"Matsudaira-sama..."
Inside the carriage, Tachibana said to the middle-aged man sitting opposite him and leaning against the window in a worried tone:
"You've had almost no rest since last night...would you like to take a nap now?"
"I'm not sleepy." As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately said in a calm tone, "On the contrary, you - you haven't had a good rest since last night, right? Take advantage of the time you have now to rest and get some sleep."
"I'm not sleepy..."
"Even if you're not sleepy, close your eyes and rest." Matsudaira Sadanobu adopted a tough tone that would not tolerate argument. "If you collapse from exhaustion, where can I find someone to replace you?"
Tachibana served Matsudaira Sadanobu for such a long time as a nickname, and he knew Matsudaira Sadanobu's various behaviors and habits very well.
Just by listening to the tone of Matsudaira Sadanobu's words just now, Tachibana knew that she probably had no room to refute or bargain with the adult in front of her.
"...I understand." Tachibana nodded gently, then leaned back and closed her eyes.
After confirming that Tachibana had really closed her eyes and started to rest, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his gaze to the window and quietly looked at the rain scene.
Last night, after escaping from Osaka and joining forces with the troops stationed outside Osaka, Matsudaira Sadanobu concluded that some extremely powerful unknown force was challenging the Edo Shogunate and quickly issued a series of orders.
Messages were sent to the feudal domains and major cities surrounding Osaka, asking them to immediately mobilize their troops and enter a state of maximum alert.
The hundreds of troops stationed outside Osaka could not do much with their small numbers, so they continued to stay around Osaka to monitor and scout the movements of the enemy forces in Osaka.
Matsudaira Sadanobu himself returned to Edo as quickly as possible and took charge of the Edo shogunate's headquarters, mobilizing troops and supplies and strengthening Edo's defenses to prevent Edo from repeating the attack on Osaka.
At this moment, Matsudaira Sadanobu was sitting in the carriage returning to Edo.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had hardly had any rest since last night, felt a constant "boom boom boom" sound in his head.
I feel very tired, but I just can't fall asleep.
As soon as I was free, my brain would start to work uncontrollably, and I could not help but think about how to complete the mobilization as quickly as possible after returning to Edo, and how to find out the identity and base of the bandit army that attacked Osaka last night...
He wanted to relax his brain by watching the rain. But as soon as he turned his eyes to the window, he suddenly heard one of the cavalrymen who was responsible for guarding the carriage outside the carriage shout to him:
"Master Laozhong! A monk appears in front of us!"
"Monk?" Matsudaira Sadanobu raised his eyebrows slightly, stuck half of his head out of the window and looked at the road ahead - there was indeed an old monk standing next to a donkey in front.
Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyesight has always been good. Even though there was a thick rain curtain blocking his view, he was still able to see the old monk's face clearly at the first moment.
After seeing the old monk's appearance clearly, Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression changed slightly, and he quickly shouted to the coachman and the guards:
"Stop the car in front of that monk!"
Following Matsudaira Sadanobu's orders, the convoy began to slowly slow down and finally stopped steadily in front of the old monk.
"Master Qingyan?" Matsudaira Sadanobu stuck his head out of the car window. "Why are you here?"
"Matsudaira...sir?" The old monk...or rather: Qingyan looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu in the carriage in silence.
Tachibana, who had just closed his eyes to rest for a while, opened his eyes when he heard the noise and cast a puzzled look at Master Qingyan outside the car.
"Matsudaira-sama." Tachibana asked Matsudaira Sadanobu softly, "Who is this person?"
"Oh, come to think of it... Tachibana-ni has never met Master Qingyan." Matsudaira Sadanobu cleared his throat. "Master Qingyan is the abbot of Kongobuji Temple in Koyasan."
Matsudaira Sadanobu's introduction to Aoiwa was very simple, just this one sentence.
But just this simple sentence immediately caused Tachibana's expression to change dramatically.
Koyasan is the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism.
Kongobuji Temple, located on Mount Koya, is the head temple of the Shingon sect! All temples in Mount Koya respect Kongobuji Temple as the most respected one!
The abbot of Kongobuji Temple... one can imagine how transcendent this person's status is.
The status of the abbot of Kongobuji Temple in Koyasan is basically equivalent to that of the Shogun in the Edo Shogunate!
Knowing that he was being rude, Tachibana quickly bowed to Master Qingyan outside the carriage.
Although Matsudaira Sadanobu and Qingyan Shangren had no personal relationship, because they both had very special identities, they had met several times in various official occasions and could be considered acquaintances.
Qingyan Shangren's identity is really special. Why would someone with such a prominent position in Koyasan be alone in such a remote place? Matsudaira Sadanobu really couldn't ignore this problem.
Considering the information he had received earlier that "a large number of weapons were being transported to Koyasan", Matsudaira Sadanobu became even more alert to Master Qingyan.
The surprise in Qingyan's eyes slowly disappeared at this time.
When Matsudaira Sadanobu saw Qingyan looking at his carriage and then at the more than 30 guards surrounding him, a thoughtful look appeared on his old face.
"Master Matsudaira! I have a request! Could you please lend me a horse?"
Looking at Master Qingyan who suddenly made this request to him, Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes sank slightly.
"...Master, where are you going?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked in a calm and unhurried tone.
Qingyan nodded vigorously.
"In that case, can you tell me where you are going? If you can't tell me why, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to lend my precious horse to others."
“……” Qingyan fell silent.
He looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu's carriage and his guards again, then gritted his teeth:
"I can tell you why I borrowed the horse, but this is a matter of great importance, and I can only tell you to one person."
"...I understand." Matsudaira Sadanobu opened the door of the carriage without much hesitation, stepped out of the carriage, and was exposed to the heavy rain.
"Master Laozhong!" Tachibana said hurriedly, "It's raining heavily outside! Please..."
"I'm not so fragile that I can't stand a little rain. Tachibana, you stay in the car and don't follow me." Matsudaira Sadanobu came to the side of Qingyan Master alone, and leaned down to Qingyan, who was a head shorter than him, "Okay, Master, please speak."
Qingyan put his mouth close to the ear that Matsudaira Sadanobu stretched out.
Selectively...he briefly told Matsudaira Sadanobu what happened to him today at Koyasan.
Whether he heard that there were a large number of bandits lurking in Koyasan, or learned that Koyasan had been burned and these bandits in Koyasan were planning to escape on a battleship, Matsudaira Sadanobu managed to remain calm.
Only when he heard that Ogata Ittosai suddenly appeared in Koyasan and was now chasing the bandits who were planning to escape by boat, did Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression change drastically.
Qingyan, who did not notice the change in Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression, continued in a serious tone:
"I know where that Cape Village is."
"No matter what... I want to see with my own eyes whether there are really a large number of bandits planning to escape by boat."
"so……"
"...I know the details of what happened." Before Qingyan finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu stood up with his hands behind his back, raised his head and looked at the thick dark clouds above his head, "A large number of unidentified bandits are lurking in Koyasan..."
After whispering softly like this, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his gaze, whose emotions were hard to discern, back to Qingyan.
"Master, are you used to riding in a carriage? Could you please give directions to my driver?"
Qingyan was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what Matsudaira Sadanobu meant.
"...I understand." After thinking for a moment, Qingyan nodded vigorously.
…
…
After temporarily hiding the donkey borrowed from Tianhai in a place where it was not easy to be found, Qingyan got on Matsudaira Sadanobu's carriage and followed Matsudaira Sadanobu to the dock of Toyotomi warships.
The speed of a carriage is indeed much faster than that of a donkey.
As they sped along, Matsudaira Sadanobu and the others gradually began to smell the unique salty smell of the sea.
After smelling the scent of the sea, Matsudaira Sadanobu leaned his head against the window and looked out at the sea with an expressionless face.
"We're almost at Misaki Village..." Qingyan, who was sitting opposite Matsudaira Sadanobu, also leaned his head against the window and looked out at the sea. "As long as we climb over the small mound in front, we will reach Misaki Village... Ah! Lord Matsudaira! Please look over there!"
"Yes, I saw it." Matsudaira Sadanobu's face sank, "Stop! Stop!"
At Matsudaira Sadanobu's shout, the convoy slowly stopped.
As soon as the carriage stopped, Matsudaira Sadanobu jumped off impatiently, ran to a small hill not far away, and looked at the sea in the distance.
Just now, he and Qingyan saw at the same time - in the distance, there were bursts of flames rising into the sky...
Aokiwa and Tachibana, who jumped off the carriage right after Matsudaira Sadanobu, also imitated Matsudaira Sadanobu's behavior at this moment, stretching their necks to look at the beams of fire on the sea in the distance.
It's obvious - at such a long distance, you are destined to see nothing if you only look .
They only vaguely saw...under the flames, what seemed to be the wreckage of a huge ship...
"...Tachibana." Matsudaira Sadanobu looked at Tachibana behind him with an impatient look, "Go and borrow a few boats from the fishing village we just passed by. Borrow as many as you can."
After saying that, Matsudaira Sadanobu took out a purse from his bosom and threw it to Tachibana.
"Eh?" Tachibana looked at the money bag that Matsudaira Sadanobu threw at him, and said in astonishment, "Master Old Chu! You don't want to take a boat to..."
"You're so long-winded!" Matsudaira Sadanobu interrupted Tachibana impatiently, "Just do what I tell you to do!"
Hearing the impatience in Matsudaira Sadanobu's words, Tachibana dared not say anything else. After shouting "Yes", he hurriedly took some guards and rode back to the small fishing village they had just passed by.
Matsudaira Sadanobu's plan was simple - wasn't it because the distance was too far and he couldn't see clearly? That was easy! Wouldn't it be possible to just take a small boat and get closer so he could see clearly?
After Tachibana and his companions returned to Matsudaira Sadanobu with the three borrowed small boats, Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately demanded without further ado, "Bring 20 guards with you and cross the sea with me."
Faced with this order from Matsudaira Sadanobu, Tachibana naturally strongly opposed it.
Tachibana came up with various reasons to oppose Matsudaira Sadanobuyuki's dangerous move.
As he is just a nobody, his opposition is of no use.
Ignoring Tachibana's objection, Matsudaira Sadanobu sat down on the boat, and Tachibana had no choice but to go with Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Qingyan also asked to go along, but Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to refuse. After all, if something happened to Qingyan while crossing the sea, it would be difficult to explain to Koyasan.
But Qingyan's attitude was very firm - no matter how Matsudaira Sadanobu refused, he would not give in.
In desperation, Matsudaira Sadanobu had no choice but to agree to Qingyan's request to go with him.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, Aoiwa, Tachibana, and nearly 20 guards boarded a small boat and headed straight towards the direction of the fire!
The wind and rain had subsided a lot at this time, and the waves were not as violent as before. The whole process of crossing the sea was much easier than Matsudaira Sadanobu and others had expected.
Matsudaira Sadanobu and his group arrived safely under the flames.
The shattered hull, the countless floating broken limbs and debris, the flames that did not go out even in such a heavy rain...
These scenes under the firelight... made the faces of everyone on the boat more and more ugly.
A few people who had never seen such a scene before, such as Qingyan, could not help but bend down and retch towards the sea outside the boat.
However, what made Qingyan look unhappy was not only the bloody scenes, but also the fact that the scenes he saw were completely consistent with the information that Ogata and others had told him about the "thieves lurking on Mount Koya"...
——There really is... a ship here...
Qingyan slowly stopped retching, with his head hung down, an expression that made it hard to tell what his emotions were.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had seen all kinds of storms, turned a blind eye to the bloody scenes around him.
Since a while ago, Matsudaira Sadanobu has been constantly moving his eyes and scanning everywhere, as if he is... looking for someone or something.
Ding...ding...ding...ding...ding...
At this moment, Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly heard a faint sound of metal colliding.
Matsudaira Sadanobu raised his eyebrows slightly and quickly instructed everyone to follow the "clang clang clang" sound.
As the distance got closer, the sound became clearer. The "clang clang clang" sound of metal colliding slowly turned into the muffled sound of flesh being cut one after another.
After avoiding a large piece of ship wreckage floating on the sea and blocking the view, a scene that made Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression gradually become complicated slowly unfolded before everyone's eyes.
On a piece of shipwreck that was about to sink to the bottom of the sea, two figures who could barely stand were facing each other.
One of them was someone Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know.
And the other person... Matsudaira Sadanobu felt both familiar... and unfamiliar... and the appearance of this person was the "culprit" that caused Matsudaira Sadanobu to have such a complicated expression.
While Matsudaira Sadanobu was still looking at that man with a complicated look, very suddenly - that man suddenly turned around and ran towards the main mast that was pointing obliquely at the sky not far away.
——What is he going to do?
Just as Matsudaira Sadanobu asked this question in his mind, the man had already climbed to the top of the main mast, and then...
Boom boom boom boom——!!
The exploding lightning illuminated the faces of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Aoiwa and everyone else.
"This... this is..." When he was distracted, Matsudaira Sadanobu vaguely heard Qingyan beside him muttering in surprise, "Did the Buddha's spirit... appear...?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know how long he had been unconscious.
All he knew was that when he finally came to his senses, he saw another guy he didn't recognize suddenly appear and duel with that man.
After using up his last bit of strength to end this brief duel, the man finally collapsed on the deck that was already soaked with sea water due to the loss of all his strength.
"...Get close to that warrior!"
"Ah?" Tachibana looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu in surprise.
"I say—get close to that warrior!"
“Yes, yes!”
When Matsudaira Sadanobu approached the man in a small boat, the man who had lost consciousness was gradually wrapped and swallowed by the sea water.
And just when that person was about to be swallowed by the bottomless sea——
Snap...
There was a sound like a handshake.
At the critical moment, Matsudaira Sadanobu arrived beside the man and held his hand...
…
…
"...was it Matsudaira Sadanobu...who saved me..." After listening to Qingyan's brief summary of how he was rescued, a strange expression slowly spread across Ogata's face.
Qingyan naturally didn't know why Ogata had such an expression.
He just thought that Ogata, as the shogunate's most wanted criminal, was worried that he would be taken to prison by Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Qingyan didn't know what to say to Ogata, who was worried that he would be taken to prison by Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Just when Qingyan was struggling and Ogata still had that weird expression on his face——
Snap, snap, snap…
Suddenly, outside the tent, there was the sound of heavy footsteps.
Crash.
The curtain of the tent was gently lifted.
The one who opened the curtain... was a middle-aged man with his back straight.
The middle-aged man was slightly stunned when he opened the curtain and saw Ogata, who had opened his eyes and woke up on the bed.
Then——
"...Master, could you please leave here for a while?"
Qingyan frowned, he looked at the middle-aged man, then looked at Ogata on the bed next to him, and finally let out a soft sigh, got up and left the tent.
After Qingyan left, the middle-aged man slowly walked to the place where Qingyan had just stood.
"…It's been a long time."
The middle-aged man...or rather, Matsudaira Sadanobu, greeted Ogata in a tone devoid of any emotion.
"Should I call you Ogata Issei? Or should I call you Majima Goro?"