shogun with a cup of steaming liquid.
Sano and Hirata knelt and bowed. "I apologize for intruding upon you in your illness, Your Excellency," Sano said. "If you'd like to wait until later for me to report the status of the murder investigation-"
The shogun waved away this suggestion with a feeble hand. "Stay, stay." He raised himself to drink from Dr. Kitano's cup, then eyed it suspiciously. "What is this?"
"Bamboo-ash tea, to soothe your stomach."
"You. Come here!" Beckoning a servant, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi commanded, "Taste this, and, ahh, make sure there's no poison."
"But I prepared it with my own hands," Dr. Kitano said. "It's perfectly safe."
"With a poisoner loose in Edo Castle, one cannot be too careful," the shogun said darkly.
The servant drank. When he remained alive and well after several moments, the shogun finished the tea. Attendants ushered in the masseur, a bald, blind man. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi pointed at the jar of oil the masseur carried. "Try that out on, ahh, someone else first."
A guard smeared the oil on his arm. More guards brought caged birds to detect noxious fumes; servants tasted cakes for the shogun. He obviously didn't care about Lady Harume. It was his own vulnerability that worried him, with good reason: Assassination was a time-honored method by which ambitious warriors overturned regimes and seized power.
"The poison that killed Lady Harume was in a bottle of ink marked with her name," Sano said. "She was clearly the murderer's target- not you, Your Excellency."
"That makes no, ahh, difference." The shogun grunted as his attendants stripped off his robe, exposing sagging white flesh. A loincloth covered his sex and cleaved the withered buttocks. Lying facedown, he said, "The poisoning was an indirect attack on me. The murderer will not stop at killing a worthless concubine. I am in, ahh, grave danger."
The masseur's hands kneaded his back. Servants fed him cakes and tea, while guards placed the birdcages around the room. Sano didn't agree with Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's self-centered view of the murder, but at this stage could not completely dismiss the shogun's fears.. Political intrigue was a possible motive behind the crime. Sano gave the results of his interview with Lady Keisho-in and Madam Chizuru and outlined his plans to question Lady Ichiteru and Lieutenant Kushida. He mentioned that Lady Harume's pillow book indicated an additional suspect, whose identity he would determine.
An abrupt stillness fell over the room. Servants and guards ceased their activities; the masseur's hands froze on Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's body. Hirata inhaled sharply. Sano's nape prickled in response to the same inaudible signal that had alerted the others. He turned toward the door.
There stood Chamberlain Yanagisawa, regal in brilliant robes, an enigmatic smile on his handsome face. Servants, guards, attendants, and masseur prostrated themselves in obeisance. Behind Sano's calm fa‡ade, his heart seized. Yanagisawa must have been listening next door, and come to obstruct this investigation as he had others.
"Ahh, Yanagisawa-san. Welcome." Tokugawa Tsunayoshi smiled affectionately at his former prot‚g‚ and longtime lover. "Sosakan Sano has just reported on his inquiry into Lady Harume's murder. We would appreciate your advice."
Viewing Sano as a rival for Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's favor, for power over the weak lord and thus the entire nation, Chamberlain Yanagisawa had in the recent past deployed assassins to kill Sano and spies to unearth information to use against him. Yanagisawa had spread vicious rumors about Sano and ordered officials not to cooperate with his inquiries. He'd sent Sano to Nagasaki, hoping he would get in enough trouble there to destroy him forever. And Sano knew that Chamberlain Yanagisawa was furious because the ploy hadn't worked.
Upon Sano's return, the shogun and many high officials had gathered at the palace to welcome him. As he passed down the receiving line, Chamberlain
Sano and Hirata knelt and bowed. "I apologize for intruding upon you in your illness, Your Excellency," Sano said. "If you'd like to wait until later for me to report the status of the murder investigation-"
The shogun waved away this suggestion with a feeble hand. "Stay, stay." He raised himself to drink from Dr. Kitano's cup, then eyed it suspiciously. "What is this?"
"Bamboo-ash tea, to soothe your stomach."
"You. Come here!" Beckoning a servant, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi commanded, "Taste this, and, ahh, make sure there's no poison."
"But I prepared it with my own hands," Dr. Kitano said. "It's perfectly safe."
"With a poisoner loose in Edo Castle, one cannot be too careful," the shogun said darkly.
The servant drank. When he remained alive and well after several moments, the shogun finished the tea. Attendants ushered in the masseur, a bald, blind man. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi pointed at the jar of oil the masseur carried. "Try that out on, ahh, someone else first."
A guard smeared the oil on his arm. More guards brought caged birds to detect noxious fumes; servants tasted cakes for the shogun. He obviously didn't care about Lady Harume. It was his own vulnerability that worried him, with good reason: Assassination was a time-honored method by which ambitious warriors overturned regimes and seized power.
"The poison that killed Lady Harume was in a bottle of ink marked with her name," Sano said. "She was clearly the murderer's target- not you, Your Excellency."
"That makes no, ahh, difference." The shogun grunted as his attendants stripped off his robe, exposing sagging white flesh. A loincloth covered his sex and cleaved the withered buttocks. Lying facedown, he said, "The poisoning was an indirect attack on me. The murderer will not stop at killing a worthless concubine. I am in, ahh, grave danger."
The masseur's hands kneaded his back. Servants fed him cakes and tea, while guards placed the birdcages around the room. Sano didn't agree with Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's self-centered view of the murder, but at this stage could not completely dismiss the shogun's fears.. Political intrigue was a possible motive behind the crime. Sano gave the results of his interview with Lady Keisho-in and Madam Chizuru and outlined his plans to question Lady Ichiteru and Lieutenant Kushida. He mentioned that Lady Harume's pillow book indicated an additional suspect, whose identity he would determine.
An abrupt stillness fell over the room. Servants and guards ceased their activities; the masseur's hands froze on Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's body. Hirata inhaled sharply. Sano's nape prickled in response to the same inaudible signal that had alerted the others. He turned toward the door.
There stood Chamberlain Yanagisawa, regal in brilliant robes, an enigmatic smile on his handsome face. Servants, guards, attendants, and masseur prostrated themselves in obeisance. Behind Sano's calm fa‡ade, his heart seized. Yanagisawa must have been listening next door, and come to obstruct this investigation as he had others.
"Ahh, Yanagisawa-san. Welcome." Tokugawa Tsunayoshi smiled affectionately at his former prot‚g‚ and longtime lover. "Sosakan Sano has just reported on his inquiry into Lady Harume's murder. We would appreciate your advice."
Viewing Sano as a rival for Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's favor, for power over the weak lord and thus the entire nation, Chamberlain Yanagisawa had in the recent past deployed assassins to kill Sano and spies to unearth information to use against him. Yanagisawa had spread vicious rumors about Sano and ordered officials not to cooperate with his inquiries. He'd sent Sano to Nagasaki, hoping he would get in enough trouble there to destroy him forever. And Sano knew that Chamberlain Yanagisawa was furious because the ploy hadn't worked.
Upon Sano's return, the shogun and many high officials had gathered at the palace to welcome him. As he passed down the receiving line, Chamberlain
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