Swallow Return

Therefore, the conflict between these two people is noteworthy.

As for the few innocent civilians who were harmed—that was not the main concern for most of the samurai class.

Kinoshita Tokichiro chose to stand with Sasaki Ryuun and dealt with Mizuno Tadahiro, which could be vaguely seen as a kind of political statement.

……

These words were spoken by the astute and perceptive Hayami Seibei, who sensed the shift in public opinion and then relayed them to Ryuun.

Hayami Seibei expressed concern about Ryuun's actions, saying, "My lord is brave and fearless in offending people with sensitive identities in order to help innocent people. But in addition to that, he should also consider his own safety."

That's just how he is; he only considers things from a rational perspective, and he's very opinionated about things, even if it goes against his superiors' wishes.

Eguchi Sukezaemon, however, was much simpler. He dismissively retorted, "In the end, the so-called samurai are determined by the one with the stronger fighting force! With our lord's strength, there's no need to concern ourselves with such insignificant characters."

Jiang Kou was indeed loyal and had complete faith in Liu Yun, and his words were pleasing to hear. However, as a retainer, he didn't actually play much of a role; he was more like someone who could only stand by and shout "Let's go!"

Liu Yun didn't care about the opinions of his two retainers.

Admittedly, I got into some trouble this time and didn't gain anything, but I don't regret it.

While most of the time we need to make decisions based on reason, we also need to be prepared to act decisively sometimes, otherwise our conscience won't allow it, and our thoughts won't be clear.

……

In the time that followed, Liu Yun finally focused all her energy on "serious business".

That is, to settle those five hundred poor women.

On Ryuun's side, with the enthusiastic assistance of Kinoshita Koichiro and the diligent work of Hayami Seibei and Eguchi Sukezaemon, a list of single lower-ranking samurai and veterans of Yokoyama Castle was obtained.

At the same time, they asked Igawa Asagi and the others to help the demon ninjas and compile information on the five hundred women.

Then Liuyun arranged a series of social activities that were not common in 16th-century Japan, but were quite common in 21st-century Tang China.

This popular social activity is called "blind date".

Arrange for a meeting between a seemingly compatible man and woman to discuss their specific situations and life views. If the conversation goes well, they can quickly get married and move on to the bridal chamber. If not, they can move on to the next round.

Liu Yun understood that it was unlikely that there would be any conditions for free love in this era, but arbitrarily arranging a match was also very unreliable. Therefore, having the people meet each other before pairing up was the best effort they could currently make.

Regardless of whether there are domestic violence or infidelity issues in the future, people who are attracted to each other should have a short honeymoon period.

At least it can avoid the tragedy of being ruined by exposure.

This would probably not work if it were aimed at young girls who hadn't yet left their homes, but the hundreds of women brought out from Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei had been tortured and abused by evil monks for a long time, and generally didn't care much about modesty. Most of them cooperated very well and accepted this new kind of "matchmaking" process.

Of course, it's also possible that Igawa Asagi and the others were able to persuade the demon ninja effectively.

Things went very smoothly.

This is probably because, whether they are single lower-ranking samurai and veterans or suffering women, they are all vulnerable groups with little choice and are easily satisfied.

On the first day, we got over fifty couples, on the second day over thirty, on the third day over forty, and then every day we got at least twenty or so...

The problem was solved in less than half a month, and the lower-ranking samurai and veterans in Yokoyama Castle basically received "care".

It also "benefited" the retainers of the lords of the surrounding countries.

For example, there's Eguchi Sukezaemon, one of Ryuun's own subordinates. There are two sisters who are no longer beautiful but seem very virtuous, each with a toddler who has just learned to walk. They don't want to be separated, and Eguchi Sukezaemon doesn't care about the two little burdens.

Holding hundreds of weddings at once has made nearby temples and monasteries very wealthy.

However, the Tendai sect, which originally held an advantage in this area, generally lost power after the fall of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. The main takeover of these businesses came from Rinzai and Nichiren monks who had become active under the support of Oda Nobunaga.

In Japan, weddings must be held in temples or shrines. Even the poorest farmer will scrape together enough money to buy incense and find a small temple to marry, otherwise it will not be considered solemn or formal enough.

It's unclear when this saying started, but by the sixteenth century it had become a conventional tradition.

Liu Yun had no objection to this. As long as the monks didn't interfere too much in politics and economics, it was unavoidable that they would make a little money off the ignorant.

Throughout the entire process, Liu Yun, as the manager, had no intention of taking advantage of his position and never laid a hand on the five hundred women.

It's not that they didn't have this idea at all, but rather that more than 70% of these women were pregnant with the evil monk's child.

Liu Yun is not mentally prepared to welcome a "stepson".

……

After finishing this matter, Igawa Asagi had no reason to stay by Ryuun's side anymore.

The orphaned and helpless little girl is now being cared for by her and has been given the name "Yatsuzuri Murasaki".

Igawa Asagi told Ryuun that this girl was indeed exceptionally talented, possessing strength far exceeding that of ordinary people, and an unusually resilient physique. However, her long-term hunger and hardship had prevented these talents from manifesting. Now, with the right training methods, she could definitely become an excellent anti-demon ninja.

but--

The problem is that Igawa Asahi now has doubts about the purpose of the "Taimanin" organization.

According to her, the person who founded this organization was called "Yagyu Suishinsai," a highly skilled person who served Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. The purpose of training "Taimanin" was to replace the increasingly lax and corrupt monk soldiers and crow tengu, and to serve as the fighting force of Buddhism.

In particular, they must strike at Oda Nobunaga, who is known as the "Demon King".

Igawa Asahi acted for this purpose.

However, due to Liu Yun's intentional or unintentional meddling, she is getting further and further away from her goal and feels very confused about the future.

……

After listening to her story, Liu Yun didn't feel much empathy for the ethereal and beautiful parts. Instead, he asked her a very practical question: "How do you plan to make your team members survive? If you can't answer that question, at least let me take Miss Xiao Zi back with me. She can survive even if she serves as a maid."

Upon hearing this, Ikawa Asagi was speechless, her eyes filled with confusion.

At this moment, Liu Yun only saw the trouble that others were about to encounter, but he did not expect that his own trouble was also about to come.

Chapter Sixty-Five: The Female Ninja's Trap

Nine days later, Oda Nobunaga replied to Mizuno Tadahiro, the magistrate of Yokoyama Castle.

As Kinoshita Tokichiro had predicted, Nobunaga's tone was not pleasant, but he still agreed to the punishment of expelling the man and demoting him to a ronin.

As for the reason?

Kinoshita Tokichiro explained, "I've known for a long time that for Lord Danjo (Oda Nobunaga), the business situation within his territory is always the top priority; everything else can often be put aside. Hehe, otherwise, would he be using a 'Yongle Tongbao' flag as a horse seal?"

Liu Yun expressed his admiration for this.

Of course, despite this, Kinoshita Tokichiro was still a little flustered. After all, he had driven away Yoriki, who had been assigned by his superiors, and he was still somewhat sensitive about it.

Then a change occurred that made the matter even more sensitive.

That is--

After being dismissed from his job, Mizuno Tadahiro went to the best pub in the castle town and squandered his savings on a life of debauchery. Then one night, he committed seppuku.

Since no one acted as the second, there were naturally no witnesses.

Based on the crime scene, it appears to have been a seppuku (ritual suicide).

After Takenaka Shigeharu came forward, he had some doubts about the truth of the matter, but since he had no concrete evidence, he could not obtain any useful information even after using divination techniques, so he could only suppress his doubts.

The term "kaishakunin" refers to the person who cuts off the throat of the person committing seppuku (ritual suicide) to hasten their death. If no one acts as kaishakunin, the person committing seppuku can only slowly wait for their blood to drain out, a long and painful process.

Therefore, when Mizuno Tadahiro died, blood filled the room, staining the floor red, and the smell of blood was strong. Moreover, his expression was extremely ferocious and twisted.

The situation seems extremely cruel.

This has really blown things up.

Although Liu Yun felt that Mizuno Tadahiro had killed many people, his fate was entirely his own fault.

But most people don't think so.

As the governor of the city had failed in his duty, he confiscated the territory and dismissed the official. "It is outrageous that a noble samurai was driven to his death just because of a girl of no status."

—Liuyun had not heard of it yet, but Hayami Seibei and Eguchi Sukezaemon had vaguely heard such discussions.

That's right, in the eyes of many samurai, the life of one fellow samurai is far more important than the lives of a hundred commoners.

Moreover, they don't need to hide their views at all; they can say them openly and honestly.

They will not be subject to any public criticism for this.

Moreover, the one who died was not an ordinary samurai, but one of the retainers sent by Oda Nobunaga, which involves some sensitive political elements.

In conclusion, Mizuno Tadahiro's seppuku has sparked some sharp public debate.

A small portion points to Kinoshita Tokichiro, who made the decision, while the majority points to Sasaki Ryuun, who instigated the incident.

Ryuun had just gained some recognition among lower-ranking samurai and soldiers by organizing a "large-scale matchmaking event," but his image was severely damaged and his reputation plummeted immediately due to the death of Mizuno Tadahiro.

Ordinary people may have different opinions on this matter, but these days the opinions of ordinary people are not worth mentioning and are not considered part of "public opinion".

As a result, Liuyun was subjected to subtle criticism.

He himself didn't seem to care much.

As a time traveler, Liu Yun did not have the habit of overemphasizing "air" like the natives of Fusang, and did not feel that being ostracized by his vulgar and ignorant colleagues was a big deal.

If Oda Nobunaga or Kinoshita Tokichiro have objections, then we might need to take it seriously.

If it's just this little bit of trouble, what's the big deal?

……

During this period, the five hundred women rescued from Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei were settled one by one, and they all found a place where they might not be very happy, but at least they could have enough to eat.

Then, Igawa Asagi and the other demon ninjas can retire successfully.

Their identities are still somewhat conspicuous. Although they are currently only considered to be helpers that Liu Yun found from somewhere, there will still be some problems if they are exposed in the long run.

One day, Ryuun received a message from a member of the Anti-Demon Ninja group in the castle town, saying that Igawa Asahi had asked him to meet that night in an abandoned temple outside the castle to discuss the matter in detail.

Although I was a little surprised that they used such a tactful approach, I thought there might be something I wanted to say that shouldn't be known to outsiders, so I agreed.

After sunset, Ryuun left his residence in the citadel alone, preparing to keep his appointment.

As a result, just as they were about to leave the city gate, they encountered several warriors entering the city.

Upon seeing Ryuun, one of them suddenly showed concern and stepped forward solemnly, saying, "Lord Sasaki, are you going to the castle town? I hope you won't expose any more lawless magistrates! After Mizuno Tadahiro, the Mizuno clan is said to be very angry. I think it's best to be cautious!"

That was clearly a sarcastic and mocking remark.

Liu Yun looked up and took a closer look, and recognized him.

The person speaking should be named Tomonori Oto.

Some time ago, two colleagues were dissatisfied with Liu Yun's high reward and challenged him halfway through, but they were easily defeated.