Chapter 1835 Looking at the beloved him in the abyss
Hosokawa Fujitaka snorted coldly and said.
"The Isshiki family has a huge appetite, and they require the three counties of Tango to get a peace certificate before they are willing to open their doors and surrender and welcome the heavenly soldiers.
This is simply a bastard. I only got two counties from you. How can the land of three counties be wasted by the Isshiki family?
The Isshiki family has been in decline for a long time. In the past few years, even the Wakasa samurai family has invaded Tango. The Isshiki family has the reputation of being a guardian, but it cannot keep one side safe, and its prestige in the local area has been lost.
I have thought about mobilizing troops in the spring of next year, and fighting and talking at the same time. The Isshiki family will not last long, so I will try to make the Isshiki family bow their heads in the summer."
Akechi Mitsuhide said solemnly.
"Starting a war in the spring and forcing surrender in the summer? After all, Tango country is a land of one country. The stone is 110,000 high. Don't be too confident.
The Shiba family's Sanin strategy is about to start, and the saint will personally announce the crusade against the Mori family at the New Year Council.
All aspects of politics, military, and diplomacy must be followed up. Tango Kingdom is the bridgehead and logistics depot entering the Sanin front line. It must be captured as planned without any mistakes.
You can't say anything arrogant. If you can't do it then, and it disrupts the deployment plan of the Sanin strategy, I won't be able to answer Nizi Katsuhisa's side."
Hosokawa Fujitaka glanced at Ake Mitsuhide and said helplessly.
"His Majesty Oda has to give an account, and Nizi Katsuhisa also has to give an account. Why did you keep wandering around and go back? Who has to give an account?
Don't worry, I know in my heart that the Isshiki family can't control the Tango Takeshi family. Now the bidding is just a fluke. If I give it a hard beating, the Isshiki family will wake up.
My envoy stationed in Tango Kingdom will not come back. I have made the terms clear to her. The war is just to make the Isshiki family surrender.
If the Isshiki family wants a guarantee, that's fine. The worst case scenario is that I will marry her family."
Akechi Mitsuhide smiled.
"I remember that the heir to the Isshiki family has grown up and is not yet married, but you have no children. How can you get married?"
Hosokawa Fujitaka sneered.
"The Hosokawa family has many branches, and I and Izumi-Hosokawa's family are not the only ones. It only costs a few coins to find a poor family and adopt an adopted son.
Furthermore, the Isshiki family is short-sighted and greedy. If they break up again one day, it will be easier to kill her whole family, so as not to be constrained by the affection between mother and son and unable to use their talents."
Akechi Mitsuhide shook his head, his mouth full of disdain.
Hosokawa Fujitaka was not a good fighter, but he was a well-known elite carefully cultivated by the Hosokawa Mibuchi family, and he was best at the shogunate's dark political methods.
Negotiation, cajoling, threatening, and assassination are all basic skills, and they can be played with ease.
The Isshiki family played tricks in front of Hosokawa Fujitaka. It was not surprising that she tricked them out of the city and killed the whole family. Afterwards, they just found a scapegoat to take the blame.
Akechi Mitsuhide joked.
"Why do I suddenly feel so insecure? You can even calculate your sister and future wife in cold blood. It wouldn't be surprising if my best friend is sold by you one day."
Hosokawa Fujitaka chuckled.
"To each other, there is nothing you Akechi Mitsuhide can't do. Sitting with you, I actually feel more scared."
The two looked at each other and couldn't help laughing together.
In a sense, they are a match made in heaven, with similar temperaments and a tacit understanding.
———
In the middle of the night, Akechi Mitsuhide left Hosokawa Fujitaka's room and returned to his guest room.
After scolding the warrior girls and servants waiting outside, Mitsuhide Akechi closed the paper door himself and lit the candlestick.
The candlelight lit up the darkness, and a figure quietly emerged from the darkness behind the pillar, kowtowing towards Akechi Mitsuhide.
Mitsuhide Akechi put out the fire in his hand, stretched out, twisted Tian's slender neck, and half leaned on the side pillow with squinted eyes.
"Hashiba Hideyoshi is still in Sakai Port?"
As the candlelight flickered, the person who came raised his head, revealing his true face. It was Fujibayashi Mukuro, a jounin from the secret team who worked under Akechi Mitsuhide.
"Hashiba-sama has returned to Kitaomi, and it's almost time to enter Yamashiro Country."
Akechi Mitsuhide raised his eyebrows.
"I came back so soon, and it seems that the conversation went smoothly.
But yes, Hideyoshi Hashiba is indeed very good at negotiating, he is decent in dealing with others, he treats people like a spring breeze, and he is quite capable.
With the current power of the Oda family and the support of the Shiba family at the center of the shogunate, the samurai families of the two Harima Bizen countries will not do anything stupid like mantis trying to control the chariot."
Fujibayashi Mukuro lowered his head and remained silent. Akechi Mitsuhide seemed to sense her doubts and asked with a smile.
"What? What do you want to ask?"
Fujibayashi was silent for a moment and said.
"My subordinates don't understand why you want to approach Lord Yushiba in the open and spy on her secretly.
Although the Sage and His Highness Oda have chosen to join forces, there is no restriction on your dealings with His Highness Oda, but after all, the Shiba-Oda family has different subordinates.
It will be of no benefit to you if outsiders know that the important officials of the Shiba and Oda families are secretly communicating with each other."
Akechi Mitsuhide looked at Fujibayashi Mukuro with a smile, until he saw the sweat on Fujibayashi Mukuro's head, and then slowly spoke.
"You didn't tell the truth, but I don't mind.
I used Takada Yukino's Tenchu to secretly kill the pro-Ashikaga shogunate samurai in Kyoto.
Master Jueshu of Tiantai Sect, I was the one who killed her and allowed her to commit suicide.
There are many, many things like this that you have done for me. No one knows what I am thinking and what I am doing better than you.
If you really want to ask me something, don’t be careful about probing, just ask me directly.”
Fujibayashi bit his lower lip, swallowed, and whispered.
"Why Yushiba-sama? Why Nizi-sama?"
Akechi Mitsuhide's eyes flashed.
"Hashiba Hideyoshi owed me two lives. One was when she retreated to Kanazaki, and the other was when she took it back without authorization this time.
This is what she owes me, so she must pay it back to me."
Fujibayashi's eyebrows twitched.
Two lives, one is Nizi Katsuhisa, the other is...Oda Nobunaga...
Her breathing suddenly became a little heavy and her tone was a little strange.
"Sir, why are you telling me this? You have never been a person who likes to explain more."
Akechi Mitsuhide smiled.
"Because your sister is dead."
Fujibayashi's eyes narrowed.
"Sir, my sister left her post without permission and became a fugitive. This is her own sin. I don't blame anyone else."
Akechi Mitsuhide looked at Fujibayashi with a smile and repeated.
"Your sister is dead. She died miserably."
Fujibayashi's face was cold, and his reply seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
"It is not a pity to die when an escaped ninja is captured. I personally sent her on her way. This is her fate."
Akechi Mitsuhide sighed.
"Your sister is dead, but the person who killed your sister is getting better and better with each passing day. So am I, and so is Bai Di San Tai Fu.
But you can only bow your head in front of us, this world is really cruel."
Fujibayashi Mukuro was speechless. She stared at Mitsuhide Akechi coldly, like a wounded lone wolf, her eyes fearful and wary, with a hint of madness.
Akechi Mitsuhide shook his head and sighed.
"You are very smart, much smarter than your sister. She is so stupid that she actually wants to go to Kanto to find a saint to clarify the truth.
As a result, he was intercepted by the Third Taifu of Baidi on the way. Not only did he not succeed in making a comeback, but he also cost his own life. He became a stepping stone for the Third Taifu of Baidi to take credit and reward and successfully rise to the top.
Actually, do saints care about the truth?
Ashikaga Yoshiteru is dead, there is no resurrection, and her political value has disappeared with her death.
And those who participated in her death were ministers, subordinates, and foreign vassals that the saint must rely on. How could they be easily touched?
Fujibayashi is so stupid. She thinks the truth is important, but in fact the truth is not important at all. Value is the most important. This is politics.
Moreover, she was not wary of the venomous snake Baidi Santafu. She really thought that Baidi Santafu would take her to see a saint. A fool is a fool.
It's pitiful. I heard that he suffered a lot before he died. His fingernails were stripped off and his hair was all bald. Iga Zhong's torture methods were indeed powerful.
You, my sister, are so considerate that you ended her pain with one knife..."
"That's enough! Shut up! Stop talking!"
Fujibayashi's cold eyes suddenly burned with blazing fire, and he clenched his fists tightly, staring at Akechi Mitsuhide's beautiful swan-neck neck, as if he would rush forward and break it at any time.
Akechi Mitsuhide chuckled.
"What? You can't pretend anymore?"
Fujibayashi asked in a deep voice.
"Why? Why are you telling me these things today? You and I understand these things tacitly, why do you want to expose them today!"
Akechi Mitsuhide slowly sat upright from a semi-lying position, then leaned forward and looked at Fujibayashi Mukuro's frightened and angry pretty face, and smiled slightly.
"Before Fujibayashi Xing died, did he tell you to be wary of me?
I will never forget to say that she loves you as a sister so much that she will never forget to remind you.
But you were able to endure the humiliation and serve me carefully for several years, killing people for me, acting as my white glove, and doing so many shameful things for me.
Fujibayashi, you can no longer be vindicated. Unless I die, otherwise if the things you have done are exposed, you will be held accountable by the saint to the end, and the Fujibayashi family will never be able to turn around.
You want to use me to kill the third wife of Baiji. You want to deal with me after killing her, covering up all the past in darkness. What a beautiful idea.
You are right, you and I know each other very well, I am using you, and you are using me.
As for today, why should I bring everything to the table? Because the time has matured and what I have to do has reached its most critical moment. I cannot tolerate any unexpected factors.
I need you to understand one thing.
Bai Di San Taifu, I can help you kill her, but you can't ruin my business. After you finish what I want to do, it's up to you.
You can kill me if you want to, or if you want to put aside hatred and find a future for the Fujibayashi family, it's all up to you.
But from now on, you must be my person, do things for me, complete my mission, and cannot ruin my plans.
Fujibayashi, can you do it?"
Fujibayashi asked coldly.
"Why should I trust you? You have already sold my sister once, how do I know you won't sell me again?"
Akechi Mitsuhide smiled.
"Because you are smarter than your sister, because you have done more for me than your sister, and are more important to me, because Oda Nobunaga is more difficult to deal with than Ashikaga Yoshiteru, and I need to be foolproof.
I won't sell you, at least until I complete my goal, you will be safe. After I complete it, Bai Di San Tai Fu will also be dead. By then, you can naturally choose again.
Help me, or be my enemy."
Fujibayashi was shaken all over, and cold sweat slowly broke out from his back.
Akechi Mitsuhide was crazy, she actually said it, after Nizi Katsuhisa, he was really Oda Nobunaga... This is the two lives Akechi Mitsuhide wanted Hashiba Hideyoshi to exchange for.
Fujibayashi Mukuro remained silent, and Akechi Mitsuhide didn't care and kept talking to himself.
"In the past year, the Shiba family has become more and more powerful. They are already invincible within Kinki. Even His Highness Oda has been subdued. What do other samurai families mean?
At that time, the same group as the military group during the integration of the saints became the secret group. Fujibayashi Xing died tragically, and the third Taifu of Baiji was promoted, and he was already the leader of the Shiba Ninjas.
The floods in the Sibo family have lifted all boats, and the three servants from all over the world followed the chickens and dogs to heaven.
You have a blood feud and are cautious, but she has drifted away and forgotten how important she is.
But that's right, after all, she is old and confused, and is no longer the scary snake girl she used to be, so why not enjoy it.
If I hadn't been well-informed at the top and had several good friends, I wouldn't have known that she would be so bold as to take money from the Oda family.
Haha, this Third Taifu from Baidi really sought his own death, and he died unjustly."
Fujibayashi's eyes flashed.
"How dare she sell information to the Oda family?"
Akechi Mitsuhide shook his head and said.
"You have no evidence."
Fujibayashi gritted his teeth.
"Now that Nizi Shengjiu is dead, is there any evidence?"
Akechi Mitsuhide looked at Fujibayashi Mukuro like he was a fool and sneered.
"You are too impatient. After all, Momochi Sandafu is an old minister who followed the saint when the Kinki Shiba Territory was first established, so he cannot be killed so easily.
Although she was indeed a bit unruly at the beginning, she has followed the sage Kanto Kinki in both directions over the years and made a lot of achievements. How can she be brought down by just a little gossip?
If she wanted to ruin her reputation, it wouldn't be enough for her to have one nun, she could throw away a few abandoned ones. This would only shake the saint's trust in her, but it wouldn't kill her.
If you want to kill her, you have to be more patient and work harder."
Fujibayashi's face twitched, his pretty face became slightly distorted, and he said sarcastically.
"So it has to be Oda Nobunaga...so I have to help you...right? Akechi Mitsuhide-sama, who has no plan left."
Akechi Mitsuhide did not look at Fujibayashi Mukuro anymore, but lowered his head and played with the light of the candle with the tips of his index finger and thumb, opening and closing it to avoid the burning sensation.
"So, what is your choice?"
Fujibayashi took a deep look at Mitsuhide Akechi, put on a sick smile on his lips, grabbed the ground with his head, and cut the iron path decisively.
"I am willing to be driven by you, go through fire and water, no matter what!"
Akechi Mitsuhide clapped gently and said.
"I knew you were a smart man.
I also know that your heart may not be as open as you say, but I still hope you can think about it carefully.
Love and hate are the most profound emotions in the world and the greatest force driving people forward, but we are the Wu family.
The samurai family puts family business first, and the Fujibayashi family finally managed to sneak into the circle of high-level samurai families and climb the high branches of the saints.
If the revenge you insist on destroys the great wealth of the Fujibayashi family that can be passed down from generation to generation, will your mother and sister be happy if they know it underground?
Are they willing for you to avenge them at all costs and sacrifice the Fujibayashi family's eternal glory?"
Fujibayashi Mukuro was lying on the ground with her head up. Akechi Mitsuhide couldn't see her expression, he could only look at the back of her head and smile.
"Think about it, should you kill Bai Di San Taifu and then stop, or should you continue to take revenge on me? You still have a lot of time to think about it.
You are indeed a useful tool, unlike Fujibayashi Xing, I hope you can use it for a long time.
For you, maybe me living is more beneficial to the Fujibayashi family than me dying?"
Teng Linmiao raised his head and suddenly asked.
"Sir, are you also afraid of death?
Having committed an unforgivable crime against General Ashikaga, and in the future you will do what Nizi Katsuhisa-sama did to His Highness Oda Nobunaga, are you also afraid of death?"
Akechi Mitsuhide sighed and looked at the flickering firelight on the candlestick, his eyes blurred.
"Of course I'm scared.
I'm afraid that I will die too early and not clear away the weeds and kick away the rocks for the world of Spo.
I am afraid that I will die too early and will not see the day when the saint will unify the world and bring peace to all generations.
I really want to take a look, take a look at that beautiful new world, and take a look at the divine king who rules the world.
I really want to take a look, take a look at his country, and take a look at him sitting on the throne of God.
I really want to take a closer look at him. Even if he no longer needs me at that time, I will still look up at him in the filthy abyss.
