Yashiro the Blind

Amidst laughter, he hoisted the spiked club back onto his shoulder, turned and strode down the city wall. Moments later, the bugle call to advance suddenly blared, and the well-prepared garrison opened the city gates and surged out, easily defeating the enemy soldiers who had no time to react. Like a sharp knife, they charged westward!

Meanwhile, Miyoshi Masayasu took the lead, wielding an iron rod with unstoppable force, leading his well-fed and contented old comrades to join forces with Matsunaga Hisahide in a desperate breakout, to save the nation from peril and prevent its collapse...

……

Wow!

A bucket of cold water was poured over his head, the biting chill jolting him awake and jolting him back to his senses. He instinctively tried to struggle, but found himself bound tightly, forced to kneel on the ground. The surrounding firelight was so bright that it illuminated the night like day.

Miyoshi Masayasu shook his head, tilted his head back, and first glanced around at the two rows of tall and short figures sitting there, then looked at the middle-aged man sitting on the stool in the center, wearing gleaming armor, and his gaze sharpened slightly: "Your Highness...?"

"I didn't expect that even after I stepped down from my official post, you would still be willing to call me Your Highness."

Ashikaga Yoshiteru placed the iron-clad soldier on his lap and said casually, "I thought your 'Kufang' was in Kyoto."

"Humph!"

Perhaps it was these words that finally made Miyoshi Masayasu's last bit of daze disappear. He suddenly tried to get up, but was immediately pressed down on the shoulders by two soldiers behind him, forcing him to kneel back down.

So he could only glare angrily at a figure sitting to one side—also wearing armor, but unfortunately, his body was a bit short, which did not give him a very imposing appearance; his hair was gray and there was a horizontal line across his face, it was none other than Izumi no Naru, Matsunaga Danjo.

"Matsuhisa Hisahide, you shameless scoundrel!" Miyoshi Masayasu cursed, "I led the army to break through the siege because I trusted you, but I never expected to fall into your trap... You despicable and cunning bastard, you deserve to die a horrible death!"

"Lord Shimotsuke, all's fair in war."

Matsunaga Hisahide sat steadily on the stool, seemingly oblivious to the various gazes cast upon him. He wore a smug smile and said leisurely, "Hisahide, in these fifty years, you've risen from a lowly position to where you are today, and it's never been through force... or loyalty. On the contrary, you, who spent your life on the battlefield, couldn't even see through such a simple plan as mine, leading to such a miserable end... It's truly lamentable."

"you!"

Miyoshi Masayasu knelt on the ground, his eyes practically spitting fire.

He was convinced that Matsunaga Hisahide had come to provide support and was charging forward. Even when he noticed that the number of enemy troops around him was increasing, he assumed that Ashikaga Yoshiteru had reacted and was trying to block and intercept them.

Having finally reached Matsunaga Hisahide's vicinity, before he could even greet him, his horse was tripped by a rope hidden in the shadows and fell to the ground. He tumbled and staggered, his iron bar slipping from his grasp. Just as he was struggling to his feet, Matsunaga Hisahide casually walked up to him...

The fist, clad in gauntlets, knocked him unconscious with a single blow.

My nose still hurts terribly, I wonder if it was knocked crooked... Thinking of this, Miyoshi Masayasu became even angrier. If he hadn't been held down and unable to move, he probably would have pounced on him and bitten him.

But all he could do for now was keep cursing: "Despicable, shameless, traitor! I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"

"hehe."

Matsunaga Hisahide gave a cold laugh. He seemed to want to say something more, but when he caught Ashikaga Yoshiteru slightly swaying his military uniform out of the corner of his eye, he immediately stopped talking, respectfully lowered his head, and only dared to observe the general's movements out of the corner of his eye.

With this action, almost everyone in the central command tent, including Miyoshi Masayasu who was kneeling on the ground, turned their attention to the very center—the reason for using the word "almost" is because there was a rather eccentric little dwarf who was holding his cane by himself, seemingly lost in thought.

Considering the other party's special status, no one dared to jump out and shout at them; they simply pretended not to see it.

In short, under the watchful eyes of almost everyone, Ashikaga Yoshiteru pushed himself up, took two steps forward, and stood in front of Miyoshi Masayasu, looking down at him condescendingly. The burly man also stubbornly looked back at him with his face tilted back.

"You rude fellow! This is before the Shogun, how dare you not bow your head!" Tsutsui Junsei shouted angrily from the side.

The two soldiers guarding behind Miyoshi Masayasu realized what was happening and were about to press the man's head down when Ashikaga Yoshiteru raised his hand to stop them.

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes!"

After saying this, Ashikaga Yoshiteru remained silent for a moment, simply gazing at the other man. After a long while, amidst the howling wind, he calmly asked, "When you attacked Nijō Palace, did you ever imagine this day would come?"

“A loss is a loss, what’s there to ask! Today I was wrong to trust a villain, you can kill me or torture me as you please, but if you even flinch, I’m no hero!” Miyoshi Masayasu replied, his neck stiff.

"Ha, you traitorous villain, you dare to call yourself a hero?" Someone nearby sneered.

Ashikaga Yoshiteru showed no expression, neither agreeing nor showing any joy, but simply nodded slightly: "Alright, that's what you said."

"I said it!"

At the same time as Miyoshi Masayasu's response, a clang rang out as a precious sword was drawn!

The general suddenly drew his sword, its gleaming blade reflecting the light of the surrounding torches, causing the shogunate generals sitting nearby—except for one person—to involuntarily avert their gaze slightly.

In that split second, Ashikaga Yoshiteru raised his sword and swung it down!

And just as he himself had said, even as death approached, Miyoshi Masayasu's two large, round eyes remained unblinking as he stared at the ever-approaching blade, as if trying to etch this final moment deeply into his very being—

Click!

A crisp sound.

The expected pain never came. To Miyoshi Masayasu's astonishment, the knife that he thought would take his life stopped abruptly just before it touched his body...

And they cut the ropes binding him.

The broken rope fell to the ground like an eel, but Miyoshi Masayasu seemed still in shock, kneeling there motionless. Ashikaga Yoshiteru glanced at him, sheathed his sword, and turned to return to his seat.

A surprised and questioning voice suddenly came from behind: "What...what are you doing!"

"Although you are a villain who has committed heinous crimes, you are also a brave and skilled warrior. So I am willing to give you a chance to die a glorious death on the battlefield—take your surviving men and go back to join Miyoshi Hinata and the others. Then remember to tell them that it won't be long before I will be on the battlefield, honorably beheading them."

He spoke these words in a calm and understated tone, yet they contained an undeniable sense of ambition and pride. Ashikaga Yoshiteru waved his hand, and then two men carried the iron bar over, placing it with some difficulty in front of Miyoshi Masayasu.

The other person remained kneeling, looking somewhat bewildered.

"What, do you want me to personally escort you?"

It wasn't until Ashikaga Yoshiteru spoke again that Miyoshi Masayasu seemed to snap out of his daze, asking incredulously, "You...you're going to let me go?"

"I just feel it's a bit of a waste to kill you like this. As for Iwaki Tomomichi and Miyoshi Nagayuki, I will personally come to collect the heads of the three of you later. Until then, just wash your necks and wait."

His cold words carried an undisguised murderous intent that anyone could hear.

Several people nearby hesitated to speak, but Miyoshi Masayasu remained lost in thought for a while. Suddenly, he changed his posture, sat cross-legged, and despite the soreness and numbness in his arms from being bound for so long, he placed his hands on the ground and bowed deeply to the general.

Without a word, he picked up his iron rod, used it to support himself as he shakily stood up, tossed the weapon over his shoulder, and strode out of the tent like a shooting star. Only after his figure had disappeared did someone suddenly stand up, pointing and cursing, "How utterly rude!"

"Your Highness, Your Highness!"

Another person rushed forward, knelt on the ground, and remonstrated: "Miyoshi Masayasu is incredibly brave and fierce. If we let the tiger return to the mountain today, I'm afraid there will be endless troubles in the future!"

This remark was like stirring up a hornet's nest, and the others joined in the clamor. Amidst the uproar, Ashikaga Yoshiteru remained seated on his stool, but turned his head and suddenly asked, "Danjo, do you have any objections to my actions?"

Despite the commotion from others, Matsunaga Hisahide, who should have been the most heartbroken by this matter, remained silent. When he heard the general's question, he merely shifted his body slightly, half of his buttocks touching the bench while the other half dangled in the air. He bowed and smiled as he replied, "Your Highness is upright and magnanimous in his conduct, truly a model for us samurai. I am ashamed to admit my inferiority... and I have no objection whatsoever."

After he finished speaking, everyone, whether sitting or kneeling, suddenly fell silent. Some even stared at Matsunaga Hisahide with displeasure, clearly disapproving of this statement that was tantamount to slapping them in the face.

But Matsunaga Danjo maintained his humble smile, standing among the generals, his slightly narrowed eyes mostly fixed on Ashikaga Yoshiteru. Only occasionally did he subtly glance at the other two.

Two outstanding female generals.

His eyes were full of playful interest.

……

Chapter 425 Duel of Generals on the Battlefield

"How strange, how strange."

"What's so strange?"

"What else could it be? Just now when I said I was going to let Miyoshi Shimono Mamoru go, listen to how everyone else was arguing. I thought you, Yashiro, would definitely chime in, but you didn't say a word from beginning to end. That's really strange."

"Sigh, it sounds like Your Highness is beating around the bush, implying that I'm noisy and disruptive."

"Haha, outrageous! This general is indeed—who's outside?"

After the music ended and the crowd dispersed, following the general's order, not only was Miyoshi Masayasu himself and the captured Miyoshi soldiers released, but Ashikaga Yoshiteru even returned the captured flags and seals to them, allowing this remnant force to leave and reunite with Miyoshi Nagayoshi, Iwaki Tomomichi, and others.

Seeing that Matsunaga Hisahide, who had made such a great contribution, had no objections and Ashikaga Yoshiteru seemed determined, the others did not dare to persuade him further, lest they embarrass the shogun.

As night deepened and the matter was concluded, the generals returned to their camps to rest, including Yashiro and Naotora. However, even after returning to their camp, they did not change out of their battle robes. Instead, they began to boil water and make tea, and asked Saiga Hotaru to prepare some simple food.

When the latter returned with a few cold rice balls, he could already hear familiar conversations inside the tent before he even went in.

Sure enough, the general sneaked over again...

Saiga Hotaru was somewhat helpless. She was originally like most of the mercenaries and opposition party members from the countryside, looking down on the so-called authority of the shogunate and thinking it was nothing but outdated and useless stuff. But later, she followed Yashiro and gradually had the opportunity to see this nominal head of the samurai families in person.

To be fair, the other party wasn't as aloof as she had initially thought, or rather, quite uncouth—a general without guards, suddenly appearing in someone else's territory in the middle of the night to chat idly. If this happened to some eccentric character, like that "Owari fool," it might be understandable, but for the shogun to do the same was rather perplexing...

But while that's the logic, on second thought, compared to Ashikaga Yoshiteru's own central command tent, their side is clearly safer... As expected of Lord Yashiro!

No matter how far off-topic her initial thoughts may be, in the end, Saiga Hotaru can always conclude with "As expected of Yashiro-sama," which in a sense can be considered one of her talents.

Unfortunately, Saiga Hotaru was completely unaware of this. She greeted them from outside the tent and only came in with the food after receiving permission.

Inside the tent were the same familiar faces: Yashiro, Naotora, Ryuko, Minjimaru... Naotora was supposed to have gone back to the neighboring ronin camp, but there were old Totomi subordinates like Okuyama Rokuzaemon managing it, and everything was in order, so she didn't need to be there in person all the time.

This is a good opportunity to build a good relationship with the general of Iga.

"Oh, it's Hotaru. This rice ball looks delicious, give me one... Just to be safe, I should ask first, I think I can eat this rice ball, right?"

Ashikaga Yoshiteru naturally recognized the girl who had been sticking to Yashiro's side. Seeing the rice ball wrapped in leaves in her hand, he couldn't help but swallow. Just as he was about to reach out to take it, he suddenly seemed to realize something and changed his mind and asked.

As he said this, his gaze inexplicably fell on the dragon prince.

Dragon Prince blinked, glanced at the rice ball, then at the general in front of him, and answered matter-of-factly, "No..."

"...Of course you can eat it!"

Fortunately, Yashiro was quick-witted and nimbly covered her mouth with her hand. Ignoring the dragon's whimpering resistance, she gestured to the side, "Hotaru, hurry up and throw... quickly present the rice ball to Prince Gongfang!"

Having teased Ryuko and Minjimaru for so long, I almost blurted out "feed them"... Luckily, I stopped myself in time. Otherwise, I probably would have been charged with "disrespect."

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter."

Ashikaga Yoshiteru waved his hand with a smile, and at the same time grabbed a rice ball and stuffed it into his mouth. Judging from his wolfish way of eating, he was indeed very hungry. He hadn't eaten a single grain of rice since noon, having spent the whole day ambushing and dealing with prisoners. Seeing the rice ball was like seeing a relative.

While eating, he continued to speak indistinctly: "Lord Tsukahara Tosa no Kami Bokuden has been kind to me by teaching me and giving me a second life. Now his precious granddaughter has come to help me despite the danger. It is only right and proper that I, the general, cannot be the slightest bit impolite... Here, one rice ball is enough to fill my stomach. Please give the rest to Miss Ryuko. And Miss Hayashizaki, please, everyone."

Just from those two sentences, you can tell that the image of the two gluttons, one big and one small, has already deeply resonated with people...

Noticing that Ryuko was about to lick his palm, Yashiro quickly withdrew his hand, took the rice ball wrapper from Saiga Hotaru with a wry smile, placed it in front of Ryuko, and then beckoned Minjimaru to sit down as well. Naotora, sitting next to him, didn't forget to remind him, "Eat slowly, don't choke."

"Yes!"

Minji Maru answered with great enthusiasm. Yashiro smiled and patted his apprentice's head again. Then he turned around and smiled apologetically at Ashikaga Yoshiteru: "Country folk are used to being carefree and unruly. I hope Your Highness will forgive them."

"This isn't the Kyoto Imperial Palace, so there are no rules to speak of here. If anyone is lacking in manners, it's me who came suddenly and disturbed your rest, so I was in the wrong first... Hmm!"

As he spoke, Ashikaga Yoshiteru stuffed the last bite of rice ball into his mouth, but because he ate too fast, he choked. Before anyone else could bring him water, he hurriedly pounded his chest with his hand, stiffened his neck, and forced himself to swallow it down.

"Huh... so dangerous."

He then let out a long breath, pretending nothing had happened, and turned to the blind woman with a serious expression. "Alright, we've eaten, let's get back to the main topic. It was precisely because you two hadn't said a word that I came here specifically to ask for your opinions, to see if you have any other thoughts."

The implication is that, compared to Hatakeyama Takamasa and Tsutsui Junsei, who lead the large army, Ashikaga Yoshiteru clearly cares more about the opinions of Yashiro and Naotora—although after Matsunaga Hisahide's arrival, the shogun now has more than 20,000 soldiers under his command, the shogun still knows clearly who among so many people present is truly worthy of his trust and reliance.

This was unavoidable. If just a few days ago he still held some hope for Hatakeyama Takamasa, the powerful ruler of the Kinai region who once organized an army of 40,000 and assassinated the famous general Miyoshi Yoshikata, and for Tsutsui Junsei of Yamato Province, then in just a few days, that hope had plummeted to rock bottom…

To prevent the news from leaking, only a handful of people in the army, apart from Ashikaga Yoshiteru, knew that Matsunaga Hisahide had betrayed Miyoshi and devised a plan to seize the castle. In order not to arouse suspicion from Miyoshi Masayasu inside the castle, the shogun also kept it a secret from Hatakeyama, Tsutsui and others. Therefore, they have been going all out in attacking the castle these past few days, without any hesitation.

In other words, this group's lackluster performance wasn't some convincing acting; it was simply the bare minimum they were capable of. If Matsunaga Hisahide hadn't pulled a fast one, relying on this half-hearted allied force, they probably would never have captured Takaya Castle...

Whether it was the fan Ashikaga Yoshiteru broke or the swollen philtrum he had during those days, it was all out of genuine feeling—how could the shogunate be revitalized while surrounded by these scoundrels!

Compared to these old foxes, even Yagyu Muneyoshi seemed more pleasing to the Shogun, let alone Yashiro and Naotora. After all, while they might be reckless, they genuinely charged forward in battle, rather than running around and then collapsing to the ground pretending to be dead...

These are true loyal retainers of the shogunate!

Unfortunately, while the Yagyu Valley people are generally strong in martial arts, their other attributes are unremarkable. Therefore, the real backbone still lies with the Iga side.

Sensing the trust and helplessness in Ashikaga Yoshiteru's tone, Yashiro was not surprised. She simply smiled and said, "Your Highness's method is brilliant, killing several birds with one stone. I am completely convinced and have no other opinion."

"Ah, let alone Matsunaga Dansho's words, they're infuriating to hear." Ashikaga Yoshiteru waved his hand.

"Hoohoo."

The blind woman chuckled softly, but then didn't continue speaking. Instead, Naotora answered, "Your Highness misunderstands. Although Yashiro usually likes to joke, what she just said was her true thought. The idea of ​​letting Miyoshi Shimotsuke go was truly ingenious."

"Oh? Even you, Naotora, say so? Then it seems that I, the general, am indeed 'a fool who thinks a thousand times but occasionally has a good idea,' very good, very good." Ashikaga Yoshiteru laughed happily, "I was worried about what would happen if even the two of you objected."

"The art of war dictates that winning hearts and minds is superior to conquering cities; psychological warfare is superior to physical warfare." While Shimono no Kami is one of the Miyoshi Triumvirate, he differs from Miyoshi Hyuga and Iwaki no Sarisuke. He lacks strategic acumen but is a fierce and valiant general, renowned for his bravery in the Miyoshi army. Killing him now would be simple, but it would inevitably ignite the righteous anger of the remaining loyal soldiers and give the Miyoshi clan an opportunity to boost morale…"

Naotora smiled as he spoke, “Instead of doing that, we might as well let the tiger go back to the mountain. Firstly, we can use him to convey the news that Matsunaga Danjo has abandoned the darkness and turned to the light. Secondly, we can make Miyoshi Hyuga no Kami’s army panic and lose its composure, thus increasing our chances of victory.”

"And most importantly... even the culprits who attacked the Imperial Palace earlier were released without hesitation, which shows that His Highness is magnanimous and not petty. After today's events, I think the soldiers of the Miyoshi family will have fewer concerns when they want to surrender again - this is a brilliant plan that kills three birds with one stone."

"Hahaha, none of you two understand my heart better than me!" Ashikaga Yoshiteru clapped his hands and laughed. Clearly, these words had hit the nail on the head, and he was overjoyed.

But after a pause, he laughed and said, "However, Miss Zhihu, you forgot the last point."

Naotora was slightly taken aback: "The last bit?"

“Miyoshi Masayasu is a hero of the land. If he dies here, the world will only condemn Matsunaga Hisahide for his betrayal. But for that old fox, such condemnation is not a bad thing at all, but rather an achievement... How can we let him steal the limelight!”

Ashikaga Yoshiteru pointed, "Now he's leading his remnants north to join forces. Based on my understanding of Miyoshi Hyuga no Kami, since he knows Takaya Castle has fallen and our army will arrive soon, he certainly won't continue rushing back to Kyoto. Instead, he'll choose a suitable location nearby and prepare for battle. Considering the surrounding terrain and the specific timing... this battlefield is most likely to be located near the middle reaches of the Yodo River."