“But the poems got more and more personal. And one night there was a moon-viewing party. We went for a walk in the woods, and I told her I was in love with her. She said she was in love with me. And, well, one thing led to another.”
Masahiro had been to moon-viewing parties and knew that other things went on there besides looking at the moon. He’d heard the whispers, scuffles, and giggling in the darkness.
“It was my first time,” Jinnosuke said. “She was so passionate, as if she was starved for lovemaking. We couldn’t get enough of each other. When her husband was away, we would meet in her chamber. We thought people wouldn’t notice. But pretty soon the fellows started making remarks, and the maids giggled when they saw me. It wasn’t smart of us, I know.”
Masahiro thought it wasn’t smart to get drunk and blab to a stranger. He remembered Detective Marume telling him, People are stupid. That’s a real advantage for a detective.
“Then Tsuruhime got smallpox.” Tears welled in Jinnosuke’s eyes. “Nobody was allowed to go near her except her nurse. I couldn’t even send her letters. I didn’t trust the nurse not to tell Lord Tsunanori.” He choked on a sob. “I couldn’t even say good-bye.”
Masahiro felt sorry for Jinnosuke, but he remembered Detective Marume saying, You can’t allow sympathy to get in the way when you’re interrogating a witness.
“Did Lord Tsunanori find out about you and Tsuruhime?” Masahiro asked.
“I don’t think so. If he did, he would have killed me. But maybe somebody told him. He’s been giving me dirty looks. Or maybe I’m just imagining it.” Jinnosuke pressed his hands over his temples. “Merciful gods, I’m so confused! I don’t want to go home. I can’t take any more stares or jokes, and I’m scared of Lord Tsunanori.”
You have to keep on them even if it makes you feel bad, Detective Marume’s voice said in Masahiro’s memory. “If Lord Tsunanori did know, what would he have done to Tsuruhime?”
Jinnosuke looked up in surprise. “Nothing. What could he have done? She was the shogun’s daughter. You don’t divorce the shogun’s daughter, shave her head, or send her to work as a prostitute in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter.”
Those were the usual punishments for women who committed adultery, Masahiro knew. But maybe Lord Tsunanori had punished Tsuruhime in a way that no one, including the shogun, would know he’d done it. Maybe he’d infected her with smallpox so that her death would seem natural. Masahiro remembered what his father had said last night: If I didn’t want to believe Yanagisawa killed her, Lord Tsunanori would be my favorite suspect. Now Masahiro was beginning to think that Lord Tsunanori was indeed guilty.
He wished he hadn’t found Jinnosuke, hadn’t gone to Lord Tsunanori’s estate. All he’d accomplished was to lose Taeko and find more evidence that pointed away from Yanagisawa.
* * *
A guesthouse stood near the palace, secluded within stone walls, amid pine trees. Yanagisawa strode into the house, which the shogun had lent him because his estate wasn’t rebuilt yet. Still fuming from his clashes with Sano and Ienobu, he kicked off his shoes in the entryway and threw his swords onto the rack. On his way to his private chambers, he heard noises in the adjacent room. That was where Yoshisato had lived before moving to the heir’s residence. Yanagisawa looked in and saw Yoshisato standing by the cabinets built into one wall.
“Why aren’t you at the palace?” Yanagisawa demanded. “Didn’t we agree that one of us should be with the shogun at all times?”
“He’s reading documents in the privy. He’ll be there for a good hour. Rather than stand outside the door and smell his farts, I came to get some things I forgot to pack when I moved.” Yoshisato held up a stack of clothes. He eyed Yanagisawa curiously. “Why the bad mood?”
“I just had words with Sano and Ienobu.”
Yoshisato cast his gaze up at the ceiling. “Why am I not surprised? What happened?”
“Sano is investigating the death of the shogun’s daughter, just as I suspected. He refused to stop. He and Ienobu both accused me of infecting her with smallpox by planting a contaminated bedsheet in her room. Ienobu practically admitted he’s responsible for the whispering campaign, and he’s certainly not going to give up trying to discredit you. So excuse me if my mood isn’t more cheerful.”
Surprise lifted Yoshisato’s brows. He seemed not to have known there was any doubt that the shogun’s daughter had died a natural death or that Sano was investigating it. “I suppose you gave Sano and Ienobu as good as you got. You really know how to fan a fire.”
“Don’t.” Yanagisawa held up his hand. “I’ve had enough for one day. I’m not going to listen to criticism from you.”
“You will listen,” Yoshisato said, his eyes hot. “Because it isn’t just your future that will be affected by your actions. Mine is at stake, too.”
“All right,” Yanagisawa said, exasperated. “What do you, in your infinite wisdom, think I should have done?”
“You should never have started a feud with Sano. You should have been so nice to him that he would be licking your shoes now. You should have befriended Ienobu instead of ignoring him until he started to be a problem and then pushing him out of the court.”
“Oh, well, I’ll just travel back in time and change the course of history!”
“Since you can’t, you should go to Sano and Ienobu and apologize.”
That Yanagisawa should apologize to his enemies! “Have you lost your mind?”
“I’m trying to help you find yours. Offer them anything they want in exchange for supporting me as the shogun’s heir. Tell Sano he can be chamberlain and you step down. Promise him and Ienobu their own provinces to rule when I’m shogun. Convert them from enemies to allies who will help me control the regime when I’m shogun.”
Yanagisawa slashed the air with his hand. “I won’t put up with Sano for another term. I won’t share power with him and Ienobu.”
“You will,” Yoshisato said, deadly earnest. “Because it’s how I want to handle them. And because you have to stop creating enemies and strife everywhere you go, or neither of us will live long enough for me to become shogun.”
The nerve of this brat! “I’ve controlled the regime for the greater part of twenty years! I know what I’m doing! Whereas you have no political experience. We have to crush Sano and Ienobu and our other enemies before they can crush us!”
“Your old-fashioned ways aren’t working. It’s time for a fresh approach.”
“You’re insane!”
“I’m the shogun’s heir. You’re not.”
They must sound like two little boys fighting in the nursery, Yanagisawa thought. “You already admitted that you can’t function without me.”
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to give you a choice: Either you cooperate with me, or your days at court are over.” Yoshisato looked scared to be alone but seemed braced by his convictions. He stalked out of the house.
Yanagisawa gazed after him, furious at the ultimatum, helpless because Yoshisato had the power to make it stick.
“You should listen to him,” said a husky female voice. “He’s right.”
A woman dressed in a brown kimono stood in the doorway. It was Lady Someko, Yoshisato’s mother.
“What are you doing here?” Yanagisawa demanded.
“I live here, remember?” She had the same wide face, rounded chin, and tilted, sparkling eyes as Yoshisato. At age forty-three, she was as beautiful as the day she and Yanagisawa had first met. She gave a laugh that was at once seductive and unpleasant. “You moved me in with you the day you revealed Yoshisato as the shogun’s son.” She stepped into the room and flung out her arms. Her long sleeves spread like wings; the silk glinted with orange lights like flames. Gold ornaments shimmered in her upswept hair, which was still glossy black. “So here I am.”