I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"Master Matsudaira..."

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

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

"I don't feel sleepy." As soon as Tachibana's voice fell, Matsudaira Sadanobu said in a calm tone, "On the contrary, you haven't had a good rest since last night, right? Take a nap now while you have time to rest." Will."

"I am not sleepy……"

"Close your eyes and rest if you're not sleepy." Matsudaira Sadanobu put on an indisputable tough tone, "If you collapse from exhaustion, where can I find someone who can replace you?"

Tachibana has served Matsudaira Sadanobu for so long as a small surname, and he knows all kinds of behaviors and habits of Matsudaira Sadanobu very well.

Just 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 see." Tachibana nodded lightly, then leaned back and closed her eyes.

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

Last night, after escaping from Osaka and meeting with the troops stationed in the outskirts of Osaka, Matsudaira Jonobu concluded that some extremely powerful unknown force was challenging the Edo Shogunate, and quickly issued a series of orders.

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

The hundreds of troops stationed on the outskirts of Osaka couldn't do much with this amount, so they continued to stay around Osaka, monitoring and reconnaissance of the enemy's movements in Osaka.

And Matsudaira Sadanobu himself returned to Edo as quickly as possible, took the headquarters of the Edo shogunate, mobilized troops and supplies, and strengthened the defense of Edo, so as to prevent Edo from repeating the mistakes of the attack on Osaka.

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

Since last night, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had hardly rested, felt a constant "boom boom" sound in his head.

Feeling tired, but just can't sleep.

As long as he is free, his brain will start to operate uncontrollably, and he can't help thinking about how to complete the mobilization as quickly as possible after returning to Edo, and how to find out the identity of the gang of bandits who attacked Osaka last night. Identity and base...

He wanted to enjoy the rain scene,

Come relax your mind. But as soon as he turned his gaze out of the window, he suddenly heard one of the cavalry guarding the carriage outside the carriage shouting loudly to him:

"My lord! A monk appeared in front of me!"

"Monk?" Matsudaira Sadanobu raised his brows slightly, poked 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 in front of him.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyesight has always been good, even if it was blocked by a thick rain curtain, he could still see the face of the old monk clearly at the first time.

After seeing the old monk's face clearly, Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly said loudly to the driver pulling the horse and the escorting guards:

"Stop in front of that monk!"

According to Matsudaira Sadanobu's order, the convoy began to slow down slowly, 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 here?"

"Sir Matsudaira..." The old monk...or to say: Qingyan stared dumbly at Matsudaira Sadanobu in the carriage.

Tachibana, who had just closed her eyes to rest for a while, opened her eyes when she heard the movement, and cast a puzzled look at Master Qingyan outside the carriage.

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

"That's right, speaking of it... Tachibana, you have never met Master Qingyan." Matsudaira Sadanobu cleared his throat, "Master Qingyan is the abbot of Koyasan Kongobuji Temple."

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

But it was this simple sentence that immediately changed Tachibana's expression wonderfully.

Koyasan is the head mountain of the Shingon sect of Buddhism in Japan.

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

The abbot of Jingangfeng Temple...you can imagine how detached this person is.

The status of the abbot of Kongobuji Temple in Koyasan is basically equal to the status of General Zhengyi in the Edo Shogunate!

Tachibana, who knew she had been rude, quickly saluted Master Qingyan outside the carriage.

Although Matsudaira Sadanobu and Master Qingyan have no personal relationship, but because they both have very special identities, they have met several times on various official occasions, and they are regarded as acquaintances.

Master Qingyan's status is really special. Why would a person with such a prominent status in Koyasan be alone in such a place where there is no village in front of him or a shop in the back? It is really hard for Matsudaira Sadanobu to turn a blind eye to this problem.

Reminiscent of the information received earlier that "a large number of weapons were being transported to Koyasan", Matsudaira Sadanobu silently raised his vigilance against Master Qingyan.

The astonishment in Qingyan's eyes has slowly disappeared at this moment.

Matsudaira Dadashin saw Qingyan look at his carriage, and then at the more than 30 guards around him, a thoughtful look appeared on his old cheeks.

"Lord Matsudaira! The poor monk has an unfeeling request! Could you please lend me a horse?"

Seeing Master Qingyan who suddenly threw this request at him, Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes sank slightly.

"...Master, where are you going?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked in a calm and unhurried tone.

Qing Yan nodded vigorously.

"That being the case, can you tell me where you are going? If you can't tell me why, I'm afraid it will be difficult to lend the precious horse to others."

"..." Qingyan fell silent.

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

"I can tell you what I want with the horse, but this matter is so important that I can only tell you to one person."

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

"My lord!" Tachibana hurriedly said, "It's raining heavily outside! Please..."

"I'm not so weak that I can't even get a little rain. Tachibana, you stay in the carriage and don't follow." Matsudaira Sadanobu came to Master Qingyan alone, and bowed down to Qingyan who was a head shorter than him , "Okay, Master, please tell me."

Qingyan put his mouth close to the outstretched ear of Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Selectively... Tell Matsudaira Sadanobu concisely what happened to him in Koyasan today.

Whether it was hearing that there were a large number of thieves lurking in Koyasan, or knowing that Koyasan was burned, and that these thieves in Koyasan were planning to escape on a warship, Matsudaira Jonobu could barely maintain his composure.

Only when he heard that Ogata Ittosai suddenly appeared in Koyasan and was now going to chase the thieves who planned 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 that cape village is."

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

"so……"

"...I know the specifics of what happened." Before Qingyan finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu straightened up with his hands behind his back, raised his head, and looked at the thick dark clouds above his head, "A large number of unknown thieves are lurking Koyasan..."

After such a soft murmur, Matsudaira Sadanobu cast his gaze back on Qingyan, which made people unable to see through the emotions inside.

"Master, are you used to riding in a carriage? Can I trouble you to guide my driver?"

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

"...I see." After pondering for a moment, Qingyan nodded vigorously.

...

...

After temporarily hiding the little donkey borrowed from Tianhai in a place that would not be easy to find, Qingyan boarded Matsudaira Sadanobu's carriage, and followed Matsudaira Sadanobu to the dock of the battleship Toyotomi.

The speed of chariots and horses is indeed much faster than that of donkeys.

All the way down the road, Matsudaira Sadanobu and others began to gradually smell the unique salty smell of the sea.

After smelling the smell of the sea, Matsudaira Sadanobu leaned his head against the window, staring at the sea outside the window expressionlessly.

"It's almost to Misaki Village..." Qingyan, who was sitting opposite Matsudaira Takanobu, also pushed his head to the window at this time, looking at the sea outside the window, "Just turn over the small mound in front, and you can reach Misaki Village... Ah! Matsudaira-sama! Look over there!"

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

Under the shout of Matsudaira Sadanobu, the convoy stopped slowly.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Matsudaira Sadanobu jumped out of the carriage impatiently, ran to a small high slope not far away, and looked at the sea in the distance.

Just now, he and Qingyan both saw it at the same time - on the sea in the distance, there are bursts of flames rising into the sky...

Qingyan and Tachibana, who jumped out of the carriage following Matsudaira Sadanobu, also imitated Matsudaira Sadanobu's appearance at this time, stretching their necks and looking at the beams of fire on the distant sea.

Valley shovel

Obviously - at such a long distance, if you look at it with the naked eye, you are destined to see nothing.

They could only vaguely see... Under the bursts of flames, it seemed to be the wreck of a huge ship...

"... Tachibana." Matsudaira Sadanobu cut his impatient eyes at Tachibana behind him, "Go and borrow a few boats from the fishing village we just passed, and borrow as many as you can."

After all, Matsudaira Sadanobu took out a money bag from his arms and threw it to Tachibana.

"Huh?" Tachibana looked at the purse thrown by Matsudaira Sadanobu, with a look of astonishment on his face, "My lord! Do you want to take a boat to..."

"Whispering!" Matsudaira Sadanobu interrupted Tachibana impatiently, "What do I ask you to do, just obediently do it!"

After hearing the impatience in Matsudaira Sadanobu's words, Tachibana didn't dare to make another sound. After shouting "Yes", he quickly took some guards and rode back to a small fishing village they had just passed.

The plan drawn up by Matsudaira Sadanobu is very simple - isn't it because the distance is too far to see clearly? That's easy! Can't you see it clearly if you just ride a small boat and get close to it?

After Tachibana and the others returned to Matsudaira Jonobu with the 3 borrowed boats, Matsudaira Jonobu immediately asked without explanation, "Take 20 guards and cross the sea with me."

Faced with this order of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Tachibana naturally had tens of thousands of objections.

Tachibana came up with various reasons to oppose such a dangerous move by Matsudaira.

And it's just his objection from a mere surname... Naturally, it's useless.

Ignoring Matsudaira Sadanobu who opposed Tachibana's objection, he sat on the boat directly, and Tachibana could only bite the bullet and walk with Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Qingyan also asked to go with him, but Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to refuse. After all, if something happened to Qingyan while crossing the sea, it would be difficult to explain to Koyasan.

But Qingyan's attitude is very firm - no matter how Matsudaira Sadanobu refuses, he will never give in.

In desperation, Matsudaira Sadanobu could only agree to the request of Qingyan's colleagues.

Matsudaira Sadanobu, Qingyan, Tachibana, and nearly 20 guards rode a small boat and headed straight for the direction of the fire!

At this time, the wind and rain had subsided a lot, and the waves were not as violent as before. The whole process of crossing the sea was much easier than Matsudaira Sadanobu and others expected.

Matsudaira Sadanobu and his team arrived under the flames without any risk.

The shattered hull, the floating remains of countless broken limbs, the flames that lasted for a long time even under such heavy rain...

The scenes under the firelight... made the faces of the people on the boat more and more ugly.

Very few people who have never seen such a scene—such as Qingyan, couldn't help but bent down and retched at the sea outside the boat.

But——what makes Qingyan look ugly is not only because of the bloody scenes, but also because what Ogata and others told him about the "thief lurking on Mount Koya" before him The intelligence, exactly matches...

——There really are...ships here...

Qing Yan, who slowly stopped retching, hung his head with an expression that made it impossible to see through his emotions.

Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was used to all kinds of storms, turned a blind eye to the bloody scene around him.

Since just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu has been turning his eyes and looking around, as if... looking for someone or something.

Boom... Boom... Boom... Boom...

At this time - Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly heard a faint sound of gold and iron colliding.

Matsudaira Takanobu raised his eyebrows a little, and quickly instructed everyone to chase after the sound of "dang, clang, clang".

As the distance got closer, the sound gradually became clearer. The "clang clang clang" sound of gold and iron colliding gradually turned into the muffled sound of flesh being cut open one after another.

After bypassing a large piece of huge hull fragments floating on the sea and blocking sight, a scene that made Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression gradually become more complicated slowly spread before everyone's eyes.

On a wreck that was about to sink to the bottom of the sea, two figures who were barely able to stand still were facing each other.

One of them was unknown to Matsudaira Sadanobu.

And the other person... Matsudaira Sadanobu felt both familiar... and unfamiliar... and the appearance of this person was the "culprit" that caused Matsudaira Sadanobu to show this complicated expression.

While Matsudaira Sadanobu was still casting complicated gazes at that person, very suddenly——the person suddenly turned around and ran towards the mainmast not far away that was pointing obliquely at the sky.

—what is he going to do?

As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu asked this question in his heart, the man had already climbed to the top of the mainmast, and then...

Rumble rumble—! !

The bursting thunder light illuminated the faces of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Qingyan and everyone else.

"This... this is..." When he lost his mind, Matsudaira Sadanobu vaguely heard Qingyan beside him murmuring in astonishment, "The Buddha Spirit...appeared...?"

How long have you been in a daze? Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know.

All he knew was that when he finally came back to his senses, he saw another guy he didn't know pop up out of nowhere and duel with that person.

After exhausting his last bit of strength to end this short duel, the man finally collapsed on the deck that was already soaked in seawater due to the loss of strength in his body.

"...Come to that samurai's side!"

"Ah?" Tachibana looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu in astonishment.

"I say—learn to that warrior's side!"

"Yes Yes!"

When Matsudaira Sadanobu approached the person in a small boat, the person who had lost consciousness was gradually wrapped and swallowed by the sea water.

And just when that person was about to be swallowed by the bottomless sea——

Snapped……

It sounded like a handshake.

Matsudaira Sadanobu arrived at the man's side at the critical moment, and held the man's hand...

...

...

"...It was Matsudaira Sadanobu...rescued me..." After listening to Qingyan's brief statement of how he was rescued, a strange expression slowly spread on Ogata's face.

Qingyan naturally didn't know why Ogata showed such an expression.

He only thought that Ogata, as the most wanted criminal in the shogunate, was worried that he would be escorted to prison by Matsudaira Sadanobu in the future.

Qingyan didn't know what to say to Ogata who was "worried about being imprisoned by Matsudaira Sadanobu".

Just when Qingyan was struggling with that, and Ogata still had that strange expression on his face——

Pat, clack, clack...

Outside the tent, there was suddenly the sound of striding footsteps.

Crash.

The curtain of the tent was gently lifted.

The person who lifted the curtain... was a middle-aged man with a straight waist.

After the middle-aged man lifted the curtain and saw Ogata who had opened his eyes and woke up on the bed, he was slightly taken aback.

Then—

"...Master, may I ask you to leave here temporarily?"

Qingyan frowned, he looked at the middle-aged man, then at Ogata who was on the bed next to him, finally let out a soft sigh, got up and left the tent.

After Qingyan left, the middle-aged man slowly stood where Qingyan was standing just now.

"...Long time no see."

The middle-aged man...or rather—Sadanobu Matsudaira greeted Ogata in a tone that did not detect any emotional color.

"I am... Should I be called Ni Ogata Issei? Or should I call you Mashima Goro?"

*****

*****

This "Swordsman" no longer needs such things as recommendation votes, but the new book does, so everyone's recommendation votes should not vote for this book, vote for the new book instead QAQ

Some people seem to be worried about whether the double conference will lead to the collapse of both books. You are completely worrying too much. First of all, everyone should be able to see that all the pitfalls, foreshadowing, and foreshadowing of "Swordsman" have been filled in and exposed. The story of Ogata Yidaosai is basically finished, and there is only a little finishing work.

As for "Swordsman Group", I have saved manuscripts, and they have been published these days, so until I finished typing the last punctuation mark of "Swordsman", I concentrated on writing "Swordsman" and wrote "Swordsman". I'm not writing two books at the same time, so you don't have to worry about the author's double opening, which will lead to a decline in the quality of the two books.