Yongzhen, who was dressed in a bright red feather fabric and black clothes and dark clothes, pulled out the weeds and swept away the weeds, silently offered fine incense in front of him, and lit it with a fire sickle.
There were no offerings placed in front of the tombstone.
Now that the whole city of Ashina is under martial law, it is inconvenient to communicate with the outside world. And Ashina is a mountain city, and its self-sufficiency is far less than that of an ordinary village. Although the amount of food is sufficient due to Ashina's dedicated management, some people often go hungry.
.
If you place an offering here, someone might steal it and eat it if you're not careful.
After cleaning the tomb in front of him, Yongzhen knelt down in front of the tombstone and put his hands together.
Beside him, Yuzi also knelt in front of the tomb, his small body straightened in front of the tombstone, his hands clasped together, and his eyes tightly closed.
'I hope you can protect the wolf...my father-in-law.'
Opening her eyes, Yuzi looked at the tombs of Zhang and Ba in front of her.
There is no decoration, it is just a ruined monument or tomb, with weeds growing around it.
It is so ordinary that there is no clue that this is the tomb of the previous generation Miko.
However, the size of a person's tomb after death sometimes does not accurately reflect a person's status during life.
Unlike Kuro, the declining prince, the father-in-law, the previous generation of princes, had the same status as Isshin and others when he was alive, and was respected by everyone. Even the castle tower where the prince now lives, the prince's room, was built for his father-in-law.
built.
Although he was frail and sick, he could be called a heroic man, and he was naturally an outstanding imperial son of Long Yin.
Jiulang looked at the tombstone in front of him with inexplicable yearning.
'If I were a boy, would I be like my father-in-law?'
While thinking about it, his little hand unconsciously touched his heart.
'I heard from Yongzhen that Mr. Tomoe seems to be a great guard... a strong man that even Mr. Isshin praised.'
'If you think about it, being a girl doesn't seem to be a big deal.'
'It's just that I'm still a little unwilling.'
'If I could protect the wolf...he wouldn't have to run back and forth like this, right?'
Yuzi lowered his head slightly.
Yongzhen next to him seemed to notice something and turned to look at her, but did not point out anything.
When the incense burned for less than half, Yongzhen stood up with Yuzi and turned back to the castle tower.
"Yongzhen, is the war situation outside still very bad? Yesterday, Mr. Genichiro began imposing martial law in the inner city."
"Your judgment is very accurate, Lord Kuro. Be careful of enemies in the dark these days."
Yongzhen lowered his head slightly, holding the knife in one hand and holding Miko's little hand in the other, and strode towards the castle tower.
"But who is the enemy? The Gu Ying Zhong? Or the Luan Bo Zhong? Wasn't the Inner Palace defeated the day before yesterday?"
Yuzi looked up at Yongzhen with some confusion.
Yongzhen patiently explained to her:
"That was just the first offensive of the Inner Palace. Master Jiulang's Inner Palace has sufficient troops and a lot of supplies."
"The outside world is very big. The inner government rules most of Yingzhou. It is actually very simple to defeat Ashina. It is only because the resistance of Isshin-sama and Genichiro-sama is too tenacious that Ashina can hold on until now."
Speaking of this, Yongzhen seemed to hesitate for a moment,
"...If Isshin-sama and Genichiro-sama are defeated, Ashina...will probably go back to what he was a few decades ago, right?"
"Rule by the inner government?"
Yuzi said thoughtfully.
"Yes, Lord Kuro."
Yongzhen smiled bitterly, feeling that he had said a bit too much, especially to a child.
"Are all the people in the inner government bad? Are they taxing the common people heavily and doing corvee service?"
Jiulang finally found someone who was willing to explain to her and knew something about the inner palace. He grabbed Yongzhen's sleeve and asked curiously.
"Bad...there are good and bad, right?"
Nagama, who had been with Ashina Isshin for more than ten years, thought for a moment and recalled the historical records he had read in the castle tower study.
"The guardians of daimyo everywhere need to abide by the opinions of the generals in the inner palace. However, due to the special nature of Ashina, this place has never become a fiefdom of a certain daimyo. It is the guardian daimyo who come here to serve. In a few years or more, it will be
Will be transferred."
"As for what the next daimyo will be like, no one knows."
Yongzhen didn't hold back much about the information that she knew but didn't need to be kept secret. If Yuzi asked, she would tell her. She wouldn't be able to remember it even if she didn't ask.
"Hmm, is that so..." Miko blinked her big eyes, "What did everyone eat when Ashina was ruled by the Imperial Household?"
"What do you want to eat?" Yongzhen was held by Yuzi's arm, his fingertips were on his lower lip, he raised his head and recalled, "I remember that before the war of stealing the country started, my family seemed to have pretty good food... usually
There are millets, radishes and wild vegetables, and occasionally you can eat rice! But it’s very expensive and you can only buy a little bit of old rice.”
"Hey...can I have some rice?"
Yuzi hooked Yongzhen with one hand and her eyes widened.
Rice is a very precious staple food in Yingzhou, and few even the nobles of Ashina can afford it.
"Yes, but I was already very young, and the war hadn't started yet." Yongzhen looked down at Yuzi with a smile, "It's just that the daimyo of that generation issued a ban on source water, and then the war started..."
"Oh! That's right!"
Yong Zhen seemed to remember something, and a small light bulb lit up in his head: "The first person who started to resist the ban on source water back then seemed to be my father-in-law."
As he spoke, Yongzhen’s voice seemed a little lonely:
"Well...it is the water of the source after all. There is no way to start a war over this. It is all the fault of the daimyo. If there is no ban..."
Yuzi raised her head and looked at Yongzhen, listening to her voice getting weaker and weaker.
'The water of the source...'
She was also a little silent in her heart.
As the oldest belief passed down from Ashina, Miko is also very aware of the importance of source water in the hearts of Ashina people. This is not only a belief, but also an inalienable part of Ashina's life.
But, is faith really that important?
Is it more important than a good life, a day when civilians can also eat rice?
Kuro, who had only eaten peony cakes a few times since he was born, had doubts about this.
But there is no answer.
She also didn't know whether her father-in-law, who was the first to rebel against a contemporary daimyo for the source of water, was right or wrong.
However, she was a smart child and would not let Yongzhen dwell on this sad topic for too long, so she quickly picked up the conversation.
"It's been more than half a day since I talked about it. I don't know what's going on with the wolf. If only I could cut off Long Yin immediately when I come back this time...that big liar!"
Kuro pretended to be angry.
Yongzhen covered his mouth and chuckled.
Obviously, Jiulang is still a little bit upset about Han Baiyi's 'misjudgment'. But she has been exercising for more than half a month, and the muscles on her arms are bulging!
In Yingzhou, where slender women are regarded as the beauty, such "thick" arms are obviously ugly.
"No, Lord Kuro. Although Senhouji Temple is not far from Ashina, we have to come back and forth no matter what..."
Just as he was talking, a ghost Buddha in front of the castle tower suddenly burst into flames, and the blue fire spread like a wall, with sparks flying everywhere.
It only took a short moment for Yongzhen, who was smiling and smiling, to turn alert. Yuzi felt her vision change, and she was carrying her around, with one hand behind her back to protect her, and the other hand holding the handle of the knife.
His eyes were locked tightly in front of him.
This is a woman who can switch seamlessly from soft and gentle to heroic.
Before she could draw the knife, she saw a slovenly man stepping out of the fire, holding a grass root in his mouth and two knives, one red and one black, on his waist.
As soon as he raised his eyes, Han Baiyi saw two people waiting for him at the door, and they immediately waved with a smile.