By chapter seven, "Momiji no ga," it becomes obvious that Fujitsubo and Genji are already involved in an illicit love affair (although the author does not describe it, but rather implies the beginning of the relationship), the result of which is the birth of Reizei (the future emperor) whom everyone, except the two lovers, believes to be the son of the Kiritsubo Emperor.

Elevated to the rank of Empress and having her son named Heir Apparent (Reizei is supposed to succeed Suzaku), Fujitsubo gradually grows more and more troubled by guilt and the fear of having her secret exposed.

Once Genji's advances intensify and, in the public realm, the faction of the Kokiden Lady comes to power, Fujitsubo's only countermeasure is to take vows and become a nun ("Sakaki").

[4] The author of Mumyōzōshi disapproved of the manner in which Genji ultimately becomes honorary retired emperor through his illicit tryst with Fujitsubo, and found the similar plot device in Sagoromo monogatari "utterly revolting and appalling."

[4] Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's first translation of Genji, produced in the 1930s with the supervision of the ultranationalist Yoshio Yamada, cut out the affair between Genji and Fujitsubo entirely so as to avoid offending Imperial Japan's State Shinto ideology of an unbroken divine imperial lineage.