My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 311: Chapter 128: ”I Am the Cat Monk!” [6,000 Characters]

”Huh?”

——A marriage meeting?

Being inexplicably called out and suddenly brought into the topic of a ”marriage meeting,” Aoto, like Kondo, widened his eyes and paused with his chopsticks in hand.

”Yong, you’re already 26 years old.” Zhouzhu cleared his throat again and spoke earnestly to Kondo, ”When others were your age, they already had who knows how many children.”

”Yet you’re still single to this day.”

”Your mother and I...” Zhouzhu laughed heartily, ”both want to hold grandchildren.”

”Look at us, your mother and I are already sixty-something with graying hair.”

Zhouzhu raised his hand to point at his own gray hair.

”At our age, we could pass away any time... ah!”

Before he finished speaking, Zhouzhu let out a scream — Abi, sitting next to him, reached out with her right thumb and forefinger to pinch a small piece of flesh on Zhouzhu’s lower back, then twisted it hard.

”Stop saying such inauspicious things.” Abi said coldly.

”Okay, okay, I won’t say it.” Zhouzhu laughed awkwardly at Abi, and then, to cover his embarrassment, he cleared his throat forcefully a few more times, ”In short — Abi and I have decided to find you a good match.”

”Recently, your mother and I visited several trustworthy matchmakers to inquire if there are any quality young women.”

”Hmm?” Kondo raised his eyebrows sharply and quickly asked, ”Father! So these days, you’ve been frequently going out with mother to find matchmakers!”

Zhouzhu nodded, responding with a gesture to Kondo, then smiled and said:

”Very fortunate, we found a very nice young woman after just a few days.”

”The daughter of Matsui Yasujiro, a Close-Attendant Guard of the Shimizu family, one of Tokugawa’s Three Ministers — Matsui Joo.”

”The Matsui Family is located in the North Suburb of Edo.”

”Today, your mother and I already visited the Matsui Family and met Matsui Joo, she is indeed a very nice young woman.”

”Well-educated, with a good temperament, and from a considerably good family.”

”Moreover, she’s a great beauty! Her skin is as white and tender as... as... as soft buns!”

”And her eyes are bright just like... just like the oil splashes from frying pancakes!”

”Her cheeks, like seasonal water honey peaches, are of a very healthy reddish color.”

Zhouzhu racked his brain, trying hard to describe Matsui Joo’s appearance.

But due to his limited cultural level, Aoto and the others could not perceive Matsui Joo’s beauty from Zhouzhu’s words.

They only felt hungrier.

Zhouzhu also realized he lacked the literary skills to describe Matsui Joo’s beauty, and awkwardly waved his hand.

”In short, she’s a young woman with very good qualities!”

”Abi and I both think she is very suitable.”

”Father, Mother, you have both already met the girl...” Kondo’s eyes had been ”wide due to shock” since earlier.

”We naturally must go to see her in person.”

”After all, a hundred praises from a matchmaker cannot compare to seeing her with our own eyes.”

With that, Zhouzhu put on a serious face and said:

”Finding a daughter-in-law is a very serious matter; whether we can find a quality daughter-in-law for the Kondo family directly affects our family’s future prosperity.”

”How many families have been torn apart because of a wicked wife at home?”

”Conversely, if one can find a virtuous wife, perhaps the entire family can prosper.”

”Look at the ancestor of the Tosa Domain: Yamana Ikutaro. He was mediocre with no particular skills, but managed to rely on his wise wife Chiyoda’s assistance, and became the Daimyo of the Tosa Domain with a 240,000-koku territory.”

Yamana Ikutaro and Chiyoda — this is a famous anecdote from the Edo Era, often used to indicate the need to find a good wife and learn to adapt to circumstances.

Yamana Ikutaro was born 300 years ago in the Warring States Era, coming from a subordinate samurai background without any background or resources, a true grassroots person.

Yet he was fortunate enough to marry a good wife: Chiyoda.

Chiyoda was a girl with both beauty and wisdom, and she often helped Yamana Ikutaro choose the correct answer at important life decisions.

Yamana Ikutaro initially served Oda Nobunaga, and when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was just starting out, Chiyoda saw Hideyoshi as a powerful ”potential stock” and successfully persuaded Yamana Ikutaro, who was beginning to make a name under Oda Nobunaga, to switch to serving Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Chiba made no mistake in her judgment; Toyotomi Hideyoshi indeed later became ”All Under Heaven,” unified Japan, and because he listened to Chiba’s advice, Yamana Ikutaro, who served under Hideyoshi early, was granted the position of City Lord of Kakegawa Castle with a 50,000-koku territory.

After Hideyoshi’s death, Chiyoda again keenly saw through the shift in world dynamics and determined that Tokugawa Ieyasu would eventually defeat the Toyotomi Clan.

Thus, she successfully advised Yamana Ikutaro, right before the ”Millennium Battle,” the Battle of Sekigahara, which decided whether the world would bear Toyotomi or Tokugawa’s name, to quickly switch allegiance to Tokugawa Ieyasu, ultimately assisting Ieyasu in winning the Battle of Sekigahara.

After Ieyasu established the Edo Shogunate, in gratitude for Yamana Ikutaro’s ”flexible job-hopping,” Yamana Ikutaro was transferred by Ieyasu to be the Daimyo of the Tosa Domain with a 240,000-koku territory, and the Tosa Domain’s statehood continues to this day.

Thus, Yamana Ikutaro, relying entirely on the help of ”wise wife Chiyoda,” transformed from a mere subordinate samurai to a 240,000-koku Great Daimyo.