Read The Tengu's Game of Go for Free Online
Authors: Lian Hearn
disappear.â He tapped the report with his forefinger. âRumors arise all the time. Usually there is no substance to them. An emperor with no one to fight for him is hardly an emperor.â
âIndeed,â Masachika agreed.
âDonât be disappointed. You will have your chance in land fighting soon enough. When the Kakizuki are gone, we will take care of Takauji.â
Masachika shuffled backward out of Aritomoâs presence, touching his head to the floor once more as attendants slid open the doors behind him. Outside, in the wide corridor, he stood and adjusted his robe. Then, trying not to look as if he was hurrying, he began to walk back to where his grooms waited with the ox carriage.
However, as he left the outer courtyard, passing through the great gates with their carvings of lions, someone approached him. It was a man he knew vaguely, a minor official in the Emperorâs household, though he could not recall his name. Masachika suspected he probably wanted to discuss something about money. The Emperor never seemed to have enough and was always asking for more. Then he remembered: Yoriie .
Masachikaâs bodyguards had also been waiting outside and now began to move closer to him, their hands on their swords. Surely they did not suspect old Yoriie of an assassination attempt? He made a sign to them to hold back and greeted the official as curtly as he could, without being downright rude.
Yoriie replied more fulsomely. âIf it is not too great an inconvenience, would Lord Masachika accompany me to Ryusonji?â
His manner was obsequious, but his small eyes were sharp and seemed to flicker upward to scrutinize Masachika. The residences at Ryusonji were luxurious and expensive, yet ministers received a stream of complaints about the accommodation. It was too hot or too cold, the roof leaked, the nearby river stank, there was an invasion of biting fleas, owls hooted all night.
Masachika assumed it would be another of these and groaned inwardly, but he reminded himself that no one survived in an official position in the capital without brains, courage, or wealth, preferably all three, and that he should not underestimate Yoriie nor refuse the Emperor. Regretfully he again put aside his desire and agreed to go with Yoriie, inviting him to ride in the ox carriage.
They did not speak much as the ox made its slow, laborious way through the crowded streets toward the river. The Sagigawa had all but dried up and lay in a series of stagnant pools that, Masachika noted, keeping his mouth firmly closed, did indeed smell noxious. The townspeople threw refuse in the river, which normally would be washed away rapidly but which now lay decomposing, picked over by scavenging crows and wild dogs.
Outside Ryusonjiâs gates, people milledâbeggars seeking alms, the sick and crippled praying for healing, amulet sellers, and pilgrims. Since it had become the Emperorâs residence, the whole temple had taken on an increased aura of sacredness. Slivers of wood were carved from the gates, pebbles stolen from the paths, leaves gathered from the ginkgo and sakaki trees, all with the hope that they would provide talismans against ill health and misfortune. Partly for this reason, the buildings and gardens had a dilapidated and untended look.
Two large black birds perched on the roof and peered down at Masachika with golden eyes. One of them made a derisive cackle and the other echoed it. They sounded uncannily human. Their excrement had whitened the gate and the ground below.
The luxury of the inner rooms tried to compensate for the external decay, but nothing could remove the stench from the river. The great shutters were all closed, presumably to keep it out, and the dim interior was lit by oil lamps, the smoke making the rooms even hotter.
There was a large hall within his residence, where usually the Emperor received visitors, sitting on a raised dais behind a thin, gilded bamboo screen,
âIndeed,â Masachika agreed.
âDonât be disappointed. You will have your chance in land fighting soon enough. When the Kakizuki are gone, we will take care of Takauji.â
Masachika shuffled backward out of Aritomoâs presence, touching his head to the floor once more as attendants slid open the doors behind him. Outside, in the wide corridor, he stood and adjusted his robe. Then, trying not to look as if he was hurrying, he began to walk back to where his grooms waited with the ox carriage.
However, as he left the outer courtyard, passing through the great gates with their carvings of lions, someone approached him. It was a man he knew vaguely, a minor official in the Emperorâs household, though he could not recall his name. Masachika suspected he probably wanted to discuss something about money. The Emperor never seemed to have enough and was always asking for more. Then he remembered: Yoriie .
Masachikaâs bodyguards had also been waiting outside and now began to move closer to him, their hands on their swords. Surely they did not suspect old Yoriie of an assassination attempt? He made a sign to them to hold back and greeted the official as curtly as he could, without being downright rude.
Yoriie replied more fulsomely. âIf it is not too great an inconvenience, would Lord Masachika accompany me to Ryusonji?â
His manner was obsequious, but his small eyes were sharp and seemed to flicker upward to scrutinize Masachika. The residences at Ryusonji were luxurious and expensive, yet ministers received a stream of complaints about the accommodation. It was too hot or too cold, the roof leaked, the nearby river stank, there was an invasion of biting fleas, owls hooted all night.
Masachika assumed it would be another of these and groaned inwardly, but he reminded himself that no one survived in an official position in the capital without brains, courage, or wealth, preferably all three, and that he should not underestimate Yoriie nor refuse the Emperor. Regretfully he again put aside his desire and agreed to go with Yoriie, inviting him to ride in the ox carriage.
They did not speak much as the ox made its slow, laborious way through the crowded streets toward the river. The Sagigawa had all but dried up and lay in a series of stagnant pools that, Masachika noted, keeping his mouth firmly closed, did indeed smell noxious. The townspeople threw refuse in the river, which normally would be washed away rapidly but which now lay decomposing, picked over by scavenging crows and wild dogs.
Outside Ryusonjiâs gates, people milledâbeggars seeking alms, the sick and crippled praying for healing, amulet sellers, and pilgrims. Since it had become the Emperorâs residence, the whole temple had taken on an increased aura of sacredness. Slivers of wood were carved from the gates, pebbles stolen from the paths, leaves gathered from the ginkgo and sakaki trees, all with the hope that they would provide talismans against ill health and misfortune. Partly for this reason, the buildings and gardens had a dilapidated and untended look.
Two large black birds perched on the roof and peered down at Masachika with golden eyes. One of them made a derisive cackle and the other echoed it. They sounded uncannily human. Their excrement had whitened the gate and the ground below.
The luxury of the inner rooms tried to compensate for the external decay, but nothing could remove the stench from the river. The great shutters were all closed, presumably to keep it out, and the dim interior was lit by oil lamps, the smoke making the rooms even hotter.
There was a large hall within his residence, where usually the Emperor received visitors, sitting on a raised dais behind a thin, gilded bamboo screen,