Read Online The Ronin's Mistress by Laura Joh Rowland - Free Book Online

maybe it was wishful thinking. His two names identified Oishi as a samurai, above Okaru’s station. Okaru was likely just his mistress. “What has Oishi done?”
    “He’s killed him.” Okaru trembled on the verge of tears again. “I heard the news-sellers shouting it in the streets. They said he cut off his head.”
    “Cut off whose head?” Reiko said, alarmed yet excited to hear that the problem involved murder.
    “I followed him because I love him so much and I wanted to save him.” Okaru’s voice rose to a wail. “But I’m just a stupid girl. That’s why I sent the letter to you.” Her hands fluttered like fragile white birds. “Can’t you please do something?”
    Reiko caught Okaru’s hands and held them still. “I won’t know what to do until I know the facts. Now tell me: Whom did Oishi kill?”
    “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m just so upset.” Okaru gulped and sniffled. “It was Kira Yoshinaka.”
    Reiko recognized the name. “Kira, the shogun’s master of ceremonies?”
    “I guess. Some important man at Edo Castle.”
    Reiko was amazed to learn that Kira had been murdered and she had stumbled onto the sequel of a scandalous incident she remembered well. “Is Oishi one of Lord Asano’s former retainers?”
    “Yes, yes! He came to kill Kira because Kira killed Lord Asano.”
    She didn’t have the facts exactly straight. Reiko said, “But the shogun said Kira wasn’t at fault and no action should be taken against him.” Now she understood why Oishi was in trouble and Okaru was so worried. “A vendetta would have been illegal.”
    “That’s what Oishi told me,” Okaru said. “I begged him not to go. But he didn’t care if he was breaking the law.”
    Many samurai wouldn’t. Avenging a master’s death was their highest duty, and sacrificing themselves their ultimate act of loyalty. “So Oishi murdered Kira.”
    “Not just Oishi. He took along forty-six of Lord Asano’s other men.”
    Reiko was stunned. The trouble was even more serious than she’d initially thought. The government might have excused one samurai who’d killed in the name of honor, but forty-seven r ō nin ganging up on one old man? Reiko couldn’t imagine them getting away with it.
    “So that’s why Oishi and I need your help,” Okaru said.
    The problem was far beyond Reiko’s power to solve. “I’m sorry to say that I can’t save Oishi.” Reiko watched Okaru’s face fall. She hated to disappoint the girl, but it would be crueler to give her false hope. “Oishi and his friends defied the shogun and committed murder. They’ll likely be sentenced to death.”
    Chiyo nodded. Masahiro turned to Reiko in dismay. Reiko was sorry she’d brought him, that he was upset.
    “But the innkeeper said your husband is an important man in the government,” Okaru said. “Couldn’t he protect Oishi, if you ask him to?”
    “My husband has to follow the shogun’s orders just like everyone else,” Reiko said. “There’s nothing he can do for Oishi. I’m sorry. My best advice to you is this: Forget about Oishi. Go home. If you need money for traveling, I can give you some.”
    Okaru conceded without a fight. Indeed, she didn’t seem to have a fighting bone in her body. Her shoulders sagged. “I understand,” she said, her beautiful face a picture of woe. “I’m sorry for imposing on you. I won’t take your money. Thank you for coming.”
    Her manner showed no resentment, which made Reiko even sorrier that she couldn’t help the girl. Then Okaru said, “What I don’t understand is how that man Kira could do something wrong, and Oishi will die for trying to set things right. It seems so unfair.”
    If Okaru knew the facts, maybe she could more easily accept Oishi’s fate and Reiko would feel less guilty for letting her down. Reiko explained, “Lord Asano drew a sword on Kira inside Edo Castle. He broke the law. That’s why he died. Kira never lifted a finger toward Lord Asano. That’s why the shogun