Yashiro the Blind

Suddenly pushing the person aside, Naoto blushed slightly and glared at him with a hint of embarrassment and annoyance.

I thought I would see Yashiro's smug little expression again, but instead I saw her lying on the ground like an eel, her face showing a mix of confusion and sleepiness. Those few dawdlings just now were probably just unintentional.

"Honestly...that's why I told you to go to bed early, but you just wouldn't listen..."

Naoko muttered something under his breath, then sighed after a moment and put down the comb in his hand. "Alright, I'll let you sleep a little longer... I'll come and wake you up in half an hour, but you're not allowed to stay in bed then."

"..."

"Did you hear me?" She nudged the other person with her foot.

The "eel" on the ground then let out a few more muffled groans.

Naoko shook his head, amused and exasperated. He took a blanket from the side, weighed it in his hand, glanced at the sky outside, and decided it was a bit too thick, so he put it back. Instead, he took two or three light garments, draped them over the blind girl, and then got up and went outside.

The door opened to reveal a small, secluded courtyard. Artificial hills, a lake, and various flowers and plants with an autumnal feel instantly brightened the mood. Naotora stood on the veranda and took a long, deep breath.

"call--"

Pfft!

Suddenly, a strange sound came from the side.

She turned her head and saw Minji Maru and Saiga Hotaru standing by the lake, enthusiastically throwing stones into it.

"See how badly I lost this time? Better than you, right!"

"Come again."

"Let's go again, who's afraid of who..."

What are you two playing at?

A voice suddenly interrupted, and Minjimaru blurted out, "We're playing skipping stones, would you like to try it, Naotora-sama... Naotora-sama?!" She almost finished speaking before realizing what she was saying, and she turned around abruptly. In her haste, her ponytail swung and slapped Saiga Hotaru across the face.

"You hit me."

Saiga Hotaru's face remained expressionless, but her tone revealed a hint of grievance.

"I'm sorry!" Minji Maru quickly apologized.

"Okay, I forgive you."

Saiga Hotaru nodded, still with an expression that revealed neither joy nor sorrow, then turned around and bowed to Naotora with the girl beside her: "Good morning, Lord Naotora."

"Good morning."

Naotora smiled and nodded, reaching out to tidy up Minjimaru's bangs. His gaze then shifted to Saiga Hotaru's serious little face and the expectation in her eyes, so he tidied up her bangs as well.

For just a fleeting moment, she seemed to see Ying's lips relax slightly.

"Minji said you guys were playing skipping stones. Is that the game that Yashiro taught me to play last time?"

"Yes!" Minjimaru nodded happily. "This game is so much fun, Naotora-sama, would you like to play together?"

"No, thank you. You guys play, I'm not very good at this kind of game." Naotora shook her head, and seeing this, the two didn't try to persuade her any further—although Naotora said she wasn't good at playing, she had actually joined in with great enthusiasm after Yashiro explained how to play last time.

"Is...is this how it was lost?"

“That’s right, Naotora, just throw it without worry, it’s easy…” Yashiro was even touching him from the side, ostensibly to help adjust his posture, but his true intentions were obvious to everyone. But the next moment, accompanied by a somewhat cute shout, Naotora tossed the stone in his hand with a “hey!”

Pfft!

Wow!

"Oooh!"

Then the group of people went to change their clothes, completely soaked.

With the lessons of the past still fresh in his mind, Naotora couldn't understand how Minjimaru dared to so brazenly invite her to participate. Didn't you see how Saiga Hotaru's little eyebrows jumped up when she heard the invitation, only to fall back down after Naotora refused?

"I see, what a pity..." Minji Maru sighed, "Then, Lord Naotora, shall we continue playing?"

"Go ahead and play. But don't play for too long... By the way, have you two had breakfast yet?"

"not yet."

As Saiga Hotaru answered, she glanced at the girl next to her, her tone seemingly complaining, "I wanted to eat, but Hayashi-sama said to move around a bit first, and then eat when I'm hungrier, so I can eat more."

"Because Master said that we don't have to pay for the food in the city for a while, so we can eat as much as we want!" Minji Maru added excitedly.

That does sound like something Yashiro would say...

Naotora covered his forehead and couldn't help but give a slight, bitter smile: "Minji."

"exist!"

"What are the next two lines after 'Hoeing the fields at noon, sweat drips onto the soil beneath the crops'?"

"'Who knows the hardship behind every meal on the plate?' This is 'Sympathy for the Peasants' written by Li Shen, a high-ranking official in the Tang Dynasty!" Minji Maru may be a bit simple-minded, but he is not stupid. In this era, he can be considered a highly educated talent. He not only recited the second half of the poem immediately, but also mentioned the author and the title of the poem.

"That's right. Just like this poem says, no matter where the food comes from—Iga, Tsutsui, or even from our enemies—it's all the result of the people's hard work. We must be grateful to the people and have reverence for heaven and earth. Only then can we become great samurai... Do you understand?"

Naotora said in a gentle voice.

"Understood." Not only Minji Maru, but also Saiga Hotaru answered honestly.

"Two clever children."

As a reward, Naotora reached out and ruffled their heads, earning them bright smiles and expressions that, though unreadable, seemed to convey a sense of joy.

However, Minjimaru's eyes darted around, and he suddenly asked with a troubled look, "But Naotora-sama... if that's what you're saying, shouldn't I save some room in my stomach and not eat my fill at every meal?"

"As long as there is no waste, it is fine to just eat your fill. After all, you need to be well-fed to have the strength to fight."

"That's good!"

Minji Maru immediately beamed with joy again.

Seeing their carefree smiling faces, Zhihu felt her mood brighten considerably. She chatted with them for a few more minutes, then told herself to come back in half an hour to bring breakfast for everyone to eat together. Only then did she leave the small courtyard where they were temporarily assigned to live and head towards the kitchen.

Although there are people in the city who are in charge of cooking, Naotora prefers to cook himself whenever possible, so that Yashiro and everyone can taste his cooking. "From now on, I will sit in a long dress and smile at the counter, washing my hands and cooking for you." Deep down, she actually longs for this everyday warmth and comfort.

Yashiro actually had similar thoughts, and would occasionally sneak into the kitchen to show off her cooking skills—unfortunately, the blind girl's cooking skills, like her swordsmanship, were stream of consciousness that were difficult for ordinary people to understand. The finished products were sometimes good and sometimes bad, and her performance was extremely unstable. Therefore, Hatsume eventually forbade her from entering the kitchen again on the grounds that "food is precious".

The blind girl felt quite aggrieved. After getting drunk, she complained to Zhihu more than once: "I'm obviously very good at cooking... like fried rice, rice fried with egg, the rice grains have to be separate and coated with egg... and I can even cook instant noodles, not just soak them, but boil them! After boiling, I can add a fried egg and sausage luncheon meat! That's a deluxe meal, a bowl of this in a tea restaurant would cost at least thirty or forty..."

"Yes, yes, yes, okay, okay, good boy..."

Although he couldn't understand what Yashiro meant by "instant noodles and luncheon meat," it wasn't the first time the other person had said such nonsensical things. Naotora was already used to it and just treated him like a child, holding him and coaxing him to sleep.

Yashiro when drunk is different from when she's sober. When she's sober, her body temperature is slightly lower than normal, and she feels cool to the touch. But when she's drunk, she becomes hot and red, like a boiled shrimp, which is quite a unique experience...

No, what is she thinking?

Naoko suddenly snapped out of her daze, looking at the rising sun in the east, a wave of guilt welled up inside her. She silently walked to the roadside, squatted down, covered her face in repentance, and suddenly heard a rapid sound of footsteps rushing past behind her.

It sounds vaguely familiar.

She subconsciously looked up and her eyes met those of the figure hurrying by.

"Naoko-chan?"

"Your Highness, Gongfang?!"

Indeed, the lone traveler hurrying along in a single layer of clothing early in the morning was none other than Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

He looked like he hadn't even had time to wash up; he appeared rather disheveled, like an ordinary farmer, and was clutching a folded letter in his hand. Their eyes met, and Ashikaga Yoshiteru was clearly taken aback: "What... are you doing squatting here?"

"Because I'm a mushroom"—a joke Yashiro had told her suddenly came to mind, but Naotora certainly wouldn't answer like that. She coughed lightly and stood up as if nothing had happened: "N-nothing, but Your Highness, you seem to be in such a hurry. Is there something important that you need?"

When the residences were being allocated, Ashikaga Yoshiteru had specifically instructed that the two of them be given the most secluded courtyard, one that would be undisturbed by others. Therefore, seeing the Shogun hurrying past in this direction, it was clear that he was only looking for her or Yashiro.

And the reason...

Noticing that Naotora's gaze was fixed on the letter in his hand, Ashikaga Yoshiteru didn't hide anything and nodded: "My dear minister, you are indeed perceptive. Last night, a messenger came from Sakai City, claiming to be from Noya Imai Munehisa's men, to deliver a letter. I couldn't sleep all night, and as soon as dawn broke, I thought I'd come over as soon as possible to discuss this matter with you two—let's read the letter first."

He handed over the letter, which Naotora took with both hands and began to read it carefully. But upon seeing it, the woman's expression, which had been somewhat puzzled, suddenly changed: "This is... a letter from Matsunaga Danjo?"

"Yes, it's that old fox. He said he was grateful to me for returning Hiragumo and for sparing the two castles of Tamonzan and Shigiyama from the ravages of war. As a token of his gratitude, he formally offered the two castles to us and prepared 500 kan in Sakai City as a token of his appreciation, which we can collect at any time."

Even though he had read the letter countless times, Ashikaga Yoshiteru's tone still held an odd quality as he recounted its contents. "So, we took his castle, and he has to thank us... What a strange man. And that's not even the main point of the letter. The main point is..."

"'As long as you can promise the safety of the traitor Izumi Ichigo, Matsunaga Hisahide... is willing to serve as a pawn and surrender in the upcoming battle against Miyoshi Hyuga-no-kami and the others. I hope Your Highness... will not hesitate to show mercy...'"

Just then, Naotora read the last paragraph of the letter aloud. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly looked up, meeting Ashikaga Yoshiteru's gaze in disbelief: "Matsunaga Danjo... is he planning to betray Miyoshi?"

……

Chapter 421 When Pretending to Be Real

The two armies were evenly matched, and the outcome was uncertain. Just then, a general from one side suddenly wrote a secret letter saying he wanted to surrender...

Originally, this operation seemed strange no matter how you looked at it, but when Yashiro thought about the fact that the person who wrote the letter was Matsunaga Hisahide, he suddenly felt that it made sense.

During the last hundred years or so of Japan's Sengoku period, there were many two-faced and fickle individuals; in fact, this was the norm in the world. However, very few were able to gain great fame or even leave a mark on history by betraying their masters.

Among them, the famous "person who uses metaphors to describe inner and outer aspects" Sanada Masayuki is a relatively positive example, while the counterexample is undoubtedly the renowned Matsunaga Danjo.

As is well known, Japanese historians did almost no work during the war, so the various events that happened during this period can only be learned by comparing individual notes, diaries and letters. Because of this, new accounts are often discovered, overturning some previously believed events.

Yashiro herself didn't know much about this, but in her previous life she had an online friend who was passionate about it, and she occasionally heard the other person casually chat and explain it to her.

For example, recently someone discovered some evidence suggesting that a certain swordsman general did not actually die a heroic death while unleashing his Musou attack at home, but rather had a conflict with the Miyoshi family due to some misunderstanding. The three members of the Miyoshi family surrounded the palace with their troops and shot arrows to force the general to come out. However, somehow, one of the arrows accidentally pierced Ashikaga Yoshiteru's forehead...

The latter died on the spot.

Seeing that things were going badly, the trio decided to go all the way and slaughtered everyone else in the palace... It sounded like a very amateurish operation.

Thanks to this, Yashiro's initial impression of a certain general was rather subtle. She always felt that he had an inexplicable comedic quality. Fortunately, the more she got to know him, the more this impression... not only did not disappear, but became more and more deeply rooted.

What is going on here?

It's really puzzling.

Besides these, there are various other versions of the story, such as Matsunaga Hisahide being relatively loyal to Miyoshi Nagayoshi, and the deaths of his eldest son Miyoshi Yoshioki and "Oni Sogawa" not being his doing. These versions change every few days, and Yashiro doesn't know which is true and which is false.

However, even setting aside the various suspicious deeds of Miyoshi Nagayoshi during his lifetime, Matsunaga Hisahide's series of actions after this repairman's death are indeed recorded:

He was sometimes an enemy and sometimes a friend of Miyoshi Yoshitsugu and the Three Men, fighting back and forth in the Kinki region for several years. Then he turned against Nobunaga and switched sides several times after the "Nobunaga Encirclement" was formed. Finally, he ended his wonderful life with a spectacular explosion.

Logically speaking, switching sides back and forth isn't really a problem, since there aren't many truly loyal retainers these days. The key is that Matsunaga Hisahide is always exceptionally decisive when he turns against his own side, often one step ahead of others. While others are still hesitating, he has already made his decision resolutely.

This decisiveness can sometimes be an advantage, for example, he joined Nobunaga earlier than his nemesis Tsutsui Junkei and reaped considerable benefits—but it can also sometimes become a disadvantage, such as when he later responded to Ashikaga Yoshiaki's call to raise an army against Nobunaga, and even ignored Matsui Tomokazu, the envoy sent by Nobunaga to mediate, showing a resolute attitude...

It highlights a strong sense of self-confidence.

Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem so surprising that Matsunaga Hisahide would choose this moment to send a letter revealing his intention to surrender. But... is that really all there is to it?

"Hmm...it is indeed a tricky...problem."

Swaying and rocking.

By this time, Yashiro had already changed into proper clothes and was trying her best to maintain a kneeling posture in front of the general, keeping her back straight. Unfortunately, her tone of voice was still somewhat unsteady and lacked substance. The only thing she could be thankful for was that she never had to worry about being seen looking sleepy.

But that only applies to those who are sleepy.

“Miss Yashiro, why don’t you sleep a little longer and we can discuss this matter later?” Ashikaga Yoshiteru looked at her like this, hesitant to speak.

"No, no need..."

The blind woman suppressed a yawn, silently pinched her thigh, and suddenly jolted awake, visibly becoming much more alert. "Such an important matter cannot keep Your Highness waiting... Please allow me to have a couple of sips of wine to sober up..."

"Yashiro, stop." Naotora said gently from the side.

"Oh……"

Yashiro's right hand, which was reaching for the gourd at her waist, was forced to stop. She shrank back, and the next moment, her expression became serious. "Then I won't drink, I won't drink... Let's talk about serious matters. Your Highness chose to come alone instead of ringing the bell to summon everyone for evaluation. If I'm not mistaken... you must be worried about Tsutsui's reaction, right?"

"Exactly."

Ashikaga Yoshiteru did not hide anything, nodding and replying in a deep voice, "Now that our forces from Yamato and Iga, totaling seven thousand, have joined the battle, together with Hatakeyama Takamasa of Kii, they are evenly matched with the forces of Miyoshi of Kawachi and Izumi. Therefore, no one dares to make a rash move. However, if Matsunaga Dansei truly decides to abandon the darkness and embrace the light, the situation will tilt entirely in our favor... Considering this, the condition of peace and security for Izumi Province is not unacceptable."

Although the Miyoshi family had recently committed the heinous crime of regicide, if Ashikaga Yoshiteru had died on the spot, the two sides would naturally have been locked in a life-or-death struggle. However, since the shogun who was attacked was still alive, there was some room for maneuver in whether or not to forgive them.

Strictly speaking, those who planned and participated in the Nijō Palace Incident were the Miyoshi Triumvirate and Matsunaga Hisahide's son, Hisamitsu, among others. As for Danjō himself, he was leisurely admiring his beloved Hiragumo at Tamonyama Castle at the time. Whether to pursue this matter or not depends entirely on the decision of those involved.

Matsunaga Hisahide really went all out this time, even stating in his letter that he had failed to properly discipline his son, leading to the son's involvement in the treason, for which he was guilty beyond reproach. He even offered to have his eldest son, Hisamitsu, commit seppuku as atonement if the shogun agreed to preserve the Matsunaga family name.

Of course, everyone understands that this is just a polite remark.

If Ashikaga Yoshiteru doesn't accept his surrender, the remaining conditions are naturally out of the question. And even if the shogun does agree, as a crucial player in this war, Matsunaga Hisahide doesn't need to worry about his father and son being prematurely eliminated, at least until the Miyoshi clan is completely defeated.

There aren't many fools in this world as stupid as Yoshiharu Rokkaku who destroys his own defenses.

"As the saying goes, 'It is better to send charcoal in the snow than to add flowers to brocade'... Although such a last-minute defection is despised, it must be said that Matsunaga Dansei's move put him in an invincible position."

Ashikaga Yoshiteru shook his head and smiled wryly, "No matter how you look at it, we have no reason to refuse Matsunaga Danjō, but how to persuade the Tsutsui family to accept it is another problem."