Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 187 Undercover
The "survivors" led by Aman were very powerful. As soon as Yuanye landed in Jiuwanjin, he got Shiami's detailed personal information.

This person was indeed related to Oda Nobunaga by blood. He was the result of a drunken sexual affair by Oda Nobuhide in his early years. However, his mother was of extremely humble origin and was just a prostitute. Therefore, his identity was not publicly recognized by Oda Nobuhide, and he could only be regarded as Oda Nobuhide's illegitimate son.

Oda Nobuhide did not pay much attention to this unexpected son and sent him to a temple to become a monk when he was young. Juami grew up in the temple and learned some skills in reciting poems and songs. After he became an adult, he returned to Oda Danjotada's house and became a fellow who specialized in "artistic entertainment".

Because of his "bloodline", he seemed a little aloof and arrogant in the Danjotada family. He often played tricks on others for fun and looked down on his other friends. He also often ordered many middle and lower-level retainers of Oda Danjotada's family around and had no respect for them at all, so he was very unpopular.

As for his good friends... he had close contacts with the Owari nobles, and had good relations with Hayashi Hidetada, Shibata Katsuie, Sasa Masatsugu and others, and was quite polite to these people.

Yuanye probably finished looking through Shiami's personal information and pondered, "So, although he is an associate of Oda Nobunaga, he is actually closer to the Owari nobles?"

"It looks like this at the moment." Ah Man handed him another document. "This is what happened this morning."

Yuanye took it and looked at it. He was not too concerned about the conflict between Maeda Toshiie and Juami. It was nothing more than a quarrel between the two people over daily trivial matters. The two sides argued and made a scene. Oda Nobunaga punished both of them without thinking twice. Maeda Toshiie was so angry that he quarreled with Juami again the next day and killed Juami with a knife - very cleanly, killing him with one knife. According to eyewitnesses, Juami didn't react even after his abdomen was ripped open by a slash, and he still had a sarcastic smile on his face.

After reading them, Yuanye returned both pieces of information to Aman, with a thoughtful expression on his face. After a moment, he said, "Let's go and plead for mercy with Maeda Toshiie."

He felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong. However, it didn't seem to be a conspiracy against him, so this matter probably had nothing to do with him.

Now I really have to help Maeda Toshiie and find out what is going on.

Maeda Toshiie lived to the age of an old turtle in history, so theoretically he should not have died. This fact seems more and more strange.

…………

Saving lives is like putting out a fire. Harano, his guards and Murahachiro galloped on horseback and quickly rushed to Kiyosu Castle, and then went straight to Oda Nobunaga's residence.

Maeda Toshiie was popular and there was more than one person who was running around trying to save him. Harano met Sawaki Yoshiyuki and Niwa Nagahide outside Oda Nobunaga's residence.

The two men looked very unhappy, and even Sawaki Yoshiyuki's face was dark blue and he looked uneasy. It seemed that he had just run into trouble with Oda Nobunaga and was scolded. When Sawaki Yoshiyuki saw Nohara and his men coming, he was stunned for a moment before he stepped forward and bowed deeply, saying in a nasal voice: "Nohara-sama, you have worked so hard, thank you for coming here."

As Maeda Toshiie's biological brother, even though he was already an adopted son of the Sawaki family, he still needed to thank Harano for "coming to his aid from a thousand miles away", or it was he who sent Murahachiro to call Harano.

"You're welcome." Yuanye reached out to help him up, and asked with concern, "What's the situation now?"

Sawaki Yoshiyuki opened his mouth to speak but his throat was choked. Niwa Nagahide whispered beside him, "This is terrible. The lord had announced long ago that private fighting between retainers was strictly prohibited in the house, but Maeda-sama... killed someone openly. Now the lord has made up his mind and must make Maeda-sama commit seppuku to apologize. No one can persuade him to do so. Even Ikeda-sama was scolded."

"Is that so..." Yuanye sighed, still unable to figure out whether this was something that happened in history, or some sequelae caused by his disruption of history - it should be something that happened in history, he just killed the monkey, and the monkey died calmly, so it should not have affected Maeda Toshiie.

Sawaki Yoshiyuki finally caught his breath, and held Nohara's arms tightly, trying to maintain his tone and said: "Sir Nohara, I am counting on you now, please... please must..."

"I will do my best!" Yuanye said, and followed his attendant to find Oda Nobunaga.

Oda Nobunaga was drinking in the palace. He looked unhappy but not depressed. When he saw Yuanye coming in, he raised his eyelids and glanced at him, then asked unhappily, "Are you here to plead for Ah Quan as well?"

Yuan Ye didn't care about his attitude, and automatically found a place to sit down. He smiled at Ikeda Terumasa, thanked him for the tea, and then said to Oda Nobunaga: "Of course, Lord Maeda and I have known each other for many years. I can't just watch him die."

Oda Nobunaga squinted at him and said calmly, "I didn't expect them to be so powerful that they even called you here. But your attitude is not that of begging for mercy. Touhachiro and Wan Chiyo begged with great courtesy and knelt for more than half an hour."

Yuanye didn't respond to his words. He didn't like people who were too strong. He couldn't talk to Oda Nobunaga at all. After thinking for a while, he said, "It's meaningless to let Maeda-sama die in vain. How about letting him make up for his crime and make meritorious contributions?"

"Now that this bad precedent has been set, what will happen if anyone dares to use force in my house in the future?" Oda Nobunaga seemed determined to bring Maeda Toshiie to justice. He took a sip from his wine glass and said indifferently, "Don't try to persuade me anymore. Save your energy. I've made up my mind!"

Yuan Ye was silent for a while and sighed: "He just got married..."

Oda Nobunaga was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly: "It's the child named Song, that child is really good."

"Yes, my father died in Anxiang Castle at the hands of the Imagawa family." Yuanye sighed, "My mother remarried right away. She was adopted in Arashi Castle since she was a child. She loved Maeda-sama very much. She didn't blame him when she was almost killed by him. When she grew up, she ran directly to Kiyosu Castle to marry him. But her husband died within two months of their marriage. It was really pitiful." Oda Nobunaga slowly put down his wine glass and said thoughtfully, "Why are you saying all this? Are you trying to arouse my sympathy? This kind of sin cannot be forgiven by pity alone."

Yuan Ye looked at him and said calmly, "That's not the case. What I mean is that if Lord Maeda dies, she will be alone and helpless - she will have no family behind her."

He said the last sentence very slowly, and Ikeda Terumasa was puzzled. But Oda Nobunaga reacted quickly, opened his mouth to speak but quickly stopped, and finally waved his hand impatiently: "You are too nosy, hurry back to your Wanjin, you don't need to meddle in this matter!"

"Then please give it more consideration, Your Highness!" Yuanye said no more, got up and left. He had asked all the questions he wanted to ask. This matter really had nothing to do with him. The person Oda Nobunaga was waiting for was not him at all.

Oda Nobunaga was still willing to tolerate him a little more. After all, Yuanye was really capable and had a really hard head. He just waved his hand again and said, "Alright, alright, I get it. Anyway, don't meddle in other people's business!"

This meant that Yuanye should watch his mouth and not talk nonsense outside. Yuanye didn't mind and turned around and walked out.

Sawaki Yoshiyuki and Niwa Nagahide were still waiting outside. When they saw him coming out, Sawaki Yoshiyuki rushed forward and asked nervously, "What did the lord say?"

Yuanye shook his head, sighed, and really controlled his mouth. After all, this matter was none of his business, and Oda Nobunaga was not setting a trap for him.

Sawaki Yoshiyuki's face instantly turned gloomy, and he felt that his dearest fourth brother was doomed this time.

Yuanye sighed again, patted his shoulder and said, "I will persuade His Highness the Supreme Lord again, and you guys should also think of a way to see if you can invite other influential people to help speak for you."

Sawaki Yoshiyuki nodded stupidly, but soon came to his senses, bowed to Yuanye and said, "Thank you so much."

"Don't be so polite. I didn't help much." Yuanye acted very gently. "Anyway, let's think of a way to rescue Master Maeda."

Sawaki Yoshiyuki nodded repeatedly, and Yuanye didn't say anything more. He took Aman, Aqing and others to another house to rest.

…………

"Um, do you want to go visit Asong?" On the way to the other house, Aman asked with some regret.

Her first meeting with Maeda Toshiie was not a good one, and the two sides almost fought to the death on the spot, but Maeda Toshiie was very good at making friends, and did not discriminate against Aman for being a fake samurai. As the two of them came into contact more, their relationship eased. Maeda Toshiie even taught Aman the "secret" of tying the tea whisk head, avoiding the tragedy of Aman always tying his hair hard.

Now that Maeda Toshiie is about to commit seppuku, Aman is a person who remembers the old days very much, and she kind of wants to visit his "widow". If she encounters something like a naughty servant bullying his master, she is even willing to go up and slap the servant a few times to help Ason get through the difficult times.

Yuanye didn't care, and said casually: "No need, Maeda Toshiie will not die." He didn't need to hide it from Aman, but after thinking about it, he changed his words and said, "Forget it, let's go there on the way!"

Maeda Toshiie cannot die, but now everyone thinks he is going to die, so Yuanye must go and show off his face and improve the friendship between the two sides, so that Maeda Toshiie will tell him the gossip about Oda Nobunaga in the future.

Ah Manxiao was surprised: "He won't die? Didn't you fail to plead for mercy? You can't do it, who can have such a big face?"

Yuanye was actually not sure, he just confirmed that there was something wrong with this matter. He hesitated for a moment and said, "It is most likely Shibata Katsuie, or we can say it is the entire Owari clan."

"What does this mean?" Ah Man didn't understand and asked in confusion, "Does old Shibata have such a big face?"

Yuanye shook his head: "This has nothing to do with face. Oda Nobunaga most likely wanted Maeda Toshiie to go undercover among the powerful families and become a nail in the Owari powerful families."

"But Maeda himself is from a powerful family!"

"He is just the fourth son of an ordinary powerful family who has no right of inheritance. His most direct identity is still Oda Nobunaga's close retainer, and he is loyal to Oda Nobunaga himself." Yuanye pondered, "Just wait and see, as long as Shibata Katsuie goes to plead for him, Maeda Toshiie will probably be spared the death penalty, but will be expelled from Oda Danmasatada's family. By then, he will be able to establish a relationship with Shibata Katsuie and will be quite trusted."

Ah Man was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly asked, "How did you figure that out? You weren't just guessing, were you?"

Yuanye shook his head again and said softly, "Didn't you notice? Oda Nobunaga interfered with Maeda Toshiie's marriage and supported him to marry the orphan girl Osomatsu. Maeda Toshiie is now the retainer of Oda Nobunaga who has the least marriage relationship with the Owari clan. This kind of person is most suitable to be an undercover agent."

(End of this chapter)