Chapter 628 Ogata's Revelation and the Thief of Koyasan 【6000】
Time goes back to when Yukimura hadn’t broken into Ogata’s room yet.
Makimura drank cup after cup of the top-quality tea that Yukimura just mentioned from Karatu West Lake.
He didn't understand tea, and he couldn't taste the tea. He could only smell the tea and taste it quite refreshing.
Makimura, who was very fond of this tea, was drinking it while waiting for the return of Yukimura, who had just said, "I have something to deal with, so I will leave for a while."
Yukimura didn't let Makimura wait too long. In just a moment, Makimura saw Yukimura open the door in front of him and return to the room.
"grown ups."
"Oh, you're back."
"Sir, I'm sorry." Yukimura said apologetically, "Something happened at my father-in-law's place, and I have to deal with it myself. I'm sorry, but can you please wait here a little longer?"
Listening to Yukimura's words, Makimura raised his eyebrows, then smiled and said:
"Now that your career has become bigger, you have become a busy person as well."
After saying that, Makimura picked up the Odachi sword next to him and stood up.
"Since you still have so many things to be busy with, I won't bother you anymore."
"Anyway, I've already finished all the important things I should tell you."
"I'll just take my leave first."
As soon as Makimura finished speaking, Yukimura said quickly:
"Sir, are you leaving so soon? Please sit here for a while longer! I haven't had time to entertain you yet!"
Yukimura was not willing to miss such a rare opportunity to further deepen his relationship with Makimura...or rather with Huluya, the company behind Makimura.
"No need." Makimura stretched hard, "I've already had a lot of tea with you. I've been well received by you."
Despite what Makimura said, Yukimura remained unyielding.
After some arguing with Makimura, Yukimura finally convinced Makimura to let him sit down again so that Yukimura could entertain him for a while longer.
In a very serious tone, Yukimura asked a confidant named "Hachi" under his command to entertain Makimura well before he came back. After all the requests made by Makimura were to be met, Yukimura became sullen.
He left the room, ready to settle the score with the guy who dared to be rude to his father-in-law...
Under Xiaohachi's service, Makimura sat back down cross-legged and continued to drink tea while stuffing a few snacks into his mouth from time to time.
From just now, Makimura's throat kept sending tea into his stomach. After drinking a few more large cups of tea, Makimura gradually felt the urge to urinate.
"Excuse me, can you take me to your toilet?" Makimura asked Xiaohachi who was sitting next to him.
"plz follow me."
Xiaoba took Mucun to the toilet not far away.
After happily solving his physiological problems and stepping out of the toilet, Makimura suddenly heard a rather noisy sound coming from not far away.
Amidst the noise, Makimura heard Yukimura's voice.
What is Yukimura doing...
Driven by curiosity, Makimura, who was already in a panic, walked quickly in the direction from which the noise came.
How could Hachi, who was previously told by Yukimura that "all requests made by Makimura must be met", dare to stop Makimura? Or make irresponsible remarks on Makimura's actions?
The only thing he can and dares to do now is to follow Makimura respectfully.
The noise that Makimura heard came from a large room with two open doors.
Walking to one of the open doors, Makimura was stunned when he looked inside the room and his eyes were so wide that it seemed as if his eyes would fall off at any moment.
The room was noisy, with a large group of young people dressed in gorgeous clothes and exuding the aura of the "Rich X Generation", looking trembling.
In the room, Makimura saw Yukimura, who was standing in front of a beautiful woman holding a shamisen.
And sitting behind that beautiful woman was a woman he was quite familiar with...
Amachi?!
Immediately afterwards, Makimura saw sitting behind Amachi... a samurai he was also very familiar with...
Although this samurai was wearing a hat and a scarf, Makimura recognized him at a glance based on his figure and his two blue and gold sabers.
Makimura didn't drink.
But at this moment, Makimura felt that his head was as chaotic as if he had drunk alcohol.
All kinds of questions hit Makimura's brain.
…
Why are Brother Ogata and Miss Atachi here?
Why does Mr. Ogata wear a hat and a face towel?
Is the human skin mask broken?
Yukimura, what is he doing standing in front of Ogata and the others?!
…
Because of his position, Yukimura could just see Yukimura's expression. Yukimura was now frowning.
A-Machi's face was expressionless.
Ogata couldn't see his current expression due to the cover of his bamboo hat and face towel...
That guy Yukimura, he stood in front of Ogata and the others with a frown on his face. What did he want to do?!
In just a short moment, various ideas popped up in Makimura's mind.
For example: Yukimura is looking for trouble with Ogata for some unknown reason...
Another example: Yukimura is trying to find trouble with Machi again for some unknown reason...
No matter what kind of conjecture it was, Makimura broke into a cold sweat at this time.
Makimura knows very well what kind of character Ogata is.
Makimura had never seen anyone who provoked Ogata or Amachi end up well.
So at this moment, after seeing Yukimura frowning and standing in front of Ogata and the others, he shouted to Yukimura like a conditioned reflex:
"Yukimura! What are you doing to the distinguished guests I'm waiting for?!"
Then, Makimura strode into the room.
"You haven't done anything to Yukimura, have you? Yukimura, you shouldn't have done anything rude to the two distinguished guests I'm waiting for, right?"
Naturally, Makimura couldn't directly say "What do you want to do to Ogata Ittosai", so he called Ogata and Atachi "their distinguished guests".
In fact, he was right, Ogata and the others were indeed the honored guests of their Calabash House.
Calling them both distinguished guests was enough to intimidate Yukimura.
Then...he protected Yukimura in disguise.
At this moment, Makimura felt relieved.
He breathed a sigh of relief that he had successfully saved Yukimura's life...
…
…
Just now, when he heard Makimura calling Ogata and Atachi their distinguished guests, Yukimura's expression changed.
VIPs? These two people? Aren’t they two Miss Chuguang’s escorts and assistants?
Yukimura's expression at this time was exactly the same as Makimura's expression just now when he saw him standing behind Ogata and the others with a frown on his face.
His eyes moved back and forth between Ogata and Atachi.
His eyes were full of disbelief.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not connect the two identities of "Miss Chuguang's guard and assistant" and "the distinguished guest of Calabash House".
In Yukimura's eyes, the gap between these two identities is the same as the gap between a frog and a shogun.
"S-Sir..." Yukimura, who couldn't hide his horror, stammered, "You said these two are... your distinguished guests?"
"Am I still going to lie to you?" Makimura said in a somewhat impatient tone, "Tell me the truth, you didn't do anything rude to them just now, did you?"
"No, no." Yukimura, who was breaking out in a cold sweat, said respectfully, "I didn't do anything rude."
"I just saw Miss Chuguang here, so I wanted to ask Miss Chuguang to come and play for you later."
"First light?" Makimura looked confused.
"That's it." Yukimura spread his palms and pointed towards Hatsuko, "This is the most famous artist in Osaka right now. I saw that she happens to be here, so I thought of asking her to play the shamisen for you."
Makimura looked at Yukimura suspiciously.
But at this moment, a young male voice that had not been heard for several months reached Makimura's ears.
"...He's right."
The person who spoke out was Ogata.
Ogata continued calmly.
"He indeed just came to invite Miss Chuguang to perform at their place later. He didn't do anything rude."
At this time, Ogata finally understood that Makimura might have misunderstood.
He mistakenly thought that Yukimura had done something rude to him and A-Machi just now.
This Yukimura just came to invite Hatsuko and didn't do anything excessive, so Ogata was willing to help him clear up the misunderstanding.
After hearing Ogata's personal explanation, the cloud that originally hung on Makimura's face dissipated a little.
"That's it...that's good." Makimura let out a long breath, "As long as I didn't do anything rude to you..."
Very good……
Makimura added silently in his heart.
Yukimura's life is not in danger...
At this time, Yukimura bowed to Ogata and Amachi in a very humble manner.
"I'm very sorry!" Yukimura said loudly, "I didn't know that you two were Makimura-sama's distinguished guests. I was rude just now! I didn't say hello to you. Please forgive me!"
Now in this room, there were not only Miura and others, but also his father-in-law and his subordinates. Even in the presence of so many people, Yukimura still didn't care and bowed humbly to Ogata and others without hesitation.
.
Everyone present was stunned when they saw this.
Yukimura, who is known to everyone in the Osaka business circle, apologized to a very young man and a woman who looked very humble, saying that he was not polite... This scene in front of him was full of unspeakable emotions.
sense of absurdity.
Everyone is guessing who this man, this woman, and this tall young man who suddenly appeared? Why can Yukimura be so humble in front of them?
Among all the people in the room, Miura had the biggest reaction when he saw what he saw in front of him.
He was now staring blankly at Ogata not far away, as if he had lost his soul.
Isn't this guy the same guy who was performing on the street to sell tooth powder just yesterday?
Shouldn't he just be a guy who is struggling to survive at the bottom and is lucky enough to have a beautiful wife?
With his back to the Miura family, which was slightly famous in Osaka, he was nothing in front of Yukimura. Even when Yukimura yelled at him, he didn't even dare to express his anger.
Yukimura like this is bowing humbly to someone he has never looked at...
How hard is the backstage this guy is leaning on?
Is he a descendant of some giant businessman?
Or are they the children and grandchildren of some high-ranking official in the shogunate?
The more Miura tried to imagine the identity of this guy who covered his face with a bamboo hat and a scarf, the paler his cheeks became...
Thinking back to the fact that just now in front of Ogata and Atachi, he proudly showed off the business achievements of their Miura House... If the ground was cracked in an orderly manner now, Miura really wanted to hide directly in the cracks in the ground...
…
…
…
"Ma-Mashima-kun."
Ogata heard Shibata beside him, asking him in a low voice with a forced calm voice:
"Are you... a member of the Wu family who went to the bottom to experience folk life?"
Ogata turned his head and looked at Shibata and Hatsumi next to him.
Shibata was looking at him and A-Machi in panic.
Ogata noticed that he seemed to have secretly moved to the side just now, widening the distance between himself and Ogata.
I don’t know if it’s because Chuguang often goes to occasions where important people are present, but her mental endurance seems to be surprisingly good.
Although she also looked panicked, the emotion contained in her eyes towards Ogata and Atachi was mainly "curiosity".
Ogata glanced around him, and the current situation before him made Ogata couldn't help but smile helplessly.
Makimura's sudden appearance made Ogata and Atachi the undoubted focus of the audience...
After letting out an imperceptible sigh, Ogata looked at Makimura, whose expression improved as the misunderstanding was resolved.
"Makimura, why are you here?"
"Well... the reason is rather complicated, and I won't be able to explain it to you clearly for a while." Makimura scratched his hair, "When are you free? Let's go have a few drinks together tonight after a long absence."
After saying that, Makimura made a gesture of drinking.
Ogata immediately understood what Makimura meant. After looking at the surrounding environment where it was obvious that it was impossible for Hatsuko to continue playing, he said:
"I think...I'll be free soon."
"Okay." Makimura nodded, "Let's go have a drink together later!"
After saying that, Makimura turned his attention to Yukimura.
"Yukimura, thank you for your hospitality tonight. I decided to go drinking with my brother later, so I won't bother you anymore!"
He also wanted to entertain Makimura a little longer and get closer to him.
Before Yukimura finished speaking, he was interrupted by Makimura's hearty laughter:
"The tea you gave me tonight was delicious! I'll come back later!"
Hearing what Makimura said, Yukimura's slightly changed expression became better.
"...I understand." Seeing that Makimura seemed to have made up his mind at this time, Yukimura did not bother with it anymore, "My door here is open to you at any time, and you are welcome to come back at any time."
After bowing respectfully to Makimura, Yukimura turned to bow to Ogata and Omachi.
"I also welcome your visit. If you encounter any need for help in Osaka in the future, please feel free to come to me!"
"Lord Makimura's friends are my friends!"
…
…
at this moment
Kyoto, Kyoto administrative office, town administrative office
"Are you really planning to go back to Edo tomorrow?"
Kamiyama, a priest of Kyoto town and also a close friend of Hasegawa, asked Hasegawa in front of him while pouring a full glass of wine into Hasegawa's wine glass.
At this moment, in the office of the mayor, Kamiyama and Hasegawa are sitting opposite each other.
"The Blood Mist has been executed." Hasegawa took a sip of the drink Kamiyama poured for him and said slowly, "The finishing work is almost done. There is no reason to stay in Kyoto for a long time. Naturally, I have to go back.
"
"Aren't there still those two mysterious people who attacked the 'Big Buddha Clan's' casino and killed Bai Chuan and others yet to be found?" Shenshan frowned slightly.
"Well..." Hasegawa's mouth twitched slightly, and then he began to tell lies with his eyes open, "There are too few clues. If we want to find those two mysterious people, it will take an unknown amount of manpower."
, material resources and time.”
"Anyway, those two mysterious people didn't do anything harmful, and they helped us in disguise."
"So I decided to postpone the search for the two mysterious men and deal with other more pressing matters first."
"...Forget it, it's your responsibility to allocate the priorities of various tasks, and I won't interfere too much." Shenshan picked up his wine glass and took a sip, "Just pay more attention to your health."
"You are not young anymore. You are almost 50 years old. At such an old age, you cannot do what you did when you were young. Just sleep for a while and all the fatigue will disappear the next morning."
"What's 50?" Hasegawa said angrily, "I'm only 46 this year."
Hasegawa drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.
"Speaking of which, do you know where Mr. Laonaka has gone? Is he back to Edo?"
It was not until yesterday that Hasegawa knew that Matsudaira Sadanobu had quietly left Kyoto at an unknown time.
"How can a person of my level know what Laozhong-sama is doing?" Kamiyama sighed softly, "I guess he has probably returned to Edo."
"I hope that when I return to Edo in the future, I won't run into Mr. Laozhong..." Hasegawa grimaced, shuddered a few times, and handed the wine glass in his hand back to Kamiyama.
"This wine is good. Thank you for the hospitality. I still have some clerical work to deal with. After finishing the work, I will come to you for a few drinks."
"Yes." Kamiyama smiled and nodded, "Since you are going back to Edo tomorrow, I will accompany you at any time tonight."
"You, a guy who blushes after just a few drinks, how do you get the confidence to say, 'I'm always with you'?"
After Hasegawa let out a few joking laughs, he picked up his saber and stood up.
But as soon as he stood up, he heard the voice of his recently promoted young subordinate: Yamauchi outside the office.
"Hasegawa-sama, there is an urgent message from Imai-sama from Edo!"
"Imai's urgent message?" Hasegawa raised his eyebrows.
Imai Hasegawa's adjutant.
When Hasegawa led his troops to Kansai to capture the Blood Mists, Imai was responsible for replacing Hasegawa in Edo.
"Come in."
"yes!"
Yamauchi entered the room respectfully with a letter in his hand, and then handed it to Hasegawa.
After taking the envelope, Hasegawa confirmed that the envelope was intact, then waved his hand to signal Yamauchi to step aside first, then tore open the envelope, took out the letter paper inside, and read through the lines.
"...It's not a big deal." Hasegawa put down the letter in his hand and sighed, "It's just that Imai reported a new case to me: the temple priest is asking us, the Huofu Thieves, for help."
Hasegawa continued while stuffing the letter paper back into the envelope.
"A very powerful thief appeared in Koyasan. A large number of Buddhist items were stolen, and the amount of damage has reached 500 taels."
"The temple administration sent a large number of people to investigate, but no reason was found."
"In desperation, we asked our Huofu Thieves for help and asked us to go to Mount Koya to bring the thief to justice."
After saying that, Hasegawa let out a long helpless sigh.
"The Huo Fu Thief Kai is indeed a brick that can be perfectly embedded in any gap."
"Move wherever you need it."
The temple enshrines a high-ranking official who is responsible for the jurisdiction of the temple territory and its residents throughout the country.
In the Edo period, large temples and shrines had a small territory under their jurisdiction.
It can be understood that every large temple or shrine is a very mini vassal state, and the temples or shrines in this "vassal state" have a certain degree of autonomy.
All matters big and small within the territory of these temples are under the jurisdiction of the temple, including all administrative and criminal cases within the territory of the temple. Outsiders are not allowed to interfere.
For example, if a murder occurs on the territory of a major temple or shrine in Kyoto, the sacred mountain priests of the Kyoto town cannot interfere in the matter. The case can only be left to the management of the temple priests.
If a criminal escapes from a Kyoto castle town and enters the territory of a major temple or shrine in Kyoto, then the officers of Kamiyama's execution office cannot rush in to arrest the person, otherwise this will be a very serious violation of the line.
Because of such regulations, the territories of large temples and large shrines have become the favorite places for fugitives.
There is only one security force that is not bound by such rules. Whether it is the towns, towns, or temples and territories of the common people, they can move around unimpeded. That is to punish thieves with fire.
It is common for temple officials to hand over a case that they cannot solve to help solve it.
"A new case has come in so quickly..." Kamiyama clicked his tongue, "Mount Koya...it's quite close to here. If we use fast horses to advance alternately, we can reach Mount Koya in less than two days."
Mount Koya is a holy land for Buddhists across the country. There are more than 120 temples standing on the continuous peaks. This place has always been the focus of the jurisdiction and care of the temple monks.
"I just finished dealing with a 'Blood Mist', and another guy who stole Buddhist supplies showed up..." Hasegawa scratched the back of his head, "Really... He even dares to steal Buddhist supplies... Isn't that thief afraid of being punished by God...
…”
"Oh? Hasegawa, when did you become a Buddhist?"
“I am not a believer in any religion, but when it comes to gods and Buddhas, I have always adopted the attitude of ‘I would rather believe that they exist than believe that they don’t exist’.”
"There is no other way... I can only wait until later to return to Edo..."
"Do you want to go to Koyasan to investigate this case now?" Shenshan raised his eyebrows.
"Koyasan is just south of Kyoto." Hasegawa rubbed his slightly frowning eyebrows, "Since I am so close to Koyasan now, I would like to drop by to save time and effort."
"I hope the thief this time is an easy one to deal with."