"Lord Matsudaira..."

In the carriage, Tachibana said in a worried tone to the middle-aged man sitting opposite him and leaning against the window:

"You haven't had much rest since last night... Do you want to take a nap now?"

"I'm not sleepy." As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately said in a calm tone, "On the contrary, it's you - you haven't had a good rest since last night, right? Take advantage of the time to rest now, and get some sleep now.

Yes."

"I am not sleepy……"

"If you're not sleepy, just close your eyes and rest." Matsudaira Sadanobu said in a tough tone that could not be argued, "If you collapse from exhaustion, where can I find someone who can replace you?"

Tachibana has served Matsudaira Sadanobu as a minor surname for so long, and he knows all about Matsudaira Sadanobu's behaviors and habits.

Just by listening to the tone of Matsudaira Sadanobu's words just now, Tachibana knew that he probably had no room to refute or bargain with the adult in front of him.

"...I understand." Tachibana nodded lightly, then leaned back and closed his eyes.

After confirming that Tachibana really closed his eyes and began to rest, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his gaze to the window and quietly looked at the rain scene.

Last night, after escaping Osaka and reuniting with the troops stationed on the outskirts of Osaka, Matsudaira Sadanobu concluded that there was some extremely powerful unknown force challenging the Edo shogunate, and quickly issued orders one after another.

Send a message to the vassal states and large cities around Osaka, asking them to summon the army immediately and enter the highest alert state.

The hundreds of troops stationed on the outskirts of Osaka could not do much with their small number, so they continued to stay around Osaka to monitor and reconnoiter the movements of the enemy troops in Osaka.

Matsudaira Sadanobu himself returned to Edo as quickly as possible, sat at the headquarters of the Edo shogunate, mobilized troops and supplies, and strengthened the defense of Edo to prevent Edo from repeating the mistake of the attack on Osaka.

At this moment, Matsudaira Sadanobu was sitting in the carriage returning to Edo.

Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had hardly had any rest since last night, felt a constant "boom, boom, boom" sound in his head.

I feel very tired, but I just can't sleep.

As long as he is free, his brain will operate uncontrollably, and he can't help but think about how to complete mobilization as quickly as possible after returning to Edo, and how to find out the identity of the band of thieves who attacked Osaka last night.

Identity and base...

He originally wanted to relax his mind by watching the rainy scene. But as soon as he turned his eyes to the window, he suddenly heard one of the cavalrymen responsible for guarding the carriage shouting to him loudly:

"Lord Lao Zhong! A monk appears in front of you!"

"Monk?" Matsudaira Sadanobu, who raised his brow slightly, stuck half of his head out of the window and looked at the road ahead - there was indeed an old monk standing next to a little donkey ahead.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyesight had always been good, and even though it was blocked by a thick rain curtain, he was able to see the old monk's face clearly at the first opportunity.

After Matsudaira Sadanobu saw the old monk's appearance clearly, his expression changed slightly, and he quickly shouted loudly to the driver pulling the horse and the guards escorting him:

"Stop in front of that monk!"

Following Matsudaira Sadanobu's order, the motorcade slowly began to slow down and finally stopped steadily in front of the old monk.

"Master Qingyan?" Matsudaira Sadanobu poked his head out of the car window, "Why are you in this place?"

"Sir Matsudaira?" The old monk...or Qingyan looked dumbly at Matsudaira Sadanobu in the carriage.

Tachibana, who had just closed his eyes to rest for a short time, opened his eyes when he heard a movement and cast a doubtful look at Master Qingyan outside the carriage.

"Lord Matsudaira." Tachibana asked softly to Matsudaira Sadanobu, "Who is this person?"

"Yes, speaking of it...Tachibana, you have never met Aoiwa Shonin." Matsudaira Sadanobu cleared his throat, "Aoiwa Shonin is the abbot of Kongobu Temple in Koyasan."

Matsudaira Sadanobu's introduction to Qingyan was very simple, just one sentence.

But just this simple sentence caused Tachibana's expression to undergo a wonderful change immediately.

Mount Koya is the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism.

Kongobuji Temple, located on Mount Koya, is the head temple of the Shingon sect! All the temples in Koyasan respect Kongobuji Temple!

The abbot of Konggangfeng Temple...it’s easy to imagine how transcendent this person’s status is.

The status of the abbot of Kongobuji Temple in Mount Koya is basically equivalent to the status of the general conquering barbarians in the Edo shogunate!

Knowing that he was rude, Tachibana quickly saluted Master Qingyan outside the carriage.

Although Matsudaira Sadanobu and Aoiwa Shonin had no personal relationship, because they both had very special identities, they had met several times on various official occasions, so they were considered acquaintances.

Aoiwa Shonin's identity is really special. Why would someone with such a prominent position in Mount Koya be alone in such a place with no village in front of him or any shop in his back? It was really hard for Matsudaira Sadanobu to turn a blind eye to this problem.

Thinking of the intelligence he had received before that "a large number of weapons were transported to Mount Koya", Matsudaira Sadanobu became even more silently wary of Master Qingyan.

The look of surprise in Qingyan's eyes slowly disappeared at this time.

Matsudaira Sadanobu saw Qingyan looking at his carriage, and then at the more than 30 guards surrounding him, and a look of thought appeared on his old cheeks.

"Lord Matsudaira! I have a heartless request from this poor monk! Could you please lend me a horse?"

Looking at Master Qingyan who suddenly made this request to him, Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes sank slightly.

"...Master, are you rushing to somewhere?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked in a calm and unhurried tone, without any sadness or joy.

Qingyan nodded vigorously.

"In that case, can you tell me where you are going? If you can't give me a reason, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to lend my precious horses to others."

"..." Qingyan fell silent.

After looking at Matsudaira Sadanobu's carriage and his guards again, he gritted his teeth:

"I could tell you what I wanted to borrow the horse for, but the matter is so important that I can only tell you one person."

"...I understand." Matsudaira Sadanobu opened the carriage door without much hesitation, stepped out of the carriage, and was exposed to the heavy rain.

"Lord Naka!" Tachibana said quickly, "It's raining heavily outside! Please..."

"I'm not so fragile that I can't even get wet in the rain. Tachibana, please stay in the carriage and don't follow." Matsudaira Sadanobu came to Master Qingyan alone and leaned down towards Qingyan, who was a head shorter than him.

, "Okay, Master, please tell me."

Qingyan put his mouth close to Matsudaira Sadanobu's stretched out ear.

Selectively... informed Matsudaira Sadanobu in a concise and concise manner about what he encountered in Mount Koya today.

Whether he was hearing that there were a large number of thieves lurking in Mount Koya, or that Mount Koya had been burned, and that the thieves in Mount Koya were planning to escape on a battleship, Matsudaira Sadanobu could barely keep his composure.

Only when he heard that Ogata Ittosai suddenly appeared in Mount Koya and was currently chasing the thieves who were planning to escape by boat, Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression changed drastically.

Qingyan, who didn't notice the change in Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression, then said seriously:

"I know where the promontory village is."

"No matter what, I want to see with my own eyes whether there are really a large number of thieves planning to escape by boat."

"so……"

"...I know the specific story of what happened." Before Qingyan finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu clasped his hands behind his back, straightened up, raised his head, and looked at the thick dark clouds above his head, "A large number of unidentified thieves are lurking in the sky.

Koyasan..."

After whispering like this softly, Matsudaira Sadanobu cast his eyes that made it difficult to see through his emotions back to Qingyan.

"Master, are you comfortable riding in a carriage? Could you please give my coachman directions?"

Qingyan was stunned for a moment, and then immediately realized what Matsudaira Sadanobu meant by his words.

"...I understand." After thinking for a moment, Qingyan nodded vigorously.

…

…

After temporarily hiding the little donkey borrowed from Tenkai in a place where it would not be easily discovered, Aoyan got on Matsudaira Sadanobu's carriage and followed Matsudaira Sadanobu to the Toyotomi battleship dock.

The speed of the carriage and horse is indeed much faster than that of the donkey.

As the wind and lightning traveled down the road, Matsudaira Sadanobu and others gradually began to smell the unique salty smell of the sea.

After smelling the smell of the sea, Matsudaira Sadanobu put his head against the window and stared expressionlessly at the sea outside the window.

"We are almost at Misaki Village..." Qingyan, who was sitting opposite Matsudaira Sadanobu, also moved his head to the window and looked out at the sea outside the window. "As long as we climb over the small hill in front, we can reach it.

Misaki Village...Ah! Matsudaira-sama! Please look over there!"

"Well, I saw it." Matsudaira Sadanobu's face sank, "Stop! Stop!"

After a shout from Matsudaira Sadanobu, the motorcade slowly stopped.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Matsudaira Sadanobu eagerly jumped off the carriage and ran to a small high slope not far away, looking at the sea in the distance.

Just now, he and Qing Yan both saw it at the same time - bursts of fire rising into the sky on the sea in the distance...

Aoiwa and Tachibana, who jumped out of the carriage after Matsudaira Sadanobu, also imitated Matsudaira Sadanobu's appearance at this moment, stretching their necks to look at the beams of fire on the sea in the distance.

Gu Hao

Obviously - from such a long distance, if you look at it with your naked eyes, you are bound to not be able to see anything.

They only vaguely saw...under the bursts of fire, it seemed to be the wreckage of a huge ship...

"...Tachibana." Matsudaira Sadanobu looked at Tachibana behind him with a somewhat impatient look, "Go and borrow as many boats as you can from the fishing village we just passed."

After that, Matsudaira Sadanobu took out a money bag from his arms and threw it to Tachibana.
To be continued...