Tokyo: The life of a literary giant begins with home self-defense!

Chapter 409: Funeral as Wedding 3
"Xia Zi, what are you doing?"

The girl placed her hand on the back of Longchuan Che's hand, and Longchuan Che was stunned, as was Songzhi Muzi.

A small, pale hand wrapped in bandages rested on the boy's broad palm. It was unclear whether the young lady had done it intentionally or accidentally.

"Feel sorry."

Natsuko Imamura pursed her lips and smiled.

"I'd like to take him to change his clothes, Mu Zi, would you mind?"

On a hot afternoon, even the cicadas were chirping louder than usual.

Sunlight tinged the distant green leaves, and pine branches tilted their heads.

"Why would I mind?"

Both girls were dressed in somewhat formal attire, except for Ryukawa Tetsu, who was still wearing the same outfit as yesterday.

White T-shirt, black shorts.

Somewhat out of place in the serious and formal atmosphere, Songzhi Muzi waved her hand, making it seem as if she didn't care what he did.

"Let's go."

The girl waved to a middle-aged woman, presumably a maid, to accompany Mu Zi, and led Tatsukawa Tetsu towards a courtyard of the Kujo family.

Longchuan Che had come twice before, both times at night, and only now was he able to see the building hidden in the mountains clearly.

The entire building is square in shape and surrounded by a river.

"Over there is a meandering water courtyard with water brought in from the outside; to the left is the Black and White Academy, and over there is the inner residence."

The young lady pointed to a place with a distinctly Tang Dynasty architectural style; that was the inner courtyard she had mentioned.

Upon arriving at the so-called inner quarters, Tatsukawa Toru could only sigh, "These rich people are truly despicable!"

The room was divided by a painting of "Kano Tanyou", and there were traces of gold leaf inlays on the eaves and fascia boards.

The so-called inner courtyard is more like a work of art than a place of residence.

In the distance, the meandering water garden is surrounded by luxurious vegetation and mountain scenery.

The three-tiered waterfall presented an extreme example of human-made landscape before Longchuan Che, who sighed.

"May I take a few pieces of gold leaf with me when I leave later?"

Longchuan Che pointed to the gold leaf in various parts of the inner courtyard. After all the gold leaf here is removed, we may no longer have to worry about food.

"Don't say such inappropriate things."

The girl smiled at Ryukawa Tetsu and led him to the door of a Japanese-style room before taking him to change his clothes.

"Mother."

The young lady respectfully knocked on the door of the Japanese-style room, and waited for a voice from inside before going in with Ryukawa Tetsu.

This is a room with a faint sandalwood scent, and the light and shadow of the distant bamboo forest are intricately cast onto the wooden planks inside the room.

Inside sat a woman dressed in the simplest black kimono, with white strips of cloth wrapped around her cuffs.

Long Chuanche sized up the other person; he noticed their long, thin eyebrows and bright red makeup.

She seems to be a completely different type from the young lady.

"It's been a long time, Tetsuya-kun."

The woman seemed to know Ryukawa Tetsu. She sat at a tea table and gestured for him to sit down in front of her.

Long Chuanche didn't react, but glanced at the young lady.

Only after the girl nodded did he sit down in front of the woman who was presumably Natsuko Imamura's mother.

Japanese tea ceremony is very particular; the woman sits on the upper left, which is the host's seat.

"Teruya and Natsuko are still very close, just like when they were kids."

Their actions were noticed by a woman in front of them who was very dignified in appearance and demeanor. The woman covered her mouth, and whether it was a joke or not, she said this to Long Chuanche.

"Could you please introduce yourself first?"

Long Chuanche felt a little embarrassed. Although the other person seemed to know him very well, he couldn't remember who the other person was at all.

I can't remember the other person's name, and I can't remember how to treat them.

"Oh, Tetsuya doesn't even remember his aunt?"

The woman covered her mouth, looking somewhat surprised, then glanced at her daughter. "My mother, Maki Nijou."

The young lady sat at the lower end of the table, whisking tea powder with a tea brush and giving Longchuan Che a brief introduction.

"Nijo?"

Long Chuanche was stunned.

Last night, Kujo Fujitaka kept talking about someone coming to divide the family, and it turned out that Imamura Natsuko's mother was actually from the Nijo family, one of the three families after the Five Regents.

Long Chuanche glanced at the young lady, who seemed to have no intention of explaining.

"The Fujiwara clan split into the Kujo and Konoe clans, and the Kujo clan further split into the Nijo and Ichijo clans."

Maki Nijo clearly misunderstood Tatsukawa Tetsu's meaning, so she took the initiative to explain it to him.

"I know about Japanese history."

Longchuan Che watched the young lady preparing matcha tea with great pleasure and responded calmly.

He has a photographic memory, and of course, he had already read Japanese history.

The Fujiwara clan, a prominent Japanese surname, can be traced back to the 7th century. At the end of the Heian period, the Fujiwara Northern Family split into three branches: Konoe, Matsudō, and Kujō.

The Konoe family later split into the Takatsukasa family, one of the three major families, while the Kujo family split into the Ichijo and Nijo families.

In a sense, Nijo is indeed one of the branches of Kujo, but the relationship between the two families has gone through more than five generations.

"I almost forgot that Tetsuya is now a famous writer."

The woman covered her mouth and smiled, appearing very easygoing.

Why did Tetsuya come back today?

As the woman handed the teacup her daughter had prepared to Longchuan Che, she suddenly asked this question.

Why did you come back?

Longchuan Che held up a glass of emerald green tea, with beautiful tea patterns on the surface.

Japanese tea ceremony is very interesting. Not only are there many rules, but the tea brewed doesn't quite suit Tatsukawa Toru's taste.

"As for why, it's normal to come back to visit when a family member has passed away."

Longchuan Che casually placed the teacup diagonally on the table, instead of placing it properly on his left like a woman would.

The woman glanced subtly at Longchuan Che's teacup, then smiled again.

"Teru is such a filial son."

The woman pushed the wagashi in front of her toward Ryukawa Tetsu, and just as Ryukawa Tetsu was about to say thank you, she suddenly said:
"But you don't seem to be part of our family anymore, do you?"

An abrupt silence descended upon the room, as if someone had drawn a pause on a piece of music.

Cicadas chirped in my ears, and a gentle breeze, seemingly from nowhere, rippled green across Longchuan Che's teacup.

"I'm just kidding."

The woman suddenly waved her hand to dispel the somewhat strange atmosphere, then looked at her daughter.

"Find someone to take Cheye to his old room; I've prepared his things for him."

His manner of speaking was completely that of a master, so Longchuan Che curled his lip and got up.

"thanks for treatment."

Ryukawa Tetsu thanked Imamura Natsuko's mother.

Although it was also a meal hosted by his mother, Tatsukawa Tetsu felt that the green tea soup was not as good as the simple meal at the Matsue family's house at noon.

Kyoto's gyokuro is not as good as miso, and even high-end wagashi is not as good as the simple dishes that Muzi's mother makes at home.

As Ryukawa Tetsu was thinking this, the two women in the Japanese-style room remained seated at the tea table.

The large ones are dignified, the small ones are elegant.

"Are you really going to marry him?"

Nijo Maki looked at her daughter, her tone tinged with confusion.

There was also a hint of disdain.

(End of this chapter)