Mrs. Hao flipped her palm, and after she broke free from the old nun's hand, she took out a purse from her arms. She poured the contents of her purse onto the tatami mat in front of her, and then said to the old nun, "This is a token I took from her, and it is said that her father left it to her mother, do you remember it?"

Huiru quickly picked up an ebony carved ornament poured out by Mrs. Hao, and looked at it carefully for a long time before she said excitedly: "Yes, this is the talisman I asked for from the shrine for Taro, and there is his name on it." ”

Hui Ru's gaze left the pendant, looked eagerly at Mrs. Hao, and asked again, "Where is my granddaughter now?" Is she doing well? Can I meet her? ”

Mrs. Hao looked carefully outside the door before continuing to Huiru: "Your son's lover was not in a very good condition after escaping Osaka, so after wandering for several years, he had to sell your granddaughter to the verandah.

But your granddaughter's luck is not bad, because of her excellent appearance, she has become bald by the side of a certain husband. She is also 15 years old this year, and if nothing else, she will soon become a wandering girl. ”

Huiru's face changed, she looked at Mrs. Hao and said, "Can you take her out of the verandah?" I know you have a way, and I don't want my only granddaughter to spend her life as a wandering girl. Ma'am, please help me. ”

Looking at Huiru, who put her head on the tatami mat and pleaded with herself, Mrs. Hao hurriedly patted her on the shoulder and said, "Of course I will help you, if our Toyotomi clan didn't help each other, we would have been wiped out by the Tokugawa family a long time ago." Please sit up and talk. ”

Under the persuasion of Mrs. Hao, Huiru finally straightened up, holding the talisman tightly with one hand, covering her mouth with the other, and crying quietly.

Mrs. Howe moved to face to face with her, and continued to her, "But don't be too optimistic. In my own power, I can't take a man's bald man out of the verandah, unless I can get the help of the patron behind me. ”

Huiru quickly stopped crying, grabbed Mrs. Hao's hand tightly again and begged: "Then please let me beg him, I only have one relative in this world, I hope she can live a peaceful and peaceful life, even if she marries a farmer..."

Mrs. Hao shook her head and replied: "The baldness around the husband is the cultivation object of the Lady House as the next husband, and the other party will not let go easily."

Your and my requests alone would not have made the Lord expend so much effort to bring Hiroko out of the verandah. ”

Huiru hesitated for a moment before she said cautiously: "Are you saying that only if the host goes to meet the lord in person, can I ask him to bring Kuanzi to me?" But once the host has made up his mind, it is difficult to change his mind. She doesn't even want to see you now, let alone the adult..."

Mrs. Howe immediately interrupted her and said, "Do you really want your only granddaughter to be a farmer's wife?" As long as Her Royal Highness Chiyohime leaves here and returns to the world, she will be the most noble princess of the Toyotomi family in Japan.

Regardless of whether the Toyotomi family can be revived or not, the one who can match her must be a daimyo of one party. And if Hiroko can become the lady-in-waiting of Her Royal Highness the Princess, she will not be the side chamber of a certain daimyo in the future, but also the wife of a certain high-ranking samurai. Isn't this the best ending for Kuanko? ”

"But, but the host..."

Seeing that Huiru was still a little hesitant, Mrs. Hao lowered her voice again and said to her: "No matter what way you use, as long as Her Royal Highness the princess leaves Dongqing Temple, she will not be able to return here." Because I believe that even in this temple, there will be spies from the Tokugawa family who will monitor Her Royal Highness.

When Her Royal Highness the princess disappears, the Tokugawa family will definitely send someone to track it down, and presumably Her Royal Highness the princess will not kill herself when she falls, and will return to Tokeiji Temple. ”

Listening to Mrs. Hao's words, Huiru couldn't help but be silent for a long time, and finally she asked with a trembling voice; "Where can we run if we leave here? In today's Japan, are there still daimyo who dare to oppose the shogunate and harbor the host? ”

Seeing that Huiru finally became weak, Mrs. Hao's tense heart finally eased, and she quietly replied, "In a short time, we will leave Japan and go to Mingguo." Although the power of the Tokugawa family was able to subdue the Japanese daimyo, in the Ming Kingdom, the Tokugawa family could not do anything. ”

"Mingguo?" Hearing this answer, Huiru was a little distracted, and after a few words, she finally gritted her teeth and said: "In five days, it will be May 8, which is the day of the fall of Osaka Castle and the death day of Hideyori.

Because of the Tokugawa family, His Royal Highness did not dare to pay tribute to his dead family members in the past. However, since His Royal Highness became the abbot of Tokeiji Temple, the Tokugawa family's surveillance of His Royal Highness has slowly relaxed.

Therefore, since 3 or 4 years ago, His Royal Highness began to quietly pay tribute to his family. The time will be chosen on the evening of May 6 or 7, at the top of the mountain behind Tokeiji Temple.

In previous years, I was taking care of this, and this year is the same. This year's memorial will take place four days later in the evening, when the moon is higher than the treetops.

Madame can stay at the top of the hill until that time and persuade His Highness to leave again. One night was enough time to get us to sea. ”

Mrs. Hao immediately patted the back of her hand lightly, smiled and said, "Enough, as long as things can be successful, you will soon be able to see Kuanzi..."

More than 3,000 miles south of Edo, there are hundreds of large and small islands dotted across the ocean, and when you look down from the sky, it looks like a pearl necklace has been torn off in the sea.

This is the Ryukyu Islands, and it is also the farthest vassal state of the Ming Dynasty in the Northeast Sea. Of course, this title has now been given to the country of Fuso, which is further northeast.

The Ryukyu Islands run from northeast to southwest, eventually across the sea from the island of Taiwan. The Ryukyu Islands belonged to the Ryukyu Kingdom, and at its peak it was divided into three provinces and 36 islands. However, there are not many inhabited islands, and the population of the kingdom is mainly concentrated on the main island of Ryukyu and Amami Oshima, and the population of the entire kingdom is about 100,000, and nearly 80% of it is concentrated on the main island of the Ryukyus.

Shurijo Castle in the middle of the main island of the Ryukyus is not only one of the best ports in the archipelago, but also the royal capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. There were several castle walls in and around Shuri Castle, which separated the residential quarters of foreign merchants, commoners, and royal nobles. After the Satsuma Domain launched the "Keicho Ryukyu War", King Shōnin was forced to sign the "Tsukina Fifteen Articles" with the Satsuma Domain in Kagoshima, recognizing the Satsuma Domain's control over the Ryukyu Kingdom.

The Satsuma clan immediately sent people to take control of the Amami Islands in the northern part of the Ryukyus, built a merchant house in Shuri Castle, and supported Mao Fengyi (Ikejo pro-Yasui Yasui) and Mao Fengchao (Yomitanyama pro-Katsukata Shengshao) to become the three officials of the Ryukyu Kingdom, controlling the internal affairs of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and began to carry out tributary trade with the Ming Kingdom in the name of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

While plundering the wealth of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Satsuma Clan promoted Japanese culture in the archipelago, and wanted to encroach and annex the entire Ryukyu Kingdom step by step, all of which went smoothly. However, after the new emperor of the Ming Kingdom ascended the throne, merchants representing the official status of the Ming Kingdom began to appear in the Ryukyus, and then more and more Ming fishing boats also appeared here.

The emergence of Ming merchants and fishermen not only broke the monopoly of the Satsuma Domain on the foreign trade of the Ryukyu Kingdom, but also caused some Ryukyu nobles who were unwilling to become vassals of the Satsuma Domain to take action, and frequently courted the business representatives of the Ming Kingdom in the Ryukyus.

Although the merchants of the Ming Kingdom also benefited the Satsuma Domain in the early stage of the development of the Ryukyu Kingdom, when the Ming Kingdom built a permanent trading hall and a number of fish processing factories on the main island of the Ryukyus, and its influence in the Ryukyu Kingdom became more and more powerful, the Satsuma Domain began to be vigilant, and in the past six months, it passed pro-Japanese officials to limit the scale of Ming business on the island.

In this era, the merchants who dare to go to sea to trade are naturally not good people, and even some legitimate merchants who have just joined the overseas trade have long been brought down under the leadership of these former pirate merchants.

Therefore, the merchants of the Ming Kingdom, who originally had some rules, were naturally not to be outdone and fought back against the Japanese merchants on the island. The Ryukyus, who could not afford to offend both sides, quickly chose to play foolish and allowed the two sides to engage in free conflict.

However, the frequent conflicts that broke out in Shuri Castle suddenly subsided after the Ming East China Sea patrol envoy arrived on the main island of Ryukyu at the end of April of the third year of Chongzhen's reign.

The sudden silence of the personnel stationed in Shuri Castle of the Satsuma Domain, on the one hand, was that they did not understand what kind of official position this patrol envoy of the East China Sea was in the Ming Kingdom; On the other hand, the Tokai Patrol did not come alone, but arrived at Shuri Castle with a whole fleet of 350 heavily armed soldiers.

However, there were only more than 30 samurai stationed in Shuri Castle in the Satsuma Domain, and there were only 2 or 300 people in addition to miscellaneous servants and merchants, so naturally they would not rashly provoke this official of the Ming Kingdom, so they could only call everyone back to the merchant hall and start a low-key life, waiting for this Ming fleet to leave.

After Xu Xinsu arrived at Shuri Castle, in addition to visiting King Shangfeng once, after perfunctory to the upper nobles of the Ryukyu Kingdom, he hid in the newly built Ming Kingdom Merchant Hall and lived quietly.

The reluctance of the Ming envoy to leave the East China Sea was doubtful and stressful for both the Satsuma and the Ryukyuan, so after mid-May, King Shangfeng sent people to inquire about the day of Xu Xinsu's departure, so that he could set up a send-off banquet for Xu Xinsu.

Xu Xinsu first ignored the envoys of the Ryukyu king several times, and then directly refused to meet with these envoys in the name of illness.

On this day, he was hiding in the back room of the museum, enjoying the rare purity, when a rapid sound of clogs came in from the wooden corridor outside.

When Xu Xinsu straightened up and took his eyes off the book in his hand, his relatives casually appeared at the door, knelt on the wooden corridor outside the door and said to him: "Family master, the Byrne Merchant has arrived at the port, and according to your orders, the Zhao Garrison of the port sent the news over as soon as possible." ”

Xu Xinsuhuo stood up, and immediately commanded: "Quickly change my clothes, and then let people prepare carriages and horses, I will go to the port now..."