CHAPTER 320: CHAPTER 229: ASHEN FACE_2

According to Oda Nobunaga’s usual routine, shouldn’t he bring out a concubine’s younger sister for the marriage? Even if the concubine’s younger sister is still young, she’d still be more suitable than Princess Gotoku.

Besides, the Oda Family is such a large clan, hardly lacking daughters. Oda Nobunaga is also quite skilled at snatching from his own kin. For example, Oichi is his cousin, whom he claimed as an adopted daughter; his eldest half-brother’s daughter was also taken by him and made his own adopted daughter, with the added bonus of a good son-in-law, Niwa Nagahide.

Anyway, if Oda Nobunaga wants to find a candidate for a political marriage, it’s as easy as pie. For him to marry Princess Gotoku into the Matsudaira family, he probably really likes Matsudaira Mototaka; at the very least, he holds him in high regard, right?

Maybe Oda Nobunaga sees Matsudaira Mototaka as a rare honest man?

Harano stood there pondering for a while, and recalled Nobunaga’s earlier joking words about "strengthening the ties" and "you missed your chance"—suddenly it all made sense. Oda Nobunaga was also human; perhaps he genuinely cared about Princess Gotoku. Marrying off a daughter to an ally to "add sand to the rice" was one thing, but more than likely, he hoped his daughter could have a better life, higher status in the future, and for her children to have inheritance rights. That’s why he was looking for someone among his allies, and even then, it had to be a trustworthy one, with a solid family tradition and strong character—definitely not just some random local noble to make do with.

The first choice was him, but since he didn’t have a son, Nobunaga picked the Matsudaira family, and besides him, the Matsudaira family really was the best option.

With "true love" in play, Oda Nobunaga seemed increasingly human—completely different from the "Sixth Celestial Demon King" written about in the history books.

Harano figured it out and shook his head slightly. This marriage alliance actually seemed like a normal feudal marriage, without much scheming behind it. But he soon recalled something and turned to ask Akiyo, "Aren’t Matsudaira Mototaka’s sons, daughters, and wife being held hostage at the Imagawa family? Have they already been rescued?"

Akiyo was stunned for a moment. She pulled a small notebook from her pocket, quickly flipped through it, and gently shook her head to indicate she hadn’t received any recent news from the Matsudaira family and needed to investigate further.

"Then go check on it, be quick."

Harano gave a casual order, feeling it must have happened recently. Otherwise, Aman would already have mentioned it to him earlier. Besides...

Oda Nobunaga had also been keeping an eye on the Matsudaira family. As soon as Matsudaira Mototaka got his wife and kids back, Oda Nobunaga knew right away. Seemed like he cared about the Matsudaira family even more than he did.

In this era, everyone was really keeping close tabs on each other—even allies were no exception.

......

The "Life-saving Group" had cost Harano a lot of funds. Aman used to come asking for money every few days, but it was well worth it. Information about Matsudaira Mototaka’s family had actually already been delivered, it just wasn’t an urgent matter. With Akiyo newly taking over a mess of Aman’s old business, she was a bit overwhelmed and hadn’t had time to summarize it all.

Now that the intel was in hand, Harano got the whole story that same night.

When Matsudaira Mototaka was a hostage in Shimizu, he was highly valued by Imagawa Yoshimoto and Taiyuan Xuezhai and married a daughter of the Kanegata family, relatives of the Imagawa family.

This was considered a marriage into a noble family, as the direct ancestors of the Kanegata family, like Imagawa Ryotaro, had served as the Kyushu Inspector early in the Muromachi Shogunate and had pacified the Kyushu wars. Their descendants had, generation after generation, held the post of "Governor of Totomi," nominally the lords of all Totomi, and possessed the right to inherit Jumogawa Province—and even, by extension, the right to inherit the General of Expedition title. If the numerous lines and hundreds of male heirs of the Ashikaga and Imagawa families all died out, theoretically, it’d be the Kanegata family’s turn—though it was mostly theoretical, it was still possible.

Honestly speaking, for Matsudaira Mototaka to marry a Kanegata daughter was rather marrying up, in terms of family status.

Yet after the Battle of Okehazama, seeing Okazaki Castle empty, Matsudaira Mototaka couldn’t resist the temptation to revive his clan, so he ignored his wife, children, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brothers-in-law, and everyone else. Having seized Okazaki Castle, he refused to return to Shimizu—something like a rebellion without openly raising the rebel flag.

The Imagawa family had long been exploiting Sanhe, using Sanhe’s samurai as cannon fodder. In any siege or risky mission, it was always Sanhe’s samurai who were sent in first. The local nobles and earth warriors of Western Sanhe had long since grown alienated. As soon as Matsudaira Mototaka returned, they immediately started to flock to his side.

The new family head, Imagawa Shizuma, was an idiot and, in a fit of rage, privately ordered the group execution of all the hostages from Western Sanhe noble families. Matsudaira Mototaka’s father- and mother-in-law, Kanegata Shinyo and his wife, were also severely punished—in part due to disputes over the Imagawa family succession, since Kanegata Shinyo had backed the wrong side. In the official record, Kanegata Shinyo committed seppuku because of Matsudaira Mototaka’s rebellion.

Afterwards, Lady Kanegata followed her husband in suicide, protesting Imagawa Shizuma’s ruthless purge.

Kanegata Shinyo had enjoyed a good reputation in the Imagawa family, and the Kanegata family was one of their key pillars. In fact, the reason Imagawa Yoshimoto’s line had the right to guard Jumogawa Province was, after tracing back, thanks to Kanegata’s family yielding it—not just once, but multiple times. Imagawa Shizuma’s actions caused an uproar, making him a textbook example of ingratitude; a huge number of relatives, nobles, and household retainers began loudly voicing their complaints either in person or behind his back.

Riding this wave of public indignation, the three members of the Takechiyo family, who ought to have been executed as well, actually managed to struggle on and survived, continuing to be held hostage. Just recently, Matsudaira Mototaka, through an intermediary in Totomi, secretly renewed his pledge of loyalty to Imagawa Shizuma, saying he’d return to Shimizu. He asked that his eldest son Takechiyo be released to govern Okazaki Castle and guard the clan. Along the way, he requested the release of Takechiyo’s mother and younger sister, Kamehime.

At the same time, as reciprocation, Matsudaira Mototaka also agreed to release two sons of Tiden Nagamoto—captured in Upper Country Castle—so that the Osakabe Family wouldn’t die out.

Imagawa Shizuma was overjoyed. Ever since he took charge of the Imagawa family, his many disastrous decisions as well as the aftershocks of the land survey by Imagawa Yoshimoto had left him with a precarious grip on his position and a tidal wave of resentment. If he could regain Sanhe and return the Osakabe heirs, this would be a political win that could greatly reduce his pressure, so he agreed without hesitation.

Afterward, both parties exchanged hostages at the Totomi–Sanhe border. But nobody knows what sleight of hand Matsudaira Mototaka pulled—Imagawa Shizuma’s released order somehow had its wording switched such that the person returned to Shimizu was not Matsudaira Mototaka, but Matsudaira Yasumoto—Mototaka’s maternal half-brother. After his mother remarried, she’d given birth to Yasumoto, whom Mototaka took in as one of his own retainers and gave a new name. In the end, he managed to get his entire family back in exchange.

With the Life-saving Group’s influence in Sanhe and Jumogawa, there was no way to find out just how Matsudaira Mototaka altered Imagawa Shizuma’s official order, or what exactly went down during the hostage handoff. But as if it were some joke, Matsudaira Mototaka managed to pull it off—in just four days, the family of four had already reunited at Okazaki Castle.

Harano finished reading the report and was left speechless. The Imagawa family was truly rotten, wasn’t it? There must have been some anti-Imagawa Shizuma forces cooperating—maybe even friends and relatives of the Kanegata family lending a hand. Otherwise, how could it have been so easy to pull off a rescue?

But this also means Imagawa Shizuma’s control over the Imagawa household was already a complete mess. The whole thing looked like an amateur theater troupe.

A few years ago, the Imagawa family had still been the top daimyo in the land, with the strength to suppress the whole realm. Look at them now—they were showing all the signs of impending collapse.

Matsudaira Mototaka was now totally unrestrained. With Imagawa Shizuma’s bumbling, the Matsudaira family’s absorption of all Totomi was inevitable—just a matter of time.

Sure enough, the unstoppable current of events—the momentum was huge. None of these guys were just sitting around; all of them were desperately expanding their influence. An ally that’s too strong isn’t exactly a good thing, either.

Harano looked at Oda Nobunaga, plotting for Minoh, and Matsudaira Mototaka, plotting for Totomi, and suddenly felt a sense of urgency. Not moving forward was the same as moving backward—one day, he might not even know how he died.

He had to speed up his takeover of the Ise Peninsula, except that he only had one district under his control. Charging into the Ise Peninsula to fight several daimyo was a tall order. Plus, with the sea in between, it’d be hard to get reinforcements; if he went all out, he was worried his two allies might come ransack his own headquarters in his absence.

For the moment, Harano was quite troubled—the economy had only just improved, and mobilizing for war would be a heavy burden. The enemies themselves weren’t easy to handle, either. But before he could think of any perfect solution, the new ally Asai Nagamasa arrived—except Nagamasa himself didn’t show up. He got halfway to Owari, already inside the border, then suddenly changed his mind and sent a household retainer instead, with new demands: only if Oda Nobunaga agreed to them would he continue and form the alliance.

All of a sudden, it was as if Oda Nobunaga had been slapped in the face. His expression darkened ominously.