Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 137 The Birth of a Legitimate Son
Hearing that Hosokawa Harumoto had a brilliant plan, Hatano Hidetada hurriedly moved closer to him and asked with great interest, "May I ask, lord, what is the brilliant plan?"

Hosokawa Harumoto smiled and asked, "I heard that Yoshino is only 28 years old and still unmarried?"

"Yes, we are waiting for your help." Hatano Hidetada replied.

Hatano Yoshino was the youngest daughter of Hatano Hidetada. She was only sixteen years old at the time. She was pretty, lively, and considerate. She could be said to be the apple of Hatano Hidetada's eye.

"How about this? I'll make some connections and have Wue-dono take Yoshina as a concubine, and your two families will be married. What do you think?" Hosokawa Harumoto asked with a smile. He thought that through this marriage relationship, he could tie Yoshishige and the Hosokawa family together more firmly.

Hatano Hidetada was stunned after hearing this, and said with some embarrassment: "Yoshino is my most beloved daughter. If I let her be my concubine, I really..."

"Being a concubine is not being a maid, what's there to be uneasy about?" Hosokawa Harumoto said nonchalantly, "Don't you know that Rinji of the Rokkaku family was also held in the palm of Danzheng's hand? She became Wu Wei's concubine anyway, and you can see she's living a good life now."

Indeed, after Rokkaku Rin married to Wakasa, Yoshishige built a Kyoto-style villa for her on the east side of the Takeda clan's mansion, modeled after the Rokkaku clan's mansion in Kyoto, to show his respect for her. Because it was close to a maple forest, the villa was named "Kagetsu-in", and Rokkaku Rin was therefore respectfully called "Kagetsu-dono" by her servants.

In addition to building the courtyard, Yoshishige also brought all of Rokkaku Rin's maids from Kyoto and Kannonji Castle to Wakasa, and the daily supplies of Kagetsu-in were met. In addition, Yoshishige often arranged for special people and ox carts to escort Rokkaku Rin to Kyoto to visit her relatives, but she herself was worried that too frequent visits would displease Rokkaku Sadanari, so she basically only went back once every three or four months.

It can be said that Yoshishige took care of the princess of the Rokkaku family in a truly meticulous and careful manner, which made Rokkaku Sadanari very satisfied. He often told Hosokawa Harumoto and Rokkaku Yoshitaka that he was happier about this marriage than winning one or two battles.

It was for this reason that Hosokawa Harumoto decided to suggest to Hatano Hidetada that he send his daughter to Wakasa as well, so that the marriage could become a success. As the lord of the Hatano clan, he could also enjoy the benefits brought by the marriage.

But Hatano Hidetada was still a little hesitant: "I originally wanted Yoshino to marry into the Ogino family. After all, they are both in Tamba, so it will be convenient for them to move around in the future. If she marries into the Takeda family, it will not be so easy to see her in the future."

"Didn't you tell me when you came here? Takeuchi is building a new main castle in Tango. How far is this castle from your Tamba? It only takes one day to go south. Besides, if you want to see her, you can go to Tango to see her. To be realistic, you can use the excuse of visiting relatives to check on the Takeda clan's movements along the way."

Hearing what Hosokawa Harumoto said, Hatano Hidetada could no longer refuse. After a moment of silence, he had no choice but to agree: "Then I'll leave this marriage to you, my lord."

"Leave it to me, don't worry." Hosokawa Harumoto nodded with satisfaction and replied, "As long as you can marry into the relationship with Takeda, you won't have to worry about the Takeda territory surrounding Tamba from both sides. Besides, I'll be your guarantee, so he won't dare to act rashly."

"But my lord, I still have something to say." Even though Hatano Hidetada agreed to the marriage, his worries were not completely eliminated: "It has only been more than a year. If Wu Weidian has expanded his influence to Shikoku, he is definitely not an ordinary person. My lord, please be careful with him. I think his ambition will never stop here."

"I'm also paying attention to what you said, but don't worry, the Takeda clan will never expand its territory so recklessly. Although it is expanding so fast, it has actually reached its limit. The Asakura clan to the east, the Amago clan to the west, and the Tamba and Omi clans to the south are the exclusive territories of our Hosokawa clan and the Rokkaku clan respectively. Which one do you think he can afford to offend?"

Hosokawa Harumoto's eyes also turned cold at this moment, and he analyzed to Hatano Hidetada: "Besides, the two countries he occupies, Tango and Wakasa, are also mountainous. Although they seem to be vast, they are actually not even half as wide as Omi. You don't have to worry too much. Not only that, his territory is now long and narrow from east to west, and the narrowest part is at Mikuni-dake where Tamba, Wakasa, and Tango meet. As long as he makes the slightest move, we can cut him off from there. Do you think he can still jump up by then?"

Seeing that Hosokawa Harumoto already had a plan to deal with the situation, Hatano Hidetada could finally put his mind at ease.

"Sun Shiro, don't worry. As long as this marriage can be accomplished, you can rest assured." Hosokawa Harumoto promised Hatano Hidetada confidently.

Just as Hosokawa Harumoto was busy arranging a marriage for Yoshishige, the Wakasa Takeda clan also welcomed a happy event.

On the 1540th day of the first lunar month in the ninth year of Tenbun (), a clear cry echoed throughout the Takeda clan's mansion. Amid everyone's eager anticipation, Kumagai Nagisa gave birth to a baby boy with all her might.

With the midwife's permission, Yi Zhong hurriedly walked into the bedroom and tremblingly took his eldest son from the midwife's hands.

Yi Zhong gazed lovingly at his own flesh and blood in his arms. His skin was as white as cream, his eyelashes were like curtains, his little hands were like lotus, his eyebrows were like willow leaves, his little face was rosy, and his whole body was as pink and tender as a flower or jade. People couldn't help but want to kiss and hug him.

The more Yi Zhong looked at her, the more he liked her and the happier he became. Before he knew it, two lines of hot tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered Kumagai Nagisa who had just finished a "battle", and hurried to her, holding the child in one hand, and holding her weak and delicate hand with the other hand, and said with trembling lips: "Azhu, you have worked so hard!"

"Your Highness, please don't say that." Kumagai Nagisa's face was pale, but she still forced a smile: "To continue the Takeda family's lineage, this is what I should do."

Nagisa Kumagai struggled to half-sit up, reached out to lift a piece of swaddling clothes, looked at the child's rosy face, felt so relieved and excited that he cried unconsciously. Tears mixed with sweat from his face dripped onto Yoshishige's clothes, moving even the head of the Takeda clan who had just experienced a hard battle.

"Your Highness, what do you think we should name him?" Kumagai Nagisa snuggled in Yoshishige's arms, stroking the child's tender face and asked Yoshishige softly.

"The nickname of the eldest son of our Wakasa Takeda clan is generally called 'Hikotaro', but I don't plan to use this nickname." Yoshishige's statement made Kumagai Nagisa very curious.

"Both of us are from the Seiwa Genji Yoshimitsu school, so why can the eldest son of the Kai Takeda clan be nicknamed 'Taro', but our Wakasa Takeda clan can't?" Yoshishige said with some dissatisfaction and unwillingness, "I have decided that from today on, the eldest son of our Wakasa Takeda clan will also be nicknamed 'Taro', but to distinguish him from them, he will be called 'Gentaro'."

"Gentaro, what a nice name." After all, Kumagai Nagisa was just a woman. She didn't care about the Kai Takeda clan, the Wakasa Takeda clan, Gentaro, or Hikotaro. She only knew that Yoshishige valued and had high hopes for the eldest son in his arms, and this was the greatest comfort to her.

(End of this chapter)