A Tale of False Fortunes (19 page)

Kureha’s sunken eyes now appeared even larger; she fixed them on her sister and said with labored breath, “Ayame, it was childish of me to have become angry at you then, and I am truly sorry. I’m no longer in the empress consort’s service. I have also been abandoned by Yukikuni and have nothing more to live for.”

“Well! What happened? . . . Did the empress consort perhaps find out that you are my sister, and grew cool toward you? . . .

Or did someone else in her service slander you?”

“No, no. Her highness did not suspect me in the least. It was my decision to turn my back on her kindness.” The immediate cause of Kureha’s illness was the rift that had grown between her and Yukikuni. Deep beneath it was an agony born of the strong malice toward the empress consort, whom she had served with such love and esteem since childhood.

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Some time previously, when Kureha had eavesdropped on the conversation between Takaie and the empress consort and realized that Takaie saw through her, something awoke in her heart, as if a small serpent that had been slumbering there suddenly lifted its head for the first time.

Perhaps it came from a vindictiveness smoldering in her heart, like billowing smoke from the night of the conflagration at the Nijò mansion when Yukikuni, in his ardor to save the empress, shook off Kureha’s hand and left her in the flames.

Until that time she had worshipped the empress consort as if she were an incarnate bodhisattva and had sympathized with her in all of her disappointments. It was because of Kureha’s single-minded adoration of her mistress that she had cut off relations with her own sister. When such strong feelings of devotion were overturned, their place was taken by a horrible, burning obsession, turning into a hatred that secretly cursed Empress Consort Teishi.

Yukikuni vaguely sensed the cause of Kureha’s anger and renewed his love affair with her in an attempt to placate her.

Yet there remained indelibly in his senses the memory of having gathered the peerlessly beautiful empress consort into his arms in the middle of those flames, and having felt her cold black hair and her skin, moist as flower petals. Though he thought to assuage Kureha’s anger and perhaps take her to wife, his heart recoiled in disappointment every time he saw her face. In the end, his regret at having renewed his love affair with her on that one night at Hase grew only deeper.

Nevertheless, Yukikuni genuinely feared Kureha’s tenacity, and on the surface he showed no sign of disliking her. But when she left the empress consort’s service without saying a word to anyone and sought refuge in his house, his patience turned into irrepressible anger, and he roundly reproached her.

“In no way can I condone your stealing away unannounced from the empress consort’s palace. If the former regent were still in power, I might have been willing to overlook such an indiscretion and not condemned you too harshly. But as you are fully aware, the empress consort’s quarters have lost to the Fujitsubo Pavilion, and she has sunk into wretched circumstances.

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Imagine how deeply hurt she must be if someone like you suddenly disappears from her retinue. I never again want to see someone like you who has betrayed the empress consort. . . .

Well, enough of that. If you return immediately to Sanjò and if you continue your service as you have up to this time, after six months or a year I’ll take you as my wife and you may live here.” By threats and intimations Yukikuni tried to convince Kureha, but she was not her usual submissive self. She fixed her large, piercing eyes on him as if she could see to the bottom of his heart and, after a long silence, said without so much as shedding a tear, “Enough of your lies! Ever since the fire at the Nijò mansion I have known very well that you do not love me.

You feel for the empress consort a passion that can never be realized, and you despise me. Oh, my foolishness for having been drawn on by a lingering attachment to you! Even if I see no other way for myself but death, I can’t go on oblivious to your deceit. This is good-bye, both to her highness and to you.” With that, she turned her back and left, never once looking back.

From that moment Kureha’s attachment to Yukikuni turned into an uncanny, vengeful desire to curse the empress consort.

Kureha ordinarily desired to be compliant, and such an aber-rant obsession caused a sore festering of her natural urges. This inevitably resulted in a fever, and within one month’s time she had wasted away to a mere shadow: an appalling, spider-like metamorphosis.

When she determined to meet with Ayame, Kureha had arrived at a certain conclusion after battling her illness and her inner turmoil: “I have only one motive in wanting to meet with you, sister. If his lordship the regent tries to have you act as a false medium, as he did once before, I would like to have him use me to play that role.”

“What! . . . Weren’t you the one who so despised me then for my imitation of the empress consort that you would have nothing to do with me? . . . And now . . . why?” Ayame had heard only that the love affair between Yukikuni and Kureha had been broken, but she knew nothing of Yukikuni’s secret love for Empress Consort Teishi. She rather doubted she had heard
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correctly the words issuing from her sister’s mouth. It was all the more incredible because she knew Kureha had served Empress Consort Teishi with a love and esteem that went beyond a mere mistress-servant relationship. Ayame was unable to fathom this sudden reversal of her sister’s feelings.

In an attempt to allay her sister’s doubts, Kureha offered the following explanation for her motives:

Actually, it was only as long as she cherished the hope of bringing her love affair with Yukikuni to consummation that she had remained in service to the ill-fated empress consort.

Such service was beset by numerous insufficiencies and causes for depression, and Kureha could no longer endure it. It was through the good offices of Michinaga that she and Ayame had come to serve at court in the first place, and she wanted to enter into a service that would be worthy of his notice and hoped that sometime in the future he would introduce her to a man—it did not really matter what his rank or lineage might be—who could assure her an abundant life.

Ayame appeared to accept both the mysterious reversal of Kureha’s feelings and the striking change in her countenance as the inevitable result of a young woman’s disappointment in love. The empress’ illness and the evil spirit obstructing her recovery immediately came to mind. Though Ayame was not attuned to Michinaga’s way of thinking, it seemed to her that the ruse of using the empress consort’s vengeful spirit to torment the empress had not been adopted because she had broken ties with Kureha and had no way of knowing the intimate details of the empress consort’s mannerisms. There was no one else suitable to act as a medium. It occurred to Ayame that her younger sister’s offer might please the lord regent, and she left the nun’s cottage determined to report this to his excellency.

Rumors spread throughout the women’s quarters that the new Fujitsubo empress was being tormented by a woman’s spirit whose identity was uncertain.

The reports were soon recounted to the emperor by the nurse Tò Sanmi, whose tone intimated it was the living ghost of the empress consort. The emperor was stunned. Though only once,
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he had vividly seen the living ghost of Empress Teishi when the Higashisanjò empress dowager had been ill. When he met with Teishi after that his fears had vanished, but now they were living apart from one another. It did not seem unreasonable to him that an uncanny resentment should smolder in the unre-lieved gloom of her mind, or that this should turn into a tenacious obsession toward the new empress, her rival in love and the virginal daughter of the man who had toppled her from power. Such suspicions were bolstered by rumors that ghosts stalked Imperial Steward Narimasa’s house on Sanjò.

But no! He could not imagine that Teishi of all people would conceal such hateful feelings. Prior to leaving the palace she had become even more fragile and thin than before, having the appearance of a rain-soaked hibiscus blossom whose petals were unlikely to last till the morrow. Even then, she did not show the slightest sign of agitation, and when he had taken her in his embrace, he felt as if he were adrift in a scented mist. She did not even petition him concerning Prince Atsuyasu’s future.

It was as if she had wrapped him in a thick, protective care far deeper than maternal affection. Properly speaking, it was he who should have been protecting her, and yet even in her adverse circumstances she took care to make certain that no animosities should arise between him and the regent. How could someone with such a clear, pure heart harbor that kind of fury toward the young new empress, becoming a living ghost and attacking her on her sickbed?

His majesty continued to deny that it was Teishi’s living ghost attacking the empress, but the rumors persisted. Daily, a lady-in-waiting or servant in his retinue would hesitantly relay the latest gossip.

Nothing definite was said about the identity of the living ghost, but it was plainly implied that it could be none other than the empress consort. The night before last, the possessed lady-in-waiting stole into the curtained dais where the empress was sleeping, pulled her hair, and tried to beat her. At that point a priest used his rosary to whip the possessed woman into submission. Although they had moved the empress’ room to the north side and were constantly performing the five altar rites,
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yesterday the evil spirit possessed a medium whom the regent had called in. She continued to spew out horrible curses and denunciations, saying that unless the new empress shaved her head in renunciation of the world and withdrew from the court, her very life would be in danger. They reported that even Michinaga was at his wit’s end and considered taking the empress to his Tsuchimikado Palace. He resisted his wife’s entreaties to do so, however, concluding that such a tenacious spirit would not be deterred by such a move. The emperor thought to visit the empress at her sickbed, but Michinaga headed off that possibility. His Majesty said, “Is the empress’ condition still not improving at all? I should like to pay her a visit.” Michinaga answered casually, “No, it would be better if your majesty did not go. Many reputable monks, including the abbot of a temple, are praying on her behalf, and she will no doubt soon recover.” With that, he shifted the discussion to some legal matters requiring imperial sanction. Michinaga always took meticulous care that his majesty not worry for a moment. The emperor felt he could rely on such an uncle as regent, but somehow he detected in Michinaga’s good-natured countenance a concern for more than just the empress’ illness.

The emperor asked anxiously, “It has been rumored that some unidentified evil spirit is plaguing the empress. . . . I can’t imagine that she would be the object of such spite.” Michinaga immediately recognized in the emperor’s wrinkled brow a worry exceeding words. “Who told you such things? I have sternly commanded everyone not to say anything to your majesty that would upset you. What you have heard is sheer nonsense.” He offered no further explanation.

The rumors also spread to the empress consort, who was living in seclusion at the house of Imperial Steward Narimasa in Sanjò.

It was Korechika who informed her of the gossip. He intimated that, even if Teishi’s spirit unconsciously possessed the new empress and obstructed her recovery, it was only what she deserved. The empress consort appeared deeply hurt to hear of the rumors. She made no reply, but just glared with contempt at her elder brother, who of late had suddenly grown quite plump
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and even seemed to have trouble getting up from his seat, a condition unbecoming for his age.

When Takaie called on her the following day, she brought up the matter herself and vehemently denied that she had anything to do with it.

It was the middle of an autumn month, and the face of the moon appeared bright. Though nothing compared to the palace grounds, in the untended front garden of the Sanjò mansion dew-drenched bellflowers and wild pinks were blooming among the heads of eulalia. From the garden a chorus of insects could be heard, creating an enchanting scene.

Teishi leaned against an armrest near the bamboo blinds, listening to the insects. When she looked up at Takaie’s face, her countenance rivaled the clarity of the moon. “Have you heard the rumor that my living ghost has become an evil spirit and is tormenting the Fujitsubo empress?”

“Yes, I’ve heard it,” Takaie answered nonchalantly, as if he thought the matter of no import.

“I heard yesterday. When Korechika told me about it, it was the first I had heard anything. . . .” The empress consort closed her eyes and was silent for a time, as if listening intently to a voice deep within her own heart. The moonlight bathed her eyelids in a bluish light, and to Takaie they looked like large flower petals.

“I simply cannot think that my own spirit could be stalking the Fujitsubo Pavilion. They say that, even if you are unaware of it in your waking consciousness, a spirit traverses dream and reality, but I have never seen anyone like the Fujitsubo empress even in a dream, much less do I recall ever having expressed spite toward her or cursed her. . . . Even when I was at the palace, I never once went to the Fujitsubo Pavilion, and I have no idea what the place looks like.”

“Hah!” Takaie burst out laughing. “Even an empress gets lost sometimes, it seems! This whole thing is a silly invention.

I’m suspicious even of the claim about our grandfather’s spirit.

There, now, you should just dismiss all of this as grand-scale theatrics contrived by the regent in order to manipulate the emperor. . . .”

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“Theatrics, you say? . . . What does that mean?”

“I mean, it’s all a farce aimed at tearing his majesty’s heart from its attachment to you. Well, now, why don’t you just try to forget about the matter? The emperor is wise, and he’ll be sure to see their true forms under their stage makeup.”