Time goes back to Daquan Temple on June 15, the 14th year of Tianwen (1546), before the Northern Army falsely retreated.
Miyoshi, the four brothers, Matsunaga Hide and five others rode their horses to Daquan Temple. Taiyuan Xuezhai, Imagawa Yoshimoto and others had already been waiting here with a small number of guards. This is a safe junction between the two armies. It is open all around and in the dark. It is very easy to evacuate. No one has the chance to ambush the other party.
"Master Xue Zhai, Imagawa Harubu, what do you mean by this?" Miyoshi Changqing said coldly, obviously not intending to look good on Taiyuan Xue Zhai who has been playing tricks on him during this period. Although he knew that Taiyuan Xuezhai's trip would definitely turn around, but if he showed his goodwill at this time, wouldn't it let Taiyuan Xuezhai know that the Sanhao family was exhausted. Showing weakness to others can only result in being slaughtered by others.
"Of course I want to renew our relationship with the Miyoshi family." Taiyuan Xue Zhai said with a happy face, "The friendship we had when we fought against Kizawa together and fought side by side must be both of you and I still remember it. This time When swordsmen and soldiers meet, there is really nothing we can do. Why not turn the conflict into friendship and get back together?"
"Oh? Your southern army claims to avenge the Lord, so why would you cooperate with us, the 'Lord-killing Rebels'?" Miyoshi Yixian pursed his lips, stared at Taiyuan Xuezhai and said, "Aren't you afraid of being ridiculed by the world if you tell the truth about the Imagawa family's liaison with the enemy and their outward appearance?"
"Sir Shixiu actually cares about the opinions of the people in the world?" Taiyuan Xuezhai pretended to be surprised and sarcastic, then turned to Mihao Changqing and said: "However, the so-called 'Sanhao family is a traitor who killed his master', the poor monk said I have other ideas. "
"What should I say?" Matsunagahide rubbed his hands with interest, "Master Yuksai also wants to avenge the injustice of the Miyoshi family?"
"Hearing is false, seeing is believing." Taiyuan Xuezhai nodded slightly and said, "The so-called Sanhao family murdered Gongfang Hall, after all, we just heard some rumors, the poor monk still believes what he saw with his own eyes s things."
"Then what did Master Xue Zhai see?" Miyoshi Changqing responded without knowing why.
"It's a pity that what the poor monk saw was not the bones in Gongfang Hall, so there is no way to judge." Taiyuan Xuezhai continued in the same nonchalant manner.
"After all, Master Xuezai was still far away in Suruga at that time. How could he know about the chaos in Kyoto." Miyoshi Nagakei answered matter-of-factly. After he finished speaking, he suddenly realized the subtlety of Taiyuan Xuezai's expression.
What he said was not "I didn't see the bones of Gongfangdian", but - "What I saw was not the bones of Gongfangdian".
Even though it was a mess, Miyoshi Nagakei still controlled his expression skillfully - he did not look back to confirm the expressions of his brothers and Matsunaga Hide, because the action of confirming had meaning in itself. But he believed that everyone should know the seriousness of the matter - except for the youngest Shihe Yicun. But anyway, they never told Shihe Yicun about their plan. Shihe Yicun was as taciturn as ever, and did not express any special opinions on Taiyuan Xuezhai's speech disorder.
But Taiyuan Xuezhai's next words made Miyoshi Changqing instantly realize their stupidity.
"No one asked the poor monk again, 'What are the bones you saw?'" "
Taiyuan Xuezhai looked at the performance of the people in front of him with satisfaction and said meaningfully:
"Or are you too afraid to bring up the matter of 'Gongfangdian's bones'?" "
Yes, one person may be harmless, but four people simultaneously expressed indifference to this apparently ambiguous linguistic disorder. Doesn’t that in itself indicate that there is a problem? Doesn’t it mean that everyone has discussed how to deal with similar situations in advance?
"Then what does Master Xue Zhai mean? Could it be that we are committing the greatest injustice in the world by disturbing the mausoleum of the late Gongfang Hall and opening the coffin for you to conduct an autopsy? How is that appropriate?" But Miyoshi Changqing adjusted it almost instantly. When he came back, he raised his voice and asked in the most appropriate and calm tone at the moment.
"Of course I don't dare to bother repairing it, Your Highness." Taiyuan Xuezhai waved his hands quickly after hearing this, then touched the beard on his chin, pretending to be puzzled and muttered: "I have already seen it myself, but I always feel that something is not right. Yeah. The unfortunate day of Gongfang Hall was February 6th, but why was it only March 30th that the coffin
Are there only bones left in it? It's not a hot summer day, so it shouldn't be so fast. What do the adults of the Mihaoshi family think? "
After a moment of silence, the faces of everyone in the Sanhao family turned gloomy. Miyoshi Yixian is already planning to investigate the family's daughter-in-law - but the person who is ordered to carry out this task is a close confidant, so there should be no problems. Matsunaga's eyes also moved rapidly - he was thinking about another question - when did the Imagawa family see the body of Ashikaga Yoshiharu?
"What a coincidence, the adult male's corpse has dot-like black spots on it, which is the poison commonly used by the ninjas of the Hosokawa family." Taiyuan Xuezhai did not give Matsunagahide and the Miyoshi brothers any time to think, and continued in pursuit of victory. Said: "Presumably, the body buried in the coffin was not the body of the late Kōbōden at all. You found the body of a traitorous ninja or someone who was poisoned by the Hosokawa family ninja, and took advantage of the shogunate's people Without paying attention, I secretly dug up the grave and exchanged the coffin. As for why..."
"Master Xuezhai, please stop making groundless speculations." Miyoshi Changqing raised his hand and interrupted Taiyuan Xuezhai's long speech, "I don't understand what you want to say, and I don't understand what you want to test. But if it's late at night It’s a little below the standard to come out to meet the enemy privately just for this kind of thing.”
"Have you ever remembered, Your Highness Xiu and Danzheng, that someone invaded the Xiangguo Temple on March 30th when the battle began." Taiyuan Xuezhai then smiled and told the full story of his arrangements for the Imagawa Army that day: "It seems that it was to transfer the imperial palace. The noble army is here, so that the poor monk has a chance to escape. But if we really want to surround Wei and rescue Zhao, why is the target of our attack not Nijo Castle but Xiangguo Temple?"
Everyone in the Miyoshi family did not answer, but the answer was already on the paper - because Ashikaga Yoshiharu's tomb is in Shokokuji Temple.
"The battle situation was urgent that day, and the reserve force left behind by your army was also stretched thin. And to those who don't know, the tomb of the ancestors is obviously not a battleground for military strategists, and no one will risk the world's disapproval to dig it. Open the mausoleum of Gongfang Hall. Therefore, your army naturally mobilized all the troops in the Xiangguo Temple Cemetery to support the defenders. The mausoleum is empty, can the people arranged by the poor monk succeed?"
"I have never heard of any report that there are traces of excavation in the tomb." Miyoshi Changqing denied coldly, "No matter how nice the story is, it is still far-fetched."
"Because you have dug up the tomb once, isn't it normal for there to be traces of digging? Your Highness thinks that in such a tense moment, would any of your Miyoshi family's trusted ninjas want to check whether the tomb has been dug up again? Taiyuan Xuezhai asked, while Sanhao Changqing waved his hands and said in a deep voice:
"No, it means no. What's the point of Master Xue Zhai's messing around here?"
"People are doing it, God is watching. Whether the Sanhao family has done it or not, His Highness Xiu naturally knows it, so why does the poor monk need to explain it?" Taiyuan Xuezhai didn't care about Sanhao Changqing's assertion, but still smiled calmly: "The poor monk The monk said the above just to tell you and several other adults that the poor monk is qualified to negotiate. Because what you did was not only seen by God, but also by me."
"Nonsense." Miyoshi Changqing shook his head.
"Then we might as well go straight in." Taiyuan Xuezhai spread his hands and looked directly at Sanhao Changqing: "The Sanhao family obviously made this arrangement for a purpose. The Northern Army is now unsustainable, and I'm afraid it won't be possible for a long time. Kyoto is about to be evacuated, and the mausoleum of Kōfōden will also be controlled by the Confederate Army. At that time, if someone asks for an autopsy to open the coffin to find out the cause of Kōfōden’s death, they find that the bones of Kōfōden are Hosokawa family ninjas. Didn't this give the anti-Hosokawa forces within the Southern Army an excuse to turn against each other? It would also make the truly loyal people angry. Once the Southern Army was in internal strife, wouldn't the Miyoshi Army have a chance to make a comeback?"
Just when Sanhao Changqing was about to speak, Taiyuan Xuezhai pressed his hand and said, "There is no need to refute. If Sanhao's family didn't have such a plan and it was all just a poor monk talking nonsense, then just listen to a story, so why bother?" ?」
"The plan of your army is indeed exquisite, but if our Imagawa family knows about it in advance and can produce evidence to prove the innocence of the Hosokawa family and secure their footing in Kyoto, then it will be even harder for the Miyoshi family to come back than to go to heaven. .”
The eyes of everyone in the Mihaoshi family trembled uncontrollably—except for Shihe Yicun, who had no idea.
"Master Yukisai is joking, how can you have any plans? But this story is interesting." Cold sweat broke out on Matsunagahide's back, but he still managed to keep a smile on his face and asked: "But I am not interested in the second half of the story. Duan became a little interested. In this story, what kind of evidence did the Imakawa family plan to produce? It has been four months now. Even if the body of Gongfangdian was found, it would have turned into bones long ago. So what? How do you prove that this is false? I’m afraid it’s just empty talk. Could it be that they marked the bones? Or did they leave evidence next to the tomb?”
"A good story must have suspense. It would be boring if it was all told." Taiyuan Xuezai laughed in a mysterious way, clasping his hands and then clasping his hands together: "But if you want this 'suspense' to never be taken out by the Imagawa family, Miyoshi Should the family pay something? "
"What do you mean, Master Xue Zhai?" Miyoshi Yixian was still younger after all, and he asked uneasily.
"The Imagawa family is not necessarily the enemy of the Miyoshi family, nor is it necessarily the ally of the Hosokawa family. Which side you stand on depends entirely on who pays more." Taiyuan Xuezai showed the classic look of harmlessness between humans and animals, Looking at Miyoshi Yoshiken: "It's business, don't be afraid. If the Miyoshi family is unwilling to cooperate, then the Imagawa family will have to help the Hosokawa family expose the Miyoshi family's conspiracy. But if the Miyoshi family is willing to show sincerity, the Imagawa family will even be willing to add fuel to the fire. Help the Miyoshi family pin the charge of murdering Gongfangden on Chief Hosokawa."
