The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 690 Mortal Body
Poetry:

The dragon emerges from its dormant state, and the stars fall like rain.
The universe is filled with evil, and this creature is in the wind and dust.

Kyushu, Saga Castle.

The Saga clan residence.

The Emperor put down his whisk and ordered, "I am busy with many things every day and cannot go out to kill people myself. The shogunate is heavily guarded. If you want to kill Tokugawa's grandson, you must first kill all the evil monks. They claim to be noble and noble people, and they must be hiding in famous mountains, caves, and great rivers."

"So, first, search the surrounding famous mountains and fairylands, find the bald donkey Chunshen, kill him, and then assassinate Tokugawa Iemitsu."

The retired emperor did not know how powerful Chunshen was. If he had known, he would not have sent only these few people to assassinate him.

He really couldn't get away. Compared to the evil monk Chunshen, there were more powerful enemies that the emperor needed to deal with.

"The True Martial God appeared in my dream last night. A major event has occurred in Kyoto. The Northern Army knows nothing about it and is still attacking the south. I cannot sit idly by and watch."

The emperor closed his eyes and resumed his meditation posture, looking like a god.

Everyone looked at each other.

Pei Dahu was recuperating at home and could no longer go out to fight. Among all the guards, Wu Xiao was the most experienced, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say:
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid we can't enter Edo with just three people. Please send more people."

Li Zicheng was outspoken and blurted out:
"That's right. Back then, the Five Tigers of Kaiyuan were no match for that evil monk, let alone the three of us..."

Liu Zhaosun nodded slightly, then he remembered that Lin Yu was no longer there and more than half of his central army guards had been killed or wounded.

Moreover, this mission is extremely dangerous and it is difficult for ordinary people to complete it.

Dongfang Zhu whispered, "Your Majesty, General Lin's son, Lin Zhenyu, has arrived from Ryukyu. He's a fearless young man, and he's also thinking about avenging his father. Can you let..."

The Emperor interrupted the Chief Steward with a wave of his hand and shook his head slightly: "A ten-year-old child, are you going to let him go to Edo to die?"

Wu Xiao heard the conversation between the two and looked at them sideways with murderous intent.

The chief steward did not notice Wu Xiao's anger and continued to recommend Lin Zhenyu.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. Although Lin Zhenyu is only ten years old, he is just like his father. He is tall and mighty, with a body like a bear. Ordinary soldiers are no match for him. He is eager for revenge and will surely be of use to the Great Qi."

The retired emperor raised his whisk, and a strong wind suddenly blew up in the hall, and all the whale oil lamps on the wall went out.

Seeing that the emperor was unhappy, Dongfang Zhu quickly stopped talking and did not mention the matter again.

"I am still a human, not a god. As a human, I must have a conscience. Lin Yu entrusted his child to me before he died. How can I let Lin Zhenyu die now? If this child is harmed in the slightest, how can I face Lin Yu after I ascend to heaven?"

The Emperor gazed towards the east and said leisurely, "For my own selfish reasons, I would not allow my child to die on the battlefield. I cannot do such a thing as to destroy my family lineage."

Dongfang Zhu's face was filled with shame, and he kept saying he wished he would die.

Wu Xiao clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty has been so kind to the Lin family. I thank you on behalf of Brother Lin."

The Emperor waved his hand:
"I will allocate more people to help you. Go ahead. I am tired and need to cultivate myself."

~~~~
Li Zicheng, Wu Xiao and Jiang Liuer accepted the emperor's order and went to the three major corps to select five soldiers each, all of whom were brave warriors from the three armies, a total of eighteen people. They left Saga Castle that day and headed east to Edo, the nest of the Japanese pirates.

After two days of walking, we arrived at the border between Kyushu and Honshu, the Kanmon Strait, and across the way was the famous Shimonoseki Castle (Ushi-kan).

Eighteen years ago, the retired emperor signed the famous Treaty of Niuguan with the Tokugawa shogunate here on behalf of the Ming Dynasty, thus gaining suzerainty over Japan.

Today, things have changed. The Treaty of Niuguan has been abandoned by Japan, and the ruling order of the Great Qi in Japan has been completely destroyed.

It is time to restore the New Order in Greater East Asia.

Everyone disguised themselves as Goryeo paper merchants and entered Niuguan City. The streets were bustling with lazy samurai and ronin, as if the war was still far away from here.

No one questioned the three people along the way. After walking for a while, they saw a sign hanging on the side of the road that read "Izakaya Ikkyu".

Li Zicheng, dressed as a Taoist boy, stopped and said, "Brother Wu, buy me a bowl of wine."

Wu Xiao said, "You have a bad drinking habit. You can't drink too much. Otherwise, if you let it slip, we will be in danger."

Jiang Liu'er also whispered, "Brother Wu is right. Honshu is the territory of the shogunate. There are many secret agents. Be careful in everything you do."

Li Zicheng glared at Jiang Liuer and said, "Can't you even go in and eat some meat? Jiang Liuer, where's your tigress? I don't believe she doesn't eat meat either!"

Jiang Liu'er was about to explode, but Wu Xiao, seeing that it was getting late, said, "Don't make any noise. Now that you're here, let's find an inn to stay in. We'll leave early tomorrow, and there'll be meat."

As they talked, they found an inn to rest.

Jiang Liuer called the shopkeeper over and asked him to pick out five guest rooms and prepare food for more than a dozen people. After that, he gave him some change.

The shopkeeper took it and weighed it in his hand, it was about three taels. His eyes smiled and he asked the waiter to take the horse to the backyard to feed it with fodder, while he went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

Soon, a table of hot food was brought in.

Li Zicheng took a glance and saw fried lamb, takoyaki, grilled mushrooms, tempura, miso soup, sashimi... all of which were island flavors.

Just no wine.

After a day's journey, everyone's stomachs were already empty, so they were hungry and wolfed down the food like whistles.

Li Zicheng was alone, holding a bowl of vegetarian rice and a bowl of vegetable soup, eating silently at the side.

Wu Xiao asked, "Why don't you eat fish?"

Li Zicheng replied: "Without wine, my mouth tastes bland."

Wu Xiao thought to himself, "This guy must be drinking secretly." So he snatched the vegetarian rice.

Li Zicheng shouted, "It's unjust! They won't even give us food!"

Wu Xiao secretly asked Li Zicheng for two glasses of wine and a plate of beef, and let him eat there.

Li Zicheng ate with such gusto that he gulped down two glasses of wine and fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up at five o'clock the next morning, he found that everyone had left, so he quickly got up and chased after them.

At this time, the sky was slightly bright and hazy, and I didn't know where Wu Xiao and the others had gone.

Suddenly, the crisp sound of wooden clogs hitting the ground came from behind. Li Zicheng quickly hid behind the wine shop, but heard someone shouting on the street:

"The Tatar spies are here, catch them!"

A moment later, hundreds of warriors holding torches rushed forward in a mighty force, their swords shining coldly in the cold night.

"Tatar spies have entered the city, catch them!"

Li Zicheng hid behind a thatched hut and dared not speak loudly.

"Damn it, you ran away without even telling me you were hungry, Jiang Liuer, I'm going to cook and eat your tigress."

While complaining, he slowly retreated to the corner of the hut, which was farther away from the street and less likely to be discovered. After taking a few steps back, he suddenly bumped into someone.

"Who?"

Li Zicheng growled and slashed at the man's neck with his dagger.

Faint sobbing was heard in the darkness, as if it was a woman.

There were samurai and ronin passing by on the street across the wall. Li Zicheng didn't dare to pick up the fire starter. His hand holding the dagger remained motionless, pressed against the man's neck.

"Fuck your mother! Who is it? If you don't say anything, I'll starve you to death!"

"Ya Butterfly!"

The Japanese woman didn't need to understand Li Zicheng's emphasis on Shaanxi, but at this moment, the dagger had already slashed her neck and could take her life at any time. This was more convincing than any words.

Li Zicheng received some simple Japanese language training before the Eastern Expedition. Although he learned it poorly, he still knew the meaning of Yamedie.

He looked around but couldn't see anything clearly. He suddenly retracted the dagger, stepped forward to strangle the woman's throat with his left hand, and covered her mouth with his right hand.

"Don't make a sound, or I'll kill you... Do you understand?"

Those bright and moving eyes in the darkness are full of desire for life.

The woman nodded.

"Are you the daughter of the owner of the wine shop?" Li Zicheng gestured and spoke Japanese with a strange pronunciation.

"Private farmer's mother (I am a village girl from nearby)"

"If you are a farmer, why are you in Niuguan City?"

The woman wiped the tears from her eyes, a look of sorrow on her face. "Five years ago, my father was transferred by the Lord of Choshu to build a fortress and he never came back. Deputy Tanaka took away all the surplus food from my family, saying that my father still owed the Lord money... My mother died of illness last month. The village is often visited by bandits and horse thieves, as well as defeated samurai. If I want to survive, I have no choice but to move into the city..."

There were more and more torches on the street, and the light around the thatched house seemed brighter.

After the woman finished speaking, Li Zicheng finally saw her face clearly. He suddenly realized that although this woman was petite, she was quite pretty.

"What's your name?"

"Kugagaki Yui."

Li Zicheng touched the Taoist hat on his head:

"That's a good name,"

He said with an awkward smile: "Okay, you are a farmer, I am also a farmer, you are in Japan, I am in northern Shaanxi. You have a grudge against the shogunate, and so do I. It is fate that we meet today. Go away, I won't kill you."

The woman bowed to Li Zicheng and turned to leave.

Li Zicheng grabbed Jiuyuan Yui:
"Wait a minute, wait until the hunger is gone, then you can leave."

The torches outside the street gradually faded away, and Li Zicheng and Kugaki Yui sat side by side.

The night sky is clear and the stars are huge.

It was the first time for Li Zicheng to be so close to a woman. Xinheng Yui was sitting with her knees hugged, her body naked.

Li Zicheng saw that the woman was about the same age as his sister and gradually felt pity for her.

"Here's some change for you. Japan is almost finished."

Yui looked at the silver in Li Zicheng's hand, tears streaming down her face. She hesitated for a moment and prepared to take off the few clothes she had.

Something is wrong with the atmosphere.

Li Zicheng quickly interrupted him with a wave of his hand, and whispered, "I'm hungry now, so you'll have to wait and see."

After saying that, he walked out of the shadows and headed east without looking back, leaving Kugaki Yui alone under the starry sky, feeling lost.

~~~
Niuguan City is a small place, and the earthen city wall is not very high. Looking down from the parapet, Li Zicheng first pressed the goose-feather knife lightly, with the tip of the knife facing up and the scabbard facing down. He jumped with the help of the scabbard and stood at the edge of the moat.

Under the bright moon, the water was only one or two feet deep.

It was November and all the springs were dry.

Before he could gain a firm foothold, loud shouts were heard from the city wall, and several sharp arrows whizzed towards Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng did not dare to stay and hurriedly continued to run eastward.

"Damn it, I'll come back and tear you to pieces sooner or later."

(End of this chapter)