"As long as the painting is deposited, everyone's confession records and stolen money and stolen goods must be sorted out. I will use them to silence Ishida Mitsunari.
As for people, well, sooner or later they have to be beheaded in public, so let’s just die.”
Kondo Isamu felt relieved. Takada Yono really didn't care about the life and death of a profiteer, and this matter was over.
At this moment, Tachibana Kanade, who was next to Kondo Isamu, suddenly spoke.
"Sir, would you kill that businessman's child?"
Takada Yono frowned, Tachibana said in poor Japanese that she had not learned for a long time, which made it difficult to listen.
"It is a capital crime for a businessman to offend the Wu family.
These profiteers serve the Sibo family and have made a lot of profits in the process of transporting materials. However, they are too greedy and use their brains, which seriously offends the majesty of the Sibo family.
In order to prevent such incidents from happening again, these people and their relatives will all be beheaded by the river to scare Xiaoxiao."
Lihua said coldly.
"Can you let Mi live?"
Isamu Kondo quickly followed.
"He is the young son of the profiteer."
Takada Yoshino was already in a bad mood. Now she couldn't think of talking to the Nanman who couldn't speak a word, she said impatiently.
"Baga! I haven't held you accountable yet, but you made demands of me first?
The important prisoner was shot dead on the spot by you. What if she had other things that she didn't explain clearly?
Lihua Kan, don't go too far!"
Takada Haruno still wanted to curse, but Takada Yukino on the side seemed to have recovered from an out-of-body experience and waved to Lihua.
"Xiao Zuo is back. Come and help me get into the wheelchair. I'm numb from sitting and want to go out and get some air."
Yangno, who was interrupted by Yukino in the middle of her anger, suddenly lost face and said angrily.
"Yukino!"
"jaw?"
"I was reprimanding her for her dereliction of duty, why did you interrupt me?"
"Isn't the confession already sealed?"
"But that's an important criminal. Maybe there will be a supplementary confession later!"
Takada Yukino tilted her head and thought for a while, then looked at Kondo Isamu.
"No more, otherwise Isamu Kondo would be very upset if an important witness was beaten to death. But I see that she looks very relaxed now, so she should be fine, right?"
The cold sweat on Kondo Isamu's back instantly broke out, and he bowed and said.
"Yukino-sama is just a profiteer. It will be useless if you get the confession list."
Yukino nodded and said to Yangno seriously.
"In this case, sister doesn't have to worry."
Takada Yono narrowed his eyes and was a little speechless.
Kondo Isamu has always been serious and meticulous in his work, but he seemed a little impatient and something was vaguely wrong about the matter involving Kikyoya Rijimei. In fact, Takada Haruno also saw some signs.
In order to help this southern barbarian, Yukino reached out and knocked Kondo Isamu, which scared Kondo Isamu and made Takada Harano even more confused.
What is so special about this Nanman that deserves Yukino to protect her like this?
There was silence among the few people. Imai Munehisa, of course, could not see anything. He lowered his head to study the patterns on the tatami.
Yukino faced Hanazou and waved again.
"Pull me up."
Tachibana Kan looked at her blankly.
"Yayoi?"
Takada Yukino looked at Isamu Kondo.
"Can that little kid named Yayoi do housework?"
Isamu Kondo was stunned for a moment and said.
"Kikyouya is a wealthy businessman, and his youngest son is favored. It is said that he has a bad temper and is very vain."
Tachibana Kano interrupted.
"Yayoi is a kind person."
Isamu Kondo was speechless, Yukino Takada nodded and said.
"The corridor in front of my house is always dirty, so I ask him to clean the floor every day and, um, take care of the food."
Takata Yono's forehead twitched.
"Hey, I'm still here!"
Yukino turned around and smiled at Yangno.
"Thank you sister."
"..."
———
In the end, no one could figure out the quirky Yukino Takada, and Yayoi's fate was changed inexplicably.
In the atrium, Tachibana Kanade slowly pushed Yukino Takada in a wheelchair and was circling.
When passing the black-spotted art tree for the third time, Takada Yukino asked.
"Why is that Yayoi so kind?"
Lihua played without stopping.
"He saw me standing guard at the door, said I looked lonely, and gave me a candy."
Takada Yukino looked ahead.
"Maybe he just wants to bribe you and get some information."
Lihua thought for a while.
"I ate the candy."
"Is it sweet?"
“Very sweet.”
"Well, as long as it's sweet."
After walking a few more steps, Tachibana Kanade stopped, looked down at Takada Yukino, and asked.
"Why are you so nice to me?"
Yukino Takada wanted to get out of the wheelchair, but stood up tremblingly. Kanade Tachibana stepped forward to help her, but she waved her hand and refused.
When she finally stood up with the help of her wheelchair, she was already sweating profusely. She looked back at Tachibana Kanade and compared their heights with her hands.
"You are as tall as me, as thin as me, you have crawled back to the world from the abyss of death, and you are also loved by the master."
Tachibana Kano interrupted.
"I have only met my master once, and I admit that he is very beautiful and the most handsome man I have ever seen in my life.
But I don’t think he likes me. To him, I’m just a stranger who has received favors from him and needs to repay them. We only met once.”
Takada Yukino ignored her interruption and continued to speak.
"We are people who have died. Only you have learned my flying sword style."
Tachibana Kanade interrupted again.
"No, I wish I hadn't learned. After drawing the sword that time, I felt like I was going to die, as if I was back on that hellish ship.
I was weak for a long time before I recovered. I will never use this so-called sword skill in my life, because the cost of using it is my life."
Takada Yukino still ignored her, but lowered her head and tried to clench her fist, but her hands were trembling and unable to clench, so she sighed.
"I am no longer able to protect the Lord. I hope that one day you can hold the Mikazuki Sokon and stand by his side to protect him instead of me."
Tachibana Kanade looked at Takada Yukino and said.
"So, am I the substitute you think you are?
But what reason do you have to believe that the master will like me and accept me? And why should I replace you and even use that weird swordsmanship at the cost of my life?"
Takada Yukino looked at Tachibana Kanade and finally answered.
"Intuition, my intuition."
Lihua shook his head and said.
"Although you sisters look very similar, you are really two completely different people."
Takada Yukino looked into the distance and said.
"My sister said that the three most difficult things to insist on in this world are to be true, serious and innocent. And I am the purest three-true girl.
Xiaochan, I think you are too."
Lihua Zuo was silent for a while and said.
"Thanks."
Takada Yukino stared blankly into the distance, her pupils a little dilated.
"Kana, have you ever heard of Niou?"
"Is it a Buddhist god? I don't understand."
"O Renwang, those are the two big Bodhisattva statues on the left and right of the temple entrance. They are the Vajra Warriors guarding the gate.
I hope you can stay with me in front of the Lord and become his benevolent king."
Takada Yukino withdrew her gaze and looked at Tachibana Kanade seriously, which made people a little nervous.
Tachibana's faith belongs to the new sect of Nanmanism. Of course she doesn't understand Buddhism, and she doesn't know that the benevolent king among the islanders is the second general of the Celestial Dynasty, Heng Ha, the so-called door god.
But she saw sincerity and request in Takada Yukino's eyes. In front of these pure and clear eyes, she could not say no.
Tachibana Kanade turned away his eyes and said.
"My life was saved by the great lord. I promised that I would serve him and recognize him as my lord to repay this life-saving grace.
Before I repay my kindness and leave this country, I will stand with you and become the benevolent king you want."
Yukino Takada slowly sat back in the wheelchair, and Kanade Tachibana began to slowly push the wheelchair forward.
"It's cold," Yukino Takada said.
"The cost of teaching you Japanese, the clothes I made for you, the rice you eat every day, and the Yayoi who helped you save her."
"Um?"
"After you have repaid your kindness to the Lord, you must pay me back everything you owe me before you can leave."
"ah?"
———
In the Shinsengumi's meeting hall, there were only two people, Takada Yono and Imai Munehisa, at this time.
Yukino Takada took Shi Shiran with Tachibana and left, and Isamu Kondo, who felt guilty, quickly bowed and left to handle his own case.
The remaining Imai Muneku couldn't run away, so he could only wipe his sweat and continue to serve the furious Takada Yono.
When Takada Haruno saw her hopeless look, he became very angry. Everything was really going wrong these days.
First, Ishida Mitsunari came to hold the company accountable for the misappropriation of Lumi shares by profiteers, and then the master wrote a letter about Mitsuhide Akechi's proposal. Now, even his own sister was causing trouble for him.
Imai Munehisa didn't dare to get involved in the rice contamination case or the Takada sisters' vomiting. But Takada Harano hadn't spoken for a while, so she had to bite the bullet and say something.
"Sir, are we really cooperating with this question about Zhu Fang?
You also know that the Hokuriku Road trade route has developed rapidly in the past two years. In order to open up the situation as soon as possible, many practices are indeed illegal.
If you send back all the accounts and documents from previous years, it will be difficult to get through if something goes wrong in the future."
Takada Harano glanced at her and sneered.
"What if you don't pay? Are you going to set up internal and external accounts to fool our master?"
Imai Munehisa was shocked.
"That's not what I meant. How dare I deceive you?"
When a commercial house does business, it often has two accounts, called internal and external accounts, and also called Yin and Yang accounts.
One set of internal accounts is used for business, and one set of external accounts is used to pay taxes to the Wu family. Only by cooperating with the inside and outside can we make more money.
Imai Munehisa hinted at this, hoping that Takada Yono would set up internal and external accounts, so that no one would find out in the future that there were problems with the accounts and documents of the inquiring party and cause trouble for the Hokurikudo Trading Route.
But she couldn't say this clearly, because she and Takada Yono were not despicable businessmen, but respected warriors.
A businessman who keeps two accounts to deceive the Wu family is doing business without treachery, which means he will be fined and killed.
But when a subordinate deceives his superior, it is a matter of principle that can be taken into consideration. Once someone catches him, the consequences will be endless.
Imai Munehisa cherishes his current status as a samurai family and intends to leave it to future generations, and does not want to be deprived of it.
Therefore, this kind of thing can only be ordered by Takada Haruno. In other words, the Takada family, as the only descendant of Shiba, can withstand such a big thunder, which Imai Munehisa's small shoulders cannot bear.
Takada Harano had a different idea, she said coldly.
"Have you ever thought that someone might want us to make false accounts?"
Imai Munehisa was stunned.
"this.."
Takada Yono snorted and said.
“Although Mitsuhide Akechi’s suggestion was to ask for help, Nizi Katsuhisa also supported it, so the Lord decided to establish it as one of the measures to consolidate the power of the recent Shiba Territory.
Once the accounts are handed over, someone will inevitably doubt whether the accounts are true or false.
You have to understand that finding out our errors and omissions from the true accounts is completely different in nature from discovering that the accounts we submitted were false.
The Hokurikudo trade route went from scratch to prosperity in just four years. This matter is not easy, and the Lord is well aware of it.
If someone attacks me in the future with issues in the real account, I can argue that it is urgent to follow the authority, or to win the support of the master.
However, if the accounts are proven to be false, then we can’t clean it up even if we jump into the Seto Inland Sea.
Therefore, the accounts submitted to the requesting party must be true and must withstand verification. Not only do I have to hand over true accounts, but I also have to prevent others from slandering me for making false accounts."
Imai Munehisa was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and kowtowed to the ground.
"I'm very sorry. I was confused for a moment and almost hurt you, sir."
Takata Yono waved his hands and said irritably.
"Don't kowtow all the time. In the years since I came to Sakai Port, you have helped me before and after riding. I have seen it in my eyes and remembered it in my heart.
I understand your loyalty to me.
Don’t worry, my Takada family is not so easy to be calculated, and the master has much more trust in me and Yukino than others."
Yang Nai knew in her heart that she and Yukino were members of the martial arts family created privately by their master. The two sisters had a deep love for their master, and they had the bond to unite.
With the Lord's character, as long as he is loyal, no one can touch him.
But people's hearts are sinister, and they have to be careful about everything. The Sibo family's fortune is growing day by day, but the undercurrent inside is also growing stronger day by day.
"Sail the ship with great care," Takata Yono did not dare to take it lightly, she said.
“The accounts must be true, but the key points can be tinkered with.
Write all the secret operations between us and the Yixiang Sect, Tiantai Sect, and Linji Sect in an open place so that people can find out at a glance.
There are also private deals with the Hosokawa Mibuchi family, secretly dividing the benefits from the Ninagawa family and the Hatakeyama family, and transferring the excess shares to the Asai family and the Asakura family in Tsuruga County.
I ask you to prepare the accounts so that the auditors can see the problem at the first glance."
Imai Munehisa was stunned.
"My subordinate is stupid, what do you mean by this, sir?"
Takada Yono sneered.
“Business cooperation is nothing more than debt issuance, share placement, additional issuance and other financing methods.
The money-making operations we do in private such as private placement, dilution of equity, and low-priced share placements are hidden a little deeper, and transactions with big forces are kept on the table as much as possible.
If someone comes to cause trouble for me in the future, I will use those powerful forces to block it.
The small accounts are scattered, but they can check them clearly, but they can't find the obvious large-scale financial transactions. How can they explain to the master that this is not deliberately targeting me, a loyal person?
I can also use this to explain and push back and win the lord’s sympathy and support.”
Imai Munehisa understood and smiled.
"My lord, this is indeed a clever move."
Takada Harano's method is not unusual. Problems can definitely be found in the accounts, so it depends on whether the problems found can make the auditor numb.
As long as the problem is big enough, it won't be a problem. Therefore, Takada Haruno is going to drag a group of big bosses who can't afford to offend the auditors to take the blame.