Akiko frowned as she watched Surei leave. “Do you think I did the right thing in giving her the instrument?” she asked. “Isn’t it forbidden for women to practice onmyoudou?”

I said, “The reason women can’t practice onmyoudou is because they have weak wills. This puts them at much greater risk of possession by the spirits with whom the onmyouji deals. I think we can both agree Surei is just such a weak person who is likely to fall under the control of the first spirit she comes across.”

Akiko stared at me, shocked. Then, I couldn’t keep a straight face any longer and started laughing. After a moment, Akiko joined in.

“All right,” she said. “You’re correct. I feel sorry for any spirit that tries to take over Surei. It will think it has run into a stone wall.” She sobered. “I hope the instrument can help her. I know she has been obsessed with the desire to gain better control of her talents. Before she started dancing as a shirabyoushi, she even disguised herself as a boy and convinced the Imperial University she was the great-great-great-grandson of Abé no Seimei. She spent several months studying onmyoudou with the other students.”

I looked at her in surprise. “She got away with it?”

“For nearly a year. She never said exactly what happened, but I think she got caught and had to leave.”

I heard shrieks from outside the house. Akiko went to the door. “Yoshi-kun, put that down! Stop scaring the girls.” She sighed in exasperation. “That boy can think of more ways to cause trouble than the rest of the children put together. I should have named him ‘Surei.’”

I laughed.

Looking around the room, I noticed a beautifully illustrated scroll open on a side table.

“That is a magnificent Lotus Sutra.”

She blushed slightly. “Yes, it is a challenge for a woman to overcome her disadvantages in this world, but I have resolved to read the sutra each day to better myself. Let me show you something.”

She led me outside to a small building set apart from the others. Unlike so much of the manor, this one was in good condition.

The interior was set up as a small chapel dominated by an elaborate butsudan, a gold-filigreed Buddhist altar with incense burning in front. A number of hanging screens with saints and Bodhisattva on them decorated the walls. On either side of the altar was a painting memorializing a scene from the life of the Buddha. There were three small tables in the room, each with a scroll open on it. Glancing at them, I realized Akiko was in the process of transcribing three copies of the Lotus Sutra.

Next to one of the sutras was a scrap of paper with some writing on it. I bent over so I could read it.

The sutras tell us

Our lives are simply a dream.

Soon, I’ll awaken.

I realize now each sunrise

Brings that time ever closer.

Akiko’s cheeks reddened. “That was just a silly poem that I wrote once I started studying the scriptures. I had a sudden insight into Buddhist beliefs and felt I just had to get it down.”

“It’s beautiful,” I told her. “What made you start reading the sutras?”

She looked around the chapel, “It was very hard for me after my husband died, and I found the scriptures of the Lotus Sutra a great comfort. I didn’t really understand them very well at first, but Benkon has taught me some things that he learned in China.”

She walked over and looked at one of the scrolls open in front of the butsudan, then continued. “In this debased, corrupted age, it is nearly impossible for anyone to achieve enlightenment. But, if we call on Amida Buddha, he will lend us his power and permit us to achieve salvation. When that happens, we will be reborn in the Pure Land and live there in happiness and peace until we are ready for enlightenment. I know that my husband is waiting there for me, so I call upon Amida Buddha’s name every day to ensure that I shall join him.”

“Call upon Amida Buddha’s name?” I said, puzzled.

“Yes,” she said. “If you repeat the prayer Namu Amida Butsu, then, when you die, Amida Buddha will lend you the power to be reborn in his Pure Land in the Western Paradise.”

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I thought about it. “That sounds better than most other Buddhist sects. I was never very good at following the complicated rules the preachers teach us. Mostly, I ignore them.”

Akiko walked over to the altar and brought out four more incense sticks. She lit them and placed them next to the one already burning.

“For your father and three brothers,” she explained. “We don’t have time now, but I’ll come back after you leave and chant some prayers for them.”

My eyes started burning, and I turned away before Akiko saw my tears. “Let’s go,” I said, my voice husky with emotion.

We arrived back at the house and sat down near the standing curtains. “Who are we waiting for?” I asked.

Akiko smiled. “Oh, he is a very sweet man. I think you’ll like him. He was my husband’s deputy Minister and took his place as Minbukyou after my husband’s death. He has been quite helpful through all my trouble. He has actually gone through all the records in the capital relating to our shouen to see if he could discover anything amiss, but he tells me everything is in order. That is why Surei and I decided to check on the situation out in the provinces.”

The sound of a gyusha and a troop of mounted men came to us.

“I think that’s him now,” said Akiko. “Help me with these.”

We pushed the curtains back together. We had barely gotten them arranged, and Akiko situated behind them when a knock came at the door.

“Mistress, the Minister is here,” one of the serving girls announced.

“Send him in,” Akiko called back.

The panel slid back, and a man stepped through the doorway. He was wearing the colors and headdress of an upper senior rank three noble.

I stood and bowed deeply to him. He nodded to me agreeably and sat down. Akiko’s voice came from behind her curtains. “Minister, thank you for coming all this way. Yoshi, this is Ikeda Minbukyou. Minister, this is my old friend, Yoshi.”

Ikeda Minbukyou left the door to the outside open, allowing some air into the room. I was surprised to see Masanori standing on the porch. He was clearly visible to anyone in the room, and was positioned so he could keep a close eye on what was happening in the main room.

As we sat down, Akiko scolded Ikeda Minbukyou as one would an errant child. “There was really no need for you to come all the way out here yourself. You could have just had someone bring the papers. I certainly didn’t want to put you to any trouble.”

I was astounded. The Minbukyou was one of the eight ministers reporting directly to the Minister of the Left, who was directly under the emperor. He was one of the most powerful men in the government, yet Akiko spoke of him the way you would talk about a favorite uncle. It brought home to me how wide a social gulf existed between us. Even if my father had not been killed, I could not have hoped to rise above lower junior rank five.

He laughed and answered with an avuncular air, “It was nothing, my dear. I am happy to be of service. As we discussed, I have here an appointment as an imperial inspector. The writ of the appointment is vague enough that your friend should have wide latitude in what he does. It simply directs him to ‘investigate the state of affairs of property and taxes on behalf of the Ministry and report back’ along with the signing authority.”

He pulled a fat sheaf of official documents from his robe and leafed through them. Finally locating what he was looking for, he placed several papers on the floor between us and pointed to a location on the page. “If you would affix your seal there, please?”

Akiko called on a servant to bring some ink, and I stamped my seal at the indicated spot. The minister rolled everything up and passed the bundle to me. “Here you go. When you get back from Isé, come by the Ministry and return the commission, if you would. I wish you good fortune helping the lady.”

Business complete, Akiko called for her servants to bring some saké. The minister asked about the children, and Akiko happily related tales of their latest achievements and cleverness. The minister replied with some stories of his own. Everything was very easygoing and friendly, but I thought I detected the faintest tension in the minister whenever he looked my way.

Eventually, the minister regretfully said, “Much as I would love to spend more time with you, my lovely lady, I have official duties that cannot be put off. I hope you will forgive an old friend for being so rude as to leave after such a short time.”

Not waiting for her answer, he rose to his feet. I stood and bowed again in farewell. He stepped out the door. The old bushi resumed his original position out in the yard.

After the minister had left, Akiko had me slide the door closed. She came out from behind her curtains. “He is such a dear man. He’s been a great help since my husband passed away.”

Then, she laughed. “Do you know that silly man tried to convince me to marry him? He told me, ‘I am actually better off than I appear. I would take good care of you, my dear.’ I think he just felt sorry for me and wanted to make me feel better.”

She shook her head in amazement. “I told him I would probably never marry again. But that was before the shouen started performing so poorly. I have to make sure my children are taken care of, so I will marry if nothing can be done to improve my situation. He said he would take care of the children. He has been very good to us and is certainly my best prospect. Surei doesn’t trust him. But then, she doesn’t think well of most people.”

She looked outside at the position of the sun. “Yoshi, I believe it is time for you to get going. Surei said the caravan would be leaving around noon. You need to get to the staging area before then.”

We stood at the same time, and she laid her hand on my arm. “Please take care of yourself. Surei and I both need you. Promise me you will be careful.”

I smiled at her and gently removed her hand. “Akiko,” I said confidently, “I’m sure I’ll be all right. I’ll go to Isé, look around and find out what is happening. Then we can fix it. No problem.”

She smiled at me in gratitude. “Thank you so much, Yoshi. You have no idea what this means to me.”

I left feeling better than I had in a long time, despite getting pulled into Surei’s scheme. I guess Akiko’s optimism was contagious. I slid the door open and left, humming to myself.