Summary and observations on Volume 9: Repercussions all round!

The summaries continue today, now moving to Volume 9, which largely revolves around the fallout from Suiren (now “Sara”) being caught trying to visit Togu at the end of the previous volume. Most directly, the incident results in Suiren’s banishment from the capital. The Emperor has heard what happened, and despite his sympathy for “Sara”, tells Suiren she must “die” in political terms until the time is right, much like Yoshino no Miya once did. Sara would rather take responsibility – it was his idea after all – and so after evading punishment, he voluntarily takes a break from palace life.

Sara (left) and Suiren (right) wait to hear the consequences of Suiren’s attempted visit to Togu.

Panel from volume 9, page 21. ©Chiho Saito／Shogakukan

The situation has an impact on other characters too. Shi no Hime was aware that her “husband” had feelings for another woman, but it’s harder to maintain their sham marriage now she knows who the woman is and her now disgraced husband isn’t even around. That means she doesn’t put up much of a fight when her father Kakumitsu decides she should go and marry the governor of Settsu instead – but when she’s on the way to Sumiyoshi, there’s a twist! Her tempestuous former lover Tsuwabuki shows up on a horse and reveals that Kakumitsu plans to keep one of her children and give the other up for adoption. Tsuwabuki finally brings her back to face Kakumitsu, thwarts the send-her-away-to-Sumiyoshi scheme, and declares his intention to marry Shi no Hime himself.

Back at court, things haven’t really settled down. Togu is still under pressure, and despite having returned to work briefly, she isn’t in the best of health either. The Emperor finally agrees with Suzakuin that something must be done, and announces plans to replace Togu. Talk soon turns to who that replacement should be, with names like Yoshino no Miya (unlikely) and even Tsuwabuki (absurd) being thrown around. In the end, Shikibu-kyo no Miya brings up a prince nobody has ever heard of called Yuzuru, and makes mysterious eye contact with a weird monk…

Meanwhile, the Emperor still isn’t over Sara. When Suzakuin suggests that he find a new wife and maybe finally have a son to be his heir, the only woman the Emperor can imagine choosing is “Suiren”. Sara’s mother Nishi is aware of this too, and suggestively gives Sara training in women’s work just in case he ever gets married. But when Sara hears about Togu, he drops everything to pray for her in Kurama, only to discover signs of a plot against the Emperor. One he gets back, he is invited back to work… but this turns out to be in a new position as the Emperor’s naishi no kami.

Some more noteworthy points:

• When Shi no Hime heads off for Sumiyoshi, she gets as far as Yamasaki no Tsu, a port along the Yodogawa near the site of the ill-fated previous capital Nagaoka-kyo. Tsuwabuki is in a position to hear that she’s there because he is carrying out Sara’s old river management job, which he offered to take over all the way back in Episode 23. He then whisks Shi no Hime away to his villa in Toba, not too far away.

• Sara actually meets Shi no Hime in this volume! They bump into each other at a hanami party shortly after it emerges that Shi no Hime is getting back together with Tsuwabuki. Just as the flowers are giving Sara bittersweet reminders of his former marriage, Shi no Hime says that the old days were happy “like a flower”. You may remember that while Tsuwabuki is “like an autumn storm” to Shi no Hime, Sara has often been compared to spring and flowers, so this passing comment really tugs at Sara’s heartstrings.

• Keep an eye on the monks! Two characters who become important over the next few volumes appear to make early appearances in Volume 9. One shows up at the Tango no Sekku festival in Episode 44, though he hasn’t been properly introduced just yet, and I’m pretty sure the priest who serves Sara in Kurama in Episode 45 is the same one who appears in the second-last volume to play a big role.