Free A Tale of False Fortunes by Fumiko Enchi Page A

reasonable-ness of what his mother was saying, yet his heart was heavy when he recalled the promise he had made to the empress.
    “The minister of the right has been afflicted lately by the illness that is going around, and doesn’t seem to be in good health. Even if I appoint him to the regency, would he be able to hold up to the demands of such a position?” The emperor raised his downcast eyes and spoke with hesitation, to which the empress dowager responded with a spirited laugh, “The minister of the right isn’t yet thirty-five. Even if he is ill now, I can’t imagine that he would suffer the same misfortune as my older brother. But then, if by chance something untoward should happen, you could cross that bridge when you come to it. Considering the future of the regency, I can’t imagine that anyone will accuse you of an inappropriate action. If you appoint Korechika to the regency at this time, neither Michikane nor Michinaga will think well of you for it, and I am certain that disorder would follow.”
    “I realize that too, but . . .” The emperor looked at his mother with a nonplussed expression while he nervously stroked his knee with one hand. Then he said, his cheeks 48 c A Tale of False Fortunes flushed, “Mother, I’m thinking of what might happen if the empress were to conceive in the near future.”
    “That, too, is something to consider if and when it happens.
    If the empress should bear a male heir, then the regency would of course be handed over to Korechika.” The empress dowager’s tone was magnanimous, but secretly it occurred to her that the possibility of the empress’ giving birth to a prince was all the more reason to hold Korechika’s advancement in check now; otherwise, she would face irreversible setbacks.
    The empress dowager was not very fond of Michikane, but she always allied herself with him and Michinaga in opposing the former regent’s household, and in this case Michinaga also wanted the reins of power to be entrusted to Michikane. “If that should happen, it is all the more fitting at this time that the regency should be entrusted to Michikane,” said the empress dowager calmly. “Even if the empress does conceive sooner or later, we don’t know whether or not the child will be a prince.
    But if it is, he will certainly be crown prince. By the time the prince is officially installed as prince imperial, you’ll be at the prime of manhood. And by that time, if Korechika has prepared himself and is in public service, he, too, will make a wonderful trusted counselor. Up to now, Korechika has been shown excessive favor by his father, the regent, and has come to think that he should always have his way about things. There is something arrogant about his attitude. If he were to attain the regency in that state of mind, he would end up becoming conceited, and might even slight you. When my late father was young, he, too, was out of favor with his older brother and for a long time bemoaned his fate. When he later took the reins of government, though, he was all the more attentive to everyone both above and below him, and was praised as an outstanding head of the Fujiwaras. Each human being is endowed with his own fate, and it isn’t necessary to go to extremes to take advantage of the circumstances of the moment. If one really has the capabilities, one’s time will certainly come around.” The empress dowager’s words conveyed the calm reassurance of her many years’ experience; they had about them a compelling strength that the young emperor was powerless to resist.
    Chapter Two c 49

    In the end, he yielded to his mother’s persuasiveness and on the second day of the fifth month issued a proclamation appointing as regent the minister of the right, Michikane, who was recuperating from an illness at the home of one Sukeyuki, former governor of Izumo.
    The empress was at that time still in the Tòkaden Palace. She was perceptive enough to anticipate that the reins of