Braving the bitter cold, Sabei and his entourage crossed the mountains of Kita-Omi and spent most of the day to reach Sakamoto Castle, which was built on the western shore of Lake Biwa.

Walking on the avenue leading to Sakamoto Castle, Sabei glanced at Fushiwa Akijiro behind him. Fushiwa Meijiro nodded slightly at Sabei after perceiving Sabei's eyes. Seeing this, Sabei smiled at the retainers behind him, and the retainers immediately bowed their heads and saluted in return.

Fushiwa Akijiro, who was riding behind Sabei, looked at Sakamoto Castle not far away, thinking back to the scene when he came to deliver the letter that day, but he didn't figure out what the lord's eyes meant.

Just after Sabei and his entourage entered Sakamoto Town, the samurai who was on patrol in the town immediately stepped forward and bowed his head to Sabei and said, "The envoy of Lord Fangcai has been invited into the castle, and His Highness has asked me to lead Lord Mingwei to the castle, and I also ask your lord to come with me." ”

When Sabei heard this, he looked at the seven or eight middle-aged samurai who were followed in front of him, and said to the middle-aged samurai in the next breath: "I'm tired!" Seeing this, Fushiwa Mingjiro and the others immediately bowed their heads to the middle-aged samurai in front of them.

After the middle-aged samurai returned the salute, he led Sabei and his party across the town street towards Sakamoto Castle. Seeing this, the townspeople also knew each other quite well, and Sabei and others got out of the way, and some merchants even ran to Sabei to recommend their goods.

Sabei looked at the businessmen beside him who were constantly offering courtesy, and said to Suzuki Heavy Industries behind him: "Let's see if they have any good goods, you can take some back appropriately!" ”

......

The group came to the gate of Sakamoto Castle, and the gate was quickly opened, and Akechi Hidemitsu came to Sabei with several familiar wise samurai of Sabei.

After the two sides saluted each other, Akechi Hideman said to Sabei: "Lord Mingwei should move quickly to the castle hall, the lord is very curious about the battle in Higashiminon!" ”

Hearing this, Sabei smiled and said, "Here, follow Lord Hideman to the castle hall to meet Lord Akechi!" ”

Then the two of them talked and laughed and walked towards the castle hall, and the standing guard and half of the attendants were left outside the city by the guard. Later, the samurai of the wise family led them to rest in other parts of Sakamoto Castle.

The Sabei who came to the castle hall handed over the gift in his hand to the little surname who was serving Akechi Mitsuhide, and then bowed to Akechi Mitsuhide: "Akechi Lord hasn't seen you for a long time!" ”

Akechi Mitsuhide also politely returned a salute to Sabei, and then said to Sabei, "Please also sit down!" ”

As soon as Sabei sat down, a Noh performance began in the courtyard outside the house to make Sabei less cold. At the end of the boring Noh, the guest of honor began to eat. After thanking Akechi Mitsuhide, the retainers behind Sabei began to serve polished rice and feast on easy-to-store foods such as radish strips.

After the meal, the conversation between Akechi Mitsuhide and Sabei officially began. Akechi Mitsuhide first looked around at the people in the room, then locked his gaze on Sabei, and then asked Sabei, "Sabei was fighting against the invasion of the Takeda Army in Higashimino a few days ago. Saying this, Akechi Mitsuhide stroked his beard with a smile, and then continued: "I am also a person from Mino, and Higashi Mino is where I grew up. ”

Sabei listened to Akechi Mitsuhide's words with his ears tilted and looked up at Akechi Mitsuhide who was sitting on the seat with a relaxed expression. After a few polite words, Akechi Mitsuhide also asked Sabei "What is the posture of the Takeda army now, does it want to invade Mino in a big way, from Shinano and Mino to Shangluo, or just to expand the territory?" ”

Hearing this, Sabei suddenly felt troubled, Akechi Mitsuhide's question focused on the situation was too big for him to make a conclusion.

Seeing Sabei's embarrassed look, Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly smiled and said, "It's my fault, such a thorny problem really makes Sabei embarrassed!" ”

After listening to Akechi Mitsuhide's words, Sabei and Akechi Mitsuhide exchanged their eyes for a moment, and then Sabei said to Akechi Mitsuhide: "Akechi-sama, this question is really unanswerable in the next place, whether it is Shangluo or others, if the family does not make a strong counterattack, it is only a matter of time before the Takeda Army invades Nishiminon; Whether it is expanding the territory or going to Luo, this is the ideal that Takeda Katsuyori, the new governor, wants to accomplish the most. ”

After listening to Sabei's words, Akechi Mitsuhide got up and said with a smile, "It's better to be more calm!" After that, he said to Sabei: "Okay, don't talk about my previous question, that is, I don't know what Takeda Katsuyori is going to do next, let's talk about the feeling of the second confrontation with the Takeda army!" ”

After hearing this, Sabei secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and Akechi Mitsuhide did not continue to embarrass himself. Then Sabei bowed his head to Akechi Mitsuhide, and then said to Akechi Mitsuhide, who was seated: "When I fought with the Takeda Army for the first time with His Highness Mikawa, I felt that the Takeda Army's formation was stable, the formation expanded and contracted in an orderly manner, and the attack and defense were also orderly. ”

After hearing this, Akechi Mitsuhide nodded, let Sabei take a sip of the miso soup in front of him, and then listened to Sabei say: "In this confrontation with Takeda Katsuyori, I feel that Takeda Katsuyori is all good, but it is more inclined to Qifa, and his troops advance and retreat in an orderly manner during war; Especially his strange method is even more admirable and terrifying. Saying that, Sabei first aroused everyone's suspicion with Takeda Katsuyori's retreat, and then through a few words, he made himself suspicious, and finally made a wrong judgment, and was almost dragged out by Takeda Katsuyori.

After listening to Sabei's story, Akechi Mitsuhide's face became solemn, and he said to Sabei: "If this is the case, Takeda Katsuyori is on par with his father. ”

Seeing this, Sabei immediately said: "It is not easy for the Takeda family to launch this offensive, although it occupies Higashimino for a while, but once the main family launches a counterattack, it will be difficult for the Takeda family to deal with it. ”

Akechi Mitsuhide laughed again after hearing this, and said to Sabei: "At present, it is more important to pacify the Nagashima area, the Takeda family will not attack easily in the months after winter and spring, and the situation inside Takeda is even more serious, I think Takeda Katsuyori will not easily send troops from Shinano, after all, once the bottom line of the family is touched, the counterattack of the lord will make the Takeda family even more uncomfortable!" ”

Sabei was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then nodded and said, "Just as Lord Wise said. ”

Wise Guangxiu smiled when he heard this, but there was another meaning in his eyes. However, at this time, Sabei's attention was all in the words of Akechi Mitsuhide, and he didn't notice Akechi Mitsuhide's strange eyes.

Everyone rested for a while, and Akechi Mitsuhide was going to arrange for Sabei to stay in Sakamoto Castle for a few days before leaving, and Sabei naturally politely excused himself when he heard this. Seeing that Sabei said that he was going to reorganize the army, Akechi Mitsuhide gave up the idea of keeping Sabei in residence for a few days.

In return, Akechi Mitsuhide gave Sabei a hundred iron cannons. This made Sabei a little surprised, and then he was relieved, when he attacked Nagashima before, Akechi Mitsuhide didn't know how many weapons were captured, and these iron cannons were really nothing.

After bidding farewell to Akechi Hidemitsu in front of the city gate, Suzuki Heavy Industries, who was behind Sahebei, stepped forward to report to Sahebei about the goods he had purchased.