In the early morning of June 5th, to the east of Junfu Castle, in the territory of Yuqiuping.

Kaede Imagawa, who is 4 months pregnant, has a slight bulge in her lower abdomen. A few days ago, after the news that Yuqiu was safe and sound, she finally slept peacefully, and the maids who took care of her also breathed a sigh of relief - pregnant women can't stand the toss.

However, what worries everyone is that Kaede Imagawa has asked Shou Gui Ni several times before to go to the castle tower of Sunpu Castle to meet him, but Shou Gui Ni has refused. The maids remembered that Okabe and Asahina accused each other of being traitors—and the Okabe family bluntly declared that Akihei was a traitor to the governor. Shou Guini's statement inevitably made everyone speculate, and also made Imagawa Kaede, who has the dual identity of the wife of the Yuqiu family and the princess of the Imagawa family, extremely embarrassed.

Yu Qiuping went out on this expedition and took almost all the troops and officers in the territory, and there was not even a single person who caught the general. In addition to self-cultivation, Imagawa Kaede also had to deal with heavy official duties, which really worried the maids.

At three o'clock, the maids were still in the west of the territory, waiting for the military information from Junfu City every day. However, when they went out today, Princess Feng seemed to be a little unusually sad, and said a few words to them one by one, chatting about things when she was a child. While they laughed with the princess, they were also worried about the princess's unstable emotions when she was pregnant.

On the official road leading to Junfu, smoke and dust still rose at this time. However, as the smoke and dust approached, the maids realized that something seemed to be wrong. Today's smoke and dust seem to be a bit bigger.

It wasn't until the figure became clear that the maids were surprised to realize that it wasn't the herald—it was a group of samurai on horseback, a dozen heavily armed men! And the leader is none other than Masazuna Okabe, who has been pestering their princess for the past few years!

"Oops!" A few maids naturally understood the reason that the person who came was not good, "Ah Zhu, go and tell Her Royal Highness the princess!" Find a place to hide! The only one of the ladies who could ride a horse immediately turned on her horse and turned away. The other maids hurriedly tried to find a place to hide, but because the horseback was a maid who made too much noise, they were discovered by the cavalry of the Okabe family.

When Okabe Masatsuna found those maids, he immediately commanded his subordinates to meet them. He personally led a few people to pursue the maids who had gone to report the news, and the remaining ten people surrounded several panicked maids. The maids were shocked and let out a terrible scream. When the maid on horseback heard the screams of her companions, she pulled the reins of her horse and turned her head in horror. However, her slowdown was fatal. Instead of her companions, she saw the oncoming blades of the Okabe samurai, and her own splatters of blood.

"Say, where is your princess?" One of the samurai of the Okabe family held his sword on the neck of the handmaiden, who was trembling and shivering on her knees in fright, and the sharp blade cut a bloody mark on the handmaiden's snow-white neck. The samurai's ghostly roar frightened the maids into trembling, but they kept crying, and their lips trembled and they couldn't say a word. They looked at Azhu's corpse not far away in a daze, and they hadn't reacted yet, what had happened.

At this time, Okabe Masatsuna had already returned on horseback. He then threw the head of Azhu, who was still dripping blood, into the maid, which immediately caused another scream. There was a timid maid who fainted in fright. The maids scattered at once, dodging the dead faces of their former friends.

"Say, your noble princess, oh no," Okabe Masatsuna drew his knife in his hand hatefully and asked sharply, "It's Mrs. Yuqiu!" It's Zhiliden! Where are you now! ”

"Ah!!h The maids screamed and buried their heads in their knees, curled up in a ball not daring to look up.

"Don't you say yes," Masatsuna Okabe's mood seemed to be unusually manic right now, and he sneered as he slashed over a maid who was kneeling on the ground, and blood splattered on the grass at once. The maid screamed and fell to the ground without saying a word. "If you don't say anything, let's all die!"

"Palace—" A maid was still emotionally broken under the pressure, tears kept pouring out of her eyes, her body trembled violently, and she trembled and pointed to a dwelling in the distance to the east, and then she could no longer speak.

"Second Prince," at this time, an old and dignified warrior whispered, "Killing the maid of Her Royal Highness the Princess... It's a bit out of the ordinary. The Yuqiu family is still convicted, not to mention that even if Yuqiu Ping is punished by the Ming Dynasty, the young master and the Shougui Nidian may not be held accountable for the princess. This..."

"Just kill people and kill people." Okabe Masatsuna's eyes were red, hatred and jealousy had made him lose his ability to think calmly, and every word seemed to pop out between his teeth, "No one knows what made us kill." ”

"Those maids... How to deal with it? A younger samurai asked expectantly.

"Brethren take matters into their own hands." Okabe Masatsuna sneered, which immediately caused several young samurai to cheer, "Don't forget to leave no one alive when you're done." ”

"Princess." The maid Ah Ling saw that her companion had not returned for a long time, and she couldn't help but have some ominous premonitions, "Ah Zhu, why haven't they come back yet?" Do you want a slave to go and see it? ”

"No, maybe the information hasn't been delivered yet." Imagawa Kaede was lying on the bed behind the screen in the house, looking at the flowers and plants outside the window, and replied casually. Suddenly, there was a pleasant wind chime outside the window.

"If it's okay, you can step back first. As I passed by the promenade, I was told by the guard at the door, and I wanted to see last year's income and expenditure books. After Kaede Imagawa told Suzu to step back, he looked out the window again.

"Yes, Princess." After Ah Ling Yingying saluted, she retreated. She has also been a maid with Kaede Imagawa for several years, and understands the habit of her princess - she likes to work in bed.

"Maybe you should go to the bazaar and buy the princess something delicious to relieve her boredom?" Ah Ling thought as she walked, "It's just that the market in the territory hasn't been open since yesterday, and I don't know why." ”

After Ah Ling finished talking to the guard at the door, he walked towards the market. However, the sheriffs in several territories actually blocked the road to the bazaar today, which really made her a little confused. Outside the market, many small vendors and residents who came to catch the market were also stopped outside.

"Really, well-behaved, what are you doing?" Ah Ling muttered, "Wait until I go back and talk to the princess, and tell her to take care of the crow judge's men, the whole is mysterious!" ”

However, as soon as Ah Ling reached a few hundred meters from his residence, he heard a rapid sound of horses' hooves coming from the west. She instinctively thought that it was Azhu who had come back to report the news, however, the dense sound of the horse's hooves quickly denied this view.

"Could it be that His Highness has returned?" Ah Ling was suddenly a little surprised, "Is the battle over?" Finally back to accompany the princess! With some excitement, she jumped onto a haystack on the side of the road and looked to the west, but she was stunned for a moment—it was the flag of the Okabe family.

When she realized that danger was coming, and came to her senses, the cavalry had already rushed to the residence.

"Princess!" Ah Ling didn't realize what she could do as a weak woman, and just ran towards her residence. "Be fine!"

At this time, inside the residence.

Okabe Masatsuna and a dozen samurai broke into the residence, and the weak wooden door of the residence was kicked open. Several maids and servants on the corridor fled in all directions in fright when they saw the menacing dozen or so samurai. The noise inside and outside obviously alarmed Kaede Imagawa in the inner room, and she seemed to be about to ask what was going on, when Suzu suddenly pushed open the back door and rushed in.

"Princess! Let's go! Let's go now! Suzu couldn't help but step forward to help Kaede Imagawa, "The people of the Okabe family are here!" There are more than a dozen samurai on horseback! Let's go, princess! I'm definitely here to get you! ”

As soon as Suzu helped Kaede Imagawa out of bed, she rushed to another compartment in the corner—she vaguely remembered that there were several katana swords inside. Although she doesn't know how to use a knife, at the critical moment, in order to protect her princess, she feels that she will definitely fight to the death!

"Don't go there!" Imagawa Kaede suddenly shouted and stopped, startling Ah Ling. She turned her head a little dazedly, and although Imagawa Kaede's eyes were also full of panic, there was a calmness that reassured her.

"Come to me." Kaede Imagawa commanded without question. Ah Ling was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly ran to Imagawa Kaede's side. However, just as she was about to help Kaede Imagawa leave, the door of the inner room was kicked open fiercely. Masatsuna Okabe, covered in blood, holds a blood-stained katana, and stares at Kaede Imagawa with eyes burning with flames of jealousy and hatred. And behind him, followed by more than a dozen heavily armed Okabe family samurai, most of whom were the retinue that Okabe Masatsuna usually carried, naturally they all understood the delicate relationship between Okabe Masatsuna and Imagawa Kaede.

The air was quiet all of a sudden, and no one inside or outside the house spoke. Only Imagawa Kaede and Okabe Masatsuna were silently looking at each other. The blood dripping from Okabe Masatsuna's katana fell to the floor.

Staring at Kaede Imagawa's breathtaking eyes again, Okabe Masatsuna was quickly defeated. Those beautiful eyes, although they flashed with horror and surprise, carried a self-esteem that was neither humble nor arrogant. He staggered his gaze and whispered in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Princess, we meet again." ”

However, Kaede Imagawa did not respond to his words, only sighed slightly. She turned around, looked at Ah Ling who was trembling beside her, patted her shoulder a little blankly, a trace of pain and guilt flashed in her eyes, and said softly: "My stupid Ah Ling, you shouldn't have come back." ”