Time flies, the sun and the moon are like a shuttle, the footsteps of time are like a horse that is moving forward quickly, there will be no car wreck, but the green silk can turn gray hair, with a flick of the fingers, the flowers bloom and fall a few times in spring and autumn, and in a blink of an eye, it has reached the midsummer season of the tenth year of Yonglu (1567).

In August, the rain gradually stopped, and the autumn mood was strong, and the Tone River across Musashi was unbridled and manic, and the Edo Castle on the Tone River side was built with a dignified atmosphere, and the main castle area with a radius of 400 steps was called the first castle in the world, and the seven-story castle tower, which was called the first tall tower in the Kanto, was like a pillar of heaven reaching into the sky, and four five-story castle towers stood in the four corners, forming a square city with a regular shape.

Two little boys with children's hair buns sneakily stretched out their heads to probe their brains to inquire about the movements around them, and the little boy in a long green shirt boldly stretched out half of his body to observe for a while, and then said to the little boy behind him: "You must follow my steps later, and if you are caught again, be careful that I will beat you!" ”

Another little boy in a yellow shirt muttered, "Why is Edo Castle so big?" Why do we need to remember every path? Why can't I go play double continent and why ......"

"Matsuchiyo! Do you want to eat fists? The little boy in the green shirt shrank his head in fright, seemed to be very satisfied with his expression, and pulled his sleeve to shake off the steps, and walked through the very "dangerous" trail like a smoke, and came to a secluded lotus pond, and sat down in the pavilion without saying a word.

After a while. Out of the corner came two older boys. As he walked into the gazebo, he complained, "It's been so hard to get out lately! The patrolling Ji samurai are so scary one by one. The two of us sneaked around behind the maid, almost thinking that we really couldn't come. ”

The two boys looked like they were about eleven or twelve years old, one tall, one short, one long, one round, the two of them hooked their shoulders and backs like a strange person who did not do their job, but there were no messy pendants on their bodies, their clothes were clean and clean, and the texture was extraordinary, and they were also printed with the family crest of Jiu Yaoba, they were known as the "twin samurai" of the Nagao family, and the long tail little mage Maru.

Recently, the duo doesn't like to use young names, so they changed their names to new common names Kiheiji Nagao and Yashiro Nagao. Nagao Kiheiji is the second son of Nagao Masaki, and Nagao Yashiro is the eldest son of Nagao Keishin, the father of these two people is not very good at dealing with quarrels when they often meet, and the two brothers have a good relationship like brothers, at most they pretend to be bitter and bitter in front of their father, but in fact, they are hardcore friends in private.

Nagao Kihei tilted his head and looked around: "Didn't you notice that there were fewer people?" ”

"That's right! Why didn't you see the people of Zhenwang Maru? "Yashiro Nagao is a little off the line, and he always realizes that he is half a beat slower than others.

"My brother just wanted to sneak out, but he was caught by his mother, and he can't come today." Matsuchiyo pursed his lips and fiddled with the jade pendant in his hand unhappily in a daze, "The two of us slipped away faster." I wasn't caught by my mother, but I guess I'll be found out now! ”

"Cut! Don't say such frustrating words. There's nothing in this world that I, Tiger Chiyo, are afraid of! Tiger Chiyo pouted his head and raised his head to the sky, he also held a jade pendant in his hand, and it was a white jade Guanyin pendant, several superstitious ladies listened to a man's irresponsible proposal "men with Bodhisattvas and women with Buddhas", so they gave all the daughters of the family a Buddha's jade pendant, and all boys wore Bodhisattva jade pendants.

"It's not very safe here, we're going to have to change places soon." Nagao Kihei glanced around to make sure that there was no one, so he turned around and said: "Please leave the matter of the secret point to the two places, remember to leave a note when you find a new point, it's still the old place." ”

"Cut, why are you so mysterious, I'll go to your house tomorrow and call you out to play." Tiger Chiyo's mouth was strong, and he quickly turned in while Nagao Kiheiji didn't react: "I heard that Brother Kiheiji received a small surname, right?" What's the bucket mouth and six, isn't it a fun guy? ”

Matsuchiyo pouted and said, "I want to go home, my mother will definitely be angry if I haven't seen me for so long." ”

"Stupid! I just went out and wanted to go home, and I would be laughed at if I said it! That guy Katsuomaru can bully you too, it's so stupid! "Tiger Chiyo is angry and doesn't fight anywhere, and a bunch of words are sprayed out like no money.

Yashiro Nagao scratched his scalp and said embarrassedly, "Why don't we talk about something else!" Last time, I talked about the fact that Ashikaga broke Hojo Sagami Mamoru and the Sagami Lion was willing to bow down to his subordinates, what should I talk about next? ”

"Is the Hojo clan finished talking about the word "Sho Ling?" Kiheiji Nagao asked.

Toragiyo grinned: "Said it!" That guy was so scared that he couldn't stand up, it's really stupid! ”

Nagao Kiheiji coughed and cleared his throat and continued, "Then let's talk about the Opo Satomi clan!" It is said that on the thirteenth day of March of the sixth year of Eiroku, the governor of the Kamizato clan Yoshihiro Satomi rejected the edict of Ashikaga Minister, threatening that the land of Kamiyama must be fought for every inch of land, and even if he cannot win, he must resist stubbornly to revive the majesty of the Kwantung samurai......"

Tiger Chiyo danced excitedly: "Let's talk about the cannon part, I like to listen to this part the most!" ”

"Ahem! Ashikaga Tora Chiyo pays attention to the order of the talk, and the rules we set must be followed, and next time I will bring a consistent fine. Nagao Kiheiji ignored Tiger Chiyo, and said slowly in a tone: "This Shangqi Satomi clan is not the lord of this place, and the Shangwei Guardian is held by the Chiba clan, one of the Bandong Yahei clans, guiding the Kanto chaos and the decline of the famous martial arts families one after another, and the crooked wind of the lower Ke is everywhere, and the Shangshu country is also lost from the hands of the Chiba clan and falls into the Satomi clan known as the deputy marshal of the East." ”

"Vice Marshal Kanto seems to be very powerful."

"Actually, it's a different name for the Kanto Governor, and the Mimi clan here was originally the remnant of the Nitta clan of the Southern Dynasty, and the staunch anti-shogunate faction was killed without even a territory, and before and after the Uesugi Zenhide Rebellion, he broke away from the Southern Dynasty side and defected to the Kamakura Princess, and killed a family governor in the Battle of Yuuki, and it is said that a son ran to Anbo Province to take root, and expelled the Anzai clan, the great lord of the country." Nagao Kiheiji seems to be a full-time talker. There is no exclamation that Mu is like a folk master who speaks "The Tale of the Heike Family".

Tiger Chiyo pouted and said, "This is the next gram!" ”

Nagao Kiheiji pretended to nod deeply and said, "This is the next gram." Later, he defeated the Chiba clan and forced the Fang Weiping clan to retreat to the lower kingdom. I have to say a few fair words here, the generations of the Satomi clan are very powerful samurai, and it is still very powerful to promote a samurai family with an unknown origin as the first samurai family of the Bosu Peninsula, this family is born to disobey discipline, once disobeyed the constraints of the Kanto Governor, and then the jurisdiction of the Furukawa Princess, and still does not obey the constraints of Akami. ”

Toragiyo complained impatiently: "What about the cannon! I want to hear the bombardment of the Kururi Castle Gate broken overnight, and Satomi Yoshiyao set fire to the castle tower by seppuku. And how did my father deal with those bastard samurai of the Satomi clan. ”

"That's called a big tube! The Kyushu Otomo family gave it a name called Kunakami. Matsuchiyo retorted in a low voice, "That's not called a cannon......"

Tiger Chiyo's eyes widened and intimidated Matsuchiyo: "You know an egg, I said that it is called a cannon, then it is called a cannon, and my father called it that, and said that the big barrel is a thick and lengthened iron cannon, and the cannon is the thing that shoots a long cannon with a bang, and the power of the cannon is great, and the cannonball can be hit from this side of Edo Castle." ”

Nagano Kiheiji looked very unhappy when he was interrupted again, and just as he wanted to have a seizure, he was dragged by Nagao Yashiro's arm: "Kiheiji, don't provoke Tiger Chiyo, after all, we are subordinates." ”

"Cut, we're still his brother-in-law!" Nagao Kiheiji was not satisfied. I already agreed with his advice in my heart.,Close your mouth and talk to Tiger Chiyo and Matsu Chiyo.。

The child spoke without a stubble. I didn't know where it was when I heard about it just now, and Nagao Kiheiji seemed to have forgotten to maintain order and other things, and didn't forget to boast: "Let me tell you, the last time the Nanban fleet came to Edo Castle, I pestered my brother and begged him to take it over, and there are many cannons that have grown so big, and it is said that the largest one can shoot such a heavy cannonball as ours!" ”

Matsuchiyo pouted and said, "I miss my father...... Long time no see! How long will it take to get back? ”

"I don't know, I miss my father, how long will it take to go to Mutsu and come back!" Tiger Chiyo kicked the stone excitedly, and when he looked up and saw his mother Tiger Gozen with dozens of Ji samurai breaking in murderously, his face immediately changed and he shouted: "My mother is here!" Run, everybody! ”

"Oops! Tiger must have been looking for traces in front of the tiger to find it, Tiger Chiyo, Matsu Chiyo, please take care! Nagao Kiheiji turned around gorgeously, dragging the stunned Nagao Yashiro into the bushes and disappeared without a trace, Tora Chiyo pulled Matsuchiyo to slow down for half a beat, and before he ran a few steps, he was caught by several Ji samurai who quickly chased after him.

After struggling in vain for a while and giving up resistance in frustration, Tora Chiyo looked depressed and said: "It's all because you, a stupid person, are running so slowly, you must have been targeted by your mother." ”

"Tiger Chiyo, don't wronged your brother, it's you who is the most naughty every time you take Matsuchiyo to skip class!" Tiger Gozen raised his eyebrows and glared at Tiger Chiyo, and reprimanded: "This morning, it was Sanada Dan Zhengdian who taught the way of games, and the two of you actually skipped class and ran here to play, do you know how sad it will be for me and Sandalwood to do this?" ”

Tiger Chiyo was a child after all, and seeing his mother's sad and disappointed expression, he knelt down and said, "The child is wrong, the child is just ...... I just miss my father......"

"I miss my father too, woo woo ......" Matsuchiyo cried and the two children cried together, and the nine-year-old child knew something, and he cried for a while.

Jing Yi Naoto's heart immediately softened, and he hugged the two poor children and comforted: "Your father is doing a great thing in Mutsu, believe that I will be back soon, don't cry, let's go back to class, okay?" ”

"Hmm!" The two children took the initiative to take Jing Yi Naohu's hand and obediently followed the team and slowly left.

After a while, two people moved out of the grass slightly, but the two long-tailed brothers who had already died turned back, and the long-tailed Xihei slapped his head and said in annoyance: "It's not a good thing!" Today's skipping class must have been known by my mother, and now I'm going to be in big trouble! If you go back, you will be punished severely! ”

"Me too, my mother will beat me to death." Yashiro Nagao squatted down and counted ants with a sad face, this guy likes to count ants when he encounters difficulties that he can't overcome.

Nagao Kiheiji walked around in distress, and there were words in his mouth. Seeing Nagao Yashiro, who was squatting and counting ants, suddenly rolled his eyes. Leaned over to him and said with a grin, "Yashiro." This time, you worked hard, pretending to fall into the pond and being heroically rescued by me, so the clothes of both of us were all wet and we couldn't go to class, okay? ”

"Huh? Why did I fall into the pond again! Last time I broke my foot, last time I hit a tree, last time I hit a tree, last time was my ......" Nagao Yashiro snapped his fingers and complained, and was slapped on the shoulder by Nagao Kiheiji and forgot about the back, tangled: "What was last time, I can't remember." ”

Nagao Kiheiji said righteously: "Because Yashiro is more honest and honest. If you make a mistake, everyone will definitely forgive you, and I like Heiji to be such a smart samurai, and every time he is brave enough to delay class, he can be forgiven by the teacher, so you know what I mean, right? ”

Yashiro Nagao hesitated, "Oh! Then can I take off my clothes and jump off! It's so expensive, and my mother will beat me to death if it's soaked. ”

"That's not good, if your clothes aren't soaked, you'll be seen through at a glance, it's a fraud! Even my clothes had to be soaked in the icy water...... Huh! There is always a price to be paid for righteousness and bravery, and I am truly an honest and brave samurai! With a long sigh, Kihei Nagao turned his head and patted Nagao Yashiro's shoulder, making a "you can" expression and encouraging Nagao Yashiro to jump into the lotus pond.

……

The Edo Imperial Palace covers an area of 400 towns. Converted to a modern area, it is close to four square kilometers, and such a four-square-kilometer imperial palace was built in a treasure land at the mouth of the Tone River. The extravagance of the land is surprising, compared to the Edo Imperial Palace in Kyoto, which is less than half a square kilometer, and the expansion of Kyoto Castle from the traditional nine-way street system for hundreds of years to the current new town area covering the east bank of the Kamogawa River is less than 30 square kilometers.

Due to the relatively large size of the Edo Imperial Palace, the area of Edo Castle was expanded again and again, and the first phase of the construction area exceeded 2,500 steps, and the core town near the Imperial Palace was basically completed, and the residents from Echigo Naoetsu and Niigata towns were relocated first, so that the total population of Edo Castle quickly exceeded 50,000 and increased at a rate of more than 30% per year.

For example, the West Imperial Palace is located in a house surrounded by flowerbeds, and the nearest middle palace is a half-quarter of an hour's walk by horse-drawn carriage, and the West Imperial Palace is owned by two sisters, Oda Inu and Oda City, whose greatest hobby is growing flowers, from the common wildflowers to tulips that have changed hands from Arab merchants and crossed the ocean from English merchants.

Compared to the busy show-off in the castle town, the Edo Imperial Palace, surrounded by garden trees, is particularly quiet and leisurely, with several elderly maids and a group of young maids watering the flowers, removing insects, and pruning branches.

In the corner of the garden there is a shooting range, where many warriors with bowls on their heads practice archery every morning, with a cage hand draped over their left shoulder, a bowstring buckle in their right hand, and a bow with a unique shape, and occasionally riding a sturdy half-breed war horse galloping back and forth to practice the art of emissary horse archery.

In the corner of the garden, there were a few little maids standing in the distance, carefully playing with the four children, Ah Shi stood on the corridor and looked at the children with a knowing smile, with a faint maternal brilliance on his face, and his tall figure and plump body did not show the appearance of the little girl in the past.

Ah Shi is twenty-one years old this year but is already a mother of three children, the eldest daughter Cha Cha was born in the sixth year of Yonglu, the second daughter Chu Ji was born in the eighth year of Yonglu, and the third daughter A Jianghe, who was born in April this year, may not be very lucky to give birth to three daughters in a row, but no one in the family blames her, and her sisters also gave birth to a bunch of daughters one after another.

Two of the four children in the garden are her daughters Chacha and Hatsuhime, and the two older ones are Inu's daughter Yukihime and son Xiaomage, these four children are relatively young, and because their mothers live together, they naturally become closer under their mother's care.

Turned around and walked back to the room in front of the dressing table and sat down, carefully decorating his outfit in front of the glass mirror. Ashikaga Yoshitoki did not like heavy makeup, and he was also opposed to the heavy powder on his face, shaved his eyebrows and teeth in the Heian period. His women also changed into simpler makeup.

But women always spend a lot of time dressing up. This is especially true for beautiful women, such as a beautiful and touching young woman like Ah Shi, even if there are no social activities, she has to change two or three kinds of clothes, change into five or six sets of gowns, and there are several rooms in the West Imperial Palace that are set up as a wardrobe, among which there are hundreds of clothes stored in hangers.

Removing makeup, washing, taking off the gown, and then putting on makeup and changing clothes, repeating similar procedures every day, a few back and forth, has long been familiar, her life is very leisurely, and she has a lot of leisure time every day. The children were nursed and maiden, and she didn't have to worry about it, and in the absence of her husband, Ashikaga Yoshitoki, she had to pass the time by putting on makeup, socializing, reading books, and exercising to keep in shape.

At this time, she was thinking about which dress to wear to the party in the middle palace in the afternoon, when she accidentally caught a glimpse of an unsigned letterhead pressed under the makeup stage, and when she opened it and looked closely, it was a handwritten letter written by Oda Nobunaga to her, and Ah Shi snorted lightly: "It seems that there are too many people in the palace, and it is time to find an opportunity to get rid of a few nasty ghosts." ”

Fold up the letterhead and stuff it on the candlestick to ignite it, the bean-sized flame quickly jumped up and swallowed the delicate envelope, staring at the constantly beating flame gradually extinguished, Ah Shi's brows couldn't help frowning slightly, and then a gentle voice came from behind him: "Why does there smell of burning in the house." Did the ashes on the ground accidentally burn something? ”

"My sister is back!" Ah Shi turned around and threw himself into her arms in surprise.

The two sisters, Inu and Aichi, are very popular in the Edo Imperial Palace, not only because they look like twin sisters. What's more, because the two of them have a similar tall and plump figure, the sisters have a good temper and don't like to take a shelf and treat people very well, A dog likes to be quiet, and Ah Shi likes to read, and their biggest hobby is to play with flowers and plants, and many quiet maids like them very much.

"What is this burning?"

"It's a letter from my brother...... I send a letter every month, repeating that those things are really annoying, and today I burned them when I saw them again. Aichi pouted dissatisfied, revealing the delicate demeanor of a little girl, and there were only two people in the Edo Imperial Palace who could see her coquettish, one was her husband Ashikaga Yoshitoki, and the other was her sister Inu.

Inu Xiu frowned slightly and seemed to be very distressed, took out a stack of letterheads from his room, and said to Aichi, "My brother has also sent me a lot of letterheads, asking me to tell him everything inside and outside Edo Castle, and it is best to spy on the information of the assessment committee...... I'm wondering how best to refuse. ”

Ah Shi took the letterhead and opened it to see that what was written was completely copied from her letterhead, but it was insincere to sign and change the word, and raised his head and said, "Brother is really excessive!" How can we be allowed to do such a thing! Obviously, my sister and I have already married into the Ashikaga family! ”

Marrying and obeying the husband is a traditional custom in the Eastern society, Japan since the Nara period introduced the Tang Empire's legal system has gradually strengthened the weight of the patriarchal society, but in the late Heian period, the samurai appeared again and again, the samurai society was initially only until the barbaric, ignorant and brutal group, they did not understand the law and just stubbornly managed the marriage and funeral of their children according to their own customs.

、

Sons-in-law and adopted sons were prevalent in the appearance of inverted door-to-door sons-in-law, and women could also have the right to divide property with their brothers-in-law, so that the samurai society was once disgusted and incomprehensible, until the end of the Kamakura period, the samurai group collectively woke up from the barbaric killing, gradually abandoned the law of the jungle, established the system of the eldest son, and once again strengthened the dominance of the samurai over social property and women.

In order to ensure the stability of the inheritance of the eldest son and prevent the sons from competing with the sons for the generals, the Ashikaga shogun did not hesitate to let other sons and concubines become monks, and in order to prevent their daughters from marrying to raise the influence of the samurai, and in turn to help their husbands deal with their own maiden families, they forced their daughters to cut their hair and become nuns.

A dog and a city have already become the women of the Ashikaga family, the two sisters have given birth to six children when they are Ashikaga Yoshi, and their status is not as important as that of the main lady Tiger Gotai, but they have received a lot of favor and favor in the palace, and the sisters are also Inu Gozen and City Gozen.

Just like Saito Guidie married into the Oda family, he tried to help his husband Oda Nobunaga attack Mino. With the influence of Guidie, it really attracted a lot of Mino samurai who had no way out and were worried about being left out. Where will a woman care about the life and death of her mother's family when she marries her husband? This is perfectly reflected in Tiger Queen.

Her favoritism towards the Nagao family probably stops at the two nephews of her sister Princess Aya's family, and that is because of the deep sisterhood and does not interfere with her husband's judgment, as for the other Nagao family, so many relatives don't care at all, her own children and so many things in the palace can't be managed, how can she have time to care about how those brothers are doing.

Like the famous female politician Hojo Masako in the Kamakura period, her reputation among women gradually decreased to an incredibly inferior evaluation, and the Kamakura shogunate, who betrayed her husband, Kimoto Yorito, who had worked hard to defeat her, did not support the eldest son, Minamoto Yorito, as the shogun of Seiyi. Instead, he participated in the murder of the eldest son in exile, and then indifferently watched his younger brother kill his grandson, and watched his mother's Hojo clan set a trap to kill his second son and several grandchildren.

No one dared to say anything about this woman in the Kamakura period, and in the Muromachi period, he didn't want to comment much because the Ashikaga shogun's family had a strong Hojo gene in his blood, but the decline of the shogunate in the Warring States period did not have so many scruples, and the people have already evaluated her as the most vicious woman.

Ah Dog and Ah Shi are not that kind of women, they are women who keep to themselves and do not have so many ambitions, they just want their children to grow up safely and become creative talents. With the means of their husband, Ashikaga Yoshitoshi, they may be able to get the title of guardian of a country for their children in the future. There is always a lot of practical pressure on a beautiful vision, and it seems that their brother Oda Nobunaga is not willing to bow his head so much, and in turn he has to force the two sisters to make concessions, which is really difficult.

"Brother obviously loves my sister and Ah Shi the most, but why are you forcing us to do things we don't like now!" Aichi didn't understand Oda Nobunaga's actions, and in her impression, her brother was always generous and responsive, but her actions as an elder brother in the past few years made her very disappointed.

A dog also felt that Oda Nobunaga was really a little excessive, and he didn't look like a brother who wanted to take the opportunity to interfere in the affairs between his sister and brother-in-law, and not only to interfere but also to spy on his brother-in-law's important information, which was to kill the two sisters of Inu and Ashi, and even more to kill several nieces and nieces of Oda Nobunaga.

Maybe Oda Nobunaga doesn't think it's too dangerous, but how can a small circle of activities like Inu and Aichi have the ability to do those things, they can't even enter the assessment room, the outer hall of the palace and the inner court are separated by two high walls, and the seven-story castle tower like a lighthouse can easily monitor every move in the city, and the tiger platform often stands on the top terrace and looks into the distance, and there are a lot of Ji samurai patrolling back and forth every day, and small movements in the palace may be discovered if they are a little bigger.

Ah Dog suddenly felt that it was really difficult to be a woman, and as a sister, it was not easy to say that the elder brother was not, so he reluctantly persuaded: "Brother must have something unspeakable!" ”

"No matter what the reason, we must not be allowed to commit the evil act of betraying Your Highness! Sister and Ah Shi are not virtuous women, Ah Shi really loves His Royal Highness and the children, Ah Shi will never betray the Ashikaga family, even if it is a beloved brother! Ah Shi turned around and called the maid to take out the brazier for winter heating and burn the letterhead.

"Ah Shi don't care too much, it's our brother after all......" Ah Dog wanted to speak and didn't know how to persuade her, she was very worried that her sister, who had always had a strong personality, would hate Oda Nobunaga, but she didn't agree with her brother's actions from the bottom of her heart, remembering that Ah Shi had just recovered from the postpartum and couldn't be angry, so she gave up after thinking about it.

The letter paper in the brazier turned into a little bit of ashes, and Ah Shi seemed to be still worried about this matter, and said angrily: "Tomorrow I will tell Sister Tiger Ji about this matter and clean up those nasty moths in the palace." (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank the book friend Xiao Zimu, 0 heart voice 0, heart floating, Jia Fei bareback riding, Lu Cheng, 1 devil rose 1, Augustorion, the immortal fat man, Siegfried for the reward, the story of the new volume opens, I hope that book friends will support Ume a lot.

Here, I would like to congratulate Xiao Zimu for becoming the first Dharma protector in this book, and Umei once again expresses her gratitude.