On the evening of August 27, the eighth year of Tensho (1580), there was an evaluation meeting in the Red Leaf Army barracks outside the southern part of Tottori Castle.
"what did you say?"
Asahina Taihei could hardly believe his ears. After being stunned for a long time, he murmured in the main tent:
"Hachiro committed suicide?"
"The people of the Hashiba family said that Ukita Hachiro did not want to be a hostage used by the Hashiba army to coerce the Ukita Nao family. He first went on a hunger strike, and then committed suicide by jumping into the Chiyo River while the guards were not paying attention." Ame Qiupei sent Hideyoshi Hashiba.
The report was given to Yahei Asahina.
"How...why...how is it possible..." Asahina fell to the ground without any force. There was no cry in her voice, but her tears were already flowing down like a dam. "Hachiro...boy...Hachiro..."
"Impossible, Your Highness!" Asahina Taihei was stunned for a long time, then suddenly stood up, spread his hands and shouted loudly, "How could Hachiro commit suicide? Isn't he a suicidal person? If he wanted to commit suicide, he would have been outside Okayama Castle at that time.
Already committed suicide? Why would you commit suicide now?"
"Perhaps the Hashiba family forced him to write a surrender letter to his father... He couldn't bear the humiliation?" Yu Qiupei gave an explanation after considering it, but Asahina Taihei loudly retorted: "But Hachiro was still telling me before,
He wanted to persuade his father to surrender and let him stop fighting, and asked me to intercede with the Uki family to save their lives! How could he commit suicide just because he didn’t want to become a hostage? How is that possible!”
"Well...I don't know either." Yu Qiuping lowered his head and responded.
"Where is the body?" Asahina Yahei took a step forward and said in a deep voice.
"The Yuchai family said they couldn't find it." Yu Qiuping continued in a low voice.
"What...why can't I find it? According to what the Hashiba family said, Hachiro had started a hunger strike before. Why did the guards let him go to the river alone? Why didn't they keep an eye on it?" Asahina said calmly.
His whole body began to tremble, and he could not speak clearly, "Before...he was tied up so tightly. Before...he was clearly tied up so tightly in our safe main tent. How could he ignore it when he got to the river?"
"
"Your Highness!" Asahina Taihei suddenly seemed to realize something, and suddenly raised his voice and said, "Hachiro was not killed by them, right? Was he poisoned? Or what? He was afraid of the autopsy, so he destroyed the body?"
However, Yu Qiuping just remained silent and did not answer. Seeing that Yu Qiuping remained silent, Asahina Taihei asked incoherently: "Your Highness, tell me! I am too stupid to understand this! Was Hachiro really harmed by them?
It’s only been three days, and we’ve only been gone for three days, so why are there no people there? Didn’t you say something before that His Highness Hashiba wanted to kill both the Nizi family and the Urakami family just to gain their territory! So now, does His Highness Hashiba want to
Tuyu liked the family's territory, so he killed Hachiro? I understand! I don't understand this! Tell me!"
Seeing that Yu Qiupei still didn't speak, Asahina Taihei slammed the table and said anxiously: "Your Highness! You are talking! What do you mean by this!"
"Watch your attitude." Tadakatsu Honda, who had not participated in the conversation just now, scolded in a deep voice, "Taipei Asahina, please don't be rude to His Highness!"
"Captain?" Asahina Taihei raised his head and looked at Honda Tadakatsu for help, "What happened? Do you know? Was Hachiro killed? How could he commit suicide? He obviously left when he left.
You’re still smiling so happily!”
"This is not something we should consider." Honda Tadakatsu shook his head and whispered, "Let's stop here."
Asahina Yahei reflexively obeyed Honda Tadakatsu's order and retreated.
He returned to the queue in a few steps. However, although his body was moving, his thoughts were in a mess. He glanced at Masayuki Sanada and Yunan Fukuzawa who were also looking bad next to Yu Qiuping, and then thought of Yu Qiuping's abnormal behavior just now.
He remained silent, vaguely understanding the whole story in his mind.
Asahina Taihei could not remember anything about what was said in the subsequent meeting. After the meeting, he immediately grabbed Mori Ranmaru and pulled him to a corner.
"Ranmaru, you usually have the sharpest mind, you must understand it! Don't hide it from me! Tell me the truth!" Asahina Taihei put his hands on Mori Ranmaru's shoulders and whispered in a begging tone.
He said, "Tell me the truth! What happened to Hachiro?"
Mori Ranmaru swallowed, hesitating and not knowing how to speak. But after his eyes came into contact with Asahina Taihei's tear-filled eyes, he was still defeated.
"Asahina-senpai..." Mori Ranmaru faltered, then muttered in a low voice, "I think you guessed right just now... Ukita Hachiro was the one who was killed... His Highness Hashiba may have wanted to monopolize the Uki family's territory instead of accepting them.
surrender. So he wanted to get rid of all the direct descendants of the Ukita family... So he took advantage of the current chaos to give Ukita Hachiro to him first... Otherwise, I think that with the importance the Ushiba family attaches to such a key hostage, it is absolutely impossible for Hachiro to show up.
A fatal flaw that led to suicide.”
"Is this really the case..." Asahina Taihei's hands suddenly trembled, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently, "Then why doesn't His Highness want to tell me?"
"This... His Highness Hashiba is a friendly force after all... This is their private matter. We are just their colleagues. It is not our turn to take care of it." Mori Ranmaru saw that Asahina Yasuhei's mood was a little unstable, so he hurriedly explained, "Just
Just like when Yu Chaijun framed Nizi's family before, didn't we say anything?"
"Nizi's family is Nizi's family, Hachiro is Hachiro, I don't care!" Asahina Taihei threw away his hand and walked towards Yu Qiupei's tent without looking back, "I'm going to ask for an explanation!"
·
Asahina Taihei directly opened the door of the main tent without any notification. Hinami, who was on duty at the side, was so frightened by Asahina Taihei's expression that he did not dare to stop him. Ame Qiupei was sitting alone at the desk working, when he saw Asahina Taihei said angrily.
broke in.
"Your Highness, don't hide it from me. Hachiro was killed by the Hashiba family, right?" Asahina Taihei said straight to the point in a low voice, "Tell me the truth!"
"What's the point of knowing this? People can't be resurrected, and Balang is no longer here." Yu Qiuping put down the pen in his hand, sighed, and whispered calmly.
"If he is really killed, I will avenge him!" Asahina Taihei whispered through gritted teeth, "I promised him back then... I promised him! If someone bullies him, I will vent his anger on him.
!If he is killed, I will kill all the people who killed him! Hachiro is such a good boy..."
"You want to kill friendly troops?" Yu Qiuping was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Asahina Taihei and said.
"So His Highness admits that the Hashiba family caused the death?" Asahina Taihei keenly heard Yu Qiupei's aphasia and asked in a deep voice.
Ame Qiupei realized that he had said the wrong thing and wanted to explain but didn't know how to convince Asahina Taihei - the latter was obviously on the verge of rage.
"I never said that. And no matter what, you can't attack friendly forces." Yu Qiuping took a deep breath, put his hand on Asahina Taihei's shoulder, and warned in a low voice, "I know you are sad, and I am too.
I'm sorry, Hachiro is a good boy, and I don't want to see things turn into this. But
Now that it has happened, you have to stay calm, how could you..."
"How can you kill friendly troops just to avenge Hachiro?" Asahina Taihei laughed angrily when he heard this, and for the first time he spoke to Yu Qiupei in a disrespectful tone, "What your highness means is that Hachiro's life is not his life.
Do you? Do you deserve to be killed in such an unexplained way?"
"I did not say it…"
"Isn't that what you mean?" As U Qiupei was about to say something, Asahina Yasuhei interrupted loudly, "If a thief killed Hachiro, would you not allow me to take revenge? Why did the Yushiba family kill Hachiro?
, is it not possible? Is there anything difficult to understand about killing someone to pay for his life? He is my little brother, he dares me to call him big brother, he is such a good boy! How could I let him leave without knowing anything?
?”
"Because the Yushiba family is a friendly army, and His Highness Yushiba is the commander of the same level as me. Their punishment can only be decided by the lord, and it doesn't matter what we say! If you attack a friendly army for revenge, it is the same as treason! If you
I am really, really dissatisfied, so I will report this matter to the lord and ask the lord to deal with it!" Yu Qiuping earnestly persuaded Asahina Taihei, but the latter obviously did not buy it and continued to loudly say:
"Do you think Oda-den will punish Hashiba-sama for the young master of a wiped-out daimyo family and ask Hashiba-sama to hand over the murderer? Is it possible? Impossible! Who killed Hachiro? Tell me! In the end
who is it?"
Yu Qiupei was speechless by Asahina Taihei. After a long silence, he sighed: "You don't understand now. You will understand when you mature. Not everything can end in justice. These are troubled times...sometimes
, it is inevitable for light to compromise to darkness. Such things happen every moment in this troubled world... Isn’t that the case with the Nizi family? What can we say? Are we going to fall out with the Hashiba family over a child? "
"If the so-called maturity means confusing right and wrong, then I would rather remain immature for the rest of my life!" Asahina Taihei heard this and slapped the table in front of Yu Qiupei hard, shaking the inkstone on the table. In a hurry
Ranmaru Mori and Hinami who were at the door wanted to rush in, but Yu Qiuping waved them away.
"Your Highness, do you know? I have always admired you! I praised you to Hachiro a few days ago, saying that you are the most righteous and good man! You are different from those samurai who are complicit in evil! Only you can do what you do.
Justice, for the sake of the people, for the sake of family and friendship, to sacrifice interests! Other samurai would not do this!" Asahina Taihei became more and more excited as he spoke, clutching his hand firmly on the desk in front of Yu Qiupei,
He almost scratched the board and shouted with tears streaming down his face: "What did you do? You just watched Hachiro being killed and did nothing, just because you wanted to maintain the relationship with Hideyoshi Hashiba."
?Then what is Hachiro? What is justice? What are the words I praised you to him before? What should I say if Hachiro asks me why His Highness Hongye did not avenge him justly?
What? I'm so disappointed in you! How could you do such a thing? What's the difference between you and those samurai who care about human life?"
"How could I not avenge Hachiro? He is my younger brother! Your Highness, if you were killed back then, do you think my father would not avenge you?"
After cursing incoherently, Asahina Taihei threw the table to the ground with a fierce force, turned around and rushed out of the tent without saying a word. Yu Qiupei stared at Asahina Taihei's back, and suddenly felt
Something was familiar. He saw a familiar shadow on him.
It’s not just Asahina Taehyung.
And Yu Qiuping when he was young.
Chapter completed!