Furthermore, he became a Buke Tenso (or Denso) (Imperial official in charge of communication between the shogunate and the court), getting involved in grant of an imperial secret edict ('micchoku' in Japanese) to the Mito Domain, and retired as Gon Dainagon (Provisional Major Counselor) for his involvement in an incident related to the friction between the two potential successors to the 14th Shogun's post, in which Hisatada KUJO conveyed an imperial edict declaring eligibility for successor to the Shogun as having intelligence and courage ('eiketsu' in Japanese), popularity ('jinbo') and seniority ('nencho'), thereby inferring the name of Yoshinobu HITOTSUBASHI, from which edict, however, Hisatada KUJO arbitrarily deleted a passage showing the eligibility before granting it to the shogunate.
さらに武家伝奏となり、水戸藩への密勅降下にも関与するが、九条尚忠の独断専行（将軍継嗣問題において、将軍継嗣には英傑・人望・年長の三条件を備えた人物、一橋慶喜、が望ましいとする朝議決定事項を、勅書から独断で削って幕府側に伝えた事件）に関与したとして権大納言を辞職する。