The words left by that warrior not only frightened Yu Qiuping, but also frightened these jailers enough. In the past ten days with Yu Qiuping, they actually had some feelings with Yu Qiuping, and hurriedly asked for a relationship to ask what happened.

Finally, Jiro asked what had happened from one of his who was on duty in the castle tower of Inabayama Castle, and it turned out that many wealthy families in Nishimino had rejected Saito Ryuko's request for negotiation, and also demanded that Saito Ryuko release Yuakihei and immediately cede the jurisdiction of Inabayama Castle, which greatly angered Saito Ryuko. In a fit of anger, he ignored the dissuasion of Hineno Hiroshi and Takewaist Naomitsu, and demanded that Yu Qiuping be beheaded five days later!

·

The news soon spread to Nishimino and Owari as well.

On the afternoon of February 14, in the Kuroda Castle Castle Tower, Yu Qiuyu was crying in Kaede Imagawa's arms.

"Mom! Didn't you say Daddy would be back soon! Yu Qiuyou wailed and shook his little head: "Then why will Dad be executed in a few days!" ”

Imagawa Kaede's eyes were also slightly red, and he gently patted Yu Qiuyou's back, calming the child's emotions, and whispered softly: "You'er, where did you hear that?" ”

"Uncle Ikeda and Uncle Maeda said!" Yu Qiuyou was already so frightened that he couldn't cry, "The two of them were talking in the corridor just now, and they were heard by You'er!" ”

"Have they already arrived at Kuroda Castle?" Imagawa Kaede was stunned when he heard this, but Yu Qiuyou in his arms cried even more fiercely.

"Dad has been taken away for a long time! Why don't you come back! Daddy isn't really going to die, is he? Yu Qiuyu kept repeating the same sentence, crying in Imagawa Kaede's arms, tears streaming all over his face.

"Ayou, stop crying." Yu Qiuyan on the side was comforting her little sister Yu Qiucen, who was also scared to cry on the bed, at a young age, but she already had a slightly mature appearance.

"Brother! Daddy might die! Yu Qiuyou wailed loudly regardless of it, and kept waving at Yu Qiuyou: "If Dad dies, what will we do!" ”

"Well, You'er doesn't cry," Imagawa Kaede lifted Yu Qiuyou up, looked him directly into the eyes, and said word by word: "Mom assures you that Dad will definitely come back safely." ”

Mother's words, as if magical, suddenly stopped Yu Qiuyou's crying. He looked at Kaede Imagawa a little blankly, and subconsciously asked, "Why?" ”

When Imagawa Kaede heard this, he suddenly laughed. Since Yu Qiuping was arrested, she hasn't shown a smile for ten days, and she sobs quietly every night by herself.

"Because your father promised me," Kaede Imagawa's expression was a little dazed, and the image of the young man in his mind gradually emerged, "He will protect me for the rest of my life." ”

"Your dad has always done what he says."

Ping, I'm not going to give you a chance to break my word!

·

Almost at the same time, Asai Nagamasa of Kita-Omi also received a letter. According to the sender, the writer of the letter was an old man from Mino.

Previously, after hearing that Yu Qiuhei was arrested by the Saito family on the way back, Asai Nagamasa was anxious and angry. Almost immediately, he sent an envoy to negotiate with Minono, hoping that Mino would release Yuqiuhei, and that he was willing to return the territory of Nishimino that he had previously occupied as compensation. However, he obviously didn't know anything about politics and didn't figure out the joints inside - what he occupied was the territory of the Nishimino wealthy clan, and Saito Ryuxing wished that Asai Nagamasa would not return the territory to the Nishimino wealthy clan, so he naturally refused.

Asai Nagamasa and Aichi have been worried about Yuqiuping's safety for the past few days, and they are so anxious day and night that they can't do it, but they can't do anything - it's impossible to hit Inabayama Castle and rescue Yuqiuping. Asai Nagamasa wrote a number of letters to Oda Nobunaga, expressing his willingness to do his best to cooperate with the rescue of Akihei, but Oda Nobunaga did not have a good way at the moment.

However, the arrival of this epistle turned things around. After reading the letter, Asai Nagamasa let out a sigh of relief.

"If someone else had proposed such a plan, I would have thought he was crazy," Asai Nagamasa muttered to himself, looking at the familiar Kiyohide notes on the letter, "but if it were you, there would be no mistake." ”

"And if it's to save a friend for righteousness, even if it's crazy, I'll be with Changzheng to the end."

·

On February 15, Asai Nagamasa announced the dispatch of troops to Nishiminon. The small number of standing troops assembled in Otani Castle marched to the border, and other troops were also asked to gradually assemble in Sekigahara. The Ximei Nong Hao clan hurriedly gathered their forces and marched towards the western border.

At this moment, the Saito family was very happy. Because the castle town and barracks outside the west gate of Inabayama Castle have always been controlled by the Ando family, even if Ando Mamoru was detained, the Ando family did not withdraw. After the Saito family released Ando Mori, the latter stayed directly outside the west gate and did not leave, looking like he wanted to get back to the field. The Saito family was really afraid that he would gather Nishimino's troops to come and besiege Inabayama Castle. But now that the Asai family is about to invade, those wealthy families are too busy to take care of themselves, and the Saito family naturally no longer worries about Ando Mamoru alone.

And Nishiminon, who had just refused to negotiate, shamelessly asked the Saito family for reinforcements. At this moment, Hioneno Hiroshi and Naomitsu Takeyo and others were approaching Saito Ryuko to discuss how to deal with the invasion of the Asai family.

The elders of the Saito family's direct retainers are in the castle tower, and you are discussing whether or not to send reinforcements to Nishimino without saying a word. The general meaning of everyone is that they should not pay attention to the bad attitude of the Ximino wealthy clan at all, and let them fend for themselves. Weakening them also helps the Lord to strengthen his control over them.

However, the discussion among the retainers was hot, but Saito Ryuko, who was sitting on the throne, remained silent. He took small sips of his wine, as if pondering something. Everyone also noticed Saito Ryuxing's silence, and the voice of the discussion gradually became quieter. In the end, everyone fell silent, and they all turned their eyes to Saito Ryuko, waiting for him to make a decision.

Saito Ryuxing didn't seem to notice the diminution of the low discussion, and still took small sips of wine. For a long time, just when Hineno Hiroshi couldn't bear it anymore and was about to remind Saito Ryuxing, the latter suddenly woke up like a dream, straightened up excitedly, threw the wine glass in his hand to the ground casually, and fell to pieces.

"My lord?" Hineno Hiroshi frowned, "What does this mean?" ”

"Hmph," Saito Ryuxing snorted coldly, and after a moment he laughed twice.

"These old foxes of Ximinon, the abacus is very accurate!" Saito Ryuxing pointed to the debris on the ground, "Don't think I don't know what they're thinking!" ”

"They must be trying to trick me into sending reinforcements, and then take advantage of the emptiness of Inabayama Castle to recapture this Inabayama Castle again, expel you direct ministers again, and put me in the air! Take Inabayama Castle and teach me a lesson and let me do what they say! Saito Ryuxing sneered, "And that Yu Qiuping, there must be a problem!" That Takenaka Shigeji repeatedly asked me to return the rain and akihei! If Yu Qiuping really has nothing to do with them, why are they so worried about a person from the Oda family? ”

"Maybe Yuakihei came to Mino just to collude with them, and those wealthy families of Nishimino will fall to the Oda family, and then seize Inabayama Castle together! They must have been worried that Yu Qiuping would not be able to stand the torture and leak the plan to seize Inabayama Castle, so they were so anxious to save him back! Saito Ryuxing woke up several elders present with a word, and everyone had to re-examine the situation in front of them.

"My lord, what should we do?" Naomitsu Takewaist asked a little nervously, "Should you immediately execute Yu Qiuping, and then guard Inabayama Castle with the whole army in case they attack!" ”

"Not necessarily!" Saito Ryuxing waved his hand heroically, "We will do it!" Keep the rain and autumn flat as bait! ”

"If our army stays in Inabayama Castle, with the few people in the West Castle who are in the west of the city, they will definitely not dare to act." Saito Ryuxing sneered, "We'll send 3,000 people to support Nishimino!" Then transfer the wealthy families of Northeast America to come to Inabayama Castle to support! ”

"Lord, why is that?" Hineno Hiroshi couldn't keep up with Saito Ryuxing's train of thought at all, and asked in surprise.

"We transfer the army out, and when Shigeharu Takenaka and Mamoru Ando see the emptiness of Inabayama Castle, they will definitely be tempted to take the city." Saito Ryuxing raised his head and drank a large glass of wine, and continued to say excitedly: "The wealthy people of Northeast Mino have a relatively neutral attitude, and they may not necessarily lean towards one side or the other. When they see that the wealthy clan of Nishimino is the first to seize the city, they will definitely think that it is the wealthy clan of Nishimino who is plotting against them, not that our Saito family intends to cut down the feudal domain. ”

"Then we will set up an ambush in the city and defeat Ando's troops!" Saito Ryuxing waved his hand excitedly, "Then I will take the evil intentions of the Nishimino wealthy clan and try to seize Inabayama Castle as the righteous name of the expedition, and the commander of the army will personally conquer Nishimino!" Take advantage of their endless struggle with the Asai family to seize their territory! Those neutral wealthy families in Northeast America have all witnessed the progress of the matter, and they will naturally stand on our side with reason. ”

"This Mino is already in my hands!"

·

Just when Saito Ryuko was full of ambition, the heads of the four small wealthy families on the north bank of the Kiso River were worried.

The news that Yu Qiuping was caught was like a bolt from the blue for them. They were afraid that Yu Qiuping would not be able to stand the torture of the Saito family, and they would tell them about the affairs of the Oda family that they had already communicated! At that time, several of them were finished!

In addition, if Yu Qiuping is gone, it is very likely that the Yu Qiu family will not be trading with them. The huge profits brought by cross-border trade, they can't share a penny, which makes them even more depressed.

On February 15, the four heads of the family met again to discuss what to do next. But suddenly an attendant came to report that someone had asked to see the four of them.