On September 30, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), after the Imagawa army left one part to garrison Hengshan Castle, the main force returned to Imagawa Hall, and each retainer disbanded the troops. After seeing the Imagawa army retreating, the Hojo family also retreated, leaving a force stationed at Fuji Village to monitor the newly surrendered Kamahara family, while the main force returned to Sagami.
This battle was not without gains for the Imagawa family. During the withdrawal, they seized the baggage left by the Hojo family in many ambush camps in Hamaishi Mountain and Jinkasa Mountain, making up for the financial deficit. Imagawa Yoshimoto also used this as an excuse to make a rare intervention in political affairs, doubling the existing pensions and distributing them to the families of the fallen. However, the people are gone, and no matter how much money there is, it is just superficial.
Only a few days had passed since he left for the expedition, and Imagawa Yoshimoto returned to the castle tower as if he was in another world. But when he thought of the beauty he longed for, he would never have the chance to see her again in this life, Imagawa Yoshimoto felt empty in his heart, and he couldn't even read any of the calligraphy and paintings collected by Taiyuan Xuezhai.
Miaomiao wandered around the room, jumped on Imagawa Yoshimoto's desk, moved to Imagawa Yoshimoto's knees and rubbed them gently. Imagawa Yoshimoto used his hands to help him brush the hair on his back, but the technique was still not very good. After a few strokes, Miao Miao felt uncomfortable. He jumped back on the table and yelled at Imagawa Yoshimoto. .
"I'm not as good as your mother..." Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled bitterly and shook his head, his eyes slightly red. Miaomiao noticed her master's sadness and curled up a little, letting out a few listless whines.
"You also miss your mother...right?" Imagawa Yoshimoto gently scratched Miao Miao's head, but all that appeared in front of his eyes was Ginkgo's gentle and cute look when he was playing with the cat. He felt a little out of breath again, stood up, opened the door, and walked outside.
"Where are you going, Chengfang?" Taiyuan Xuezhai in the office next door heard his footsteps and asked.
"Go out and relax."
"The injury hasn't been healed yet, so be careful." Taiyuan Xuezhai reminded him and then ordered, "Remember to bring the ninja and bodyguards with you."
"Okay." Imagawa Yoshimoto responded, looked at Tuton Sutra who was following him, and whispered to him, "Stay a little distance from me. I want to be alone."
"It's all at His Highness's command."
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Imagawa Yoshimoto rode his horse out of the north gate of Imagawa Hall, but he didn't know where to go, so he simply went all the way north and entered the mountainous area north of Imagawa Hall. Riding horses and walking in the mountain forest, breathing the clear air and immersed in the quiet mountain scenery, my restless heart became slightly calmer.
He jumped on his horse and climbed to the top of a mountain. He walked around a big rock and saw the mountain behind him. The breathtaking scenery in front of him made Imagawa Yoshimoto intoxicated for a moment. I saw that the back mountain was full of maple trees, and the red leaves rustling in the wind covered the entire sky and earth like a blazing fire. The green in the mountain forest is like a rare embellishment, reminding the viewer that the true color of trees is green, not red. Under the clear blue sky and surrounded by green mountains, the red color struck Imagawa Yoshimoto's vision, making him feel unreal. It's as if a touch of cinnabar is suddenly painted in the middle of the picture of green mountains and green waters.
Unable to control himself, Imagawa Yoshimoto got off his horse and quickly walked into the maple forest, feeling the autumn wind blowing by his ears and feeling the sea of fire surrounding him. What falls above you, what stands around you, and what you step on are all red, and the color of heaven and earth suddenly becomes monotonous.
It wasn't until Imagawa Yoshimoto reached the end of the back mountain that the green forest reappeared in his sight. But the sudden appearance of this green one seemed to suddenly wake up from this crimson dream. The feeling of climbing to the top of the mountain instantly felt like falling into the abyss, and the joy just now turned into pain like a backlash, attacking Imagawa Yoshimoto twice as hard.
yes. The maples are red and it’s already autumn.
He will never forget the early summer when he first saw ginkgo. At that time, the mountain forest was green, and every leaf was green. He hoped that time could stop at that moment and let everything stay in the green memories, just like the sakaki leaves of Tokiwa that would never fade - how he wished that the love between himself and Ginkgo could be like this.
But now my heart has been stained red by the red leaves, as red as the torii gate in front of the shrine. The human world and the divine world are separated, how can there be any green left? Where can I leave any place for those fragile and beautiful feelings?
This red and this green fit together so ironically, as if they are mocking the countless couples who are destined to love each other for life in troubled times, but in the end they are destined to be together. Miss Ginkgo...are you also admiring the red leaves in the same maple forest, and have the same thoughts as me?
"The heart is like a pavilion dyed with red leaves."
A strange female voice sounded in his ears, and in one word he could express the turbulent sadness in Imagawa Yoshimoto's heart.
"The autumn colors of Tokiwa resonate with your heart."
Imagawa Yoshimoto said the last sentence without thinking, and all the sadness in his heart was poured into this poem, as if it was expelled from the body with the sound of the syllables, and he felt a lot better.
(Author's note: The original sentence of this waka is: Heart を ば red leaves に dye め て 榊叶 の often plate の色 を 合りともかな. It is my favorite waka since I was a child, and it is also this waka that guided the author to choose to learn Japanese diplomacy and writing novels about Japan's Warring States Period. The last work "Jipan Red Leaves Across the Warring States Period" was named and developed around this waka. Because I didn't understand Japanese when I was a child, the first thing I came into contact with was this translated version. Now I also find it I can’t find the source of the translation. But the author believes that the artistic conception of the Chinese translation of this waka is very good, even comparable to the original sentence, so I chose to quote the translation.)
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It wasn't until the turmoil in his heart gradually calmed down that Imagawa Yoshimoto had time to look at the girl who just gave the previous sentence. She was sitting under the tree, with a full head of black hair like Ginkgo, the same splayed bangs as Ginkgo, and very similar eyebrows, but she had a completely different temperament. She is not as lazy and lively as Ginkgo. Instead, she is quiet and reserved. She has an elegant and bookish air, and her body is also a little thin.
"The autumn colors of Tokiwa match your heart... A wonderful line, absolutely..." The girl recited and appreciated the second half of the sentence just spoken by Imagawa Yoshimoto many times. She couldn't help but admire it, and looked at Yoshimoto Imagawa with satisfied eyes. It is appreciation and admiration. But after a moment, she suddenly felt sad as if she could penetrate people's hearts, and then asked softly: "Master, are you missing the beauty?"
"Exactly." Imagawa Yoshimoto also sat down next to the tree, looking at the beautiful scenery in front of him, reciting poems to himself and lamenting: "I don't see people who miss me, and I don't see people who miss me often."
——"The most embarrassing part is when the mood is changing." Unexpectedly, the girl whispered the next sentence.
Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned and looked at the girl. The girl did not feel the pain of missing Yoshimoto Imagawa. Instead, she smiled, seeming to signal Yoshimoto Imagawa to continue his attack. I don’t know whether it was because the girl looked very similar to Ginkgo, or Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted to talk too much, but he unexpectedly decided to reveal his feelings to this stranger.
"Hidden love hides from the eyes of others." Imagawa Yoshimoto murmured as he recalled the love between himself and Ginkgo that he could not confess to his family after all.
——"It's better to have flowers blooming than to see each other every day." The girl still blurted out.
"Love happens frequently in this world." Seeing the girl loving Japanese poems so much, Imagawa Yoshimoto felt a close friend in his heart, so he continued to express his sadness in verses, waiting for the girl to pick up those classic poems one by one.
——"The suffering is increasing, so why make plum blossoms?"
"Loving you without any plan is like a crane in the reed."
——"Cry loudly day and night."
"When I die, I cry like geese in the sky."
——"Today is more recent than it has been for many years."
"I'm going to be careless for you."
——"I miss each other bitterly, but I am not reunited."
"Faint thunder, hazy sky."
——"Even if it doesn't rain, I will stay here."
"Things in the world are impermanent, and Xiangle Mountain has never been destined."
——"Now, my heart falls in love at first sight."
…
Imagawa Yoshimoto and the girl sang in harmony, and unknowingly they had hundreds of sentences in sync, until the sun set in the west. From famous poetry collections to little-known poems, the girl seemed to have read them all. No matter what Imagawa Yoshimoto says, he always gets it right. This kind of photographic memory impressed even Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had been gifted since childhood.
And the pain of lovesickness and despair in his heart turned into poetry and recited, and it felt much better to speak out. It’s no wonder that countless famous sentences throughout the ages express feelings that are difficult to express. When the sun set in the west, Imagawa Yoshimoto remembered that he hadn't asked the girl's name yet.
"Little girl Shuangye." The girl reported her name, looking at Imagawa Yoshimoto with a bright look on her face, "I have to find a close friend in Feiju, and I will be lucky for the rest of my life."
"Miss Shimoye is too modest. I thought I had covered a lot in Waka Hiku, but today I saw that there are mountains beyond Fangzhi Mountain." Imagawa Yoshimoto bowed to Shimoye and whispered gratefully, "Thank you too. Miss, please take the time to relieve me of my lovesickness."
"The world is in chaos and people's hearts are impetuous. There are not many samurai who are willing to calm down and read a book." Shuangye glanced at Imagawa Yoshimoto's attire and understood that he was probably a samurai with a high status. "For a samurai like Mr. Young Master, a little girl is still It’s the first time I’ve met. I’ve met many men of letters, but only the young master’s talents can scratch the little girl’s ‘itch’. It’s really too late to meet her.”
Later, Shuangye whispered in a sour voice: "Your sweetheart is really lucky to meet a knowledgeable and sensible warrior like you instead of marrying a common man who only knows how to dance with a gun and stick and doesn't understand the style."
"We will meet again if we are destined." Seeing that it was getting late, Imagawa Yoshimoto knew that it was time to go back, so he stood up.
Seeing that Imagawa Yoshimoto was about to leave, Shuangye seemed to have just woken up from the artistic conception of "talented man and beautiful lady" all afternoon, and his eyes trembled slightly. I bit my lip, but in the end I still couldn't say that sentence:
Before all the maple leaves fall, the little girl will be waiting in this maple forest.
Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled, snapped his fingers, turned and left. Only Shuang Ye was left with her clear eyes, reluctantly watching his figure disappear into the red leaves.
·
Returning to the castle tower in the evening, Imagawa Yoshimoto's mood was not as negative as before. Sure enough, you still have to speak out when you encounter sad things, even if you tell a stranger, it will be much better.
But in the dead of night, listening to Miao Miao's soft breathing while sleeping, Ginkgo's smile still appeared in front of her eyes. Imagawa Yoshimoto felt that his thoughts were unbearable again, so he stood up and rummaged for something in the cabinet. After a while, he took out a stack of yellow paper from somewhere. I lit the oil lamp, sat down at the table, and after a lot of hard work, I folded out a paper ginkgo.
Facing the ginkgo in front of the fire, Imagawa Yoshimoto felt tears overflowing from his eyes. After crying, I felt much better.
Since then, he has developed a habit. Whenever I miss ginkgo, I fold a paper ginkgo to express my condolences.
By the end of the year, the tiny paper ginkgo trees were piled as high as a person.
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Author's note: This article quotes many Japanese Waka Hiku, and for the convenience of reading, I have chosen to quote the translation (for example, part of the "Man'yoshu" quotes the translation by Teacher Zhao Letong).
