The Twelve Kingdoms: Dreaming of Paradise

early summer. The villa had been given them along with their political appointments, but up to this point, Shuka hadn't taken the time to really appreciate the view. She'd been so caught up in her official duties over the past twenty years that for days on end she'd barely seen Eishuku's face except at Privy Council meetings. After a while she grew accustomed to the routine and treated it like it was normal.
    Perhaps becoming resigned to their fates, Shuka had mellowed to a point that finally allowed her to contemplate such thoughts.
    Two days later, early in the afternoon, the Shoushikou arrived in a hurry. "Chousai, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to change into these clothes." He held out a manservant's outfit.
    "What's this about?"
    "The Taiho has been found."
    "Junkou?" said Shuka, raising her voice. "Where?"
    "In Suiyou Manor. He is deceased."
    Shuka caught her breath. The Shoushikou explained the circumstances. Seeing the ransacked state of their residence and following Eishuku's advice, the Ministry of Heaven had commenced an inventory of the Imperial Repository. Anticipating that Shishou's reign would soon come to an end, corrupt officials were brazenly pillaging the palace right and left.
    The corruption had not yet reached the inner sanctum of the Imperial Living Quarters and the Roshin. But the Ministries of Heaven and Fall increased their audits and strengthened the security patrols. During one such patrol, deep in the Koukyuu, an official from the Ministry of Heaven detected a strong stench in Suiyou Manor, the main building of the North Palace Complex. Investigating further, he discovered the body.
    Junkou's corpse had been wrapped in a rug and deposited in the Suiyou Manor stables. Enough time had passed that the body had decayed beyond recognition, but it was clear from the clothing that it was Junkou.
    "Undoubtedly the same carpet that went missing from Choumei Manor. From the condition of the remains, it is apparent that the Taiho was killed shortly after the Taishi by the same assailant. The Kasho Kada was found together with the body."
    "The Kasho Kada?"
    "Yes. But a branch was broken off and is missing. When the killing blow was delivered, it must have cut through what he had in his pocket. In any case, hardly anybody has access to the North Palace Complex. The one person who does—"
    "His Highness."
    The Shoushikou nodded grimly. "Things being what they are, we can't officially report this to the King. There isn't a Taisai or a Shousai. I'm not sure what our next course of action should be. There's nobody else to assume command—"
    "My mother, the Taifu—"
    "She's been informed. The Taifu was hoping that you would take up the duties of Chousai—in secret."
    "I see," Eishuku murmured to himself. He took the garb from the Shoushikou. "Wait here. I'll be back."
    Eishuku went to his room to change. From a corner of the room, Seiki piped up. "Um, could I ask the Shoushikou a question?"
    "What's that?"
    "Has the missing piece of the Kasho Kada been found?"
    "No," the Shoushikou said, puzzled by this inquiry.
    Seiki appeared to puzzle over this as well. When Eishuku emerged from the bedroom dressed in the servant's garb, Seiki said to him, "You should search the Taiho's person very carefully. It is possible that a piece of the branch is inside his body. But in any case, please be careful."

Chapter 18
    A fter Eishuku left, Shuka asked Seiki, "Why that request?"
    Seiki hunched his shoulders as if equally confused. "Just something that occurred to me. I'm not really sure myself."
    "That's not good enough, Seiki. Sit down and explain yourself."
    Seiki lowered himself uncomfortably into a chair like a disobedient child about to catch a scolding. "You see, if the wounds on Taiho Junkou's body were so grievous, then it stands to reason that he was slain at the same time as the Taishi. I recall that there was a great deal of blood collected in one area. It probably mostly belonged to the Taiho."
    "Yes, that makes sense. And—?"
    "Why would anybody, after exacting such violence upon the Taiho's person, not leave the body there? Why go to the trouble of moving only him? A number of reasons spring to mind, but it makes more sense to me if he had the Kasho Kada with him and a branch was broken off. One way or another, the broken piece got wedged inside Junkou-sama's body. That made it necessary to search his body more carefully."
    "But why? If the missing piece couldn't be retrieved, why not just discard