Receiving an audience from Kobayakawa Takakei, the place is also at the Hojo Hall of Shikaen Temple, but it is a different situation.

If the Tokugawa family, as Nobunaga's important ministers, was classified as a foreign daimyo and could not participate in central affairs, so Tokugawa Ieyasu had reason to feel resentful, then the Kobayakawa family, as an enemy of the Oda family, became a pedigree clan instead, and he himself also served as the elder of the shogunate, which can be said to be highly honored. In addition to him, the only person who can get such treatment is Shimazu Iehisa, who is from the Shimazu family and serves as one of the seven leaders. However, Shimazu Iehisa's qualifications as the leader of the family were obtained through brilliant military exploits again and again, especially in the Battle of Okitatsu, in which he defeated the 30,000-strong army of Ryuzoji Takanobu with a small number of troops, which was a key battle for his family to pacify Kitakyushu, and with this merit alone, he could be proud of the vast majority of his family's important ministers. As for Kobayakawa Takakei, if there is any contribution to the shogunate, it is that he has always insisted on moving closer to the main family, and there are even more mean statements in the market, saying that he deliberately led the naval army and the entire Mori family to constantly defeat the war, thus weakening the Mori family to the point of being slaughtered by the main family............ Of course, this is only the opinion of the market after all, and the important ministers of the shogunate and the Maori family system have an account in their hearts. This can be reflected in the importance that the rest of the shogunate elders and middle elders attached to him, and although the Mori family and the Kobayakawa family had their own domains, the family's foreign affairs were still dominated by him.

In addition to the ceremonial audience, he also took on a diplomatic mission for the Maori family.

At the end of the routine response, Kobayakawa Takakei immediately reported to me, "Regarding the matter of Tenmanhime's marriage to His Royal Highness Zuofu as a side room, the clan is ready. If His Royal Highness allows, the Zong family will hold an adoption ceremony and a mattress ceremony for Tenmanhime in advance, and then send her to Kyoto to serve His Highness. ”

"So fast?" I was slightly surprised, "Didn't you agree to next year?" ”

"That's exactly what happened. However, the situation at home has changed somewhat," Kobayakawa Takakei bowed his head and explained, "Because all the Yoshitsuna family's territories were confiscated, and the head of the family and his son-in-law were martyred, many of the clan's retainers had some resistance to the shogunate, and there were even samurai who asked His Royal Highness the Mori Warden to repay Yoshikawa and his son in the form of seppuku......"

"Really?" I held my chin sternly, "This is a serious problem!" Do you still need to see a battle to make it? ”

"That's not what I mean!" Kobayakawa Takakei hurriedly clarified, "I discussed with His Royal Highness the Warmaid, for the sake of today's plan, only by letting Tenmanhime marry into the shogunate in advance, so that he can get closer to the shogunate, can he reverse the trend of public opinion within the clan, and suppress this trend of friendship between the two parties,..., I know that such a change in the agreement should not be decided by the family, but there is a reason for it, and please forgive the offense of the clan!" ”

"In that case, then I'll agree!" I nodded, "When the Maori stables can bring the princess over, I will immediately hold a congratulatory ceremony for my son's senator......"

"Please wait!" Kobayakawa Takakei didn't care about being polite, and interrupted me in surprise, "Isn't it His Royal Highness Zuofu who accepts Tenmanhime?" ”

"Do you think that goes well?" I pointed to my hair, "I'm over forty years old, and I have gray hair on my head, but Tenmanhime is only eleven years old, and the age gap is too big............ Moreover, the head of the Kira clan is my son's lieutenant general! ”

"In terms of age, it doesn't matter," Kobayakawa Takakei smiled, "His Royal Highness Zuofu is wise and wise, and even Tenmanhime himself admires it very much." If you can get married, the only way to get married is to serve with all your heart, how can it be hindered? ”

Admire? I almost burst into laughter. An eleven-year-old girl, will she know what admiration is? Kobayakawa Takakei said this just to sell the current Manhime to me, so when he has an heir, it will at least be the status of the Reneda family: and if it is accepted by Shinkei, the status will definitely not be so high.

The son of the first shogun of the shogunate, the status is incomparable to that of the heirs of the later shoguns. Taking the Muromachi shogunate as an example, the second son of the Ashikaga clan, the Ashikaga Kei, was able to serve as the Kamakura prince, and the concubine Ashikaga Naoto was able to serve as the Nagato probe and Kyushu probe, but the rest of the sons of the later shoguns except for the son-in-law could only become monks, unless the shogun had no heir, the most famous of them would be designated to succeed to the throne: the next entire Tokugawa shogunate era, in addition to the shogun's family, the highest-status, the largest fiefdom of the feudal daimyo, and always the three imperial families of Ieyasu's feudal, although the eight generations of shogun Yoshimune, The nine generations of the shogun's family set up another son as the imperial three secretaries, in order to confront the Yoshimune clan from the Kii domain, the Owari domain once competed with him for the right to inherit, and the other Mito clan did not have the qualifications to directly inherit the clan, but the family character of the imperial three emperors was still under the imperial three families, and they had no territory, no castle, and could only rely on the house and 100,000 stone annuity provided by the shogun's family to maintain.

And the reason why I pushed this side room to Xinjing is also because of this system. Otherwise, once Tenmanhime gives birth to an heir, she will either inherit the name and old collar of the Yoshikawa family as the Reneda family, or she will be designated as the Gomon family, and neither of these results will be what I want.

In view of this, I still insisted on my decision, and even told Takashi Kobayakawa in advance about my plan for the power structure of Kobayakawa Xiaohao. Anyway, as one of the current elders of the shogunate, he is also qualified to hear this important matter: "To tell the truth, I won't stay in the position of the shogun for long." When the Senate Lieutenant General pacifies Sekiji, I will pass on him and let him establish the shogunate in Kanto, and I will retire to the position of the Great Imperial Palace, and stay in Kyoto as the Minister of Taizheng to deal with the imperial government, "If the Mori Warden wants to be close to the shogunate, then it is better to let the princess shì serve as the Lieutenant General of the Senate." ”

"After pacifying the Kanto, is His Royal Highness Zuofu going to abdicate......... That's a year or two! Kobayakawa Takakei looked at the main seat in amazement, muttering to himself, obviously shocked by the news, "His Royal Highness Zuofu has just passed forty years, it can be said that he is in the prime of life, and his body has always been very healthy, and Erhai Lake has won the hope of the world and the imperial court...," Is it that he is about to abdicate so early!" ”

"Not bad," I nodded, "At that time, Senator Feng will take over the position of general smoothly with the prestige of pacifying the Kanto region, and will be recognized by all the daimyo and banners." After completing this step, my responsibilities to the world, the Kira family, and the sons and ministers of the family have been fulfilled, and I can retire with peace of mind...... As for maintaining a good relationship between the shogunate and the Maori family through marriage, this matter is related to the chief, so I will leave it to the next shogun. ”

“………… His Royal Highness Zuofu has said so, how can he insist on it? Kobayakawa Takakei thought for a moment, and said helplessly, "Then this matter will depend on the decision of His Royal Highness Zuofu!" ”

……，……

The next day, Kira escorted Natsu to Kyoto. As I had guessed, Hoshin-in was reluctant to leave Tosa again, so she asked Shinsada, who told me and Hidekei that she was approaching Huā and that her time was numbered, and that she was "very accustomed to living in Tosa, and that she was not tolerant of all the disturbances of Kyoto," so she decided to stay in the country and pray for the blessing of her deceased grandson, Keishige.

I can understand the feelings of Hoshin-in. When people get older, they are always a little nostalgic for the old, just like when Tokugawa Ieyasu retired in his later years, he did not stay in Edo, but chose to live in Sunpu Castle, just because it was the place he looked forward to in his childhood and youth, even if the experience was not so pleasant.

"In that case, I'll give the Kira Castle Pavilion to Hoshin-sama! On weekdays, I'm still bothering you, Ah Wei and Shinjuro to do a lot of Tatsuma-sama. I thought about it for a moment, and then told Kira to kiss him.

"This is the duty of your subordinates" should serve Lord Baoxinyuan and share the worries of the eldest brother. Kira replied.

I nodded, feeling reassured. Needless to say, Ah Wei and his son have always been affectionate people, and I haven't recovered Tosa yet, and Baoxinyuan has also been well taken care of" I just hate Changzong's family, so I'm often a little depressed. Now that she has already eliminated the knot in her heart, she will definitely be able to happily accept the care of Qinzhen and others.

Xiao Xia's situation is not very good, according to her royal year send Ah Ruo, she has often been stunned recently, and her rest is not good, and she will even suddenly have nightmares at night. Sometimes, she would confide in the shì women in distress, "saying that she was like a dream, feeling that everything was so unreal, and I clearly remembered that it was midsummer, but the entire Kira Castle Pavilion was in the mood of autumn, and as far as the eye could see, the fields that should have been green were full of gold, and the farmers had already begun the autumn harvest, and the lotus huā of Kanexiu Garden had not yet bloomed, and the result was a cluster of dry lotus flowers............ Everyone didn't dare to tell her about Jingzhong, but she herself began to feel that something was wrong, and it was only because everything else was even more wrong that she shared her attention, and she didn't explore anything exhaustively.

Even this time when Qinzhen picked her up and came to Kyoto, the shì women took a lot of time to explain to her. Because in her memory, Kyoto was still occupied by Hideyoshi, and I was still living in Kira Castle, so I didn't want to leave at all.

"It's really not a way to go on like this" Ah Ruo frowned tightly, obviously it has been very difficult to support in the past two or three months, "After all, I still have to let Madame wake up!" ”

"You're right," I nodded approvingly, "and let Madame change the environment, and that's for that purpose." In this way, the contrast with Kira Castle Pavilion is even greater, and Madame will feel more abnormal, and she may be able to recover suddenly because of the continuous stabbing jī...... In short, this time it has been hard for you, and please continue to take care of Madame. When things are settled, I will give you a great reward. ”

If you answer respectfully.

In the evening, I naturally stayed in Xiaoxia's room. Xiao Xia was originally a little confused, but when she saw me, she immediately calmed down and slept in my arms very meekly, but her hands were still holding my pajamas tightly.

"Don't worry, I won't run away." I understood her feelings and said with a slightly wry smile.

"This is not accurate," Xiao Xia arched into my arms again, "The concubine body often feels very unreal lately, obviously yesterday was the end of May, but today everyone told me that it was the beginning of August, and everything around me has changed a lot, could it be that the concubine body has slept for several months?" Sometimes I dreamed, and even vaguely felt that it was a small cabin in the mountains, and it was as if I had never followed His Highness to leave Tosa, and now His Highness suddenly said that he had defeated Hideyoshi and was about to recognize the shogun, which made the concubine even more strange...... However, His Royal Highness's people are here now, which is always right, and the concubine body can be considered to be able to settle down. Anyway, whether it's reality or dreams, whether it's in Tosa or Kyoto, as long as His Royal Highness is by her side, the concubine body will be satisfied. ”

"Don't worry, I won't leave you." I tightened the Xiaoxia in my arms, and I was very moved. As far as she is concerned, the most concerned and worried about me is always me, and her beloved Jing Qilang can only be placed in second place, while Zhou Jing doesn't need her to worry about it anymore. However, now that Keitharo Keishige has passed away a long time ago, I have become her only spiritual pillar and support in fact.

In the next few days, I put aside my political affairs for a while and concentrated on accompanying Konatsu to visit Kyoto. Autumn in Kyoto is the most beautiful time of the year, and the maple leaves turn from green to yellow, from yellow to orange, from orange to red, intermingling with each other, showing a colorful and multi-faceted scenery. Although it is the middle of autumn now, it has not yet reached the time when the autumn leaves are the most beautiful, but fortunately, the weather is excellent, the autumn is high and cool, and the beautiful scenery at the first glance reflects the simple and elegant Buddhist temple, which is not inferior to the late autumn season when the red leaves are the most brilliant.

With my current status, the whole of Kyoto will not have any reservations about me, and the Emperor Shokincho heard that I had this leisure, and even opened the Kyoto Imperial Garden to me, and invited me to enjoy it with Yuka and Konatsu, but I considered that when I met the emperor, there would inevitably be some etiquette constraints, and I could not be suitable, so I politely declined the emperor's invitation.

Xiao Xia is also very happy, the main reason is because I can accompany her wholeheartedly now, as for the scenery, she doesn't care so much, and she is not so good at appreciating.

Seeing that she was not very interested in the scenery I pointed out, and only cared about leaning on me happily, I suddenly couldn't help but think how happy and comfortable she would be if she walked out of Kyoto and was quite good at elegant dishes, and I accompanied her to visit Kyoto like this!

Of course, it's a bit out of place to think about this now. The people have gone, and the past cannot be chased, and the most important thing is to cherish the people in front of you.

I quickly put away my thoughts and accompanied Xiao Xia wholeheartedly. @。