Five days ago, on September 26, the eighth year of Tianzheng (1580), in a small corner of the Hongye Army camp.
"Asahina-senpai... It's not that I don't want to help you, it's just this matter..." Mori Ranmaru looked at Asahina Taihei who was kneeling in front of him with tears streaming down his face, hesitating and not knowing what to say, with a pair of small hands that he didn't know where to place.
He pointed at his fingers nervously, "If this matter is discovered, you will have to go to a military court... Not only will your military membership be revoked, but you will also be imprisoned and served. If there are serious consequences, it will be the death penalty."
"I know, so Ranmaru, I'm very, very sorry!" Asahina Taihei sobbed and raised his head, clutching the hem of Mori Ranmaru's clothes with both hands, and said with snot and tears, "But the only one I can rely on is you.
Ah, I don’t know who to look for besides you?”
Seeing that Mori Ranmaru was still hesitating with his mouth pursed, Asahina Yaihei actually leaned down and kowtowed to Mori Ranmaru. Mori Ranmaru was so frightened that he also hurriedly squatted down and tried to pull Asahina Yaihei up.
"Please Ranmaru! Please! Even if I risk my life, I will avenge Hachiro! I can't let him die inexplicably like that!" However, Asahina Taihei refused to give in and refused to give up.
Knocking his head to the ground, his voice was trembling and scary, "I must do it... I must do this! I can only come to beg you!"
"Senior..." Mori Ranmaru looked at the man in front of him who was crying in tears, and his own voice was choked up, "I'm just a friend I've known for a few days. Do you really want to do this, senior?"
"He is my little brother! He recognizes me as his eldest brother! He keeps calling me 'big brother'!" Asahina Taihei's eyes were so red that they seemed to ooze blood, which was even worse than the actual blood stains on his forehead.
Yao Hong said, "How could I just watch him being killed and remain indifferent?"
Mori Ranmaru only felt his body tremble violently, but he gradually came back to his senses. He pursed his lips, swallowed with great determination, and then whispered: "Please leave it to me.
senior."
·
On the evening of September 28, the eighth year of Tianzheng (1580), in the camp of the Hongye Army, Yu Qiuping finished handling the military affairs for the day. Seeing that the night was getting late, he couldn't help but yawned a few times and stretched himself comfortably.
"Ranmaru, please excuse me." Yu Qiuping said to Mori Ranmaru, who was sitting next to him and helping him all the time, "Let's sort out today's information. I'm really sleepy. I'm going to wash up and go to bed first."
Mori Ranmaru was startled when he heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and the hands that were sorting the documents began to tremble uncontrollably.
"What's wrong? No energy?" Seeing that Mori Ranmaru didn't respond, Yu Qiuping smiled and stretched out his hand in front of Mori Ranmaru's eyes, "Are you sleepy too? How about you go to bed early? I'll let you know tomorrow morning
Organize it yourself?”
"Ah!" Mori Ranmaru suddenly came back to his senses after hearing Yu Qiuping's words. He shook his head in a hurry and said, "No, no, no! No! His Highness makes atonement! I was distracted! Come down and finish it. Your Highness will go to bed first."
alright!"
"Hahaha... Ranwan, what's the matter with you, are you neurotic?" Yu Qiuping was amused by Mori Ranwan's appearance. He stood up with a smile and knocked on his head, "Thank you for your hard work.
!Good night!"
"Good night, Your Highness!" Mori Ranmaru immediately leaned forward and saluted, and then continued to pack the documents as if nothing had happened. He stared at the piece of paper in front of him with no content, and his ears were already raised high, listening to the rain.
Qiuping's footsteps moved away step by step until he walked out of the tent.
Mori Ranmaru quickly turned his head and glanced at the tent door with very subtle movements, as if there was another person staring at him in the tent. After confirming that Yu Qiuping had gone away, he immediately changed his seat to Yu Qiuping's seat.
He stretched out his hand and reached a small black box placed on the side of the desk. There were all confidential reports from the Military Intelligence Department and Crow. Mori Ranmaru quickly picked up the box and put it on his lap, opened the lid and opened it.
Zhang flipped through the manuscript quickly. These confidential memorials used code symbols. Only Yu Qiuping had a cipher table with him. However, Mori Ranmaru often used the cipher table to read and translate for Yu Qiuping, and his memory was extraordinary.
He had long memorized the complicated password table.
"Liangdao...no." Mori Ranmaru quickly put the first manuscript aside.
"Assassination...not that either." Mori Ranmaru quickly turned over the second one.
"Trends in Sakai Town..."
"Details of activities in Maple Leaf Mountain City within 10 days."
"Chang Zong's family news."
"Sanhao Family Trends."
"Mishima navy trends."
"The aftermath of the Hojo Genan Incident."
Mori Ranmaru flipped through the pages one by one, but he still couldn't find the murder of Ukita Hachiro that Asahina Taihei had entrusted him to report. He was so anxious that beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, and the hand that turned the pages was shaking violently. Logically speaking,
All the reports since the expedition should be here. How could it be...
At this moment, Mori Ranmaru suddenly turned the page and on the next piece of paper, the code corresponding to the five words "Ukita Hachiro" suddenly appeared. Mori Ranmaru shuddered and immediately put the other manuscripts aside.
I looked at the crow's report by candlelight and memorized it quickly with concentration.
On August 27, the eighth year of Tensho (1580), according to... Kuroda Takaka and more than ten ninjas escorted Ukita Hachiro...
This manuscript is not long, and there are some gaps in the information, but it can roughly infer what happened. However, when Mori Ranmaru read the end, he suddenly felt a little dazed. At the end of the entire manuscript, a new paragraph was inexplicably added,
Then he only wrote a three-character secret text, which looked like very important information.
"Eight...eight feet...is this an 'island'? What does it mean?"
Mori Ranmaru muttered to himself and frowned, "The preface does not match the postscript... It seems that I misremembered the password correspondence? Then did I read the previous part wrong? No, the previous semantics
There is no contradiction."
Just when Mori Ranmaru was thinking wildly, there was suddenly a rush of footsteps outside the main tent - those were Yu Qiuping's footsteps. Mori Ranmaru's face changed with fright, and he hurriedly copied all the manuscripts according to the previous instructions.
Arrange them in order and put them into the box, close the box, and then start sorting out the files.
"Ranwan!" However, Yu Qiuping did not walk into the tent. Instead, he shouted from outside the tent to the inside, "Why are the lights still on? Go to bed early."
"Okay, Your Highness! I'll finish it soon!" Mori Ranmaru replied fearfully, trying hard to control his voice not to tremble. Although he still wanted to study the manuscript carefully, Yu Qiuping's coming and going frightened him.
Not daring to take another risk, I obediently collected the documents and threw them into the storage bag, then turned off the lights and left the camp.
After he returned to the tent where the guards were resting, he found that Asahina Taihei had been waiting in the shadow behind the toilet next to the tent. Mori Ranmaru pretended that he was going to relieve himself and walked towards where Asahina Taihei was in the distance.
go.
"Ranmaru, what are you doing so late?" Just when he was halfway there, Morinagako's voice suddenly came from the tent.
"Ah, second brother?" Mori Ranmaru, who was in a high state of nervousness, was frightened by Mori Nagaka's shout, and responded in a panic, "I just came back after helping His Highness sort out the documents, and I have to go to the toilet.
."
"Oh, is that so?" Mori Nagako's tone became a little subtle, and then he rubbed his eyes sleepily, stood up, leaned towards Mori Ranmaru, and put his hand on Mori Ranmaru's
He said on his shoulder, "That's just right, let's go together."
"Second brother..." Mori Ranmaru swallowed after hearing this, but couldn't find any reason to refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and agreed.
"Big or small?" Mori Nagako asked casually.
"Small one." Mori Ranmaru answered casually with a blush on his face.
Mori Nagako pushed Mori Ranmaru and quickly walked to the toilet. The two brothers each stood in a pit. Mori Nagako hummed a small tune and drank comfortably. However, there was no sound coming from Mori Ranmaru next to him.
The sound of water was held in for a long time, and there was only the sound of a few drops of urine dripping into the ditch.
Mori Ranmaru's face gradually turned from red to white, because he could feel the strange aura of his brother next to him.
"Tell me." Mori Nagako looked around and confirmed that no one was in the toilet, then whispered: "What are you doing?"
Mori Ranmaru lowered his head and did not reply.
Morinagako then took a step forward, lifted up Mori Ranmaru, carried him in front of him, forced his eyes, and asked in a low voice: "What are you doing?"
"Don't embarrass Ranmaru." At this moment, Asahina Taihei, who was hiding in the shadows outside the door, suddenly strode in and said in a low voice, "Did I ask him to do this?"
"What did he ask you to do?" Morinaga ignored Asahina Taihei and continued to press Mori Ranmaru.
"I asked him..." Asahina Taihei was about to explain, but was interrupted by Mori Nagako.
"I didn't ask you!" Mori Nagako glared at Asahina Taihei, and then continued to look at Mori Ranmaru.
"Second brother... Asahina-senpai..." Mori Ranmaru couldn't hide from Mori Nagaka's eyes. After struggling for a long time, he finally chose to confess, "I wanted to avenge Hachiro, so I took the opportunity to help His Highness sort out the documents.
Go and steal information from the Military Intelligence Department and Crow, and want to know who killed Ukita Hachiro."
"I have only been in the Red Leaf Army for a short time, but I also know that this is a crime that requires expulsion from the military and imprisonment, right? If the military secrets are leaked, it may be the death penalty!" Morinagako was already furious after hearing Mori Ranmaru's words, okay
Xuancai didn't explode on the spot. He put down the panting Mori Ranmaru, then picked up Asahina Taihei, grabbed his collar and said viciously, "You want to kill my brother in order to avenge your cheap brother.
?”
"I don't know how to do it!" If he was bullied like this on weekdays, Asahina Yahei would definitely have a fight even if his opponent was someone of Tadakatsu Honda's level. However, this time he knew that he was in the wrong and had no intention of fighting back.
He argued in a low voice, "I won't confess Ranmaru to death."
"Besides Ranmaru and Ms. Ye Gu, the only ones who can help His Highness organize the information. They are the only two who can know the code symbols of the secret manuscript. Who do you think Your Highness will suspect?" Mori Nagako's eyes almost burst out with fire, and he pinched tightly.
To be continued...