When Yu Qiuping returned to the camp, it was already dark. Amano Keide suddenly hurried up to meet him, and then welcomed Yu Qiuping into a separate small camp, and there were only five ashigaru generals in the battalion commander, Naoe Tadahei and Amano Keito. Even Hontabe Nosuke was asked to wait outside.

"Mysterious, what are you going to do?" Yu Qiuping asked curiously.

"Your Excellency." Tianye Jingde closed the account door, lowered his voice, and gave Yu Qiuping a small black bamboo tube.

"Just now, suddenly an arrow was shot at the two flags on the camp, which were tied to the arrows." Amano Keitoku said in a deep voice, "It seems to be a secret letter. ”？

"MeSign? It's so unsafe, what should I do if I shoot the wrong shot? Yu Qiuping was stunned for a moment, opened the lid of the bamboo tube, and pulled out a note from it, on which was written in neat handwriting: At four o'clock tonight, see you by the broken bridge in Takigawa. You're the only one to come.

"What's written?" Seeing the solemn color of Yuqiu's plane, Mimasaki Nakahide couldn't help but ask first.

"Take it and see it." Yu Qiuping handed the note to Mizenzaki Nakahide, and everyone circulated it around, and they all looked at Yu Qiuping expectantly.

"Speaking of which, my lord mentioned before, the family governor hall has sent ninjas over, could it be them?" Tadahei Naoe asked.

"But it could also be a trap." Amano Keide shook his head, "If it's a ninja of my family, why don't you show some tokens?" Like stamps or something? ”

"Maybe you're afraid of shooting in the wrong place and exposing it?" Fukushima Yasunari said.

"It's too dangerous." Yu Qiuping was the first to quit, "Why! Let me run over there alone at night, and I don't know how I died? They're coming to me. ”

"The way up the mountain is blocked." Naoe Tadahei said, "When I heard Imanomiya-sama building a checkpoint today, I said that this is the only way to go up this mountain. The other sides of Aiying Mountain are rugged and steep, and it is impossible to climb at all. ”

"Then I won't go, when I'm Kaizi!" Yu Qiuping snorted, "It's too dangerous." If there is something that can't be written directly on the letter, it would be good! Why did you let me go! ”

"Maybe I'm afraid that someone else will pick up the letter. Leads to leaks? Fukushima Yasunari guessed.

"Huh? My lord. Ogawa Yudong asked drunk, "When you cooperate with the Takeda family, it's also dangerous, why did you agree?" Don't dare to go this time? ”

"When I work with the Takeda family, I can use my own efforts to change the situation, and besides, haven't I also analyzed it objectively?" Yu Qiuping shook his head, "This time is completely risky, I can't do anything and leave it to fate, I won't go, I won't go to death." ”

Yu Qiuping's attitude made everyone present cry and laugh. "What are you doing with those expressions?" Yu Qiuping muttered dissatisfiedly, "Didn't you say that my safety was the top priority?" ”

"But..."Mimasaki Nakahide still wanted to persuade again, hesitated for a moment, smiled and shook his head, "According to the plot of a normal story, shouldn't all samurai go to the meeting alone?" ”

"I'm not going." Yu Qiuping made up his mind not to go, "It's good to release his pigeons." ”

On May 8th, at eight o'clock, by the broken bridge of Takigawa.

"Lord Abe, still no one is coming." A ninja ran back from the forest on the riverbank and reported to a black-clad ninja waiting by the broken bridge by the river. The latter frowned and looked coldly to the northeast.

"Kojiro, are you sure you sent the letter?" The ninja known as Abe-sama has asked Kojiro for the fifth time.

"My lord, my subordinates have really delivered." Kojiro didn't know why this Yu Qiuping didn't come for a long time, "The subordinates saw the flag of the two leads, shot the arrow into it, and also saw someone pick it up." ”

"How can you be sure that the person you picked up is someone from the Imagawa family?" The leader asked.

"It's... The subordinates didn't dare to say anything," Kojiro said in a low voice, "The subordinates were afraid of being discovered, so they left in a hurry." ”

"If Lord Yuqiu doesn't receive the letter, it will be bad." The leader sighed, "The Family Governor Hall asked us to follow Lord Yuqiu's command after finding it, but now we can't get in touch at all. ”

"Let's look for it again, and when it's four o'clock in the ugly hour, there's no one yet, so let's go back to the hidden place." The leader sighed and sent his men apart to search for them again.

In the early morning of May 8, at seven o'clock, Yu Qiuping left Naoe Tadahei and Ogawa Yudong to lead a squad to stay in the camp to protect the family of Imamiya Leding. Today, Imamiya is determined to sit in the castle tower. And let a few powerful subordinates go down to the level. Yu Qiuping then left the present-day palace castle, and the whole army was on alert to go to the southwest to explore the way. Due to the lack of a spear that everyone is familiar with, Yu Qiuping is not very sure of the combat effectiveness of the army now. It is estimated that the most stable combat effectiveness will rely on Charlie's archery team.

When Yu Qiuping set off, he happened to see the Hojo family also leaving the camp and walking to the east, probably carrying out the same path-finding activities as himself. But the Takeda family didn't move for a long time, and they didn't know what they were considering.

The group carefully avoided the forests, hills, and other places where there was a possibility of ambush, and tried to walk on the plains with a good view. The sky is clear today, and the visibility is unusually good. It was almost to the river, and there was still no sign of enemy activity, which made everyone feel at ease.

"I knew that it was going so well, I should have sent the whole army directly, and I shouldn't have sent someone to stay behind. Like yesterday. Yoshioka Katsumasa shouted remorsefully, "We can run back to Suruga directly, how can there be such trouble." ”

"Don't mention yesterday," Yu Qiuping sighed, "There are so many of us, all of us have been tricked to divert the tiger from the mountain, and as a result, the grain and grass have been burned. ”

"I won't be in the middle of the mountain today." Yu Qiuping said, "The Takeda family doesn't seem to have the intention of going out, with them on the edge of Imamiya Castle, plus Lord Imamiya Leding personally stationed in Imamiya Castle, and the subordinate handle level must be foolproof, the enemy doesn't even have a chance to go up the mountain!" ”

The group quickly advanced to the riverside of the Takigawa River, and deliberately spared the farthest road in order to avoid the woods and hills. The water flow of the Takigawa River is not particularly turbulent, or it can be about 1.5 meters at its deepest point. A person of Yu Qiuping's height is acceptable, but many of his subordinates can't get by, so they can only swim over.

Just when Yu Qiuping was thinking about whether to make a bamboo raft in advance and put it in the bamboo forest on the side, and cross the river directly when he came tomorrow, a rapid sound of horses' hooves suddenly sounded behind him.

"Thompson! Guard! Yu Qiuping was taken aback, did he actually kill him from the way he came. Charlie quickly led the archers to hide behind several bushes and stood in a row, bending their bows and arrows. The other 30 ashigaru men also drew their knives in their hands, nervously watching the dust kicked up by the horses' hooves.

After a while, a rider rushed over, and no one else was behind him, and he was not wearing armor, so everyone calmed down.

"Lord Yuqiu! Lord Yuqiu! The man was far away, and when he saw Yu Qiuping, he immediately cried and shouted. Yu Qiuping recognized that this was the flag warrior of Imanomiya Leding, and sighed in his heart.

"My lord! My lord, he..."The Hachimoto samurai rode to Yu Qiuping's side, dismounted and sat on the ground, staggered to his feet, ran over, and knelt in front of Yu Qiuping at once. All the surrounding ashigaru people gathered nervously around at once. Dozens of eyes were staring at this flag warrior.

"What's wrong with Imamiya-sama! You're talking! Yu Qiuping shouted urgently.

"Lord Yuqiu must avenge my family!" The samurai did not answer directly, but directly kowtowed three times on the hard ground, "My lord was killed by that thief!" ”

By the time Yu Qiuping hurried back to Imamiya Castle in a hurry, the people outside Imamiya Castle had already received the news of the assassination of the kind and kind lord, and the castle town and the village outside were crying.

"It's terrible that you didn't get the news of your death under control." Yu Qiuping secretly complained to himself, he led his subordinates up the mountain road and found that the investigation team of the Hojo family was blocked outside the checkpoint. And the leader of the garrison at the checkpoint seems to be Naoe Tadahei.

"Open the door! Let's get inside! "Open the door! What do you mean! The ashigaru of the Hojo family quarreled to let Naoe Tadahei open the door, but Naoe Tadahei was unmoved. Standing next to him seemed to be the uncle who Imamiya Leding had arranged to stay there, Imamiya Le'an.

"I must wait for the order of my lord before I can let any outsiders into the city!" Naoe Tadahei refused without hesitation, "Thank you for your understanding. ”

At this moment, Naoe Tadahei suddenly saw that Yu Qiuping's troops at the foot of the mountain were going up the mountain, and the Hojo Army in front of the checkpoint obviously also noticed.

"Lord Yuqiu, your subordinates have kept me out of the checkpoint! Something so big, why don't you let me in! Without saying a word, he asked the teacher for his guilt.

"Don't blame Lord Yuanhe," Yu Qiuping waved his hand, "At the critical moment, the enemy of our two sides is unknown, and the subordinates below are cautious, and I hope that the adults understand." ”

"So, can we go in now?" He asked.

Yu Qiuping hesitated for a moment, and asked for the thoughts of the surrounding subordinates with his eyes, but everyone couldn't figure out what to do at the moment, and shook their heads.

"Please wait a moment." The conservative and cautious Yu Qiuping still didn't plan to let Yu He Shi Xu enter the door immediately, "Let's go inside first to understand the situation." ”

Yu Qiuping didn't have time to pay attention to him, so he led his subordinates to bypass the troops of Yuan and Shi Xu and pass under the iron fence. As soon as Yu Qiuping's troops were over, the iron fence was lowered again, keeping the Hojo family out.

After Yu Qiuping entered, he immediately asked Amano Keitoku to replace Naoe Tadahei to stay at the checkpoint, and pulled Naoe Tadahei to understand the situation.

"Tell me, what the hell is going on?" Yu Qiuping asked hurriedly.

"Originally, everything was normal, but at the beginning of the day, suddenly there was a violent fight in the castle tower, and then before I could react in the camp, there was already an escaped Imanomiya family Ashigaru and Zai said that the Imamiya-sama was killed by a group of men in black." Naoe Zhong's face was pale, "I hurriedly brought people to support, but as a result, all the people in black have been evacuated and are missing." The men of the Takeda family, who arrived first, took control of the castle tower and the East Castle Gate. Worried that something would happen and the adults would not be able to enter the city, he asked Ogawa-sama to gather the rest of the Imanomiya adults and stay in the camp to protect the three family members. And under the relatives rushed to the checkpoint with 10 people and took over the defense. ”

"Well done." Yu Qiuping breathed a sigh of relief, if Naoe Tadahei didn't react quickly, let the Takeda family or the Hojo family first control the leaderless level of the Imamiya family's defenders, and now it was Yu Qiuping who was blocked outside.

"Where did the person who assassinated Imanomiya-sama come from? Is the level lost? Yu Qiuping asked in surprise.

"No, there are no anomalies in the level! No one has passed the level! Naoe Tadahei's voice trembled a little, "There are sentry posts on the side of the cliffs everywhere, and no one has found anyone climbing. ”

"Where the hell did someone kill Imamiya-sama! Where did the people go? Yu Qiuping was at a loss and scolded angrily, "Isn't there only one way up the mountain!" No outsiders come in! ”

"Incompetence under it. I don't know who the enemy is. Naoe Tadahei knelt down suddenly, "Today, Miyagi doesn't close the city gate during the day, I thought that guarding the checkpoint and not letting people in can ensure safety." So no one stopped the enemy from entering the city, and no one noticed their whereabouts. After that, it was the Takeda family who controlled the castle tower, and they refused to share information with him. ”

"Who the hell is it? How can you kill Imamiya-sama among a few hundred people! Yu Qiuping scolded angrily, "There are no foreign invaders!" No one ran out either! There is no one else at the top of the mountain... Ahh As he spoke, he seemed to suddenly understand something.

If there are no outsiders coming in and out, there is really no one else on the top of the mountain except for the defenders of the Imamiya family.

Except for today, the refusal to go out, the Takeda family.