The name of the great swordsman begins in Okehazama.

Chapter 85 The Prosperity of the Retainers (Part 1)

"Where is the general?"

"She's sleeping inside!"

"I rushed here from Ise, worried all the way that you might already be—"

"Already dead?" Nagayoshi laughed. "No way, I'm tough. How's Ise?"

"The Kitada family has been subdued. Chasenmaru (Oda Nobuo) will marry Kitada Tomonori's daughter and become Kitada Tomofusa's adopted son—"

He smiled but didn't continue.

Nagayoshi nodded, understanding that this was one of Nobunaga's usual tactics.

"There's one more thing," Nagahide suddenly stopped. "Lord Nobunaga asked me to bring you someone."

"Who is it?"

Changxiu turned around and waved.

A young man immediately ran over and knelt down in front of Changqing with a "plop".

"I am Ōmiya Ōnojo, greetings to Lord Mōri!"

Changqing was taken aback; the young man looked strangely familiar.

"What's going on?"

Nagahide laughed and said, "This Ōmiya Ōnojo is the eldest son of the Ōmiya family of Ise. His father, Ōmiya Nyūdō, was a senior retainer of the Kitada family and guarded Asaka Castle. When Kitada surrendered this time, he persuaded his father to open the castle gates and surrender Asaka Castle."

Ōnojo kept his head down.

"I have long admired your lord's reputation and am willing to serve you faithfully. Lord Nobunaga has already granted me permission to join the Mori clan."

Changqing finally recognized him.

"You—you're the one who shot me?"

Daiichi lowered his head even further.

"Thank you so much for sparing my life, sir. Now I've come to repay your kindness!"

Get up.

Changqing still felt he didn't have enough retainers, so he naturally wanted to keep such a skilled general.

Ōnojo stood up.

When he saw the dried, blackened bloodstains on Changqing's body, he couldn't help but ask, "My lord—what happened to you?"

"It's alright. It's good that you were able to persuade your father to surrender. But I have a question for you: why did you choose to join my Mori clan? Isn't the castle in Ise good enough? You could have stayed there and inherited the family business in the future."

Ōnojo looked directly into Chōkei's eyes.

"I'm not the only child in the family, and the Ōmiya family doesn't mind that their territory is growing! My lord, you can make your subordinates willingly go to dangerous places for you, you must be a lord who cherishes his retainers."

This person is quite direct.

"You little rascal, you're quite good at flattering people."

Ōnojo's face flushed red: "I'm serious!"

"I know." Changqing patted him on the shoulder. "Since you're here, do a good job. You'll start as a 400-stone archer general!"

"yes!"

Niwa Nagahide watched the spectacle from the sidelines, marveling at how young Nagayoshi had already amassed so many retainers.

"By the way, Lord Mori, Lord Nobunaga asked me to tell you to return to Gifu as soon as possible. I will be temporarily stationed in Kyoto."

"Okay, I'll set off first thing tomorrow morning."

Passing through the corridor, Changqing tiptoed back to his residence.

One's impulsive actions will ultimately have to be paid for.

The lights were on inside.

"Owner?"

A maid's soft call came from behind him. Changqing waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to announce him, and opened the door himself.

Ashi was sitting under the lamp, holding a book in her hand. Hearing the noise, she looked up, her gaze falling on Changqing, from his dusty hair to his tattered clothes, finally stopping at the few black bloodstains.

-

Her eyelashes trembled, but she said nothing. She simply put down the book and stood up.

"I'm back."

"Yes. I'm back."

Aichi took a few steps closer, raised her hand as if to touch the wound on his shoulder, but her fingers stopped in mid-air. She lowered her eyes, withdrew her hand, and turned to walk towards the cabinet.

"I'll have someone prepare hot water."

"Oichi".

Changqing reached out and grabbed her wrist. Her wrist was cold and trembled slightly in his palm, but she didn't pull away.

"I----"

"Take a shower first. You have blood on you."

Changqing paused for a moment, then released his grip.

Without turning around, Oichi opened the door and whispered a few instructions to the maids in the corridor.

But Changqing always felt that something was wrong.

After he finished showering, he changed into a clean set of clothes and looked much more energetic.

He returned to Ah Shi's room and saw that she had already made the bed and was sitting to the side, slowly folding the dirty clothes he had changed out of.

"Just let the maid do it." Changqing walked over and sat down next to her.

"They can't do it well." Aichi lowered her head, her fingers carefully smoothing out the wrinkles on her clothes.

In the lamplight, her profile was incredibly soft, her eyelashes drooping like a butterfly fluttering its wings.

"Oichi".

"Princess Kunihime is already living in Iwamura. When are we going to visit her? And Princess Yukihime, I want to go back and see her too."

Changqing's heart skipped a beat.

"Oichi, listen to me—"

"No need to explain. Taking a concubine is the proper thing to do, I'm not angry. My brother won't be angry either."

Changqing looked at her lowered eyelashes and suddenly picked her up.

"Where's the 'muddled pill'?"

"She's already asleep—"

A-Shi didn't struggle; her head was pressed against Chang-Qing's neck, as if she were smelling a familiar scent.

"I've known about the Wu family's marriage since I was little—I just hope you won't treat me coldly—"

Changqing's heart clenched, and he carried Ashi to the mattress.

His thin shirt suddenly slipped off, revealing countless long, thin wounds.

Aichi froze for a moment, then suddenly pushed against his chest.

Changqing thought she was still jealous, so he had no choice but to lie down next to her. Unexpectedly, Ashi took the initiative to press down on him.

Two days later, Oda Nobunaga returned to Gifu Castle.

Changqing was summoned in the afternoon.

"Changqing, you handled the matter in Kyoto very well this time!"

Nobunaga raised his eyelids and glanced at him, then had his page bring him a glass of red wine that he had bought from a merchant in Sakai City.

"Yes."

"That commoner girl you took as a concubine—she's not bad either!"

Nobunaga didn't use this incident to reprimand himself; could it be that he's changed his ways?

"I've heard about your three-point agreement in Kyoto. It certainly gave the Oda family face. You deserve much credit for defending Honbonji Temple to the death. Mitsuhide didn't seem to care much about the 1000 koku for Akechi Castle, so I'll give it to you. I'll also give you the 3000 koku near Toki Castle. I plan to have Mitsuhide build Sakamoto Castle. It can guard the gateway to Omi and Yamashiro."

The Sakamoto area, located at the foot of Mount Hiei and near Lake Biwa, is a vital passage to Kyoto.

By sealing Mitsuhide off there and ordering him to build Sakamoto Castle, Nobunaga's trust in Mitsuhide had deepened.

"Thank you, my lord."

"It's tough on him, he's forty years old and he's been running around trying to save this temple, owing a lot of favors. I'll give him 5000 koku. The monkey has also done well, I'm planning to have him move to Omi as well."

"yes!"

"By the way, I plan to renovate Guanyin Temple City to prevent the same mistakes from happening again."

Changqing was slightly lost in thought.

Azuchi Castle—a fleeting but magnificent castle in the history of Japan's Sengoku period.

The scene where Akechi Mitsuhide builds Sakamoto Castle—this script feels so cheesy.

"Go back to Iwamura Castle and manage your territory well. Return after the New Year to continue assisting Nobutada!"