All further notices and communications will be done over at the new blog. Hope to see you there!

Shourin runs towards the Sa family manor. And Shuurei is playing the ehru for Sakujun again after lunch. Shuurei is dismissed, so she starts looking for Kokujun again, when Shourin appears and delivers the message from Ensei along with the map of the Sa residence. Shuurei asks Sakujun for a housemaid’s outfit to more easily move around, after which he asks Shuurei to put his hair up. The way she does I suspect isn’t quite what Sakujun had in mind. As a maid, Shuurei overhears rumors about Eiki being confined to her rooms and Kokujun being under house arrest. Even with the map’s help, Shuurei isn’t having much success finding the two missing persons. Poor Kokujun meanwhile seems to be starting to go crazy.

When Shuurei talks about Eiki to another housemaid, she finds that everyone associated with Eiki was removed. Later, Shuurei wonders about Sa Chuushou’s quarters since those are nearly impossible for her to check. Shourin pops up and confirms her suspicions. He snuck in there at night and the floor sounded very hollow to him. Shuurei asks Shourin to report this to Ensei.

When Shourin reports to Ensei, he figures that Kokujun must be the one down there since Lady Eiki is far too strong a person to be imprisoned like that. At least they know he is alive since Shourin sensed someone down there. Ensei has Shourin go back to Shuurei to report that it is probably Kokujun down there.

Shourin reports to Shuurei. He also says there didn’t seem to be any mechanisms in the floor of Sa Chuushou’s chambers, which means it is somewhere else. Shourin goes to look.

Later, while playing the ehru, Shuurei tells Sakujun how suspicious she thinks Sa manor is with all its secret passageways and hidden rooms. Sakujun grabs her, but at Shuurei’s protests doesn’t go any farther. He tells Shuurei that Sa Chuushou will meet with her the next day. Shuurei is ready to tell him off regarding her planned wedding with Sakujun. And she still won’t make kanro tea for Sakujun.

Seiran reports to Ensei that things seem rather quiet. Ensei says it is the quiet before the storm. Ensei suggests that after the ceremony to install the new Governors, they get Shuurei to make karno tea for them, though Seiran wants it only for himself.

The next day, Shuurei does indeed meet with Sa Chuushou. Shuurei refuses to bow, not because the Kou clan is superior to the Sa clan, but because of Sa Chuushou’s actions which have harmed others. She also protests her marriage to Sakujun, but Sa Chuushou doesn’t really listen. He also doesn’t acknowledge having any grandson but Sakujun, much to Shuurei’s shock. When Shuurei still refuses to marry Sakujun, Sa Chuushou threatens to start riots and fires in the capital of Sa province on the day the Governors are to be instated and to burn the tower where Tai Yuushun is self-imprisoned. He also seems to know about Shuurei’s agreement with the Merchant’s Guild and was in contact with Sai Shou before Shuurei was. Shuurei, however, decides to trust Ensei’s words that Tei Yuushun is safe and in everyone’s abilities to deal with the rest. Sa Chuushou then threatens to keep Shuurei in the Sa manor until the deadline for the appointment of the new Governors has past, but Shuurei has already written a letter transferring all power to Tou Eigetsu along with the seal in case of emergency. Shuurei promises not to marry Sakujun, which enrages Sa Chuushou.

In prison, Kokujun does indeed find his father. Kokujun is quite depressed at is uselessness.

Meanwhile, Shuurei expresses her determination to accept Sakujun’s invitation in spite of everyone’s protests, when Sakujun himself shows up to collect Shuurei. Seiran isn’t happy about this, but Shuurei goes with Sakujun to protect everyone else and to get her hairpin back. And all Sai Shou can think of is how much he could make from selling portraits of Sakujun ^^;

Kourin is serving tea to Sai Shin and Yu Jun when who should arrive but Youshun. Youshun explains how Shourin and Shunki are going to the provincial capital ahead of him. When asked how they will get into the blockaded city, Youshun tells about the token given to them by their new idol – Ran Ryuren. That token will get them in anywhere. Youshun is about to leave to meat up with Shourin, when Official Yu says he is heading for the provincial capital as well, and asks Youshun to act as bodyguard, which to boy happily accepts.

Indeed, the token does Shourin and Yunki inside the provincial capital with no problems. Shourin follows the horse tracks to where Ensei and the others are.

Ensei tries to reassure Seiran regarding Shuurei. Seiran still wants to do much more that beat Sakujun up. Shourin and Shunki arrive. Thankfully, Ensei keeps an on-edge Seiran from killing them by mistake.

Shuurei and Sakujun are in a part of the Sa clan residence that is off by itself and is rather confusingly laid out. Sakujun says he brought Shuurei early on the orders of his grandfather. Sakujun is supposed to ravish Shuurei and then be married to her the same day as the clan leader selection. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to want to rush anything or make Shuurei more upset than she is. Shuurei says the only reason she is there is to get her hairpin back, and she will never marry him. Sakujun shows Shuurei the hairpin to show that he has it and that it is alright. He even agrees to give it back the day of the clan leader selection, though not earlier since Shuurei would just leave then, which Shuurei says she wouldn’t. Shuurei asks about Kokujun. Sakujun says he is in the family estate alive and well. When Shuurei expresses her doubts about that, Sakujun says she can look anywhere she likes for Kokujun while she is there.

Shunki draws a detailed map of the Sa clan family manor for Seiran and Ensei.

Meanwhile, Ryuuki is sad he is going back to the imperial capital without having seen more than the briefest glimpse of Shuurei.

Sakujun asks Shuurei to play the ehru and brew tea for him at night with her hair down. When Shuurei asks if she can send letters, Sakujun says his grandfather would at the least inspect them. Shuurei makes tea and plays the ehru as requested, but she refuses to brew kanro tea for Sakujun.

Ensei asks Shourin to bring a copy of the map Shunki made without being seen. After agreeing, Shourin promptly takes a nap to be ready to go when the copy is ready.

Kokujun starts talking to himself about the Sa clan, when he is approached by his father.

In othe news, on Tuesday the last third of Sauinkoku first season is released here in the US. Happy day! Maybe if we buy enough copies Funimation will do the second season . . .

The good news, I am done redoing my personal web site, which I also lost the web pages for. That I’m afraid had priority since it is on my resume and I am looking for work. Any suggestions on how to improve Saiunkoku Archives would be welcome. One specific idea is to use frames. This may work very well, but I have yet to figure out how to do frames. But either way, hopefully it won’t be long before I have redone Saiunkoku Archives back up and I can get to work on some new content.

Thanks for your support!

C1 anime has fanusbbed up through season 2 episode 25. Exciting times with intreague in the palace!

Well, I recovered Saiunkoku Arcives, sort of. I can’t alter the pages in frontpage. So, I am working on redoing the site. I don’t know how long it will take to get back up. I am trying to use frames, and so far it isn’t working very well. When the new site is up, I have a new stragegy. As you may have noticed, getting episodes out has not been the easiest or quickest thing. It doesn’t help that I write epic sagas^^; So this is the proposal: I will first post the epic sagas here on the blog. Comments and corrections are always welcome. When five episodes have been posed in the blog, they will be placed within the web site as well. What do you guys think?