105

"Your Royal Highness Akai, I'm very sorry," Maeda Keiji who had eaten a few bites, turned his head to face Akai Naomasa, whose face was already blue, "It is the responsibility of our wise retainers to protect the young master, and it is rude to be rude, please ignore the villain's mistakes, and bear with the vulgarity and rudeness below." ”

I was afraid that Akai Naomasa would be angry, so I hurriedly preemptively said, "Enough!" Bastard stuff! His Royal Highness Akai is a majestic samurai, famous in San'in Avenue, how could he do such an obscene and filthy thing to poison me! ”

Akai Naomasa looked at Maeda Keiji coldly and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this samurai-sama should be the famous 'Hana no Keiji' who fought with his old man two years ago, right?" ”

"His Royal Highness Akai has a good memory," in the face of Akai's coercion, Maeda Keiji replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: "'Hana no Keiji' is just a waste of fame, and 'Tanba Red Ghost' is worthy of our admiration." ”

"Humph!"

After snorting coldly, Akai Naomasa stopped talking, just looked at Keiji Maeda with a gloomy face, and his maids also had wrong faces, not knowing what to do.

Hosokawa and I looked at each other, unsure if it was embarrassment or some other negative emotion.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became very subtle.

Only the initiator was leisurely, eating with relish under the gaze of everyone, and there was no feeling of tasting poison at all. From time to time, Keiji Maeda snorted and put the fish meat in the vinegar and put it in his mouth, eating nothing from the head to the tail.

"Hahaha......" Akai Naomasa suddenly laughed, "In the past, the Marquis of Wuyang once angrily reprimanded the overlord of Chu at the Hongmen banquet for not believing in his words, and drank and ate meat in a chic manner, which made the overlord impressed...... Looking at it today, His Royal Highness Maeda's courage to loyally protect the lord is comparable to that of the Marquis of Wuyang at that time, and what I admire most is a true samurai like you! Come! True samurai! I toast you! ”

"Thanks!" Keiji Maeda took the glass and drank it all.

Looking at the empty fish plate, Akai Naomasa smiled bitterly and made a gesture to me: "Your Royal Highness, it was the old man who was negligent, please bear with me, the old man will immediately add a new eel." ”

"Where, you're so polite." I turned my head and scolded, "Keijiro! Have you made enough trouble! When you've had enough trouble, go back to your place! ”

"Yes!"

"Your Highness Maeda, how do you feel?" There was no sarcasm in Akai's words, but I still heard a hint of mockery, "Do you feel dizzy or colic?" ”

However, Keiji Maeda seemed to be "carrying" with him, and he replied in a tough tone that did not admit defeat:

"His Royal Highness Akai has misunderstood, and I dare not doubt that His Royal Highness Akai will do such a black-hearted, despicable and shameless thing, but the task of accompanying the young master is to prevent all misfortunes from happening."

"Oh, that's hard work......"

Next, the meeting was staggered, the guests of honor were happy, and nothing unpleasant happened.

By the time the table ended, it was already about two or three o'clock in the afternoon.

"You all go down, I have something to say to His Highness Akai." I commanded Keiji Maeda.

"This ......" They looked at me with a sad face, and it seemed that they still hadn't completely given up in their hearts the idea that Akai Naomasa would be unfavorable to me.

"Let's go down!" This time I accentuated my tone a bit.

The two of them looked at each other and silently retreated.

Akai Naomasa also ordered the maids to retreat, and the two of us were left in the originally spacious and lively living room.

The sun shines obliquely on the trees outside the annex, and the sound of spring cicadas chirps in the courtyard.

"His Royal Highness Akai is really interesting, this annex is really elegant."

"His Royal Highness the Prison has praised it, this annex was built more than ten years ago, when I went to Yagami Castle to see Hatano Hideji, as a way to rest, if Your Highness likes it......"

"No, no, no," I quickly excused myself, "how dare I take the love of others?" Your Highness Akai, let's get down to business, didn't you just want to treat me to this delicious eel when you asked me to come here? ”

"His Royal Highness is indeed worthy of being a wise person appreciated by the Oda Inner Mansion, and he can see through it at a glance. In that case, I'll be blunt, although there are many warps and latitudes in this matter, I hope you can accept it.

Our Akai family has lived in this place for fifteen generations since the Heian period, when the Genji family Mitsuko moved to Tanba......"

"Hmm......" I nodded, this clan is really old enough.

"But, even so," Akai Naomasa suddenly changed his words, "due to various reasons, the relationship between our family and the domestic samurai of Tanba is still very shallow, and we have never established a deep relationship, we can't even make a trustworthy friend, and the only people we can rely on the most are people of the same clan, alas!

He sighed heavily and said, "The battle with Jiuxiang, although it seems that today is a brilliant stroke in the old lady's life, do you know His Royal Highness the General?" When the war was about to start, many people in the clan were against it. ”

"Oh? Why? ”

"Everyone can see that in this battle, the Akai family is actually fighting for the Hatano family, fighting with the Naito family, it is naturally good to win, and if you lose, losing is a disaster, as the Hatano family who provoked the war, but you can still sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, safe and sound."

The "Soga......" history books about this battle are indeed written like this, and it was instigated by the Hatano family behind the scenes.

"The old man doesn't know this in his heart, but what is the way, only by fighting with the Naito family with all our strength can we win a glimmer of life, and we can gain the trust of the Hatano family, so as to gain a firm foothold in Tanba......"

"I see......" I nodded thoughtfully, as if it hadn't been mentioned in the history books.

"The old man has fought for the Hataye and also fought for Maori, but to be honest, they are all unreliable, and now the old man has surrendered to your family, and your family is the biggest support in the old man's heart, so the old man hopes that we can strengthen the bond, not the luxury of being treated equally with other wealthy families, I only hope that your family can be like a benevolent monarch, and shelter his courtiers, the old man asks for only this, please Your Highness the Prison must agree."

His tone is steady, but full of the spirit of a cone drill.

"Your Highness Akai, please speak clearly, what can I do to help you?"

"Then the old man will make it clear," Akai said straightforwardly: "Your Royal Highness, do you know why the old man surrendered to your family?" ”

"Want to find a good place for your family?"

"Yes," Akai Naomasa suddenly pointed to his abdomen, "Does Your Highness remember this?" ”

"I can't remember."

Akai Naomasa laughed: "It is said that nobles forget things, Your Highness, two years ago in Tanghou, you used an iron cannon to injure here, and afterwards in order to take out the bullet, I suffered a lot of crimes, haha......"

"I see...... "I see" As he spoke, I remembered the dangerous Honjin two years ago, and the Anemon who died for me.

Thinking of this, my heart sank.

But I can't have too much hatred for the person in front of me.

"After taking out the bullet, I'll be fine, who knows......" he sighed, "San'in Avenue was originally a damp place, but after more than a year, the wound began to inflame, and the situation is getting worse and worse, I'm afraid it's ......"

"Your Highness means, your lifespan ......" I was shocked, could this old fellow ......

But think about it, the ancients have always paid little attention to wound disinfection (it should be said that there is no right way to deal with it), and there are many generals who died of wound inflammation, and the future Tokugawa family alone has Matsudaira Tadakichi, Ii Naomasa, and even the famous Honda Tadakatsu also died of finger inflammation.

"Yes!" Akai Naomasa suddenly fell to his knees, "So, the old man hopes to entrust the Akai family to you!" ”

"Me?" I can't believe it, he is a famous general, I am just a "chick" who is not even twenty years old, what is there to trust him, besides, this burden is too big!

"That ......" I scratched my head, "I'm glad to be so trusted by you, but ......"

"No, only you are the best!" He still lowered his head and said: "I heard from someone from Kyoto that His Royal Highness Xinguang, the wise right general, is a true gentleman with good morals and a warm heart......"

Is it? It turns out that I have such a good reputation outside, I don't even know it myself.

"So hand over the Akai family to you, and the old man will die without regrets."

"But ......"

"I also wanted to ask Lord Lingzun," he ignored my excuse and still said: "Although Guangxiu Gong is at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period, in contrast, His Royal Highness the General Prison is young and vigorous, which is the long-term hope and dependence, Your Highness, please don't shirk anymore, okay?" ”

"Good...... Well......"

It wasn't too difficult to do, so I gritted my teeth and finally took it.

As long as the Akai family doesn't do anything too "excessive" in the future, everything is easy to say.

"Thank you so much! In the future, the wise family will be invited, and the old man and the Akai family will be with each other in life and death! ”

Akai Naomasa was overjoyed.

However, he then added: "But there is one more thing at the moment, please fulfill it Your Highness!" ”

"Your Highness, please speak." I was a little nervous, no, as soon as I agreed, I started to make demands.

"After so many years of war, not only has the Akai family withered, but the remaining younger generation is becoming more and more unbearable...... Alas! He sighed again (this is the first time he sighed?). "For the sake of the future of the Akai family, the old man dares to ask if your family can succeed a man to be the future governor of the Akai family!"

Yikes! That's a great thing!

I am also happy in my heart, even if it is my father, he will not hesitate to agree to it, and there will be 20,000 more stone territory for nothing, why not agree......

But then again, who should be succeeded? I'm sure I can't, and I don't seem to be able to do it on Fifteen's side, so who among my cousins is suitable?