Watanabe Shogoro is a lazy constable at the Honmachi Magistrate’s Office and avoids troublesome tasks. But once there is a “job”, he demonstrates cool-headedness in cutting down villains with his sword. Shogoro has always been unable to hold his head high as a son-in-law adopted into the family. One day, he has a rare display of anger and gets into a quarrel with his wife Fuku. Fuku leaves home. Coincidentally, a chief priest and wives who have run away from their husbands and sought refuge at the temple are slain. Fearing that Fuku is one of them, Shogoro hurries to the temple. At the same time, a husband and wife pair of assassins Kawaraya no Jinpachiro and Nakibokuro no Omiya arrive in Edo. Shogoro happens to encounter them at the corner of a street. Okiku, who knows Jinpachiro and Omiya, warns Shogoro that he must not have anything to do with them. However, Jinpachiro, a carouser and gambler, ends up meeting the picture framer Ryoji at a gambling den in the red light district. Despite the things they share in common, Ryoji cannot hide his disgust at Jinpachiro’s way of life. At that point, a man who seems to be the criminal in the temple massacre is found to have committed suicide. Although Shogoro senses a conspiracy behind the case, the jurisdiction for the temple lies with the magistrate for temples and shrines, and Shogoro’s superior, Masumura Rintaro, is too timid to investigate further. The priest Enten takes up the position of the chief priest with the blessings of the magistrate for temples and shrines Edajima Kaneyoshi shortly after that. Ryu, who had originally experienced religious training as the heir of a temple, feels something is wrong with the new state of affairs at the temple, which has started accepting females as if nothing has happened. On this day, Oichi brings her daughters Misato and Yui to the temple to seek shelter from her husband’s violence. However, behind the scenes at the temple is a conspiracy to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of females and exploit them.