Imagawa Yoshimoto felt that the child looked familiar, so he asked Himura Hiroyuki who was patrolling behind him: "Which family does this child belong to?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, this is Odagiri Hikojiro, the son of Odagiri Shigesho. Odagiri-sama was killed in the previous battle of Azukizaka, and this is his orphan." Himura Umoha recognized him after taking a look, "Odagiri The Lord joined the army during the time of the First Lord and lived alone in Suruga. Because of his bravery, he was appreciated by the First Lord and promoted to the position of Hatamoto. However, his wife died of illness after giving birth, leaving only Hikojiro with a child. Lord Odagiri did not return. Marry."
"Is it that Odagiri who gave me his horse to escape and died in the battle himself?" Imagawa Yoshimoto recalled the battle situation during the Azozaka battle - at that time, he was trapped in a tight siege, and Himura Umoha led the crowd to help. Only when a warrior with a white headband gave him his war horse was he able to fight his way out.
"Exactly." Himura Hiroyuki whispered approvingly, "A martyr will naturally not be treated poorly, and the pension has been paid out in full. I hope this child can inherit his father's bravery when he grows up and not disgrace the Odagiri family. reputation."
"He is the only one left in the family... It is not easy for such a young child to lose his parents..." Imagawa Yoshimoto let out a long sigh, and his eyes gradually focused on the headband on Odagiri Hikojiro's head—— That was probably his father's relic. The mottled brown marks on the hairband may be the result of the dried blood stained by Odagiri Shigemori when he died in battle.
This relic was probably removed from the body by the child. He didn't even clean up the blood, which shows how deeply he is obsessed with his father's death and honor. Bringing his father's relics into the game must be because he wants to comfort his father's spirit in heaven with his own bravery. What a difficult child.
But his opponent happened to be Goro Imagawa, who was also preparing to appear. It was certainly impossible for the young master to lose the game, otherwise wouldn't it be a huge loss of face in front of the retainers? Any member of the Wu family who knows some sense will definitely give in to his young master. But this is a bit too cruel for Odagiri Hikojiro - he obviously wanted to show off his martial arts in memory of his father, but in the end it had to become a "tacitly agreed fake match."
Sure enough, when Oda Kirihikojiro stood on the field, he found that the person facing him happened to be Imagawa Goro, and a complicated expression immediately appeared on his childish face. Although he is still young, it is not that he does not understand the rules.
"Imagawa Goro." Although Imagawa Goro didn't like martial arts, he was still very considerate in etiquette. He bowed his hands respectfully and said, "Excuse me, please give me your name."
"Odagirihikojiro." Odagirihikojiro bowed in fear, "Please give me your advice, young master."
After saying their names, Odagirihikojiro and Imagawa Goro took a stance with the smaller bamboo swords. Naturally, Oda Kirihikojiro did not dare to disobey and attack first, so he waited for Imagawa Goro to take the lead in attacking. Imagawa Goro did not hesitate. He seemed to be aware of the sensitivity of his identity and the concerns of other children in his family, so he moved forward with his sword openly.
Oda Kirihikojiro was originally worried about how to respond to the challenge in order to bring out his young master's martial prowess and at the same time defeat him skillfully - but he soon discovered that he was overthinking it, and Imagawa Goro's swordsmanship was much stronger than he imagined - - He is not the young master who does not practice martial arts all day long and only likes to play Cuju as in the rumors. On the contrary, he is clear-sighted and spiritual at a young age - no worse than Oda Kirihiko Jiro who has been practicing martial arts hard since he was a child.
Oda Kirihikojiro immediately put all the worldly thoughts in his mind aside, and cognitively began to confront Goro Imagawa - he realized that if he did not treat this opponent well, but thought about letting him because of his noble status - That is disrespectful to this good opponent.
·
"Goro's swordsmanship is quite remarkable." Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, couldn't help but murmured in admiration as he watched Goro Imagawa's performance. Although it was just a fight between two children, Imagawa Goro's talent and understanding were already obvious. So, Imagawa Yoshimoto turned to look at Kentaro Tianchen who was accompanying him behind him: "Didn't he just practice with you Tianchen for a short time? How come he is so mature and proficient?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the young master's talent is extraordinary, and he naturally learns quickly." Kentaro Tianchen nodded slightly, but then frowned, "But from what I can see... the young master..."
"Goro didn't use his full strength?" Before Kentaro Tianchen finished speaking, Ginkgo had already seen the clues and asked softly.
"Madam Mingjian." Kentaro Tianchen nodded and responded, leaving Imagawa Yoshimoto stunned for a moment. However, after having this psychological suggestion, Imagawa Yoshimoto once again observed every move of Imagawa Goro with purpose, and soon found that Ginkgo Wada Shen Kentaro was right.
Goro Imagawa and Oda Kirihikojiro seemed to have a very exciting fight, going back and forth. It looked good, but in fact, he secretly gave up part of the chance to win - he could have done it with his speed, but he still chose A straight forward attack.
"This child..." Imagawa Yoshimoto was a little surprised, but after thinking for a moment, he understood Imagawa Goro's intention - he must have just heard the conversation about Odagiri's flourishing beside the adults, so he wanted Odagiri to Hikojiro was able to show off his skills to the fullest and comfort the soul of his father.
The question is how to end it? The game always has a winner at the end. Although losing against the young main force was a good ending for Oda Kirihikojiro, he must have wanted to win, right?
Just when Imagawa Yoshimoto was thinking about this, the situation on the court suddenly changed significantly. Imagawa Goro suddenly stepped forward and made a slash. Odagiri Hikojiro did not expect that Imagawa Goro's speed had changed so quickly. He quickly blocked but did not have time to stand firm, and the bamboo sword in his hand was suddenly thrown away. Almost at the same time, the bamboo sword in Imagawa Goro's hand also accidentally dropped, and flew out of the field together with Odagirihikojiro's bamboo sword, almost hitting the onlookers.
Without the bamboo sword, the game naturally ended in a draw. Imagawa Goro hugged his fists towards Odagirihikojiro with some embarrassment, and Odagirihikojiro also hurriedly bowed. Until then, the spectators on the sidelines who were still enjoying themselves gave belated cheers to the duel between these two little warriors.
"I learned how to 'fake matches' at a young age." Imagawa Yoshimoto felt dumbfounded and tapped his temples with a folding fan, but his smile gradually became filled with relief.
"When you grow up, you must be as gentle a warrior as His Highness." Sena Ujitoshi sighed softly and also laughed.
·
On January 5, the twelfth year of Tianwen (1543), shortly after the end of the martial arts meeting, Taiyuan Xue Zhai, Imagawa Yoshimoto, Ginkgo and others were preparing to set off for Shangluo. But before they set off, they had to wait for Takeda Harunobu and Mrs. Sanjo who set off from Kai to come to Suruga to meet them. Imagawa Yoshimoto originally wanted to send an envoy to greet him and casually finalize the itinerary, but Hayasaka Nao volunteered again:
"Your Highness, please entrust me with the mission of being an envoy to the Takeda family."
"Every time you go on a mission to the Takeda family, Koichiro, you are particularly active." Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his eyebrows curiously, "Why, it's because the first mission you performed for me was to go to the Takeda family, so Have feelings?"
"Your Highness is joking." Hayasaka Nao's expression was a little stiff and she just nodded dully.
Imagawa Yoshimoto was also stunned when he saw this. He savored the bitterness in Hayasaka Nao's expression and realized after a moment: "Is it because... the road to the Takeda family will pass by your former residence? Is your father-in-law buried there? There……"
"Your Highness... I'm sorry." Tears welled up in Hayasaka Nao's eyes, making Imagawa Yoshimoto a little embarrassed.
"It's my turn to apologize. I didn't realize..." Yoshimoto Imagawa hurriedly helped Nao Hayasaka up, "Then I will leave it to you to send envoys to the Takeda family from now on. You can also drop by the mausoleum's tomb. On weekdays, I have been working at Imagawa Hall, so I probably don’t have much time to go back and see her.”
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Hayasaka Nao bowed deeply, then quickly turned around and left, hiding her tears.
·
On January 8, the twelfth year of Astronomy (1543), Imagawa Yoshimoto welcomed Takeda Harunobu at the Imagawa Hall in Suruga Province. Accompanying him were Takeda Harunobu's wife, Mrs. Sanjo, the diplomat Takeda Hironobu, his confidant Yamamoto Kansuke, and a group of guards and ninjas.
Originally, according to Taiyuan Xuezhai's original plan, the group would set off on a sea boat in Suruga and go ashore all the way around Sakai Town. However, the Takeda family's messenger stated that Mrs. Sanjo suffered from severe seasickness - so severe that she almost vomited to death while taking a boat trip on Lake Biwa as a child - so the group could only choose to take the troublesome and dangerous land route.
"Why hasn't my sister arrived yet?"
In the motorcade in Imagawadate Castle Town, Takeda Harunobu and Imagawa Yoshimoto chatted wordlessly. After waiting for a long time, they didn't see Ginkgo coming out, so they asked in confusion.
"This morning, Iaji happened to be walking in the Honmaru, and Ginkgo had to find a way to escape from her eyes and ears." Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed in a dumbfounded voice, "I've already told her that Iaji doesn't care about us anymore. Now, her only hope is to devote herself to teaching Wu Lang well. But she just doesn’t feel at ease. She is afraid that Jia Ci will see her traveling secretly, and she will inevitably have to give him a lecture. "
"Haha, your family is really interesting. Aren't all military families in general respectful of each other? You are like children playing hide and seek. Yes, yes." Takeda Harunobu laughed after hearing this, but there was no envy in his smile. Obviously, he doesn't have much yearning for this kind of lifestyle - that smile is more of fun than envy.
At this moment, a woman carrying a large basket on her back and dressed in shabby cloth suddenly emerged from the street and rushed towards the convoy.
