Chapter 76: Crape Myrtle and the “Complete Library of the Four Treasuries”

The two of them were admiring the water lilies and carp side by side when a miko came running with her skirt held up, saying that a guest had come to visit Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“A guest? I have friends in Kyoto?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked with a laugh.

“It’s someone from the Minamoto clan,” the miko said.

“I don’t want to see them,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said without thinking. “Just say that I fell into the pond while feeding the fish and broke my leg, and I need to rest.”

The miko tilted her head and let out an “ah.”

She was only fourteen years old. After hearing Minamoto Kiyomoto’s words, her eyes widened and her mouth opened wide, full of innocence.

“Just say that. Thank you for your trouble.”

“Oh,” the miko’s mouth formed an “O” shape again.

She turned to leave, but Kamibayashi Miko called out to her, “Wait a moment.”

The miko turned back, her eyes shining with admiration as she stared at Kamibayashi Miko.

“Change the reason. Say that the Lord of Kyoto has asked him to stay at home and prepare for the sermon, and he cannot see guests.”

“Alright~” the miko nodded without thinking.

After the miko left, Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Kamibayashi Miko:

“If they had come to see me yesterday, I might have seen them. But they only came today after confirming that I have no connection with the Shinto religion. They’re thinking too beautifully.”

Kamibayashi Miko had just finished her five sentences. After hearing this, she just smiled slightly, with an indifferent attitude.

On the long corridor over the water, the miko from just now ran past with her red skirt held up.

Not long after, she ran back with her skirt held up.

After she disappeared into the shade of the trees for a while, she entered the pavilion from behind the two of them.

“Lord Kiyomoto,” she panted, “the people from the Minamoto clan said that they will visit you again after your sermon. If you have time, please also visit Uji.”

“Thank you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

The little miko shook her head and ran out of the pavilion with her skirt held up.

This time, when she ran past the long corridor, she ran into an older miko and was scolded.

Minamoto Kiyomoto and Kamibayashi Miko looked at their reflections in the water. They were wearing the same red and white miko outfits and were about the same height. If one of them hadn’t been looking down, one would have thought they were two sisters talking.

After being scolded, the little miko didn’t dare to run anymore and could only walk.

After a while, the older miko appeared in the pavilion. She was here to see Kamibayashi Miko.

“Lady Divine Miko, could you please give us some guidance?” the older miko—who was actually only twenty years old—requested.

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t speak. She rarely spoke, and just nodded slightly coldly. She stood up, and her lazy posture was instantly gone.

Minamoto Kiyomoto also followed.

The archery range in the shrine was hidden by green trees.

The young miko in white tops and red hakama, under the guidance of Kamibayashi Miko, stood up, bowed, took an arrow, drew the bow, completed the shot, bowed, and returned to their positions.

Minamoto Kiyomoto also took a bow.

When he drew the bow, he clearly felt that his strength had increased a lot. He didn’t know if it was the influence of the giant dragon’s body.

“Lord Minamoto’s posture for drawing the bow is so standard. Did you learn it from Lady Divine Miko?” a few little miko who were resting surrounded him curiously.

“No,” Minamoto Kiyomoto released the bowstring and picked up another arrow. “Izayoi taught me a little.”

“It’s Lady Izayoi!”

“Lady Izayoi used to take us for morning practice, but unfortunately, after she entered the palace, she rarely came with us.”

In the eyes of the miko of Heian Shrine, Himemiya Izayoi’s prestige was very high, even higher than that of the Divine Miko.

On the morning of August 3rd, just as Minamoto Kiyomoto woke up from his cultivation, he heard a knock on the door.

At this time, the morning mist in the divine garden had not yet dispersed, and it was like a newborn soul wandering.

The rising sun shone through the tall trees and onto the open space in front of the corridor, creating pillars of light everywhere.

He opened the door with confusion, thinking that it was another noble family sending someone to visit.

“Lord Kiyomoto,” the person who knocked on the door was a young woman, wearing a court dress, looking like a well-bred young lady from a good family.

“Who are you?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked.

“I was sent by Lady Izayoi,” the court lady replied.

“What’s the matter?” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s expression became a little kinder.

“This morning, my lady was picking flowers in the inner court. She thought this crape myrtle flower was the most beautiful and asked me to send it to you, Lord Kiyomoto.”

“Crape myrtle?”

The court lady took out a red flower branch from her wide sleeve. The flower was beautiful and colorful, and it was still covered with dew.

Minamoto Kiyomoto took it and looked at it carefully. In his mind, the image of ‘the inner court full of flowers, Himemiya Izayoi in a kimono, breaking off this crape myrtle flower, and sniffing it at the tip of her nose’ appeared.

In an instant, he felt that what he had received was not a flower, but a letter from a young woman, in which was written the young woman’s charming and affectionate thoughts.

“Scary,” he couldn’t help but whisper.

A trace of confusion flashed in the court lady’s eyes.

“Thank Izayoi for me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his head and said to her.

The court lady nodded slightly and said in a gentle Kyoto dialect, “Lord Minamoto, Lady Izayoi also asked me to tell you: don’t go to the flower street, look at the flowers more.”

“…Tell her I know.”

Whether it was the flower or the seemingly jealous words, they all made Minamoto Kiyomoto feel scared, because they filled his heart with warmth and made his chest flutter.

The court lady returned to the palace. Himemiya Izayoi was trimming the flower branches she had picked in the morning and arranging them in a vase.

“What did he say?” she asked as she trimmed the flowers.

“Lord Minamoto said: he knows,” the court lady replied respectfully.

“When he received the flower,” Himemiya Izayoi put the flower in the vase, “what was his reaction?”

The court lady thought for a moment and said, “Lord Minamoto muttered to himself—”

She paused for a moment and spat out those two words: “Scary.”

Himemiya Izayoi smiled slightly and arranged the flower branches in front of her, “You may leave.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

◇

Minamoto Kiyomoto put the crape myrtle flower in a vase. The vase originally contained the works of the miko practicing flower arrangement.

After breakfast, he went to find Kamibayashi Miko. The two of them had arranged to go to a bookstore together.

Kamibayashi Miko had also just finished breakfast.

For a long time, the two of them had almost the same schedule: morning practice, meals, classes, after-class activities, dinner, cultivation, and sleep—except for the bathing time, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s was shorter, and hers was longer.

Even now that it was vacation, the two of them still maintained the same schedule for morning practice and meals.

They walked out of Heian Shrine, passed through the huge red torii gate, and first went to the nearby Tsutaya Bookstore.

As a result, they saw that it was all modern books, which was not very interesting.

After asking someone, they found out that to buy ancient books, they had to go to some old bookstores.

Following that person’s directions, the two of them went to Chion-ji Temple. It was said that in the autumn, the annual ancient book festival would be held here.

At that time, the temple, which was full of green pine trees, would be filled with book stalls, and there would be ancient books, old books, old records, and old painting albums everywhere.

A pine needle might fall from a tree and be clipped into a book, and be taken back by the person who bought the book.

“We came at the wrong time. We can only go from shop to shop,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed.

“It’s fine,” Kamibayashi Miko said. “At the ancient book festival, only a small portion of the books can be sold. If we go to the shops, we can see them all.”

“That makes sense. As expected of Miss Kamibayashi, you’re as smart as ice and snow, thinking of things that ordinary people can’t.”

“I’m smart. On the contrary, your level of praise is getting worse day by day.”

“No amount of praise can express your beauty. It has nothing to do with my level.”

“That’s more like it.”

“I feel that your attitude towards praise has changed a little recently.”

“Nothing is forever,” Kamibayashi Miko said a very philosophical sentence.

“My love for you, my persistence in curses, and my love for books are all forever,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said proudly.

The two of them came to the vicinity of Chion-ji Temple and entered a bookstore called “Yoshioka.” It was full of old books.

“Miss Kamibayashi, look,” as soon as he entered, Minamoto Kiyomoto took a large book from the bookshelf.

Kamibayashi Miko looked and saw that it was a translation of “Dream of the Red Chamber” by Inami Ryoichi.

“This is all in modern Japanese,” Minamoto Kiyomoto flipped through it. “The translation and notes are also very detailed, and the annotations of the poems are also very thorough.”

His attitude of commenting attracted the attention of the shop owner.

“Do you understand ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’?” the shop owner asked.

Recently, even students at Kyoto University didn’t read “Dream of the Red Chamber,” let alone “Dream of the Red Chamber,” they didn’t even read their own country’s Natsume Soseki anymore.

“I haven’t read this version,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “I have read the versions by Ito Sohei, Matsueda Shigeo, Iinuma Ryo, and others.”

The shop owner let out an “oh,” his face showing some admiration, and asked, “Which version do you think is the best translation?”

“Of course, it’s Cao Xueqin.”

“Cao Xueqin?” The shop owner was stunned for a moment. “Isn’t that the original author? Do you mean that it’s better to read the original?”

“Yes.”

“I naturally understand that, but just in terms of translation, who do you think is better?” the shop owner asked again.

Minamoto Kiyomoto thought for a moment, “Minamoto Kiyomoto, I guess.”

“Minamoto Kiyomoto?” The shop owner was stunned for a long time, thought for a while, “I haven’t read this version, nor have I heard of it.”

“Minamoto Kiyomoto is amazing,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said with a serious face. “He has read all kinds of books and is knowledgeable about ancient and modern times. The books here, there are probably three or four thousand of them. I don’t even need to look to know that he has definitely read them all.”

“Oh—” the shop owner said with a look of amazement. “I really want to meet this person.”

“Then, may I ask,” Kamibayashi Miko took a book from the bookshelf and asked like a female college student, “has Mr. Minamoto Kiyomoto read this ‘Illustrated Hundred Demons’ Night Parade’?”

“Let me see,” Minamoto Kiyomoto took it. It was painted by a painter named Toriyama Sekien.

He flipped through it for a while and returned the book to Kamibayashi Miko.

“I’ve read it. How could I not have read it?” he said. “Minamoto Kiyomoto can draw all 207 different yokai in it exactly as they are.”

“Can Minamoto Kiyomoto really draw them?” Kamibayashi Miko asked with a smile.

“Of course!”

“Alright,” Kamibayashi Miko turned to the shop owner and said, “Boss, buy a set of brushes, ink, and a scroll.”

“…There’s no need to waste this money, right? It’s not easy for me to earn money,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

Kamibayashi Miko ignored him, paid the bill, and handed the brush to him, while she poured out the ink herself.

“Come on, Mr. Minamoto Kiyomoto,” she said with a smile.

“Eh? You’re Minamoto Kiyomoto?” The shop owner felt that he had been played. Looking at this young man’s refined temperament, he had subconsciously thought that he was a person who had read many books.

“My real name is Minamoto Kiyohide. I don’t know any Minamoto Kiyomoto,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Da-da!” Kamibayashi Miko’s snow-white fingers tapped on the scroll, urging him to hurry.

“Do you really want me to draw?”

“If you don’t draw, it means that all your words are lies.”

“Do you really think I can’t draw?” Minamoto Kiyomoto picked up the brush and began to sketch out yokai on the scroll.

Mermaids, dog gods, tree spirits, tengu, Tamamo-no-Mae—all of them were lifelike, exactly the same as in the book.

As he drew, he also told the stories of these yokai, not only from Japan, but also similar stories from China, India, the West, and so on, as if he were counting his family treasures.

The shop owner was so engrossed that he didn’t even do business and stood by the side watching.

A Kyoto lady in a kimono and a black haori, carrying a small cloth bag, had a very good temperament and was also listening with surprise.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s voice, even if he were just reading the names of all the train stations in Japan, could still move a woman who still had desires.

When he was drawing the ‘human-faced tree,’ Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t remember how many faces were on the tree.

He scratched his head with the end of the brush, his hands behind his back, and walked around the shop.

“Is it done?” Kamibayashi Miko was reading “Illustrated Hundred Tools’ Night Parade,” also written by Toriyama Sekien. She had “Illustrated Hundred Demons’ Night Parade” by her side.

“Miss Kamibayashi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto came over, “let me take another look, just one look.”

“Alright,” Kamibayashi Miko closed the book. “I knew it. There’s not a single true word in your mouth. There’s nothing eternal in this world.”

This was about what had happened just now. Minamoto Kiyomoto had said that his love for her was eternal.

“How can there not be? Eternal is eternal,” Minamoto Kiyomoto thought for a long time, and finally put his brush to paper.

After he finished drawing, Kamibayashi Miko glanced at his drawing, then at the album in her hand.

“There are two missing here,” her snow-white fingers pointed at the album. Under the contrast of the black ink, those fingers were shockingly white.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked and cursed, “Damn it!”

He threw the brush away and swore that he would never draw again.

Next was a long time of looking for books. The two of them planned to visit one shop a day, so they could calm down and look slowly.

Minamoto Kiyomoto saw “Zhenguan Zhengyao,” “Zhuzi Yulei,” “Bai Shi Changqing Ji” from the “Complete Library of the Four Treasuries,” and even “Qijing Mengzi Kaowen Buyi” by Yamai Tei—this was the only work by a Japanese person included in the “Complete Library of the Four Treasuries.”

“I want this ‘Qijing Mengzi Kaowen Buyi’,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, unable to put it down.

“Oh, this one,” the shop owner looked over. “This one has already been reserved.”

“Reserved?”

“Yes, Lord Sanada Hajime bought it and said to leave it here for Miss Sachiko of the Tsutano family.”

“What does she want this for? To them, aren’t these books all hard and smelly?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked with confusion.

“A teahouse needs some hard and smelly books,” the shop owner was also helpless. “If it weren’t for the fact that Lord Sanada Hajime paid a lot of money, and his status is noble, I wouldn’t want to sell books as decorations.”

“How dare he! How much did he pay!”

“One million yen.”

“How much?!”

“One million yen,” the shop owner repeated.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Kamibayashi Miko and said with a fawning face, “Miss Kamibayashi, look, you can lend me some first.”

“No.”

“Just this one—”

“No means no.”

“…”

“You’ve memorized it after reading it once. Why spend so much money to buy it back? You haven’t paid off your loan yet, have you forgotten?” Kamibayashi Miko’s tone was calm, and her face was expressionless. She was very suitable for managing accounts.

Minamoto Kiyomoto caressed the cover of the book and put it back with a sigh.

For a person with a collecting habit, this was like telling a rocket not to go to space, or an aircraft carrier not to go to sea.

At dusk, he held the rest of the “Complete Library of the Four Treasuries,” and along with Kamibayashi Miko, who was also holding a few books, they walked out of the bookstore.

“Sanada Hajime, I’ll remember you,” he said hatefully. “When I go to the palace to preach, I’ll definitely report him!”

“Report him for what?”

“Unexplained funds!”

“Not to mention that his father is a Kosen, he himself, as a court official, has enough salary every year.”

“I’ll be a Kosen soon—”

“Pay off my debt.”

“…You’re a Divine Miko, and I’m a soon-to-be Kosen. Why are we living so poorly?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was very puzzled.

“Hakusan Shrine, which has a hidden realm, is very expensive,” Kamibayashi Miko gave a very realistic answer.

A large group of cats suddenly appeared in front of them, lying lazily and majestically in the golden sunset.

Their serious and indifferent posture made people not dare to disturb them rashly. Even Minamoto Kiyomoto and Kamibayashi Miko had to walk around them.

The two of them not only had no money, but also no face.

Fortunately, the sunset was beautiful enough, and the books in their hands made them eager to read.

(End of Chapter)