After Hayashi and Amin left, Hideyoshi saw Oda Nobunaga and went to the empty farmhouse, half lying on a leisurely chair in the courtyard, humming a little song in his mouth, waiting for the children to come back and report to him, as if he was sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai platform.

When Katagiri came back with a few children, Hideyoshi hurriedly asked, "Sukesaku, where did you follow them?" ”

Kosuke shook his head and replied, "My lord, we have been to the shore of the Kiso River, and Toranosuke will let us come back." ”

"Why didn't Katsura Fukushima come back?"

"My lord, Ichigui was worried that Toranosuke would be in danger, so I accompanied him across the river."

"Okay, assistant, you can go home first."

Katagiri Sukesaku and the others bowed to Hideyoshi and left the farmhouse.

Suddenly, Hideyoshi's eyes saw the tall, fair-skinned and cold girl, as if he saw her burrowing into the straw stack, and he followed him with a hippie smile, and fell asleep unconsciously......

I waited until noon the next day, when Katsura Fukushima returned, and as soon as the little fat man entered the door, he shouted loudly: "Report to your lordship, cross the Kiso River, Toranosuke and I can't find them, so we split up to look for them, and then it gets dark...... " As he spoke, he knelt down with a little frown.

Hideyoshi opened his eyes, stroked his round little face, and asked, "Good Ichichi, it doesn't matter if you lose it, did those two assassins threaten you?" ”

The little fat man wiped the sweat from his face, shook his head, and replied, "That woman tried to kill us, but the man stopped her." ”

"Toranosuke hasn't come back yet, maybe he's in the right direction."

Listening to Hideyoshi's praise of Toranosuke, the little fat man suddenly showed jealousy.

"Ichigui has worked hard, let's go home and eat."

In the evening, Ning Ning came to call him home, and Hideyoshi, who had trouble sleeping, decided to continue waiting, knowing that after the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru was killed, all the daimyo everywhere were ready to move, nominally denouncing Matsunaga Hide, but secretly each had their own calculations, and the clouds of war had hung over the Japanese archipelago, and no one could stop the chaos in the world......

Kiyoshu Castle was intensifying its war preparations, and began to send people to find Ashikaga Yoshiaki, hoping to control him in Owari Province, and establish him as a new generation of shoguns, and the Oda clan held the shogun hostage to order the princes.

At this moment, the restless Hideyoshi only had two things in his heart: one was to hope that Wasuka Koroku could bring him back a "golden mountain", and when he had money in his hand, he would be able to recruit more wild samurai to follow him, so as to improve his status in the Oda family, and in the future, in this troubled world, he would get ahead with his military exploits; The second is to hope that Toranosuke can find out who the assassin is? And by whom?

He lit the candle, took out the bronze mirror in his arms, and looked at his monkey face, and the monkey said to himself: After Lord Shangsuke ascends to heaven, there will be a rising sun shining on the earth, so quickly manifest the spirit......

After carefully studying it for a long time, Hideyoshi couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

After surviving this sleepless night, Toranosuke still didn't come back, and as soon as the sky was hazy, Xiao Jiaji came over to remind him that it was time to go to Cheongju City on an errand.

At this moment, how can you still be in the mood to meet Oda Nobunaga? Sending Xiao Yoshiji away, the monkey anxiously waited for news from Koroku and Toranosuke, chasing a group of old hens in the yard, screaming in his mouth, making chickens and dogs jump......

After a while, he found that Xiao Jiaji had brought a monk, and the monkey thought it was a fate, so he waved his hands and said, "What are you doing here?" I haven't eaten yet! ”

"My lord, Master Piaofeng from Ishiyama Honganji Temple is here." Yoshiyoshi Ishida replied.

Hearing that it was the master of Ishiyama Honganji, Hideyoshi immediately stopped, hurriedly bowed to the master of Piaofeng, and said, "The master has worked hard! Please take a break at the Humble House and I'll make you tea. ”

Piaofeng clasped his hands together and replied: "There is no Amitabha Buddha in the south, Lord Hideyoshi is not polite, the poor monk only came to give a word, and he will go to the country of Mikawa soon." Your child, Toranosuke, got lost the day before yesterday and wandered to Ishiyama Honganji Temple, and the Holiness Quan Monk Masa-sama wants you to pick him up in person, Amitabha. ”

"Amitabha, thank you to the Quan Monk Masa-sama for taking in the tiger no suke, I immediately rushed to the Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple to thank the Dharma King Quan Sho-sama; Please follow Master Piaofeng to the Humble House for fasting, and then it is not too late to go to the country of Three Rivers. ”

Piaofeng smiled, folded his hands, bowed deeply to Hideyoshi, and replied, "Thank you, donor!" Not necessarily. With that, he turned and drifted away.

What a godsend! Hideyoshi had the intention of befriending Xianru, but he was afraid that Xianru would not buy his account.

So, Hideyoshi couldn't sit still at home, so he immediately brought silver taels and prepared to buy some gifts for Xianru, and by the way, he inquired about Ashikaga Yoshiaki's whereabouts.

Since Oda Nobunaga succeeded the family governor, anyone could freely enter and leave Owari Province, and Kiyoshu Castle was a thriving scene.

If Sakai Town is a free trade port and the largest distribution center of maritime wealth, then Kiyoshu Castle is the largest inland commercial center on Honshu Island, with more than 30 bustling streets along the Gojo River in the west of the castle lined with merchants and shops.

Since the assassination incident, Oda Nobunaga has changed his arrogant and uninhibited image in the past, dressed neatly, rode a high-headed horse, and surrounded a large group of retainers in front of and behind him, in order to stabilize the morale of the army and the people, he went to inspect the Gojo River market.

The samurai of Owari Province walked through the streets, and the merchants along the Gojo River knelt down on both sides of the street and bowed to the majestic Oda Nobunaga.

Suddenly, Oda Nobunaga pointed to a shop in the distance and shouted, "Isn't that a monkey stealing and playing tricks?" It's disgusting! ”

Maeda Toshiya looked in the direction Nobunaga was pointing and saw everyone kneeling on both sides of the street, but there was no monkey in sight.

"My lord, you can't be dazzled by missing the monkey, right?" Toshiie Maeda asked.

"This damn monkey, he sent someone to ask me for leave yesterday, saying that something happened to his family and he can't come out on an errand today, does he have time to come out and buy rouge for his wife?" As he spoke, Oda Nobunaga stared at Maeda Toshiya with a stern gaze and ordered, "Inuchiyo, go and get him back for me!" ”

Inuchiyo Maeda Toshiya didn't dare to slack off, and as soon as he agreed, he ran towards the store.

Seeing that Oda Nobunaga's honor guard stopped, the young man kneeling on the side of the road suddenly stood up, expecting to be favored by Nobunaga so that he could go to Oda's house to be a samurai, and rushed around the honor guard to show his loyalty, which made Nobunaga, who had just been assassinated, panic.

Maeda Toshiya ran through two alleys and came to a jade shop, grabbed Hideyoshi, and shouted, "Monkey, you are so daring!" ”

Hideyoshi looked back and saw that it was his good friend Maeda Toshi's family, and hurriedly asked with a smile: "Inuchiyo, why are you here if you don't follow the adults on an errand?" ”

"What? Your Excellency is inspecting the Chengxi Market today, and I saw you just now, so I came here to arrest you, come with me! I couldn't help but say, Maeda Toshiya grabbed Hideyoshi and walked out.

Hideyoshi pleaded, "Good brother, spare me!" I'm going to buy a few gifts, I'm going to go out to run some errands, and don't take me to the adults. ”

"The adults have already seen you, where else can you escape?"

"Please tell my brother that he didn't find me."

Maeda Toshiya looked at Hideyoshi very seriously and asked, "Brother, don't be slippery and lazy, are you willing to be a light ashigaru for the rest of your life?" ”

The smiling Hideyoshi lay in his ear and replied in a low voice, "Good brother, we are going to make a great contribution!" ”

"What credit can you make for stealing and cheating?" Maeda Toshiie asked disdainfully.

"I'm going to go to Ishiyama Honganji Temple to buy a few valuable gifts for Xianru, so that I can find out the whereabouts of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and when I get Ashikaga Yoshiaki to Kiyoshu Castle, this credit is for both of us. Please also ask my brother to help, don't tell the news to Mr. Kamisuke-sama yet. As he spoke, Hideyoshi gently patted him on the shoulder.

Maeda Toshiya was skeptical, only to see Hideyoshi blink his little eyes, gently push his hand away, and suddenly get out of the shop and disappear into the crowd.

Maeda Toshiya had no choice but to run back to Nobunaga's horse with a sad face, and said in a loud voice, "My lord, I didn't find the monkey. ”

"Damn! I'm going to punish this abominable monkey severely! Nobunaga shouted angrily.

Hideyoshi went mad and crawled through the crowd, and after making sure that no one was following him anymore, he quickly ran back to his house, and as soon as he entered the house, he sat down on the ground panting, and shouted, "Ninin, prepare a horse for me, I, I have to go to Ishiyama Honganji Temple immediately, and if Lady Sosuke comes to look for me at the meeting, he will say that I, I have not returned." ”

"What did you get?" Looking at the funny husband, Ning Ning smiled and bent over.

"I was about to pay for jade, and I was bumped into by this kid Inuchiyo, he wanted to arrest me to see Oda-sama, but he scared me to death, Ning Ning, hurry up and bring me that bag of antiques."

So, Ning Ning threw the bag full of treasures in front of Hideyoshi and said, "Don't be stingy when you pick something valuable, you must bring Toranosuke back safely." ”

Hideyoshi inspected the contents of the bag one by one: there were wine plates with Song carved lacquer, several volumes of ancient paintings, more than a dozen old books, many beads, ivory wat wits, agate plates, glassware, etc., and there were still small items such as wine gourds and snuff bottles......

"Ning Ning, I remember that there is still a Buddhist shrine, where did you get it?"

"Didn't you make an offering to the Buddha statue?"

So, Hideyoshi sighed, thinking to himself: These things are not easy to come by, and to be honest, he can't bear any of them. However, when he went to Ishiyama Honganji Temple this time, in addition to bringing back Toranosuke, he also had to find out the whereabouts of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and he was reluctant to let the child trap the wolf, so he gave the Buddhist shrine to Xianru.

"I wanted to buy a good jade, but it was a pity that I met the hateful Inuchiyo. Ning Ning, hurry up and help me get it back, since it is going to Ishiyama Honganji Temple, it may be the most suitable to send this Buddhist shrine. ”

In order to save her nephew Kato Toranosuke, she would rather give up anything, so she bowed and worshiped in front of the Buddhist shrine, took it back and handed it to Hideyoshi, and said: "You can take all these things underground, but you have to leave the mirror for me." ”

So, Hideyoshi took out the bronze mirror from his arms, handed it to Ning Ning, and whispered: "I warn you, this is a divine mirror, but you must not let outsiders know, understand?" ”

"Of course I know that this is a divine mirror, so I'm afraid you will give it to Xianru." Ning Ning said, taking the bronze mirror into his arms.

Hideyoshi selected a few beads, ivory wats, glassware, and other objects, bowed to the Buddhist shrine, and put these items in his pocket.

At this time, Ning Ning led the horse out, and Hideyoshi stepped on the horse, and disappeared on the official road outside Cheongju City like a smoke......