Chihime chanted silently in her mind as she wrote this waka on the paper. After writing the last word, she put down the brush and looked up towards the courtyard.
This is a nineteen year old woman, with delicate brows and eyes, a delicate face, and long waterfall-like hair that falls to her waist, making her face even more delicate and soft. She got up and slowly walked to the corridor, a plain white kimono embroidered with stars and cherry blossoms, with the movement of the steps, the scarlet flowers bloomed and fell.
The light in this mountain temple seems to slow down a lot. Chihime secretly sighed. I think back to last year, today's Osaka Castle, cherry blossoms are as bright as clouds, standing in the sky, overlooking the whole of Osaka is drowned in a sea of flowers. The women wore kimonos of various colors and walked through them, while Hideyori and the samurai sipped tea and danced with swords underneath the blossoms.
And then look at the temple of a few Yaezakura, the petals of the first bloom, with the heart of the general shy hesitation. How long have you lived in Dongqing Temple? Less than half a year, right? The first time I saw this, it was a long time ago, and I'm not sure if it's a good idea.
A butterfly fluttered into Chihime's field of vision, and it danced gently among the flower branches, as if it had something on its mind, hesitantly searching for the one it wanted. The butterflies have a sense of sensation and fly over, dancing on the palm of the hand.
Chihihime thought again of the Bar Mitzvah when she was sixteen. She had actually thought back to that day countless times. For her, it was the most poignant and haunting memory of her married life.
A woman's Bat Mitzvah should be completed in her parents' affection and favor. She puts on a kimono sewn by her mother, puts on the most beautiful makeup, has her sideburns shaved by her father, and receives the best wishes from her family.
But Chihime is different. But Chihime is different. At her bar mitzvah, there is no father and no mother.
It was her aunt, her husband Hideyori's mother, who changed her kimono. Her husband, Hideyori, was the one who did the "sideburns".
On that day, she was the most beautiful woman in Osaka, and the cherry blossoms that bloomed all over the city were dwarfed by her. Cherry blossoms in the light wind fluttering, she shyly lowered eyelids, a head of dark hair like satin down, set off the skin as smooth as white jade. Hideyori was almost mesmerized by the sight, and only after repeated prompting from his mother did he lift Chihime's sideburns with one hand, and with the other took the scissors and cut them short below her ears. After the "sideburns cut", Chihime's eyebrows and eyes are even more gentle and soft.
A few cherry blossoms fell on Chihime's head and shoulders, attracting a butterfly to flutter around her. Chihime raised her eyes and met Hideyori's passionate gaze, and she felt her cheeks heat up, her heart beat faster, and she felt a kind of dizzying happiness.
This is really the envy of the world, a pair of lovers! However, who can know, married to Hideyori so many years, Chihime is always a virgin.
"Mother."
When Chihime heard the delicate call and looked back, she saw her maid kneeling on the ground, with four-year-old Tenshu standing beside her.
Chihime was in a bit of a trance. She felt that Tenshuu seemed like her infant self, calling out to her mother, Aie.
Ah, Mother-sama, how many years have I been away from you? Twelve years, right?
That year, Chihime was seven years old. Her mother, Aie, knelt in front of her grandfather and begged bitterly, "Father-sama, do you have to do this? Chihime is still so young, do you want her to leave us and marry in Osaka?" Grandfather's face was like a cold, black rock, answering with silence instead.
Who can change such a fate? Who let Chihime be born in the Tokugawa family? She is the eldest daughter of the second general of the Tokugawa shogunate, the granddaughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu. At the moment of Chihime's birth, she took up the family's mission and promised to marry Toyotomi Hideyori, the son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
The samurai mounted their horses and the procession for the marriage set off. Chihime lifted the curtain, "Mother, mother." She saw her mother, Ae, standing under a field of fallen cherry blossoms, hiding her face and crying. Twelve years have passed, she only remembers that sad patch of falling cherry blossoms, but her mother's appearance is blurred.
Chihime walks over and picks up Tenshu. This poor child, she is the daughter of her husband Hideyori, but not her own flesh and blood.
Chihime was seven years old when she married in Osaka, and her husband Hideyori was only eleven. Although she left home early, her mother-in-law, who was also her aunt, treated her as if she were her own daughter, and gave her the motherly love of Aie. Her mother-in-law taught her calligraphy and songs, all of which were taught to her by her mother-in-law herself.
But Chihime never understood why her mother-in-law prevented her and Hideyori from becoming a real couple.
Chihime loved Hideyori! She has been with him since she was seven years old, and has grown up together, from innocence to affection. She has dreamed countless times of Hideyori taking her into his arms and kissing her y. But every time she woke up, only the lonely cold moon gazed at her quietly, the moonlight is merciful and sorrowful.
Hidenori, are you waking up in a dream like this, adoring and thirsting for me? Chihime called out in her heart.
Hidetora is the ruler of Osaka Castle, and Chihime is his wife, but only in name. Hidayori follows his mother's wishes and marries Kiku, his concubine. In front of Chihime, Kiku is humble and cautious, sometimes even a bit timid, but no one understands that the one who is really inferior is the main wife, Chihime. Kiku has already given birth to Hideyori's two children, a son and a daughter, and Chihime has not been able to have any skin-to-skin contact with Hideyori.
Alas, who is to blame? Osaka Castle and Edo Castle, the Toyotomi family and the Tokugawa family, their rivalry is becoming more and more sinister, and it has reached the point of sword-fighting.
"Mother, butterfly, butterfly." Tenshu stretched out his chubby little hand and pointed to the tall cherry blossom tree.
Chihime looked there, and it was the same butterfly from earlier. It was half the size of Tenshu's palm, tender pink in color, with purple symmetrical patterns outlined on its wings, dancing in the sunlight, truly resembling a Yaezakura fluttering in the wind.
Tenshu's gaze followed the butterfly, focused. Chihime held back her tears, letting them flow slowly into her heart.
The day finally came. Grandfather Tokugawa Ieyasu himself led an army to attack Osaka Castle with the intention of wiping out the Toyotomi family.
Osaka Castle is a fortress that Hideyori's father, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, had built with great care when he was alive. However, Chihime's grandfather and father came with an army of 200,000 men, and the victory was already decided.
Osaka Castle is in danger. Chihime kneels before her mother-in-law, "Mother-sama, please allow me to go out of the city, so that I can go to my grandfather's camp and plead for mercy!"
"The Toyotomi family vows to live and die with this castle ****."
"Mother-sama, let me fight for my children to live."
Escorted by her samurai, Chihime rushed to Ieyasu's home front, bawling her eyes out in grief and pleading with her grandfather to give her husband a chance to live and her two children a chance to live. Ieyasu's face was like a cold, black rock, and he answered with silence instead.
The moment Osaka Castle fell, Tenshukaku went up in flames, and Hideyori and his mother died with the castle. Ieyasu ordered the beheading of all Hideyori's family, including his young son. With swords waving, heads rolling, and blood splattering, Chihime grabbed forward and hugged Tenshu. "Grandfather-sama, please let her go, she's still only four years old and doesn't understand anything. Chihime doesn't have any children of her own, let her be my adopted daughter, please."
Ieyasu was shaken. In front of this eldest granddaughter, after more than ten years of separation, has grown from the innocent child who used to laugh around the knees into a beautiful woman who is standing up, and today we meet, we should cry with joy, but the cruelty of the war has made her become a thousand heartbreakers, and how can we be ironic again and again? Ieyasu withdrew the katana in his hand. After a moment's thought, he decreed that the four-year-old Tenshu, the only living heir to the Toyotomi family, must leave the house of Tōkyō-ji Temple and become a nun for the rest of her life.
"Mother, catch this butterfly for me." Tenshu whispers quietly. The butterfly landed on a flowering branch, close by, its wings fluttering gently as if sucking in the fragrance of the Yaezakura. Chihime looked at Tenshu, the child's facial contours resembled her mother, Kiku, in a few ways, but her form and posture were identical to Hideyori's. Oh, Hideyori-kun, we didn't have time to say goodbye before you left me forever, do you know that the thought of you follows me day and night like a shadow?
"Tenshu, look how free this butterfly is, if you catch it, it will die."
Tenshu looks at Chihime, her eyes are innocent and childlike in their unworldliness, "Just like father-sama, right? And brother, they all died."
Chihime's heart was torn into petals, like a shower of flowers. Tenshu, may you always be ignorant and not understand the sorrows of the world.
The maid bowed her waist and walked to the bottom of the silhouette with small broken steps, and crouched down to report that there is a messenger from the Tokugawa Shogunate asking for an audience. Chihime frowned slightly, This day has come, I am not free after all. She wrapped her arms tightly around Tenshu.
Half a month later, the Shogunate's carriage to greet Ms. Chihime arrives at Tōkyōji.
The cherry blossoms in the temple were so brilliant that they almost lost their way down the mountain. Chihime walked slowly towards the outside of the temple, her robes trailing to the ground with a rustling sound. A gust of wind came, flower petals rain floating, Chihime's heart infinite sadness and melancholy. Her husband had just passed away, and she was ordered to remarry, with the mourning and longing for Hideyori, she married another woman, who can understand such feelings? As a woman of the Tokugawa family, how can she control her own destiny? Like this cherry blossom, the most beautiful is only the moment of blooming, and then with the wind away, sadly withered.
Chihime stopped and knelt down facing the abbot of the temple. She stroked her hands on the ground, her forehead pressed against the back of her hands, and her body crouched y. "If we part today, I don't know when we'll see each other again. I'm counting on you, Tenshu, please take care of me."
Outside the temple gates, the samurai's horses snorted, disturbing the quiet of the mountain.
It was time to go. Chihime looks y at Tenshu, searching her face one last time for Hideyori. A butterfly flew over and landed on Chihime's shoulder, gently vibrating its wings as if whispering. Is that you? Hideyori-kun? If it is you, please forgive me for this time of being unable to do anything, my eternal separation from you today.
Butterflies dance for the flowers, and the flowers fly with the wind. The Tokugawa Shogunate's carriages and horses fade in and out of the mountains and forests ......