Unconsciously, the time came to September 15, the eleventh year of Astronomy (1542), and the maple leaves on the Kitayama of Imagawadate turned red again. Looking at the beautiful maple forest, Imagawa Yoshimoto only felt a headache - he knew that he had to fulfill his contract again and meet that infatuated woman.
"Are you going out?" In the castle tower bedroom, Ginkgo played with two kittens and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto who was changing clothes.
"Well, let's go for a drive." Imagawa Yoshimoto was very embarrassed and told an ambiguous lie to Ginkgo. The guilt in his heart made him resist even more to see Shuangye.
"Take me with you, sir!" As soon as he heard that he could go out to play, Ginkgo became interested again and stood up. Just when Imagawa Yoshimoto was worried, Imagawa Goro suddenly ran in.
"Daddy, are you going out?" Imagawa Goro blinked his cute eyes and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto.
"Dad is going to Kitayama to see the maple leaves." Imagawa Yoshimoto touched the child's head, "Mom wants to go too, does Goro want to come with us?"
"Wow! The maple leaves of Kitayama!" Imagawa Goro also inherited his father's aesthetic appreciation of natural landscapes. His eyes lit up after hearing the beautiful scenery. After thinking for a moment, he tilted his head and shook his head. He looked at Ginkgo and said, "But I want to play Cuju! Mom, please accompany me to the yard to play!"
"How about asking Matsuchiyo to play with you? Mom wants to go out with daddy to relax." Ginkgo wanted to shirk, but Imagawa Goro held on to Ginkgo's skirt and refused to let go: "Matsuchiyo can't kick me, it's boring!"
"Then why don't you ask dad to play with you? Dad is even better." Ginkgo patted Imagawa Yoshimoto on the back again, but Imagawa Goro shook his head again: "I can't kick dad, it's boring!"
"You have to work hard if you can't kick." Ginkgo laughed, "It's a good time for children to work hard and become stronger."
"I don't want to work hard, I just want to play!" Goro Imagawa still shook his head and acted coquettishly, "I just want mom to play with me!"
"Okay." Ginkgo is still soft-hearted and loves her children. She can't stand Imagawa Goro's coquettish behavior. "Mom, go with you! Let dad go for a ride alone!"
·
Imagawa Yoshimoto, who breathed a sigh of relief, rode his horse to the Kitayama maple forest and went straight to the maple tree where the two met. Not surprisingly, Frosty Leaf is still waiting there. And the look of her hair also shows that this infatuated woman is still unmarried.
"Miss Shimoye." Imagawa Yoshimoto turned over and dismounted. Because he had to lie at home just now, his face also looked worse. Shuangye, who was originally full of expectations, saw Imagawa Yoshimoto acting like this, and his eyes gradually dimmed.
"It's really not worth it." Imagawa Yoshimoto repeated the same words as last time, "I'm not worth your wait, and there is absolutely no possibility between us. Miss, please don't waste your precious youth anymore, and find someone as soon as possible." Husband-in-law."
"His Majesty Imagawa has a lot of things to do. As a daughter of the common people, I won't bother you to worry about personal matters." Shuangye pushed back without being soft or hard, "The little girl finds this very happy."
"The problem is that Ms. Shimoye is happy, but it is torture for me." Imagawa Yoshimoto took a long sigh and touched his heart with his hand, "Every time I go out to see Ms., I feel like I am betraying my wife. I also lied to my wife and children today.”
"What's this? Why can't you just say it?" Shuangye was a little confused, and narrowed his eyes in confusion, "Isn't it normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines? He left his beloved poems emotionally one day, and said goodbye the next day. There are also many romantic and talented people who fall in love. Why should Your Highness lie about these things? Why should you be troubled by these things? "
"This is my own concept of love and marriage, and it is also my own private matter. I don't need to worry about it, Miss." Imagawa Yoshimoto returned the original words, and his tone was a little heavy unconsciously, "Anyway, for me, this time every year Making an appointment to meet is already a kind of torture. Miss Shuangye, please think carefully whether you want to continue this weird agreement."
Shuangye fell into silence after hearing this, and Imagawa Yoshimoto also felt a little sorry for his slightly harsh words just now.
"It's really ridiculous." Shuangye laughed after being stunned for a while, with a smile full of bitterness and irony, "A man who is afraid of missing the opportunity to meet once a year - staying in the empty house day and night In the maple forest - a poor woman waiting for someone who doesn't know when he will come; or a heartless man who just picks a day to take a walk in the maple forest, who is tormented more?"
"I have no feelings for a man or a woman towards the lady, so how can I say that I am a heartless man?"
"But His Highness has made an appointment to come here once a year, right?" Shuangye took a step forward, not giving Imagawa Yoshimoto any room to maneuver.
"Yes, I did make an agreement. If Miss Shuangye insists, I will abide by the agreement and come every year." Imagawa Yoshimoto first expressed his sincerity, and then persuaded very sincerely, "But I learned from Miss Shuangye From a friend’s perspective—if the lady considers me a friend—it’s really not worth trying to persuade you.”
"I have already said that whether it is worth it or not is a matter for me to weigh myself, and it has nothing to do with you, Your Highness."
"But why are you so obsessed with a stranger you just met?" Imagawa Yoshimoto took a deep breath to keep his emotions in a calm state, "I don't understand."
"I thought you would understand. Why would His Highness, who can recite such a Japanese song, be an ordinary person who doesn't understand the style?" Shuangye just shook his head and said nothing more. After being silent for a long time, he slowly said: "We only have this little time to see each other in a year, can't we talk about something happy? Why do we have to quarrel right away? Do you know how much I have missed you this year? "
"Miss, I really need to explain that you should not regard me as your husband or lover. What you just said is not something you should say to a friend, but more like saying it to a couple reunited after a long separation. Such a mentality It's very twisted, you will go crazy sooner or later." Imagawa Yoshimoto persuaded him earnestly, but his mouth felt a little dry.
"Well, what His Highness means is that as long as I have a husband and children, you can meet me normally, chat with me normally, and recite poems with me normally?" Shuangye asked anxiously, somewhat in anger. .
"Okay." Imagawa Yoshimoto simply agreed, "If the young lady's husband doesn't mind the young lady having a private meeting with an outsider."
"Okay." Shuangye then turned around and walked away, without even looking at Imagawa Yoshimoto, and walked deeper into the forest, "See you next year."
·
Imagawa Yoshimoto rode his horse back to the city, and after entering Honmaru, he happened to see Imagawa Goro being captured by Shouguini in disgrace - Shouguini's maid A Chang was still holding the captured Cuju in her hand.
"You haven't finished your homework yet, you haven't learned today's words, and you come out to play again?" Shouguini asked Imagawa Goro in a deep voice, but Imagawa Goro kept his head down, not daring to talk back to his grandma.
This can be regarded as the normal situation in the Imagawa Pavilion. The playful Goro Imagawa will always be caught by Sugini who comes to inspect. But this kid is also funny, and he sincerely admits his mistakes every time and never changes his mind - but Imagawa Yoshimoto understands his mother. Although she is very tolerant, there will come a day when she cannot help but explode when it comes to matters such as the family heir, which is a matter of life and death for the Imagawa family.
·
Sure enough, not long after. On October 21, the 11th year of Tianwen (1542), in the study room of the Imagawakan Castle Tower, Shougui Ni was confronting Taiyuan Xuezhai. Standing at the door was the shivering Imagawa Yoshimoto, while lying on the table was sleeping soundly. Goro Imagawa.
"Master Xue Zhai, I usually don't interfere with the affairs you are responsible for." Shou Guini pointed at Goro Imagawa and the rice paper in front of him, and finally couldn't help but burst out, "It's just that I entrusted Goro's education to you, you But he allowed this child to be ignorant and ignorant. Every time I pass by the study, I see him either playing with the cat, playing Cuju, or sleeping. "
"Goro is still young, and it's the time to be lively and active. It's normal to be playful. When you are tired from playing, you will fall asleep." Taiyuan Xuezhai excused Imagawa Goro, and his voice was very soft, as if he was worried. Wake up Goro Imagawa.
"The other disciples of the Wu family are working hard without food and sleep, seizing every inch of time to learn literary, Taoist and military strategies in order to strengthen the family in the future. It's good for Wulang, give him so much time tomorrow to go out and play Cuju, and he will still sleep during the remaining time for homework. You're lazy." Shouguini took a deep breath, and then knocked heavily on the floor with his crutch, waking Goro Imagawa from his daze: "What should I do if Goro confronts the governors of other Wu families in the future? Do you rely on kicking Cuju to win? Master Xue Zhai is full of knowledge, can't you teach him well?"
"Goro is extremely smart. He can read and calculate very quickly. He doesn't need to study for so long." Taiyuan Xuezhai patted Goro Imagawa who was awakened by Shouguini's scolding. He smiled and said protectively, "Bi Chengfang, he He was much smarter when he was a child."
"Younger is not necessarily better. Being smart can help you for a while, but not for a lifetime. Developing the habit of diligence is the right way." Shou Guini walked up to Imagawa Goro and reprimanded him sternly, "Be good at work. Diligence is a waste of play, and Wulang, you are already good at play before you are good at work. When your little cleverness is used up, you will be left behind by others. If you are used to laziness, you will not be able to work diligently in the future. Become a household supervisor Now that you have more power, you have more flatterers, and they will only try to seduce you in different ways. When that happens, what should the Imagawa family do?"
"Why do you feel like you are talking about me..." Standing at the door, Imagawa Yoshimoto felt a strong sense of being criticized.
"More than you, Goro is a carbon copy of you, the worse kind." Shouguini did not let go of Imagawa Yoshimoto's thoughts, and turned to him and scolded him, "You just ignore political affairs all day long. , idle, only thinking about flowers, birds, wind, moon and Cuju, Wulang became like this because of your influence."
"Everyone is pampering and pampering this child, you will destroy him." Shou Guini finally sighed, and then walked towards Imagawa Goro, "Don't study with Master Xue Zhai in the future, I will take care of you myself."
