Hantei Yugozohime

The Gozoku
Because of her father's acquiescence to the Gozoku, all of Hantei Kusada's children were fostered to different clans. The sons all went to the Crane, Phoenix, and Scorpion, to keep the prospective heirs close to the triad and to indoctrinate them in the ways and beliefs of the Gozoku. The daughters were fostered to other clans as political alliances in an attempt to solidify the power and standing of the Gozoku.

Yugozohime was fostered to the Lion Clan in 432. Early in her stay, the Lion was secretly contacted by diplomats from the Dragon Clan who convinced the Lion's leaders that the Gozoku was dangerous and that subverting the Hantei's rule was blasphemous. The Lion's minds were changed from the passivity that they displayed during the Gozoku's rise shortly after the Crab-Crane War. They began training Yugozohime not only as a warrior, but as a true follower of Bushido. (SoLion p. 7; Wolf pp. 25-27)

Upon her father's death, Yugozohime's eldest brother, fostered to the Phoenix Clan, was brought to Otosan Uchi to claim the throne. At his coronation, however, Yugozohime appeared and challenged his right to lead Rokugan. Yugozohime killed her brother in a duel and took the throne for herself, becoming the empire's first Empress.

With the military support of the Lion and Dragon Clans, and a refusal to submit to the Gozoku, the triad was shattered. Although no formal charges are recorded against its members, within a year most were either retired to monasteries or killed in duels. Yugozohime dismantled the political structure that led to the Gozoku's rise, delegating all of that power instead to the Imperial families.

Reign
Yugozohime married Doji Usan. Legend says that Usan gave up his claim to the post of Emerald Champion to be her husband. Records do show that Matsu Mochiko did win the Test of the Emerald Champion after Usan turned down the position, so there is credence to that story.

Battle of White Stag / Battle of Raging Seas
Perhaps the most controversial decision of Yugozohime's reign (and one that is still denied by Ikoma historians) was her admittance of a group of gaijin into the Imperial Court. In 440, a group of pale ambassadors from a land they called Merenae approached the empire through the Mantis Clan. The gaijin bore an ancient banner of the Ki-Rin Clan and a story of the Moto coming to their homeland.

Yugozohime decided to let these gaijin prove their worth, permitting them two years to stay within the empire and conduct limited trade. Unfortunately, after that time the Empress still had not come to acept the giajin, and they were asked to leave Rokugan. The gaijin refused, which led to the Battle of White Stag and the Battle of Raging Seas in 442. (SoUnicorn p. 9)

During the battles, Yugozohime was near the shore directing the attack when a volley of the gaijin's roaring weapons were unleashed on her position. The Empress, the Lion Champion, and all of the Akodo yojimbo protecting them were killed instantly. Yugozohime's uncle, Hantei Muhaki was called to lead the empire immediately thereafter. (Lion pp. 24-25; Rokugan p. 186)

Major References

 * Way of the Wolf Pages 25-27.
 * Winter Court: Kyuden Kakita Pages 83-84.