At noon on June 2, inside Futama Castle.

"Your Highness, the envoy of the Yuqiu family asks to see you." A lookout rushed back to the castle tower from the castle and reported to Nakane Masa, who was discussing countermeasures in the castle tower.

Nakane Masasa, his nephew Nakane Masatsu, and the other defenders in Futamatata Castle are frowning over what to do next.

Futamata Castle is one of the most fortified castles in the Enjiang Territory – small but dangerous. Surrounded by water on both sides of the north and south, and on both sides of the east and west sides are difficult slopes to climb, so there is little room for troops to launch a team attack. However, the location of this castle is excellent, and it chokes the main road from Shinano and the northern part of Enjiang to Enjiang. If you don't take Futamata-jo and choose to bypass it, the army will not be able to guarantee the safety of the roads. As a result, the castle was also built on an unusually strong ground, equipped with a large number of arrows, rolling stones and trees. On the eve of the Battle of Mikatahara in history, Takeda Shingen led an army of nearly 30,000 and nearly 10,000 soldiers to besiege Futamata, which had only a few hundred soldiers and a total of more than 1,000 soldiers, and it still took nearly 2 months to force Futamataki to surrender by cutting off the water.

Yu Qiuping, who knows history, also knows in his heart that he will definitely not be able to take down Nimata Castle with his hundreds of ashigari who don't even have armor. But because he didn't have any baggage or auxiliaries at all, and didn't need to secure the roads and food routes, he could have bypassed Nimata Castle - provided that the troops of Nimata Castle didn't condescend to attack him.

Sensing that Futamatata Castle had fallen to the Okabe family, Yu Qiuping sent a messenger to negotiate with him in Futama Castle.

"Invite him in." Nakane said hurriedly. Although he sits on the fortified city of Futama Castle, Nakane has the confidence to refuse all negotiations with Yu Qiuping, but he also doesn't want to completely fall out with the Asahina family - Futamata Castle is not far from Kakegawa Castle. If the Asahina family and the Okabe family reconcile later, he will be unlucky.

Soon after, the messenger was taken to the castle tower. A few of the guards who came up with the envoy were very jealous of this young envoy, because this envoy had been waiting for an opportunity to check the city defense of Futamatata Castle along the way. Moreover, the envoy seems to have a good set of intelligence gathering, and the layout of several defense points is under his eyes. Several guards couldn't help but feel a little remorseful, they looked at him like a child before, and they despised him a little. I was supposed to take him on a detour to the castle tower, but because the head of the family told them to hurry up, they went straight to the right road.

However, Nakane is not in the mood to care about this.

Because, as soon as the envoy spoke, there was a thick Shinano accent: "The envoy of the Shimotakeda family, Masayuki Takasaka, has met His Royal Highness Nakane." ”

Nakane found out that there were no red leaves on the head of this messenger. His name is Masayuki Takaban, and he is still so young... Presumably the adopted son of Masanobu Takasaka?

The emissary of the Takeda family... Why are you with Yuqiu's family! This question hit the brains of everyone present, and it was even more terrifying than how Yu Qiuping suddenly appeared in Futama Castle with Tokiwa Bei. Or rather, it's the two that happen together that are the most frightening.

"This is the seal of the Governor's Palace, please take a look." Sanada Masayuki said as he pulled out the seal letter that Takeda Shingen gave him when he came here as a hostage. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the situation was very critical, he would not have been willing to abuse the Takeda family's seal in this way - such a fraud pretending to be an envoy would damage the trust of the Takeda family. But at this moment, the situation of Yu Qiuping, whom he loved very much, was already in danger, and he couldn't care about it so much.

Nakane is located in Futama Castle, which is very close to the Takeda family's Minami Shinano, and there are often messengers from the Takeda family passing by, so he naturally recognized this seal letter, and his face sank suddenly. In fact, when he heard the messenger's Shinano tone, when the messenger naturally took out the seal letter, he already understood that this messenger could not be a fake.

"I wonder what happened to His Highness Takeda? In the next self-congruent should be told to the palace of the governor. Nakane said cautiously.

"I'm not here to find the governor of your family, or I'm here to find His Highness Nakane." Sanada Masayuki does not change his face and plays the role of Takeda Shingen's messenger without a heartbeat - this is the second time he has used the trumpet (Kaibei Masayuki).

"It's... I wonder what His Highness Takeda commands? Fine beads of sweat suddenly appeared on Nakane's forehead, and he asked in a low voice.

"I want to mediate the conflict that may break out between the Nakane family and the Yuqiu family." Sanada Masayuki said lightly, "The Governor heard that because the cause of His Royal Highness Jibe's death is unknown, the Imagawa family is in a civil war, and the Nakane family seems to have joined the side hostile to the Yuqiu family. But my family governor is willing to vouch for Yuqiu Red Leaves, and Yuqiu Red Leaves has no intention of attacking Nimata Castle, but just wants to pass through the road and go to Yinma Castle. Therefore, I hope that the Nakane family will not have a conflict with the Yuqiu family, and do not hinder the passage of the Yuqiu family. ”

"This..."The huge amount of information suddenly made Nakane Masashi stupid - Takeda Shingen actually asked for the passage of the Yuqiu family! Why did the Takeda family help the Yuqiu family? How did the Takeda family know that the Yuqiu family would pass by Futamataki Castle and send a messenger over? Could it be that the Takeda family had long been aware of the conflict between the Okabe and Asahina clans, so they would have sent an envoy earlier? The Yuqiu family appeared from the northern part of the Enoe, the southern Shinano family, and the Takeda family and the Imagawa family territory bordered each other, did they have some ulterior agreement with the Takeda family?

A series of questions hit Nakone's brain, making him unable to answer for a while.

"And," Sanada Masayuki smiled slightly when he saw Nakane's performance, "The Takeda family will also make the same request for the passage on behalf of His Highness Baba's troops, hoping that His Highness Nakane will not misunderstand." ”

Nakane was completely stunned and couldn't say a word. Nakane Masa, who was beside him, was also stunned, and whispered in disbelief: "Takeda... The Takeda family has sent troops to Yuanjiang! Isn't Takeda an ally with us? How could it be..."

"It's a matter of confidentiality, and I don't have the right to disclose it." Masayuki Sanada shook his head in refusal.

"How did Tokiwa get here?" Nakane asked a little nervously.

"This is a matter of the Yuqiu family, and it has nothing to do with the Takeda family, so it is inconvenient to disclose." Sanada Masayuki was tight-lipped again.

Before Sanada Masayuki set off, Yuqiuhei, Amano, and Naoe Tadahei discussed together how to use the tiger skin banner of the Takeda family to send troops for the Yuqiu family to coax the Nakane family, so as to achieve the best effect. According to common sense, if the Imagawa family changes dramatically, the Takeda family will naturally react. However, unless the Imagawa clan really applies to the Takeda family to help suppress the rebellion, or the Takeda family advocates tearing up the alliance, the Takeda family's troops should not enter the Imagawa family's territory. Moreover, it is very difficult to inquire about the good news, collect good information, reach a tacit agreement with the Asahina family in these short ten days, gather troops, prepare grain and grass, and finally enter the Yuanjiang River through the mountains.

Yu Qiuping and a few people wanted to break their heads, and they didn't know what kind of explanation to make, so that they could get through all the unreasonable places, and make the Nakane family believe that the Takeda family had really sent troops to help the Yuqiu family, so as to scare them not to be enemies of the Yuqiu family, and directly let them go. Just when everyone was at a loss, it was the ghost elf Mimasaki Nakahide who came up with a solution.

"Why do you want them to make sure that the Takeda family is going to send troops!" Mizenzaki Nakahide suddenly interjected at that time, "As long as they can't be sure that the Takeda family will not send troops!" It's a scare to people anyway! ”

"Those guys from the Nakagen family must be panicking now." He added, "The Governor has just passed away, and everyone is in a state of panic. They also saw that our divine soldiers appeared in front of them like heavenly soldiers, and they were not willing to offend the Asahina family, so they were already wavering. Coupled with the threat that the Takeda family may send troops, it will definitely give way obediently! ”

"It makes sense, it's okay, Zhongxiu!" Yu Qiuping suddenly brightened, "Instead of thinking about explaining and letting them find flaws, it's better not to say anything, keep it mysterious, and let them guess suspiciously!" ”

Sure enough, everyone in the Nakagen family suddenly fell into unprecedented chaos. Everyone looked at each other, no one knew what was going on right now, and no one dared to determine how the Takeda family would act. Did the Takeda family really send troops? If the troops were sent, where would the troops be now? The Yuqiu family is so confident that they rushed to Futama Castle without armor, is it because the Takeda family is behind their backs? Has Inui Castle joined the Asahina family? Why did the Takeda family, who had always had a good relationship with the Okabe family, suddenly go to help the Yuqiu family? Shouldn't the Nakane family also turn against each other immediately and help the Asahina family! Even if we don't defect, do we really have to resist the attacks of the Yuqiu family and the Takeda family for the Okabe family, who may be a traitor?

"So, what is Nakane's reply?" Sanada Masayuki urged lightly.

"It's... Let us discuss whether there is a grace period for a while. Nakane said with some stumbling. With Masayuki Takasaka here, they are not negotiable.

"Yes." Sanada Masayuki showed great confidence, "However, please hurry up, Your Highness. He whispered as he got up to leave, "Time is running out." ”

The last phrase "time is running out" can be said to be the last straw for the already wavering Nakane family - it seems to imply that the Takeda family's forces are almost there. The retainers of the Nakane family briefly discussed for a while, and came to the conclusion that there was no need to face the Yuqiu family and the Takeda family alone for the sake of the Okabe family, who was likely to fail. On the one hand, the Nakane family does not attack the Yuqiu family that passes around the city, and releases goodwill to the Asahina family. On the one hand, it is necessary to immediately report the information here to the Okabe family's Suima Castle, and when they are asked to be careful of killing the enemy forces, they must also find out the attitude of the Takeda family. It has to be clarified repeatedly that the Nakagen family was forced to let go under pressure, and the heart is still towards the Okabe family, so it can be regarded as fulfilling the responsibility to the Okabe family.

The Nakagen family thinks that such an operation can be said to be offended by both sides. After the envoy of the Takeda family left, the Yuqiu family's Tokiwa Bei passed through Futamata-jo Castle in a mighty way, and turned south along the Tenryu River.