As Hirate Honhide's eastward expansion took away most of the attention, the Nijo Imperial Palace in Kyoto gradually became quieter.

Especially after Hosokawa Fujitaka left.

Everyone knows that Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the general of the Seiyi Army, is in poor health and mentally disordered, and is unable to handle political affairs, and it is useless to visit his old man's home. And the heir is only a two or three-year-old child, so for the time being, it is not worth making efforts to get acquainted with in advance.

As for the ministers such as Odate Haritada, Ueno Kiyono, etc., to put it mildly, they have survived until now because they have little influence and are cautious, and they are not enough to be a threat to anyone, and they can't be expected to do something that needs to be responsible.

Whatever the need, it was useless to go directly to Ashikaga Shogun, and it had to be "conveyed" by Lieutenant General Nayan in the flat before it could be effective.

This has become a consensus of last resort.

The institutions of the shogunate have been almost destroyed by the changes caused by Ashikaga Yoshiaki's own mistakes and the rebellion set off by the "Three Masters of Honnoji Temple".

As this became the case, the office functions of the Nijo Imperial Palace began to fall into disuse.

A horse that eats enough grass at night may not be the fastest, but a horse that does not eat grass will certainly not be able to run. The people who can still work in Kyoto are all in the mood of being a monk for a day and hitting the clock for a day, and they have been idle and have nothing to do, and they don't feel empty at all, and they all enjoy the peaceful time.

People have their own ambitions, and it's also good that eating and waiting for death can't hinder others.

Hosokawa Fujitaka is a particular person, after he left, the defense of the imperial palace was once lax to the extent of a vegetable market, if it weren't for the fact that there was a team of 500 people theoretically affiliated to Heite Yoshimitsu to perform security tasks in Kyoto, it would have played a little role, I am afraid that not a small thief can sneak in and steal something to sell for money, or stab a person.

However, the current general of Zhengyi does not seem to have much value in assassination......

Commanding these 500 people was Hidemoto Suzuki, a native of Owari.

He is a samurai with mediocre wisdom and sparse martial arts, only four generations of allegiance is worth mentioning, although he has rarely made the achievement of capturing the flag, but he has also been repeatedly promoted because of the relationship between yin and yang, and after several ups and downs, he has been mixed to the position of Zhixing Qianshi, and the official is in the position of a general.

As the great-grandson of a peasant soldier, the grandson of a gun-foot-light, and the son of a light-armored soldier, Suzuki Hidemoto can be said to have reached the point of honoring his ancestors and returning to his hometown.

Grateful for the great kindness of the Heishou family, he has always maintained a minimum degree of enthusiasm for work, not to be lazy to the point of absenteeism, at least the daily routine of patrols, is always stopped.

……

On the first day of the fourth month, Suzuki Hidemoto was still around two o'clock, and when he arrived at Nijo Street, he looked up at the two guards next to the gate of the imperial palace who were still sleepy and still had a slight smell of alcohol, frowned and cursed to himself for a while, and was about to hurry through quickly and go back to lunch-this kind of atmosphere of three meals a day, but the adult himself brought it up by the admitter in his hand--suddenly heard something in the wall.

He couldn't help but be curious, walked a few steps closer, patted the doorman who was relatively sober, pointed in the direction of the door, and said, "Is there anyone inside?" Did someone come to visit him? ”

The doorman was stunned, stunned for a long time before realizing who was in front of him, yawned, and said listlessly: "It is said that the two Hohata and Rokkaku who live in Kyoto were invited to catch up with the princess." ”

Suzuki Hidemoto suddenly became vigilant: "Invited? What was invited? Isn't Gongfang-sama in poor health? ”

The doorman looked indifferent: "It seems that it is, it's useless for you to find me for this kind of thing, you go and ask the big bear, Ueno and their adults." ”

Hearing this, Suzuki Hidemoto couldn't cry or laugh, and he didn't know whether to be angry or worried.

Some soldiers may not know, but the samurai above the intermediate level must know that these people in Kitabatake and Rokkaku are not so much "sojourn" as "secluded" in Kyoto.

How can you move on your own at will?

So Suzuki Hidemoto had no heart for lunch, so he ordered the two teams of soldiers to guard the gate of the palace and not let people enter or leave, and he hurriedly ran to Yuantokuji Temple and Meixin Temple, and found his colleagues who were responsible for "protecting" Kitabatake's Gukyo and Rokkaku Yoshiken, and asked about it.

When I asked, I found that it was not good, and sure enough, the two went to the imperial office to meet Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Suzuki Hidemoto was in a hurry: "How can you be so negligent? What if something happens? ”

A colleague only replied: "The order I received was not to easily make the father and son of Kitabatake Nayan leave Kyoto without permission, but when I went to visit the princess at the imperial palace, I didn't leave the confines of Kyoto, and at the same time I sent someone to follow, so I don't need to worry too much." ”

The other nodded in agreement.

Suzuki Hidemoto was a little confused when he heard it.

Could it be that what my colleagues are saying is right, and I am worrying too much? I always feel that it is wrong, but I can't say what is wrong, and I really can't question it with confidence.

After tossing and turning a few times, I still couldn't rest assured, so I rushed to the direction of the palace again.

After a slight delay, I came back after noon.

As soon as I saw the situation, I was dumbfounded.

The two groups of soldiers who remained at the door, about twenty-three or four, all fell in pools of blood!

Some were wounded by swords, and some were wounded by arrows.

Since he was here to patrol, he didn't wear full armor and only a small amount of protective gear, but after all, he had a knife and a gun in his hand, so why was he knocked down so easily?

The guards of the shogunate didn't know where they went, did they flee, or were they the murderers?

Probably not, that look like you didn't wake up......

Pushing open the door and breaking into the palace, I saw that it was as quiet and quiet as usual, and there were few people, so I couldn't see what was happening.

When I went inside, I found a maid, and when I caught her, I asked, "What happened?" Where is the princess? ”

The ignorant woman trembled with fear at the sight of the fierce gods, and said in a trembling voice, "What...... What's up? The public side, the public side is not...... Isn't it resting in the backyard? ”

Suzuki Hidemoto had experience in interrogation, and saw that this person really did not know the truth, so he did not embarrass him, and ordered the transfer of troops, regardless of etiquette, surrounded the imperial office, and searched harshly. After a rough identification, I saw that most of the people in the imperial palace who could say their names could see it, but Ashikaga Yoshiaki was nowhere to be seen.

Even Ashikaga Yoshiaki's three-year-old son is still there!

It's weird!

At this time, he could only continue to go out, and some people had sharp eyes and saw that a soldier who was cut in the waist and abdomen was not killed, but was just dizzy, and hurriedly stepped forward to wake up with first aid.

From that person's mouth, it was a number of samurai with swords and several samurai with bows, who rushed out together with Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and those samurai were extremely powerful, and they instantly wiped out two groups of guards and left.

Suzuki Hidemoto understood as soon as he heard it: Kitabatake Gujiao is a first-class master who has learned the essence of Tsukahara Buchuan swordsmanship, and Rokkaku Yoshiken and Yoshiji father and son are all top archery masters, and they are indeed not ordinary soldiers who can resist.

How can this be done?

I had to send people around to look for clues, see what direction there was, and try to chase as much as possible!

Although it was not Suzuki Hidemoto's direct responsibility, he already felt that he had the same interests and shared the interests of the Tie family in his heart, but he felt very painful and uncomfortable.

Obviously, Ashikaga Yoshiaki's "poor health and mental disorder" is pretended, and he has secretly contacted Kitabatake Gukyo and Rokkaku Yoshiken to escape together!

I guess I saw today's opportunity and found a way to get together. It stands to reason that this should be done at night, probably because he was preparing, and was accidentally bumped in, so he acted in advance.

Fortunately, this happened to break through, and there is still a chance to redeem it!

Hidemoto Suzuki, who was now the highest-ranking member of the Heite family in Kyoto, decided to personally investigate the pursuit and ordered his subordinates to go to the Tokaido front to report the incident.

And the two low-level colleagues who were supposed to be in charge of monitoring Kitabatake and Rokkaku were angrily scolded by him and ordered to be imprisoned and wait for the lord to come back and deal with them.

I don't know why, but these two great criminals don't look worried at all.