Laura Rowland - Black Lotus

Wild panic launched Hirata to his feet. “Please excuse me,” he said, bowing hastily to Sano. “I must go to the Black Lotus Temple to rescue Midori.”

Sano’s expression was worried, conflicted. “The shogun has ordered me to stay away from the Black Lotus, and his order includes my retainers.”

Reiko exclaimed in outraged alarm: “But we can’t just leave her there!”

Hirata wished with all his heart that he could go back in time and treat Midori better so she wouldn’t have felt a need to put herself in danger. Suddenly he recalled the warning given him by the police clerk Uchida: “By succumbing to pride and ambition, one may end up losing everything that really matters.” Too late, he realized that his shallow new friendships meant nothing to him. What a blind, vain fool he’d been! Midori was all that mattered. He was in love with her, and now he stood to lose her. Hirata wanted to raise an army, storm the temple walls, and tear apart every building until he found Midori, then slay anyone who had hurt her.

Yet his samurai spirit could neither disobey his supreme lord’s wishes nor jeopardize Sano, who would share the blame for his disobedience. Torn between love and honor, overwhelmed by his helplessness, he dropped to his knees before Sano.

“Please,” he said in a voice that broke on a sob. “Help me find a way to rescue Midori.”

Sano decided that Midori’s disappearance justified a search of the Black Lotus Temple, which required the shogun’s special permission. He and Hirata hastened to the palace. There they found Tokugawa Tsunayoshi seated on the dais in his reception room. As various officials presented documents for his approval, he affixed his personal signature seal to each.

“Ahh, Sōsakan-sama and Hirata-san,” he said, smiling wearily. “This is such tedious, exhausting work that I, ahh, hope you have come to refresh me with interesting news.”

Sano and Hirata knelt below the dais and bowed. “Yes, we do bring news, Your Excellency,” Sano said. “Niu Midori, one of your honorable mother’s ladies-in-waiting and daughter of the daimyo of Satsuma and Osumi Provinces, went to the Black Lotus Temple two days ago. No one has seen or heard from her since.”

“Most puzzling,” Tsunayoshi said, wrinkling his brow in an obvious attempt to guess how this concerned him.

“Recently there have been some serious acts of violence associated with the sect,” Sano continued.

He glanced at Hirata sitting silently beside him. Hirata’s face was set in rigid lines that betrayed his desperation to get to the point of the conversation. Yet asking the shogun to change an order was an extreme step for which Sano must demonstrate strong cause.

“Minister Fugatami and his wife were murdered and their children kidnapped by the killers, who painted the Black Lotus symbol in blood on the walls,” Sano continued. “My entourage and I were attacked and some of my men killed by armed Black Lotus priests. Now it appears that Niu Midori is trapped in the temple and is most probably in grave danger. I know that you have ordered me to stay away from the Black Lotus sect, but I must beg you to let us go into the temple to save an innocent, helpless young woman.”

The shogun frowned in displeasure. The officials stirred uneasily, and Sano sensed their wish to flee. He himself wouldn’t want to be around when some other foolhardy soul challenged the shogun’s authority.

“Niu Midori is a good, kind, loyal girl,” Hirata blurted. “She-I-”

As his voice faltered in his effort to convey how much Midori meant to him without expressing unseemly emotions, the shogun’s expression softened.

“Ahh, I see that the young woman in question is important to you,” Tsunayoshi said, perceptive regarding matters of love, if about nothing else. “Something certainly must be done to rescue her.” Worry clouded his face. “However, I cannot allow anyone to interfere with the Black Lotus.”

Sano thought of the powerful Tokugawa relatives intimidating the shogun into protecting their religious sect. His heart sank, and Hirata flashed him an agonized look.

“Also, I do not think I should, ahh, revoke my orders.” The shogun pondered a moment, then said uncertainly, “But maybe just this once…?”

Hope leapt in Sano; he heard Hirata inhale a deep breath. Then a panel of the landscape mural on a wall of the chamber swung open. Senior Elder Makino walked in from the adjacent room. The sight of the emaciated Makino gave Sano an unpleasant shock. Makino must have listened to the whole conversation, and his arrival signaled trouble.

“Ahh, Makino-san, how convenient that you should come now,” the shogun said with a glad smile. “Maybe you can, help me resolve a dilemma that has just arisen.”

With a covert, hostile glance at Sano, the senior elder knelt near the dais and bowed to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. “Certainly I shall do my best.”

Sano inwardly cursed the bad luck that Makino had happened to be around when he could least afford a battle over their lord’s favor.

The shogun explained the situation; obviously, he had no idea that Makino eavesdropped on him. “I think maybe I should allow the sōsakan-sama to go to the temple and fetch Niu Midori as he wishes to do, but I have already banned him from the temple.” He addressed Makino with timid entreaty: “What is your opinion?”

“I advise against granting the sōsakan-sama’s wish,” Makino said, just as Sano had expected. “The lady may or may not be at the temple, and in any case, his suppositions about the Black Lotus do not signify that she is in any need of rescue or that you should revoke your order.”

“We shouldn’t spend valuable time debating theories when the wisest course of action would be to remove Niu Midori from the temple at once,” Sano said, fighting impatience.

He wondered whether Makino was one of the high-ranking officials who belonged to the Black Lotus and protected it, then thought not. Makino was too selfish for fanatical loyalty to a religious order. More likely, he just wanted to prevent Sano from getting a special concession from the shogun.

Tsunayoshi gave Sano a confused, benevolent look, as though he might agree with Sano just to end this conversation, which taxed his limited mental powers.

Makino said hastily,”But there is proof that the sōsakan-sama wishes to defy your orders for a reason that has nothing to do with a missing lady. In fact, I venture to say that the lady is not missing at all, and the sōsakan-sama has made up the story to further his own sinister purpose.”

As Sano wondered what on earth Makino was talking about, the senior elder slipped his bony fingers beneath the sash at his waist and removed a folded sheet of paper.

“This document reveals the sōsakan-sama’s true motives.” With a flourish, Makino unfolded the paper and held it up for the assembly’s inspection.

Sano saw his own calligraphy and recognized a letter he’d recently written. An awful prescience chilled him.

“It is a letter sent by the sōsakan-sama to the Honorable Chamberlain Yanagisawa,” said Makino. He flashed Sano a sly look, adding, “Sometimes routine inspections at highway checkpoints turn up the most interesting items.”

Makino’s minions had confiscated the letter from the messenger, Sano realized. He saw Hirata anxiously watching him, but in his sudden panic, he couldn’t think how to forestall impending disaster.

“Your Excellency, shall I read you the relevant passage of the letter?” Makino said.

“Yes, do,” the shogun said, sounding mystified but curious. Exuding satisfaction, Makino read:

“Honorable Chamberlain, I must bring to your attention a matter that poses a serious threat to the Tokugawa regime. While investigating a case at the Black Lotus Temple, I discovered that the sect has gained followers among the upper echelon of the bakufu, and much influence over the shogun. I believe the sect is responsible for the recent murder of the Minister of Temples and Shrines, who opposed it. Citizens have accused the Black Lotus of kidnapping, extortion, and violent attacks on the public, and these accusations are too many to disregard. However, the shogun has prohibited me from investigating the Black Lotus Temple, apparently because he has been persuaded to shield its secret activities. Therefore, I beg you to return to Edo and join forces with me to learn what the Black Lotus is up to and combat its rise to power.”