The Twelve Kingdoms: Dreaming of Paradise

helped her to her feet and sat her down in a chair. "Now sit there and calm down. It doesn't look like any kind of revolt is in the works."
    "Not a revolt," Shuka repeated.
    "What kind of revolt would target the Taishi?"
    "You do have a point there," Shuka said to herself, picking up the teacup. The smooth porcelain warmed her palm. "Yes, it cannot be a revolt. Perhaps a grudge or vendetta. But by whom?"
    "Who knows. But basically speaking, aside from the people who live there, only officials from the Ministry of Heaven and the Ministry of Summer and the guards have access to the East Palace."
    "Someone among them?"
    "By process of elimination, but I still have to wonder. The Taishi was not a person who gave people any reason to hate him. Not to mention that carrying weapons into the East Palace is strictly prohibited. The guards at the gate are armed, but they must take off their swords before venturing inside. Not even the King is exempt. Other than the people living there—"
    Shuka almost dropped the teacup, catching herself at the last second. "Seiki—you're not suggesting—!"
    "But we've ruled out any of the residents of the East Palace. We've got to follow this logic through to the bitter end."
    "Y-yes, you are right—"
    "The guards at Choumei Palace were probably not killed by a visitor to the palace. It was the nightwatchmen who were on duty, you see. If we rule out those living in the East Palace, then before getting to Choumei Palace, they must have first passed through the East Palace. If the East Palace guards had spied anybody, then they surely would have warned the Choumei Palace guards."
    "Seiki, if that's true, then that can only mean somebody in the East Palace—"
    Seiki smiled patiently. "That's why I said to wait till I was through. If it was someone from outside the East Palace, they would've had to pass through the East Palace gates. There are guards posted there, so they couldn't have done so unnoticed. It was the dead of night, to begin with, and the guards wouldn't just take somebody's word for it and open the gates. This does seem to point to an occupant in the East Palace. However, there are a number of manors in the palace complex, and walls between them, and guards posted at the gates. The gates are secured at night when the nightwatchmen take over. Wouldn't somebody in the East Palace wishing to visit somebody in Choumei Palace first have to exit the gates of his own residence?"
    "That would be the case."
    "How would this madman keep the guards of his own residence from talking?"
    "Well, the same way as the guards at Choumei Palace—"
    "I'm afraid that would only make the situation worse. True, it would keep them from talking, but killing one's own guards would be a dead giveaway. So much for your alibi."
    Shuka nodded in agreement. "Then who? If not someone inside the East Palace, and not someone outside the East Palace—?"
    "Thinking this through logically, then the most suspicion would fall on Junkou-sama, especially with him not being around to defend himself. But I don't think so."
    Seiki tilted his head to the side, a strange expression rising to his face.
    "What?"
    "Oh, nothing. Just that I was suddenly struck by a curious thought. I'm sure it has nothing to do with this."
    "What has nothing to do with this?"
    Seiki hesitated. "No, really," he insisted. But then he wasn't so certain. "Well, it occurred to me that there might be another gate."
    "Another gate?"
    "Yes, a gate inside the East Palace."
    Shuka's eyes widened with surprise. Yes, there definitely was. A gate leading from the Koukyuu to the East Palace. It would allow someone to enter the East Palace without passing through the palace gates.
    "Shishou—"
    Only Shishou had access to it. Shishou had been sleeping that night in the Imperial Residence in the Seishin. The Koukyuu ("the palace at the back") was immediately behind the Seishin, and there was that passageway to the East Palace.
    The Koukyuu wasn't in use and had been shuttered and locked, as were the gates leading to it. No guards were posted there. In short, somebody in the Seishin could make his way undetected into the East Palace simply by removing a lock and a bolt.
    "No, no, this is no time to be harboring such vile thoughts. Not when everything is still up in the air."
    "But—"
    A thought flitted through her mind. Enraged by the Daishikou's remonstrations, Shishou had rebuked and then sacked him. Shishou of late, despite his spirited behavior, had