A week after Ayago's house, the white silk kimono with dark flowers she was wearing was quietly hung near the gate of the mountain castle of Harusay.

This precious kimono, which Ayago loved so much, had become tattered, and there were still a lot of dried blood stains on it.

Pinned to Aya's kimono is a ...... "kidnapping letter".

In short, it says that if you want to let Ayago live, Kenshin-chan and Chu Xuan are not allowed to make any "suspicious" moves, and immediately go to Lake Nojiri alone to negotiate with the kidnappers, and if they find that "others" have any abnormal movements, they will immediately tear up the ticket.

"It's ...... Who did this to you!

Spring said, what did Ape Shinobu find besides this dress and this letter? ”

At this moment, Kenshin-chan, who had always behaved very calmly and calmly, roared loudly at the half-blood female ninja Haru who brought back the bloody clothes and the kidnapping letter, and her hand shook because she was pinching the paper too hard, making the paper that had been crumpled make a "whoosh" trembling sound.

"I'm sorry...... Your Excellency.

Other than that, he didn't find anything, and the other party was very familiar with the defense situation of the spring mountain city, so he specially selected the trees on the observation corner of the ape shinobi and the guards who were on duty at night, hung up the clothes of the aya gozen, and then left quickly. ”

The half-breed female ninja Haruyu replied in a heavy tone, although her face did not show any emotion, but the bruised tendons on the back of her hand proved that her mood at the moment was actually the same as Kenshin-chan.

"Kenshin, be quiet, Ayagozen will be fine."

At this time, Chu Xuan took the initiative to stand up, pushed down his reflective glasses expressionlessly, and said in a voice that was bland and boring, but seemed to be able to soothe people's hearts.

"How can I be quiet, sister...... Sister she ......"

Although Qianxin-chan still looked flustered even after listening to Chu Xuan's words, she was no longer angry, and just kept going around the room like ants on a hot pot.

"Well...... Ayagozen should be fine, after all, for those who have the motivation to write such letters, your death will only make them more troublesome.

Even if you go to Lake Nojiri alone, as the letter asks, you probably won't be in danger of your life - but the position of the head of the family will not be guaranteed. ”

Takeda Shingen, who was still wearing only close-fitting white, showed an expression of "sure enough, something happened" on his face, and he scratched his long messy red hair helplessly, and then couldn't help yawning.

Maybe it's because she's been called out in her sleep, or maybe it's because the methods used by those who are dissatisfied with Kenshin-chan's reform policy are too old and boring.

Well...... The reason why she still has the intention of yawning is actually because she concludes that Ayagozen's life should not be in danger - if Ayagozen does not resist desperately.

"No, I'm going to find my sister now!"

Seeing Takeda Shingen's attitude of not caring about himself, Kenshin-chan began to get anxious again, and he was about to go outside as soon as he stomped his feet.

"Continuation, the spring mountain city will be handed over to you, but I and Qianxin...... And before Ayagozen doesn't come back, don't act rashly.

Although I don't think it's possible, if someone takes advantage of our absence to attack the mountain castle of Chunyue, the defense will be commanded by you and Shingen. ”

Seeing that Qianxin-chan was about to leave, Chu Xuan simply gave a few orders to the melancholy black long straight Lori Naoe Kanesu and the still lazy Takeda Shingen, and immediately followed.

"Go all the way~"

Takeda Shingen's hateful voice came from the room behind him, that guy didn't mean to say such unlucky words, right?

No, that guy must have done it on purpose!

"Don't come with Chun Yue, now immediately block Chun Yue Mountain City and prohibit everyone from entering and leaving.

-- Don't send anyone after us. ”

Chu Xuan, who had already walked far away from the room, ignored Takeda Shingen's ominous farewell words, and calmly and quickly commanded two words into the air, and the half-blood female ninja who didn't know where to hide was silent for a few seconds, and then said "yes" a little reluctantly.

Although Chu Xuan and the mixed-race female ninja Haru, and the black long straight Lori Naoe didn't know who the person who kidnapped Ayago was specifically, they all knew very well that they were definitely one of those veteran ministers who were dissatisfied with Echigo's reforms.

And even if Usami Dingmi, Kakizaki Keijia and others were not directly involved, they definitely deliberately "neglected" and even made many mistakes in many places, providing a lot of convenience to the kidnapper.

Because the other party had many hidden allies and eyeliners in Echigo, maybe some of the maids or guards in the mountain castle of Chunyu - even the ninjas were secretly passing on messages to them, so since the other party had designated Kenshin-chan and Chu Xuan to go alone, the two of them could only go alone obediently.

Like Chu Xuan, Qianxin-chan, and Aya-gozen's marriage, it should have been only known by the half-race female ninja Haru, the black long straight Lori Naoe, the Lori version of Maeda Keiji and Takeda Shingen, but didn't the person who kidnapped Aya-gozen also know?

Even if they try to avoid other people when they talk about something, they can't be sure that someone will hear them at any time.

In the same way, it is difficult for Kenshin-chan to hide from those old ministers even if he mobilizes a single soldier, because they have some kind of secret relationship up and down the entire Echigo.

――For example, a certain "innocent" maid next to Ayagomae is likely to be a cousin of Kakizaki Kei's cousin's cousin

Chu Xuan...... Don't you persuade me at all? ”

When Qianxin-chan and Chu Xuan had already galloped out of Chunyue Mountain City on horseback, Qianxin-chan, who had been silent just now, finally opened his mouth and asked Chu Xuan.

"There's no need, Ayagozen has already fallen into the hands of the other party, so we can only do what the other party says first, and the rest will have to wait until we meet with Ayagozen before we think about it."

Chu Xuan sat steadily on the BMW "Matsukaze" borrowed from the Lori version of Maeda Keiji, pushed down his reflective glasses expressionlessly, and replied lightly in a boring tone that was no different from usual.

Well...... Lake Nojiri is really delicate enough, although the "Lake Nojiri Incident" can't be used as a reference, but according to the main god's surname, Usami Dingman may really be one of the masterminds behind this kidnapping.

If it's against that person, it's better not to act rashly until you ensure Ayagozen's safety.

Although the other party will not easily kill Aya-gozen, because that would be tantamount to eliminating the peerless scandal of Kenshin-chan and Aya-gozen marrying Chu Xuan together, but if Kenshin-chan refused to go to Lake Nojiri alone with Chu Xuan, they would have to settle for the next best thing, and after killing Aya-gozen, they would trumpet that Kenshin-chan abandoned her sister for a man.

"My sister...... It's true...... Is it okay? ”

Listening to Chu Xuan's words, Qian Xinchan bit her somewhat pale lip, but still couldn't help but ask—she didn't need a definite answer, but just needed psychological support.

"As long as Ayagozen doesn't resist desperately, she won't die, and as long as the other party is well prepared, she can completely use up her physical strength.

But not being able to die does not mean that you will not be injured, and it is not absolutely impossible to be seriously injured and dying, or even to have already been killed. ”

Chu Xuan said to Qianxin-chan very calmly, his first sentence made Qianxin-chan calm down a little, but the second sentence almost made Qianxin-chan fall off the horse.

Although Chu Xuan had already seen that the knife marks and blood stains on the tattered kimono in front of Ayago were not caused when she was still wearing this dress, it was probably out of the consideration of confusing the kidnappers' eyeliner along the way, Chu Xuan did not tell Qianxin-chan about it.

"Hurry up, Chu Xuan! Let's go a little faster!

Sister She ...... It's going to be fine! ”

Sure enough, Chu Xuan's words made Ayayuzen's face turn white, and she urged her beloved horse to "release moon hair" even more eagerly, not knowing how to cherish horsepower at all.

However, Chu Xuan didn't have any intention of explaining the truth to Qian Xinjiang at this time, and without saying a word, he immediately urged "Songfeng" to follow closely.

Indeed, the faster they get to Lake Nojiri, the safer it will be for Ayagozen, because in such a short period of time, Kenshin-chan and Chu Xuan don't have any extra time to play with them; Even if they had to play tricks, that time would be enough for them to carry out their plans.

And killing Ayago is really the next choice, after all, Chu Xuan is a person who is protected by the Spring Shrine, and he has also asked Himiko to resurrect the military generals who died in the Takeda family before, and of course they can also resurrect Ayagozen who was killed by them.

Although in the worst-case scenario, the generals involved in the kidnapping would defect from Echigo en masse and defect to the Hojo or Imagawa families in the south, not waiting for the resurrected Ayazen to testify against them, but at that point, their plan was tantamount to failure, and spreading rumors that Kenshin-chan had abandoned her sister for the sake of men would only add a little more to Kenshin-chan.

However, according to their understanding of Qianxin-chan, this big fool who values "righteousness" more than anything else will never give up on his sister, and in comparison, it is not a big deal to let her risk herself.

What's more, Qianxin-chan should know, and definitely know, that what they want is not Aya-gozen or her surname, nor is it Chu Xuan's surname-even if Qianxin-chan can't guess it, it's absolutely impossible for Chu Xuan, Takeda Shingen, or Kuro Naori Naoe Kanesu, who are beside her, to guess it.

As long as Qianxin-chan honestly lived in seclusion, even if she and her sister were let go, and let the two sisters marry Chu Xuan together "as they wished", it would not be a big deal.

- If everything was as Chu Xuan calculated, "they" must have thought so. (To be continued.) )