The layout of Kyoto's Nijo Castle is different from other places.

The castle was not a frontier fortress built to defend against enemies, nor was it a trading town formed by the gathering of merchants, but for political reasons, it was a place for the shogun and the retainers of the shogunate. It's not so much a fortified castle as a large mansion with a slightly defensive function.

Therefore, the city is also beautiful, pleasant and livable, and it is not at all like the general city with the taste of cold and bitter loneliness.

In particular, there are many cherry blossom trees planted in the small garden outside the Imperial Palace, and in the late spring, they bloom one after another, and the fragrance is faint and colorful, enough to make people forget the sword and blood of the outside world for a short time.

However, the dignified new deacon of the shogunate, Ise Sadako, did not come to this courtyard today to enjoy the flowers.

Of course, he didn't want to enjoy the flowers.

As one of the top members of a group, but was excluded from the internal core meeting by the leader of the group, anyone who encounters this kind of treatment will not have the heart to appreciate any flowers.

Although on the surface, Ashikaga Yoshiaki only found Mibuchi Fujiei, Isshiki Fujinaga, Makijima Akimitsu and others to carry out some literary and artistic activities such as songs and tea parties, and did not openly suppress Ise Sadako's status.

But as long as you are not a fool, you can see that at this "critical juncture", being invited by the princess to drink tea and sing poetry is obviously a sign of trust. And Ise Sadako, who took the initiative to run to the door to see it, but was turned away, must have annoyed the lord.

Ashikaga Yoshihiro is more than famous, but his strength is insufficient, and his own authority may not be very stable and solid. But the ministers couldn't take out anything except the plaques of famous families, and their survival, honor and disgrace were all maintained in the hands of Yizhao, and life and death could not be taken away.

The dignified deacon of the government office, theoretically the top three in the shogunate today, once he fell out of favor, he was immediately in danger. Ise Sadako waited in the courtyard for a long time, but he still hadn't been summoned, and his heart was naturally cold.

After more than an hour, a servant of the Ashikaga family came out to spread the word, saying, "Lord Gongfang has other important matters that can't be left behind, so please ask His Highness Ise to go back to your mansion first!" ”

Naturally, he refused to leave like that.

Then he waited until the second, slightly more senior servant, and the same words came over: "Lord Gongfang has other important matters that I can't leave, so please go back to your mansion first!" ”

This really makes people's hearts bleed.

After staying for a long time, he gradually felt that those subordinates who had always been respectful and did not dare to disobey in the slightest seemed to be obedient on the surface, but there was mockery in their hearts.

Even the sound of the wind blowing the leaves can be heard in the smell of schadenfreude.

When I feel the tears, I hate the birds, but that's it.

Ise Sadako, who had never been very interested in poetry and songs, suddenly understood why the literati in the history of Fuso had created so many sad and depressive works.

Of course, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who has always been tolerant of His Majesty, will not do this for no reason. Although today's public side may not be a heroic man who stands up to the sky, it is by no means a moody and easily blamed "faint king".

In the final analysis, his old man's dissatisfaction with Ise Sadako stemmed from the latter's too appeasement of the Oda family.

If you want to talk about the interior of the shogunate, it is not for nothing that he is more indecent than him. For example, Akechi Mitsuhide has basically regarded himself as a retainer of the Oda family, and Hosokawa Fujitaka is also complicit in him. But after being a second or fifth boy publicly, they are estranged from each other, and they are no longer considered "their own people". Those two have long been excluded from the decision-making bodies of the shogunate, let alone trust or distrust.

Ise Sadako, who for the time being, still belongs to the "own people" who have high hopes for Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and his vacillation of his position is particularly "deplorable" and "shocking".

- Actually, Gongkata used these two words to describe Ise Sadako's attitude towards the "Izumi Law Challenge".

The so-called "Dharma disaster", as the name suggests, is "the disaster of the Dharma". The religious circles of use this term to define recent events in Izumi. This wording is enough to illustrate the attitude.

On weekdays, different religious factions, of course, will attack each other, and even meet each other. But in the face of the pressure of the samurai class, there will also be empathy for the death of rabbits and fox sorrows. Although this bit of empathy is limited to shouting and cheering, and posting some effortless "spiritual support", it is far from the level of helping to pay and people to help fight.

As the "mastermind behind the scenes", Ashikaga Yoshiaki was somewhat unexpected, and even blamed Miki Yoshikei and Iio Mayakru for being too eager. But from the standpoint of the Ashikaga family, there is no room for retreat and resignation.

Although you are a general of the Expedition, you have not obtained the real power commensurate with your name. This time to obtain the guardian power of the Izumi country, it was planned for many years, and it was only by luck that it was obtained by luck (in fact, it was promoted by the tie Tsunosu). And the purge of Izumi is only the first step in restoring the authority of the shogunate, and if this is the first step to soften, won't it become a situation where "the government decree does not go out of the mountain city"?

In the past few years, Ashikaga Yoshiaki has also accepted the fact of compromise with Oda, but in the face of a small domestic temple and shrine power, it will not be as difficult to deal with as Nobunaga's house!

After thinking about it, Yoshiaki not only did not mean to deal with it softly, but instead ordered his retainers to prepare for war and make a tough posture of "ready to support". He also knew that the military forces directly under the shogunate were not strong, but this attitude was always necessary.

During this period, Hirate sent a letter in which he talked about some of the recent unrest in Izumi, expressed some concern about this, and specifically mentioned that "if the dissatisfied temple and shrine hire a strange party from other places to cause trouble, the matter will be out of control", and then suggested that the shogunate should tell the new acting official to relax the policy and not be too strict.

This was naturally ignored by Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who valued Hirate's opinion, but not to that extent.

As a result of such a move, the "hawks" of the shogunate rushed to the hearts of the people one after another, and the "doves" could not help but tremble and be uneasy.

The first of these is the deacon of the government office, Ise Sadako. Although this person is also a famous family, his personality is very pragmatic, so he is not very optimistic about Ashikaga Yoshiaki's wisdom, but he is convinced of the judgment of Hisho Honhide.

Not to mention that as a "deacon of the political office", his biggest "political achievement" since taking office is to greatly win over the friendship relationship with the tie.

Therefore, he did not hesitate to advise Ashikaga Yoshiaki that the warning of Hite-suhide must be fully heeded.

I don't know which word in this advice touched the scales of the princess, and he was furious about it, expressing serious "shock" and "regret", and asked whether Ise Sadaiko's position had wavered.

As a result, the dignified deacon of the government office suddenly became a marginal figure who fell out of favor.

Ise sat alone in the courtyard of Nijo Castle, and his heart was naturally full of resentment.

As a retainer, it is common to be reprimanded. It's just that Ashikaga Yoshiaki is not a convincing leader in the mind of Ise Sadako.

Ise Sadako thought that he reminded a few words out of public intentions, but he didn't expect to be treated unfairly, so he naturally felt wronged.

In this way, he had a little dark thoughts, hoping that the retainers of the "hawks" would suffer a big loss in Izumi.

This thought flashed through Ise Sadako's heart, and then it was immediately dismissed.

Although the matter was unsatisfactory, it did not make him feel betrayed. It's just that the authority of the "deacon of the government" is not easy to come by, and it is necessary to find another way to get it back.

It's just, what can be done?

As a "smart person", of course, Ise Sadako can think of countless ways to damage the public and private interests, and raise his own self-respect; But on the other hand, as a young man less than 20 years old, his discipline has not yet disappeared, and he is not mentally ready to become a "traitor" for the time being.

When he took over as the "deacon of the government office", the predecessor of the old-timer Settsu Harumon said this-

"Do people always say that I 'bend my mind' to the Oda family? As everyone knows, the reason why the old man 'bent his mind to welcome' is to fight for the shogunate. Although the old man was ridiculed, he had no intention of abandoning Ashikaga and joining Oda, so he had a clear conscience. ”

The love is sincere, loud and moving.

At least for those few seconds, Ise Sadako was indeed quite moved.

If I think about it this way, I feel more and more aggrieved - it is just to follow the advice of the peace hand Honhide, to persuade the shogunate to act more steady, not to arouse the "anger of the monks", and to make no malicious remarks at all, why did the princess be so angry? This is not what you expected!

If you think about it carefully, the tone of Hirate's letter is indeed a bit problematic, and it seems to be a kind warning, but there is always a kind of condescending meaning, and there is no lack of contempt, ridicule, and ridicule for the shogunate.

At the time, Ise didn't think much about it - as a pragmatist, he didn't pay much attention to these minutiae. What's more, letters like this are all written by the pen, and the nominal author is only a signature. If you want to come to a figure like Hite, there is no need to deliberately humiliate the Ashikaga family.

In retrospect, it may have been this subtlety that caused the ostensibly all-inclusive Ashikaga Yoshiaki to be furious – but he was not willing (or did not dare) so he directly confronted Hirate Honohide, and could only take his anger on Ise Sadako, who had a close relationship with Hirate.

The words "wide on the outside and taboo on the inside, angry at others" swirled in his throat, and he was almost about to blurt out on the spot - if he was really heard by the guards on the spot, he could honestly pack his bags and run away, but he didn't have to worry about the future anymore......

Ise Sadako waited in the courtyard for more than two hours, from the sun to the twilight, hungry, dripping water, but he never saw the "day of the day" of the princess.

His face grew as gloomy as the daylight.

It wasn't until the beginning of the night that Ashikaga Yoshiaki finally sent a servant over, served him almost some wine, and led him to the inner courtyard study to wait.

Such a small favor suppressed the depression that Ise Sadako had finally risen. As usual, he gave the servant a small piece of silver, and he strengthened his spirits and regained his respectful attitude.

However, he was about to take a step, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a handsome young man in a gorgeous dress and long hair rushing in at the door.

He knew the young man, and he was a favored little surname by Ashikaga Yoshiaki's side. It's just that it's very ordinary, and it's not reused, and it's only a task assigned to deliver letters and manage clothes, so I don't remember the name.

At this time, this little surname who can't remember his name is like a great enemy, and his face is panicked, as if something earth-shattering has happened.

It's just that this guy's power is extremely limited, and he is responsible for some trivial details, how can he let him know about major matters?

- Unless Ashikaga Yoshiaki has another secret agency that is not known......

In this moment of cranky thinking, I saw that the nameless little surname was favored, pushed away the guards, trotted all the way into the inner courtyard, and shouted: "Lord Gongfang, it's terrible!" The vulture thieves of Izumi actually colluded with the Kii Saga Party to counterattack the castle of the guardian generation! ”

Ise Sataka was stunned when he heard this, and he forgot to put down his left foot that he had raised.

Instinctively, like his colleagues around him, he was shocked, angry, and then afraid.

However, after being shocked, angry, and afraid, Ise Sagasi suddenly found that his "career" suddenly took a new turn.

The "hawks" have caused an incident, and of course it seems that the "doves" have foresight. This is a great opportunity to reclaim the right to speak.

Although there is still a suspicion of "harming the public and helping private interests", if - not intentionally, just moving with the times - then it is not a traitor, right?

Quietly, the little discipline value left in his heart decreased a little.