Eirin, you already solved the riddle? Kaguya asked with an incredulous look. She remembered only just telling Eirin the lines. Had she really deciphered them all already?
"Indeed. It wasn't a particularly difficult puzzle. Someone with even a bit of talent would solve it quickly, and even those with average wit could figure it out given time. Only a fool would be troubled by such a thing... Princess, perhaps you should reflect on which category you fall into?" Eirin spoke slowly with a calm smile, glancing sideways at Kaguya.
Hearing this, Kaguya’s face stiffened and her lips twitched. I feel like I'm being deeply looked down upon...
"Hmph... not everyone can be like you, Eirin. Besides, using one's brain is the job of sages like you. A princess like me only needs to be responsible for being elegant and beautiful... Ow! That hurts!"
As Kaguya was muttering, Eirin rapped her on the head, making her clutch her scalp.
"Princess... you really are becoming more pathetic as the years go by. To think you'd say something like being content as a mere trophy. As I thought... after releasing the stasis of eternal power... does time only make one more dull? It seems that to prevent you from ultimately degenerating into a useless waste of a princess, I'll need to customize some special training plans for you once we return..." Eirin spoke sternly, her fist still clenched, while Kaguya looked indignant and continued to grumble quietly.
"Ugh... so what if I'm useless? With infinite time, there's no point in working hard at anything anyway. It's better to—wait, wait, wait! Now isn't the time for this! Since you've solved the riddle, hurry up and tell me what's going on!" Seeing Eirin's face darken as she tightened her fist again, Kaguya hastily changed the subject.
"Sigh... fine. I'll explain the riddle to you first. This isn't a good place to talk. Let's move elsewhere."
Eirin let out a long breath. After glancing around, she led Kaguya to a secluded Izakaya and entered a private booth.
"Can't you just decipher it on the street? Why do we have to come in here? We don't have time to slowly sip tea, Eirin!" Kaguya said, frowning. Eirin took a sip of tea and spoke calmly.
"Please be patient, Princess. It wouldn't be convenient to unfold this on the street..." Eirin pulled a scroll from her sleeve and laid it on the table. As it unfurled, a map of Heian-kyo appeared—a square planar map cut into neat districts by straight streets.
"This is..."
"This is a map of Heian-kyo. This riddle is related to the city itself," Eirin answered. Kaguya glanced at the map and murmured in confusion.
"A riddle related to Heian-kyo..."
"Yes. Now, let us review the lines of the riddle..." Eirin held up a finger and began to repeat the phrases.
"Xuanyi, Alkaid, the boat's prow in the pond;
Huangluo, Guyu, the feather flies in;
The year's end, Kannazuki, bowing to the Buddha;
Hanasaki, Hatsusora, enshrining the shrine palace;
Double poles, double solstices, dwelling before the gods.
"Princess, do you notice anything strange about these lines?" Eirin asked. Kaguya thought for a moment.
"Well... they feel like Han poems, but they don't seem to have any coherent meaning. It's like unrelated words were randomly mashed together."
Eirin nodded. "Correct. These riddles are combinations of unrelated terms in a 2-2-3 format. Each of these words has its own origin."
"Origin?"
"Yes. For example, 'Xuanyi' in the first line is one of the Ten Heavenly Stems. 'Alkaid' is a star from the Big Dipper. Princess, do you know what they have in common?"
"Um... I only know they're both celestial phenomena..."
"Yes, but that is not the point. The meanings of these nouns themselves are not important. The key is the numbers they imply..."
"Numbers?" Kaguya felt even more bewildered.
"Xuanyi and Alkaid both belong to their own systems and have fixed positions within them. For instance, Xuanyi is the ninth of the Ten Heavenly Stems, while Alkaid is the seventh star of the Big Dipper. Therefore, the first four characters of the first riddle actually imply the numbers nine and seven." Eirin began to systematically break down the puzzle with a confident smile.
"Nine and seven... but what do those numbers mean? Can they point to where the Jade Bamboo is hidden?" Kaguya pressed on.
"Of course they can. Now we must use this map. Princess, what impression does this map of Heian-kyo give you?"
"The map of Heian-kyo... it feels very square, with the city districts neatly cut by roads... wait, the roads!" Looking at the intersecting roads, Kaguya finally realized something. Eirin nodded.
"Exactly, the roads. Heian-kyo was modeled after the Great Tang's Chang'an. This method of urban planning is known as the Bofang structure. The square city is evenly cut by horizontal and vertical streets, such that any two intersecting roads can pinpoint a location. The numbers nine and seven refer to the sequence of these roads."
Eirin pointed to the roads on the map.
"The roads of Heian-kyo are ordered from north to south for vertical streets, and east to west for horizontal ones—horizontal first, then vertical. Thus, the ninth horizontal road and the seventh vertical road refer to East Omiya Avenue and Sanjo Avenue, respectively. Their intersection is right here..." Eirin pointed to a crossroad. Kaguya’s expression became excited.
"So... the Jade Bamboo is hidden there?"
"No, I don't believe that new princess would hide something on a busy main road. Now we must look at the last three characters: 'the boat's prow in the pond.' Look around this point—where is there a pond capable of holding a boat?"
Eirin continued her prompting, and Kaguya immediately found the spot.
"It's Shinsenen! According to the labels, this place is an imperial garden. There must be a pond inside! Eirin, let's go there right now!"
"Don't be in such a rush, Princess. Shinsenen is quite far; someone might have already beaten us to it. Let's determine the locations for the other Jade Bamboos before deciding where to go. The method for deciphering the other lines is the same. We'll have them all solved in no time."
Rate on N.U.
