Swallow Return

Lady Iori, being a woman who knew about human affairs and not a naive young girl, lowered her head shyly for a moment. Seeing no movement, she composed herself, raised her head, smiled, and walked forward. She knelt and bowed before Ryuun, saying, "Lord Ryuun, are you alright?"

"Ah... very good, very good." Liu Yun came back to his senses and responded, subconsciously taking half a step back. Then, realizing something was wrong, he took a step forward, almost bumping into something. He quickly stepped back again, coughed twice as if to make a sound, and said, "Actually, I was thinking about something."

Iori lowered her head and smiled, seemingly oblivious to her flustered state, and said softly, "Today's events have truly wronged Lord Ryuun. You should have achieved great things, distinguished yourself, and married the noble and beautiful princess of a great lord's family. I am but a withered flower, an unlucky person..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun's already complicated feelings became even more complicated.

These words, on the surface merely appear to be humble and polite remarks, but in reality, they reveal a sense of self-pity and a willingness to compromise.

This indicates that she has already made a certain kind of commitment.

On the other hand, Iori intentionally or unintentionally conveyed that she was forced by circumstances to submit and had no choice but to accept this situation.

It wasn't out of their own free will.

Thinking about it this way, I seem even more excited...

But after that moment of distorted excitement, Liu Yun immediately felt something was amiss.

Am I not a fine man who can win over a beautiful woman with my own personal charm? Why must I rely on external circumstances to force her?

Is it meaningful to bully others with power?

It might actually be quite interesting, just like the famous scholar Lei Laohu said, "Bullying others is the source of happiness"...

However, a transmigrator protagonist with noble qualities obviously cannot have such lowbrow tastes.

This momentary surge of petty pride quickly overshadowed any romantic thoughts that might have been aroused.

Liu Yun's mindset changed, but his expression remained the same. He looked up and around, then suddenly pointed upwards and laughed, "So there was a curtain in this room all along."

The topic changed so abruptly that Iori couldn't react for a moment. After a moment of stunned silence, she timidly said, "This curtain can divide the room in two..."

Liu Yun nodded and replied, "That's very good. I still have some things to think about. Please, Lady Iori, draw the curtains and rest first."

Then he turned around without hesitation.

Iori paused for a moment, then curtsied and timidly said, "Yes." She slowly pulled up the curtain and disappeared behind it.

At the same time, it seemed as if a curtain was being slowly drawn closed by Liu Yun himself.

I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.

But there's also an indescribable sense of ease and joy.

This is probably because it upholds the noble character of the transmigrated protagonist.

Amitabha Buddha, go to sleep, go to sleep!

A person should keep their word. Since I've decided not to act tonight, I won't go back on my word.

However, it would be inappropriate to go out and find another place to live, as it would seem too deliberate.

Let's just make do with it...

It's best to be in the same room, separated by a curtain.

There was no bed in the room, but a platform about a foot high was set up against one side of the wall, on which several tatami mats were laid for sitting or lying down.

It is divided in the middle, and the remaining area is still enough for one person to lie down comfortably.

There were also plenty of quilts in the cabinet next to it.

Why did we make curtains as partitions in the first place?

Could it be that my brother and Iori don't have a harmonious relationship?

Forget it, there's no point in thinking about this kind of thing.

Liu Yun lay silently on the tatami mat, trying to calm her restless mind.

Suddenly, a soft, whispering sigh came from the other side of the curtain.

The sound was so soft that only someone as skilled in martial arts and with keen hearing and eyesight as Liu Yun would have noticed it.

Judging from the voice, it seemed to be saying, "I can finally rest easy."

As expected, Iori had to realize that she wasn't really in a hurry to find a man.

However, her tone... seemed to carry a hint of regret.

It's hard to guess what exactly the emotion was.

After all, that's a woman's mind...

Chapter Seven: Promotion on the Front Lines

Liu Yun unusually didn't sleep well that night, and felt quite unwell when she woke up in the morning.

However, he was exceptionally healthy, and even when he was in poor condition, he was still far superior to ordinary people.

Lady Iori's sleep quality didn't seem to be very good either, with dark circles under her eyes, but after washing up and getting ready, she looked refreshed.

Early in the morning, she took out a bag of copper coins from the treasury, gathered dozens of villagers, and ordered them to assist the old monk Xinghe and the young monk Suifeng in building the temple.

This was something Liu Yun specifically instructed me to do yesterday.

The fact that Iori started working on it so quickly, showing her dedication, was probably a deliberate attempt to demonstrate her respect and obedience to the new lord.

With such a courteous attitude, all she wanted was to maintain her position as the "Madam of the Sasaki Family."

Fortunately, Liu Yun had no intention of revoking this authority; on the contrary, he was happy to see someone share the burden.

After all, most of the matters within the territory are trivial and insignificant; the real path to standing out and making a name for oneself lies elsewhere.

Moreover, the people had previously been both fearful and resistant in front of Liuyun, only knowing how to complain about their poverty and suffering. But when Lady Iori spoke, they showed reverence and obedience, and obediently followed her orders.

This shows that she must be very good at managing her household.

Iori explained to Ryuun, "These twenty or thirty households are all large families, but they don't have enough land or boats. They usually have to do odd jobs to make a living. We can hire them to help repair the temple at a rate of 20 mon per day for men and 10 mon per day for women, children, and the elderly. It will only cost a little over 10 mon in total, and it won't cause any resentment."

This suggests that the labor costs involved in doing this should be much lower than the market price.

Liu Yun certainly wouldn't have any objections.

The old monk Xinghe and the young monk Suifeng were both very happy to see that the temple repair had been settled so quickly.

Everyone performed a blessing and warding-off-evil ceremony, which is essential before any civil engineering project, and then construction officially began.

Xinghe had someone with experience building temples before, so he could be considered a barely qualified unlicensed architect; we could let him direct. The villagers had also participated in some general labor services, so they weren't novices.

It seems this matter is no longer a concern.

On the other hand, Eguchi Sukezaemon, after urging marriage, remembered another important matter.

He solemnly invited Liuyun to the ancestral temple of the Sasaki family.

They said a simple sacrificial ceremony should be held.

For samurai living in feudal society, rituals were certainly very important, and Ryuun could understand this.

But after hearing Eguchi Sukezaemon's explanation, he realized that today's situation was not quite the same as he had imagined.

According to that guy, in this era of supernatural powers, monks rely on the power of gods and Buddhas, Onmyoji study magic, and samurai, in addition to diligently practicing martial arts, also need to pay attention to communicating with their ancestors during rituals to activate the potential power in their blood.

It is generally accepted that the more powerful the ancestors, the stronger the bloodline power.

The previous Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, is said to have successfully unleashed the full potential of the Ashikaga family's bloodline, thus achieving unparalleled swordsmanship and strength.

Although he was eventually surrounded and beaten to death by hundreds of elite samurai led by the Miyoshi Triumvirate, he surprisingly killed forty or fifty people in the process, which was truly astonishing.

Therefore, Eguchi Sukezaemon hoped that Ryuun could activate the bloodline of the Sasaki family.

Out of curiosity, Liu Yun gave it a try.

According to popular belief, after mastering martial arts, one can burn some incense at the family temple, sit upright, clear one's mind of distractions, close one's eyes and enter a meditative state, and then have the opportunity to sense the aura of one's ancestors.

Liu Yun has clearly achieved some success in martial arts.

But even after sitting for two or three hours and burning dozens of incense sticks, there was no reaction whatsoever.

I don't know if it's because his soul wasn't pure enough due to being a time traveler, or because he was still thinking about what happened last night and wasn't focused enough.

Maybe if we try this before bringing up the marriage proposal, we can concentrate and successfully activate it!

Liu Yun wasn't too disappointed.

Firstly, there don't seem to be many noteworthy figures among the ancestors of the Sasaki family, so even if they were activated, it might not be of much use.

Secondly, according to common belief, there is no set pattern to whether or not the power of bloodline can be activated, or how much it can be activated.

Eguchi Sukezaemon seemed rather dejected, which suggests he was indeed quite loyal to the Sasaki family.

He sighed deeply, saying, "Even Lord Liuyun is no match for him. It seems that the descendants will not be fortunate enough to inherit the power that Lord Daoyu possessed back then."

Liu Yun's historical knowledge was limited, and he had never heard of the famous "Sasaki Dōyō". Out of curiosity, he asked: "Who is Dōyō-kun?"

As a result, Eguchi Sukezaemon couldn't answer, only knowing that it was a powerful figure from the Sasaki family several hundred years ago. Because the family genealogy was interrupted during the chaos, it was impossible to say how many generations back.

Liu Yun thought to himself, "Maybe they are descendants who have climbed the social ladder and falsely claimed to be from a prestigious family! But there's no need to say this out loud, as it could easily damage morale."

Let's put the ancestral worship ceremony on hold for now.

Now that they had agreed to marry Iori and offered incense at the ancestral temple, there was no need for the Sasaki family, a small rural lord with few rules, to go through any further formalities.

The only remaining task is to lead troops to Yokoyama Castle to meet with Kinoshita Tokichiro.

Only after gaining that guy's approval could I officially establish myself.

Unfortunately, the territory has recently suffered heavy damage and is unable to provide enough troops, which is a major headache.

Liu Yun's decision was to ignore it.

Since only Eguchi Sukezaemon is left as the sole samurai, it's best not to bring him along; he can stay and guard the house. Having more peasant soldiers is pointless; three to five people to help carry bags and serve is sufficient.

The previous claim of "ten samurai and one hundred and twenty foot soldiers" was definitely far from enough. If there were any doubts, they would say that they were replaced by individual strength that could rival a hundred men.

Hachisuka Masakatsu had witnessed the sword being drawn, so Kinoshita Tokichiro probably wouldn't have any objections.

After weighing the strength of low-ranking samurai like Hayami Seibei and Eguchi Sukezaemon, Liu Yun felt that as long as he had a sword in hand, he would have a good chance of winning against ten samurai and one hundred and twenty foot soldiers.

When he shared this idea, Eguchi Sukezaemon had no choice but to accept it with a bitter face.

Iori suggested, "How can Lord Ryuun be without retainers? I have two servants who came from Kyoto as part of my dowry. They have studied martial arts and know etiquette. If they were equipped with katana, they could probably serve as samurai."

Eguchi Sukezaemon disagreed: "How can one impersonate a samurai?"

Liu Yun thought it was fine: "If they are truly useful, I will take them as my retainers and give them the status of a formal samurai."