Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 335: Ogata's Crime Becomes More Serious
"Brother Ogata! You're awake!" Fuma, who was still holding Ogata's hakama, said to Ogata excitedly.
"... Lord Fengma, do you know? There are some people in this world who are a little bit special compared to other ordinary people. They like people of the same gender as themselves. I wonder if you..."
Before Ogata could finish his words, Fuma said to him unhappily:
"Don't worry! I don't like men! I'm just applying medicine to you!"
"You have quite a few wounds on your legs. I took off your hakama so that I could apply the medicine!"
Ogata also knew that Fuma helped him take off his hakama in order to apply medicine on him. The reason he asked this just now was simply to play a harmless little joke on Fuma.
After all, Ogata also saw that his upper body was covered with powders and ointments of various colors.
--Um?
Looking at the powders and ointments that almost covered his entire upper body, Ogata raised his eyebrows and suddenly realized something.
"Master Fuma...were you the one applying medicine to my upper body just now?"
"Hmm? Yeah, it's me."
Fuma completely took off Ogata's hakama, applied medicine to Ogata's lower body, and continued talking to Ogata.
"Although none of the injuries on your body are fatal, there are quite a few of them, from blunt injuries to cuts. So we need to change different medicines to treat your injuries."
"My fingers are sore from wiping... eh? Brother Ogata, what's wrong? Why do you look so weird? "
"nothing……"
——So the slippery thing that I just felt sliding around on my body was...
Thinking of this, Xu Fang couldn't think any further...
After adjusting his emotions a little, Ogata began to look carefully at the environment around him.
"Master Fengma, where is this place?"
"My home." Feng Mo answered concisely, "You have slept there for three days and two nights."
Ogata turned his head and glanced at the window beside him.
The window on my side was open, and through it I could see the clear blue sky.
Looking at the clear blue sky, Ogata felt as if it had been a long time since he saw it.
Although according to what Fuma just said, he had slept for 3 days and 2 nights, for Ogata, a series of events such as being involved in the turmoil of the "gravedigger" destroying Kyoto and the "Battle of Nijo Castle" in which Nijo Castle was attacked were just things that happened last night.
"Brother Ogata." Fuma gave Ogata a helpless smile, "You have become a big celebrity in Kyoto now."
Fuma introduced to Ogata what happened in Kyoto during the short period of 3 days and 2 nights when he was unconscious.
First of all, Kyoto's chief official Toda Tadahiro was put in solitary confinement.
Nijo Castle was invaded and the main tower of Honmaru Palace was burned down - this was probably the biggest scandal for the Edo Shogunate since its opening.
As the "representative of the shogunate in Kyoto" - Kyoto Shogunate's chief, Toda Tadahiro, he naturally bore the unquestionable primary responsibility.
At the suggestion of Owari domain daimyo Tokugawa Munemune, Toda consciously confined himself at home, waiting for punishment from the shogunate.
Toda was in self-imprisonment, and the important task of presiding over the overall situation in Kyoto naturally fell on Kamiyama.
After Kamiyama took over the important task of presiding over the current situation in Kyoto, with the assistance of Hasegawa, the first task he carried out was to hunt down the "gravediggers" who had escaped the net throughout the city.
During the Yamaboko patrol three days ago, under the command of Hasegawa and others, many members of the "gravediggers" were captured at the scene of the Yamaboko patrol.
After being tortured and interrogated, these captured "gravedigger" members immediately revealed the remaining small bases they had set up in Kyoto, where their members were, and other insignificant details of their plan to "destroy Kyoto."
Although Ogata successfully killed most of the "gravedigger" members lurking in the six major sword halls, a small number of them still escaped from Nijo Castle before they were killed by Ogata due to the collapse of morale.
These few fish that have slipped through the net are enough for the people in Kyoto Prefecture to spend some effort to catch.
Having obtained solid evidence from these "gravediggers", Kamiyama announced to the whole of Kyoto yesterday: Ogata Ittosai was innocent.
The murderer who killed 45 people in Kyoto was not Ogata Ittosai.
The tragic incident in which the masters of the six major sword halls and a large number of disciples were massacred had nothing to do with Ogata Ittosai.
It was a crazy drama created by a group of lunatics who intended to destroy Kyoto.
The group of "disciples" of the six major sword halls who had previously gathered in Nimukai-cho and threatened to have Ogata come out for confrontation, but were finally defeated by Ogata Ittosai, were the crazy people who sneaked into the six major sword halls.
The masters of the six major sword halls and a large number of disciples were killed by those crazy people who sneaked into the sword halls.
It’s just that… although Ogata was cleared of the blame for the indiscriminate killing of innocent people in Kyoto, he was burdened with a greater stigma.
The greater infamy is the attack on Nijo Castle and the setting of fire inside the castle.
Those who rushed into Nijo Castle to surround and kill Ogata included bounty hunters who were greedy for money and had their eyes on Ogata's extremely valuable head.
These bounty hunters were also the ones whose morale collapsed the fastest and who escaped from Nijo Castle.
These bounty hunters who successfully escaped all pointed out that the person who attacked Nijo Castle was the "Executioner Ittosai" Ogata Issey!
They had read Ogata's wanted poster hundreds of times, so when the decisive battle on the top of Nijo Castle began, they recognized at a glance the man who dared to attack Nijo Castle alone. He was Ogata Ittosai.
Ordinary people who happened to be near the Higashi-Ote-mon Gate of Nijo Castle at the time also pointed out that they had indeed seen a young man whose face looked very similar to the portrait on the wanted poster of Ogata Ittosai rushing towards Nijo Castle.
All the evidence pointed to the fact that the man who had accomplished the feat of attacking Nijo Castle alone was indeed Ogata Ittosai.
This stigma is different from the stigma of "killing innocent people in Kyoto".
The "indiscriminate killing of innocent people in Kyoto" was not done by Ogata.
However, the attack on Nijo Castle was definitely done by Ogata.
Although Ogata, who broke into Nijo Castle, successfully helped the Kyoto Prefecture to kill most of the crazy people who planned to destroy Kyoto, it played a significant role.
But the attack on Nijo Castle, the symbol of the shogunate's power, was a huge evil that could never be washed away.
After quietly listening to Fuma's explanation of the various things that had happened in the past few days, Ogata chuckled:
"Master Fengma, how much do you think the price of my head will soar to in the future?"
"I think it's useless to ask for your head no matter how high the price is." Fuma said with a wry smile, "First, you fought against hundreds of people alone in Hirose Domain, and now you have conquered Nijo Castle alone in Kyoto, beheading countless people. Do you think there will be any bounty hunter in this world who has the courage to take your head again?"
"Those who make a living from bounties will probably avoid you when they see you next time."
"Ha... That's great. Those bounty hunters who pop up from nowhere from time to time are really annoying..."
Having said this, Ogata paused and then asked Fuma:
"Master Fuma, where is Atachi?"
"A-Ming, you'll be staying at my place these days. I'll help you take care of you."
"Ah, Ah-Ming is mainly responsible for cooking and doing your laundry, and I will be responsible for healing your wounds and applying medicine."
"It turns out that you, Master Fuuma, treated all these injuries on my body... I thought you hired a doctor to treat me."
"How dare I ask a doctor to come over at a time like this?"
Fuma responded in a half-joking tone.
"You are probably the most vicious thief in Japan right now, bar none."
"In order to arrest you, the government will definitely send out the army without hesitation."
"I asked a doctor to come over. After the doctor saw that I had a patient who looked very similar to Ogata Ittosai, he thought that by the next day, the army would have surrounded me."
"Don't worry, I still know some medical skills."
"When my former companions in Fuma Village were injured, I was usually responsible for healing them."
"You don't have any fatal injuries. I can still treat the injuries you have."
Fengmo raised his head and glanced at the sky outside.
"A-Ming went out to buy ingredients for tonight."
"It should be back soon."
As soon as Feng Mo finished speaking, a hearty voice sounded outside the room:
"I'm back!"
…
…
At the same time——
In a hotel in Kyoto——
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaa——!”
Mucun, who was lying on the bed with his upper body naked, let out a scream that made people frown.
Lin and her group booked two rooms in this hotel.
One room is for Lin alone, and the other is for Makimura, Shimada, and Asai.
At this moment, Lin, Makimura and Asai were together in the room where Makimura and others lived.
"Makura, bear with it."
Asai, who was kneeling beside the bed and applying medicine to Makura, frowned.
"This medicine of yours... no matter how many times I use it... I can never get used to it..." Mucun, with cold sweat all over his face, gasped wildly.
"This is a well-known miracle medicine in my hometown of Samona. It works wonders on cuts like this. It hurts a bit, but just bear with it."
After saying that, Asai tilted the small gourd in his hand forward again, and the light brown potion flowed out from the gourd mouth and poured onto the wound on Makura's abdomen.
Mucun only felt as if a ball of fire was flowing onto him.
The scream burst out of Makura's mouth again .
At the door of a room not far away, Lin was bowing and apologizing to the tenant living in the next room who came to complain because he could not bear Mucun's screams.
"I'm so sorry."
Lin bowed to the middle-aged woman in front of her in an impeccable manner.
"I'll ask my partner to pay close attention."
Seeing Lin's good attitude of admitting her mistake, the tenant, whose anger had subsided by half, finally stopped pursuing the matter.
Asai had just finished changing Makimura's medicine after the tenant who came to complain left.
"This painful dressing change..." Makura, who was lying on the bed in a "spread" position, said weakly, "Does it have to be done three times a day..."
"That's right." Asai put away his medicine bottle and said without hesitation, "These medicines of mine can effectively prevent your wound from festering. If you don't want your wound to fester and die, just change the medicine on time every day."
"Can't it be reduced to 2 times?..."
"Yahachi." This time it was Lin who spoke to Mucun in an unhappy tone, "Don't be afraid to see a doctor. Change the medicine for me on time every day."
"yes……"
"Lord!" At this moment, Shimada's voice suddenly sounded outside the room.
"It's Katsurokuro... come in."
After obtaining Lin's permission to enter, Shimada opened the door and walked quickly into the room.
Shimada was holding a large paper bag in his arms, which was filled with steaming buns.
He had just been ordered by Lin to go out and buy dinner for their group tonight.
After entering the room, Shimada immediately said to Lin:
"My Lord, when I just came back, I happened to run into Lord Shenshan at the inn. He said he was looking for Senior Mucun."
"Looking for Mihachi?" Lin raised an eyebrow. "Let him in."
…
…
"Makura, this time... thank you very much."
In the room where Makimura, Asai and Shimada lived, Kamiyama sat opposite Makimura and his group, and bowed respectfully to Makimura in front of him.
Makimura sat up with the help of Shimada and nodded slightly to show that he accepted and returned the gift.
"You're welcome. I just did what I could."
“I never expected that…” The emotions revealed in Kamiyama’s eyes became complicated, “The mastermind behind this… turned out to be Kunieda…”
"...No." After a long silence, Mucun said softly with an expressionless face, "Master Shenshan. From some perspectives, the mastermind behind this is not Shunliu."
"Shunliu said something to me three nights ago."
"He said that there were many people who hated the shogunate, and he easily gathered a team."
"If it weren't for the fact that there are so many people who hate the shogunate, Junroku alone wouldn't be able to accomplish anything."
"Rather, if this was a time when there were fewer people who hated the shogunate, it would be a question whether Junroku would become like that."
"So - Lord Shenshan, do you understand what I just said?"
Shenshan gave a wry smile.
"Makimura... your question is really hard for a retainer like me to answer..."
"It's good that you understand what I mean." Mucun shrugged, "Okay, Master Shenshan, let's stop talking nonsense here. I have a question for you."
After saying that, Mucun nodded his chin towards a very reserved young man who was kneeling behind Shenshan.
"Master Shenshan, who is that man? He doesn't look like an official."
The sacred mountain did not come alone.
He brought two people with him.
Mucun recognized one of them, as he was one of .
Makimura had never seen the other person's face in the magistrate's office.
"Oh, him."
Shenshan turned his head and glanced at the reserved young man.
"He is the one you want."
Hearing Shenshan's words, Lin, who had been kneeling on the side and listening, was the first to react to what Shenshan meant and her pupils shrank slightly.
"Mucun, isn't the premise for you to cooperate with me that after the matter is completed, the doctor named Xuanren who is suspected of killing someone will be released and brought to you for a meeting?"
"This young man is the doctor - Xuanren."
