Chapter 29 Chapter 29 Fate is like an Insect

In the blink of an eye, entering the spring of the eighteenth year of Qingchang, Okubo Chang'an suddenly felt that his life was short.What happened in recent years, as well as the successive deaths of people he knew well, made him, a very conceited person, feel a little sad. When Okamoto Daihachi was burning at the stake, Chang'an was still in high spirits, without any sense of danger.However, ever since Arima Harunobu committed seppuku, his self-esteem began to waver.Arima Harunobu was only forty-six years old.Chang'an wanted to lock him up first, and then find an opportunity to release him.In addition, no matter what the world says, Okubo Tadarei's position is still as stable as Mount Fuji, and he will never be intimidated by the tyranny of Honda and his son.In addition, Jiakang also has great trust in Chang'an.However, two months after the execution of Daihachi, Arima Harunobu was suddenly ordered to perform seppuku, so he left in a hurry.

Shortly thereafter, Konoe, who had been a confidant in Chang'an's youth, passed away at the age of seventy-seven; then, Ieyasu's son-in-law Gamo Hideyuki also passed away at the age of thirty.When Mr. Konoe was still a saru-music artist in Chang'an, he had no regard for his status and status when he was in contact with Chang'an. He passed away at a very young age, and Chang'an was not particularly sad. : There are no young or old on the road to Huangquan. Just as Chang'an was feeling uneasy, Jixiu Masakimachi passed away, and then Otomo Yoshijo, Naito Nobushiro, and people close to him disappeared from this world one after another.

In the eighteenth year of Qingchang, life and death are also patrolling around Chang'an.On the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, Ikeda Teruma of the wife clan died at the age of fifty.Yasuke Amano, who had a close political relationship with Chang'an, died in mid-February.Not long after, Aoyama Tadunari, the in-law of the original Kanto Fengxing and Chang'an, passed away; Koide Yoshimasa of Osaka also passed away at the age of forty-nine. Chang'an had to start thinking about his age.He is also in his sixties. Although few people regard him as a person in his sixties, time is not forgiving.

On this day, Chang'an set fire to the caterpillars gathered under the cherry tree in the courtyard.He asked three young maids to wrap rags on the end of the bamboo pole, pour oil on it, and wait for orders, while he went to find the bugs first.Seeing a pile of larvae, they set them on fire.At this time, he suddenly thought of A Xing.Which river is Ah Xing's body now sinking in?For a moment, he felt dizzy. "Ah!" A maid threw the burning bamboo pole to the ground and supported Chang'an. "Dangerous! If you throw the bamboo pole there, what if it catches fire!" Chang An put his left hand on the trunk of the cherry tree and scolded the maid.

The maid didn't let go of Chang'an, she said loudly: "Come on, my lord—" Chang An's eyes widened with anger, and he stopped and said, "Keep your voice down! Others think something is wrong with me." The maids hurriedly stomped out the fire, and circled around Chang'an again.Chang An leaned against the tree trunk, closed his eyes - I'm only a little dazzled, why did I make such a fuss?I am still so strong, but in the eyes of the maids, am I really that old? "Okay. Be quiet! Startle me." The maids looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I am still very tough! I climbed mountains and exercised when I was young, which is different from you people! From now on, you are not allowed to yell at others casually. When necessary, I will give orders." The maids exchanged several meaningful glances. "What's the matter? What's the matter?" "This..." A maid squatting a little away replied, "Recently, there are ghosts around here." "Ghost? Haha, it's daytime now! Don't talk silly!" "yes." "Which of you has seen it?" Another maid raised her head in trepidation, "I have seen it before."

"Oh, are you Mrs. Ikeda's maid? Did you really see it in broad daylight?" "No, it was at dusk. She was standing under this tree, waving to the slaves." "Haha, who is that ghost?" "Yes..." The maid hesitated, "It's Mrs. Xing." "Ah Xing?" Chang'an's lips lost their color, "Did you guys sleep too little at night and take naps during the day? Go back!" Chang An was supported by the maids and walked two steps, but suddenly staggered.Of course he doesn't believe in the maids' tales of ghosts, but the woman he inadvertently remembered just now, and the female ghosts he mentioned to the maids are all Xing, which makes him unhappy.

If people have spirits, women like Axing might really become ghosts. Chang An no longer burned the caterpillars, and returned to the room with the help of the maid.He said: "However, it would be great if Ah Xing came. Now I have no one to talk to me, it's really boring." "What did your lord say?" asked the maid who supported him. "Oh, what did I say?" "My lord said that he wants someone to come and talk with you?" "Ah, is it? Well, let's call. I'm so sorry to mourn her. If that woman doesn't have me to worship, I'm afraid she won't be able to become a Buddha."

"Uh, are you going to call... Madam Axing?" The maid froze all over. "Yes. Isn't there an incense for returning souls? I heard that if you burn the incense, ghosts will come out." "This...that incense, where...is it placed?" "Haha, if I wanted to, I would have burned it long ago! There is no such thing, so there is no ghost." After speaking, Chang An whispered in the maid's ear again, "Okay, don't say such things again." "yes." "Stop talking about ghosts, and stop talking about my dizziness." The maid silently helped Chang An to the porch, and helped him to sit down, "My lord, will this servant lay out a mat for you?"

"Why?" "Your body..." "I'm not a patient! I'll watch here, and then you go burn the worms. The sun is almost setting, and the worms will be much bigger tomorrow." "yes." "Beware of the fire. Hugh makes a joke of our house being ruined by a caterpillar's wraith." Why do I keep thinking about bugs?Chang An was a little surprised.Once he starts to do something, he won't back down. This is Chang'an's nature, and it doesn't have to do anything to caterpillars. Knowing that Chang An's health was fine, the maidservants followed his orders and went back to the courtyard to light the fire again.Chang An felt that the color of the fire was more vivid than before.

"It's so beautiful!" If he hadn't been worried about a fire, he might have kept the maid burning into the night.It is dangerous to be inside the house, but if you go to the plum forest outside the city, holding a red flame and cruising among the trees, how strange and beautiful the figure of a woman will be... Chang An was thinking about it, when suddenly a bad smell came into his nostrils. Is it the smell of burning caterpillars?Chang'an suddenly remembered another smell that was similar to it—the smell from when Okamoto Daihachi was burned... Chang An shook his head, raised his hand to cover his nose, and suddenly thought, Okamoto Daihachi's bug-like thing, what's wrong with burning him?Okubo Chang'an is always correct, always striding forward, at this age, if I just get by in order not to leave regrets, I am not the kind of person! The maid in the house brought out the medicinal soup, "Please take medicine, sir." "Who told you to bring it?" "Young master and madam." "You tell them I'm not sick." His wife is the daughter of Teruma Ikeda, who is of the same family as Teruma Ikeda, and the confidant of the master of Honganji Temple.I don't know what kind of influence she received, but she became an enthusiastic foreign believer.She is not the biological mother of the eldest son Toujuro, but the woman whom Tojuro married long after Chang'an became famous after he became famous.She gave birth to two children. She was still young and beautiful, but she always talked about God, and she couldn't drink and chat with Chang'an.She urged Chang An to get baptized, and Chang An said, "I'll do it after I die." Recently, he felt that she was too noisy, so he didn't approach her at all.It is this lady and her son Tojuro who really care about Chang'an so much.However, Tojuro's age is closer to his wife's, and the relationship between them seems to surpass the relationship between mother and child.Fujijuro's wife was the daughter of Ishikawa Yasunaga, the lord of Matsumoto Castle in Shinshu, and the granddaughter of Ishikawa Susho. She also married Okubo Tadao after lobbying for the consolidation of Chang'an's position.She is too weak, and now she is persuaded by Mrs. Ikeda to become an enthusiastic foreign believer.The young lady is kind by nature and fully believes that her mother-in-law is a devout believer. Chang An took a sip of the medicinal soup, and frowned, "They must think I'm a bad-hearted person." After taking a sip, he put down the medicinal soup, glanced at the courtyard inadvertently, and murmured Said: "Well... it's really Xing! Xing, what are you doing standing there?" The courtyard was dark, and the boundless darkness was opening.No one burns caterpillars anymore, when did it start to become like this?Could it be that the oil on the bamboo pole has been burned out, and everyone has retreated? "Ashin, I told you to come here, don't you understand?" In the darkness, only the place where Ah Xing was standing shone with light, which set off the grayness of the short trees behind him. "Oh, you're really here. I've been waiting for you...Okay, I'll come out to meet you." Chang An tried to stand up with support, but suddenly fell forward, but he didn't realize that Already down. Chang An curled up his body, leaning his waist against the support table, moaning softly.But his pulse still exists, and his heart is clear.But when his body fell down, his soul seemed to leave his body lightly and flew towards the yard. "Xing, where did you die?" Ash didn't answer.She stretched out her hand and held Chang An's hand, which was neither warm nor cold. "You are a woman who always keeps quiet and doesn't smile, well, even when you are happy, you don't smile." Chang An was held by A Xing and walked quietly on the grass in the courtyard.The surroundings gradually turned blue-gray. Could it be that the moon has come out?Chang An suddenly pondered, but the surroundings were too quiet, he couldn't speak. "My lord burned a lot of caterpillars." Ah Xing said suddenly. "Yes. If those insects are ignored, the good leaves will be ruined by them." "Do you like that taste, my lord?" Chang An sniffed, but there was no smell. "Xing, where are you going?" "Go to Kurokawa Valley." "Kurokawa Valley... where did you fall?" "No, it's where it was pushed down." "In me, it's the place you fell; in you, it's the place you were pushed down?" "The journey ahead is very long." "It's okay, you're by my side anyway." "But I'll be leaving on the way." "Halfway...where does halfway point to?" "I was burned like a caterpillar in the Kurokawa Valley." "Ah, you...you also mixed in with those corpses?" "Buried after burning. Under the black rhododendrons..." "Then you just stayed there?" "Yes, I was going to sleep there, but I was called back. My lord is alone..." "Ah Xing, the grass is so gray everywhere you go, could it be... this is..." "Hehe, my lord finally found out. This is the road to the underworld, and it is very long." Chang An wanted to shake off A Xing's hand, "Come here! A Xing died and became a god! A Xing picked me up!" Chang An was carried into the white quilt by the servants who came in a hurry, and three doctors took turns to take his pulse and check his pupils.The eldest son, Tojuro, sat beside Chang'an's pillow, and his wife closed her eyes and crossed herself on her chest. "It's a stroke. The situation is very serious." As soon as the doctor finished speaking, Fujijuro shouted loudly: "Father! Father!" No one can know what kind of road a person will go through and what he will see during the journey from birth to death.However, some people can never look back, and some people can return to the world after wandering between life and death.The memories of these people often have one thing in common: walking on the wonderful and quiet vast wilderness, but the colors of the wilderness vary from person to person.Some say grey, others say it's always green, and still others say it's filled with a thin purple light.For what purpose and where are they going?People who have had similar experiences often agree: At that time, they just started to think about why they came here, when they heard someone calling from behind, looked back anxiously, and returned to the world.The same goes for Chang'an. "Father! Father!" Chang'an didn't know whether it was Tojuro, the second son Geki, or the third son who was adopted by Aoyama Chengshige, but he finally turned back. "Ah, I'm awake." Chang An heard the doctor say. "What's wrong with me? Why is everyone here?" Chang'an had already forgotten about returning to the human world after throwing off Ah Xing's hand.The crowd sat around the pillow, making him puzzled, and he wanted to ask clearly, but he couldn't open his mouth.A few years ago, Okubo Chang'an had pretended to have a stroke and buried his secret in Kurokawa Valley, but this time he really had a stroke!Did he somehow know that he would eventually die of this disease?Chang An found that he could not speak, so he moved his body as if to speak.Tojuro thought that Chang An was about to make some gesture, so he asked him to stretch out his hands; however, Chang An's hands were only trembling violently, unable to move at all. "Okubo Chang'an had another stroke." The next day, on April 21, the eighteenth year of Keicho, the Matsudaira Prefecture in Edo received the news.At this time, Zhonghui went to Fukushima Castle in Echigo, but he was not in Edo.Edo immediately sent someone to Echigo.Apart from Chang'an, no one knows about many things in the mansion, and Chang'an himself knows this.Chang'an, who couldn't open his mouth or write, fell into a coma after less than half a day, snoring like thunder, as if he was drunk or extremely tired. "Father... Father..." Not only the Matsudaira House, but the Okubo family also had many things to ask him to order one by one.The three sons kept calling Chang'an, but this time they seemed unable to call back... If the children scattered in Chang'an are counted, he should have seven men and two women.Regarding this, the eldest son Tojuro only heard about it, and he didn't know exactly how many children his father had.Wherever Chang'an went, there were women, and I am afraid the actual number is higher than this... Now, even if I want to ask clearly, it is impossible. For the next four days and three nights, Chang'an was still snoring loudly, and he couldn't see any attachment to "birth".At sunset on the 25th, the snoring ceased.Not only the snoring stopped, but also the pulse. "Your Excellency has passed away." Even if the doctors didn't say it, everyone knew that Chang'an was dead. Surrounding the shop were five men and one woman, the main room, two side rooms, and twelve maids, but none of them cried.After four days and three nights of service, Chang'an's death was only a matter of time, and they were already tired from crying.Both Tojuro and Geki just sat there blankly. What happened after Chang'an was at a loss. Except for the main room and the two side rooms, among the twelve maids who came to Chang'an before his death, how many of them were touched by him, even Teng Juro couldn't tell, maybe no one was spared.The most troublesome thing is that even though Tojuro and Geji tried their best to silence the other illegitimate children, they still don't know about Chang'an's friendship.The obituary should be notified first to Matsudaira Mansion and Okubo Tadane Mansion. However, they are all at a loss as to who else should be notified. The woman actually started talking about Chang'an's age. "After all, my lord lived to be sixty-nine years old." Someone sighed. "It's not sixty-nine, it's sixty-five." Another person corrected. "You are all wrong. My lord told me clearly that it is fifty-eight." Tojuro and Geji were stunned and remained silent.The age and so on, must be the father who drank too much that day and told them indiscriminately. "No, it's fifty-eight. It's just that if you are too young to become the acting chief, you will be despised by the daimyo, so you call it sixty-five years old. Your lord said so." After a long silence, Fujijuro and Geki Fang ordered people to turn the screen upside down and move their father's body to the north side of the pillow.After the resettlement was completed, the foreign reporter suddenly said: "The next step will be difficult. The Matsudaira Mansion and the Okubo Mansion are fine, and then who should I report to?" Fujijuro said: "You must first notify your relatives: Ishikawa in Shinshu, Ikeda in Bizen, Qingshan in Edo...Of course, you should go to Junfu..." Geji's expression froze immediately. "Yes, the first thing to do is to report to Junfu!" Waiji said.His wife is the third daughter of Okayama Ikeda Teruma.Ikeda Teruma just returned home from the crane in the first month of this year, and it is now the time of filial piety in the mansion.Just now, Geji was thinking of going to Ikeda Mansion for the funeral, when he suddenly thought of the Great Imperial Palace of Jun Mansion.Huizheng is Ieyasu's son-in-law, so he will naturally think of Ieyasu from Junfu. "Let's report to the general first, and then go to the Imperial Palace, okay?" the eldest son Tojuro whispered uncertainly. "No. Only with the Great Imperial Palace can there be generals. You must first report to the Great Imperial Palace." "Yes. Let who go? We are the mourners and we are not allowed to leave." "Naturally. Please Hattori." "Well, then please Hattori Masashige." Hattori Masashige is the second son of Iga Commander Hattori Hanzo.Chang An decisively married his eldest daughter to him back then, needless to say, it was naturally out of his own plan - if he wanted to accurately grasp the world's news and take action, it was necessary to have such relatives.Masashige Hattori's wife had arrived here from Edo two days ago.Because she had been waiting in front of the couch before Chang'an died, she was very tired, and now she is resting in the inner room. Geji immediately went to look for her and asked her to invite Zhengzhong to Junfu.The elder sister naturally had no objection, she sent a fast-footed attendant to carry the sedan chair, left Hachioji overnight, and rushed to Edo. For the Okubo brothers, Fang Yue breathed a sigh of relief with Hattori's help.But even so, they are still not as thoughtful as their father.At this time, Matsudaira Tadaki should be invited to send an envoy.Matsudaira Zhonghui's birth mother Cha Aju was serving by Ieyasu's side at this time.It would be much calmer if the Songping Mansion first notified the Tea Bureau, and then reported the news of Chang'an's death to Ieyasu.They sent Chang'an's son-in-law as an envoy.This son-in-law is a member of the Hattori, and the Hattori family is in control of any trouble in the world.Although Hattori did not refuse to be an envoy, he did not forget to be vigilant, because the reputation of Okubo Chang'an was known all over the world. Once Chang An dies, Honda and his son will naturally fight back vigorously.At that time, as Chang'an's son-in-law, what should Hattori do?Hattori felt that there must be another reason for Okubo's disagreement with Honda and his son. After careful consideration, it must have been caused by the shogun's succession.Okubo Tadao recommended Echizen's Hideyasu, while Honda and his son recommended the current Hidetada.From then on, the two families have formed a feud, and until now...