Days in Green

5. The ex-emperor tells his plan to the family at breakfast.

　法皇、三位殿（さんみどの）へ御幸（ごこう）の御志（おんこころざし）在（あ）らせたまふ事

　Kazuhito didn’t practice meditation as he normally did every morning. Instead, he took a scroll from the shelf and read it at his desk. After that, he wrote some comments on the paper with red ink, using a writing brush, and pulled out other pieces of paper from his stationery tray.

　He called Sadako after he finished writing. She listened to his order in silence and received a letter from him.

　When he went to the open hearth, Naohito and Yutahito were having breakfast. They ate a bowl of rice porridge with millet and some pickled wild plants. Contrary to the luxury sweets the previous night, humble meals were ordinary for the royal family in Anou. The runners from Kyoto came to Anou and gave them rice and food materials, but sometimes that was stolen or stopped by the incidental battles. The Southern Court gave them local yams and millets as they could, but the family needed more. The doctor and the ladies had grown vegetables in the courtyard for the last year to supply insufficient nutrients.

　The father said to his younger son, sitting at the side of the hearth, “Come with me today with your flute to Lady Sanmi.”

　Naohito’s face looked a bit tense.

“...Yes, Father.”

　Akiko soon came in. “Your Majesty? Why are you abruptly going to take our prince to her?”

“For the greeting. Don’t worry about that,” he said. “As you know, she is waiting for my review of their poems and to listen to a good flute player.”

“We are at war, and she is the mother of the Southern fake emperor,” she said, and continued her words. “Minister Tōin[1] and you still like her, but she is a greedy old fox who let Emperor Go-Daigo go the wrong way. Don’t be bewitched by such a woman.”

“Yes, she is greedy, an avid poem collector. She should know all the poems produced by the members of the Southern Court. Sometimes we must get information about who has the writing skills for propaganda and agitation in literature,” Kazuhito said.

　He said nothing while he ate his porridge.

“Why don’t you take a woman with you today?” Akiko asked. “I think it isn’t an excellent idea that you let our prince meet her without our attendance. Well-educated men are really soft for women like her.” Akiko took the lid off the boiling pot on the hearth. “Remember, she is a kind of Dájǐ[2].”

　Kazuhito poured hot water into the bowl with a scoop to rinse it. He sipped at the water with the porridge residue. “You are very worried because you think my son would be charmed by elder beauties, like his father,” he said. The lady of honor glanced at him with a frown.

“Father, shouldn’t I take the role?” Okihito said to them from a corner of the room, practicing the biwa fingers holding the broom. “I heard she was like Princess Sotōri[3], Dájǐ, or Yángguìfēi for every man when she was young. I’d like to see her for my own experience.”

“No. Thank you, Emperor. We don’t have to remind her that you’re a potential competitor to Noriyoshi. We just must occasionally remind her of the value of keeping us alive,” the family head said.

“OK, Father,” Okihito said and started playing the air biwa again.

“So, Sadako or I will attend with you,” Akiko said.

“Akiko-san, we don’t need psychic battles between the Northern and the Southern foxy women in the same room. We must relax her to open her mind to our family. Diplomatic and clever ladies should stay here today, please.”

　Yutahito, sitting by Naohito, opened his mouth. “I like to look at beautiful women, too. How about you take me along?” He passed a small pot to Kazuhito. “…And how about the morning tea?”

“Thanks.” Kazuhito took a small portion of tea powder from the pot and put it into a bowl. Akiko poured hot water into it. “Akiko-san, make four lunch bags of rice balls for us: the lad, two monks, and a prison guard,” he said.

　Akiko sighed and nodded to him.

“Be careful. Don’t drink or eat anything in her house, even if you think that is disrespectful. I’ll prepare bottles of water, too,” Akiko said to her nephew.

　After drinking the tea, Kazuhito went to the courtyard. The doctor was there with a middle-aged samurai by a bamboo bucket filled with shining water. Fish were swimming in it. When Kazuhito appeared, the samurai bowed to him and quickly returned to the gate. The doctor crouched down on the ground in front of his master.

“Relax. Sorry to bother you while you were talking with him. Tell him later that we are thankful for the good nutrients for my hungry lads,” he said.

　Hisanari looked up at the ex-emperor and said, “Your Majesty, I’m worried about your sleep. Sometimes, medicine is not enough. I recommend that you call monks to chant against evil spirits...”

“Now, I’m already a monk.” Kazuhito smiled. “And please cut some roses over there. We’ll visit Lady Sanmi with them today.”

　　　　　　　　　　...

　After Sadako came back with the returning letter, Naohito stood at the gate wearing an orange silk coat. Yutahito held white roses wrapped in pale pink paper. He enjoyed their perfume and said, “I have never seen such a large and early-flowering variety. This gift is very suitable for her. It is beautiful, fragrant, and thorned.”

“I didn’t mean that, and please take care what you say,” Kazuhito said, gesturing with his finger in front of his mouth. “I just like roses, and she said that once, too.”

“Did she?”

　Yutahito and Naohito looked at Kazuhito. The family head showed a mysterious smile. “She’s not so cruel as you think. She is only guilty of loving the shitty artist.”

“Father.” Naohito poked him with his elbow. The samurai boy carrying a bow and arrows was approaching them from the watchers’ gate. He tied his black hair on his back in a ponytail and wore old armor over a freshly washed blue linen cloth. He bowed gently to them but kept his left hand on the short sword at his waist.

　He seemed hesitant about whom to talk to at first because there were only royals without a messenger lady.

“Thank you for accompanying us. Good morning,” Yutahito said. “You can talk to us directly because today’s meeting is casual.”

　A sweet smell of roses spread around them. The boy nodded and suggested they ride horses, but Kazuhito denied that in a polite way.

“We’re neighbors who can hear each other’s instruments. I prefer to use my own feet. Thank you.”

　　　　　　　　　　…

　Lady Sanmi—the woman he was visiting that day—was the class name of the woman who served the emperor. Her real name was Kadoko, and she had served Emperor Go-Daigo. She was born into a middle-noble family, but the emperor loved her looks and intelligence. After his death, she had become an actual queen as the emperor’s mother of the Southern Court in Anou.

Continued in Chapter 6

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1. (1291–1360) Tōin Kinkata, a politician who worked for both the Southern and the Northern Courts. Both the imperial courts respected his knowledge. The stepfather of Ano Kadoko. The cousin of Saneko. His son, Saneyo, was a loyal retainer of Go-Daigo and became the Southern Court’s minister.

2. (?–BC1023) The mythical villainess in ancient China. The last emperor of the Yin Dynasty, Yīn Zhòuwáng, loved her crazily, and the empire was destroyed at last.

3. The nickname of a mythical princess in ancient Japan. It was derived from her beauty that could be seen through her clothes (So, clothes; and tōri, through). Her full brother, Crown Prince Karu, loved her even though it was taboo. They were accused of their incestuous sin and died together.