Civilization Guardian Front

The other party's footsteps were very light. If you hadn't witnessed their movements with your own eyes, you would have just regarded them as the sound of the breeze blowing across the grass.

"Chengzheng, what's the situation?" At this time, Hengxing also came from the center of the camp, looked at the slowly approaching shadow, and asked Chengzheng in a low voice.

"Not sure..." When Cheng Zheng replied, his eyes were still fixed on the person in front of him.

She had some vague guesses, but it was not time to relax her vigilance yet.

Every step of the black shadows seems to have been carefully calculated, so as not to arouse the Oda army's attack consciousness too much.

Dozens of breaths passed, and the two sides finally got close enough to recognize their appearance.

There are 13 people in total. They don't have any weapons in their hands. They are covered with dark blue clothes like coir raincoats. The shadow under the hood covers the upper part of the face, and the lower part of the cheeks and chins are no different from ordinary people.

Maybe it's just too ordinary, even if you see it, it's hard to leave any impression.

"Sasa Naruma-sama, Ikeda Hengxing-sama..." The man who seemed to be the leader among the 13 people took a step forward and saluted Chengzheng Hengxing.

"I am Rannami (ninja) who serves His Highness Oda Kami Sosuke Nobuna, and we are here to carry out the mission of Niwa Sou Masu. The two adults can call us "Hirodans". "

Having said that, the man took out a letter from his pocket and handed it out.

"This is a letter written by the lord, please read it, two adults."

Ikeda Hengxing, who reached out to take the letter, immediately spread the letter paper...

The content is very brief, explaining that the ninja organization Hikari Tanjong currently appoints Niwa Chohide as the commander, and the content of the order that Nobuna gave to Hengxing, Chengzheng and others.

Familiar with Nobuna's handwriting, she checked it word by word. Not only did the handwriting match, but at the end of the letter, the exclusive seal of Lord Owari was affixed.

Later, Sasa Naruma also confirmed the letter, and there was no problem.

The two looked at each other and nodded solemnly.

"It is indeed a letter from Her Majesty the Princess..." After returning the letter to the man, Heng Xing restrained his guard and asked:

"I don't know what everyone in the audience needs me and Cheng Zheng to help with?"

"What we are asking for is not difficult..." The man folded the letter respectfully and put it in his arms, and made the request in a calm tone:

"Nothing but the corpses of thirteen rebels from Endhammer."

......

The next day, the hour.

Lin Tongju, who fled in embarrassment the night before, relied on his familiarity with the terrain in the southern part of Owari to avoid the main road and walk carefully through the forest. .

"Finally back..."

Walking out of the forest, looking at the open fields in front of him and the hard-working farmers, Lin Tongju, who had a messy beard and hair and was covered in grass and mud, exhaled heavily.

This place has entered the territory of Suesori Oda Nobukatsu. As long as you follow the road between the farmlands and go eastward, you will reach Suesori City in a short time.

The joy of surviving after the catastrophe did not last long. Thinking that yesterday, I took Master Xinsheng's [-] troops to go out and vowed to take down the famous village, but was suddenly attacked overnight by the army of the fool Daimyo, and the subordinates suffered heavy casualties. I don't know how many people can escape...

(After such a disastrous defeat, what face do I have to go back to see Mr. Xinsheng?) Lin Tongju couldn't help feeling sad.

"However, if we hadn't known beforehand..." He lowered his head, clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth and said bitterly:

"How could that woman's army bypass our army's rear and catch me off guard?"

When Lin Tongju saw the flag with black papaya patterns on a yellow background last night, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He instantly understood...

(The woman who was rumored to be seriously ill was not sick at all, she performed this scene just to lure Mr. Xinsheng to take the bait...)

"King Owari's action cannot be a sudden whim, it must be news that is credible."

Lin Tongju murmured, thinking solemnly.

(The vassals who knew Lord Xinsheng intended to rebel have not left Mosen City recently, only my brother, and... no, it can't be her!)

"After all, she has always been a person who implements loyalty..." At this moment, the figure that appeared in Lin Tongju's mind made him subconsciously shake his head and deny it.

"Even if Master Xinsheng wants to rebel, how can he cooperate with the big fool to design us?"

Even though he told himself so, the seeds of doubt in his heart had already been planted.

Aichi County, Momori Castle...

After finally returning to the city where the lord lives, Lin Tongju, as soon as he entered the gate of Sannomaru, he immediately noticed that there were dozens of people in the city who were as disgraced as him, leaning against the wall and dejected.

Several of them were very familiar to him, and he immediately confirmed that they were the ashigaru who followed him to the famous village. Similarly, these soldiers who fled from the battlefield also recognized the leader of their army.

"Ah! You are..."

"Master Lin Meizuo!"

"My lord, will we be, be... be questioned and executed?

Hayashi Toko, who was defeated and even abandoned his subordinates to escape, was in a very embarrassing situation when faced with the respectful or frightened words of the ashigaru, and could only force an ugly smile to answer:

"The defeat is not your responsibility, Lord Xinsheng will not punish you, don't worry."

"Tongu-sama..." An ordinary-looking, weak-sense ashigaru asked Lin Tonggu in an uneasy tone:

"I still don't understand why we were attacked from behind by the moron's army?"

Before the general could answer, the ordinary-looking Ashigaru soldier on the side elbowed his colleague and cursed in a low voice:

"Idiot, didn't I tell you just now that Mr. Shibata Katsuie told you the secret?"

"If Lord Katsuie Shibata hadn't informed you, as a retainer of Lord Nobukatsu, why would she still be able to stay safely in Qingzhou City?" Another big-nosed ashigaru said, also showing resentment.

As soon as the words fell, a strong and powerful hand suddenly grabbed the big-nosed ashigaru, and lifted him from the ground with ease.

"What did you say?"

Lin Tongju's eyes were wide open, and his bloodshot eyeballs made him look like a ghost at the moment.

"Hey! Master Lin Lin, Lin Meizuo, the villain is wrong! You shouldn't gossip about people! The villain is wrong!" The big-nosed ashigaru apologized repeatedly in fear, and the tone of the broken voice was particularly high-pitched.

"Huh...huh..." Lin Tongju took a few deep breaths, calming down the violent emotions before, trying to make himself appear gentle.

"You're right, I just want to know what you said about Shibata's Katsuya just now..." After he finished speaking, he let go of his hand, and the released foot limply fell to the ground.

"Tell me, where did you get the news that Shibata Katsuya has informed you and is still staying safely in Qingzhou City?"

"Master Lin, Lin Meizuo, these things are not only known by villains..." Big Nose Azuki's tone trembled, obviously he still had lingering fears, but he didn't dare not answer the general's question.

Lin Tongju frowned heavily and was feeling impatient when a man dressed as a samurai who was far away on the left suddenly said:

"Report to Master Tonggu, I have heard about this matter."

"You are..." Lin Tongju couldn't help being curious about the identity of the samurai when he saw the familiar face.

"Yusuke Shimoshibashi is the leader of Kakuda's new five masters."

The samurai half-kneeled in front of Lin Tongju, respectfully reported his name and added:

"So it's Kakuda's subordinate, no wonder you look familiar." Thinking of the young samurai who died for him, his throat seemed to be blocked by something, and he nodded to Ishibashi Yusuke apologetically.

"Tell me, what have you heard about Shibata Katsuya's informant?"

"Yes!" Ishibashi Yusuke shouted respectfully, and then began to paraphrase:

"My uncle, Shingoro, happens to be the head of the Yoshida House. He has some business in the castle town of Kiyosu. The night before yesterday's expedition, my uncle came to visit and told me..."

"The day before yesterday when my uncle was carrying salt goods to Kiyosu castle town, I happened to see Mr. Shibata Katsuie riding a horse into Kiyosu castle, he seemed very happy."

(Three days ago, wasn't that...the day after Master Xinsheng called his retainers to discuss the matter of the Nanman people?) Lin Tongju suddenly thought of this, his chest heaved violently, and he felt angry.

"Why didn't you report this first?"

"I'm very sorry, Toto-sama..." Ishibashi Yusuke lowered his head and replied in frustration:

"I mentioned this to Kakuda-sama, but Kakuda-sama has always admired the bravery of Shibata Katsuie-sama, so..."

"So it's like this..." Lin Tongju closed his eyes, not letting the grief in his heart show.

(Kakuda, it was the person you admired who killed you!)

Chapter 53? Poison

Kiyosu Castle Town...

Chios was walking on the bustling Geyue Street. There were frequent crowds, so he consciously slowed down his pace to avoid bumping into others. On both sides of the road, business was booming in brigades, wine shops, kimono shops, jewelry shops and other places.

A formal black pattern, five round white Oda family crests, embroidered on the highest-grade silk weave "Hane double" haori, located on both sides of the chest, cuffs, and back, the inside wearing dark as The black kimono is black, the pure white feather button is tied around the waist, and the thin black and white striped feather hakama is worn under the waist, giving people a solemn and solemn feeling.

With such a high-end outfit, and the tachi and wakizasa on his waist, everyone can tell that he is a samurai at a glance, and he actively moves to the left and right from Chios' walking route, let alone staring at him.

He walked unhurriedly until he stopped in front of a two-story longhouse.

A half-person-high wooden fence is set outside the house wall to prevent pedestrians from bumping into and damaging the wall.The lower part of the wall is made of dark brown wood, and the upper part is made of light yellow sandpaper windows, which are ventilated and light-transmitting but the interior cannot be seen. Under the eaves, the black-dyed bamboo slices are arranged like fish scales, and the wind chimes jingle softly with the wind, which is very elegant.

Approaching the store, I looked at the name of the store written in elegant brushwork on the plaque at the door: Hanami Brewery...

"Welcome to Hanami Brewery, guest..." The waitress gently pushed open the wooden sliding door, and after seeing the tall and handsome warrior in front of the door, she covered her mouth with her sleeve in surprise:

"Lord Chios?"

"I didn't expect you to remember me..." Chios recognized the waitress in front of him, who happened to be one of the five people who were chosen to accompany the wine when he came with Sheng Jia and Changxiu last time.

"After all, you were drunk that time and passed out."

The low-pitched teasing made the waitresses blush, attracting nearby people to stop and watch the fun, ready to enjoy the samurai molesting the woman in the restaurant.

"You...how did you say such a shameful thing!"

Under the crowd's onlookers, the waitress was even more embarrassed. In order to escape the attention of everyone, she grabbed Chios' arm without any shame, and dragged him into the store.

"I can walk by myself..."

"Lord Chios, please, you, come in, come in."

The waitress of Huajian Winery was very tough, ignored the guest's words, dragged the guest to the door forcefully, and then quickly closed the door, completely blocking the sight of the onlookers.

"..." Looking at the unique "attraction" method of the waitresses at Huajian Winery, the people outside the shop all opened their mouths, but were speechless.

After a long time, a scruffy ronin finally uttered a sentence:

"Handsome, nice..."

The rest of the people nodded vigorously, deeply agreeing.

Chios didn't know the emotion of the crowd outside. After spending some time to appease the excited waitress, he finally went to the second floor and pushed open the sliding door of the box between Sakura.

Behind the door, in the square and in the room, a low black lacquered wooden table and two futon cushions are placed in the center of the tatami mat. A picture scroll of plum blossom branches is hung in the alcove, and incense is burned in a copper incense burner below.

Niwa Nagahide leaned against the pillar beside the terrace, quietly watching the direction of Kiyosu Castle's keep, wondering what he was thinking.

Today, she is dressed differently from the past. She is wearing dark blue sleeves. The gorgeous flowers on the fabric are like colorful flowers under the shining stars on a midsummer night.

Hearing that the door opened, Changxiu quickly turned her head and found that the person who came was the one she was waiting for, with a gentle smile on her face.

"Master Chios is really disrespectful for making women wait so long, zero points."

"This charge is absolutely not guilty, Manchiyo, I stepped in on time..." Chios shook his head and replied, instead of sitting down on the futon, he walked to Changxiu and asked in a low voice:

"What happened to Mingzuo Village?"

Now that Nobuna is pretending to be sick on the surface, and the military and political power is handed over to the boss and head of the writer to follow Niwa Nagahide, Chios wants to know the latest intelligence on the front line, and he must go through Nagahide.

As for the reason why Chios didn't visit Niwa's mansion, but privately met with Hanami Brewery...

In this extraordinary period, if Changxiu, who holds great power, gets too close to some retainers openly, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not be deemed as wooing retainers and acting as usurpers.

Of course, the doubters are not the princess of the castle tower, but the Oda retainers, the Owari clan, the Imagawa clan, etc.

Although the news of Nobuna's serious illness is part of Chios's strategy, if they don't control the seriousness of the rumors, they will be playing with fire and setting themselves on fire.

"Masters Hengxing and Chengzheng have successfully defeated 500 people from Lin Meizuo's garrison department, and the audience has also successfully infiltrated Mosen City. The rumors are spreading smoothly, which can be said to be full marks..."

Changxiu succinctly told Chios the results of the two days.

All the strategies were implemented smoothly, but there was no color on her face, but there was a hint of worry on the contrary.

"Next, are you going to see Liu?"

"Yeah, after all, she must be completely disappointed in Xinsheng."

"Your actions, to Liu, may be despair or maybe..." Changxiu returned with a bitter smile, stretched out a slender white hand from the extremely long sleeves, and grabbed the corner of the young man beside him , with a somewhat uneasy tone:

"Although I really hope that Liu can serve Her Royal Highness wholeheartedly, but can I ask you one thing?"

"You tell me."