Black Lotus

by Laura Joh Rowland

  “But you failed,” Sano interrupted, rising as he glared at her. “Or perhaps you didn’t really try. Perhaps you wanted to take advantage of your innocent, helpless friend and further your mistaken defense of Haru.”

  His words battered Reiko like blows. How she wished she could go back in time and restrain Midori from leaving by physical force instead of ineffectual words. Wretched, she gazed up at Sano. “All right, I’m sorry for whatever I did wrong.” She felt the trembling and tears beginning again. “Now, please help me rescue Midori before it’s too late!”

  Hirata sat listening to Sano and Reiko argue, but he hadn’t really heard anything after Reiko’s announcement that Midori had gone to the Black Lotus Temple and not returned. A torrent of emotions had focused his thoughts upon things he’d forgotten or ignored.

  He remembered how Midori had been a loyal friend to him, and how the world had always seemed brighter and sweeter whenever he was with her. He remembered a rainy evening spent in her company, when he’d thought how happy he would be to have her as his wife. Hirata experienced a powerful surge of tenderness toward Midori.

  Then he recalled his recent treatment of her. Caught up in the excitement of high society, he’d spared her little time. He thought of her hovering dejectedly on the fringes of his life, and shame filled him. Now he understood why Midori had changed: She’d been desperately trying to recapture his attention. Horror overwhelmed him as he wondered if she’d decided to be a detective and spy on the Black Lotus Temple so he would take new notice of her. Could he be responsible for whatever trouble Midori had gotten herself into? His mind echoed with stories he’d heard at police headquarters—tales of husbands, wives, and children swallowed up by the Black Lotus and never seen again. He didn’t quite understand why he was so upset by Midori’s disappearance, but he knew he had to do something.

  Wild panic launched Hirata to his feet. “Please excuse me,” he said, bowing hastily to Sano. “I must go to the Black Lotus Temple to rescue Midori.”

  Sano’s expression was worried, conflicted. “The shogun has ordered me to stay away from the Black Lotus, and his order includes my retainers.”

  Reiko exclaimed in outraged alarm: “But we can’t just leave her there!”

  Hirata wished with all his heart that he could go back in time and treat Midori better so she wouldn’t have felt a need to put herself in danger. Suddenly he recalled the warning given him by the police clerk Uchida: “By succumbing to pride and ambition, one may end up losing everything that really matters.” Too late, he realized that his shallow new friendships meant nothing to him. What a blind, vain fool he’d been! Midori was all that mattered. He was in love with her, and now he stood to lose her. Hirata wanted to raise an army, storm the temple walls, and tear apart every building until he found Midori, then slay anyone who had hurt her.

  Yet his samurai spirit could neither disobey his supreme lord’s wishes nor jeopardize Sano, who would share the blame for his disobedience. Tom between love and honor, overwhelmed by his helplessness, he dropped to his knees before Sano.

  “Please,” he said in a voice that broke on a sob. “Help me find a way to rescue Midori.”

  Sano decided that Midori’s disappearance justified a search of the Black Lotus Temple, which required the shogun’s special permission. He and Hirata hastened to the palace. There they found Tokugawa Tsunayoshi seated on the dais in his reception room. As various officials presented documents for his approval, he affixed his personal signature seal to each.

  “Ahh, Ssakan-sama and Hirata-san,” he said, smiling wearily. “This is such tedious, exhausting work that I, ahh, hope you have come to refresh me with interesting news.”

  Sano and Hirata knelt below the dais and bowed. “Yes, we do bring news, Your Excellency,” Sano said. “Niu Midori, one of your honorable mother’s ladies-in-waiting and daughter of the daimyo of Satsuma and Osumi Provinces, went to the Black Lotus Temple two days ago. No one has seen or heard from her since.”

  “Most puzzling,” Tsunayoshi said, wrinkling his brow in an obvious attempt to guess how this concerned him.

  “Recently there have been some serious acts of violence associated with the sect,” Sano continued.

  He glanced at Hirata sitting silently beside him. Hirata’s face was set in rigid lines that betrayed his desperation to get to the point of the conversation. Yet asking the shogun to change an order was an extreme step for which Sano must demonstrate strong cause.

  “Minister Fugatami and his wife were murdered and their children kidnapped by the killers, who painted the Black Lotus symbol in blood on the walls,” Sano continued. “My entourage and I were attacked and some of my men killed by armed Black Lotus priests. Now it appears that Niu Midori is trapped in the temple and is most probably in grave danger. I know that you have ordered me to stay away from the Black Lotus sect, but I must beg you to let us go into the temple to save an innocent, helpless young woman.”

  The shogun frowned in displeasure. The officials stirred uneasily, and Sano sensed their wish to flee. He himself wouldn’t want to be around when some other foolhardy soul challenged the shogun’s authority.

  “Niu Midori is a good, kind, loyal girl,” Hirata blurted. “She—I—”

  As his voice faltered in his effort to convey how much Midori meant to him without expressing unseemly emotions, the shogun’s expression softened.

  “Ahh, I see that the young woman in question is important to you,” Tsunayoshi said, perceptive regarding matters of love, if about nothing else. “Something certainly must be done to rescue her.” Worry clouded his face. “However, I cannot allow anyone to interfere with the Black Lotus.”

  Sano thought of the powerful Tokugawa relatives intimidating the shogun into protecting their religious sect. His heart sank, and Hirata flashed him an agonized look.

  “Also, I do not think I should, ahh, revoke my orders.” The sho-gun pondered a moment, then said uncertainly, “But maybe just this once … ?”

  Hope leapt in Sano; he heard Hirata inhale a deep breath. Then a panel of the landscape mural on a wall of the chamber swung open. Senior Elder Makino walked in from the adjacent room. The sight of the emaciated Makino gave Sano an unpleasant shock. Makino must have listened to the whole conversation, and his arrival signaled trouble.

  “Ahh, Makino-san, how convenient that you should come now,” the shogun said with a glad smile. “Maybe you can help me resolve a dilemma that has just arisen.”

  With a covert, hostile glance at Sano, the senior elder knelt near the dais and bowed to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. “Certainly I shall do my best.”

  Sano inwardly cursed the bad luck that Makino had happened to be around when he could least afford a battle over their lord’s favor.

  The shogun explained the situation; obviously, he had no idea that Makino eavesdropped on him. “I think maybe I should allow the ssakan-sama to go to the temple and fetch Niu Midori as he wishes to do, but I have already banned him from the temple.” He addressed Makino with timid entreaty: “What is your opinion?”

  “I advise against granting the ssakan-sama’s wish,” Makino said, just as Sano had expected. “The lady may or may not be at the temple, and in any case, his suppositions about the Black Lotus do not signify that she is in any need of rescue or that you should revoke your order.”

  “We shouldn’t spend valuable time debating theories when the wisest course of action would be to remove Niu Midori from the temple at once,” Sano said, fighting impatience.

  He wondered whether Makino was one of the high-ranking officials who belonged to the Black Lotus and protected it, then thought not. Makino was too selfish for fanatical loyalty to a religious order. More likely, he just wanted to prevent Sano from getting a special concession from the shogun.

  Tsunayoshi gave Sano a confused, benevolent look, as though he might agree with Sano just to end this conversation, which taxed his limited mental powers.

  Makino said hastily, “But there is proof th
at the ssakan-sama wishes to defy your orders for a reason that has nothing to do with a missing lady. In fact, I venture to say that the lady is not missing at all, and the ssakan-sama has made up the story to further his own sinister purpose.”

  As Sano wondered what on earth Makino was talking about, the senior elder slipped his bony fingers beneath the sash at his waist and removed a folded sheet of paper.

  “This document reveals the ssakan-sama’s true motives.” With a flourish, Makino unfolded the paper and held it up for the assembly’s inspection.

  Sano saw his own calligraphy and recognized a letter he’d recently written. An awful prescience chilled him.

  “It is a letter sent by the ssakan-sama to the Honorable Chamberlain Yanagisawa,” said Makino. He flashed Sano a sly look, adding, “Sometimes routine inspections at highway checkpoints turn up the most interesting items.”

  Makino’s minions had confiscated the letter from the messenger, Sano realized. He saw Hirata anxiously watching him, but in his sudden panic, he couldn’t think how to forestall impending disaster.

  “Your Excellency, shall I read you the relevant passage of the letter?” Makino said.

  “Yes, do,” the shogun said, sounding mystified but curious. Exuding satisfaction, Makino read:

  “Honorable Chamberlain, I must bring to your attention a matter that poses a serious threat to the Tokugawa regime. While investigating a case at the Black Lotus Temple, I discovered that the sect has gained followers among the upper echelon of the bakufu, and much influence over the shogun. I believe the sect is responsible for the recent murder of the Minister of Temples and Shrines, who opposed it. Citizens have accused the Black Lotus of kidnapping, extortion, and violent attacks on the public, and these accusations are too many to disregard. However, the shogun has prohibited me from investigating the Black Lotus Temple, apparently because he has been persuaded to shield its secret activities. Therefore, I beg you to return to Edo and join forces with me to learn what the Black Lotus is up to and combat its rise to power.”

  The ominous quiet that followed his reading seemed to reverberate like the echo of a bomb just exploded. Sano realized that the senior elder had been hoarding the letter to use when the right opportunity arose. He guessed what Makino meant to do to him, and his mind raced to construct a defense.

  The shogun exclaimed in bafflement, “But what does this mean?”

  “I was informing Chamberlain Yanagisawa about the Black Lotus situation,” Sano said, striving to stay calm. “I hoped that he could persuade Your Excellency that the sect is dangerous and we must protect the nation from it.”

  “What you were really doing was inviting the honorable chamberlain to join you in persecuting a subsidiary of the Tokugawa family temple,” Makino countered. “You want him to help you destroy the Black Lotus and thereby eliminate a rival in your quest for control over the bakufu.” Makino turned to the shogun. “Your Excellency, this letter is conclusive evidence that the ssakan-sama is plotting against you.”

  Pressing a thin, delicate hand to his chest, the shogun stared at Sano. His eyes reflected the appalled horror that Sano felt. “Is this true?”

  “No!” Hirata burst out in impassioned outrage. “My master is your loyal, devoted servant!”

  “Of course he would deny the truth, Your Excellency,” Makino said reasonably. “As the ssakan-sama’s chief retainer, he is part of this treasonous plot.”

  Sano could hardly believe that he’d come here for permission to rescue Midori and ended up accused of a crime for which execution was the punishment. Makino was a clever, ruthless adversary, and Sano had to fend him off without injuring him and provoking future retribution.

  “There’s been a misunderstanding,” he said. “The honorable senior elder has read into my letter a meaning I never intended. It was an honest mistake, and I suggest that we all agree to forget his accusation and resume discussing the rescue of Niu Midori.”

  “We cannot forget treason,” Makino huffed. “Your Excellency, he is trying to talk his way out of punishment like the cowardly, dishonorable traitor he is.”

  “Don’t you insult my master!” Hirata glared at Makino.

  The senior elder continued railing against Sano while Hirata shouted angry objections and Sano tried to quiet him. The argument raged until the shogun flung up his arms and shouted, “Stop! I cannot take any more of this noise!” Abrupt silence fell. Pressing his palms against his temples, the shogun winced. “You have given me a terrible headache. I cannot believe that my, ahh, ssakan-sama would plot against me, but neither can I believe that Senior Elder Makino would, ahh, slander a comrade. I do not know what to think!”

  He fluttered his hands at the assembly. “Get out! Everyone! Leave me in peace!”

  Sano, Hirata, Makino, and the frightened officials bowed hastily and leapt to their feet.

  “Your Excellency,” Makino ventured cautiously.

  “If you, ahh, really believe that Sano-san is a traitor, then show me some, ahh, proof besides that letter,” Tokugawa Tsunayoshi said with uncharacteristic decisiveness born of pique. To Sano he said, “And if you want me to let you fetch the lady from inside the Black Lotus Temple, then bring me proof that she needs rescuing. For now, I refuse to think any more about either subject!”

  32

  Those who will not accept the true law of the Back Lotus

  Will be plunged into the deepest hell,

  A place dark and foul,

  Beset by evil spirits,

  To suffer for countless eons.

  —FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA

  “We can’t rescue Midori without defying the shogun and dishonoring ourselves, but we can’t leave her at the mercy of the Black Lotus,” Hirata said in despair. “What are we going to do?”

  Sano walked beside his chief retainer through the stonewalled passage leading downhill through Edo Castle. Though still shaken by Makino’s surprise attack on him, he applied his mind to their immediate problem.

  “Haru is our key to solving the case, defeating the Black Lotus, and saving Midori,” he said.

  Hirata stared, incredulous. “But she’s proved herself good for nothing except telling lies and turning you and Lady Reiko against each other. We can’t stake Midori’s safety upon her!”

  “There’s one last way to get the truth out of Haru and get Midori out of the temple with the shogun’s permission,” Sano said.

  When they entered the courtyard of his estate, he called a groom to bring their horses.

  “Where are we going?” Hirata asked.

  “To see Magistrate Ueda.”

  Soon they were in the Hibiya official district, seated in the magistrate’s office. Sano said to his father-in-law, “I wish to convene Haru’s trial. Will you oblige?”

  “Certainly,” said Magistrate Ueda. “Have you found definitive evidence of her guilt?”

  “No,” Sano admitted, “but there are compelling reasons for forcing Haru to reveal what she did and what she knows about the Black Lotus.” He described how Midori had disappeared, the shogun had ordered him to stay away from the temple, and Senior Elder Makino had accused him of plotting against the shogun. “A trial could produce facts that will convince the shogun that Midori is in danger, before Makino can manufacture evidence to prove I’m a traitor.”

  “Putting Haru on trial will work only if she is in possession of the facts and can be persuaded to reveal them,” Magistrate Ueda pointed out.

  “I know she knows more than she’s admitted.” Deep instinct told Sano he was right. “And a trial can pressure a person into cooperating when all other methods have failed.”

  “When would you like me to conduct the trial?” Magistrate Ueda asked.

  “This evening, at the hour of the rooster.”

  “But that’s too long to wait!” Hirata burst out. “Every moment Midori stays at the temple endangers her more.” He looked anxiously from Sano to Magistrate Ueda.

  “We can’t rush things and ruin our
last chance to secure Haru’s cooperation,” Sano said. “We must prepare carefully, which will take time.”

  He only hoped that Midori would survive the delay.

  The absolute darkness of the Black Lotus’s underground prison was like a monstrous live creature, breathing a draft redolent. of human misery, its heartbeat the pulsing bellows. It filled the cell where Midori lay curled in a corner. The chill dampness penetrated her thin robe, and she shivered. No one had said what her punishment would be for spying on the sect, or spoken to her at all after the priests had imprisoned her here. Would they torture her, force her to dig tunnels, or use her in evil rites? Would they kill her, or just leave her to go mad?

  At first Midori had mustered her courage and tried to escape. She’d pounded at the heavy wooden door, which refused to yield. Groping in the darkness, she’d located a square opening high in the door, and an air vent in the wall, but both openings were too small to crawl through. Midori had torn planks off the low ceiling and tried to dig her way up, but the clay was too hard. She’d shouted for help, but no one aboveground could hear her. There seemed to be no other prisoners in this branch of the tunnel, and finally Midori had wept in exhausted, helpless solitude.

  Now she had no idea how many hours she’d spent in this cell. Once, she’d seen light outside, and someone had shoved a meal tray through the crack under the door. Too famished to worry about poison, Midori had devoured the rice, pickles, and dried fish. She’d slept, then awakened blind and terrified in the darkness. Midori did not know whether each passing moment bettered her chances of survival or brought her closer to death. Her hope of deliverance rested upon Reiko.

  Reiko was the only person who had any way of knowing she’d come to the temple and figuring out that she’d been caught Surely Reiko would come looking for her. Yet even as Midori sought comfort in the idea, doubts plagued her mind. What if Reiko didn’t find the note? Even if she did, and even if she sent a rescue party, how would it find Midori?