CHAPTER 248: CHAPTER 180 HOYOSHIMARU

The leader of the cavalry was in his thirties, a samurai about one meter sixty-five tall with a robust build. He nimbly dismounted and asked Harano, "Are you Lord Nozawa?"

Harano did recognize this man; he was Katsuyori Shibata (Quan Liu). Years ago, Harano had seen him once from afar at Oda Nobuhide’s funeral, though they had never interacted. Seeing him approach, Harano nodded politely, saying, "That’s me. Lord Shibata, have you just returned from the northern front?"

"Yes, just got back. The Saito family has already retreated," Katsuyori Shibata replied, his gaze sweeping past Ah Man and Ah Qing behind Harano. Upon seeing Ah Man’s chasen-style topknot and the full complement of tachi and wakizashi at her waist—dressed like an Advanced Warrior, yet with slightly odd attire—his thick brows furrowed just a bit. But he quickly looked away, courteously saluting Nozawa, "Pardon me; this is our first meeting. I have heard much about how Lord Nozawa is deeply trusted by the Lord of Upper General, and how valiantly you fight on the battlefield. I hope you will look after me from now on."

Harano returned the courtesy, "Not at all, Lord Shibata. I look forward to your guidance as well."

After exchanging several rounds of first-meeting pleasantries, Katsuyori Shibata glanced around, signaled for the people behind him to step back, and then said to Nozawa, "I was planning to invite you for a meeting, but since we’ve run into each other here, there’s just one matter I’d like to discuss with you..."

He paused here, his gaze landing again on Ah Man and Ah Qing. Harano felt curious, but out of courtesy had Ah Man and Ah Qing move some distance away. Only then did Katsuyori Shibata fix his eyes on him and ask, "I’ve heard that you and Lord Oyaue Seibei have had some misunderstandings. Is that true?"

"Lord Oyaue Seibei? Oh, the Oya family from Chita County!" Harano hadn’t expected Katsuyori Shibata to bring up this person and replied with some surprise, "Whether or not there’s a misunderstanding, may I ask what ties Lord Oyaue Seibei has with you, Lord Shibata?"

"Not much, actually—just that our fathers were old friends," Katsuyori Shibata replied straightforwardly, making his point clear. "You and he seem to have had a bit of a misunderstanding, but what’s past is past; Lord Nozawa, I must ask you to stop for now."

Harano was busy developing the Oya family’s territory, a condition previously negotiated with the Imagawa family. He hadn’t expected even the Imagawa to tacitly allow it, only for Katsuyori Shibata to jump out and object—relationships among the Owari magnates really were a mess. The Oya family already had a marriage connection two generations back with Lin Xiuzhen’s old family elders, and now there turned out to be an old friendship with this new family elder, Katsuyori Shibata.

But there’s no way he could stop. New Wanjin needed land to develop, and needed the raw materials that came from land. He couldn’t very well risk his life outside stealing and kidnapping people, only to cram them into a tiny space with barely room to turn around.

Harano was silent for a moment, then shook his head and sighed, "Lord Shibata, let the Oya family come speak to me themselves. This is really not something you need to intervene in."

Katsuyori Shibata’s expression darkened, his tone turning displeased, "Lord Nozawa, you are now encroaching on Oya Castle’s lands! As a warrior, one must uphold the duties of a samurai, and act in accordance with decorum!"

"Isn’t the Oya family a vassal of the Imagawa family?" Harano met his gaze unflinchingly, looking down at him, "The Imagawa family are enemies of the Oda Family—surely you know that, Lord Shibata? What’s wrong with me taking land from the hands of your enemies?"

Katsuyori Shibata was momentarily speechless, while at this point Ah Qing and Ah Man sensed the tension and quickly stepped forward, Ah Qing’s hand already resting on her sword hilt, her gaze cold and vigilant towards Katsuyori Shibata.

Harano waved them off, signaling there was nothing to worry about. Katsuyori Shibata was here as a mediator, and surely wasn’t crazy enough to openly attack Oda Nobunaga’s ally and brother-in-law inside Oda Nobunaga’s own residence.

Sure enough, Katsuyori Shibata glanced at Ah Man and Ah Qing and looked away, not taking them seriously at all. He only said to Harano, "That may be true, but, Lord Nozawa, more friends are always better than fewer."

"Thank you, but I don’t need that," Harano replied blandly. He had no need to befriend Owari magnates—getting too close was more dangerous than helpful.

"My apologies," Katsuyori Shibata was silent for a moment, then nodded lightly to show at least the minimal respect due an ally of the Oda Family. Then he turned with his men and left—unlike how he was portrayed in Taiko 2, not a rude and easily angered brute. In that game, he and Sasaki Nagamasa came off more like nouveau riche and grassroots samurai, when in reality, both were well-versed in Sinology and educated by famous teachers.

Ah Man craned her bean-shaped brows for a look at Katsuyori Shibata’s departing figure, then asked Harano, "What happened just now?"

Harano motioned for them to mount up, recounting the conversation as they rode. Ah Man immediately spat on the ground and cursed, "This guy just got reinstated as a family elder of the Oda Family and already has the nerve to act so arrogant? Even dares to meddle in our Wanjin’s business?"

"I guess he thinks, since we just picked up a few new manors in the Upper Four Provinces, our territory is big enough and we should be satisfied—no need to further encroach on the Oya family’s land, so he came to say something," Harano mused on the reason for the Oya family’s sudden action. "Then again, maybe it’s that I’m gradually moving the new manor’s peasants into New Wanjin and planning new villages there, maybe gonna build a small fortress as administration center—that probably rattled the Oya family."

Ah Man couldn’t care less what the Oya family and Katsuyori Shibata thought; she just asked, "Should we have someone keep an eye on him?"

"Of course!" Harano was always willing to spend big on intelligence, and frankly a bit afraid for his life too. He turned and instructed Ah Qing, "From now on, let’s add another escort team when we go out!"

He already traveled with bodyguards, but it was inconvenient to take a big group through Oda Nobunaga’s residence—they generally just waited by the gates. After all, security inside Oda Nobunaga’s household was nothing to worry about. Nobunaga had no motive to harm him right now, and nobody else could really pull anything either—any more dangerous and the perpetually hated Nobunaga would have long since been poisoned. In fact, Nobunaga watched over household security more closely than anyone.

Ah Man and Ah Qing nodded in unison—one prepared to have the Life-saving Group infiltrate the Shibata family, the other thinking to transfer a few more people from Wanjin to beef up security at the secondary residence.

......

Harano’s first meeting with this historical figure, Katsuyori Shibata, was not a pleasant one—but that’s just how life in the underworld goes. You can’t always act on your own will; some things simply can’t be yielded, and even if you did, it’d be meaningless. As things stood, it was only the Imagawa family’s restraints that kept Harano from making any bold moves on the Chita Peninsula—otherwise, the local nobles would have long since been run off, and all the peasants and land absorbed into Wanjin. No need for him to waste time stealing and kidnapping people, basically being forced to moonlight as a slaver.

But after playing mediator, Katsuyori Shibata made no further moves. Everything continued as usual; if they happened to meet, he would nod politely. Harano didn’t want to escalate conflict with him either, so it seemed as if the matter had come to an end.

Another ten days or so passed quickly. Oda Nobunaga finally started to calm down; the frequency of receiving and feasting with the regional magnates decreased, but he seemed to be organizing a large-scale tea gathering for the new vassal lords to show their faces and interact. As Nobunaga’s staunchest ally, Harano still needed to attend and couldn’t leave just yet.

At least he finally had some rare downtime. He took the chance to visit his little disciple Ningning at the Asano Family, cementing his claim, digging a pit for the monkey to fall into for a hundred years unshaken, and took a look at his soon-to-be bride A Song. But as soon as he got back, he ran into the groom-to-be Maeda Toshie—who showed up to borrow money. Theoretically, Maeda shouldn’t be short on funds—he had an annual stipend of a hundred and fifty kan, after all—but he was always a spendthrift, supporting too many retainers and Lang Faction members. He saved up nothing over the years, and faced with wedding expenses, was a bit lost and had no choice but to come ask for a loan.

And he only came to Harano, since Harano was now Owari’s most infamous upstart, with everyone knowing he was rich—the only big shot aside from Oda Nobunaga himself to have ever fielded over a hundred Iron Gunners.

Harano, of course, didn’t care—old friends, after all. He immediately had a bag of silver coins brought and was about to invite Maeda to a meal, but as a groom-to-be, Maeda was much too excited, in a rush and wouldn’t even stay for food. Snatching the money, he hurried off, so Harano could only chat a bit and see him out.

However, just as they reached the stables at the secondary residence, they heard a commotion. Harano was surprised and hurried over to check, where a groom anxiously reported, "My lord, it’s nothing serious, just a small problem. Lady Ah Qing’s horse is sick and was just throwing a tantrum..."

It really was a minor issue, so Harano didn’t give it a second thought. He turned, planning to have Maeda Toshie’s horse led out so his guest could leave, but Maeda—ever the horse lover—walked over anyway to have a look at Ah Qing’s mount. It wasn’t the little calico mare—she was too short for battle, though Ah Qing still kept her for her daily playmates, along with the little monkey and a secondhand mule, none of which she’d brought to Qingzhou City.

Maeda Toshie took one look and immediately spotted the problem. He turned and asked the groom, "It’s got an eye illness—did you call a horse doctor?" (Horse doctors specialized in treating horses, and in ancient Japan, veterinarians were divided into horse doctors and cattle doctors.)

The horse’s eye was red and swollen, with abnormal discharge—easily seen by the grooms, who quickly said they’d given it medicine, but it hadn’t worked, and the horse had gotten very irritable, either kicking at people or thrashing furiously at the stall.

Maeda Toshie, ever ready to meddle, didn’t care about his upcoming wedding and told the grooms to bring over the medicine for a look. He shook his head at once, "This won’t do. Let me find someone to take a look."

Without even asking Harano, he sent his attendant Mura Hachiro to fetch help, and soon brought back the young groom named Hizi whom Harano had met last time in Oda Nobunaga’s household stables.

Seeing Hizi come in, Maeda Toshie called out, "Hizi, come and take a look—this horse seems to have the same illness as mine had last time!" He then turned to Harano and introduced, "Hoyoshimaru is the Oda Family’s best horse doctor—none of the horses he cares for have ever had problems, and the Lord of Upper General thinks very highly of him."