104

In the eleventh hour after the death of Hideharu Hatano, Naomasa Akai and Hidenobu Hatano, who had already cleared out the dissidents and completely controlled Yagami Castle, opened the gates of Yagami Castle.

At the time, I was taken aback, and I thought they were going to fight against the water and make a final fight.

I later learned that the people in the city had already contacted my father.

Needless to say, the "liaison" in the middle must be the powerful and omnipotent Honda boss!

The whole thing, within the legion, is only known by three people, except for Boss Honda and his father, only Hosokawa Fujitaka knows a little, and even I don't know.

I, Keiji Maeda, Tadashi Hosokawa, and a few guards walked slowly along the green mountain road with the sound of cicadas, and we rode on horses, and the cool breeze blew from time to time.

It was almost late spring, and although the weather was not yet hot, the horses were drenched in sweat.

I'm going to meet someone! ……

"What?!" Keiji Maeda was the first to object, "That old guy dares to instruct you like this?!" Are you kidding? It's clear that he is the one who lost the battle, and even if we want to meet, it should be him who has come to ask to see you, right?! ”

"Maeda-sama is right, and," Hosokawa Tadashi also said, "This guy Akai Naomasa has suffered two losses at your hands, and maybe, he wants to take this opportunity to meet......"

"Yoichiro, you don't have to worry about this," I interrupted Hosokawa Tadashi's words, "Akai's clan has long been controlled by his father, if he really dares to attack me, hum......"

"Young master! Keiji Maeda's voice raised a little, "This Akai Naomasa is not in the city to meet you, but he is going to the annex on the mountain outside the city, isn't this obvious, he has some unsightly actions......"

"I've made up my mind! You don't have to say anything! But......" I looked at the two of them, "maybe this old fellow will do something 'excessive', so be it, you two will come with me tomorrow!" ”……

"Oh, I'm tired to death," Keiji Maeda suddenly lay on the ground, pretending to be about to die, "Young master, let's rest, my body can't bear it." ”

"What it looks like! You get up for me! I shouted, "You bastard! It's only ten miles in total, and you've already stopped on the road twice! Is this also a samurai of my wise family? Get me up! ”

Just as I was about to kick Keiji Maeda's ass twice, a distant voice came from the mountain,

"Big brother—"

I looked up with the "dead man" lying on the ground, and a man was waving in the shade of a large pine tree at the bottom of the hilltop.

It is Hosokawa Tadashi. White teeth appeared on his fair face, and he smiled brightly.

They waved in reply.

Because I was worried that Akai Naomasa might be unfavorable to me, this kid volunteered to come early to "explore the way" for me.

Hosokawa Tadashi pulled the reins of his horse, walked slowly downhill, came to me, dismounted lightly, and said: "Akai Naomasa only has a few maids there, not even a guard, I have looked around, and I haven't found any suspicious people, so big brother, you can just meet him with confidence." ”

"Is there really no problem?" Maeda Keiji said: "That old guy is very good at fighting, young master, I still have a talent to hide, the three of them together are not his opponents, in case he suddenly attacks......"

"Then I don't have me." Ke'er can't hide here, the "substitute" Hosokawa Tadashi patted his chest, "Although my art of war is still a gap from Lord Kerr, but ......"

He pointed behind him, "The people I brought with me have all taken iron cannons, no matter how powerful Akai Naomasa is, can he be the opponent of iron cannons?" ”

"Okay," I nodded, "I'm relieved to have your protection...... That guy lying on the ground, why don't you hurry up for me?! Going! ”

The summit is a slightly spacious flat land, and broad-leaved trees such as zelkova and chestnut trees create cool shade.

And Akai Naomasa's small annex was built in the shade of this tree.

Akai himself sat on a low stool, dressed in samurai dress and a black hat, and the maids also wore kimonos, standing on either side.

As soon as I got up the mountain, I immediately noticed it and quickly dismounted, and in the same way, Akai Naomasa stood up and walked towards me with a smile on his face.

"His Highness Akai! Sorry to keep you waiting! ”

"Where, it was the old man who asked His Highness the General to run all the way."

At the "surrender ceremony", I have already met with Akai Naomasa.

His appearance has not changed much compared with the past, he is tall and burly like "Zhang Fei", his complexion is slightly dark, his blood is ruddy, his thick eyebrows are raised high, his long and large bright eyes are full of strong and shrewd manhood.

Ever since the first battle of Tango, I have always thought that the next encounter with Akai Naomasa will be a life-and-death showdown.

But......

Either way, that's a thing of the past.

Accompanied by Naomasa Akai, I changed into clogs and walked into his annex.

The so-called annex is actually similar to the mountain villa you have seen in Japanese dramas.

In the middle, the maids of Akai Naomachi set up their seats.

"The weather is hot, and I am very scared to come." Akai Naomasa guided me to the table as he spoke, and Keiji Maeda and Hosokawa Tadashi also sat down under the guidance of the maids.

I also replied "kindly": "I have heard for a long time that His Royal Highness Akai is brave and brave, and there is no one in Tanba who is invincible in the country, and he has been friends with the gods for a long time...... I have offended a lot before, and I ask Your Highness to bear with me. ”

"Oh, Your Highness the Eunuch, you really killed the old man," my early "apology" caught him a little off guard, "The Eunuch and Ling Zun obeyed the orders of the Imperial Court and the Oda Inner Mansion to crusade against the old man and Hatano who were criminal ministers, there is nothing wrong with you, the one who should apologize should be the old man, the old man is right to Ling Zun, His Royal Highness to the Oda Inner Mansion, and the Imperial Court...... Alas! ”

As he spoke, he made a look of great remorse.

Come on! If you keep pretending like this, you will be tired and I will be tired.

I hurriedly grabbed his hand and comforted: "'It's not too late to make amends', Your Highness Akai, fortunately, you can repent and return to the right path, so the court will be lenient and pardon you...... What was before, just let it pass! ”

Actually, Oda Nobunaga originally didn't plan to let go of Hidenobu Hatano and Naomasa Akai, but he still gave his father a face in the end.

However, the death penalty could be avoided, and the Hatano family moved to Higashimino and received 10,000 koku, which was controlled by Oda Nobutada......

Akai Naomasa is slightly better and can stay in Mino, but the territory has also been reduced to 20,000 koku.

After some hypocritical politeness, Akai Naomasa called the cook, and they prepared all kinds of food.

He took the wine glass from the maid and poured it full: "Let me pay tribute to Your Highness the General first!"

Without waiting for me to answer, he threw his neck up and drank it all, puffing out his tongue and laughing: "Good wine, I specially selected it!" Brewed with the water of the spring in the mountains, you can also taste it, Your Highness the Prisoner. ”

In my previous life, my favorite drinks were spirits with a high alcohol content like whisky or Chinese baigan, but I rarely touched "water wine" like Japanese sake.

I tasted, well, so sweet water, oh no, wine......

That being said, no matter how bland the taste of this wine is, I must say yes!

So I raised my glass very boldly and drank it without a single drop.

If you drink the contents of the cup as water, the taste is so wonderful, and the feeling, a sweet coolness, seeps through the mouth and through the throat.

"It's really good wine." I put my glass down, and the maid sitting next to me filled it gracefully.

Words flow freely between socializing. The cook prepared a delicious meal that was not exquisite, but quite sumptuous, and entertained me and Keiji. Everyone was in a good mood and chatting and laughing.

It's good to be here, I thought to myself, just be careful not to touch on important topics, in that case, both Akai and I will be in a dilemma.

So I secretly had a snack, drank cup after cup, only talked about Fengyue, and chatted with Akai Naomasa without discussing state affairs.

But then again, it's completely unnecessary for me to be so careful, and although I drink a drink, no matter how much I drink, the "degree" of this sake is not enough for me to be drunk enough to say something I shouldn't have said.

A large plate of grilled eel is served on a large plate, the body of the fish is fat, and the salt on the body is charred and mouth-watering.

"What a big sweetfish!" Even after staying in Kyoto for a long time, Hosokawa Tadashi, who has tasted the delicacies of the mountains and the sea, can't help but swallow a mouthful of spit in his throat in the face of such a fish.

"This is also caught in the mountains, this place in Tamba, insulated from the sea, can not eat the freshest seafood, even if it is a sea fish, only pickled salted fish can be eaten," Speaking of this, as a Tamba aborigine, Akai Naomasa said with some pride: "But the river fish is abundant, carp, crucian carp, eel, sweetfish and turtles are readily available, although these are not any precious ingredients, in our Tanba people's kitchen, it is indeed possible to make rare delicious, especially eel, fat and tender, excellent entrance, Your Highness the Prisoner, please try it. ”

I'm also a foodie who likes to eat and drink, and my face was happy, "Then I'm welcome......"

When I peeled a piece of fish meat from the eel with chopsticks, dipped it in vinegar with the knotweed leaves, and prepared to put it in my mouth......

Maeda Keiji's loud voice rang out: "Young master! Please wait! ”

I put down my chopsticks unhappily, "What's wrong?" ”

"Please allow me to test the poison for you!" As he spoke, regardless of whether I agreed or not, he came straight to my table, picked up his chopsticks, picked up the fish and ate it.

"Rude!"

Although I think that Akai Naomasa may really poison my insidious psychology, but doing this in front of Akai Naomasa will make everyone present unable to get off the stage, so I had to scold Maeda Keiji twice in this situation.