"Enemy attack!" "Enemy attack!"
When the defenders inside Awada Shrine heard the sound of fighting at the door one after another, Matsumoto Junji and several other Hatamotos had fallen in a pool of blood. The man in white standing in front of the pool of blood was not even stained with blood. Of course, Imagawa Yoshimoto still adhered to his commandment of "no killing" and only wounded these bannermen without leaving any potentially fatal wounds.
"The soles of the shoes are dirty." Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced at the blood under his feet with his peripheral vision and complained to himself. Fortunately, the clothes were not dirty - it seems that occasionally practicing kendo with Tian Chen is very helpful for martial arts.
"Who are you?" The Hatamotos of the Kizawa family gathered around and asked loudly.
"Suruga is here and wants to ask to see the leader, but it doesn't seem very convenient." Imagawa Yoshimoto bowed his hands and said goodbye, while slamming the scabbard against the stone pillar at the door, "Then I can only close the door and leave."
·
"It's a signal! Your Highness has successfully lured the enemy!"
At the rear outer wall of the shrine, the Imagawa family samurai and ninjas who had been lying in wait for a long time got ready after hearing the noise.
"Your Highness, is there any problem with your information?" Before the plan was about to be launched, Taiyuan Xuezai confirmed to Ichijo Kane again.
"It's definitely true. I've been to Awata Shrine several times. The garden pavilion with better accommodation is not far behind this wall." Kanemasa Ichijo wore a jinhaori pattern in the same style and pointed hard. The wall in front of you, "just climb over it."
"Okay." Taiyuan Xuezhai nodded and waved gently, indicating that the action should begin.
"Go, you little stinky monkey!" Kira Usei rounded his arms and threw Kinoshita Tokichiro, who was tied with a hemp rope around his waist, to the big tree inside the courtyard wall - only Kinoshita Tokichiro was seen holding his arms. The knee spun more than ten times in the air and flew towards the ancient tree in the shrine like a thrown ball.
"This kid is really willing to risk his life for merit." Kentaro Tian Shen secretly took a deep breath. "If you are not careful, you will fall to death..."
"The little monkey is smart. It's okay. What are you afraid of?" Ji Liang Weicheng made a "not caring" expression.
·
"What was that just now?" The members of the Kizawa family in the shrine heard a sound on the big tree, and turned their heads to look. Then they saw a black shadow running up and down the tree, sliding down crazily.
"Monkey." A Hatamoto from the Kizawa family took a quick look and lost interest, "Be careful at the front entrance, there seems to be an enemy attack!"
"Yeah." The other Hatamotos of the Kizawa family also made expressions of "no concern", agreeing with the judgment that the person who climbed the tree was a monkey - which was correct in a sense.
Kinoshita Tokichiro seized the opportunity, untied the hemp rope tied to his body, and tightly trapped it on the thick trunk of the ancient tree circle after circle, and then quickly grabbed it three times to send a signal.
"Climb!" After receiving the signal, Ji Liang Weicheng immediately made a gesture to the surrounding samurai and ninjas. Everyone built a simple ladder with their backs against the wall, and then climbed up the wall one after another with the rope.
And Kinoshita Tokichiro was not idle, and even completed things other than his mission - he ran to the corner opposite the courtyard wall and made a strange animal-like cry - which immediately attracted the attention of the defenders. Got to his side. In just a few seconds, Kira Usei, Taro Shen Kentaro, Tsuchi Atsune and others had led a team to break into the courtyard and beat the Kizawa family's banner to pieces.
By the time Kizawa Hatamoto, who was originally at the gate of Awada Shrine, realized that the rear of the shrine was being attacked, it was already too late. The people of the Imagawa family have already invaded the pavilion in the backyard of the shrine - where Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Hosokawa Harumoto and many other important officials are guarded. The Kizawa family's superior force wanted to counterattack immediately, but the Imagawa family's people had already blocked all the commanding heights and turning points, making it impossible for them to start.
"Don't panic, they don't have many people. Let's surround the pavilion and make it difficult for them to fly!" The deputy director of the flag team quickly regained his composure, took over the command of the team, and ordered to the surrounding soldiers at the same time. . The Kizawa family's banners immediately dispersed into multiple teams and surrounded Tingxie from multiple directions, intending to catch all the Imagawa family's envoys and all the important officials under house arrest.
"Are you going to attack, sir?" After surrounding Tingxie, the Hatamotos of the Kizawa family asked eagerly.
"Don't act blindly. What if you hurt the nobles inside? I have reported the situation here to His Highness, and everything is waiting for Your Highness to decide!" The deputy penman waved his hand and stopped the rash actions of his subordinates. , "Stand strictly at your post, not even a fly can let them fly out!"
·
At the same time, inside the courtyard.
"Everyone is frightened. The poor monk Xuesai led the Imagawa family soldiers to rescue Gongfangdian, His Highness the Governor, His Highness the Prime Minister and the great people in the court." Taiyuan Xuezai sent Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Hosokawa Harumoto, Konoe The Zhi family and others entered the inner room. Everyone knew that the situation was critical, so they all moved in a hurry, and no one was showing off. In the past, it would have been almost unimaginable to see the powerful General Zhengyi, the leader of the shogunate, and the minister of Taizheng at the same time, and it was even less likely that it would be the turn of Monk Yijie from Taiyuan Xuezhai to talk to the three of them.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Imagawa, for your loyalty to the country! But it's just Master Yuksai. Now there are Kizawa rebels outside. I see that the number of Imagawa's soldiers is limited, but what should I do?" Ashikaga Yoshiharu looked worriedly at the inside and outside of the building. Comparing the enemy and ourselves, the ministers nearby who were not proficient in martial arts were even more anxious - maybe they wanted to break through by force.
"Of course not, but I have to offend your noble bodies." Taiyuan Xuezhai bowed to everyone and performed a Buddhist salute, then leaned down and knocked hard on the floor of the room with his hand. A moment later, with a few stiff "squeaks", a wooden board on the floor was pushed open, and a woman with long hair in white crawled out of it——
"Ghost!" The officials were frightened by this shocking and unexpected scene, and thought it was a female ghost.
"Ah, do all the upper class people in Kyoto talk like this?" Ginkgo coughed a few times due to being choked by the dust, and complained a few words full of resentment.
"This is a tunnel that leads to other places. Please follow me here." Taiyuan Xuezhai saluted everyone again, and then jumped into the tunnel quite vigorously.
"This is..." Now it was Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Hosokawa Harumoto and others' turn to be stunned - did they never expect that there was a tunnel underground in Kyoto? And so spacious?
The reactions of the ministers were different - lower-ranking ministers like Nakamikado Nobuhide and Yamashina Yantsugi were also shocked at this moment. However, the noble ministers such as the Konoe Ue family who became monks were thoughtful and did not know why.
"It was accidentally discovered by our envoy when they went to Luo last time. I didn't expect it to be useful." Taiyuan Xuezhai explained to everyone with a smile, and then made a "please" gesture, "Without further delay, everyone, please Hurry up."
·
Time goes back to two days ago, when the Miyoshi family and the Imagawa family had just made a surprise attack plan.
"Although through various strategies, there is a chance to divert Kizawa Nagamasa's main force away. But after all, he is also a cautious person. In the Awada Shrine where important people such as Kōhoden, His Highness in charge and His Highness the Prime Minister are guarded, he will definitely still If enough troops are left, there may be two to three hundred warriors." Taiyuan Xuezhai felt a little thorny about the difficulties at hand, so he wanted to brainstorm and called everyone under his command for an evaluation meeting: "Do you have any ideas? Damn it. With twenty or thirty of us, it is really impossible to defeat two to three hundred elite warriors and save others."
Even Taiyuan Xuezhai couldn't think of a way, so naturally everyone couldn't come up with a better idea, and everyone looked gloomy.
"Indeed." Imagawa Yoshimoto recalled the last rescue operation in Kyoto - that time Imagawa Yoshimai detained Ginkgo. Imagawa Yoshimoto's military strength was at a disadvantage, and he also went through a lot of hardships to save Ginkgo. Fortunately, an unknown young man came to help and took him into a tunnel, and he unknowingly reached under the hotel - otherwise Imagawa Yoshimoto really wouldn't know how to do it.
etc……
Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly realized something, but before he spoke, Ginkgo beside him raised his hand and said, as if he had a tacit understanding:
"Master Xue Zhai, I remember that there seems to be a tunnel underground in Kyoto."
"Yes." Imagawa Yoshimoto immediately responded, "When we first went to Luo, we walked through it when we were dueling with my third brother. I don't know how widespread the tunnels are, but anyway, they are in the east of Kyoto, the same as we are now. The location is pretty much the same.”
"oh!"
"Yes!"
The two participants at the time, Kentaro Tian Shen and Yusei Kira, were both
react like this.
"Is there such a thing?" Taiyuan Xuezhai also became interested upon hearing this, "You mean, you want to go under Awata Shrine through the tunnel, and then let Gongfangden, His Highness the Governor and His Highness Xiangguo escape from the tunnel? "
"Yes, but we need to explore in advance to see if this tunnel can lead to Awata Shrine." Imagawa Yoshimoto recalled what he saw at that time, "But the tunnel extended in all directions and was very spacious. It felt like there were many exits. Awata Shrine It’s also in Kyoto, so there’s a good chance it will be accessible.”
So, that night, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo walked through the tunnel with Kentaro Taro and Kira Usei, and found the hotel where they stayed in the dark, and then followed the unfamiliar but familiar streets to find the person they were. The entrance to the passage where the young man took them was currently blocked by straw and a pile of boxes, but after opening it, a black hole could be seen.
After entering with torches, a group of four people fell into an arduous exploration - they took a carefully measured ground map, moved their position underground little by little, and moved parallel to the position of Awata Shrine on the ground. The tunnel was filled with a pungent rotten smell, as well as the smell of large amounts of feces and dead rats.
"This place really stinks." Ginkgo complained, pinching her nose, and patting Imagawa Yoshimoto on the back, and said softly: "I can't believe that a gentleman with such a mysophobia would actually go to a place like this for me. .”
"I'm almost dying of smoke." Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't know when he had tied a silk scarf to cover his mouth and nose. "I don't know how I endured it back then. These clothes, these shoes, go back After that, it can no longer be used, so throw it away quickly and burn it with fire. I don’t want to see it again. I also want to take a deep bath myself and soak it all day long.”
Finally, after going around for an unknown amount of time, they seemed to have found an exit underneath the approximate location of Awada Shrine - but no one could be sure whether this exit led to Awada Shrine, or where it led. ..
At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.
