CHAPTER VII.
PERJURY.
When he entered the hall where Fide-Yori was waiting for him, Hieyassaw that something important was about to occur.
All the party devoted to the son of Taiko-Sama were assembled there.
Fide-Yori wore for the first time, that warlike and royal costume whichhe alone had the right to assume. The cuirass of black horn girt hisbody, and heavy skirts, made of a series of plates fastened together bystitches of red silk, fell over a pair of loose trousers confined fromthe ankle to the knee by velvet gaiters. He had a sword on his leftside, and another on the right. Three golden stars glittered on hisbreast; his hand rested upon an iron wand. The young man was seated ona folding stool such as warriors use in their tents.
On his right stood his mother, the beautiful Yodogimi, pale andnervous, but splendidly arrayed; on his left, the Prince of Mayada, whoshared the regency with Hieyas; but being very old, and for some timepast an invalid, this Prince held himself aloof from business matters.He however kept watch over Hieyas, and maintained the interests ofFide-Yori as far as possible.
On one side were the princes of Satsuma, Satake, Arima, Aki, andIssida; on the other, the warriors,--General Sanada-Sayemon-Yoke-Mouraat their head,--in battle array; Aroufza, Moto-Tsoumou, Harounaga,Moritzka, and a very beautiful and serious young man, named Signenari.
All the Shogun's friends, in fact, and all the mortal enemies of theRegent were assembled; yet Nagato was absent.
Hieyas cast a haughty glance around the assembly.
"Here I am," he said, in a firm voice; "I am waiting. What are yourwishes?"
A profound silence was the only answer. Fide-Yori turned away his eyesfrom him in horror.
At last the Prince of Mayada began to speak.
"We wish nothing from you but justice," said he; "we would simplyrecall to you a fact which you seem to have forgotten,--that your termof regency as well as mine, expired some months since, Hieyas; and inyour zeal for governing the empire you have not heeded this. The son ofTaiko-Sama is now of a fit age to reign; your rule is therefore over.It only remains for you to lay down your powers at the master's feet,and render him an account of your conduct, as I shall render an accountof my actions while he was under our tutelage."
"You do not consider what you say," cried Hieyas, his face growingpurple with rage; "you apparently mean to urge the country to its ruin!"
"I have spoken gently," replied Mayada; "do not force me to assume adifferent tone."
"You desire an inexperienced child," continued Hieyas, heedless of theinterruption, "to wield the power before he has had any practice in thedifficult profession of the head of a nation. It is as if you put aheavy porcelain vase into the hands of a new-born babe: he would let itfall to the ground, and the vase would break into a thousand bits."
"You insult our Shogun!" exclaimed the Prince of Satake.
"No," said Hieyas; "Fide-Yori himself will agree with me. I mustinitiate him slowly into my labors, and point out to him the possiblesolutions of the questions now in debate. Has he ever paid any heed tothe affairs of the nation? His young intelligence was not yet ripe,and I spared him the fatigues of government. I alone possess theinstructions of the great Taiko, and I alone can carry on the vast workwhich he undertook. The task is not yet accomplished. Therefore, inobedience to that venerated chief, I must, in spite of your opinion,retain in my own hands the power intrusted to me by him; but, to showyou how highly I esteem your advice, from this day forth the youthfulFide-Yori shall share the grave cares whose burden I have hithertoborne alone. Answer, Fide-Yori," added Hieyas; "say for yourself if Ihave spoken after your own heart."
Fide-Yori slowly turned his ashen face towards Hieyas and gazed at himfixedly. Then, after a moment's silence, he said in a voice somewhattrembling, although full of scorn: "The noise made by Swallow bridge asit fell beneath my tread has not made me deaf to your voice."
Hieyas turned pale before him whom he had striven to send to his death;he was humbled by his crime. His lofty intelligence suffered from thesespots of blood and dirt which bespattered it; he saw them in the futuredarkening his name, which he longed to render glorious, certain thathis duty towards his country was to keep in his own hands the power ofwhich he was worthier than any other. He felt a sort of indignation atbeing obliged to compel by force that which public interest should haveeagerly required of him. However, resolved to struggle to the end, heraised his head, bowed for an instant beneath the weight of tumultuousthoughts, and cast a savage and overbearing glance around the room.
A threatening silence had followed the Shogun's words. It was prolongeduntil it became painful; the Prince of Satsuma broke it at last.
"Hieyas," he said, "I summon you in my master's name to lay down thepowers with which you were invested by Taiko-Sama."
"I refuse!" said Hieyas.
A cry of amazement escaped from the lips of all the nobles. The Princeof Mayada rose; he advanced slowly towards Hieyas, and drew from hisbreast a paper yellowed by age.
"Do you recognize this?" said he, unfolding the writing, which he heldbefore the eyes of Hieyas. "Was it indeed with your blood that youtraced your traitorous name here side by side with my loyal one? Haveyou forgotten the form of the oath,--'The powers which you intrust tous we will restore to your child upon his majority; we swear it on theremains of our ancestors, before the luminous disk of the sun'? Taikofell peacefully asleep when he saw those few scarlet lines; to-day hewill rise from his tomb, perjurer, to curse you."
The old man, trembling with anger, crumpled in his hands the oathwritten in blood and flung it in Hieyas' face.
"But do you really think that we shall let you thus despoil our childbefore our eyes?" he continued. "Do you think, because you do notchoose to give up what you have taken, that we will not wrest it fromyou? The crimes which you plot have clouded your intellect; you have nosoul or honor left; you dare to stand erect before your master,--beforehim whom you strove to kill!"
"He not only tried to take my life," said Fide-Yori; "that man, moresavage than the tiger, has this night caused the murder of my mostfaithful servant, my dearest friend, the Prince of Nagato!"
A shudder of horror passed over the assembly, while a flash of joyillumined the eyes of Hieyas.
"Rid of that formidable foe," he thought, "I shall soon masterFide-Yori."
As if replying to his thought, the voice of Nagato was heard. "Do notrejoice too soon, Hieyas," it said; "I am alive, and still in conditionto serve my young master."
Hieyas turned quickly, and saw the Prince, who had just lifted a heavycurtain, and now entered the hall.
Nagato looked like a ghost; his eyes, glittering with the light offever, seemed larger and blacker than usual. His face was so pale thatit could hardly be distinguished from the narrow white bandage spottedwith blood which bound his head. A spasm of pain shook his limbs, andcaused a crystal box that sparkled in his hand to quiver.
General Yoke-Moura ran to him.
"What madness, Prince!" he cried, "to rise and walk, after losing somuch blood, and in spite of the orders of your doctors!"
"Bad friend!" said Fide-Yori, "will you never cease to play with yourlife?"
"I will become the slave of the doctors in obedience to the undeservedinterest that you take in me," said the Prince, "when I have fulfilledthe mission with which I am charged."
Hieyas, filled with alarm, had taken refuge in utter silence; hewatched and waited, casting frequent glances at the door, as if anxiousto escape.
"I should offer you this casket on my knees, and you should receive iton your knees," said the Prince; "for it contains a message from yourlord and master and ours, from him who holds his power from Heaven,from the all-powerful Mikado."
Nagato prostrated himself and offered the casket to the Shogun, whobent his knee as he took it.
Hieyas felt sure that this casket contained his final doom; and hethought that now, as always, it was the Prince of Nagato who triumphedover him.
/> Meanwhile Fide-Yori had unfolded the Mikado's message and ran his eyeover it. An expression of joy irradiated his countenance. He raisedhis eyes, wet with tears, to Nagato, thinking in his turn that it wasalways through him that he triumphed.
"Prince of Satsuma," said he, extending the letter to the aged lord,"read this divine writing aloud to us."
The Prince of Satsuma read as follows:--
"I, the direct descendant of the Gods who founded Japan, I lower my eyes to the earth, and I see that much time has elapsed since the death of that faithful servant of my dynasty, Taiko-Sama, whom my predecessor named General-in-chief of the kingdom. The son of that illustrious leader, who rendered great services to the country, was six years old when his father died; but time has sped for him as for all men, and he is now of an age to succeed his father; wherefore I name him in his turn General-in-chief of the kingdom.
"In a few days the knights of Heaven shall solemnly announce to him my will and pleasure, that none may be ignorant of it.
"Now, trusting to Fide-Yori the cares of government, I replunge myself in the mysterious absorption of my superhuman dream.
"Given at the Dairi, in the nineteenth year of Nengo-Kai-Tio (164). "GO-MITZOU-NO."
"That is unanswerable," said Hieyas, bowing his head; "the suprememaster has ordered,--I obey. I lay down the powers which were confidedto me; and after the insults to which I have submitted, I know whatremains for me to do. I hope that those who have managed this mattermay not repent their success some day, and that the country may nothave cause to groan under the weight of misfortune which may befall it."
He went out, after uttering these words, and all the lords rejoicing,gathered around the young Shogun and congratulated him.
"You should congratulate my friend and brother, Nagato," saidFide-Yori; "it was he who accomplished everything."
"All is not ended yet," said Nagato, who seemed thoughtful; "you mustinstantly sign Hieyas' death-warrant."
"But you heard what he said, friend; he said that he knew what remainedfor him to do. He is even now about to perform the hara-kiri."
"Certainly," said the Prince of Satsuma.
"He knows the code of nobility," said the Prince of Aki.
"Yes; but he despises its customs, and will not conform to them," saidNagato. "If we do not promptly condemn that man, he will escape us; andonce free, he is capable of daring anything."
The Prince of Nagato had unfolded a roll of white paper, and offered abrush dipped in ink to the Shogun.
Fide-Yori seemed to waver. "To condemn him thus without a trial!" hesaid.
"A trial is of no avail," replied Nagato. "He has perjured himself, andfailed in respect to you before the whole Council; moreover he is anassassin."
"He is my wife's grandfather," murmured the Shogun.
"You can repudiate your wife," said Nagato. "While Hieyas lives, therecan be no peace for you, no safety for the country."
Fide-Yori seized the brush, wrote the warrant, and signed it.
Nagato handed the order to General Sanada-Sayemon-Yoke-Moura, whoinstantly left the room.
He soon returned, his countenance disfigured by wrath. "Too late!" hecried; "the Prince of Nagato was right: Hieyas has fled!"