And now for the latest volume… BTW, this book is long; the author herself says so in the afterword. XD

The novel opens with Jyuusan-hime’s and Shiba Jin’s grim past. We had might as well get it over with and explain it all, although not all of it is revealed in the opening. Jyuusan-hime’s mother was the cousin of Jin’s father, the head of the Shiba clan, a military family who owe allegiance to the Ran clan. For a long time, Jin’s father was in love with her mother, but this was unrequited, and she married Shuuei’s father, the head of the Ran clan. Jyuusan-hime was born, and when she was three, he came over to their house and murdered her mother in a jealous rage when she refused him. Afterwards, Jyuusan-hime, who witnessed the slaying from a hiding place, stayed by her dead mother’s corpse for three days, after which Jin, aged eleven at the time comes in, having been sent by his father to kill her. Of course, he doesn’t try to kill her, and instead, when she says that he’s a demon and tells him he can only approach if he gives her his eyes, without hesitation Jin pokes out one of his them. (0_o) Jyuusan-hime stops him from removing the other one.

After this, Jin is disinherited by his father for losing his eye (and also for failing to kill her, although she doesn’t know this at the time), and he goes to live with his retired grandfather, Shiba Ryuu, who is a famed warrior, on par with Sou Taifu. Jyuusan-hime, who has grown attached to him, also comes along and is considered to be fostered by the Shiba family (frequently members of the Ran clan are sent to be fostered out to various families to learn skills). Shuuei is a frequent visitor to the house, and he and Jin are very close friends, and they learn martial arts together, as does Jyuusan-hime. When Jyuusan-hime is twelve, Jin asks her to marry him when she’s of age (sixteen). [ZOMG loli?!?!] She says she will consider it when the time comes, if there’s no better man around. Inwardly, Jyuusan-hime is eager to marry Jin, and spends time trying to make herself a bride worthy of him, but next year, when she is thirteen, tragedy strikes. One day, Jin’s father comes to the house and attempts to rape Jyuusan-hime, and Jin kills him. Afterwards, Jin turns himself into the authorities, and refuses to explain his actions. As patricide is the greatest of the capital crimes, and because he refuses to defend himself, he is sentenced to death. Jyuusan-hime goes to beg her elder brothers to save Jin, somehow.

Back to the present. In the early morning, Shuuei is sneaking out of Kiyou. Shuurei has forseen this and had a drinking contest with the guards at the gate. They’re totally knocked out, but Shuurei is okay. Shuuei is able to leave before Seiga comes to arrest him, and Seiga and Shuurei trade barbs once again.

Ryuuki has announced his intention to go to Ran Province, but it’s uh… going to take him about seventy pages to actually dispatch hahaha! This is why the volume is so long, people. Anyway, at the council, Riou asks him if he’s going for personal reasons, or as king. Ryuuki is unable to answer and Riou says it’s better, then, if he doesn’t, and sighs and says he might as well go to think things over then. Sou Taifu thinks that Riou resembles someone… [Just speculation here, but I think the someone is probably Sa Enjun.] No one seriously opposes his trip, but then they start talking about making Jyuusan-hime officially consort, to resolve the vacancy left by Shusui’s absence. Ryuuki announces Jyuusan-hime is coming along as guide, which Uu-sama misinterprets this, thinking he means a honeymoon. XD When he refuses, Uu-sama optimistically says this is like a pre-marriage trip (huh, never heard of any such thing). Uu also tells him not to go near Kyuusaikou (Nine-colored Cove ?). Shou Taishi says that he’ll send along the Black Wolf as a bodyguard. After the meeting, Uu tells Ryuuki that even if he wishes to reject Jyuusan-hime as consort, he’ll stand up for him, even agains the Ran and Hyou clans. But, he cannot accept Shuurei as the sole consort. They only accepted her before because she was a temporary one. It’s okay if she’s one of several or an official. He refuses to give the exact reason, but says it will make both Ryuuki and Shuurei unhappy. Later, Yuushun stops to talk to Uu, and says that although publicly, Ryuuki is the only one of the direct line, how many others, including Prince Seien, would be accepted by the Hyou clan? Uu Uu gives him a figure (I suppose it’s several). [Okay, editorial comment: no wonder Ryuuki isn't fully the king. They keep so many things from him.]

One of the generals of the Urin army (meaning the bodyguard army), Koku Yousei comes to see the Secretary of the Army, who is pretending to be absent after the whole incident where his deputy was exposed as the one behind the attempt to assassinate Jyuusan-hime. The general just busts through the locked door, however, and delivers Shuuei’s resignation. The Secretary, Son Ryouou, is a man in his fifties, who enjoys smoking pipes. He seems more like a military official or a mob boss than a civil official. Then, Shuurei busts in through the window, because she’s been lurking trying to get an interview. Secretary Son continues to insist he is absent, and gives Shuurei some candy (he also gives General Koku some). He then tells her that ‘this is not the place of her death’ and General Koku, seeing her out, tells her to forget about coming here and meeting the Secretary. Shuurei asks what kind of person Secretary Son is, and he replies that he has the greatest respect for him, and so do many officers. It seems that soon, just as Shuuei’s loyalties were tested, so will those of General Haku and General Koku.

Later, Son Ryouou pays a visit to his old friend, Ou Ki. He says he isn’t really attached to his position and will help his friend in any way. Son Ryouou reflects on the passage of time, and says that finally, Tei Yuushun has taken up a high position, along with Kouki and Anju. Son Ryouou asks if Ou Ki desires to become king, because with his lineage, he would be recognized by the Hyou clan, and says that Ryuuki is unworthy, because he resembles his father too much. He says that it is unsuitable for a king to enter politics simply for a woman. The king and Sa Enjun are dead, and the older officials are beginning to retire and step away from actual politics. Finally, Ou Ki declares his desire: the throne. Ryouou says that he will stand with Ou Ki no matter what, and Ou Ki tells him not to regret being with him. In what is beginning to be a tradition of Saiunkoku, Ryoumou jokes that it sounds like a confession of love (in other words, I don’t have to make jokes about how ghei it seems, because the characters will do it for us.).

Somewhere else, Sou Taifu remarks that Shou Taishi has acted, unusually. [Yeah, usually that guy does nothing, really. Seriously, since the first Sa Province arc he's really not done much besides hang out with Sou. ] Now that Kouyuu and Shuuei are gone, Ryuuki has begun to change internally. Shou Taishi says that he will send Kuro (that little black ball-like creature) to the Nine Colored Cove with Shuurei, for some reason.

Afterwards, Shuurei heads back to the Censorate (Gyoshidai) to try and convince Ki Kouki to send her to Ran province. Kouki tells her to stop sneaking around the Dept. of the Army, and says that Son Ryouou is the former governor of Ran province. In general, Kouki also suspects the Ran clan. Suddenly, Kouki unexpectedly tells her that she can go to Ran province, but not to leave until he tells her she can. (Previously Shuurei had been harassing Kouki about it to the point where he put a sign on his door saying ‘Kou Shuurei Prohibited from Entering, which in Japanese involves a construction that’s kind of like saying ’stand and enter’. So Shuurei went in crawling on her stomach, and then Kouki said ‘what kind of creature are you?’ and had to get rid of the sign… )

Later, Shuurei talks to Tantan about him accompanying her to Ran Province. Tantan agrees to go, because his father won’t be lonely. It seems that his dad found his mom wandering around disoriented, and took her home. At first his mom was in shock over the events of vol 10 (especially considering the making a pass at her own son thing), but now she’s begun to help them around the house. Anju pops in, and sees that Shuurei is studying the nobility, as Hakumei previously advised her to. He says he’ll help her study (as he is an expert in these things) if she plays the erhu for him. Shuurei mentions that Kouki plays the flute extremely well, and Anju says that the Ki clan was destroyed by the previous king (they were forced into committing suicide), and that all that is left are Kouki and the flute. Something similar happened to Seiga’s clan. But, Anju says, although the Kou clan did terrible things, they continue to enjoy prosperity and influence; the Eight Houses are special and can get away with those things. Anju also tells her she should look at Ou Ki’s lineage, because it is interesting. Ou Ki, BTW, is apparently a noble’s noble. Shuurei naively asks whether Anju is a member of the nobility. Suou is inwardly shocked at her ignorance (apparently bad things happen to those who discuss this.) Anju says that he was adopted, but like Kouki, he is the only one left of his clan. He also says that Shuurei is like Seiga; just as Seiga despises the Eight Houses, Shuurei dislikes the nobles. Anju says that both he (Anju) and Kouki have done a lot of things to get where they are, throwing away what needed to be thrown away, selling whatever could be sold. They had to enter through the special/private route because you need money to take the National Exam, which they didn’t have, and they are not like Shuurei, who had the backing of the King and Kouyuu. Suou tells Anju not to bully Shuurei, and Anju returns to his normal self and says that he has a bad habit of teasing the girl he likes, but says that doesn’t hate her at all. Afterwards, he helps Shuurei study, and she plays the erhu for him.

Shuurei is somewhat reminded of Sakujun, but Anju actually works, rather than loitering around all the time, and never complains of boredom. Anju asks who she’s comparing him to (does he know? ) and says the best thing for forgetting old romances is to start a new one, and invites her to start an ‘adult love’ with him. He tells her to not to get mixed up with some bothersome guy a second time when she goes to Ran Province. Suou reflects that Anju and Kouki are legendary because of their rapid rise through the ranks, despite the fact that the National Exam faction was in favor at court. [Apologies for the length, but this is all quite interesting info, isn't it?]

Ryuuki is shocked to find that Shou Taishi told Jyuusan-hime it was a honeymoon trip. He sets her straight and reveals the Black Wolf will be coming with him. Jyuusan-hime is super excited and wants to spar with him. She asks if Ryuuki has a plan. Ryuuki’s plan is… ‘my love.’ Jyuusan-hime is somewhat unimpressed. Jyuusan-hime, probably speaking about herself, says that just because two people love each other, does not mean they can be together, and if they would be unhappy being together, the best thing to do is to separate, because love is not necessarily the most important thing in the world. Later, Ryuuki calls on Shouka, to invite him to come to Ran Province as a chaperone/travelling companion. Shouka is of course first shocked and worried that his cover was blown, but Ryuuki ironically has no idea. Shouka of course agrees. (He is, BTW, going to tell Shuurei and Seiran he’s just working hard in the archives.) Ryuuki reflects later that for the past two years, he has not desired to leave Kiyou, because until Yuushun arrived, there was no single person he could trust to look over the state.

Shuurei returns home and meets with Ensei, and invites him to go to Ran Province with her. He quickly agrees, because his true purpose in coming to Kiyou was to help Shuurei, because he has decided to spend his career helping her, because he admires her way of doing things. Later, Ensei and Seiran talk. Seiran tells Ensei to take care of Shuurei or else, because Seiran will not be coming along. Ensei also reveals that he knows Kouki, because the mysterious Mei Sai was actually an undercover Censorate official, and Ensei used to take his reports to Kouki for him at New Year’s. Ensei says that if he were going to choose between Seiran and Shuurei, without hesitation he’d choose Shuurei, but Seiran shouldn’t cry, because second place isn’t that bad. XD Recently a lot of things have happened. Seiran has been watching Ryuuki, as he goes through his current isolation, and thinks of his current situation. Ensei thinks that Seiran’s number one is actually not Shuurei, and says that although he previously said that Shuurei should marry Seiran, he thinks now he shouldn’t. [This is interesting. Is the author closing a door here?]

Later, Ryuuki, Jyuusan-hime, and Shouka leave the capital.

Before leaving herself, Shuurei meets with Kouki, who tells her of Shiba Jin’s past, which leads him to suspect the Ran clan even more. He runs through a list of the various ways the Ran and Kou clan have dissed the authority of the government during Ryuuki’s reign; they only superficially obey the king, and are the most dangerous elements in the country. Shuurei begins to understand Shuuei’s feelings a bit more. After meeting Suou, Seiga, and Kouki, Shuurei has become more uncertain about these matters. Kouki is hiding a lot of things, bad-mouths people constantly, pretends not to see a lot of matters, and is not really obsessed with JUSTICE, but she doesn’t mind working under him, because even after criticizing her, he still allowed her to work in the Censorate, as he did Seiga. Shuurei asks him if he wants any souvenirs from Ran Province. Kouki is for a moment in shock, but then he smirks and says he wants the super rare preserved blue good double-yolked eggs, and the monkey’s head mushroom. He also says that she is not, under any circumstances, to enter the Nine Colors Cove, or else she’ll be fired. She then leaves Kiyou with Suou and Ensei.

Meanwhile, Yuushun is in his office. His leg hurts because he’s overdoing it, so he drinks some medicine Rin made for him. Yuushun reflects that Rin goes through a lot of trouble taking care of him, apart from her job making the new coins, and on top of that, they rarely have any free time together because Yuushun is so busy. Suddenly, someone grabs his arm. It’s Reishin, here to continue his pointless quest to get Yuushun to resign. This time he says that Ryuuki is unworthy of Yuushun’s allegiance because he doesn’t see how unwell Yuushun has become as a result of overwork. Yuushun tells him not to blame Ryuuki because he’s been deliberately concealing it. Reishin says that Ryuuki is irresponsible for running off to Ran Province, but Yuushun said he did something similar when he went to Sa Province. Reishin says that Yuushun didn’t dump the work he was supposed to be doing to leave, but Yuushun asks if Reishin, of all people should be saying that? Right now, Reishin has pretty much quit working. However, Yuushun won’t ask Reishin to get to work, because he knows that Reishin hates the royal family and as the leader of the Kou clan, has his position to consider. (BTW, it’s revealed that previous King and Shou Taishi made a deal with Reishin, that he would become Secretary of Civil Administration in return for letting Shouka return to Kou Province. They figured that even though he would never be loyal, he wouldn’t be flagrantly corrupt either. [I see a lot of problems with their logic...] After this heated argument (although Yuushun outwardly appears to be calm), Anju meets Reishin outside of Yuushun’s office and says that it was quite a passionate lover’s quarrel, to the point where he thought someone had been cheating. [Darn, Anju swiped that opportunity from me. XD] Reishin coldly tells Anju not to address Yuushun without an honorific (in Japanese, this is yobi-sute), and Anju says Reishin can only behave so shamelessly because he doesn’t know the truth about Yuushun’s lineage. If Reishin knew, he wouldn’t have the nerve to meet Yuushun again. Yuushun had erased his past, so it’s natural that Reishin doesn’t know, but since Anju arrived at court before Reishin, he knows the truth; also, he says that Yuushun is generous/broadminded in deciding to be Reishin’s friend.

Okay, had might as well finish this part, so I don’t have to keep cutting back and forth: Reishin basically decides that he’s totally not going to work, and this time, Kouyuu and the other Civil Admin officials can’t convince him to return. [editorial comment: sorry, but jeez, this would get you fired at Burger King. I don't understand why Kouyuu feels he needs to support Reishin like this when Reishin obviously doesn't give a damn.] So Kouyuu is drowning under the work, as You Shuu looks on, sighing. But, it seems that You Shuu is collaborating with Seiga to gather evidence against Kouyuu. Seiga plans to get Kouyuu dismissed for exceeding his authority.

Cut to Jin and Shusui, who are travelling to Nine Colors Cove: This is where the first emperor’s sister, founder of the Hyou clan Sou Youki, sealed the 108 spirits with a mirror, then calmed them with her erhu. Shusui has the power of clairvoyance. In Kiyou, it’s nearly impossible to use mystical powers like this, or you risk going insane. This is the real reason the capital must remain at Kiyou and never be moved.

Shuuei has arrived at Ran Province, but he doesn’t go to the capital. Instead, he heads to the Garyuu Range (… Sleeping Dragon. Aahhahaha.), near the Nine Colors Cove, to go to the true main house of the Ran clan. Since before the Ran clan adopted the name of ‘Ran,’ and even before they allied with Sou Gen in exchange for ruling Ran Province, they have lived in this small manor. There, Shuuei meets Ryuuren, who seems uncharacteristically worried about him, just as a normal person might be. Although Shuuei came to meet with Setsuna, only his wife, Gyokuka, is there. Gyokuka makes him some tamago-yaki (I gather this is the scrambled egg roll?), which Shuuei likes sweet. The egg rolls are a point of contention between Setsuna and Gyokuka, because Setsuna detests sweet tamago-yaki. However, Gyokuka continues to make them that way, except on his birthday. Setsuna even meanly said that it was because she continued to make sweet eggs that Shuuei did not return home. Although Setsuna behaves kindly to Shuuei, he and Gyokuka seem to be continually bickering over this kind of thing. (Shuuei once sweetly said to Gyokuka that she was as like a fluffy egg roll, because Setsuna, upon meeting her, had said that ‘this time father’s new lover is a mediocre woman like a fried egg.’ ) Shuuei has a selective memory and just recalls them being rabu rabu and ‘destined love’. It appears that Gyokuka was supposed to marry their father, and upon Setsuna’s disapproval, was determined to gain the respect of the children, and somehow, in continually opposing Setsuna, they fell in love and got married (!?!). Setsuna even immaturely was jealous of Gyokuka hanging out with Shuuei, even though Shuuei was just a kid. Anyway, Gyokuka asks him if he has anyone special, and Shuuei shows her Shusui’s fan. We also learn that although it seems like the three elder brothers share the duties of being the clan leader, in reality only Ran Setsuna is the leader, because all three are ‘Setsuna.’ Normally the other two would have been killed, but their father let them live, on the condition that they not be found out, i.e., told apart. The moment someone can do this, the other two must die. So they live publicly as one person.

Shuurei and co are travelling by boat to the capital of Ran Province, Gyokuryuu. Tantan is seasick (well, actually it’s a river. It actually seems as though Saiunkoku is landlocked), but Shuurei is okay, even if she has never travelled by boat before. He wonders if she’s really a human unseriously, but then suddenly Kuro begins to attack him. Shuurei also observes a strange custom. People are throwing manju into the water. It seems in the old days, people used to sacrifice real humans to the river, but a passing Censorate official said this was stupid, and people should sacrifice manju instead. This makes Shuurei recall how the superstitious people in Sa Province wished to sacrifice her. [BTW, this idea of replacing human sacrifice seems like it was inspired from an anecdote in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.]

Ryuuki is also travelling by boat (he was also seasick). While asleep, he has a dream in which Shuurei, or a girl who looks like her, is sitting near him, but then she walks away, determinedly pointing to the capital. Ryuuki then begins to cry, because he realizes that he has irresponsibly run away from his duties. For the past two years, in a way, nothing has changed, which is why none of his council seriously tried to stop him from leaving. Once Kouyuu and Shuuei were no longer at his side, he felt his increasing isolation. He recalls Seiran’s words, ‘no matter what, I and the young lady (Shuurei) will be at your side, even if no one else is.’ However, at these words he realized that he ‘was not not king.’ Jyuusan-hime, watching this, feels sorry for Ryuuki, who has been alone for so long. It is also painful for Shoka to watch this, because it was he who asked Ryuuki to become king. Jyuusan-hime reflects that Ryuuki needs someone at his side. Having met Shuurei, she thinks that Shuurei’s decision is correct, and that just love alone can’t make people happy. Jyuusan-hime has given up all hope of being with Jin, despite their love, but despite this, she is believes that both of them can still find their own happiness. Even if they can’t be with their first choices, she thinks she and Ryuuki can eventually be happy together. Ryuuki doesn’t have time to wait for Shuurei. If he wants to be happy with her, there is one easy solution: abdicate.

Back with Shuurei, Ensei is helping Suou with his bandages (he accidentally hit Suou previously while defending the boat against pirates), and Suou reflects that Ensei is a much nicer person than Seiran. Ensei says that Suou has helped Shuurei a lot, and is thankful to him for it. Suou says that like Seiran, Ensei puts Shuurei first, but that he isn’t like that. To Suou, his father is the most important, and besides, he’s just an ordinary person anyhow. Ensei says that’s fine and invites him to try the tanuki soup. Suou is horrified that Ensei cooked his lucky animal.

Part 2 coming sometime soon, hopefully.

Comments: In this volume, Ryuuki really has the most character development. I can’t really help but feel that Ryuuki’s situation is not really comparable to that of the other officials, because he was forced to become king under the impression that no one else could do it. So now Ryuuki will perhaps in the future be forced to face the question: does he truly desire to be king? This is a v. necessary development, I think, and what’s clever is that the reader never really sees it coming, yet it seems quite natural, perhaps because Shuurei never bothers to consider this until Kouki and Anju begin to show her the politics behind the stage.

As for Anju, Kouki, and Seiga, it’s interesting that when you think about it, they’re actually the underdogs, because their families were wiped out, and they lost their money. Ou Ki is the one who helped all of these displaced nobles, which is why he has such a strong power base, it seems. Most of the officials are not truly loyal to Ryuuki, but just will support any competent legitimate monarch who keeps the country stable. So Ou Ki, IMHO, has a pretty strong hand, especially with Ryuuki’s recently running off. I’m also curious about Anju’s background. Although Shuurei compares him mentally to Sakujun, personally I think (despite their similar styles of dress and styles of speaking) it’s almost an insulting comparison, because Anju does actually do work, and has led a life of accomplishment (it’s also completely mysterious as to what Anju wants to do. Clearly he must have some huge goal, to have sacrificed so much to rise.) I’m also more curious about his friendship with Kouki. It makes more sense now that we learn they have a shared history of hardship.

As for Yuushun, it’s entirely mysterious what he’s up to and who he really is. It seems bizarre that in all of these years, Reishin has never bothered to wonder why Yuushun became an official, and is even willing to risk death to realize his mysterious goals. Frankly, one really has to agree with Anju that Yuushun is a broad-minded person, for putting up with Reishin’s obnoxiousness. Probably he would even claim that Reishin should be excused because he deliberately concealed his big secret that would shock Reishin and presumably shut him up. Pure speculation: he’s somehow related to Ryuuki? Or someone harmed by the nebulous bad deeds of the Kou clan? BTW, I continue to not understand why, even if Kouyuu is super loyal to Reishin, Kouyuu thinks he is helping Reishin by assisting him at work. Reishin doesn’t even seem grateful or pleased. And it’s clearly not something that Reishin even values, so if Kouyuu wanted to make Reishin happy, it doesn’t seem to make any sense.

Also, I like the Setsuna/Gyokuka couple. XD Setsuna seems to be the sort of person who is always ^_^ but in times of opposition turns into a demon. I want to see more of the rest of the Ran clan in later volumes, though I’m not sure when they’ll come into the story again.

tags>>saiunkoku