Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 128

Unlike usual, today's inner hall is quiet.The Xiu family came back from the first battle a few times ago, and the entire inner hall finally had a decent man.

Although the grade is a bit small, it has brought some yang energy to the inner hall, after all, Yingying and Yanyan in the inner hall will circle around Xiu's family.

It's just that when Xiu's family came back today, Xiaobaicai, who was waving to Xiu's family in the morning, did not come to pick up Xiu's family immediately, and Anan, who usually likes to practice naginata at sunset, did not appear in the courtyard of the inner hall.

The Xiu family went back to their home in doubt, and after a couple of dinners, they prepared to take off their clothes and take a shower to wash away their fatigue.

As a result, Xiujia took a closer look, and even Xiujia, the maid who took the bath for Xiujia today, didn't know her, and the maids Amei and Xiaoling beside him unexpectedly disappeared.

The maid in front of me, she is not too much to say that she is a female envoy. She looks to be in her early 20s, with calluses on her hands, and traces of hard work on her dark face.

The maids around Japanese daimyos in the Warring States period are generally the daughters of local landlords and town merchants.Some wealthy clans may have farmers’ wives and daughters to make up the number, but for daimyos with more than [-] stones, ordinary peasants will only do some rough work when they enter the inner hall, and they will never be allowed to serve them personally. lord.

As for the overlord of the Xiu family, who is famous for hundreds of thousands of stones, even the laundry in the inner hall is done by the daughters of the locals.

And the personal maids of the Xiu family are usually the daughters of the wealthy families and retainers in charge. They grow up with the Xiu family from childhood, and when they reach the grade, they are taken into the house by the Xiu family. This is also a social rule.

Hide's previous maids, Ami and Xiaoling, were his cousin, Miura Hiroken's niece and Akashi Keiki's daughter respectively.

But now, this envoy with a dark complexion and calloused hands looks like the wife of a leader in the interior. She is assigned to the inner hall to take care of some chores to subsidize the income of the family.

Logically speaking, it is absolutely impossible for this kind of woman to come into the Xiu family's sight, but now she is assigned to serve beside the Xiu family, making the Xiu family a little confused about the situation.

Judging from the movement of the female envoy rubbing Xiujia's back, it was obvious that she was using him as a washboard. The force was so great that it made Xiujia feel a burst of pain, and even made Xiujia feel that she was an assassin for a moment.

It was the Xiu family who couldn't bear it anymore, and asked the maid who was rubbing his back, "Why are you here to serve me? Where did Amei and Xiaoling go?"

The female envoy was a little embarrassed, and said at a loss, "I don't know, sister Yuling asked me to take a bath for His Highness."

Of course the Xiu family didn't know who the Yuling she was talking about was, so they sent her away in annoyance, yelled outside, and called their attendants to take a bath for themselves.

Not long after, a teenage boy with his armor off came in, knelt down in the bathing pool, and scrubbed the Xiu family.

Not to mention, the technique is a bit good, as if back in the later generations, he was picked up by the uncle in the Yangzhou bathhouse. Uncle, after rubbing his whole body, Xiujia fixed his eyes on this young man who was about his age, and asked, "What's your name?" , what position do you hold now?"

Seeing the Hideka's question, the young man threw down the bath towel and knelt down and said to the Hideka, "My name is Shimizu Hanbei, I was born in Bichu Shimizu Village, and now I'm an ordinary member of the entourage team, because I'm young and do some odd jobs. "

Xiujia was a little surprised when he heard the name and asked, "Your surname is Qingshui, but is it Qingshui that Qingshui Zongzhi?"

Speaking of this, the young man's expression changed a little, and he lowered his head and said, "The person His Highness mentioned is exactly my uncle."

The Hide family was a little dumbfounded when they heard Hanbei's answer. Although Shimizu Zongji could not escape his death in history, his son and his clan were taken to the Mori family for proper placement in exchange for the final opening of the city.

However, in this life, due to the outstanding performance of the Hide family, the Mori family retreated ahead of time, which led Shimizu Zongji to reach a unilateral peace with Hideyoshi in despair, and his clan was also left in Bizen. If the Hide family remembers correctly, their clan finally It is a very small lord who owns 3400 koku of Kamo Castle in the territory of Ukido.

After careful questioning by the Xiu family, it turned out that as the heir of a wealthy family in the direct jurisdiction of the Xiu family, he was included in the entourage team by the captain of the servant Masahiro Date.

Xiujia continued to ask, "Why did your Qingshui family send you here? I remember that Qingshui Palace has a son who is about the same age."

What Hideka is talking about is the historical Shimizu Keiji. Kiyomizu Zongji was taken by Kobayakawa Takakage after his seppuku. Historically, he participated in the Battle of Sekigahara as Xiuqiu's retainer.

"His Royal Highness Keiji is serving in the standing reserve, and he is the squadron leader." Speaking of his patriarch, this young man is obviously full of pride. After all, in the Ukita Army, there are Akikami Jiujia and Takayama Clan Zongzhuyu in front, and he is young Just become a standing squadron leader, and the future is bound to be limitless.

Xiujia was somewhat interested in Qingshui Jingzhi, but he didn't want to break the casserole and ask the end. Instead, he was particularly curious about his back rubbing technique, so he asked, "Why are you so good at rubbing back?"

"I don't know, maybe it's innate. When I was a child, I liked to rub my back. I often helped my father and my uncle rub their backs. They all said that my back was very comfortable. I didn't expect to be lucky enough to rub His Highness's back today."

Seeing the young man's gentle smile, the Xiu family looked like a little sun that warmed people's hearts, and they were full of affection for him, so they continued to ask, "Your name is Banbingwei, but you have already entered Yuanfu? What is your nickname? what?"

"I've been in Yuanfu since last year. It's Haruka Ryo-sama as my black hat relative. My full name is Shimizu Hanbei Yukiya."

"Oh, you are very nice and I like it very much. It just so happens that the Xiangchuan family in Sanuki has a small surname, who is in the same grade as you. You can follow Zhuang Qingzhi as my personal attendant."

"Really? Thank you, Your Highness, for the reward." Shimizu Xing also heard that the Xiu family promoted him from an ordinary member of the attendant team to a personal attendant, which was like giving him a chance to leap over the dragon's gate.

Didn't you see that both Jian Zhengli and Zhuang Lin Yixin were born as personal servants of the Xiu family, and now they are both great lords with thousands of stones and thousands of stones, and they are the only ones in the Yuxi family.

There are even rumors in the family that joining the Xiu family's servant team will definitely be the backbone of the family in the future, becoming the Xiu family's personal servant, and will definitely become a daimyo's achievement in the future. How could this child who was born in a small village and separated from the family not be excited? Woolen cloth.

After the Xiu family took a bath, changed their clothes, and returned to their home, they still haven't seen Ami and Xiao Ling. The Xiu family was really puzzled, so they asked Hanbei to go out to inquire about the situation.

After an hour or so, Hanbei came back and reported that the family members were angry with the Hide family.

They said: The Xiu family brought back a female family member to fill the inner hall every time they went out, and they got older every time.

Qing Ji herself is the eldest lady of Kyoto, how could she have been so angry, she locked herself in the room and cried, Nan Ji was by her side, A Mei and Xiao Ling were friends with them, so they went to comfort them together .

Even Tongfangyuan, the stepmother of the Xiu family, was furious, and directly complained to the maid beside her, "I am afraid that the Xiu family will bring a 'mother' who is about her age back to fill the house in the future. Who will have the final say in this family?"

As for Xindao's Naoko, he also knew that his status was embarrassing, and after being arranged by the envoy, he set up a Buddhist hall, recited scriptures at ease, and did not participate in the affairs of the inner hall.

The Xiu family heard their helpless roar, and really wanted to say something to them: "This wife is not what I want, they forced it on me." 'I don't know if they believe it or not.

Unexpectedly, the arrival of Naoko directly caused a stir in the inner hall of the Xiu family, and even the stepmother was alarmed. What was even more outrageous was that the newcomer Naoko took this opportunity to compete for favor, and actually set up After entering the Buddhist hall, he recited scriptures like monks and nuns.

You are a girl of 18/19, your ex-husband didn’t want you to run away, and your father remarried to your current husband, but both husbands are still alive, and I don’t know who you are chanting for.

After the Xiu family heard the information brought back by Hanbei, they were in a bad mood. The most difficult thing in life is coaxing women. This time they offended three women, two wives and one mother. I don't know what to do.

But the Xiu family quickly and acutely realized a problem. Even the attendants who were active in the outer hall could easily inquire about the news of the Xiu family's inner hall. The Xiu family's imperial hall was full of loopholes.

Thinking of this, the Xiu family called out "Sanzhicheng" to the empty room, thinking for a while that a middle-aged samurai entered the house and saluted the Xiu family, "Please give orders, my lord."

"Go and find out who is so talkative, and then report to me, what they said, and how many people have passed it on will be clear. If this continues, my Patriarch of the Yuxi family will make the whole community laugh, and it's time to make an example to others. .”

"Yes, I'll do it right away."

After receiving the order, Sanzhicheng Zhezhi quickly disappeared into the night. According to his ability, Xiujia believed that he would be able to give the answer soon.At this moment, there was a sound of Yingying Yanyan outside the courtyard of Xiujia's house.

Not long after, it was Amei and Xiaoling who came back to the courtyard of Xiu's house with a maid talking, and Xiu's family spread out a copy of "The Story of Taiping", which described the struggle history of his father's Zhi family, and sat in the room to read. Shimizu Yukiya and Zhuang Zhiqing sat at his door and waited for orders from the Xiu family at any time.

Several maids passed by the Xiu family's house along the wall corridor, and knelt down to salute the Xiu family. The Xiu family generally took pity on these girls, and according to the usual habit, they would get up immediately.

But today, Xiujia didn't say the word "get up" for a long time, as if they didn't exist, she was reading a book by herself.

This is because Xiu's family intends to show them off. Maybe it's because they are so nice to them that they forget who is the head of the family.

These maids dared to leave the lord openly and go to accompany others. Although they are still in the inner hall, this is still a very serious error of principle.

Seeing that Xiujia didn't let them get up for a long time, the maids started whispering under the corridor, Xiujia knocked on the table, Zhuang Qingzhi immediately understood what Xiujia meant, got up and closed the sliding door.

The Japanese wooden sliding doors can't isolate the sound at all. Although Xiujia's way of doing this is not very lethal, it is very insulting.Tell those little maids clearly, I know you are kneeling, but I just won't let you get up, and you are not allowed to get up without my order.

After a long time, Amei, who was a little older outside the room, tentatively said "Your Highness" to the room, as if to remind the Xiu family to pay attention, but the Xiu family did not respond to her. Through the window paper on the door, they could only see To the shadow of a teenager reading in the light.

I don't know how long it took, but I only know that Shimizu Xingya refilled tea three times and lamp oil once before Xiujia put down "The Tale of Taiping" and asked Zhuang Qingzhi to open the door.

After kneeling for a long time, the people whose feet were already sore, sat sideways on the veranda, hammered their calves with small hands to relieve the pressure on their legs, but saw a shadow get up and open the door, and hurriedly sat down on their knees Okay, wait for Xiujia's instruction.

Xiujia handed a Yongle Tongbao to Xingya and asked him to pass it to Amei outside. After they took the Yongle Tongbao and examined it carefully, Xiujia said, "Do you know what this is?"

"His Royal Highness, it is Yongle Tongbao."

"Do you know why Yongle Tongbao was cast in this way?"

"I'll wait, I don't know."

"Coins are minted by the state and issued to the people for trading. The Ming Dynasty cast them with a circle outside the city and a square inside. This is called Tianyuan Place, which means to tell the people that all people in the world are kings and ministers."

"The sky is round and the earth is round, and the law of heaven and earth is the rule. In this circle, I and you each occupy their own positions. This is the rule. Monarchs, ministers, masters and servants, loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness, the rules cannot be messed up."

When Xiujia said this, she paused, wanting to observe their expressions, but unfortunately it was too dark outside to see anything clearly, so this B couldn't pretend.

I could only continue to say, "You have been with me for a long time, and you have reached the age to start a family. It just so happens that the first month is coming soon. Taking this opportunity, I will let you go home and take a look at yourself. Parents and brothers. Go and see your husband and son-in-law. Next year, you won’t use it.”

Hearing that the Xiu family wanted to drive them out of Gangshan, they all fell to the ground crying and begging for forgiveness from the Xiu family.

For ordinary maids, being sent back to life is just a bit more difficult. They are used as political tools in the family to marry generals of similar status, wives of wealthy families, or marry high-ranking concubines.

But for Ami and Xiaoling, the personal maids who grew up with the Xiu family, they have long been prepared to be taken into the house by the Xiu family. Arrangement, marrying a new family retainer or the second generation of a wealthy family to be the main wife, the starting point is to be higher than others.

Now that the Xiu family wants to take them away, it not only takes away their hope for the future, but also something that the Yuxi family has not done for so many years. When they return home, they will definitely be questioned many times by their parents and brothers at home, and they will even be regarded as The root cause of the Xiu family's anger is likely to be "honor murder" by relatives.

The people who were still laughing and laughing when they entered the door became agitated at this moment. Amei walked forward with tears on her knees, and wanted to climb in to plead for mercy, but Zhuang Qingzhi firmly blocked her from the house.

Not only was their behavior not forgiven by the Xiu family, but it made the Xiu family even more disgusted. The Xiu family said directly, "Leave early tomorrow morning, don't cry in front of me, so I won't be upset." go down.

Amidst the cries of "Your Highness, Your Highness", these maids serving the Xiu family were dragged down. Perhaps the commotion was too loud, and even the Tongfang Courtyard on the other side sent people over to ask what happened. After ascertaining the situation, he hurried back.

At around 9:[-] pm, at this time when most Japanese people have already rested, the palace in Okayama Honmaru is brightly lit. Even the Tongfangyuan, which has already rested, is dressed, and the female envoys in the front row are holding the lights. Come home.

(End of this chapter)