……，…… At the beginning of March of this year, Quan Da Nayan Shan Keyan passed away at the age of 72. Nobunaga, who had a very close relationship with Yamashina Kentsugu, came to Kyoto in person to attend Yamashina Kentsugu's funeral. During this period, good news came from San'in and Hokuriku successively, and Yura Hideyoshi of San'in captured Tottori Castle in Inaba Province, and the castle guarded Yoshikawa Keike Seppuku; Shibata Katsuya and Takigawa Kazuki of Hokuriku captured Nanao Castle and pacified Noto Ichikoku. When Nobunaga heard the news, he was naturally extremely happy, but at the same time, he lost patience with the progress of the strategy of Settsu Ishiyama Honganji. After some deliberation, he accepted the suggestion of Yamashina Kenji's son, Gonnaka Nayan Yamashina Yanjing, and entrusted the samurai to send Emperor Kamino Terushi to ask the emperor to issue a decree that Honganji and the Oda family should reach harmony and withdraw from Settsu Province.

Honganji Temple is a quasi-monastery with a lineage of the Otani family, which can be regarded as the identity of the public family, and it is very closely related to the marriage of several generations of the public family. For example, Xianru himself, that is, he married the daughter of the princess Sanjo Gonglai as the lifang (the title of the main room of the law...... And the great monk of the imperial court who accepted it is ordained.

For Honganji, the Emperor's edict cannot be ignored.

In recent years, under the encirclement and suppression of the Oda family, the Honganji family has had an extremely difficult life, the Takeda family and the Mori family who were used as Austrian aid have deteriorated, the Bessho family and the Araki family have been destroyed, and even the Kanazawa Gobo in Kaga Province has fallen into the hands of the Oda family. Although Ishiyama Honganji can still hold on to it now, it must be able to understand that with the current situation, it is impossible to defeat the Oda family, and it is pointless to persist any longer, and it will only bring disaster to Honganji. And this edict of the emperor is undoubtedly a step down from power. So he immediately accepted the terms of peace and moved out of the Stone Mountain Imperial Workshop. At this point, the eleven-year Battle of Ishiyama finally came to an end.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Imperial Court sent an envoy asking Nobunaga to accept the position of Minister from the Left. Perhaps seeing the influence of the imperial court that could not be ignored from the Ishiyama incident, Nobunaga accepted the will and went to the Seiryoden to meet the emperor.

However, not long after returning from the Imperial Palace, Nobunaga soon made a move. He sent someone to meet the emperor's crown prince, Prince Seihito, and dedicated Nijo-jo Castle, where he had lived in Kyoto for the past two years, and moved to Honnoji Temple, where he had previously stayed. As the heir of the emperor, Prince Seihito's status was already very respected, but now that he received this courtesy from Nobunaga, his power has risen even higher, so much so that the ministers directly called Nijo Castle "Shimogosho", which is alongside the high imperial residence where the emperor lives. In response to this situation, the Emperor Shokincho could only take a tacit attitude and slowly transfer the originally small government affairs to the lower imperial office, while rumors gradually spread in Kyochu that Nobunaga's acceptance of the official position was entirely due to Prince Seihito's relationship, and when he met with the emperor, he once stated that "if the emperor's heir succeeds to the throne, Yu will do his best to assist", so the emperor made this move. In addition, there are rumors that after Prince Seihito succeeds to the throne, he will appoint his fifth prince, Prince Yoshikei of Nobunaga, as the emperor's heir.

On the other hand, Nobumori Sakuma, who returned from the Ishiyama front, was severely punished. Nobunaga sent him a list of nineteen crimes, from the previous delay in the evacuation of his troops at Mikawa and the conquest of Asakura, to the slow action when he supported Kamitsuki Castle; From the South China Sea, Sanyang, Hokuriku and other aspects, to his Jinai army has not been in a city for several years; From his lack of achievements in military strategy to his low level of governance...... In addition, there are short-sighted arrogance, self-enrichment, and disregard for retainers and power. At the end of the threshold, the Sakuma family was disposed of by confiscating all the territories and powers of Nobumori and Nobuei and his sons, and exiled them to Kii Kumano.

Sakuma Nobumori was a powerful lineage of the Oda family and a high-ranking minister. However, after nearly 30 years of service, in the end it ended up like this, which has to be chilling. Although Sakuma Nobumori himself is indeed not angry, this treatment is too harsh, and the death of the rabbit and the fox is naturally inevitable. It's just that because Nobunaga has always been strong and now stubborn, no one in the family dares to show it!

I didn't think much of it, after all, for me, it was something I had predicted. So I calmly continued to preside over the construction of Sokokuji Temple, and even followed Nobunaga to sponsor some of the funds to the Nijo Imperial Palace in preparation for the Aoi Garden Festival to be held in April. This is the first time in 50 years that the festival is held, and the purpose is to eliminate the military disaster and pray for the peace of the country and the people. Nobunaga had always liked this kind of lively image project, and it was the first priority that the Nijo Imperial Palace presided over, so he attached great importance to it and personally contributed 5,000 kan to sponsor it.

The funds provided are mainly used to provide the cost of costumes and costumes for the ceremony, and the main part of the entire Aoi Yuan Festival is the Saio Festival at Kamo Gozu Shrine. On the 13th day of April (the 15th day of May in the Gregorian calendar in modern times), the king of Zhai, who was served by the prince of the imperial family, wore a gold silk crown and twelve robes, and rode in a palace car pulled by a girl, led by two columns of honor guards dressed in official attire and samurai hunting costumes, accompanied by palace ceremonies such as the palace guard envoy, the inspection non-violation envoy, the mountain city envoy, the Maliao envoy, and the inner Tibetan envoy, as well as the head ceremony of the shrine such as the head of the shrine of Kamo Gozu Shrine and the head of the Kamo Berei Shrine. Surrounded by women and others (called women's rows), they depart from the palace and go along the Kamo River embankment to the Kamo Gozu Shrine. With the exception of Saioh, everyone walked on foot and were dressed in the elaborate Tang style costumes of the Heian period, which was extremely delicate and ornate, and the people of Kyoto who watched the ceremony along the way were all amazed.

Nana, Shinkyo, and Keishiro were also among the people watching the ceremony, and they occupied a position with a very clear view, surrounded by two circles of guards, inside and outside. When the front ceremony procession arrived, Cai Cai couldn't help but praise: "It's really an unprecedented grand occasion!" …… Your Highness is also seeing it for the first time, right? ”

"Maybe it's the first time," I nodded, and some of the deepest memories in my heart suddenly came to mind. It's the same Kyoto, it's the same Kamogawa River embankment, and it's the same way to dress like this, but it's seen on a TV show, and at that time there was no Saiwang, and the officiating person was the daughter of a famous family called "Saiwangdai". Although it is like a previous life, I still remember that the person who served as the king of Daisai that year was the daughter of Prince Yoshiko of Mikasa Palace, and the daughter of a thousand families in the tea ceremony family, Senkiko, because of the royal blood, so she also inherited the family's inverted melon seed face and thin eyes. However, compared with the inner prince in front of him, who has a white face of inverted melons, hanging eyebrows, and vermilion lips, it is generally a little more pleasing to the eye.

Among the two girls who pulled the ox cart, the girl on the left looked good, with eyebrows and bangs, soft hair, and eyes as agile and pure as a deer, but she was holding red silk in her hand and pulling such a palace cart with a rickety gait, which looked very cute...... What a superb little Lori!

I suddenly sprouted a wave of youthful madness, so I pulled Keishiro in front of me with a smile, pointed to the girl and said to him, "How about that little girl?" How about I let her be your main room? ”

"Father!" Jing Shilang, who was less than ten years old, blushed.

"That's a good person," Nana also smiled and nodded, agreeing with my vision, "But I don't know whose daughter it is!" …… The one who can serve as the girl who leads the car must be the daughter of the minister, and I don't know if we can be worthy. ”

"It should be fine," Xinjing interjected, "The girl who is leading the car is no more than from the Yulin family. And the women of the five regent families and the minister's family were all accompanied by the palace car. ”

"Even if it's a fifth-regent, Jing Shiro is worthy of it," I said proudly, and then nodded to Shinjing, "Since you seem to know something, how about taking charge of this matter for me?" ”

"I'm in charge?" Xinjing asked in surprise.

"Yes, you are the eldest son in the family, and now you should have some responsibility. Let's start with the marriage agreement for my brother! I nodded, "Can it be done in two months?" When the time comes, I will return to Iyo Province, and you will return to Azuchi Castle to continue your service. ”

"Yes. I'm going to get the job done! Xinjing replied solemnly.

……，…… Because it was the first time to preside over the housework, Xinjing's enthusiasm was extremely high, and he quickly found out the identity of the girl. The girl is from the Sano family, and she is the daughter of Sano Teruzi, named Sano Fanzi. Speaking of which, she still has some relationship with our family, because Eiko Hirohashi, the sister of Teruzi No, happens to be the mother of Akiko Hatakeyama, the main room of the Zhou Jing family. In other words, Shigeko no is Akiko's cousin.

It's such a coincidence, and at first glance it fits perfectly. Letting Keishiro marry Shigako Sano can strengthen the relationship between the clan family and the public family and the Tosa Yoshira family, and it is also conducive to the unity of the family. However, the identity of Shigeko's father, Yuno Teruzi, is very hindering: he is the current samurai family legend.

"This matter, don't be busy for the time being." I instructed the letter to the king.

"However, I have already made a request to marry His Excellency Yuno!" Xinjing was a little anxious.

I know what he thinks. Whether it's for Keishiro, who is his younger brother, or for his prestige in the family, he wants to make it happen. It's just that the daughter of the samurai family is not something that can be married casually, and among the samurai families of the Muromachi period, this is the patent of the Ashikaga shogun.

"You're doing a good job. However, it is not possible to marry with the samurai family now. I commanded him again.

"Father...... Xinjing wanted to say something, but I waved his hand to stop: "Knowing how to advance and retreat, understanding what not to do, is more valuable than blindly striving for it!" ”

"Yes." Xinjing had no choice but to give up his insistence. And the matter of marriage was put on hold for the time being.

Then, I didn't stay in Kyoto for two months, because the Tokugawa family's Hiraiwa Kinyoshi came to Kyoto. He was eager to see me, and as soon as he saw me come out of the room, he fell down on the floor with great respect.

"His Highness Hiraiwa! Did something happen? As I walked to the throne, I asked with concern, but I vaguely understood in my heart why he had asked to see me—he was an assistant to Tokugawa Nobuyasu.

Sure enough, he choked up and made a request to me: "I am entrusted by the head of the family to ask His Royal Highness Imabari to come forward and say a few kind words in front of the Oda main hall to fight for a glimmer of life for the young master of the family...... Please! ”

"Fighting for life? What's going on? I asked, pretending to be puzzled.

"Yes...... Because Mrs. Shaogodai sent a letter to Oda Daiden, claiming that Daigodai and the young lord were connected to the Takeda family, Oda Daiden was furious and ordered the family to execute Daigodai and the young lord...... So far, only His Royal Highness Imabari can redeem the heart of the Oda Palace, so please come forward to persuade the Oda Palace on the basis of the feelings of fighting side by side at the beginning and the admiration of the young lord of the family, and the whole family will be grateful and remember your kindness! ”

Deki wrote that letter after all! Although I asked Fuyuhime to write to comfort her, I couldn't undo it, and the time still came...... I will definitely do my best in this matter, and I have already made a decision when the first signs of the situation appeared a year ago. This is not only because of my appreciation for Nobuyasu, but also because I brought the Tokugawa family into the Oda family in the first place, and I have an obligation to do my part for them. Moreover, Nobunaga's unscrupulous way of doing things must always be discouraged, otherwise he will be indulging his conceit and making him even more indifferent to our ideas, and who can guarantee that his next target will not fall on his own home? I'm silent now, who else will have the guts to stand up then?

"I'll do my best to turn around on this matter," I nodded to Hiraiwa Kiyoshi, "So, tell me what happened first!" ”

"Yes," Hiraiwa Qinkichi heard my promise, his expression was much more relaxed, but his attitude was more respectful, "Specifically, this is ......"

The story he told was about the same as what I knew, only in more detail. The crux of the whole thing is that the Tsukiyama Hall is a side chamber for Shinyasuo. This side room is called Calamus, and she is said to be the daughter of Okazaki Town, Chukaya, but in fact she is the daughter of the Takeda family's retainer Asahara, Masantoki. Asahara, Masantoki, originally followed Yoshinobu Takeda, and fled to Mikawa with his daughter when Yoshinobu was exposed, but settled down under Okazaki Castle, and had a very difficult life. Chikuyamaden occasionally found a beautiful calamus, and asked her to come from Asahara, and took advantage of Tokuji's pregnancy to send it to Nobuyasu's side, and competed with Tokuji for Nobuyasu's favor. Asahara, Masantoki, thought that this was a good time to divide the Tokugawa family and the Oda family, and maybe he could return to the Takeda family with this merit, so he asked Calamus to cooperate as much as he could, and succeeded in alienating Nobuyasu from Tokuhime. Tokuki was jealous and ordered the maid to investigate the origin of the calamus, but unexpectedly found that the calamus was the daughter of an old retainer of the Takeda family, so she immediately wrote a letter to Nobunaga, reporting that the Tsukiyamaden and the Takeda family were in contact with each other, and wanted to use the beauty of the calamus to seduce Nobuyasu to join the Takeda family.

Obviously, with Tokuhime's perception, she equates her position with that of the Oda family and the Takeda family, respectively. In her opinion, Nobuyasu alienated her and favored Calamus, which was to alienate the Oda family, lean towards the Takeda family, and send the calamus to the Tsukiyama Hall beside Shinyasu, which was naturally an internal communication with the Takeda family. And I think that she doesn't actually want Nobuyasu's life, but just wants to use her father's power to get rid of the Tsukiyama Temple, which is against her, and the side chamber calamus that is favored by Nobuyasu.

(To be continued)