Chapter 69

The Chōryō family can trace its history back to the "Ōnin War" era of Japan.

The 8th Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, was weak and incompetent, and the "Kanrei" Hōjō Sōun was the actual ruler of the Shogunate. At the age of 29, Yoshimasa still had no son. Disheartened, Yoshimasa passed the position of Shogun to his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshiki. However, just a year after Yoshiki became Shogun, Yoshimasa's son, Ashikaga Yoshihisa, was born. Yoshihisa's mother, Hino Tomiko, was furious that the position that should have been hers was snatched away. She quickly sought the help of her most trusted minister, Yamana Sōzen (also known as Yamana Tokihiro), to ensure that Yoshihisa would ascend to the position of Shogun.

Yoshiki, who had already become the Shogun, naturally refused, and "Kanrei" Hōjō Sōun supported Yoshiki. The sparks of hostility between the two sides flew, and a major conflict was imminent. In the first year of Ōnin (1467), seeing that they could not persuade each other with words, both sides decided to resort to force. In January, Hōjō Sōun gathered 160,000 troops from the eastern provinces, later known as the "Eastern Army," to attack Yamana. Yamana Sōzen was not to be outdone and assembled 110,000 troops from the western provinces, forming the "Western Army," to fight the Eastern Army in Kyoto, right under the Emperor's nose. The "Ōnin War," which lasted for eleven years, thus erupted.

Daimyos from all over the country, based on their own interests, began to take sides. The ranks of the Eastern and Western Armies continued to grow, and even some daimyos split, joining both enemy camps, such as the Sassa and Takeda families. Some daimyos joined a particular camp mainly because their enemies had already joined the other side, turning the great chaos into a perfect opportunity for personal vendettas. Even Yamana Sōzen's second son, Yamana Tokitō, in order to gain the right to inherit the family, betrayed his father and sought the support of the Hōjō family. The subordinates overthrew their superiors, sons overthrew their fathers, and relatives overthrew friends, creating a chaotic and bloody mess.

At that time, the Chōryō family was a branch of the Wada family. As a prominent family in the Matsubara district of Kyushu, they participated in the great war. Since the head of the main family, Wada Tarō, had already died, the main family was led by Wada Tarō's eldest son, while the branch family was led by Wada Tarō's second son (in Japan at the time, to avoid affecting the eldest son's inheritance, the second son was usually sent to become a monk, or given a new name and sent to a small town to live out his days). The two brothers, who were already at odds, had a disagreement over which side to join, leading to a split, and they joined different camps. The already weak forces became even weaker after the split, making them easy targets in the war. The once powerful Wada family of Hizen fell into decline. After three generations of constant internal strife and being invaded by surrounding powerful families, the two families had become minor daimyos. The current Chōryō family, under the leadership of Chōryō Haruzane, known as the "Eastern Matsubara Wolf," finally began to recover. Through constant intrigue and alliances, Chōryō Haruzane expanded the Chōryō family's territory several times over, unifying all the powerful families from the west of Mount Jōga to the eastern foothills of Mount Yatago, once again becoming a prominent family in Eastern Matsubara.

On the 12th of May, in the 9th year of Tenmon, in the afternoon. After a morning of light rain, it finally stopped in the afternoon. After two hours of rapid march, the 20 samurai led by Harada Masahide had already joined Masahide. At the border checkpoint between the original Fujiwara family and the Chōryō family, 20 foot soldiers and 40 samurai of the Rō family had gathered. Masahide was in a nearby military camp, listening to the report of a spy who had returned from the Chōryō family's territory. At this moment, a foot soldier responsible for guarding the checkpoint rushed in to report that a messenger from the Chōryō family was waiting outside the checkpoint to be received.

Masahide was slightly taken aback. Upon hearing the spy's report that the Chōryō family was mobilizing peasant soldiers, he had expected them to launch a direct attack on his family, but did not expect them to send a messenger first. He smiled, instructed the foot soldier to let the messenger wait, and immediately ordered people to gather over a hundred people from nearby villages to a clearing in the forest behind the military camp. The hundred people were not required to do anything, just to mimic the shouts of foot soldiers during training, with louder shouts earning more rewards. In the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Fei had dragged trees in the forest to simulate an army of thousands, and with one shout, he had driven back Cao Cao's hundred thousand troops. Now, Masahide planned to use a hundred people shouting in the forest to simulate soldiers training, and then use a pot of tea in the military tent to scare off the enemy.

An hour later, everything was ready. Masahide instructed the messenger from the Chōryō family to be brought into the military camp. Masahide sat on a folding chair found in the Fujiwara family's camp, with a military screen behind him depicting a soaring eagle. In front of him was a small fire pit with a small porcelain pot boiling green tea, filling the tent with a faint tea aroma. Outside the tent, 40 samurai stood facing each other, holding their spears at an angle to form a spear corridor. Through the corridor, Masahide soon saw a young man of about 25 approach the entrance. The young man, upon seeing the scene, was slightly taken aback, then smiled faintly and walked calmly through the spear corridor to stand before Masahide. Impressed by the young man's composure, Masahide inwardly praised him.

"Kizukuri Kansuke Masahide, an outsider of the Chōryō family, pays respects to Your Highness," Kizukuri Masahide bowed slightly to Masahide.

Masahide smiled and said, "No need for formalities. So you are the son of Kizukuri Masahide, known as the wise minister of Eastern Matsubara." According to the spy's report, Masahide knew this person, not because of his outstanding talent, but because of a rumor widely spread among the Chōryō family's townspeople. The rumor was that Chōryō Haruzane's concubine, Yuna, was originally the wife of Kizukuri Masahide's only son, Kizukuri Masahide.

Speaking of Yuna, it is necessary to introduce her. Yuna's father was a senior minister of the Wada family. To strengthen ties with the family's senior ministers, Wada Tarō and Yuna were betrothed at a young age. When Yuna was nine, her father was assassinated by one of Chōryō Haruzane's vassals, leaving her and her mother to fend for themselves. The family's fortunes declined, and as a betrothed, Wada Tarō, to establish ties with the Taku family, terminated the engagement and married the fourth daughter of the Taku family as his main wife. Without the support of her family, Yuna had to rely on her mother. At the age of 13, Yuna met Kizukuri Masahide, who was 17 and out on a journey. Kizukuri Masahide was attracted to Yuna's beauty and often visited her and her mother, gradually falling in love. However, Yuna's beauty once again caught the attention of Wada Tarō, who, without shame, forced Yuna to become his concubine. Upon learning this, Kizukuri Masahide immediately planned to rescue Yuna on the day of her wedding to Wada Tarō. However, just as he was making preparations, he received news that Chōryō Haruzane had already taken Yuna and intended to make her his concubine.

Was Chōryō Haruzane also attracted to Yuna's beauty? No, he had taken her to humiliate Wada Tarō, using Yuna as a tool. Over the years, Chōryō Haruzane, with his excellent skills, had already taken over most of the Wada family's territory. Although he had the power to destroy the Wada family, he delayed, leaving them to struggle on. The main reasons were: first, he did not want to confront the Myōkō family next to the Wada family too early, and second, he enjoyed continuously humiliating Wada Tarō. However, bringing Yuna's mother to Furai Castle to take care of Yuna was the only good thing Chōryō Haruzane had done.

What a tragic situation for the two lovers, who were now mother and vassal. Even more pitiful was Yuna, who became a tool in the struggle between powerful families. First, she was forced to marry a shameless man who had abandoned her, and then on her wedding day, she was taken by the mastermind behind her father's murder. After enduring so much misfortune, she had to endure humiliation to ensure her mother's survival. Perhaps this was a true reflection of life in a chaotic era.

The story of the two lovers was spread secretly by Wada Tarō's people in the Chōryō family's territory, even portraying them as a married couple. Wada Tarō's primary goal was to salvage his lost dignity, as there was nothing to boast about, just giving away someone else's wife. Second, he wanted to anger Chōryō Haruzane and create discord between him and his senior ministers. In fact, Chōryō Haruzane had heard the rumors in his territory, but he could not execute the only heir of a senior minister based on unverified rumors, so he had to endure and no longer favored Kizukuri Masahide. This time, Kizukuri Masahide, through the mission of the messenger, hoped to mend the relationship between the family head and his son, but he had no idea that Chōryō Haruzane's true intention was to have Kizukuri Masahide killed by the Rō family and not return.

(Please note: This is the fifth week of the new book release, already A-signed, with over 200,000 words updated, and I will not stop updating. The book will be at least 1.5 million words. I have been running naked for two weeks, made it to the Three Rivers Potential List in the third week, the New Book Recommendation List last week, and the Historical Category Strong Recommendation List this week. Dear readers, after reading, please don't leave immediately. Even if you don't have votes, add the book to your shelf. I beg you. My goal is to write at least 1.5 million words, even if it means a spectacular failure. I enjoy writing and enjoy solitude.)

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