On May 11, Yu Qiuping rushed back to the territory with torches that night. It was midnight when he arrived at the territory, only to find that several people were still awake. It turned out that the news of Saito Yoshiryu's death had also reached Kuroda Castle, and Amano Keitori asked the high-ranking samurai and guards to take turns on night shifts in case of emergency.

"It's still Gonbei's thoughtfulness," Yu Qiuping said with emotion, "Order, send messengers across the river overnight, inform the Nonomura family, the Hara family, the Kato family, and the Kawa Namito, and let their heads of the family come to meet with Sekibune on the Kiso River early tomorrow morning, just like last time." ”

"By the way," Yu Qiuping laughed evilly: "If you don't come, on May 13, they will regret it." ”

"Your Highness, do you want to gather troops?" Yuto Ogawa, who happened to be on duty at night, asked.

As soon as Ogawa Yuto opened his mouth, Yu Qiuping smelled a strong smell of wine. He said angrily and amusefully, "Let's assemble again tomorrow morning." At least wait until you sober up! ”

·

Early the next morning, as soon as Yu Qiuping woke up, an attendant came to report.

"What?" Yu Qiuping was taken aback after listening to the report, "The families of those four families rushed to the ship overnight, and they have been waiting on the Kiso River for several hours!" ”

"Yes, Your Highness, very strange." The attendant replied truthfully.

"Oh my God, so positive," Yu Qiuping cried and laughed as he got up from the tatami mat. He originally thought that the lords who owed him money and had a bad attitude would not come to see him because of his threats. But who would have thought that one by one they were already obediently waiting on the Seki boat on the Kiso River.

Because Yu Qiuping didn't know how much deterrent the prophecy he left a month ago, "May 11th, you will regret it".

At this time, close the ship.

"His Highness Momiji... What the hell is sacred! "Even on the occasion behind his back, Hara Laifang was careful to use honorific titles.

"People from the Ming Kingdom are all so powerful!" Kato Mitsutoyama was also horrified.

"I can accurately predict the death date of His Highness Saito a month in advance..."Nonomura Yukinari, who has always been reckless and resolute, his voice trembled a little at this time: "Even the most powerful onmyoji in the Heian period is nothing more than that." ”

"What's more... At this level, I'm afraid that even Qingming Gong can only bow to the wind. Yuan Laifang gasped in fear.

Although the bee Suga Xiaoliu on the side also had a solemn face, he did not join the ranks of touting Yu Qiuping. After a long time, he interrupted the speculation of the three wealthy family heads about what kind of "witchcraft" Yu Qiuping used.

"Your Highnesses..."Soroku Wasuka struggled to keep his voice steady, "After all, all those witchcraft are rumors... Haven't you considered a more realistic possibility? ”

"More realistic?" Kato Mitsuchao was stunned for a moment and muttered these three words. Suddenly, his expression changed drastically, and he looked at Wasuka Koroku who had already turned pale in amazement: "You mean..."

"What do you mean?" Hara Yoribo and Nonomura Yukinari, who realized it later, haven't understood it yet.

"It's Yu Qiuping who assassinated Saito Doruna!" Koroku Beesuka and Hikaru Kato whispered in unison.

"Nani!" Nonomura Yukinari shouted in surprise, and Hara Yoribo's mouth opened wide and he couldn't make a sound.

"Only this explanation is reasonable..."Wasuka Koroku whispered a little weakly, "The reason why Yuqiu Momiji was able to accurately tell the date of Saito Daiden's death so long in advance is because he was sure that he would put the seriously ill Saito Daiden to death at any time a month in advance." ”

"How is this possible?" Hara Yoribo said incredulously: "Inabayama Castle is heavily guarded! How could Yu Qiuping send assassins! ”

"It doesn't have to be an assassin!" Kato Hikaru shook his head and retorted, "Saito Daiden is already seriously ill, as long as you do some tricks and feet in the medicine, you can kill him." Among the cronies of Saito Hall, there must be people with rain and autumn and autumn leaves. ”

"How is that possible? Even if there is an inner ghost, it must be Oda Nobunaga's people! Nonomura Yukinari said urgently: "Yu Qiuping has only been here for a few months, how can he already penetrate the core of the Saito family!" ”

"But if it's really Oda Nobunaga's murder plan, how can Yu Qiuping know!" Yuan Laifang argued: "Even if Yu Qiuping knew, how could he dare to reveal the specific time of the murder plan so boldly?" ”

"That makes sense..."Nomura Konari thought about it for a while, and then agreed with Hara Yoribo's statement.

"It's definitely an assassin," said the much-talkable Bee Suka Koroku again, "and he has a lot of confidence in that assassin, even if he leaks the time early, he doesn't worry about any mistakes..."

"It's no wonder that there is chaos in Inabayama City, and we can't even do the news blockade." Bee Suga Koroku sighed and looked at the other three people present: "Yuqiu and Red Leaves have such a powerful assassin... In other words... The lives of several of us are also in his hands, but it depends on whether he wants it anymore. ”

Everyone looked at each other, and their faces were all pale - the fear of Yu Qiuping was also the reason why they came to the Kiso River so obediently to wait.

·

However, Yu Qiuping didn't understand why these family heads were so "well-behaved". However, since they came over early in such a face-saving manner, Yu Qiuping also decided not to show them a face.

However, Yu Qiuping didn't know that when he walked into the cabin with a smile on his face, it really made everyone present creepy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am really sorry to hear the bad news about Saito Hall." After Yu Qiuping sat down, he opened with this sentence, hoping to get close to the heads of the family. Unexpectedly, everyone present was as dead as ashes, and they didn't dare to look directly at Yu Qiuping—was it really an assassin sent by him!

Although he didn't know what was going on, Yu Qiuping continued to speak: "Long time no see, are you all okay?" ”

"Thanks to His Highness, life is quite passable." The original tenant said politely.

"That's good, after all, we have turned our rivalry into friendship, and now we can be regarded as friends." Yu Qiuping laughed, "I still hope your life is a little better." ”

"Your Highness treats us as friends?" Nonomura Yukinari was surprised, "The Oda family and the Saito family are two hostile families!" ”

"So what?" Yu Qiuping guided the tone of the meeting: "As the saying goes, if you don't fight, you don't know each other, and you will be born twice and cooked twice." Although we had some friction because of the Oda family and the Saito family, the problems were resolved through peaceful negotiations, and we can be regarded as friends. ”

"His Royal Highness Momiji's mind is really admirable." Kato Mitsuchao complimented, "I wonder why His Highness has worked tirelessly to come to meet us this time?" ”

"I can't talk about important things, I'm just here to remind you." Yuqiu said calmly: "His Royal Highness Oda plans to take advantage of the chaos in the Saito family after His Royal Highness Saito died of illness to invade Mino. The place where you are is the first stop of the Oda family's army. Today the vanguard will cross the river, and tomorrow the army of the Oda family will arrive, so be careful. After that, he also showed the order document that Oda Nobunaga gave him to everyone present to prove the truth of what he said.

Yu Qiuping's casual words were like a thunderbolt from the sky, shaking everyone present speechless.

The Oda family has not been invaded, and their territory has not been threatened by soldiers. It's just that in the past, they themselves also had good strength, and they could still hold on for a while if they couldn't stick to the rock. The Saito family of Inabayama Castle and the wealthy families of Nishimino will also send troops to reinforce and drive the people of the Oda family back. Although the harvest will definitely be delayed, there will be no major losses. Even if the land is temporarily occupied for a while, the small wealthy clans of Yeli County on the other side of the Kiso River will not be able to digest their territory, so they can only retreat obediently.

But this time it's different.

They had been severely damaged by the autumn leaves of Yuqiu before, and they had lost most of their armor and armaments, and their strength was weak at the moment, and they were powerless to resist the invasion of the Oda family. And the high-level of the Mino Saito family is already in chaos at the moment. The main wealthy clans of Nishimino and the important retainers of the Naotomi faction were vying for leadership in Inabayama Castle, and it was impossible to count on their rapid reinforcements. In other words, with the invasion of the Oda army, their territory was lost. They could actually surrender to the Oda family to keep their territory, but they couldn't guarantee that the Oda family would be able to protect their territory. After all, their territory is located in the territory of Mino Province, on the north bank of the Kiso River, and it is not easy for the Oda family to reinforce, and it is very likely that they will be wiped out by the Saito family backhand. Therefore, they had no choice but to stay in the Saito family, and the territory was destined to be temporarily occupied by the Oda family.

But with the Saito family able to repel the Oda family's invasion and recapture the territories north of the Kiso River—which obviously won't be returned to a few of their lesser tyrants in full strength—won't Hibino Kiyoshi still occupy 3,000 koku of land? In particular, the Sichuan and the people, their land was not blocked in the first place, and all of them must have been confiscated on the grounds of "missing the fighters".

Yu Qiuping looked at the earth-colored faces of several family owners with satisfaction, and clapped his hands to attract their attention.

The keen Yuan Lai Fang suddenly understood - Yu Qiuping, who was unprofitable and couldn't afford to be early, definitely didn't leak the news to them in vain, and there must be a backhand after that. So, he immediately bowed to the ground: "I hope that His Royal Highness Hongye will save me!" The whole family is counting on the territory! You can't live without territory! ”

The heads of the other three wealthy families also reacted immediately and bowed down in unison. Now it's only soft! Otherwise, the territory will not be able to be kept!

"Well, since you asked sincerely," Yu Qiuping almost blurted out, 'Then I will tell you with great mercy'. "I really have a way to help you keep your territory, but I don't know if you're willing to do it."

"His Highness Momiji, please speak!" The four of them said in unison.

"Sign this contract," Yu Qiuping took out eight pieces of paper from his arms, two copies per person, and pushed them in front of the four people. "You can protect your territory."