Read The Shogun's Daughter for Free Online

wrinkled her nose. “I wondered what such a filthy sheet was doing there. I meant to tell the maid to throw it away, but I forgot. I didn’t remember it until this morning. I looked for it, and it was gone.”
    “Korika told me about the sheet,” Lady Nobuko said. “I think it belonged to someone else who’d had smallpox, and it was soiled with blood and pus from that person’s sores. I believe it was put there to infect Tsuruhime.”
    “I’ve heard that soiled bedclothes can spread the disease to people who handle them,” Sano said, intrigued yet doubtful. “But how can you be sure that this sheet was in fact contaminated with smallpox?”
    “My intuition tells me,” Lady Nobuko said.
    Sano looked askance at her. Reiko frowned at him. She trusted in the veracity of female intuition; he was skeptical.
    “Supposing the sheet was contaminated,” Reiko said, “did anyone else in the household get smallpox?”
    “No.” Lady Nobuko sounded annoyed because logic discredited her belief.
    “If Tsuruhime was deliberately infected,” Reiko said, “then why?”
    “To eliminate her without the appearance of foul play,” Lady Nobuko said.
    Korika spoke up, eager to support her mistress. “It was pure accident that I saw the sheet. If I hadn’t, nobody would suspect she was murdered.”
    “Suppose you’re right.” Sano felt Lady Nobuko’s certainty eroding his objectivity. “Then who killed Tsuruhime?”
    “I am right,” Lady Nobuko declared. “It was Yanagisawa.”
    The hammering stopped for a moment. In the sudden silence Sano felt shock course through him and Reiko and Masahiro. His heart began to pound.
    “You think Yanagisawa planted a smallpox-infested sheet in Tsuruhime’s room?” Reiko sounded astonished, dubious.
    “No,” Lady Nobuko said, “he wouldn’t risk infecting himself or getting caught. But he was responsible. That’s why I’m here. I want you to prove he’s guilty.”
    Sano remembered that she had good reason for thinking Yanagisawa capable of a crime as evil as murdering his lord’s daughter. She also had good reason to want to get him in trouble. And she wasn’t alone in her wish.
    “This is our chance to take Yanagisawa down!” Masahiro exclaimed.
    “Evidence that he murdered the shogun’s daughter would be a perfect weapon against him,” Reiko agreed.
    “Your wife and son are as intelligent as I’ve heard.” The undistorted side of Lady Nobuko’s mouth smiled. “They realize that our interests coincide, Honorable Chamberlain Sano. Or should I say, ‘Honorable Chief Rebuilding Magistrate’?”
    “So you know what happened today,” Sano said, disconcerted.
    “Yes. I employ people to keep me informed about what goes on at court. I also know that my husband has installed Yanagisawa’s so-called adopted son as his heir and successor, and that you are far from pleased.”
    “That’s right.” Sano was tempted to leap at the opportunity to bring about Yanagisawa’s downfall. Despite his hunger for vengeance, he tried to keep a level head. “But let’s not get carried away before we examine your theory. Why would Yanagisawa want Tsuruhime dead?”
    “Yanagisawa has fought an uphill battle to put Yoshisato in line to rule Japan,” Lady Nobuko said. “Too many people aren’t convinced he’s the shogun’s son. Yanagisawa can’t keep down all the dissent forever. The last thing he needs is competition for Yoshisato. My husband isn’t likely to father any more children.” Lady Nobuko evidently knew his character despite the fact that their marriage was a political alliance between clans rather than an intimate union, and Sano knew they rarely even spoke. “If Tsuruhime had lived, she could have borne a son who would have been an undisputed descendant of the shogun.”
    No one had ever challenged her pedigree.
    “A son of hers would have supplied a rallying point for people who don’t think Yoshisato is a true Tokugawa and don’t want Yanagisawa