Chapter 161: Lord Of The Tokaido In The Second Ring! Hongyuan Temple’s Predecessor, Onmyoji Che, Fraud And Impostor!
Imagawa Yoshimoto found it strange.
Perhaps it was a woman’s innate intuition, or perhaps it was some other factor.
She always felt that in the blink of an eye, Shangshan Che, who was walking towards her, seemed to have changed in some way.
Very different.
The young head of the Imagawa clan repeatedly observed Shangshan Che, who was slowly approaching, and pinched his chin with his index finger and thumb.
—Could it be that Che is so handsome that his perception of him has changed subconsciously?
After all, she had never seen such a handsome and composed young man before.
The key is composure.
Imagawa Yoshimoto liked his composed demeanor, “no matter how the outside world is, I am unshaken,” especially that faint smile that was like a calm lake.
It gave a great sense of security.
“But this won’t do.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto thought coldly in her heart.
She is the head of the Imagawa clan, the master of Mikawa, Totomi, and Suruga provinces, and a daimyo who will surely become the ruler of the world in the future.
Therefore, she cannot harbor such personal feelings that could affect her judgment.
Imagawa Yoshimoto examined herself from a third-person perspective.
She had to ensure that no matter what means she used to win over this onmyoji Che, no matter how she treated him, and no matter how she appeared to the outside world—
In the end, she needed to maintain calm judgment from beginning to end so that she could maximize the use of the rare onmyoji Che.
As for those romantic affections, it would not be too late to talk about them after she became the ruler of the world.
After a thorough self-examination, Imagawa Yoshimoto’s heart returned to peace.
Then she said to Hattori Hanzo, who was kneeling on one knee in front of her and looking backward,
“Hanzo, this is the onmyoji Che I mentioned earlier. There’s no need to be polite, let him join us.”
With that, Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled and beckoned to Shangshan Che, pointing to a small wicker chair beside her and saying, “Mister Che, please sit down quickly.”
Shangshan Che, who had been in a gray “time stop” state for a while until all the “post-transmigration sequelae” had disappeared, didn’t say much.
He directly sat beside Imagawa Yoshimoto under Hanzo’s indifferent gaze.
Then the girl’s lips curved slightly, and she raised her hand to Hanzo and said,
“Continue speaking. Speak in detail and thoroughly, and try not to miss any details. Please specifically mark any uncertain information.”
Hanzo, wrapped in black, nodded silently.
He lowered his head, recalling the image of Shangshan Che that was deeply imprinted in his mind.
—Onmyoji Che.
Was the sudden surge in his qi when I looked at him just now a show of force?
Many pieces of information related to Shangshan Che surfaced in Hanzo’s memory, and naturally, he remembered what his lord Matsudaira Motoyasu had told him a few days ago.
Che is undoubtedly an onmyoji with many tricks.
But as I observed him, I saw a body with powerful and explosive muscles beneath his thin clothes.
Moreover, his skin seemed to have undergone special tempering, and perhaps even ordinary swords might not be able to cut through it.
Hanzo even discovered that a continuous stream of airflow surrounded Che, which seemed to be “internal qi circulation” that warriors could only achieve after profound cultivation.
Is this an onmyoji who “can only rely on onmyōdō and shikigami, but his body is extremely fragile”?
—This Che is definitely not as simple as he appears.
I must inform my lord.
Hanzo finished his thoughts and spoke in a hoarse but clear voice, lowering his head: “This rebellion was primarily caused by local powerful families in Mikawa Province.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto raised her eyes and responded,
“It’s Okudaira, Saigo, and Toda again?”
These guys rebelled a year and a half ago and were easily suppressed by her.
She muttered with some doubt: “Did my punishment not be severe enough, too lenient?”
“During this period, I have only allowed those rural samurai from Mikawa and Owari to wear each other down. I haven’t even changed the taxes.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto concluded: “It makes no sense for a rebellion that is bound to fail to occur.”
“What about the Matsudaira clan? Are they just going to watch?”
She continued to ask.
Shangshan Che did not speak, but first collected and organized the current information.
He heard Hanzo reply: “Although the Matsudaira clan and their subordinates, the Sakai clan and the Honda clan, took some measures, they were mostly indifferent, and apart from reporting, they acted as if nothing had happened.”
It was a perfunctory act, showing their stance without being too targeted by the local powerful families afterward.
—If Matsudaira Motoyasu were not still held as a hostage of the Imagawa clan in Sunpu Castle, it is likely that the Matsudaira clan would have a considerable chance of joining this rebellion in the Mikawa region.
Imagawa Yoshimoto heard about the Matsudaira clan’s almost disobedient behavior, but she did not get angry. Instead, she asked the two most important words regarding this incident,
“What about the ‘Great Demon’? What is the situation with the Great Demon? What did the Hōshu of Jodo Shinshu in Mikawa say?”
Hanzo: “The news about the Great Demon came from that Hōshu.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto fell silent, her eyes narrowed in thought.
Shangshan Che, on the other hand, raised his eyebrows in surprise—Jodo Shinshu, these four words were still quite memorable after he had frantically studied the knowledge of the Sengoku Period.
Because the predecessor of Hongyuan Temple was Jodo Shinshu.
Moreover, Buddhism in this era seemed to directly participate in the struggles between daimyo, whether in politics, economics, or military affairs.
There had even been instances of Buddhist sects sending warrior monks to aid daimyo.
However, these Buddhist sects were not like samurai who would shout “loyalty” and blindly follow a daimyo.
For example, even though Jodo Shinshu was currently within Imagawa Yoshimoto’s territory and nominally her subordinate.
But if Imagawa Yoshimoto lost power or fell, Jodo Shinshu would immediately be poached and become a sect under another daimyo.
For instance, in the original timeline, after the defeat at Okōshazam, a sect became a subordinate of Oda Nobunaga…
Ah, no, that’s completely impossible.
Because Oda Nobunaga would only kill and kill and slaughter this rampant Buddhism almost completely.
Shangshan Che recalled the knowledge he had read and summarized it—
These sects scattered across Japan, all different, had one thing in common: the pursuit of profit.
Money, crafts, weapons… whatever it was, as long as the price was right, they could certainly get the sect’s help.
In the end, most monks and Buddhists of this era were just changing their identities to make a living.
Therefore, the fact that the Hōshu of Jodo Shinshu claimed that the unrest in Mikawa was due to a Great Demon’s mischief was worth considering.
He then looked at the task prompt that had appeared earlier—
【 Please note, the second stage of the current main quest, Lord of Tokaido, has been unlocked! 】
【 Lord of Tokaido: Increase the kokudaka of the Imagawa clan’s forces to two million koku, or occupy more than one-third of the provinces in the entire Tokaido. 】
【 —Tokaido’s Number One Archer? The Greatest Daimyo Under Heaven? These empty titles don’t matter, I just want to grasp the world. 】
【 Task Deadline: None 】
Compared to the first stage of the main quest, which could be completed by any means, the requirements and difficulty of the second stage increased exponentially.
—To make Imagawa Yoshimoto the de facto ruler of the entire Tokaido.
The phrase “Lord of Tokaido” expressed this simple and direct meaning.
But who are the daimyo in Tokaido?
—”Tiger of Kai” Takeda Shingen, “Lion of Sagami” Hojo Ujiyasu, and even Oda Nobunaga, who would later defeat Imagawa Yoshimoto and be called the “Sixth Heavenly Demon King.”
Moreover, the former two are currently allies of the Imagawa clan.
Therefore, “occupy more than one-third of the provinces in the entire Tokaido” is almost unthinkable and impossible to achieve.
Naturally, the goal falls on increasing the koku.
So…
Shangshan Che’s gaze shifted slightly.
How much could be squeezed from the Jodo Shinshu, which was clearly very profitable, could be discussed at length.
Coincidentally, the current Mikawa rebellion is an opportunity.
However, Imagawa Yoshimoto seems to have spent a long time in temples since childhood, so to avoid losing favor, he still needs to probe her intentions.
Shangshan Che looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had a cold expression and a slight frown, and suddenly realized something.
—There are many Buddhist sects in the Sengoku Period, and the temple Imagawa Yoshimoto stayed in is unlikely to be related to this Jodo Shinshu.
Perhaps she herself has been trying to find a way to uproot Jodo Shinshu, which has been continuously siphoning off the profits of the territory, both openly and secretly.
It’s just that perhaps they were blocked by the local powerful families of Mikawa, so it was difficult to act.
Shangshan Che thought of this and immediately said, “Lord Yoshimoto, perhaps you could let me go to Jodo Shinshu to communicate and test whether the matter of the so-called Great Demon is true.”
His words interrupted Imagawa Yoshimoto’s thoughts.
As the girl looked up, she heard Shangshan Che say meaningfully, “If that Great Demon happens to be hiding within Jodo Shinshu…”
Imagawa Yoshimoto was slightly taken aback.
The next moment, she realized Shangshan Che’s implied meaning, pursed her lips, but still couldn’t hide the joy on her face.
“Then, as Mister Che said…”
But just as Imagawa Yoshimoto finished speaking, another cold male voice came from not far away,
“—My lord, aren’t you trusting this onmyoji Che too much?”
Before this voice appeared, Hanzo, who had been kneeling on the ground before them, had already disappeared.
Shangshan Che followed the sound with his gaze and saw a stern-faced, robust, moon-crowned youth who was nearly 1.7 meters tall.
This family crest, I’m a bit familiar with it.
He searched his memory for a while and finally realized that he seemed to have seen this family crest during his coming-of-age ceremony.
According to what Shiraishi said at the time, this seems to be a direct vassal of the Imagawa family, Asahina?
But at the coming-of-age ceremony, it was a middle-aged man wearing clothes with this family crest… however, his appearance did resemble this youth.
The youth strode over and stopped not far in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto. First, he performed a complete kneeling ceremony respectfully.
The so-called kneeling ceremony refers to the bow that samurai in the Sengoku Period of Japan often performed for their lords. It involved taking out the daito from the waist, then sitting properly and performing the ceremony, similar to kowtowing next door, and it was very solemn.
Imagawa Yoshimoto always valued the etiquette and conduct of herself and her subordinates, so the youth’s ceremony completely blocked her scolding.
She pouted and asked with a hint of dissatisfaction,
“Yasutomo, what do you want to say?”
Asahina Yasutomo, sitting in the pavilion, did not even look at Shangshan Che beside him.
He said earnestly,
“My lord, in just over ten days, you want to send this person to undertake such an important diplomatic mission. Isn’t this too reckless and arbitrary?”
Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned upon hearing this.
This guy Yasutomo… he always said that I relied too much on my teacher in everything.
He’s a warrior who can’t even recognize a single character, yet he always points fingers at me, and now he’s saying that my arrangements for Che-kun are problematic.
Tch.
The girl looked at the righteous Asahina Yasutomo and couldn’t help but feel a faint anger when she thought that he probably felt his advice was timely.
However, both Asahina Yasutomo and his father, Asahina Yasunori, were core vassals who had made great contributions to the Imagawa family and herself.
No matter what she thought, she couldn’t chill the hearts of these vassals.
Moreover, those ignorant elders had an even worse impression of Che-kun.
Not only were they dissatisfied with the annual salary she gave, but they also constantly said they wanted to kick this charlatan who pretended to be a god out of the Imagawa family.
If she made her close vassals also hate Che-kun, many things would become difficult later on.
I need to find a way…
At this moment, another rough voice sounded from the previous position,
“What are you saying to my lord! Che’s strength and wisdom were evident to all that day!”
Under Shangshan Che’s gaze, the middle-aged man he had seen before at the coming-of-age ceremony quickly ran over and stood behind the youth, then said loudly,
“This noble Lord Che is a great onmyoji personally recognized by my lord! A master who can command heavenly thunder!”
This made Shangshan Che’s skin crawl—he was far from being a great onmyoji.
Asahina Yasutomo did not reply directly, but his face was full of disbelief.
People are always skeptical of things they haven’t seen, and even the wisest scholars cannot avoid this.
Moreover, what stood before Asahina Yasutomo was an onmyoji who was almost unrecorded in the entire Sengoku Period.
It was normal for him to be skeptical.
But Imagawa Yoshimoto was already getting annoyed—Shangshan Che could clearly tell from her slightly narrowed eyes.
So Shangshan Che stood up proactively and asked Asahina Yasutomo, who was sitting on the ground, with a smile,
“Then, Lord Asahina, how can you recognize me as a qualified onmyoji?”
Asahina Yasutomo was stumped.
He just felt that this extremely handsome unknown youth suddenly approached his lord, and was quickly favored and trusted by his lord, to the point where she came to see this youth every morning.
There must be some conspiracy or trickery from another party involved.
And he was here to wake up his lord and expose this conspiracy!
Asahina Yasutomo never expected that Shangshan Che, this “villain,” would take the initiative.
The young warrior gazed at the beautiful face above him, thinking that this person named “Che” had won the favor of his lord solely with this face, and he felt a pang of jealousy.
It is true that legendary onmyoji can use some minor spells and techniques by utilizing the terrain, such as creating fog in a small area, and Asahina Yasutomo was aware of this.
But as for using heavenly thunder to exorcise demonic ghosts? And a giant wolf-dog shikigami as tall as a person that can be summoned and dismissed at will?
What a joke!
If you’re going to lie, at least make it more believable!
If such monstrous powers and demonic spirits truly existed, he should have been defeated and killed by enemy onmyoji long ago.
Asahina Yasutomo exhaled heavily, stood up, and met Shangshan Che’s gaze with a hint of disgust and scrutiny,
“Then please, Lord Che, accompany me to meet the elders who also have doubts about you.”
Shangshan Che heard this and smiled.
So the ill-intentioned visitor was waiting for him here.
He bowed slightly to the girl: “Lord Yoshimoto, Che will return shortly.”
“If you are interested, you may also come and observe.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto showed an apologetic expression, then nodded after a soft sigh.
“Then, please lead the way, Your Excellency Asahina.”
Seeing his confident demeanor, Asahina Yasutomo recalled what the elders had told him about “Che’s methods,” and scoffed inwardly.
—Let me be the one to expose your true face as a deceiving “Onmyoji” before Lord and Lady!
