Chapter 156: No, No, No, No, No, It’s Not You!
Regarding the title “Owari’s Number One Beauty,” Yuan Ye paid it no mind. This was clearly a political marriage, where appearance and personality were entirely unimportant. Even if Inu-hime truly resembled a Shiba Inu, no one would care. However, this was a significant matter, and Oda Nobunaga would certainly not let his sister come to Xin Wanjin alone. She would undoubtedly be accompanied by a large entourage, and having such a group enter the “Yuan Ye Family” was difficult to assess as good or bad in the short term.
Moreover, although he had considered the possibility of not returning to the Modern Era and needing to marry in this era, his ideal candidate was not Oda Nobunaga’s dog sister…
This matter was too significant, and he dared not agree immediately. He began to deflect, unwilling to give a direct answer. Niwa Nagahide and Maeda Toshiie could do nothing about him, and at the same time, they could somewhat understand, knowing he needed time to consider such a major decision. They could only patiently continue to make small talk with him, discussing past acquaintances before dispersing to rest and talk again tomorrow.
After Yuan Ye had settled them in, he paced around his room for a while, stretching. A Man smelled the scent and came over. Upon entering, she exclaimed in surprise, “I heard Oda Nobunaga is marrying his sister to you?”
Yuan Ye was not surprised by her being well-informed. His household’s security was quite strong; she was an exception – the Director of the Eastern Depot of Wanjin, after all. She also had people among the little maidservants.
Yuan Ye nodded casually and continued pacing and stretching, casually asking her, “What do you think should be done about this matter?”
The Lord was getting married, and A Man also took this matter seriously. She sat down with her arms crossed and legs tucked, her Dou Dou eyebrows furrowed in thought for a moment, then mused, “I think it’s alright. Although the Oda Danjō no Chū family doesn’t have high Family Status and is a bit of a country bumpkin, you, my Lord, have an unknown origin and can only be considered a Rōnin. It’s better than being a bumpkin in terms of respectability. Marrying the daughter of the Oda Danjō no Chū family is a suitable match.”
Furthermore, haven’t you always wanted to avoid falling out with the Oda Danjō no Chū family? Becoming in-laws is a good choice. This way, we can continue to ship goods from Atsuta Port. There’s no other place nearby that can handle so many of our goods.”
Yuan Ye nodded slowly. He had already thought of these points.
At this stage, he was free but still in an awkward position of being surrounded. To achieve economic recovery and further development, and to conveniently procure raw materials and sell finished products, it was difficult to do so without Owari’s support. He was still highly dependent on the Atsuta—Shimazu—Sakai—Seto Inland Sea trade route controlled by Oda Nobunaga.
Therefore, he had previously been prepared to make a significant concession, such as promising to give Oda Nobunaga a large batch of gunpowder, or offering him a large discount on future gunpowder purchases, in order to mend their relationship. If he were to marry his sister, these concessions could be avoided.
But what about A Qing?
He actually liked A Qing a little. A Qing’s personality, at first glance, was aloof, but upon closer inspection, she was gentle and quiet, with stable emotions. She was also somewhat attractive. Now, with her princess cut hairstyle, she perfectly matched his aesthetic.
Her height also matched his. Based on his estimation, as long as he put in more effort and ensured A Qing continued to have a balanced diet, perhaps secretly instructing Yayoi to stew her bone broth often, she might grow to over 1.6 meters. While this height was average in the Modern Era, it was truly rare in the Japanese Medieval Period. Moreover, just possessing the qualities of gentleness and emotional stability made her a one-in-ten-thousand existence even among modern women. He couldn’t help but like her.
Furthermore, he and A Qing had lived and eaten together for over two years, and A Qing had saved his life. It was impossible to say there was no emotional accumulation.
The reason he hadn’t said anything was simply that A Qing was still too young, likely only a little over thirteen years old. As a person from the Modern Era, he felt too embarrassed to express his feelings before then, always feeling it was a bit strange. He wanted to wait another year or two, at least until A Qing was sixteen by traditional reckoning, before properly discussing it with her.
It should be fine. Children in this era matured early. He vaguely felt that A Qing treated him differently than others, even better than their Second-hand Donkey and Three-flower Horse at home. She might have quite a good impression of him, harboring some special feelings.
Now, suddenly, Oda Nobunaga’s dog sister appeared. If he chose to marry her for the sake of his territory’s development, he felt he would be letting down A Qing’s feelings, and he felt uneasy and ashamed.
In his youth, he had been deeply influenced by Meng Ziqi’s father and wanted to be like him, someone who valued things that others might consider trivial. He paced around again, then sat down cross-legged and sighed, still unable to make a decision. If he didn’t reciprocate A Qing’s feelings, Oda Nobunaga would undoubtedly be furious and might even attack him. Currently, Xin Wanjin could hardly withstand another major battle.
A Man watched him ponder with a furrowed brow, completely unable to understand his thoughts. What was this guy overthinking now? Why wouldn’t he accept a wife he got for free?
She waited for a moment, and seeing Yuan Ye remain silent, she began to ponder, her gaze gradually shifting to his lower body.
She watched for a while, and the more she thought, the more convinced she became. She couldn’t help but crawl forward on her knees and pull him hard, forcing him to lean sideways before whispering into his ear, “My Lord, our relationship is unusual now; we are family. That… you really don’t need to hide anything from me. Are you truly unable?”
“Unable to what?” Yuan Ye didn’t react immediately, but he quickly followed A Man’s gaze to his waist and hips. A moment later, he finally understood. He couldn’t tolerate such an insult and angrily retorted, “What nonsense are you thinking about all day! My body is fine! My body is excellent, and all the necessary functions… are present. There is absolutely no deficiency!”
“Really?” A Man raised her Dou Dou eyebrows, still looking skeptical, but then she immediately said seriously, “My Lord, you really don’t need to hide it from me. I will keep it a secret for you and help you find a solution.”
If Yuan Ye truly lacked that particular function, and a doctor cannot heal themselves, she could go to Kyoto overnight and help kidnap a Ritsu School Monk to help him, perhaps managing to have a child.
If that still didn’t work, perhaps they should consider adopting a daughter and preparing to find a son-in-law to inherit the Family Name. Nene would be a good candidate. Kicking Asano Nagamasa away, she could change her name to Nene Yuan Ye in the future.
She had considered it thoroughly, truly worthy of being the self-proclaimed Senior Retainer of the Yuan Ye Family. But Yuan Ye was speechless. He couldn’t exactly take off his pants to prove to this wild child that he was absolutely a normal man. He could only push her away and reiterate, “I told you there’s no problem, so there’s no problem! I don’t drink, I don’t smoke… I eat a balanced diet, pay attention to exercise, and my body is definitely a hundred times better than yours!”
A Man was even more confused and asked strangely, “Then what are you hesitating about? Isn’t marrying a wife a good thing? It comes with such great benefits. If there’s a freebie, why not take it! And this is what you deserve. If you hadn’t risked your life with us, why would Oda Nobunaga give his sister to you? He would definitely have used her to win over other Local Powerful Families.”
Yuan Ye sighed, “I know all this. You don’t need to keep repeating it.”
“Then why are you hesitating?” A Man was indeed sharp. After asking, she suddenly had another realization, “You don’t fancy Oda Nobunaga’s sister. You want to marry someone else? Do you have someone else in mind?”
Yuan Ye nodded slowly, feeling a bit embarrassed to directly say A Qing. The main reason was… 22 years old versus 13 years old, an adult and a minor. This was truly too much. In the Modern Era, he would definitely be executed for five minutes.
A Man knew his nature; he always cared about “rules” that others wouldn’t. She immediately began to guess on her own, “Is it Endo Chiyo? Doesn’t seem like it… Is it that little girl Nene? Doesn’t seem like it either. You’ve already taken her as a disciple, so it’s clearly impossible…”
She spent all day with Yuan Ye and had eyes and ears all over the territory. She was certain Yuan Ye hadn’t gone after widows like Oda Nobunaga. Yuan Ye’s social circle was also very narrow, and he disliked going out daily, so he knew very few women. She hadn’t noticed him showing special interest in anyone. It felt like he treated everyone the same. Yuan Ye was usually very cultured and had a very gentle personality; he didn’t even scold people.
For example, once, a newly selected little maidservant was too nervous while serving food, tripped, and almost spilled the soup bowl onto his head. He didn’t get angry at all. In another household, if a young girl made such a big mistake, even if she wasn’t beaten to death, she would have faced severe punishment. Yet, he just smiled and changed his clothes, without even a scolding.
Yuan Ye treated Endo Chiyo and Nene the same way, equally gentle and polite. Only when discussing serious matters or during lessons was he slightly stern. Other than that, there were no differences. Then…
A Man couldn’t help but lower her head and look at herself. Her Dou Dou eyebrows furrowed, and she hesitated, “Could it be me?”
Yuan Ye was startled and frantically waved his hands, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it’s not you!”
A Man’s Dou Dou eyebrows separated, and she breathed a huge sigh of relief. It wasn’t her, which was good. She was enjoying her role as Senior Retainer immensely and didn’t want to be a concubine to Yuan Ye.
Seeing her relieved, Yuan Ye also breathed a huge sigh of relief. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to see A Man first thing every morning. He had always treated A Man as a buddy. Sleeping under the same blanket with a buddy while naked… he simply couldn’t accept it. Just thinking about it made the hairs on his back stand on end; it was terrifying.
He didn’t dare let A Man guess wildly anymore; it was too frightening. He decided to throw caution to the wind, abandon all pretense of dignity, and with a firm resolve, told the truth, “It’s A Qing…”
“A Qing!” A Man was shocked, her Dou Dou eyebrows standing on end. “You like A Qing?!”
Yuan Ye nodded silently. Saying it out loud wasn’t as awkward anymore, after all, A Man was a good buddy! Of course, if he could return to the Modern Era and write this ordeal into a novel, this part would have to be cut.
“Do you really like A Qing? Do you want to marry A Qing as your main wife?” A Man still found it hard to believe. She truly hadn’t noticed anything at all, especially since A Qing was so reserved and rarely spoke to Yuan Ye, and Yuan Ye wasn’t one for many words either. It felt like even though they were always together, there shouldn’t be anything between them.
Since Yuan Ye had already confessed, he felt no more shame and honestly admitted, “Not now. I plan to wait a couple more years until A Qing is an adult before I say anything. Of course, I will also seek your and your grandfather’s opinions then, as you are her relatives.”
A Man completely ignored him, continuing to look at him with an incredulous gaze. After a long while, she said with disappointment, “My Lord, it’s not that I want to say it, but A Qing will never be able to marry you as your main wife. What kind of nonsense are you thinking about all day!”
Yuan Ye’s expression immediately changed. The influence of Meng Ziqi’s father and the constraints of his upbringing in the Modern Era suddenly diminished significantly. He raised an eyebrow, his eyes flashing, and asked, “Does A Qing have a marriage engagement?”
“No, she doesn’t. We were commoners before, how could we possibly have something like a marriage engagement?” A Man said directly. “Are you planning to be laughed to death if you marry A Qing as your main wife? She’s of Commoner origin. If you marry her as your main wife, people will surely laugh their teeth out.”
Nominally, A Qing and she were Yuan Ye Family vassals, but that was just her opinion. Encountering a peculiar person like Yuan Ye, the outside world would certainly not acknowledge it. Female Warriors were never considered proper Samurai; this was common knowledge known to everyone. If Yuan Ye married A Qing as his main wife, in the eyes of outsiders, it would be like marrying a Commoner as his main wife, which would truly become a huge joke, especially in an era that valued bloodline, lineage, and heritage.
Family Name was the outward manifestation of bloodline, lineage, and blood. A Qing, born a refugee, didn’t even have household registration, let alone a Family Name or lineage.
Even modern Japan still valued such Family Names and lineage. If you don’t believe it, dig into the backgrounds of well-known Japanese politicians and see who their ancestors were. How many of them wouldn’t be related to Nobility?
Yuan Ye naturally didn’t buy into that. He said indifferently, “I don’t care what others think of me!”
A Man didn’t buy into his statement either. She replied equally indifferently, “Then do as you please. You’re capable, go ask A Qing if she’s willing to marry you as your main wife! I’ll bet you ten Kan of money, no, a hundred Kan, that she won’t agree!”
Yuan Ye got up to open the door, but as his hand reached the doorknob, he stopped.
Damn it, how could he ask such a thing? Moreover, A Qing was incredibly stubborn. If her thoughts were even slightly aligned with A Man’s, she truly wouldn’t agree. If he bet, he would definitely lose.
