be dispatched to Tai."
    "Understood. What about dispatching troops as observers only?"
    "The precepts state that invasion is prohibited. But that does not mean that posting troops to another kingdom is prohibited in all cases. For example, when a king visits another kingdom, a contingent of soldiers will accompany him as bodyguards. No precept expressly prohibits this. Also, none prohibits the posting of a diplomatic staff consisting of nothing but military officers. In fact, this would seem to take place on a rather frequent basis. The problem is not with the entry of military officers into another kingdom, but under what pretext, and whether this could be construed as an invasion."
    "That's splitting a lot of hairs."
    "In the case of Tai, the hairs get even finer. The question is what exactly would be construed as an 'invasion.' For example, engaging in actions contrary to the national policy of that kingdom's king. This Jun Tei did do. The Royal Han was oppressing his people. Although contrary to the Way, it was the national policy of the then-rightful king of Han. Jun Tei sought to obstruct this policy. Thus his intervention was construed as an invasion. In the case of a vacated throne, the policy of the provisional court holds sway. In short, the policy of a provisional court is the national policy. However--"
    "The Royal Tai is not dead. The throne is not truly vacated."
    "Yes. But even in the case of a provisional court led by a pretender, interfering with the decisions of the court would constitute an invasion. Except that the rightful king is still in Tai. A pretender typically deceives the court and claims to be the rightful king. In the case of Tai, the acting head of state could not be rightly called a pretender. There is no precedent for this type of situation, so there's some uncertainty as what he should be called."
    "So there's a question whether Asen's Imperial Court would be so deemed by Heaven--"
    "That's what it comes down to. This alone is without precedent. So there are no established precepts governing it. Not even I could say how those dice would roll. But you would do well to bear in mind that national policy is not so much royal policy as it is the policy of the current Imperial Court."
    "That does complicate things."
    "Battle lines are not allowed. Not a single square foot may be subtracted from a kingdom's divinely-recognized land. The people of Tai or the king of Tai cannot allow the occupation of their inviolable lands by another kingdom. No matter what the reasoning, you must understand that as soon as battle lines are drawn and troops quartered, you are touching upon a sin of a most immediate nature."
    "Understood."
    Enki posed two or three more questions, but in any case it seemed to Youko more a matter of drawing bright lines around vague precepts. She was left with an uneasy feeling. Gyokuyou elucidated the Divine Decrees, taking precedence into consideration with her answers. In every case, it seemed that the precepts trumped all, and the legalistic interpretation of the precepts trumped all.
    Youko was left with the impression that Gyokuyou had somehow or another spent the previous night researching interpretations and precedents concerning the precepts. But exactly what were these precepts?
    Since being brought to this world, she had pretty much accepted it as it was. A world where magical beings called youma rampaged about. A world where wizards performed miracles. A world filled with the strange and the fantastic. She accepted it all the same way a child accepts fairy tales at face value. Except that this world was something quite apart from such idyllic dream worlds.
    Why youma existed--why kings lived such long lives--why children were born from trees--how it was that kirin went about choosing kings--everything she'd come to treat as "normal" that probably should have been a complete mystery to her.
    That was the kind of uncanny feeling she was stuck with. She couldn't put it into words, and it stayed with her as they left Houro Palace. Climbing the white staircase to the top of the mountain, she struggled to articulate what she was