On January 13, the twelfth year of Tenmon (1543), a group of people entered the realm of Mikawa and arrived at the bank of the Yahagi River on the evening of the 14th. Further forward, it was within the control area of the Nishimatsudaira family. Naturally, Imagawa Yoshimoto and the others did not dare to drive forward in a carriage so arrogantly. So they headed north along the Yahagi River and entered the vast and sparsely populated mountainous area, planning to sneak into Owari disguised as travelers from here.
On the morning of January 15, the twelfth year of Tianwen (1543), a group of people prepared to set off from the hotel on foot. As expected, Ginkgo stayed in bed, and Imagawa Yoshimoto struggled for a long time before finally getting up. Half an hour had passed since the scheduled departure time. The attendants of the two families naturally did not dare to get angry with their mistress (the eldest princess), but Mrs. Sanjo, who had been waiting outside for a long time, did not give Ginkgo a good look.
"Sister is really informal." Mrs. Sanjo complimented her in a weird way, "She has the style of a scholar when she comes out."
"Ah, my sister's makeup looks very beautiful today~" Ginkgo said sarcastically, not wanting to be outdone - since she was pretending to be a pedestrian, Mrs. Sanjo naturally couldn't maintain the dress of a minister in the past. "It's better than that white face and black teeth." She looks much better. Please do this makeup more often in the future so that I, my sister, can learn from it."
"Why are you so unconcerned about delaying everyone's schedule?" Mrs. Sanjo glanced at the attendants around her and said coldly, "My sister is a bit too pretentious, but it is not in line with my sister's etiquette."
"How long have I been delayed? Half an hour? Four quarters of an hour?" Ginkgo fiddled with her fingers and rolled her eyes at Mrs. Sanjou angrily, "Then if my sister complains that she is tired and needs to rest for more than half an hour, then what? Isn’t it because you took longer?”
Mrs. Sanjo's expression changed, and the maid beside her also looked sullen. Ginkgo didn't look angry, and still had that lazy and kind smile on her face, waving her hands slightly, "You're kidding, let's go, let's go."
After saying that, Ginkgo took the lead and walked towards the mountain road. When passing by Imagawa Yoshimoto, she did not forget to raise her voice deliberately:
"Sir, don't complain about being tired later. You city dwellers can't walk on mountain roads with your delicate little feet and wooden shoes, right?"
"There's really nothing I can do..." Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled bitterly and looked at his wife and siblings in anger.
"Madam, please slow down, we two old bones can't keep up." Behind Ginkgo, Taiyuan Xuezai and Takeda Hironobu were walking side by side on the mountain road, complaining incessantly.
"That's right, princess, please be considerate and considerate of our elderly people!"
·
"What, teacher, aren't you walking very fast?" In the evening, in the mountainous area on the border of Mikawa Owari, Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was walking with a cane, was struggling to follow Taiyuan Yuksai, who was in the wind under his feet, while the other man was walking together just now. The complaining Takeda Hironobu no longer knew where he had been thrown - of course, Ginkgo, who was walking at the front, no longer knew how far he had gone.
"Is that possible?" Taihara Yuksai, who was walking in front, stopped and skillfully moved the luggage originally carried on his left shoulder to his right shoulder - Imagawa Yoshimoto's luggage had been carried on Hayasaka Nao's body. "Chengfang, although I drink wine, eat meat, and indulge in women, I was a well-known ascetic monk when I was young. I walked across most of the world with a rice bowl. Isn't this a journey like yours?" How can a pampered nobleman compare?"
"It's a rare thing that impressed me, teacher." Imagawa Yoshimoto also laughed when he heard this, "I hope you won't show mercy when you travel around."
"Those are all romantic past events, and there is no need to talk about them. How could a handsome, handsome man like me, my teacher, not have so many one-night stands? I don't know how many women would do this. I think about it day and night, waiting for my master to come back again. It’s just that men are destined not to go home." Taiyuan Xuezhai said while lightly stroking his stubble-covered jawline, showing off his stinky beauty. Imagawa Yoshimoto burst into laughter.
"Of course, some men who have no ambitions like to go home and wish to be with their wives and children all day long." Taiyuan Xuezhai rolled his eyes at Imagawa Yoshimoto behind him after saying that, "As everyone knows, reading thousands of books and practicing Thousands of miles of journey. Skills are not developed out of thin air, they can only be learned through personal experience. My master's literary and military strategies were also realized after traveling for most of the world, observing the local customs, military strategies and strategies."
"No way? Aren't I quite happy playing outside now?" Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head and stopped on the mountain road. He slowly opened his arms and faced the refreshing mountain breeze, as if he was hugging him. Under the setting sun, green water and green mountains, the lonely village surrounded by green mountains with smoke curling up, and the cherry trees that have not yet bloomed next to the lonely village:
"The setting sun is cherry blossoms in the distant mountains, and there is no road in the isolated village, but I can see the shade of flowers."
"Chengfang has always been so leisurely and elegant." Taiyuan Xuezhai was stunned for a moment, then straightened up, and turned his head to look at the slightly bleak mountain scenery in a daze, "It's just that there are no flowers, so how can it be called a poem about flowers? ?”
"The last time I went out to enjoy the mountains and rivers with my teacher, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. But that was already ten years ago." Imagawa Yoshimoto's words made Taiyuan Xuezhai even more disappointed. Lost in thought. He seemed to see an old monk dragging a naughty child staggering along the mountain road in the distance.
"I wonder when the next time I can hang out with the old man will be? Will we wait until both of us retire? I don't know if that kid Goro can take on the heavy responsibility." Imagawa Yoshimoto let out a sigh of relief, and then again He smiled happily, as if he had left the bad mood behind.
"After you retire, I will take you back to Shande Temple to live in seclusion. Then I won't have to push you to learn skills. You can travel around the mountains and rivers every day. How about that?" Taiyuan Xuezhai suddenly suggested.
"Hey? Are you going back to the temple? What about Ginkgo? Is it possible that she has lost her hair and become a nun? I can't bear to part with her hair." Imagawa Yoshimoto retorted with a smile.
"Why, you brat, you don't want to hang out with me in the future?"
"No, if the old man is willing to show me your precious broken box, I can reluctantly take care of your daily life in your later years."
Just when Imagawa Yoshimoto and Taiyuan Yuksai were quarreling, Takeda Harunobu, who was walking behind, followed and found that the two were looking at the mountain scenery - so he turned to look over.
"Tora Chiyo also likes to enjoy mountains?" Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his eyebrows at Takeda Harunobu with emotion, "Have you not seen enough after staying in the Koshinobu Mountains all day?"
"No, I just wanted to ask you, what is there to see in this poor place." Takeda Harunobu crossed his arms, tilted his head and looked at it for a moment before shaking his head, "But, I can see some tricks."
"What do you mean, you want to recite a poem?" Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly became interested, "I can accompany you to the end."
"I was thinking, if I place 500 warriors in the two opposite foothills and villages on the left side in front, how many people will it take for the opponent to capture them?" Takeda Harunobu smacked his lips, and then said with unfinished meaning, "This is really It’s an excellent place to deploy troops. It would be great if the border between Kai and Sagami had terrain like this.”
"Boring, I don't understand the style." Imagawa Yoshimoto joked without interest, then turned around and continued chasing Ginkgo. But before he walked a few steps, he saw a ginkgo figure under a big tree on the side of the road. She was sitting with her back against the tree trunk, and the breeze lifted the broken hair on her temples. She looked as beautiful as when they first met.
"Sir?" Ginkgo raised her head when she heard the footsteps. It seemed that she was not asleep yet.
"What's wrong, are you tired? Is our Ginkgo lazy again?" Imagawa Yoshimoto knelt down in front of Ginkgo and gently pinched her little face.
"Don't we have to wait for the pampered 'public lady' at the back?" Ginkgo complained angrily as she rested her head on Imagawa Yoshimoto's shoulder, "It's too far, can she keep up?"
"Madam, you know the general idea." Taiyuan Xuezhai praised.
"No way, she's just sleepy. She's just looking for a high-sounding excuse for herself." Imagawa Yoshimoto retorted with a smile. He originally thought that Ginkgo would pinch himself in anger - but there was no sound from his stomach. Pain - Imagawa Yoshimoto took a closer look, and in just two or three sentences, Ginkgo had actually fallen asleep in his arms.
·
After going around a long mountain road, the group finally blended into Owari Province at the junction of Owari Province Kasugai County and Mikawa Province. There are no tax checkpoints for the Oda family nearby, and there are few pedestrians. No one will notice this traveler from the Eastern Kingdom. Everyone headed northwest, planning to spend three or four days slowly passing through Owari and heading to Mino.
On the evening of January 15, the twelfth year of Tenmon (1543), a group of people stayed at an inn owned by Owari Kunichunaga. Ginkgo couldn't wait to go to bed, but Imakawa Yoshimoto was not sleepy, so he invited Takeda Harunobu to go for a walk with him, and the latter obviously agreed. The two climbed to the mountainside of a high mountain next to the inn, and in tacit agreement, they began to look at each other - Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the scenery, and Takeda Harunobu looked at the terrain.
"Nagakute is a good place. If you want to take a detour from the east of Owari to Mikawa, the road near Nagakate is a pretty good route choice." Takeda Harunobu stroked his mustache and looked at the geography condescendingly. , regardless of whether Imagawa Yoshimoto was listening or not, he muttered to himself: "It's just that it's easy to be ambushed. If the forces of the Mikawa side set up an army here, it is very likely that the people of the Owari side will not be able to come back. .”
"Speaking of which, when Matsudaira Jiro Saburo (Matsudaira Kiyoyasu) invaded Owari, was this the way he went?" Takeda Harunobu pushed his shoulder to Imagawa Yoshimoto next to him and asked him for confirmation, "I remember it seemed like he was fighting When we arrived at Shoushan Castle, we encountered an accident and were chopped down by our subordinates, right?"
"I don't know the specific location, maybe." Imagawa Yoshimoto did not move his eyes away from the sunset in the western sky, but responded perfunctorily.
"If I were a member of the Oda family, I would definitely build a fort in Suemori, 20 miles ahead, to block this official road. Otherwise, if one day the Matsudaira family revives, or if your Imagawa family wants to destroy Owari, from here The road is long and straight, and you can reach the Furuno Castle in the heart of Owari, and the Oda family can't stand it." Takeda Harunobu waved his arm fiercely and made a chopping motion.
"You're right." Imagawa Yoshimoto now began to pay attention to the sunset gradually disappearing behind the horizon.
"Please, this is the route your Imagawa family will take to move west in the future. Can you be more concerned about it, Goro?" Takeda Harunobu patted Imagawa Yoshimoto hard on the back.
"You are very concerned about it, right?" Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head, and then glanced at Takeda Harunobu teasingly, "What? Will you still be able to use this road in the future? Join us as reinforcements for our Imagawa family in the Western Expedition?" "
"Perhaps I have swallowed up the Imagawa family and am preparing to go to Luo." Takeda Harunobu burst out laughing, laughing so hard, "Goro, if you keep acting like this, the Imagawa family might really want to go to Luo." I swallowed it."
"Remember to support your nephew as a puppet when the time comes." Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't care and said with a smile, "Just take me and take me to the Tsubasaki Hall as a diner. The mountain scenery there is nice."
