Coming out of Taiyuan Xuezhai's room glumly, Imagawa Yoshimoto soon encountered something that made him even more gloomy. At the door of the dormitory on the fourth floor, Ginkgo and Shouguini were already having a big quarrel.
"How dignified is it for the dignified mistress of the Imagawa family to sneak out and disguise herself as a maid to accompany the army? If word spreads, wouldn't it bring shame to the Imagawa family?"
Shouguini's usually calm voice was a little sharp at the moment, which showed that he was really angry.
"Mom, if you are afraid that the news will spread, why are you shouting so loudly? Are all the deaf people in the guardhouse that day?" Ginkgo also choked unceremoniously, without any intention of giving in.
(Author's note: When I was coding for the first time here, I typed "Are all dragons in the Tianshou Pavilion?", and suddenly burst into tears, ah, dragons...)
Asahina Taimo, who was still eavesdropping from a distance, was so frightened when he heard these words that he hurriedly ran down the stairs and happened to bump into Okabe Motsuna who was going upstairs - inevitably there was another fight.
"Is this your attitude of apologizing?" Suguini's tone continued to rise, and Imagawa Yoshimoto could even hear the sound of the latter's cane shaking on the floor, "Kneel down and apologize!"
"Mother, I have been very restrained towards you, please show some respect! I married to be your husband's wife, not to be your maid. Why do you speak to me like this?" Shou Guini Ginkgo's attitude obviously also angered Ginkgo, and she, who was always kind, was a little angry at the moment.
"Mother, Ginkgo, why don't you two..." Imagawa Yoshimoto cautiously approached slowly along the corridor, trying to persuade them to leave. However, the two women in the quarrel turned around and said in a deep voice with unanimous agreement for the first time: "Don't worry!"
"Oh! Okay! There is really no way!" Imagawa Yoshimoto turned around and retreated without saying a word. The aura of resentment behind him made him want to run away quickly. On the stairs, he also pulled away Okabe Motsuna and Asahina Taitomo who were fighting - I have to say that it is much more convenient to break up a fight for a man than it is for a woman.
"The quarrel between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is already troublesome enough, can't you two save me some trouble?" Imagawa Yoshimoto grabbed the back collars of their clothes and asked with a smile.
"To tell you a joke, there are people who are not drinking but act like they are drunk. They run around on the stairs carelessly and bump into people without apologizing."
"What, didn't you just give in then? You didn't give in, but you didn't have eyes either? You still have the nerve to accuse me?"
Sure enough, Okabe Motsuna and Asahina Taito started bickering again.
·
After escaping from the castle tower, Imagawa Yoshimoto rode his horse around the city aimlessly. He suddenly remembered that it was late autumn and the maple forest in Kitayama should be the most beautiful. So he rode his horse northward, taking Okabe Motsuna and Asahina Tai towards the two guards. Climbing halfway up the mountain and bypassing the boulder, the familiar red maple mountains come into view. Imagawa Yoshimoto asked the two of them to wait outside, while he went into the forest alone to enjoy the scenery. Suddenly, I thought about people when I saw things, and thought of the woman who sang poems against him in the maple forest three years ago.
The next moment, under the familiar maple tree, I saw a woman leaning against the tree, looking around constantly - it was Shuang Ye.
"Miss Shimoye?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned when he saw this, and then called out.
"Master?" Shuangye was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then turned around in disbelief, almost crying in surprise.
"Isn't this a coincidence? It's a rare occasion for me to come to Kitayama to appreciate the maples, and I actually encountered them again?" Imagawa Yoshimoto laughed, but after laughing for a moment, he found that Shuangye was almost crying.
"You deceitful liar..." Shuangye clutched the corners of her clothes tightly, biting her lips and whispered, "Why haven't you been here for two years?"
"Hey..." After Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned for a moment, he immediately understood the hidden meaning of the girl's words - she has been waiting for Imagawa Yoshimoto in the maple forest for the past two years, and maybe even longer -
In the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), the two met by chance in the maple forest. And in the 6th year of Astronomy (1537), the time when Imagawa Yoshimoto met Frosty Leaves in the maple forest again, it may not have been an accident - but like this time - Frosty Leaves had been waiting in the maple forest, waiting for Imagawa Yoshimoto, that’s why I met Imagawa Yoshimoto who comes here once in a while.
But now it is the 9th year of Tianwen (1540)... It has been 3 years since the last encounter. No wonder Shuangye asked "Why haven't you come in two years"... In other words, in the past two years, the girl has been silent In the maple forest, I wait day and night for a person who I don’t know whether he will come, just so as not to miss that precious "encounter".
It’s been five years…
"Miss Shimoye..." Imagawa Yoshimoto felt very uncomfortable. After hesitating for a moment, he finally confirmed, "But have you been waiting here?"
"Young master knows it, but you still don't want to come again?" Shuang Ye asked with red eyes.
"To be honest, I really don't know..." Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled awkwardly, "I have never made an agreement before... to meet here every year."
"Didn't they say, 'If the young master has any confusion in the future, he can still come to the little girl again, and the little girl is waiting for you at any time'?" Shuangye realized that he had not noticed his implicit intentions at all, and lowered his head in shame and annoyance. Tears kept rolling in his eyes, "Master, don't you understand the meaning?"
"Ah..." Imagawa Yoshimoto took a deep breath, feeling that the situation in front of him was getting more and more difficult. He thought for a long time. Although he thought it might be offensive, he still planned to speak clearly, so he spoke in the most tactful way, hoping that Shuangye could understand the subtext of Imagawa Yoshimoto: "Miss...have you ever been married?"
"Huh?" But Shuangye, who had always been very sensitive before, thought too simply this time. I don't know if it was because of this question that she was so confused that she couldn't think. After panicking for a moment, she immediately raised her head, her cheeks already turned red, and she whispered in a voice as thin as a mosquito's: "No..."
There is really no way...
Imagawa Yoshimoto felt that his guilt was getting deeper and deeper, and he actually had to open his mouth to break through the subtext, and said it so directly that it hurt the heart of this infatuated girl.
"You are such a young lady, please forgive me for being abrupt." Imagawa Yoshimoto first bowed deeply and expressed his apology, "What I say next will be very rude and against etiquette. It is too much to say to a girl. It's really embarrassing. But after much thought, I still have to explain the matter clearly, otherwise it will delay the young lady's life-long event."
"Hey..." Shuangye was stunned again, apparently mistaking what Imagawa Yoshimoto was going to say next as a proposal - which only made Imagawa Yoshimoto's guilt even heavier.
"I got married three years ago." Imagawa Yoshimoto lowered his voice, as if he thought that lowering his voice would reduce the damage to Frost Leaf.
"Young lady, you know. Didn't the young master tell me about it at that time?" Shuangye nodded matter-of-factly.
"I have no intention of taking any more concubines..." Seeing that he couldn't escape, Imagawa Yoshimoto had no choice but to bite the bullet and said.
"Huh? Why?" Shuangye was a little confused, but it hadn't reached the point of being sad. She was just confused. "You want to stay away from concubines all your life for that... political marriage ordered by your parents?"
"No, it was a misunderstanding at the time. My wife is the sweetheart I met before, but we didn't reveal our real names to protect our identities. Later on our wedding night, we found out that everything was a match made in heaven." Imagawa Yoshimoto said to himself Everything is revealed, I hope Shuangye can understand, "She is the person I love most in my life and the only person I love, so I will never take a concubine again. Although it is really rude to say this... But Miss, If you are waiting for me, please don't wait any longer... I only have a close friend for you, and I have absolutely no love."
After Imagawa Yoshimoto finished speaking, he lowered his head, not daring to look at Shuangye's expression. But just from the breathing that stopped almost instantly and then became chaotic and rapid, we can also understand what kind of blow the girl has experienced at this moment.
After a long time, he slowly focused his eyes. The girl in front of her was already crying, but she didn't say a word, and her clenched lips were bleeding faintly.
No woman can accept that the most precious five years of youth are wasted in vain, right?
"I'm really sorry, miss, it was me who caused you misunderstanding. I am willing to do everything I can to make up for my mistake." Imagawa Yoshimoto was extremely guilty and bowed again - but he knew that his promise could only be It's too much to talk about. No amount of compensation can compare to the girl's lost sincerity.
"Is 'everything' really okay?" Shuangye spoke tremblingly, her voice slightly indistinguishable.
"Except for 'love', everything is fine." Imagawa Yoshimoto answered honestly.
"I won't make such excessive demands, and I don't want to embarrass you." Shuangye straightened his expression and tried to regain the stability of his tone, "Every year when the maple leaves are red, come to the maple forest on Imagawadate Kitayama to find me once. Would you like to chat with me about Waka Hiku?"
"Of course it's no problem." Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't expect the girl's request to be so simple, and he felt another shock of guilt in his heart, "It's just that I am in the martial arts family and often have military affairs, so I'm afraid I can't agree on a fixed time. "
"It doesn't matter."
Shuangye sighed softly and said what she couldn't say five years ago:
"Before the maple leaves fall, the little girl will be waiting in this maple forest."
If I had told him directly at that time, wouldn't there have been such a misunderstanding? Will he not be trapped by love and wait in the maple forest day and night for someone who won't come? If love didn't have a chance to age, wouldn't it be as strong as it is today, making people dizzy with drunkenness?
"Okay, it's a deal." Imagawa Yoshimoto agreed, "Miss, please forget about me and find a husband as soon as possible."
"Are you serious that you will never take a concubine again?" Shuangye couldn't contain the feelings in his heart. He knew it was rude and knew that he would only get a negative answer, but he still couldn't help asking, "In the future, you may get tired of the old concubine." You may find that she is not interested in your favorite poems and songs. There are countless temptations around the Wu family, how can you guarantee that you will end up with them?"
·
"Three journeys, three realms, three kowtows, one pair for life."
Imagawa Yoshimoto stood up to say goodbye, leaving behind a poem in a low voice, telling his love for ginkgo - it is as unbreakable as the evergreen rock that is not afraid of wind and rain, and is as unforgettable as the blood-stained red leaves under the pavilion. How could it be lost to the change of spring and autumn?
The heart is like the red leaves staining the pavilion, and the autumn colors of Changpan are in harmony with the king's heart.
·
Looking at the pace of his sweetheart walking away, all that is left to Shuangye is lamentation:
"Everything is new. But it's just that people are old friends."
