On September 8, the 13th year of Tenmon (1544), after bidding farewell to Takeda Harunobu on the banks of the Fuji River, Imagawa Yoshimoto and his party ended their mission and returned to Imagawa Hall smoothly. As soon as he entered the bedroom door, Mo Qiu immediately jumped over, rubbed against the legs of Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo, and meowed non-stop. On the side, Miao Miao and Miao Xiaomiao looked on with cold eyes, as if their cat companions had never seen the world and were not familiar with the regular business trips of the shit shovel officer.
"While Your Highness was out, this kitten was making a lot of noise in the castle tower." Kinoshita Tokichiro, who was recently assigned the task of cleaning the toilet and feeding the cats, said to Imagawa Yoshiro while filling Moqiu's rice bowl with rice. Yuanhe Ginkgo Hui reported, "I look around for you and your wife, and make trouble when I can't find you. I refuse to go back to my own nest to sleep at night. I must sleep under your quilt."
"How clingy." Imagawa Yoshimoto then squatted down and touched Mo Qiu's head with his hand. Mo Qiu immediately purred with enjoyment.
"That's because it was given to someone else by its owner not long ago, and it was frightened. It was afraid that one day it would be abandoned and strayed again." Ginkgo sighed quietly, and held Mo Qiu in his arms, like She rocked them gently like a baby, "It's better for Miaomiao and Miao Xiaomiao to be aloof. This means they feel very safe, so they don't worry."
"It must be too old." Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced at Miao Miao, who was already 8 years old. "Judging from the cat's age, it has lived for more than half of its life and it doesn't like to move anymore."
"You are not allowed to say this." Ginkgo glared at Imagawa Yoshimoto fiercely upon hearing this.
"Well... I really can't help it." Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his hands as if admitting his mistake, and then sighed softly, "But that will happen sooner or later, I'm afraid you will be too sad by then."
"It's all over if I walk in front of Miaomiao." Ginkgo scolded angrily, and then pushed Imagawa Yoshimoto out of the door.
"Where's Goro?" Imagawa Yoshimoto planned to go see his son, so he asked Kinoshita Tokichiro.
"I went to the dojo to practice, and there are also the two young masters of Asahina and Mr. Okabe. Aoi is waiting there." Kinoshita Tokichiro replied while nodding and bending.
"Oh? So hard?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was surprised, "Aren't you playing Cuju? Didn't he always lie to his grandma that he went to the dojo to practice, but he was actually playing Cuju at Feng Liuyan in the dojo?"
(But in fact, the romantic eye in the dojo was pretended by Imagawa Yoshimoto)
"We have been kicking for a long time, but Lord Tian Shen came back today and immediately took them for training." Kinoshita Tokichiro suppressed a smile and said, "They were blocked in the dojo. The younger one was also accompanying the young master. I played with the Lord, and then I came back when I remembered that there were still some unfinished things."
"Tian Chen, Tian Chen... you just came back today, and you went straight to the dojo without even changing your clothes?" Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head with a wry smile, then clenched his fist and said, "Still the same as before, it's so hard, it's embarrassing. . The retainers are working so hard, how can the master be slacking off?"
So Imagawa Yoshimoto went to play Cuju.
On October 13, the thirteenth year of Tianwen (1544), autumn was already deep. When Imagawa Yoshimoto got up, he found that a maple tree outside the castle tower had turned red. So, naturally, I thought of the weird agreement with Shuangye to meet once a year. The weather was getting colder, and it was not good for her to wait in the maple forest every day. If she had made this year's appointment early, could she spend the rest of the time safely in the house? ….
Thinking of this, Imagawa Yoshimoto rode out of the city and went straight to the maple forest on the north mountain of Imagawa Hall. What surprised him was that the woman did not appear in the maple forest this time - in the past, she always waited under the most conspicuous maple tree.
After all, people have been waiting for so many years, and it’s okay to wait for others occasionally. So Imagawa Yoshimoto sat under the tree and admired the beautiful scenery of the red maple mountains. However, as time passed, the sun began to set in the west, and the frosty leaves were still missing. Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't help but feel that something was abnormal - something must have happened, right?
But in fact, isn't this story of a woman waiting in the maple forest day after day, year after year for someone who only comes once a year more abnormal?
After all, people are not grass and trees. Even if he had no wrong thoughts, Imagawa Yoshimoto still decided to go to the cabin where Shuangye lived.
Check out the situation. In case of illness or something, Imagawa Yoshimoto can also arrange for help. So he rode his horse to the wooden house, tied the horse to a tree, and walked towards the wooden house.
But a few feet away, he could faintly hear the cry of a baby coming from inside the house.
Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned for a moment. Did Shuangye get married and have children quickly in just one year? Or is it that the house has changed owners?
Shuangye's soft call to coax the child to stop crying came again from inside the house - it seemed that the house had not changed its owner.
If someone is already in the house, wouldn't it cause misunderstanding if he comes to disturb the house like this?
Thinking of this, Imagawa Yoshimoto turned around to leave, but accidentally stepped on the dry leaves on the ground, making a "crunching" sound, which was particularly clear in the quiet mountain forest. This suddenly shocked the woman in the room. Shuangye's comforting voice suddenly stopped, followed by the sound of her getting up. After a moment, the door was pushed open.
"Your Highness?" Shuangye was stunned for a moment when he saw Imagawa Yoshimoto, and then his eyes instantly flashed with complex emotions - joy, touch, and a little aggrieved, "Why are you here?"
"Seeing that Miss is not in the maple forest, I was worried that something might happen to you, so I came here to visit." Yoshimoto Imagawa didn't try to hide it, "Miss is in good health, which is better than anything else, so I'm relieved."
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness..." Imagawa Yoshimoto's simple words of concern made Shuangye's eyes turn red instantly, and he lowered his head and replied.
"Is there a baby in the house?" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the wooden house behind him, "Has the lady found the right husband?"
"No." Shuangye replied briefly without raising his head.
"Oh? Is that a child from a relative? Or an adopted child." Imagawa Yoshimoto thinks about it and this is indeed the truth - if Shuangye really doesn't plan to get married, then he will have to adopt a child to provide for himself until the end of his life, and It's like having a companion. Otherwise, it would be too sad for a person to live alone.
Shuangye was silent this time, and he never raised his lowered head. The silence lasted so long that Imagawa Yoshimoto also realized that something was wrong.
He counted the days, and a somewhat unrealistic idea came to his mind.
"Could it be..." Imagawa Yoshimoto took a breath and confirmed in a low voice.
"It's His Highness's blood and bones." Shuangye spoke quickly, interrupting Imagawa Yoshimoto's unasked words, and then leaned over to plead guilty: "Last year at the banquet at home, the little girl put some poison in the wine. I'm guilty of this. He deserves to die, please forgive me. But the little girl has no intention of being superior to her daughter, and will never follow His Highness back to Imagawa Hall. She just wants to leave a trace of thoughts in the future life. In the future, the little girl will I will raise my daughter by myself without asking for a penny from Your Highness. Please don’t worry about it.”….
"Oh my God..." Imagawa Yoshimoto only felt a headache. He couldn't remember what happened that day. "What are you going to do, Miss? Not only do you disrespect me, but you also disrespect yourself, and you also disrespect this child." irresponsible."
"It doesn't matter how much Your Highness blames the little girl." Shuangye seemed to have no more desires. "The child will be raised, Your Highness. Don't worry, the little girl already has a new place to rely on."
"Children are lives after all, how could they treat them like child's play? It would be fine if I didn't know, but I already know it now..." Imagawa Yoshimoto held his forehead deeply and didn't know how to go back and explain to his family, " I’ll take you back first…”
"No, no need, Your Highness, the little lady will not go back to Imagawa Hall with you." After hearing this, Shuangye shook his head vigorously and said in a very resolute voice: "The little lady has said, if I go back with you, what will happen to the little lady? Am I someone who deliberately deceived His Highness into giving birth to a daughter, and then valued the daughter based on the mother? What will His Highness’s family think of the little girl? What will His Highness think of the little girl? What will my daughter think of me when she grows up in the future? How should the little girl deal with herself? ?」
"That's not always possible..."
Imagawa Yoshimoto still wanted to speak, but Shuangye waved his hand directly and said: "No, His Highness doesn't even need to give the little girl anything. The little girl can read and raise her daughter by herself. If Your Highness really wants to help the little girl, you might as well still be with her. As before, I come to see the little girl and daughter every year. The child is innocent after all, and the little girl doesn’t want to lose her father since she was a child."
Imagawa Yoshimoto is not a mean person. No matter how dissatisfied he is, he can't express it when facing his former confidant. In the end, he just sighs. After all, he couldn't bear the heart to directly sever ties with the flesh and blood he had never met, and never interact with him again.
"Let me take a look at the child." Imagawa Yoshimoto whispered helplessly.
"Thank you." Shuangye showed a relieved smile, and then led Imagawa Yoshimoto into the house.
"Did you give birth to the child alone? In the mountains?"
"Yes." Shuangye nodded, "The one who delivered the baby... has prepared food in advance."
Imagawa Yoshimoto took a look at Shuangye's thin figure, but he didn't expect that she, who was so bookish in the past, could actually endure such hardship. He thought that such a scholarly woman couldn't handle these things at all.
Shuangye pushed away the people in the inner room, and there was a 6-7-month-old baby lying on the mattress, gently waving his chubby little hands, babbling and whimpering to his mother. Shuangye hurriedly leaned down, hugged the baby, and murmured something softly, quickly calming down the baby in her arms. The happiness and strength on Shuangye's face seemed to be a different person from the inexperienced person she used to be.
Becoming a mother...will make a woman very powerful - Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed silently.
"Give her a name." Shuangye turned to her father with the baby in her arms - even though her father had no love for her mother at all, he might still be full of dissatisfaction and resentment in his heart.
But Imagawa Yoshimoto knew that the child was innocent and she had done nothing wrong. You can't take this anger out on your children. He pursed his lips, looked at the maple leaves on the mountain outside the house, and suggested softly:
"Red leaves?"
"Girl, let's use a Chinese character." Shuangye shook his head, his beautiful eyes moved, and he thought of another better idea:
"How about calling me Kaede?"
Fuyao Weiying
