by Fuyumi Ono
Part IV
huka froze in astonishment, as did Eishuku and the others. Their voices rose as one. What is going on? But to no avail. They were bound with cords and shoved into one of the rooms in the Naiden office of the Left.
They grasped only that the Daishikou had been sacked, the position hadn't been filled, so the Shoushikou, vice-minister of the Ministry of Fall, had authorized the arrest.
"Junkou was planning an insurrection, the Taishi found out, so the Taiho killed him and fled the Palace. And the Daishito—"
Her arms still bound, Shuka raised her head at the Shoushikou's emotionless mention of her position.
"It has become clear that you intended to aid and abet Junkou by meeting with the Taiho and spreading rumors of the shitsudou."
Shuka gasped in surprise. "Just a minute! Are you claiming that the Taiho's condition is a sham?"
He was implying that Sairin faked her condition and Shuka had colluded with her to spread rumors of the shitsudou, and that Sairin as well had participated in this "conspiracy." In what universe would the kirin raise the standard of revolt against her own king? She was about to raise her voice and object when the Shoushikou cut her off.
"There's no use trying to deny it."
His face was clouded with bitter mortification. It was unlikely that the Shoushikou believed a word he was saying.
"The Chousai communicated with Junkou through his servant. Eyewitnesses will testify that this servant met secretly with Shunkou-sama on many occasions."
Seiki attempt to protest this accusation but was silenced as well.
"The Taisai and Shousai, along with the General of the Palace Guard of the Right, who was commanding the nightwatchmen at the East Palace gate, helped Junkou commit his atrocity and make his escape. It has come to light as well that the Chousai conspired to cover up the evidence of their heinous crimes and pass off the Taisai's regrettable death as an accident."
The Shoushikou read the indictment in a monotone without raising his eyes.
"Out of compassion, you will be released for now, but the parties in question will remain under house arrest until and unless the Ministry of Fall orders otherwise. Soldiers will be posted at your residences, which you may not leave under any condition. Nor will any communication between yourselves be allowed."
With a brief glance, he lowered his head, as if embarrassed at what he was doing. The soldiers—who didn't appear any more enlightened than the rest of them—hauled them to their feet. Eishuku broke the silence.
"Could I ask you one question?"
The Shoushikou averted his eyes and didn't answer.
"Is this His Highness's theory of the crime?"
The Shoushikou didn't answer, but only hung his head.
Chapter 11
Shuka and Eishuku were taken, bound, to their official residence south of the Imperial Living Quarters. They were finally released in the main hall. The doors to the hall were secured from the outside. Armed soldiers in battle armor were posted about the periphery.
"Master, Mistress, I'm dreadfully sorry," Seiki cried out when they entered the living room. "This is all because I met with Junkou-sama. I've gotten you all involved in something awful." He slumped to the floor in distress.
"No, you haven't, Seiki," Shuka said, giving him a reassuring hug. "There's no way that any of this is your fault."
"But—"
Shuka shook her head. She looked up at Eishuku. "Eishuku, this is because—"
She didn't need to finish the sentence in order to be understood. Shishou believed that Junkou was at the root of some sort of coup d'etat. Nobody knew what had happened the night Daishou had been murdered. As Shuka had begun to suspect, one possibility was that, enraged by their criticisms, Shishou had attacked Daishou and Junkou.
The other possibility was that Shishou was not involved, but believed that Junkou had killed Daishou and fled. In either case, Shishou had decided that Junkou's behavior branded him a traitor. Because Junkou and Seiki had spoken together, Eishuku was implicated in the conspiracy as was his wife, who had previously met with Sairin alone.
"Why would Shishou—" Eishuku said to no one in particular, sinking into the nearest chair. "Suspecting even the Taiho—this is madness. What is the man thinking?"
"Not rationally, that's for sure."
Eishuku muttered under his breath, "A king with the shitsudou."
Shuka caught her breath.
"We've been accused of capital crimes. We'd better prepare ourselves for what's coming next."
"Do you really thing Shishou would—? Does he really believe it himself? I mean, Junkou plotting a coup and all? And Eishuku and I conspiring with him?"
"If he can suspect the Taiho," Eishuku replied weakly, "then he can suspect anybody." He glanced at Shuka and Seiki. "It's like Shishou said, Shuka."
"Like he said?"
"When the time comes that you can't trust a friend, it's probably not the friend who's untrustworthy, but yourself. It's hardly likely that Shishou started out suspecting Junkou of anything. Rather, it's the realization that he has strayed from the Way that makes him willing to contemplate this nonsense about Junkou leading a palace coup."
"Unbelievable."
"Right now, the one in the most distress, the one wavering like a leaf in the wind, is none other that Shishou. He's the one so proud of his high ideals, and yet he's fallen flat on his face. He comports himself as if he's done nothing wrong, but the fact that Sai is no utopia must be as obvious to him as a fist in the face. When it comes to the kind of kingdom Sai should have been—the kind of king he should have been—the one most unwilling to face the facts is Shishou."
"That does seem to be what's going on."
"Shishou couldn't possibly miss the similarities with King Fu. In that case, he'd start seeing enemies in the woodwork, despise himself for doing so, and hate the world for making him so, prompting him to strike out—at Junkou, at me, at Shuka."
Shuka covered her face with her hands. The one person Shishou truly hated and despised was himself.
"Shishou really seems to be marching toward his doom."
Shuka raised her head. "What then will become of us? Or rather, the Taiho?"
"Who knows?" Eishuku said in a low voice. "But if death is our reward, at least we shall be spared witnessing Shishou's final downfall."
Chapter 12
The next morning, the Shoushikou came back to the main hall where Shuka and the other lay sprawled on the floor. Once the doors were again secured by the soldiers outside the hall, the Shoushikou turned to them with anguished eyes.
"Forgive me for ever letting things get to this point," he said in a small voice. His face ashen, he held out a document. "The Taihou is being sent to Sou."
"But—her condition—" said Shuka.
Anguished, the Shoushikou shook his head. "If anything, he wanted to be rid of her because of her condition."
"Ah," Shuka moaned. So Shishou could no longer abide Sairin's existence.
"That's why I'm here. You are to escort her," said Shoushikou. He looked at Seiki, "Only the minimal number of retainers will be allowed to accompany her. You will escort her to Houga on the Kokkyou border. Representatives from Sou will meet you there. As soon as the Taiho is handed over to the Sou ambassador, you will return to Yuunei."
Shuka bowed her head and the Shoushikou nodded. "After you return, as pertaining to the laws of high treason, you will be judged and sentenced. In other words, His Highness does not expect you to return."
Shuka found herself at a loss for words. This was their longtime comrade, Shishou, showing them compassion: take Sairin with you to Sou and don't come back. If they did come back, they would be prosecuted and sentenced to death for treason.
Shuka's eyes filled with tears. Shishou still had some feelings left in his heart for them. And yet he was still accusing them of treason. That he could even harbor such thoughts was the even more painful realization.
Shishou had so cornered hims
elf that he couldn't bear criticism, couldn't admit to his own faults, couldn't ask for a helping hand in setting the Imperial Court aright. He doubted himself too much to see this supposed coup for the nonsense it was. As long as he believed that their contempt and hate for him lay at the root of this revolution, he could not allow them an honorable death.
With a trembling hand, the Shoushikou thrust the edict into Eishuku's grasp. "Please understand the state of His Highness's mind and do no return. I know it will be painful to leave Sai and await the end of the current Imperial Court. But if you do come back, His Highness will end up bearing a far more grievous sin."
"Understood," Eishuku answered. He grasped the Shoushikou's hand. "I know how hard this must be for you. You have our sincere thanks."
The Shoushikou bowed his head. "If you would forgive the presumptuousness, on behalf of His Highness, I pray for your continuing well being."
Chapter 13
The next day, in the dead of night, Shuka met Sairin at the back gate of the Imperial Palace.
"How are you faring, Taiho?" Shuka asked, peering into the palanquin being born under the direction of the Ministry of Summer.
She knelt to get a better look. Sairin answered only with the emotionless flash of her eyes. Up till now, Eishuku hadn't witnessed her enfeebled state and was clearly startled at what he saw. The exhausted young woman with empty eyes lying in the palanquin still clung to the withered twig.
With their eyes averted, they transferred Sairin to a rickety old horse cart. She was attended to by only three ladies-in-waiting. Shuka rode in an equally decrepit wagon. In order to keep things to a minimum, other than Seiki, only six civil servants were allowed to accompany them. They silently rode in the third wagon.
In the middle of the night, the gate was tightly closed. The place was deserted except for the soldiers escorting them. Officials from the Ministry of Summer held the reins. Five soldiers—watchers or guards—were assigned to each wagon. The gate quietly opened. Only the Shoushikou was there to see them off as Shuka and the others left the palace. It was an unbelievably sad parting.
It'd take over a month to reach the Koukyou by horse cart. Because Sairin was with them, they couldn't stop at ordinary inns. They slept in the wagons, traveling at night as they made their way to the Koukyou. Their shabby appearance notwithstanding, the interiors of the covered wagons were kept shipshape. They were hardly comfortable, though, and the trip was a trying one.
Equally harsh was the severity of Sairin's illness. She lay on a bed in the middle of the wagon as if in a trance. From time to time she came to herself and wept over the plight of the people. When she had cried herself out, she raised her voice in bitter cries against Shishou. Even with her riding in a different wagon, the rest of them couldn't get those cries out of their heads.
The journey wasn't half over before Sairin's ladies-in-waiting had been worn haggard and were on the verge of nervous breakdowns. Shuka had to step in and take over their duties more and more often. And then there was no way to stop their ears or avert their eyes.
"We're all going to die, Shuka! The earth is stained with blood!"
"Taiho—don't say such things—"
"It's the truth! Shishou has cast Sai aside! A wicked era dawns. The youma lie in wait gathering their strength. But the king will tear us asunder before their swarms arrive!" Sairin clutched the withered branch with both hands. "You, me, he'll kill us all! He'll murder Sai!"
"Oh, you mustn't get carried away," Shuka said, consoling her. "Things aren't that bad." She repeated the lies over and over. "His Highness is concerned for your well being, that's all. He doesn't want to place a greater strain on your health. You should take the opportunity to rest well in Sou. Put your mind at ease."
"You're wrong! He's cast me aside! He's cast us all aside! Don't you understand, Shuka? His Highness has murdered scores! He will take everything and cast it into the fire!"
She again collapsed in tears. Shuka said, stroking her hand, "Taiho, please—"
"He wears the visage of a sage and then blesses us with dross and throws Sai to the wolves. And he said he'd show me Paradise."
"Taiho—"
"I believed in His Highness, Shuka. I waited. He said that those dreams were coming ever closer. But they've only grown farther away. Sai isn't like Paradise in the slightest. Every step taken a step into the distance. He promised me!" Sairin raised her head. "Ah, the king's aura again dims—"
"Taiho—"
Sairin clung to her. "Please. We must return to Yuunei. His Highness must be saved. Why are you abandoning him? He is sinking alone beneath the waves.
Illustration
She was clearly divided by her enmity and her love for him, scorning him with the same vehemence with which she delighted in his excellence, and her joy for having chosen him. She alternately lambasted him for abandoning his subjects, and Shuka for abandoning him.
"I don't know if I can take any more of this," Shuka wept, returning to her wagon after a lady-in-waiting relieved her.
"Shuka-sama—" Seiki placed his hand on her back. He looked up at her and said, his voice layered with concern, "I can well understand why His Highness wished to have the Taiho out of view. It is an unbearable sight."
Sairin's illness was evidence of mistakes being made. And Shishou was not the only person making them. Shishou had appointed them to the Imperial Court. Sairin's shitsudou was the fruits of their collective effort. If it was simply the results of fatigue, or the debilitation caused by the contamination by blood, it wouldn't inflict this degree of suffering. And yet her suffering had been cruelly ignored, an indifference that was evidence of the loss of the Way.
Now the consequences of that cruel inattention were being thrust upon them.
"That is something we've all had a hand in. But why?" Shuka looked at Seiki and Eishuku. Up till now, she hadn't been willing to admit to any personal fault. "The fact is, we chased that dream and nothing else. We believed that the course before us was self-evident, that the goal we were pursuing was the proper ideal, and as long as we unfurled that flag with sufficient vigor, we could make anything happen.
In the idealistic government they had founded, no one used their positions for self-interest or personal gain. When such civil servants were discovered, they were fired. But then things grounds to a halt without them so they had to be rehired. The whole affair was certainly a blunder of the first order. And it was their mistake, Shishou's mistake.
They had actually convinced themselves that if the crimes of the corrupt were exposed and they were punished, then they really would see the light. They would reflect upon their sins, and their humiliating example would convince others like them to change their ways. They had not allowed for the fact that there existed corrupt officials who, indicted, punished and shamed, would never repent.
If someone had pointed out to them that the real world was not the one they naively pictured in their minds, then they might have been the ones to see the light.
"Is that where we stumbled? Just like Junko-sama said, have we been building prison walls the whole time? But we haven't been forcing people to hew to the right and killing those who did not obey."
Even the more tyrannical of the officials had been sacked, not executed. Sentences had been tempered by compassion, and every attempt was made to be benevolent. And yet the kingdom continued to sink into chaos, just as did Sairin.
As the journey continued, this fact became undeniable. The common people were plainly in distress. A good part of that distress was due to exploitation by local officials. But the rest was Shuka's fault. Though land management was in her portfolio, she had done little for the people who make their living from the land. Since the time of King Fu, the ministers had lined their own pockets first, and had left the foxes to watch the henhouses.
The farmers abandoned their allotments, the fields went fallow, the canals silted in, the dikes sprang leaks, and the villages were drained of resources by political corruption. All
these facts on the ground should have demanded her attention. The course of action was clear, but the Imperial Treasury lacked the funds to address these problems.
The people impoverished by graft and corruption couldn't bear a heavier tax burden. Shishou had lowered taxes out of compassion, but had drained the treasury in the process.
Sairin's sickness, the devastation of the land, the poverty of the people—the journey brought home to her day after day the enormity of her failings. She was mightily relieved when the peaks of the Koushuu Mountains finally came into view.
Part V
he city of Houga was situated in Kokkyou in the eastern part of Sai. An official from Sou stood at the gates leading from Sai to Sou, along with a company of soldiers. Shuka and the other got off the wagons. Under the watchful gaze of the Sai military, they proceeded through the gates into Sou on foot.
The young woman standing at the head of the company bowed politely. "I am Princess Bun, daughter of the Royal Sou. I am here to welcome the Sai Taiho. I am pleased to know that you have arrived here safely."
"We deeply appreciate the gesture," Eishuku answered on their behalf.
He and Shuka introduced themselves and expressed their thanks to the princess. Bunki nodded and said, "The Chousai must be quite tired. The Sai Taiho appears fatigued as well. We have made a palace available for your use on Samei Mountain. It's not that far from Houga. Let us proceed there."
Bunki indicated a kijuu bearing a palanquin. It was only a short jump from Houga to Samei. Mt. Samei was a Ryou'un Mountain that soared above the Sea of Clouds. They set down at the foot of the mountain, and then wound through the magical tunnels, emerging above the Sea of Clouds. There was a small palace located at the peak surrounded by a large garden.
Sairin was taken to the Seiden of the palace. There she was left in the care of her ladies-in-waiting.
Bunka explained to Shuka, "The villa is used as a summer retreat. It may be a tad chilly, but considering the Sai Taiho's condition, we thought it best to stay close to Houga."