"And then Saito Rizo was afraid of your identity, and because of his kinship with your mother, he didn't dare to touch you, right?" I nodded, understanding Nobunaga's intentions.

Shinkage served beside Nobunaga, and almost everyone in the family knew about it; And the people who are qualified to ride a white horse into battle, there are only a few people in the entire Oda family. Let Xinjing wear his own family clothes instead of being full, and ride the most conspicuous white horse, all in order to show his identity as the concubine of the Kira family for the first time. In this way, knowing that the person who charged into battle was Shinkage, Saito Rizo would definitely think that if he was injured, it would almost make the Akechi family and the Kira family have an irresolvable grudge; What's more, Nana's half-brother Yorichen Ishitani was originally from the Saito family and is also his half-brother, so he can almost be regarded as Shinkage's uncle. Then in both public and private, he must avoid hurting Xinjing.

In a sense, Xinjing has actually been very safe, and the identity of the Kira family's sister-in-law can be said to be his biggest talisman. Whether it's Hatakeyama Yoshishu or Akechi Mitsuhide, before I officially express my hostile attitude, I can't help but have the intention of wooing my own family, so I will definitely not hurt him, so as not to take the initiative to make enemies with the Kira family. Maybe they will want to capture Xinjing alive as a hostage to negotiate with me, but it is also on the premise of ensuring Xinjing's safety. At least when Pegasus charged like him, Saito Rizo would never dare to attack......Exactly," Shinkyo replied, "Xiangguoji Temple and Honnoji Temple are not far away, so I quickly rushed over, and then led half of the Asagi and Ming Beibei with my uncle, Xuanzheng and others to fight and leave." During this period, more than 2,000 people from Saito Risanbu have been following, and Saito himself even talked to his uncle a few words, but because he didn't dare to let go of the attack, and Chao Ming was well defended, he always had nothing to do with us, and when we entered the mountains, it was even more inconvenient to pursue...... In the evening of the next day, I joined up with the other half of the Asaki Bei and the Iga people under Jing Zheng, and reflexively charged for a while, killing more than 40 Ashigaru and the leader of the team, and Saito Toshizo stopped the pursuit. ”

"It seems that at the last moment, the lord is still very keen." I sighed. Then, somehow, I suddenly remembered the situation when Kanegasaki retreated. At that time, Nobunaga also put the whole army in danger because of his conceit, but once he understood it, he quickly made appropriate judgments and responses, not only frankly admitting his mistakes to the generals and recovering the declining morale of the army, but also brainstorming, and finally succeeded in escaping the encirclement.

But why do you have to be in distress to wake up? Why did you relapse shortly after the escape? If you have been so introspective and so open-minded, why did you end up where you are now?

"Yes, thanks to the master's clever plan,...... That's all I know. Shinkyo concluded, ending his narrative.

"Thank you, Your Highness Xinjing, for letting me wait to see the last demeanor of the lord." Maeda Toshiya bowed deeply, and when he raised his head again, he was already in tears. He turned to me with a solemn face: "Although the military situation has only been arranged, I implore Your Highness to work tirelessly and lead the army to Jinai as soon as possible to defeat the rebel party and avenge the Lord Gazette." ”

"Don't worry. My mood is similar to yours! I nodded, "To be honest, the last time I received the news, I had already sent the remaining troops out of battle to attack the Kishiwada Castle of the Hatakeyama family...... When you didn't come just now, I was still teaching Shinkei a lesson, blaming him for not immediately raising troops in Minami Ise and Iga Province to defeat the rebels as soon as possible. ”

……，…… I dare say that I am not as familiar with Kishiwada Castle as Hatakeyama Yoshishu, because I was the first person to serve as the lord of the castle after it was returned to the Oda family, and I presided over the renovation and construction of the existing castle defenses. Later, when I was sealed to Awaji Province, I took the initiative to relinquish my position as guardian of Izumi and recommended to Nobunaga Hatakeyama Yoshishu to succeed him. At that time, Xiujing, as my acting officer, naturally participated in the related work, and was also very familiar with this city, with him as the main general of the siege, and with the help of the frigate Fubo, it was not a big problem to fall into the city.

Speaking of which, my fate with Hatakeyama Yoshishu is really deep enough. In the time of the change of Eternal Lu, it was I who saved him from danger; When Nobunaga went to Rakuro, I was the one who helped him fight for his position; When I was living in Xiaobin, I was the one who recommended him to replace him; When he was conquering Kii, I was the one who advised him...... In addition, there is a partnership and kinship between the two companies. However, he really shouldn't have abused his power for personal gain, let alone done something rebellious after the incident. Otherwise, I will have to do my duty as a minister and send troops to fight against it; And because of the intimacy of the relationship, I had to target him more fiercely, so as to dissociate myself.

This is the political significance of the attack on Kishiwada Castle. Not only that, but on a purely military level, this is also a key step in the strategy of Hatakeyama Yoshishu. Once this city is captured, combined with the strength of the naval army, the entire Xiahequan will be almost in my hands; In addition, I also have Wakayama Castle guarded by Fujido Takatora in my hand, and the two cities cooperate with each other, which can completely cut off Hatakeyama Yoshishu's territory, so that his subordinate Kii Province cannot be connected with Minami Hanoi and Yamashiro Province, so as to facilitate the next step.

And Xiujing's movements were also very fast, and before I could go out from Imabari, he had already sent a retainer from the Iga clan to Kamibayashi Ushiga, and reported that he had entered Kishiwada Castle. This progress has greatly exceeded my expectations.

"It's going to fall so soon!" I said happily.

"The main hall," Kabayashi Niu He hesitated slightly, "To be exact, it was the Hatakeyama family who took the initiative to give up the city...... Before we arrived, they had already evacuated on their own initiative, and they were still loudly declaring in Sakai Town, Kamiwazumi, that they would not clash with their own family. ”

"What is that? I obviously know that I can't hold it! I couldn't help but frown, "What's the reaction around you?" ”

"The reaction can be said to be very unfavorable to the family...... Originally, there were rumors in Kinai that the main family and the Hatakeyama family were connected. And after the Rangjo incident, the rumors became even stronger," Kamibayashi Ushiga reported with a embarrassed expression, "and even the Ikeda family in Settsu has doubts about the family...... His Highness Ikeda's attack on South Hanoi failed, and the lord (Xiujing) offered to help, but His Highness Ikeda refused, and he had to keep his distance from his family......"

"Your Highness Ikeda, is that what you said?" I asked in surprise. Really, with my relationship with Ikeda Hengxing, he can't even trust me? Could it be that the rumors have reached such a serious level?

"That's what it means," said Ushiga Kamibayashi, bowing, "His Highness Ikeda's exact words are as follows: 'I am a dull man, and I do not understand your considerations, except that I want to avenge the Lord...... However, the Kira family is now under suspicion, and I really can't trust it, so please defend your own camp! ’”

"So, what is the situation in Shimowazumi? Do those wealthy families also keep their distance from their own families? "My eyebrows furrowed even tighter.

"Not really. Most of them sent people to Kishiwada Castle to express their allegiance to the main hall and the lord. Kamibayashi replied.

"Is that so?" I groaned, my mind spinning. Why is this happening? I also heard the rumors, and Ikeda Hengxing, who has always been close, expressed doubts about me, but the wealthy families of Shimowazumi still betrayed their sincerity to Xiujing? The difference is really strange!

Could it be that there are other reasons besides the rumors on the surface? Otherwise, there is no way to explain it. Moreover, if you think about it carefully, these rumors are very suspicious, and according to Tsuya's information, they appeared in Amagasaki, Kyoto, and Sakai at about the same time, and it seems that they did not seem to have formed spontaneously, and it is likely that someone secretly instigated them.

When I thought about it, I suddenly understood. The rumors are not only from the markets of Amagasaki, Kyoto, and Sakai Town, but also from the colleagues who are currently crusading against the two together, and even the rumors in the market may have been spread by those colleagues. Judging from Ikeda's reaction and the "you" in his mouth, the biggest possibility is Harima's Hideyoshi Hara. Only he, as Hengxing's in-law and pillar, would have such great influence on Ikeda Hengxing; He is also very proficient in this kind of thing, and I have learned this from the time I opened a sorrel restaurant in my early years and asked him to promote it for me in Cheongju Town.

I can even guess who came up with the idea of holding me back—the Kuroda Takataka who historically persuaded Hideyoshi to return to defeat Akechi and fight for dominance of the Oda family.

As for the reason for this, it is similar to history, Kuroda Takataka is to obtain Hideyoshi's Nobuya, and Hideyoshi wants to compete for the dominance of the Oda family. After all, among the major legions, he is the closest to Kinai, and he has a great chance of taking the lead, and then as long as he defeats Wise, he can logically annex his old domain, greatly increase his own strength, and at the same time use this position to dominate Nobunaga's affairs until he becomes his successor.

With the current situation, his biggest opponent is the family whose strength is firmly in the first place among the legions. Then, taking advantage of my close relationship with the Hatakeyama family to make a fuss and make others in the family suspicious of me naturally became a very effective strategy.

Really, at this time, they have already begun to tear each other down...... Still, I don't resent Hideyoshi Hara. At present, everyone will try their best to fight for it, and they will also play some cautious tricks, whether it is demolishing the stage or acting, it is very normal, don't I do the same myself? And Ikeda Hengxing's actions, I can also understand that he is a person with a straight surname, and he can't play those tricks, and he is only thinking about avenging Nobunaga at present. The words that replied to Xiujing could almost be said to be out of his heart.

It's just that Hatakeyama and Akechi are united, and their strength is much stronger than in history. Although Hideyoshi has made many achievements in recent years and is almost invincible, he does not dare to underestimate the power of these two families, right? At this time, is it very unwise for your own family to fight first? Or, is there any hole card he still has that he can't make?

"His Royal Highness Hagara in Harima, His Royal Highness Takeda in Tango, and His Royal Highness Niwa in Wakasa, where are they currently located?" I called Hattori Hanzo back.

"Your Lordship. His Royal Highness Hara is currently attacking Tamba's Ake, with the Uki family behind him, used to defend against the Maori family's counterattack; His Royal Highness Takeda led the forces of Wakasa and Dongtango, and monitored the Hosokawa family of Nishitango; His Royal Highness Niwa went to the Koyasan front line and mastered the 15,000 Minami Omi people stationed there, preparing to attack Minami Kawachi Province. Hattori Hanzo replied quickly.

"Is that all?" I shook my head and muttered to myself. Seeing that Shanglin Niuhe was still waiting for news, I thought for a moment and instructed him: "You go back and tell Xiujing that he can stabilize the country of Xia Hequan first, and there is no need to march to Nanhanoi for the time being; In addition, let Zhou Jing lead the headquarters to attack Northern Kii, open the passage to Wakayama Castle, and meet with Fujido-sama. ”

"Yes." Shanglin Niuhe took the order and left.

……，…… Hideyoshi's strategy did not go well. On the third day after the incident, he returned to Harima from the front line of Bichu and began to attack Akechi Mitsuhide, only to have several days passed, but he was still confronted by Akechi. Niwa Nagahide led the Minami Omi people to attack the Hatakeyama family's Minami Kawachi, but they did not make much progress, and Ikeda Tsuneshi, who was on the flank, was even attacked by the Hatakeyama side and had to retreat to Settsu. And the Shibata Katsuya of Hokuriku seems to be hesitating at the moment, because the weather is about to turn cold, and the heavy snow will soon close the road, and the little time left for him is estimated to be difficult to quell the rebellion. As for the Tokugawa family in Tokaido, as an external example, they will definitely not be able to gain dominance, and they are far away from the main battlefield, so they can only hold a wait-and-see posture at present; Moreover, the old enemy Takeda family received information about Nobunaga's return, and it seemed that they had suddenly regained their long-lost vitality, and they had already sent troops to Suruga to prepare to recapture the territory that had been invaded by the Tokugawa family in the past two years, and Ieyasu had to brace himself to deal with it.

So far, I have been the only one who has made some progress and basically controlled Shimowazumi Province and Northern Kii Province. However, Shimowazumi Province was abandoned by the Hatakeyama family on their own initiative; As for Kitaki, I'm basically under my influence, so it's okay to lose it. The fundamental territory of the Hatakeyama family is still the south Hanoi that he has operated for many years. In addition, the newly acquired North Hanoi and Yamashiro countries are basically obedient to him, after all, he has been the head of the Hatakeyama clan for many years, and he is from the Ashikaga lineage. For example, this time, the Settsu people who repelled Ikeda Tsuneko relied to a considerable extent on the strength of Yamashiro Province.

Taking advantage of the repulsion of Ikeda's prestige, Yoshishu abandoned the "Hatakeyama" Miao character given by Nobunaga, renamed it Ashikaga Yoshishu, announced the revival of the Muromachi shogunate, and applied to the imperial court to succeed him as the shogun. As if there had been a tacit understanding, the imperial court quickly agreed to Yoshishu's application, that is, the promulgation of the shogun's proclamation, appointing Yoshishu as the seventeenth general of the Muromachi shogunate, and assuming the posts of three senators and lieutenant general of the left guard. Akechi Mitsuhide was also promoted, changed the Miao character to Toki, and recounted from the four Shimomino Mamoru and Sakyo Daifu (formerly known as the Toki family governor), and concurrently served as the Minami Omi guardian, Mino guardian, and the head of the shogunate (Toki family governor serial service). All of a sudden, the prestige of Yoshishu and Mitsuhide soared, and there seemed to be a trend of reviving the shogunate.

(To be continued)