When the stables set up by the Heite family in the western suburbs of Kyoto were attacked, a group of more than 20 people, including Hosokawa Fujitaka and Hattori Hideyasu, had already driven away on horseback in advance, and secretly ran along the national highway overnight for about 400 towns (40 kilometers) to the Izumi border, where they found their own post house, and were immediately received quietly but solemnly.

The last stretch of the road leading to Kishiwada Castle allows them to rest in a commercial ox cart converted into a car.

Over the past few years, the Hirate Punishment Department has been trying to create a full-fledged post house system, ideally with two people on call at each base in two shifts 24 hours a day, who can serve multiple fields such as heralds, intelligence, transportation, escorts, and commerce at the same time. However, only the interior of Izumi has barely been erected, and other places have yet to be developed. The main thing is not a question of money, but of limited manpower.

Although it is very simple to recruit as many retainers as you want as long as you let go of the standards and use the money as an attraction, there are still not enough people who are good enough, and they must be used in the most important places. There will always be some departments that are not taken seriously, and they will be full of incompetent related households, old fritters and bastards, and even if they are paid, they will not be able to do political achievements.

As for the other daimyos, it is basically impossible to have similar ideas, and even if they do, they cannot have the strength to complete them.

Therefore, Hosokawa Fujitaka and Hattori Hideyasu are obviously the safest to march under the cover of darkness, not to mention enemy troops, even thieves and even ordinary pedestrians will hardly haunt the national highway. But walking at night is also very difficult, and it is easy to get lost or disoriented. If it weren't for the fact that there were people in the team who had been specially trained to find their way and identify the direction, they would not have made this choice temporarily.

Communication with horses under the stars is also a big problem. Luckily, there are also animal tamers in the team.

There are also refined horse lanterns, although it is not possible to make a pair of people, but it is barely feasible for four or five people to share a pair.

In this way, the feat of night riding can be accomplished even so-so.

Rao is like this, there are still two people who stumbled and fell off their horses on the way and accidentally fell and injured themselves.

One of them was Ueno Kiyono, an elderly shogun, whose old body was still strong, and although he broke his arm, he could barely move, and insisted on continuing to ride a horse with a little bandage.

This greatly changed the impression of those who traveled with him.

"It seems that these shoguns are not exactly waste, cowards and wall grass!"

- This kind of thinking is born in everyone's mind.

But the other ninja, who goes by the pseudonym "Makoto Ito", is in a much worse situation and almost faints. I had no choice but to leave two people behind and take this unlucky guy to find a place to stay.

Hattori Hidean deliberately explained: "Although this person looks quite annoying, after all, he successfully transferred two enemy generals and provided us with a lot of help to enter Xiangguo Temple, and we must let him persist until he comes back to receive the reward, so as to show our kindness." ”

Hosokawa Fujitaka sighed and said, "After listening to your evaluation of this Itoden, I am only worried about the family that was lodged...... I hope there is not a young, beautiful daughter who has not yet come out of the cabinet. ”

As for some other minor accidents, they are endless.

After all, everyone is tired enough, and it is all supported by the quality of will, and it is inevitable that there will be distractions and sleepiness.

However, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who had always been weak and was wounded by arrows, was in the best spirit, standing tall on his horse and standing at the forefront, repeatedly praising the effect of the "miracle medicine" provided by the Tie family.

However, from the side, I always felt that the general's mood was too abnormal, and along the way, he continued to make impassioned statements, claiming how to punish the rebellious party and recapture Kyoto Yunyun, but he did not take into account any details at all, and it was not at all like the previous appearance of forbearance and prudence, joy and anger.

Of course, after being stimulated so much, it was reasonable to behave out of shape for a while, and the courtiers didn't care too much.

After a night of riding, the next morning at the post house, Ashikaga Yoshiaki rested for a while, sat in the carriage of the ox cart, and suddenly inexplicably revealed his original form for no reason, and screamed loudly that the arrow hurt terribly, and the snot and tears flowed down uncontrollably, rolling on the board.

This frightened the people who accompanied him on the left and right, but fortunately, Hattori Hideyasu came in time to inquire and once again provided the help of the "miracle medicine", which made the shogun regain his stability and cheer.

At this point, some of the courtiers finally felt that something was wrong, and quietly talked to their current backbone, Hosokawa Fujitaka, about the "miracle medicine". But the latter waved his hand and said firmly: "Don't give up the basics!" At present, the most important thing is to ensure that the princess can leave Kyoto safely and get out of the sphere of influence of the rebellious party, and the rest cannot be taken care of so much. Don't worry, I know a lot about the 'miracle medicine'. ”

In that case, the shoguns had nothing to say.

……

Nominally, the Hirate family's post house didn't know exactly what was going on in Kyoto, nor did it know who it was hosting, but it was Hattori-sama Hideyasu who had specifically instructed him to be very careful and take it very seriously.

In the same way, the Lord of the Criminal Department, who is bright and dustless, naturally handles official business in Kishiwada Castle, and will not appear at the border of Izumi inexplicably.

He passively received the news of the chaos in Kyoto, and there was absolutely no sign of any prior preparation.

The reason why he succeeded in rescuing Lord Gongfang was purely by chance. It was Hosokawa Fujitaka, a great hero who was loyal and brave, and who was both civil and military, who saw through the conspiracy of the rebellious party, and then took the initiative to contact his old friends who had met during the fight against Takeda and happened to be staying near Kyoto at that time, Kawada Nagakin, Kinoshita Hidenaga and others, and everyone worked together to accomplish an incredible feat.

That's the official story.

Unbelievers can go to the Metropolitan Police Department to theorize, and by the way, they can also taste a cup of tea, where tea has always been particularly popular.

Of course, when Hirate met Ashikaga Yoshiaki in Kishiwada Castle, his heart was shocked, angry, happy, guilty, and confused...... And so on a variety of moods intertwined.

This is really a test of acting skills.

Even the battle-hardened Lord of the Criminal Department could only bow his head, bow down, and speak in a hoarse and frightened voice, so that he spoke incoherently: "Lord Gongfang! Actually...... How did you encounter such a ...... Such a heart-wrenching conspiracy! Next...... I...... Your Majesty must ...... Be sure to ...... Be sure to ...... I...... I don't know what to do now, but I just have to do something! ”

Then he raised his head slightly, suddenly choked, his eyes were slightly moist, he sighed, sorted out his mood, and said cautiously: "This is indeed a thing that deserves death, but Oda is ...... After all, it's my brother-in-law.,It's also the lord of the next.,Shibata and Kinoshita have also fought together.,I'm sorry I can't see them as outright enemies for the time being.,Maybe ...... Maybe some of the villains provoked and caused misunderstandings...... I don't know......"

Seeing the rare posture of a dilemma and dilemma, everyone was surprised.

Odate Haritada, Ueno Kiyonobu and other lineage ministers nodded their heads one after another, infected by this sincere truth, indicating that they could understand the complicated feelings of the Punishment Department.

Hosokawa Fujitaka is, of course, the one who resonates the most.

After all, he is a well-known cultural giant in the world, and he is the best at savoring the subtleties of people's hearts.

And Hattori Hidean and his gang don't have to come forward on this occasion, which is a very fortunate place, otherwise it is easy to have problems with etiquette, eloquence, and acting skills.

As for Ashikaga Yoshiaki...... He was supposed to be a perceptive and suspicious person, and he was not easily infected by the emotions of others.

However, before the meeting, he felt unwell again, so he just asked Hattori Hidean to get a little "miracle medicine".

After taking it three times in a row, the Shogun's mood has changed greatly from his usual state. He didn't notice the omissions and contradictions in the words and deeds of the person in front of him, and he didn't have the heart to experience the love and hatred of the hero who turned around and turned a thousand times, but stepped forward very proudly, patted the shoulder of the flat hand, and said loudly: "Don't worry, don't worry!" I'm relieved, you don't have to rush! Today is different from that time a few years ago, I have been in Kyoto for a long time, and I have won the hearts of the people, and the rebellion of the Oda faction is not worth mentioning at all, and people of insight inside and outside will rally around me, and no one will be on the side of the rebels! If the Tie Punishment Department cares about the old feelings, then don't send troops to participate in the operation to quell the chaos, just sit back and watch in Hequan! There is no need to worry about anything, as long as I get in touch with the heroes of all sides, it is only a matter of time before the counterinsurgency is put into account......"

Ashikaga Yoshiaki couldn't stop talking with a red face on his face, revealing an abnormal excitement.

The draw was not mentally prepared for this, and he was a little puzzled for a while.

Kyoto's troubles have made a good person stupid?

It's not necessarily a bad thing in the long run, but it can be a lot of trouble in the short term......

At least for a year, I still hope that there will be a general who can speak normally.

Until someone took advantage of Ashikaga Yoshiaki's spit stars splashing around, attracting everyone's attention, he quietly handed over a note.

Hirate Hiraku pretended to glance at the text on it slightly.

And then he was really shocked.

Although Hattori Hideyasu was allowed to "act cheaply and without taboos", he never thought that it would be carried out to this point......