The Twelve Kingdoms: Dreaming of Paradise

bureaucracy. In many ways, Shuka wondered if the government had made any progress at all since the reign of King Fu. The lot of the commoners certainly hadn't improved in the meantime. Rather, long-accumulated assets were slowly and steadily being worn away.
    There wasn't much point to Shishou heading down the same path as King Fu. And yet, as Shuka pointed out, he remained undaunted. "We just have to correct our mistakes. We must remain firm in our conviction. We can't think of retreat now."
    "I guess so. But, you know, isn't that what you'd expect from him? At times like this, it's just not anybody who could get the ministers to calm down. Aren't you most likely to distrust somebody else is when you trust yourself the least? Seems obvious to me."
    With a nod to himself, Seiki's full cheeks dimpled in a grin. "It's not like ordinary people, you know. There's no way that our Shishou-sama could have parted from the Way in so mundane a fashion. I'm sure of it."
    "Yes," Shuka answered, but without any conviction in her heart.

Part II
    espite Shuka's concerns, most of the ministers adopted Shishou's sense of conviction as their own and cast their doubts aside. Any diagnosis of Sairin's illness as the shitsudou must be mistaken. And even if it wasn't, if they all put their shoulders to the wheel, her condition was sure to improve.
    An optimistic atmosphere suffused the Imperial Court. But the liveliness that had returned to government affairs pained Shuka all the more.
    Shishou took to the administration of the kingdom with greater vigor. But for all this enthusiasm, his governance was as chaotic as ever. Shishou's words and actions never matched the clarity of his faith and vision. Confusion blossomed like dandelions. What was stated as a fact at noon would be contradicted by sunset, the cycle repeating itself several more times for good measure before the day was done.
    From Shuka's perspective, this was proof that, rattled by Sairin's illness, Shishou was wildly changing course. Whether intentionally oblivious to what he was doing or not, he drove himself into one corner after another, just as he had before.
    Anybody pointing this out to him would be severely censured. With the rule of law becoming as certain as a drunken man's walk, the Daishikou also remonstrated with Shishou. The exasperated Shishou lashed back, shaking up the Imperial Court once again. Those ministers who had turned their eyes from the possibility before were forced to consider that he had indeed strayed from the Way.
    The Privy Council sank into a collective depression. And then in the midst of all this, early one morning Shuka was shaken awake.
    "Seiki?"
    "I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep, but something had come up. The Shousai is here."
    Shuka leapt out of bed. That the vice-minister of the Ministry of Heaven should be visiting the manse at this hour—
    "Did he say why?"
    "Something of a confidential nature. He appears very distraught. I've been trying to get him to calm down. The sooner the better, if you don't mind. I've shown him into the parlor."
    "What about Eishuku?"
    "He arrived home after you went to bed, dead on his feet. He's asleep in the study. It'll take you a few minutes to get dressed, so I guess now would be a good time to wake him up. He's bound to be in a bad mood, though."
    Shuka nodded. She changed quickly. Straightening her clothing she noticed that her hands were shaking. She couldn't dismiss from her mind the thought that something bad had happened to Sairin.
    She left the bedroom, her head spinning, and hurried down the hall to the parlor. The pale face of the Shousai came into view. Before the question could leave her mouth, Eishuku rushed in after her.
    "Something's happened—"
    The Shousai bowed. He was trembling noticeably. "The Chousai requests that you come at once to the Left Palace Annex."
    "The Taiho—" The same question had obviously been on Eishuku's mind.
    The Shousai shook his head. "Not the Taiho. The Taishi. The Taishi is dead."
    Shuka started and looked at Eishuku. When he acceded to the throne, Shishou had listed his parents and siblings on the Registry of Wizards, bestowing royal titles on them, and set them up in the Imperial Palace.
    Daishou, his father, had made a name for himself as a great man of character, as had Daishou's younger brothers and sister, Shinshi foremost among them. Shishou's younger brother, Junkou, had backed him since the founding of Kouto.
    All of his immediate family