Inabayama Castle, I don't know when it started, the burning flames were extinguished, the noise was gone, and the night was quiet again. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info All of this happened so suddenly, so that Shigeharu Takenaka was a little uncomfortable. His eyes flickered and he followed Ando Mamoru with him, and he didn't know what he was thinking, as for Suzuki Nobumasa and the others, they had already been sent back to the mansion in Joshita Town by Ando Mamoru .

Not long after, a building appeared in front of the two of them, and it was the Inabayama Castle Tower! Okay, Shigeharu Takenaka just rescued Mamoru Ando, and now these two are going to turn themselves in directly? It's just that Shigeharu Takenaka obviously didn't have much surprise at this, and it seems that he had expected it a long time ago.

Walking in front of the castle tower, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of Ando Mori, "Ando-sama, Takenaka-sama, please come with the villain." With that, he walked straight inside. Seeing this, Mamoru Ando didn't ask much about the two, and followed him directly.

"It's really weird......" Kato Duanzo looked at Mamoru Ando and the others who disappeared at the door, and whispered to Chiyo Mochizuki.

"Uh-huh......." Chiyo Mochizuki answered, and then fell silent, and after a moment, she whispered, "Let's withdraw." ”

"That's it?" Kato Duanzo looked at Chiyo Mochizuki in surprise, don't you need to figure out such a strange thing?

"Withdraw! There are a lot of ninjas under Saito Ryuko, and we can't sneak into the castle tower at all. And once it is exposed, then no matter what tricks Saito Ryuxing intends to use next, I am afraid that this point will be calculated. Chiyome Mochizuki explained.

"Hmm." Kato Duanzang nodded when he heard this, it is indeed as Mochizuki Chiyo said, even if they investigate the truth of the matter, if they are discovered, then it will have no effect at all.

Kato Duanzo and Chiyo Mochizuki found an opportunity to pull out Mt. Inaba, while on the other side, Shigeharu Takenaka followed Mamoru Ando to the top floor of the castle tower with the ninja. At the observation deck, Mamoru Ando saw Saito Ryuko standing in front of the observation deck with his back to them, staring at the night.

"Your Highness, Mamoru Ando and Shigeharu Takenaka brought it." The ninja whispered.

"Well, let's go down." Saito Ryuxing didn't turn around, but just responded lightly.

The ninja was ordered to leave, and Mamoru Ando did not hesitate, and directly took Shigeji Takenaka to bow down, "My subordinates have seen the lord!" ”

It's just that after Mamoru Ando's words fell, there was still silence in the room, and Saito Ryuko didn't seem to hear it, still looking at the night outside with his back to them, and he didn't know what was so beautiful about that pitch-black picture.

However, for Saito Ryuxing's attitude, Mamoru Ando and Shigeharu Takenaka didn't say much, they just quietly prostrated over there, motionless.

I don't know how long it took, Saito Ryuxing finally turned around, looked at the two people in front of him and said slowly, "Hold on, I'm really worried that you will run directly out of the city......

"If the Lord God counts, how can he not count the actions of his subordinates?" Mamoru Ando said respectfully, then sat up and stared at Saito Ryuxing's penetrating gaze without the slightest fear. Even if the person in front of him can take his life at any time.

"Haha~ I can't count your actions, but I know you're a smart person!" Saito Ryuxing laughed when he heard this, laughed, turned his head to look at Shigeji Takenaka and said slowly, "Shigeji, you did a good job too." ”

"The subordinates are guilty! Please, the Lord punishes you! When Shigeharu Takenaka heard this, he immediately said in a respectful voice.

In this regard, Ando Mamoru shook his head a little helplessly, he knew that Shigeharu Takenaka would not be able to help but say this, but although he knew, Mamoru Ando did not intend to stop Shigeharu Takenaka, because he knew very well the character of his son-in-law. How so? It's stubborn like a cow, and it's hard to believe that a wise samurai can have such a strange personality.

"Yes, you are guilty! So, how do you atone for your sins? Hearing this, Saito Ryuxing looked at Shigeharu Takenaka with a strange smile and asked.

"This ...... Please also make it clear! Shigeharu Takenaka opened his mouth and finally whispered. Hawkers, to be honest, when he was preparing to rescue Morioshi Ando, Shigeharu Takenaka had already thought about his ending. That is, after sending Mamoru Ando out of Mt. Inaba, he committed suicide by seppuku in front of Saito Ryuxing. Although doing so may not be able to wash away the shame of his betrayal of the lord, it can also make his heart feel better.

But now, Shigeharu Takenaka doesn't think so, because he suddenly found that although the rescue operation was arranged by himself, except that it was still planned at the beginning, every subsequent step seemed to have been arranged. All the obstacles that had been anticipated did not appear, not to mention that all of the Saito Toshido clan were ...... by mysterious people Or rather, he was killed by Saito Ryuko.

Hearing this, Saito Ryuxing suddenly showed a hint of helplessness, "To be honest, I really want to execute all of you directly!" ”

Hearing this, Mamoru Ando sneered, "Indeed, if there is no Oda family, I am afraid that the three families of Ando, Inayu, and the clan will have disappeared not long after your lord succeeds as the governor." ”

"Haha! That's right! Saito Ryuxing laughed, not in the slightest attempt to deny it. It's just that Shigeji Takenaka's expression became very painful, after all, one is his respected father-in-law, and the other is the lord he feels has the grace to promote him.

After a while, Saito Ryuxing stopped laughing, looked at the two of them and said coldly, "Okay, let's get down to business now, I'll let you go today, the reason is simple, I need you to help my family get through this difficult time!" "Tsk, this is the first time that Saito Ryuxing has expressed his disdain for the Saito family in front of outsiders, right?

It's just that the two of them didn't say anything about this, just quietly waited for Saito Ryuxing's next words. Because he knew that Saito Ryuko must have done this to deal with the Oda family, but Ando Mamoru was very curious about this, because even if the three of them fully supported the Saito family, in Ando Mamoru's opinion, it would at most delay the time for the Saito family to fall.

Yes, although Mamoru Ando was still hesitant to submit to the Oda family, in his heart, there was no hope for the future of the Saito family. Why? Because since the time of Saito Michizo, the Saito family has never really unified Mino.

Well, this does sound exaggerated, but in this era, in fact, many powerful daimyo have this kind of trouble, that is, their dominance over a country is achieved more by relying on a strong family governor than by their own family name.

The most recent example is probably the Imagawa family, which was highly unified in the Imagawa Yoshigen era, so the Imagawa family was able to become an existence that neither Hojo nor Takeda was willing to provoke. But once Imagawa Yoshimoto died, the Imagawa family's dominance collapsed in an instant, and even if the Imagawa clan really worked diligently and continuously, it still couldn't restore its former dominance.

And the Saito family is even more miserable, of course, this can also be said to be the sequelae of Saito Michizo's theft of the country in the past. Saito Michizo drove away Toki Yoriyi and became the master of Mino in the past, and it is difficult to know how many unsavory methods were used in the process, but one thing is certain, that is, most of the wealthy families in Mino did not really surrender to Saito Michizo, otherwise Saito Yoshiryu would not easily get the support of most of the Mino wealthy families.

Among them, there are former ministers of the Toki clan, and there are families whose interests have been weakened under the rule of Saito Michizo...... Countless entanglements of interests made them choose to stand on the side of Saito Yoshiryu. And after Saito Ryuko succeeded to the throne, this kind of entanglement of interests naturally still exists, and the conflict between the three people of Nishimino and Michitoshi Nagai and others is the best proof of this.

And in the case of the Saito family's internal strife, what about the Oda family? Speaking of which, when Oda Nobunaga succeeded to the governorship, he was even worse than Saito Ryuxing, because he met directly with swords. But later, as everyone knew, after the complete pacification of Owari, all the voices disappeared, and only the voice of Oda Nobunaga remained. Perhaps history can prove that after the death of Oda Nobunaga, the Oda family still had to face the problems that all families in this era had to face, but now, the Oda family, which is completely subservient to Oda Nobunaga's rule, is not at all comparable to the Saito family, which has constant internal strife.

"Shigeji, from today onwards, you will be the lord of Inabayama!" Saito Ryuxing looked at Shigeharu Takenaka and said solemnly.

In a word, Shigeharu Takenaka was stupid, and Mamoru Ando was also stunned. Although they all knew that Saito Ryuko had left them to deal with the Oda family, what did this sentence mean? Why do they suddenly stop understanding Japanese?

"This ...... The subordinates are stupid and can't understand the lord's words......" Shigeharu Takenaka asked hesitantly after reacting. To be honest, when Saito Ryuko finished speaking, he even thought that there was something wrong with his ears.

"There's nothing you can't understand, it's literal, from today on, you're the owner of Mt. Inaba!" Saito Ryuxing looked at Shigeharu Takenaka and said lightly.

"This ...... This ......" Shigeharu Takenaka panicked, he looked at Saito Ryuxing, and then at Ando Mamoru, completely unaware of what he should do now.

Seeing this, Mamoru Ando, who was also confused, smiled bitterly and said, "Lord, please tell me the detailed plan......

"It's very simple, tonight, Shigeharu Takenaka attacked Mt. Inaba, constantly begging for the imprisoned criminal minister Mamoru Ando, and at the same time beheading the enemy Saito Toshimichi. In the end, he drove his own lord Saito Ryuxing out of Inabayama Castle......" Saito Ryuxing heard this, and explained calmly, as if he was just talking about what to eat at night.

But hearing Saito Ryuxing's explanation, Ando Mamoru and Takenaka Shigeharu were directly stupid, and it took a long time for them to come back to their senses, and their eyes at Saito Ryuxing changed instantly, as if they were looking at a crazy ghost. Because they had already guessed Saito Ryuxing's idea at this time, but this idea ...... To be honest, whether it's Mamoru Ando or Shigeharu Takenaka, you will shudder just thinking about it. Because...... It's all the fate of the entire Saito family to gamble!

"My lord, things haven't fallen into such a field yet...... Ando Mamoru opened his mouth to persuade him, although the contradiction between him and Saito Ryuko has been irresolvable, and although his loyalty to the Saito family has also faded, at this time, his samurai instinct still makes him do what a retainer should do.

"Hehe, don't persuade me, I've made up my mind!" Saito Ryuxing interrupted Ando's words and smiled, "Besides, if the family falls into such a field, this plan will be of little use......

"This ......" Mamoru Ando heard this, but he didn't know what to say for a while. Indeed, as Saito Ryuko said, if Oda Nobunaga had carried out the execution when his troops were on Mt. Inaba, it would have been too late. Thinking of this, Mamoru Ando looked at Saito Ryuxing's eyes full of fear, this young governor once again refreshed Mamoru Ando's impression of him.

"Okay, I'm sure you've guessed my plan, so you can adapt to it then. This is a strategy to gamble on the fate of the Saito family, and it can only succeed! Saito Ryuxing said in a deep voice.

"Yes......" Ando Mamoru replied to the two of them, and then, after hesitating for a moment, Ando Mamoru couldn't help but say, "Lord, before that, can you let your subordinates see the family?" ”

Well, after the previous New Ghana War, in order to gain the trust of Saito Ryuxing and avoid Saito Ryuxing's strong suppression, the three families had to send their families to Inabayama as hostages. And this is one of the reasons why Saito Ryuxing will hand over this strategy to Mamoru Ando to carry it out.

Well? Another reason? Well...... Naturally, there is no one else who is qualified to carry out this strategy.

"Yes......" Mamoru Ando didn't disappoint anything when he heard this, because this was also something he expected.

However, when the two were about to leave, Saito Ryuko stopped Shigeharu Takenaka.

"Shigeji, I remember that you seem to have a good relationship with the Asai family's family governor Asai Nagamasa?" Saito asked softly.

"Uh...... I don't dare to say that the relationship is good, but when I visited before, His Royal Highness Asai was very friendly to his subordinates. Shigeharu Takenaka looked at Saito Ryushi suspiciously.

"Hmm......" Hearing this, Saito Ryuxing nodded, paused for a moment and said, "Now the Rokkaku family can't be counted on, so I hope that after the layout is over, you can go to Omi and see if you can bring the Asai family over." ”

"I'm afraid it's going to be hard!" Shigeharu Takenaka said directly, "My lord, although my subordinates don't know much about His Royal Highness Asai, they also think that he is a very benevolent and righteous family governor......"

"Benevolence?" Saito Ryuxing looked at Shigeharu Takenaka strangely, his expression full of disdain, "Even if he pays attention to benevolence and righteousness, is it true that the retainers of the Asai family are the same?" Shigeji, you have to remember, it's all for the Saito family! In the end, Saito Ryuxing's expression was unusually serious.

"Yes!" Hearing this, Shigeji Takenaka had no choice but to receive his order. (To be continued.) )