On December 3, 1567, in the castle tower of Gifu Castle in Mino Province. Oda Nobunaga was leaning his back against the railing of the cloister, taking advantage of the morning light, carefully wiping his Nanban iron cannon with a handkerchief.

"Lord, please pay more attention to the affairs in the Yuqiu family." Lin Xiuzhen, who was standing on the side, waited patiently for Oda Nobunaga to finish his process before suggesting in a low voice.

"Sado, how many times have you talked about this in the past few days?" After listening to Lin Xiuzhen's words, Oda Nobunaga snorted impatiently, "Did Momiji offend you or what's wrong?" ”

"My lord, Yuqiu Hongye has annexed all the territories of the four small wealthy clans under his rule, and he has also taken over all the armies, and his power is too inflated." Lin Xiuzhen ignored Oda Nobunaga's sarcasm, but still said lightly in that unhurried voice.

"So what? Didn't he also set up that House of Lords or something, like a joint meeting of important ministers, and gave a lot of authority to those wealthy families. Oda Nobunaga responded absentmindedly, his eyes still fixed on his iron cannon, "Didn't you promise everyone in the territory that the House of Lords would never be dissolved?" That kid has a reputation for being a promise, and those wealthy families are not worried, what are you worrying about here? ”

"After all, Hongye is from the Ming Kingdom, what he is thinking, what he wants to do, we don't know. He has deviated from the traditional model of our samurai family, and it is very likely that he will not be able to control it in the long run. Lin Xiuzhen still insisted on his opinion, "Those who are not close to common sense should be cautious." Such deviant behaviour should be stopped in any case. ”

"Departing from tradition? Deviant? Oda Nobunaga laughed when he heard this, "Is Yu doing less of this kind of thing?" You old ministers, don't you have to dissuade Yu every time? The result? Oda Nobunaga said as he stood up holding on to the railing and looked at the beautiful scenery of Mino outside the castle tower, "You all live in Inabayama Castle now, and the Oda family has become the master of Owari and Mino!" ”

"Momiji is different from the lord." Lin Xiuzhen shook her head slightly, and whispered a little stubbornly.

"What's the difference? Yu looks at so many courtiers of our Oda family, but the red leaves and Fujiyoshiro's stinky monkey are the most like Yu! Oda Nobunaga waved his hand uninhibitedly, facing the slowly rising sun, and said disdainfully: "As long as Momiji is loyal to Yu, as long as Momiji can expand the territory for Yu!" It doesn't matter what his background is, where he is, he can toss him as much as he wants. ”

"Yu Zhi is in the world, but there is not much time, so Yu's pace will be very fast." Oda Nobunaga slowly turned around as he spoke, looking at Lin Xiuzhen with a warning eye, "What Yu wants is a capable minister who can keep up with Yu's footsteps, not an old stubborn man who follows the rules." People who stare at their feet all day long can only stand still. ”

"The Lord is a wise man." Lin Xiuzhen smiled and bowed respectfully, "Indeed, only by looking at the world can we have the motivation to keep moving forward." It's just that if you look too high and too far, it's easy to see the danger under your feet. ”

"Isn't there Sado for you to worry about?" Oda Nobunaga heard Lin Xiuzhen's words, and just wanted to continue speaking, when suddenly there was a rush of footsteps from the stairs.

"What's wrong?" Before Oda Nobunaga could wait for anyone to come up, he asked in a loud voice with some impatience.

"Your Highness." As soon as a maid walked up to the top floor, she hurriedly knelt down to apologize, "The slave is incompetent, and Princess Wude cried again, saying that she wanted to see His Highness." ”

"Ahh The mother of three children, Oda Nobutada, Oda Nobuo, and Oda Gotoku, and his favorite wife and concubine, Ikoma Yoshino, died a year ago. And Oda Gotoku was to be sent to Mikawa Tokugawa's house before the New Year to fulfill the marriage contract with Tokugawa Nobuyasu. Matsudaira Ieyasu had been appointed by the imperial court earlier this year, and he had taken the opportunity to change his surname to Tokugawa. The pain of losing his mother has not yet subsided, and he is marrying away from home at this moment, so it is no wonder that Oda Gotoku washes his face with tears all day long.

"What a trouble, children." Oda Nobunaga casually handed the iron cannon in his arms to the maid, and strode downstairs.

·

Soon after, Yu Qiuping, the protagonist of the conversation between Oda Nobunaga and Hayashi Hidezhen, took his wife and children to wash the dust in Mino's restaurant for the Asai Nagamasa family, who came from afar. The latter suffered a heavy snowfall and was unable to make it in time for the December 2 agreed with Oda Nobunaga, so he came to visit Yuakihei first.

At this moment, the two families were sitting around a round table in a private room on the second floor, enjoying a sumptuous meal. Next to Yu Qiuping sat Imagawa Kaede, who had given birth to a baby boy a dozen days earlier - Yu Qiuping named him Yu Qiuguang. Imagawa Kaede immediately understood what Yu Qiuping meant at that time - when this child was still in Imagawa Kaede's belly, he witnessed Yu Qiuping re-choose the right path between the two paths of light and darkness. However, while still in his infancy, he was left in the Kuroda Castle Castle Castle Tower, and did not follow Yu Qiuping to meet Asai Nagamasa.

Next to Yu Qiuping, there is a very well-behaved and sensible Yu Qiuping, who is honestly eating his rice balls. And Yu Qiuyou and Yu Qiucen, the two idle little guys, have been teasing Asai Nagamasa and Ah Shi's two children - Cha Cha and Ah Chu. Yu Qiuyan seems to like pestering Chacha, who is only 3 years old this year, and has been chatting with her. And although Yu Qiucen is only 4 years old, her maternal aura is overflowing, and she must snatch Ah Chu, who is being held by Ah Shi, and hold it herself. However, Ah Chu was also surprisingly obedient and obediently snuggled in Yu Qiucen's arms.

"These kids are quite close." Ah Shi watched the children of the two families playing together so warmly, with a happy smile on his face, "When my brother is free tomorrow, I will bring Cha Cha and Ah Chu to my brother to see, he will definitely like it very much." ”

"That's what Ashi said." Hearing this, Asai Nagamasa nodded and said, "I haven't officially visited my righteous brother yet, but I've admired the name for a long time, and I've finally been able to see it." ”

"Speaking of which, brother, what kind of person is His Highness Oda?" Asai Nagamasa was a little nervous at the thought of meeting Oda Nobunaga for the first time tomorrow, so he turned to Akihei Akihei for his advice. However, the latter did not hear Asai Nagamasa's question, and looked in the direction of the first floor in a daze.

·

In the hall on the first floor, there is a blind old man in a tattered cotton jacket who is performing a show. He played the not-so-nice bamboo flute and nodded frequently to the diners. Beside him was a little boy of about six or seven years old, who was only a little better than his grandfather's in his clothes—but noticeably a little smaller, not fitting well, with cotton wool rotting in several places, and several patches. The little boy held a cracked porcelain bowl in his hand, his cheeks and hands were red from cold, and he kept bowing and nodding to those passing by. Yu Qiuping has been paying attention to them for a long time, and there are many people eating, but few people stop to give them a copper plate or two.

At the counter not far away, a few shopkeepers gathered together, pointing at the pair of beggars at the door, not knowing what they were discussing. A gust of north wind blew in the snowflakes, crunching the door of the restaurant, and freezing the poor grandfather and grandson to the point that their necks were so close that even the sound of the bamboo flute was out of tune.

Another pair of gorgeously dressed guests passed by at the door, seemingly a few rich samurai. They were talking and laughing, and wanted to go to the store for lunch, but when they saw the pair of beggars sitting in the hall, they exchanged glances in disgust, and turned away.

The shopkeeper seemed to be unable to bear it anymore, coughed lightly, and walked to the side of the pair of beggars. When the little boy heard the footsteps, his eyes immediately flickered, and he quickly put the porcelain bowl into his arms, and a copper plate accidentally fell to the ground. Seeing this, he hurriedly picked up the copper plate and quickly put it in his pocket, and then gently pulled his grandfather's clothes. Judging by his cautious performance, it may not be the first time he has been kicked out of the house. Grandpa was stunned for a moment, and the stumbling flute stopped abruptly. The grandfather and grandson noticed that the shopkeeper was standing beside them, listening to the sound of him constantly stomping his feet, his expression darkened, and he slowly got up without saying much. Before leaving, the little boy seemed to look at the warm fire in the restaurant with some reluctance, and then at the heavy snow outside.

·

"Ping, Changzheng called you." Imagawa Kaede saw Yu Qiuping's stunned appearance, and pinched his waist angrily and funny, and immediately brought Yu Qiuping back to his senses.

"What are you looking at, so fascinated?" Kaede Imagawa smiled, put his left hand on Yu Qiuping's neck, and looked in his direction - it was a pair of beggars.

Yu Qiuping smiled at Imagawa Kaede, waved his hand apologetically with Asai Nagamasa, and reached out to touch the silver in his arms. Just as he was about to get up, he suddenly found Yu Qiuyan, who was sitting beside him, also looking in the direction of the pair of grandchildren in a daze.

Yu Qiuping smiled, patted Yu Qiuyan's shoulder, and stuffed two taels of broken silver into his hand.

"Funeral, can you go and give this to that little kid?" Yu Qiuping pointed to the pair of grandchildren on the first floor, and whispered to Yu Qiuping.

"Huh?" Yu Qiu was stunned for a moment, and after reacting, a smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth. He took the two taels of silver, nodded happily, and ran downstairs quickly, stopping the pair of grandchildren who had just gone out outside the door.

"You're a bad guy, just like before." Seeing this, Imagawa Kaede was slightly moved, and the hand around Yu Qiuping's neck slowly stroked the hair on his sideburns, but he still said stiffly, "I didn't know what was wrong not long ago, and I insisted on making a ruthless look." ”

"What do you say, Feng'er?" Yu Qiuping blushed and avoided the topic with some embarrassment.

"It's good." Imagawa Kaede suddenly said such a sentence for no reason.

"What?" Yu Qiuping looked at her puzzled, only to see that her eyes were full of smiles and happiness.

"Like you, you're a bad person."