Sakura went toward the direction of the Water Pavilion where Yos.h.i.+moto came to meet Harun.o.bu before the girl could speak more. She didn’t even have time to put on her clogs.

The two men were with each other now! What if Harun.o.bu wanted to wait until all the guests left, and then provoke a fight with his brother-in-law?

“Gos.h.!.+ Heavens, please. . . I don’t want those two to become enemies.”

On the way there, she kept on muttering this sentence. Soon she arrived at the Water Pavilion and found the two men standing there, face to face. She went to hide behind a rockery stone to listen to their conversation.

“So I am still wondering why the sister invited me to the tea banquet by writing an invitation herself even though she knows well that I don’t understand tea ceremonies and ikebana. Maybe I should thank you, my dear brother-in-law,” Harunubo said coldly.

Yos.h.i.+moto took back the folding fan to his chest slowly, and said with his eyebrow lifted, “We two are relatives. No need to be so polite. Besides, both you and I are daimyō. If you leave right now, it won’t be good.”

“Relax! I will leave tomorrow, after the tea banquet. I will go to the Inner Compound to greet the sister today. As for your help of moving my father to Kyoto, I will give you gifts of appreciation.”

“Don’t you ever think of bringing her back to Kai?”

“Sakura? She is your spy. I am not that foolish.”

“Really? Then, why, when you sat at the banquet, drinking alone, were your eyes fixed on her? Though you are still awake, I saw her shadow in your eyes. While she is still at Kai, you did want to have her become your woman, am I right?”

So this had been arranged by Yos.h.i.+moto. Sakura was suddenly awakened. Even though he fell for her, he was not a simple one. He invited Harun.o.bu to Suruga to test the relations.h.i.+p between she and Harun.o.bu and let Harun.o.bu know that if he wanted to keep the relations.h.i.+p well, he should not try the move of persuading Kansuke to help him. Anyway, Imagawa Family had always enjoyed a better social status than Takeda.

She was so troubled that she lowered her head. She shouldn’t have come here and gotten to know the two of them.

Yos.h.i.+moto, you said you love me and you want to be with me forever, however, you used the banquet to hurt Harun.o.bu’s confidence. Are you truly capable of giving me your heart?

The more she thought, the more distracted her brain became. Though she was a time traveler, men in this era were not trustworthy. The ladies who married them had only two kind of fates: one, to wait for news of the husband’s death, and second, to become a political sacrifice.

Anyway, leaving was the best choice. She planned to leave after the tea meeting tomorrow, when he was sending out the guests.

The second day, when she came to the main tea house of the second floor, Yos.h.i.+moto and the guests were already waiting there.

Suruga’s tea house design was very delicate. The first floor was wide and open. However, the second floor was separated into many little tea rooms. Each tea room was only seven square meters or so, allowing less than ten people to sit in it. The floor and poles were made of wood, simple and natural. j.a.pan’s culture of tea ceremony upheld simplicity, so Sakura didn’t over-decorate. According to the etiquette, she should go to each room to say h.e.l.lo to the guests.

In the last room sat Harun.o.bu, eating the tea cakes alone. Seeing her come in, he had no special expression on his face.

Right at this moment, Yos.h.i.+moto stood up and went out to inform all the guests, saying, “Today’s tea will be made by Sakura. I hope everyone enjoys the tea from The Ming Country.”

“So I should have a careful taste.”

Harun.o.bu also said some polite words to her. Sakura heard the envious meaning behind them, thus she finally answered him, “This is my first time, and the last time meanwhile, that I make tea for you.”

She didn’t say anything more, and nodded to Yos.h.i.+moto to let him pa.s.s in the tea leaves and introduce them to the audience. Then she added the boiling water into the tea pot made of purple sand to warm the pot, and then poured the water out. When she began to add in tea leaves, all the guests were stunned.

“Is she making tea? How can she put so many tea leaves in so as to nearly fill the pot?”

“I am also wondering if the taste will be too heavy to drink.”

Sakura didn’t care what they were talking about. She simply sat there quietly, adding in some boiling water. Her skills were so good that not even a drop of water dripped out. Then, she used the cover of the pot to wipe away the tea foam and let go of the water. Then, she added in some not boiling hot water into the pot and covered it, and poured the boiling water on the pot from the cover to the whole pot body.

She heard surprised cries from the guests, including Yos.h.i.+moto and Harun.o.bu. She was very satisfied with their reaction. It was all due to grandpa’s grace, that he taught her how to make Chiuchow Kung Fu Tea. She was considering drinking the bitter tea she made herself with the two men, which meant, leaving them both after the tea banquet.