Chapter 180: Lovers Finally Unite
Oda Nobunaga annihilated the Iwakura Oda family in one fell swoop, theoretically completing the unification of Owari. For a time, he entered a state of extreme excitement, holding banquets and tea parties for days on end to vent his exhilaration—the Oda Danjō no Chū family, from an ordinary mid-level magistrate family, had finally become a daimyo after three generations of effort; it was impossible not to be excited.
Of course, besides venting his excitement, Oda Nobunaga held these banquets and tea parties for practical reasons as well.
For instance, to formally accept the allegiance of the local lords from the Upper Four Districts of Owari, officially accepting them as vassals, and incidentally receiving the treasures, daughters, and hostages they sent;
For instance, to distribute the spoils of victory. The local lords who actively sided with the Danjō no Chū family during the previous battles, and the vassals who rendered great merits, all needed to receive their due rewards.
And among the distribution of spoils, Yuan Ye naturally received a share, and it was an extremely enviable one—several manors in the Upper Four Districts, along with their attached lakes and mountain areas. Furthermore, the ecstatic Oda Nobunaga greatly praised his contributions, considering him the most reliable ally of the Danjō no Chū family, and ranking his overall merits as first.
His daily treatment became much more cordial. Not only was he gifted numerous luxury goods such as famous horses, famous swords, brocade clothes, and tea sets, but he was also presented with a luxurious separate residence in Kiyosu Castle. Even Inu-hime, who was staying in Xin Wanjin, received substantial “rewards,” greatly elevating her status within the Danjō no Chū family.
This extraordinary treatment made Yuan Ye feel as though he were being roasted on a fire, but he could vaguely sense why Oda Nobunaga was doing this.
The Iwakura Oda family had fallen, and the Danjō no Chū family had grown considerably larger. However, from another perspective, the number of vassal local lords under Oda Nobunaga had reached a new level. Oda Nobunaga needed someone to counterbalance and check these deeply entrenched local lords, and no one was more suitable than him, an “upstart outsider” with no deep roots.
For example, the manors allocated to him were all far apart and located at the borders of several local lords, like extremely bothersome nails. At first glance, it seemed as though Oda Nobunaga had deliberately arranged them to monitor those local lords.
Yuan Ye didn’t pay much attention after realizing this. He had his own plans; in any case, he would directly accept any benefits Oda Nobunaga gave him, without caring about the feelings of the “locals” of Owari. However, this meant he couldn’t return to Xin Wanjin for the time being and could only stay in Kiyosu Castle, where he would be “paraded” by Oda Nobunaga from time to time, allowing Oda Nobunaga space to express his “trust” and “care.”
Theoretically, the role he was playing now should have been filled by Monkey, but strangely, Monkey had not appeared yet.
Did his appearance lead Oda Nobunaga to a better choice, causing him to abandon the idea of promoting a group of grassroots samurai and outsider samurai?
Or did Oda Nobunaga have this idea but hadn’t started implementing it yet, using him as a placeholder for now?
After dealing with the banquet, Yuan Ye, while taking A Man and A Qing to the stables, let his thoughts wander. When he heard movement and looked up, he saw Maeda Toshiie talking animatedly with a group of people in front of the stables—all young men around twenty years old, the new generation of the Oda Danjō no Chū family.
Yuan Ye had nothing to do for the moment and curiously went closer to take a look, discovering they were discussing a horse.
Maeda Toshiie also saw him approaching and immediately called out enthusiastically, “Sanlang, come quickly and see what you think of my horse!”
The people around also noticed Yuan Ye and recognized him as the current popular figure of the Danjō no Chū family. They all made way and bowed respectfully, saying, “Lord Yuan Ye.”
Yuan Ye nodded gently in return and looked at the horse they were discussing. It was a very magnificent Kiso horse, over 1.4 meters at the shoulder, definitely a top-tier horse for this era.
But that was all he could discern. This was just a bit of common sense he had gained from being forced to ride horses every day in ancient times. Other than that, he could at most distinguish between “main coat” and “secondary coat”—main coat being the horse’s primary color, and secondary coat being the color of the spots and markings on its body.
This level of understanding was basic enough for anyone to see, so he was a novice at judging horses. He didn’t have the skill to appraise a “famous steed.” He could only casually pat its hindquarters and say with a smile, “It’s a good horse. Did Lord Kazusa-no-suke just bestow it upon you?”
A short but handsome young follower beside them, quite bold, interjected with a smile, “That’s right, Lord Yuan Ye. This is a horse specially bestowed by Lord Kazusa-no-suke for Lord Maeda’s marriage.”
Yuan Ye was surprised for a moment; he hadn’t received any news about this before. He turned to look at Maeda Toshiie and asked curiously, “You’re getting married?”
Low chuckles erupted from the followers around. It seemed Maeda Toshiie had a good relationship with these followers. Maeda Toshiie became embarrassed, his rough face turning red, and he waved his hands dismissively, “Alright, alright, you talk too much. Get lost, all of you!”
The followers’ laughter grew louder, mixed with imitations like “Please don’t let down my good intentions.” Seeing that they weren’t leaving, Maeda Toshiie could only pull Yuan Ye away. After taking a couple of steps, he looked back worriedly and called out, “Hiyoshi, please take good care of ‘Ōkurige’!”
“Don’t worry! I’ll personally watch over it these few days!” The handsome follower who had spoken earlier replied with a smile and then led the horse into a separate stable.
Only then did Maeda Toshiie feel relieved. He turned and saw the curious gazes of Yuan Ye and A Man （ and A Qing’s gaze was not curious）. His rough face turned red again, and he began wringing his hands like a fly, “Yes, I am preparing to get married. It was a bit sudden, and I haven’t had time to tell you yet.”
Yuan Ye asked, “Is it A Song?”
“It’s her!” Maeda Toshiie hesitated for a moment. He felt that after knowing Yuan Ye for so many years, he wasn’t an outsider. Moreover, many people knew about this matter, and even if it hadn’t spread yet, the cause and effect would likely reach Yuan Ye’s ears soon. So, he honestly confessed, “My father wanted to betroth A Song to my elder brother. A Song… ran away to find me and said… uh, said she wanted to marry me. I… I didn’t intend to agree, but I happened to meet our Lord. Our Lord seemed to admire A Song very much, so he agreed on my behalf.”
Yuan Ye was surprised for a moment, not expecting Oda Nobunaga to be involved. But he asked curiously, “Why would your father plan to betroth A Song to your elder brother?”
Maeda Toshiie was more than ten years older than A Song, almost a generation apart. His elder brother, Maeda Toshihisa, and A Song would truly be a generation apart.
Maeda Toshiie felt a bit awkward discussing this topic. This matter was somewhat like him snatching his elder brother’s wife, which sounded bad no matter how you put it. “My father and mother also liked A Song very much and always thought she was very suitable to be the mistress of the house. Previously, my elder brother was in poor health and couldn’t even sleep soundly, and he didn’t want to get married. But after you treated him, he recovered completely after two or three years of recuperation. So, my parents have recently been concerned about his marriage and thought of A Song, planning to keep her in the family…”
Yuan Ye was speechless for a moment, not expecting this matter to involve him. However, on second thought, he felt that something similar had likely happened in history. Even if Maeda Toshihisa had lost his fertility due to a back sore, Maeda Toshiharu had probably also considered keeping A Song in the family and making her the mistress of Aragiko Castle—she could adopt a child. Historically, Maeda Toshihisa’s heir, Maeda Keiji, was a child brought by Toshihisa’s wife from her previous marriage, which was similar to adoption.
Well, Yuan Ye felt this matter was unrelated to him. He might have interfered with historical development a little, but the interference wasn’t significant. At most, A Song’s escape time was a bit earlier. However, A Song being able to escape from Aragiko Castle to find Maeda Toshiie in Kiyosu was quite courageous for this era, rebellious, and even somewhat desperate. No wonder Oda Nobunaga supported it.
He had satisfied his curiosity but regretted not being able to witness A Song “confessing” to Maeda Toshiie. If he had known something like this would happen, he would have at least sent A Man to secretly spy and listen to a “live broadcast”—this was a classic scene that had been depicted many times in later Japanese historical dramas, a major representation of ancient Japanese love.
Maeda Toshiie saw him pondering silently, with a look of regret on his face, and became uneasy. He asked hesitantly, “Sanlang, do you think I shouldn’t marry A Song?”
Yuan Ye snapped back to attention and retorted, “Do you want to marry her?”
“I kind of want to…” Maeda Toshiie was still hesitant, as if he hadn’t considered marriage before. “If I don’t marry her, she’ll be very embarrassed. Moreover, our Lord has already given the order, telling me I must marry her. He even gave me a house in the castle town and a horse. I can’t refuse.”
“This is something only you can decide.” Yuan Ye had no intention of acting as a matchmaker, nor would he ever, and said directly, “Just act according to your own heart.”
Maeda Toshiie looked up at the sky for a while, as if recalling the moment A Song ran to him to express her feelings. Even though that moment was somewhat like a child’s tantrum, after a while, a smile appeared on his face, and he said, “I need to properly arrange the house.”
Yuan Ye felt it was good for lovers to end up together and said with a smile, “Let me know if you need any help.”
In this era, Japan didn’t have elaborate wedding banquets; marriage was a very private matter between two families. However, Maeda Toshiie and A Song’s situation was a bit tricky, as A Song was unlikely to be married from Aragiko Castle.
Thinking of this, Yuan Ye added with concern, “Where is A Song now?”
“At Lord Asano’s place.” Maeda Toshiie hadn’t worried about this issue at all and said directly, “It was arranged by our Lord. A Song will be married from there, and Lord Asano doesn’t mind.”
At Asano Nagamasa’s place, so A Song had already befriended Nene by this time? However, since everything was arranged, Yuan Ye didn’t pry further. He chatted with Maeda Toshiie about some trivial matters, sharing wedding experience as a married “veteran.” Then Maeda Toshiie left to prepare for the wedding—he probably still needed to talk to Maeda Toshiharu to gain A Song’s understanding.
Yuan Ye watched him leave and then turned to A Man, instructing, “Later, go to the shop and get some good cloth to send to Lord Asano for A Song.” He paused, then added, “And pick out some new patterns for Nene.”
A Song had likely not brought much with her when she hastily fled Aragiko Castle. Sending her some cloth to make new clothes, and also giving a gift to his little disciple, was a way to maintain their relationship.
A Man nodded casually, preparing to send someone to handle it once she returned to the separate residence. She followed Yuan Ye back to the stables, sighing, “Time flies so fast. Even that dung ball Maeda is getting married, and to A Song.”
“Yes, time really flies so fast!” Yuan Ye echoed her sentiment. A Song’s vomiting from eating spoiled candy seemed like yesterday, but in the blink of an eye, several years had passed, and she was able to get married—Maeda Toshiie is truly a beast, A Song might not even be ten years old.
However, he had no right to criticize such things now. He had one at home too. If Maeda Toshiie was a beast, he wasn’t much better.
Yuan Ye and A Man continued to discuss Maeda Toshiie and A Song’s “love,” debating how Aragiko Maeda would react to A Song’s escape and what Maeda Toshihisa should do. They soon returned to the stables. Just as they were about to lead their horses back to the separate residence to rest, a group of horsemen approached, and the person at the head of the group’s gaze immediately fell upon Yuan Ye.
