"Grandma?"
Kinoshita Mai was stunned for a moment, then put on a solemn expression that said, "Just tell me, I'm all ears."
"Mr. Kiryu, what's wrong with grandma? Is... is she in bad health again?"
In Kinoshita Mai's memory, her grandma's health has become particularly bad since she got old.
Today I accidentally broke down on my waist, tomorrow I unfortunately caught a cold and caught a cold, and my body got sick and had problems from time to time.
"Young Master, don't be so nervous."
Kiryu pointed to the cushions opposite the counter and motioned to Mai Kinoshita, "Let's sit and chat."
"My lord is not feeling well. What I want to talk to you about is something else." Lan
"That's it...that's good..."
A look of relief appeared on Mai Kinoshita's pretty face. The originally tight facial lines gradually relaxed little by little.
"In that case, Mr. Kiryu, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Kinoshita Mai asked back, holding the vegetable basket and taking a seat on the cushion pointed by Kiryu.
Kiryu bent down and sat directly opposite Kinoshita Mai.
"Young Master, do you still remember what I said to you this summer... when I was helping you put on your makeup when you were preparing to go to the fireworks display? The Lord is planning to visit Edo during the New Year this year. you."
As soon as Kiryu finished speaking, Kinoshita Mai immediately replied excitedly: Lan
"of course I remember!"
Ever since Kinoshita Mai's grandmother threw her to Edo in order to train her, and left her to Kiryu, who was capable of both literary and military skills, loyal and reliable, to teach and care for her... Roughly speaking, Kinoshita Mai has been there for nearly a year. She has barely seen her grandmother, who raised her and raised her.
For Kinoshita Mai, grandma is her relative and her benefactor.
Although grandma treated her very harshly, and every time she thought of grandma's face, she could always recall many unbearable past events, but her grandma's kindness in adopting her as an orphan, and her great kindness in raising her as if she were her own, made her Always unforgettable.
Moreover, grandma is not always so strict, she will show a very gentle and approachable side from time to time.
After being away from Osaka for so long, Kinoshita Mai really misses her favorite and most respected relative.
Therefore, when she learned from Kiryu that her grandma would go to Edo to visit her during the Chinese New Year this year, Kinoshita Mai was extremely excited and excited. Lan
Even more than half a month ago, in order to better welcome grandma's arrival, Kinoshita Mai even spontaneously did a general cleaning inside and outside Qianshi House.
Even the big orange cat Duoduo was caught by her and given a bath.
Everything is ready, just waiting for grandma to arrive.
"Mr. Kiryu, is it grandma who has arrived in Edo?"
Kinoshita Mai asked excitedly.
"..."
Kiryu looked at the pair of beautiful eyes in front of him without saying a word, which were shining with anticipation and excitement. Lan
Then he silently looked away, staring straight at the empty floor at his feet.
"Well... Young Master, I'm sorry... My lord... she won't be able to come to Edo to reunite with you in a short period of time."
"Huh...?" Kinoshita Mai couldn't help but exclaimed in shock, "F-what happened?"
"There was some business problem." Kiryu continued to say to the floor next to his legs. "The specifics... I am not in a position to reveal. In short, in order to deal with the sudden business changes, the lord personally left a month ago to go to a distant place. Nagasaki. Let alone Edo, she won’t even be able to return to Osaka for a while.”
"Nagasaki..." Mai Kinoshita gasped softly, "We have gone to such a far place..."
Nagasaki: Located at the southernmost tip of Japan and the westernmost part of Kyushu Island, Nagasaki is Japan's most important trading port and has been Japan's external gateway since ancient times.
Before the Edo shogunate's seclusion order was completely abolished, Nagasaki was the only place in Japan that was open to the outside world and was not blocked, allowing foreigners to trade here. Lan
If we say that Osaka, located in the central area of East and West Japan and with unique geographical advantages, is Japan's first commercial capital, then it has a history of thousands of years and has begun to communicate with overseas countries since the Asuka Period (592-710). Nagasaki is the second commercial capital of Japan.
In Nagasaki, if you throw a brick, you can kill at least 10 businessmen of different nationalities.
As one of the country's most important foreign trade ports, Nagasaki has always been the area that Kinoshita Mai's grandmother visited most often.
Therefore, after learning that her grandma was on a business trip to Nagasaki, Kinoshita Mai, who had long been accustomed to this, was not too surprised.
Grandma, Kiryu and other elders, in front of Kinoshita Mai, they always kept secret about the business group they formed...that is, the main business of Calabash House.
Affected by this, Kinoshita Mai never knew what kind of business her grandmother relied on to make money, and she was considerate and never asked questions.
Although Kinoshita Mai is the young master of Calabash House, her understanding of Calabash House is not much better than that of an outsider like Qingto. Lan
That's why such a scene appeared - it wasn't until a few months ago that Kinoshita Mai and Aonto learned from Kiryu's mouth that Calabash House had been secretly tracking down a mysterious association called the "Fazhu Party".
"..." Kinoshita Mai's eyebrows immediately lowered, and there was an uncontrollable sense of loss and sadness in her eyes, "Is that so... Grandma went to Nagasaki... Then when will Grandma come back?"
Kiryu shook his head gently: "This... the letter from the lord didn't say it clearly..."
"..." Kinoshita Wu stopped talking.
At the same time, her head was buried lower.
Meow……
Duoduo on the side seemed to sense that his master's mood was at a low ebb. Lan
It crept up to Kinoshita Mai's feet, stretched out its pink tongue, and licked the slender ankles exposed outside the hem of the kimono and clean white socks very rhythmically.
"That's it...then there's really nothing we can do about it."
Kinoshita took a deep breath, slowly raised her head, and looked straight at Kiryu.
"Grandma didn't mean to break her promise. Since she can't come to Edo for the time being because of something important... let's wait until the next time we have a chance to meet grandma again."
After saying that, Kinoshita Mai showed a bright smile.
A beautiful smile that is sweet and sunny, without a trace of negative emotions and without the slightest hint of forcing a smile.
Looking at Kinoshita Mai who was obviously sad, but holding on to herself and trying hard to hide her low mood from appearing on her face, the wrinkles on Kiryu's face were slightly wrinkled, and her expression was dominated by helpless emotions little by little. Lan
"Well... Mr. Kiryu, is there anything else you want to say or add? If not, I will take the vegetable basket back to the kitchen first..."
"Young Master." Kiryu interrupted Kinoshita Mai's words, "Although my lord will not be able to come to Edo to see you at present or in the future...but my lord still cares about you and loves you."
"My lord feels very guilty for breaking his promise this time, so in order to make up for it, my lord sent you a new dress."
"New clothes?" Kinoshita opened her red lips blankly.
With a smile on his lips, Kiryu raised his chin towards the vegetable basket in Mai Kinoshita's hand, "Open the basket and take a look inside."
Upon hearing this, Kinoshita Mai quickly opened the basket in her hand and saw a tightly and neatly wrapped oil paper bag safely placed at the bottom of the tofu, eggplant and other ingredients.
Kinoshita Mai carefully took out the oil paper bag from the basket, and then asked Kiryu with her eyes: Can I open it? Lan
Of course - Kiryu nodded and answered with his expression and movements.
Kinoshita Mai swallowed hard, then carefully opened the oil paper bag, moving gently like a professional archaeologist who was surveying ancient ruins.
After a moment, the contents of the oil-paper bag—a red kimono with extremely exquisite workmanship and exquisite materials—were exposed to the air and exposed to Kinoshita Mai's eyes.
Even a layman with no knowledge of clothing can easily see that this red coat is anything but vulgar.
Anyone who knows a little bit about this will probably be so shocked that their jaws will drop immediately after seeing this gorgeous red dress.
The fabric is made of top-grade silk and satin produced in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the Tang Dynasty. The whole piece, including the collar, cuffs and other details, is embellished with gorgeous gold and silver threads, supplemented by white flowers, pink leaves and other patterns, making it really dazzling.
Kinoshita Mai didn't say a word...or maybe she was so surprised and excited that she forgot to speak. Lan
She silently lifted up the red kimono with both hands, her beautiful eyes flashing with glaze-like brilliance.
Even though she didn't say a word, her joy and love for this red Wufu were beyond words.
"My lord knows that you like red, so she specially picked a red Wu suit for you."
Kiryu added with a well-timed smile.
"In addition to these new clothes, my lord also wrote a special letter to you."
Kiryu reached into his arms and took out an unopened envelope.
Upon seeing this, Kinoshita Mai stopped admiring the kimono in her hand. She eagerly took the letter from Kiryu, then opened the envelope and took out the letter paper inside. Lan
The paper surface is clean and the handwriting is beautiful.
There was no long speech written on the letter paper, only a few simple words:
【
A sincere tribute:
Ah Wu, when you read this letter, you must have known that I am currently unable to go to Edo.
I broke my promise and failed to keep my promise. I'm sorry.
I hope my gift can slightly heal your inner loss and dissatisfaction. Lan
Although you and I are separated, I have been paying attention to your experience and performance after going to Edo.
According to Kiryu, you have improved very quickly and are no longer the gloomy girl who dare not even talk to strangers. I am very happy.
You did a great job, keep up the good work.
Sooner or later we will meet again, I promise you.
】
At the end of the letter, I wrote the name of Kinoshita Wu’s grandmother: Lin.
"Grandma..." Lan
Kinoshita Mai read the contents on the letter many times.
As she moved, she bit her lower lip gently.
As the eyes blinked, a thin layer of mist gradually appeared.
At this time, she suddenly discovered that there seemed to be content on the back of the letter.
She immediately turned the paper around and took a closer look——
[I almost forgot to mention, I heard that you have a man you like. When I come to Edo to see you later, I must bring over the man who was so lucky that my granddaughter fell in love with me, and I want to have a good communication with him]
"Exchange" - these words are written very deeply and heavily. Lan
It can be seen that the owner of this letter used considerable strength when writing this line...
However, Kinoshita Mai didn't notice this small detail - she was shy and blushing now.
"Grandma, she... wants to see Qingdeng...?"
The bright red rosy clouds flew up to Kinoshita Mai's cheeks.
While muttering to herself, she coyly covered her face from the base of her nose with the letter paper.
——If grandma met Qingdeng, what would she say to Qingdeng...?
——Will grandma like Qingdeng? Lan
——If... I say that I want to marry Qingdeng, will grandma agree?
While Kinoshita was dreaming, Kiryu suddenly raised his eyes and glanced at the shop door not far away. After a while, he asked in a joking tone:
"Young Master, did the Master write anything in the letter that made you happy?"
Kinoshita Mai, who was shocked by Kiryu's rhetorical question, came back to her senses, put down the letter in her hand, and stuck out her cute little tongue at Kiryu.
"I won't tell you~~ Mr. Kiryu, since grandma sent me a letter and new clothes, you should take them out as soon as possible..."
Before she could finish speaking, Kinoshita Mai flattened her lips in dissatisfaction.
Kiryu laughed mysteriously a few times. Lan
"Young Master, actually... I have other surprises for you."
"Surprise?" Kinoshita Mai cheered up and couldn't care less about her dissatisfaction. She quickly asked, "It's grandma. Did she send me something?"
Kiryu shook his head: "No. The only things my master sent you are this letter and this dress."
"To be honest, this 'surprise' was something I prepared at short notice. I didn't expect him to come back so quickly, nor did I expect to meet him on the way home."
"'He'?" The look of curiosity and expectation on Mai Kinoshita's face deepened at home at a speed visible to the naked eye, and finally became so intense that it couldn't be added. "Mr. Kiryu, who is this 'him' you are talking about?"
At this time, Kiryu was very malicious and gave it away. He did not answer immediately and deliberately remained silent.
It wasn't until Kinoshita Mai's appetite was whetted to its limit that he slowly raised his head, faced the door behind Kinoshita Mai, and shouted loudly: "Lan"
"You can come in!"
Before Kiryu finished his last words, a loud and heroic voice sounded outside the shop door:
"Finally, they called me in! My legs and feet were going numb standing outside!"
"Huh?" Kinoshita Mai was stunned for a moment, and then reflexively glanced behind her.
At the same moment when Kinoshita Mai turned her head back - bang - the wide shop door was pulled to the end in one breath, but not much light penetrated into the store.
Because it has a huge body that is much taller than the 1.8-meter-high door frame, standing behind the door.
The light outside was completely blocked by this giant's extremely strong body. Lan
"Young Master, long time no see."
The giant lowered his head and slipped through the door frame, focusing his eyes full of tenderness and nostalgia on Kinoshita Mai.
I saw that this giant was just like Kiryu, his face was covered with traces of time, and he looked to be in his 90s.
The white hair that reaches her waist and has no trace of color is roughly tied up with a rope and dragged casually behind her head.
He is nearly 1.9 meters tall. When he stood in front of Mai Kinoshita, who was only 1.5 meters tall, he instantly created a wonderful contrast between "giant and elf".
Kinoshita Mai seemed like she couldn't believe her eyes.
She stared blankly at the giant for a moment. Lan
In the next breath, emotion catches up with reality——
"Mr. Makimura!"
Kinoshita Mai opened her arms and threw herself into Makimura Yahachi's arms.
"Young Master, you have grown a lot taller."
Makimura gently supported Kinoshita Mai's back with one hand, and rubbed Kinoshita Mai's head lovingly with the other hand.
"Mr. Makimura!" Kinoshita Mai raised her little head from Makimura's arms and looked excitedly at her old face, which was basically unchanged from more than a year ago, "Why are you here in Edo?"
"This is a long story." Makimura let go of Mai Kinoshita, "Here, sit down. Let's drink tea and talk slowly." Lan
After saying that, Makimura took the lead and sat down next to Kiryu, and then shouted to Kiryu unceremoniously:
"Hey! Kiryu! Go get some tea! Just because you insisted that you wanted to give the young master a little surprise, you made me stand outside for so long. It made me thirsty! I have sacrificed so much. , bring me a cup of tea, isn’t that too much?”
Kiryu smiled and adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"It's not too much. Okay, you sit here and I'll go to the kitchen to make you tea."
Kiryu was about to get up, but Mai Kinoshita got there first.
"I can do this little thing like making tea! Mr. Kiryu, Mr. Makimura, you all just sit here! I'll be right back!"
Kinoshita Mai didn't leave any time for Kiryu and Makimura to react. After finishing her words, she walked cheerfully and rushed to the kitchen with a puff of smoke. Lan
Makimura originally wanted to persuade Kinoshita Mai, "Kiryu has agreed to help me make tea, so let Kiryu go work in the kitchen." But before he could say the words, Kinoshita Mai's back had already left his sight. .
"Young Master has not only become more beautiful, but also more energetic." Makimura smiled.
Kiryu smiled bitterly with mixed emotions:
"It's all thanks to that man. The power of love cannot be underestimated..."
"That man? Oh, is it the Tachibana Aoden you mentioned to me before?"
Kiryu nodded silently.
Seeing Kiryu nod, Makimura immediately grinned widely. Lan
"Kiryu... no, Kuro, that Tachibana Aoden... how often does he come to Senshiya?"
Kiryu raised his eyebrows: "What? You want to see him?"
"Of course I want to see him!" Makimura replied without any hesitation, "He is the person that the young master likes. It would be strange not to be curious about him, right? I just plan to rest in Edo for a while, so I will take advantage of this rare opportunity. Let’s take this opportunity to have a good meeting with this lucky guy who is lucky enough to be liked by the young master.”
"Are you planning to live in Edo for a while?"
"Yes." Makimura stretched his arms straight above his head and stretched vigorously. "This trip to the Northeast is really tiring for me... I plan to take a leisurely rest in Edo for half a day. Month, wait half a month before getting back to work."
"Are you tired?" Kiryu laughed as if he heard some funny joke, "Makimura, don't make me laugh. Is there anything in this world that can make the Dragon of Kyoto 'Complaining that you are tired?"
"Hmph." Makimura chuckled through his nose, and then responded half-jokingly, "Long will have his twilight one day." Lan
Kiryu squinted his eyes and looked at Makimura with a meaningful look.
"But the red dragon you are carrying has not faded. It is still looking up at the sky and roaring towards the boundless sky."
"Huh..." Makimura raised the corner of his mouth playfully, "Well, whether you are tired from this trip to the Northeast... that doesn't matter for now. Let's talk about business first - Kuro, I successfully collected some things in the Northeast. The latest information about the French slaying party."
"Oh...?" Kiryu's expression suddenly became serious.
*******
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Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard's head cries.jpg)
The author is now adjusting to his disturbed work and rest schedule due to accompanying him in the hospital. I believe he will soon be able to return to his previous state of 7 or 8,000 updates a day!
How about it? After a period of updating at a pace of only 4,000 or 5,000 words per day, did you suddenly realize that I used to be particularly conscientious?
