Fujiwara Shinya

Though it was a welcome reception, it was not solely a welcome reception. Given Iwai Eiichi's status, only Japanese ministers or other high-ranking officials stationed in China warranted such a display from him. As for everyone else, even if the prime minister of the Japanese military government came in person, Iwai might not have been particularly enthusiastic.

At the time, Japanese prime ministers were replaced far too quickly, for all sorts of reasons—failing to reconcile the conflicts between the Army and Navy, refusing to ally with Germany, and so on. Meanwhile, those below were all sharpening their knives, measuring themselves against one another as they waited for a chance to take the top spot and prove their worth.

That was simply how it went. Everyone thought they could do it if given the chance. After all, once one reached that level, there was not much difference between them. Being prime minister during this period was no easy job. And because they changed so quickly, the people below had much less respect for them.

As a senior official at the Shanghai Consulate, Iwai Eiichi held considerable status. Those he needed to curry favor with did not need his welcome, while those he did not need to curry favor with were not qualified to receive it.

Today's guest of honor was a young man in his twenties. He stood a little over 1.7 meters tall, fair-skinned and slightly plump, and at a glance, one could tell he was a pampered young master from an aristocratic family.

The other Japanese people present all knew the young man, so Iwai Eiichi personally brought him over to introduce him to Wang Yan and the others. "This is Fujiwara Shinya. He has been in China for three years and has been traveling around the country until