The name of the great swordsman begins in Okehazama.

Chapter 124 Honest People of Sanhe

The banquet was halfway through, and the four of them were enjoying their drinks.

Nobunaga's wife, Nohime, suddenly sent a maid.

"Excuse me, everyone!" Nobunaga stood up and spread his hands, indicating that the Mikawa people did not need to get up.

"I'll be back in a bit!"

After Nobunaga left, he immediately went to Lady No's room.

Nohime, who was thirty-six years old and had not yet given birth, had a unique charm, but Nobunaga had rarely stayed with her in recent years.

"A letter from Princess Tokuhime?" He looked at Princess Nohime, then extended his hand.

Nohime hesitated and refused to hand it over.

"You read it beforehand?" Nobunaga, barely suppressing his temper, snatched the letter away.

After looking at it for a moment, Nobunaga slammed the letter onto the tatami mat.

"How dare Nobuyasu and Tsukiyama-dono treat Princess Tokuhime with such disrespect!"

"You won't use this to punish anyone, right?"

Although Nohime appears gentle, she is a strong woman at heart. She has lost all hope in her life, so she is not afraid of Nobunaga's anger.

"A-Nong! You should understand what I'm going to do."

"Princess Tokuhime is still young; we can't trust her so hastily!"

"Do you think I don't know your methods? In the three years before you married me, how many letters did you, this viper's daughter, write to Inabayama Castle?"

"But you're all I have left!" Nohime said in the harshest tone, uttering the most pitiful words.

"Don't try to fool me. Didn't you teach this trick to Deji?"

Nohime held back her tears: "Please calm down and think about it seriously."

Nobunaga found such words annoying!

"Calm down?" he said jokingly. "You're that bald guy's cousin, aren't you? You really are family! Do you two have this penchant for calming people down in your blood?"

Nohime felt a chill run through her body and hugged herself.

Nobunaga grabbed the letter and left without looking back. "The people of Mikawa are visiting me; I can easily find out if they're not!"

Soon after, Nobunaga returned to the banquet with a friendly expression.

"Come on, let's continue!" He picked up his drink and sat down in front of the two of them.

Although Nobunaga had a volatile temper, he was also surprisingly patient at times. During the more than half a month that Shingen besieged Inabayama Castle, he almost never lost his temper with his servants.

When Sakai Tadatsugu saw Nobunaga leave the main seat, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground.

"Gentlemen, please don't stand on ceremony. Tell Lord Ieyasu that I, Nobunaga, will soon be campaigning against the Takeda clan. At that time, I request that Lord Ieyasu take over Suruga. Tomorrow, you should return and defend Mikawa well, so that Lord Ieyasu can come with peace of mind!"

Tadatsugu Sakai and Tadayo Okubo were so moved by the preferential treatment they received that they almost cried.

"You are the pillars of Tokugawa. Come, Tadatsugu, drink this first!" Nobunaga personally poured sake for Tadatsugu, and then drank his own sake in one gulp.

Tadatsugu drank it down without hesitation, his hands trembling as he put down the sake cup.

Nobunaga then poured sake for Tadayo.

Tadatsugu nodded repeatedly, "I am deeply grateful that Lord Nobunaga thinks so highly of a humble man from Mikawa!"

"You've all come from afar, you must be tired. The Takeda and Hojo clans will definitely come to Mikawa to cause trouble again. You must defeat them for Lord Ieyasu! Thank you for your hard work!"

After the two finished drinking, Nobunaga sighed and said, "There is something I cannot ask Lord Ieyasu, so I can only ask you two."

"Lord Nobunaga, please speak! We will answer all your questions!"

"I've heard that my daughter, Tokuhime, is not doing well, and as her father, I am very worried—I've heard that Nobuyasu often speaks ill of Tokuhime—"

Say some unpleasant things! You all know that with young children, getting married too early inevitably leads to some conflicts—”

Nagayoshi had never seen Nobunaga speak so carefully, and his half-drunk eyes suddenly cleared.

"Young Master is young and vigorous, and sometimes even we old ministers who teach him are scolded—" Sakai Tadatsugu blushed and scratched his head.

"Was Nobuyasu only twelve or thirteen? I'm getting old, I can't quite remember anymore—"

"Replying to Lord Shinobu, the young master is now thirteen years old!" Tadayo Okubo replied. His tense nerves relaxed again, as if three old men were chatting about their grandchildren.

Nobunaga said "Oh," picked up his wine cup, and laughed self-deprecatingly, "You two are senior members of the Tokugawa family, yet you are reprimanded."

Sigh—when you get old, young people look down on you, right?

"Yes, young master also said that I, Tadatsugu, am timid and cowardly in battle! He said that when he first goes into battle, he must let me watch him make a name for himself."

Nagayoshi couldn't help but recall that back in Mikatagahara, he had helped Ieyasu teach Nobuyasu a lesson; Nobuyasu was indeed a bit arrogant.

"Hmm, is Mrs. Tsukiyama still the same as before?"

"Yes, Madam has not forgotten the glory of the Imagawa era; she remains stubborn."

"By the way, isn't Ujizane the lord of Hojo Castle?"

"That was last year. Not long ago, our lord won him over to our side. Now he's the castle lord of Makino Castle." Nobunaga laughed and drank another cup with the two of them. "It's strange, really. Lord Ieyasu was practically Ujizane's enemy, yet Ujizane was able to swallow his pride and become Lord Ieyasu's retainer. Tsukiyama-dono's persistence is truly terrifying."

"Who can argue with that? —"

"That's enough for today. Let's head back to Mikawa early tomorrow!" Nobunaga's tone suddenly turned cold.

The two men from Mikawa exchanged a glance, only then realizing that Nobunaga had tricked them into revealing information.

"I still have a lot of things to take care of. If you two aren't enjoying your drinks enough, let Changqing continue to keep you company!"

"No need—no need, we'll take our leave now. Lord Nobunaga, you're very busy with official duties, please take care of your health!"

"Changqing, let's escort the two gentlemen to Erdao City to rest!"

Changqing escorted the two to the Erdaocheng Library.

The mountain town is located next to Biwa Lake, and a gust of wind blows through it from time to time.

Tadatsugu Sakai stumbled slightly as the wind blew on him, and Tadase Okubo silently supported him.

The two had clearly realized they had said the wrong thing.

Changqing wanted to say something, but remembering that there were many spies in Antu City, he could only swallow his words.

Nobuyasu is still young, and Nobunaga would not be so heartless as to use the complaints of these children to reprimand the young lord of Tokugawa.

When Gotoku cried to Nobutada last time, Nobunaga probably already knew, and everything he's doing now is just a warning to Tokugawa.

Nagayoshi was almost certain that Nobunaga had spies around him, and that Nobunaga might have sent him to deliver the goods as a test.

"My lords, please rest early, for we must continue our journey tomorrow." Changqing stopped at the door and bowed.

Tadatsugu turned around and said with a wry smile, "Lord Chōkei, we have troubled you greatly today. We will remember Lord Nobunaga's kindness."

""

Changqing smiled but didn't reply, simply watching the two enter the room.

Back at his residence, Changqing couldn't help but marvel at the depth of Xin Changcheng's cunning.

Of the three powerful figures in the world, none of them were kind-hearted.

The next morning, the people of Sanhe fled Antu City as if they were fleeing.

Nobunaga assigned Nagayoshi and Mitsuhide to receive Ieyasu. Before Ieyasu departed, Nagayoshi planned to return to Sawayama Castle first.