In Tokyo, I draw cards and become a big demon

"My lord, I can only lead you here."

The maid stopped and retreated to the wide-open hole in the wall. "Go out from here and turn right to reach the Imperial Palace. Please walk the rest of the way alone, my lord."

"Thank you."

After thanking the maid, Uesugi Tetsu let Shiraishi hold the corner of his robe before taking a step - to prevent the little kid from getting lost in the crowd.

After only a dozen steps, Uesugi Che's eyes suddenly opened up.

There was a lot of noisy conversation going on.

Looking up, all you see are samurai with tachi swords on their waists, their hair styled in different styles, and wearing narikitai (formal dress for samurai) with their respective family crests printed on them.

Further away, in the middle of the magnificent and golden Imperial Hall sat a straight figure - that was probably the protagonist of this coming-of-age ceremony, Takechiyo, the future Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Uesugi Tetsu stared at the boy's round, serious face and jokingly said in his heart, "It turns out that old Tokugawa was quite cute when he was a child."

——But this face does look ordinary, not like the material that can be used as a master in the world!

On both sides sat samurai and civil officials whom Uesugi Tetsu did not recognize, probably key officials of the Imagawa clan.

The most eye-catching thing was the old man sitting in the deepest part of the Imperial Hall. His hair and beard were all white, his skin was withered, but he still looked energetic and had an imposing aura.

Shiraishi's voice immediately rang out from behind him: "Taihara Yukisai, Boss, that white-haired old man must be Taihara Yukisai, the military strategist known as 'Imagawa's Right Arm'!"

Taiyuan Xuezhai.

Uesugi Tetsu had an impression of him because the encyclopedia said that it was his death that led to Imagawa Yoshimoto's failure in Okehazama.

Uesugi Che stared at him for a while and found that the old man was indeed dying. If he continued like this, it would be a blessing from God if he could live for half a month.

The fact that he can still sit here must be due to him holding on to his last breath.

Uesugi Tetsu was about to look away, but he found that Taiyuan Xuezhai was looking at him from a distance of hundreds of meters.

He was slightly startled and nodded towards the latter.

Taiyuan Xuezhai showed no reaction and remained silent, maintaining his completely unfathomable majesty and appearance.

Suddenly, Uesugi Tetsu felt his robe being pulled tighter again.

Bai Shi's mutterings came like a barrage of bullets.

"The Asahina clan of the Imagawa family, the Okabe clan, the Ibara clan, the Miura clan of Totomi, the Matsudaira clan of Mikawa, and the Takeda clan and the Hojo clan who are allied with the Imagawa family... Ugh! Why did the Uesugi clan send people here too!?"

When Uesugi Tetsu heard his own surname, he blinked, and then realized that Shiraishi was probably talking about the Uesugi clan of the "Dragon of Echigo" Uesugi Kenshin in the Warring States Period.

But isn’t the Uesugi clan in a hostile relationship with the Imagawa, Takeda, and Hojo clans?

Before Uesugi Che could figure out the reason, a questioning voice suddenly came from not far away in his direction.

"This attire... Could it be that you are the recently famous Onmyoji Che?"

As soon as these words came out, the originally noisy surroundings suddenly became quiet, and then this silence spread as if triggering a chain reaction.

In less than half a minute, the entire area outside the hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and there was no more unnecessary conversation.

Even Takechiyo, who was sitting motionless in the hall, couldn't help but turn her eyes and look at him who stood out from the crowd with his height.

Feeling countless gazes falling on him in an instant, Uesugi Che raised his eyebrows.

——Why does it seem like most people here know me?

How many days had it been since he asked the villagers of Youdu Village for help?

My reputation is spreading too quickly, it's almost abnormal.

Could it be that the title "Onmyoji" was so useful during the Warring States Period?

Takeda Yoshinobu said this subconsciously and looked around. He didn't expect that his words would have such a terrible impact.

At this point, he had no choice but to step forward and said with a smile: "Nice to meet you, Master Che. I am Takeda Yoshinobu of the Takeda family."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Che."

Just as Uesugi Tetsu nodded to Takeda Shingen's eldest son, he heard the sound of conversation starting to rise around him.

"Onmyoji? I think he's just a clown trying to attract attention. How can there still be an Onmyoji in this world?"

"Whether he is an Onmyoji or not, you'll find out when he takes my blow later."

"And what's that following behind him? A pariah? How can a pariah get close to Imagawa Mansion? What bad luck!"

There were also voices of dissatisfaction from women.

"Disgusting! I'm about to vomit just by smelling the odor of that untouchable..."

"Hurry up and kick that untouchable out! As for Master Che, he can stay, hehe."

After a brief silence, endless malice surged like a tide towards Uesugi Tetsu and Shiraishi at the edge of the hall.

Bai Shi's body trembled, and only after he lowered his head did he dare to reveal his anger and fierce murderous intent.

He clutched Uesugi Tetsu's palace robe tightly and murmured guiltily: "I'm sorry, Boss, I shouldn't have come with you..."

Then he began to mutter some unclear dialect to himself, probably about how to kill these warriors in the future.

Even Takeda Yoshinobu, who was talking to Uesugi Tetsu, was made to look stiff by the waves of gossip, almost making him want to cut ties with him right away.

Uesugi Tetsu was neither happy nor sad. He looked around and carefully sensed everyone's strength before shaking his head in disdain.

"A mob..."

Although the warriors around him did not understand the meaning of these words, the sarcasm in them was almost obvious.

So immediately, a burly warrior who had practiced breathing techniques glared at him: "You monster! How dare you say that again!"

"—What if I say it again?"

The warrior from the Totomi Iio clan turned around abruptly upon hearing this, his eyes widening as he shouted, "Stand out!"

Then someone stepped forward.

At the other end of the square, which was several steps higher, two rows of warriors wearing black armor but without swords silently lined up on both sides, clearing a wide path through the crowd.

Then, maids spread out brightly colored plush carpets one by one, connecting the stairs directly to the hall of the Imperial Palace.

Under the gaze of the Iio clan samurai, Imagawa Yoshimoto, wearing tall wooden sandals and an extremely elegant and luxurious twelve-piece robe, with a cold and noble temperament, stepped onto the carpet.

She looked at the burly warrior from a distance of several dozen meters and said in a cold voice, "Now, I stand up."

No one answered.

The moment the warrior saw her, he shrank into the crowd, lowered his head like a quail and trembled all over, hoping that Imagawa Yoshimoto had not remembered his appearance.

"You're just a bunch of idiots who only dare to gossip behind people's backs..."

Imagawa Yoshimoto withdrew his gaze indifferently.

After a moment, she looked down at everyone in the square and announced loudly to them, "Mr. Che is Yiyuan's distinguished guest. If you have any opinions or dissatisfaction with him, you may as well speak directly to Yiyuan now."

The girl with cascading black hair said this and stood on the steps for a long time, scanning everyone's face as if she was inspecting her territory.

There was dead silence in front of the Imperial Palace, and no samurai or noble dared to look her in the eye.

Everyone was silent and dared not answer.

Only Uesugi Tetsu rubbed his eyes and stared blankly at the cold and arrogant young daimyo wearing a twelve-piece robe. He had never expected that he would meet "Ii Naomori" again in this way.

No?

Let’s not talk about the feminization or anything like that…if she is really Imagawa Yoshimoto, then the difference between her and the one I have in my mind is too big!

The former treats people peacefully and cares about people's livelihood. Although he is cultured and well-educated, he does not make any unnecessary demands on others.

As for the latter, apart from his political achievements, he has nothing but shortcomings.

Apart from the fact that both of them are called "Imagawa Yoshimoto", are there any similarities between these two people?

And if she is indeed Imagawa Yoshimoto, doesn't that mean that this girl who is about 1.4 meters tall is the legendary number one archer in Tōkaidō, the only daimyo in the world with a fortune of one million koku?

Only then did Uesugi Tetsu realize what she meant by "surprise" she had said to him before.

Bai Shi behind him was also stunned, finding it unbelievable.

—While this woman certainly looks impressive, how could Imagawa Yoshimoto be so incredibly beautiful?! A woman could become a daimyo?!

Moreover, she looked not much older than me, and she had been so gentle to a commoner like me before...

For a moment, Bai Shi felt indescribable frustration.

He was panting, not daring to look at the dazzling Imagawa Yoshimoto anymore, and instead hid his head under Uesugi Toru's robe.

In the silence, Imagawa Yoshimoto deliberately paused for a moment when his gaze turned to Uesugi Toru, then raised the corners of his lips slightly towards him and smiled for a moment.

pat, pat, pat.

The only common owner of the three countries of Suruga, Totomi, and Mikawa took a step and walked on the carpet that only she was qualified to touch.

The dull sound of wooden shoes hitting the carpet echoed step by step.

Halfway through, the toes of a Mikawa samurai accidentally crossed the edge of the carpet and almost touched the edge of Imagawa Yoshimoto's twelve unlined robes.

Imagawa Yoshimoto stopped and then shifted his gaze indifferently.

"Get down on your knees and get out of my sight."

The warrior hurriedly thanked him, then immediately knelt down and crawled away.

In contrast, when Imagawa Yoshimoto was about to reach the end of the carpet, he turned around and stepped onto the floor tiles that were not covered by the carpet.

The warriors along the way were pushed to both sides by the black-armored warriors, whether they wanted to or not.

But no one dared to complain.

Then, at the end of this specially cleared road, the figure of Uesugi Tetsu appeared.

Imagawa Yoshimoto walked over and came in front of Uesugi Tetsu, not caring at all that his twelve-piece robe was stained with dust.

She raised her head and nodded slightly to Uesugi Tetsu, "I am truly surprised that Your Excellency Tetsu has taken the time to attend this coming-of-age ceremony."

Her words and the hint fell together.

[The current level of influence of the world's journey on history: 0.15%.]

Uesugi Tetsu stared quietly at the black-haired girl in front of him who had transformed from the young lady or maid he had imagined into a daimyo, and he had no idea what to say.

Damn, these history books and encyclopedias are full of crap.

If he had known earlier that Imagawa Yoshimoto was a daimyo whose minor flaws could not completely overshadow his strengths, he should have adopted another plan!

But in this case, choosing to follow Imagawa Yoshimoto doesn't seem to be a bad option?

After all, the current time point is still much earlier than the Honnoji Incident, but it is not far from the Battle of Okehazama.

Imagawa Yoshimoto almost perfectly meets the mission requirements and also feels very compatible with him personally.

This is a wise leader.

Looking at Imagawa Yoshimoto who seemed to be waiting for him to say something, Uesugi Toru's mind suddenly changed and he had made his own decision in his heart.

He smiled at Imagawa Yoshimoto, and then looked at Taihara Yukisai in the Imperial Hall.

To be precise, it was the sickly ghost who was still lying behind Taiyuan Xuezhai, sucking his energy day and night.

Uesugi Tetsu took a deep breath and opened his blessed folding fan with a snap.

——Then, starting from this moment and this place, let’s leave our own unique mark in history!

Chapter 145: The Name of Onmyoji Che, the Wheel of Destiny, and the Mastery of the Five Thunder Techniques! (68k)

"Master Imagawa, could it be that the person sitting in the hall is the renowned military advisor, His Excellency Taiyuan?"

I didn't expect that Uesugi Tetsu would actually mention Taiyuan Xuesai who was sitting in the deepest part of the Imperial Palace.

Imagawa Yoshimoto was slightly startled, then nodded: "Your Excellency Che has good taste."

Uesugi Che waved his folding fan and narrowed his eyes slightly.

——[Consumptive Ghost (Two Stars)].

The demon lying on Taiyuan Xuezhai's back is actually a two-star monster?

The feeling it gave Uesugi Che was only about half a star. If the sickly ghost's appearance was not too conspicuous and ugly, Uesugi Che might have ignored it just by sensing its breath.

In the Warring States Period, when spiritual energy was scarce, most people did not have clairvoyance, so they could not see spirits or ghosts at all.