CHAPTER 255: CHAPTER 186 UNDERCOVER

The "Life-saving Group" led by Ah Man was incredibly efficient. Nozawa had already gotten a detailed personal dossier on Shi Ami the moment he landed at Old Wanjin.

This man was indeed related by blood to Oda Nobunaga—a result of Oda Nobuhide’s drunken indiscretion in his younger days. However, his mother was of very humble origins, merely a prostitute entertainer, so Nobuhide never publicly acknowledged him; Shi Ami was nothing more than Nobuhide’s illegitimate son.

Oda Nobuhide didn’t care much for this accident of a son, sending him to a temple to become a young monk at an early age. Shi Ami grew up in the temple, learning some poetry and chant, and after coming of age, returned to the Oda Danjo Chonosuke household to become a member of the Fellowship, specializing in "arts and entertainment."

Because of his "bloodline," he always struck an aloof and arrogant pose in the Danjo Chonosuke family, finding amusement in teasing others, looking down on other members of the Fellowship, and often barking orders at many mid- and lower-ranking household retainers of the Oda Danjo Chonosuke family without the slightest respect—earning himself a terrible reputation.

As for friends... He was actually quite close with the Owari noble families—he had a decent rapport with people like Lin Xiuzhen, Katsuyori Shibata, and Sasaki Masachika, and treated them with considerable courtesy.

Nozawa finished skimming Shi Ami’s intel, and muttered, "So, though he’s one of Nobunaga’s Fellowship, he’s actually closer to the Owari nobles?"

"That’s how it seems at the moment." Ah Man handed him another dossier. "Here’s the breakdown of what happened this morning."

Nozawa glanced it over. He wasn’t particularly interested in the conflict between Maeda Toshie and Shi Ami—it was just two people clashing over daily trivialities, leading to an argument, and things got ugly; Nobunaga hadn’t bothered sorting it out, just punished both of them together. Maeda Toshie was still fuming and quarreled with Shi Ami again the next day, then cut him down with a single stroke—very decisive, killed instantly. According to eyewitnesses, Shi Ami was split open with a sideways slash and didn’t even have time to react, still wearing a mocking grin on his face.

Nozawa finished and handed both reports back to Ah Man, looking pensive. After a moment, he said, "Let’s go plead for Maeda Toshie."

He had a faint sense something was off, but couldn’t yet pinpoint what it was. Still, it didn’t seem to be a plot against him, so most likely none of this involved him.

So now he really needed to pull Maeda Toshie out of trouble, and see what was really going on while he was at it.

According to history, Maeda Toshie lived on into the Turtle era—he definitely wasn’t supposed to die yet. The more Nozawa thought about it, the stranger this became.

......

Saving a life is like fighting a fire. Nozawa, with his bodyguards and Mura Hachiro, galloped madly to Qingzhou City, heading straight for Oda Nobunaga’s residence.

Maeda Toshie was well-liked, and there was more than one person running around trying to save him. Just outside Nobunaga’s residence, Nozawa ran into Sawaki Ryoji and Niwa Nagahide.

Both men looked grim—Sawaki Ryoji’s face was ashen, visibly rattled, as if he’d bounced off Nobunaga’s temper and been chewed out. When he saw Nozawa arrive with his men, he stared for a moment before stepping up and bowing deeply, voice thick with emotion: "Lord Nozawa, you’ve had a tough journey, thank you so much for coming."

As Maeda Toshie’s real brother—even if adopted by the Sawake family—he still needed to thank Nozawa for "coming all this way." Or maybe Nozawa was here at his own request via Mura Hachiro.

"No need to be so formal." Nozawa reached out to help him up and asked with concern, "What’s the situation now?"

Sawaki Ryoji opened his mouth, but his throat caught. Niwa Nagahide whispered from the side, "Not good. The Lord declared long ago there’s to be no brawling between retainers in the house. But Lord Maeda... committed murder, right in the open. Now the Lord’s mind is set—he insists that Lord Maeda perform public seppuku as atonement. No one can talk him out of it, not even Lord Ikegami escaped the scolding."

"I see..." Nozawa sighed. He still couldn’t figure out whether this had actually happened in history, or if it was some butterfly-effect backlash from his interference—though most likely it was the former. He’d only eliminated the Monkey; the Monkey’s death had been uneventful, so it shouldn’t have affected Maeda Toshie.

Sawaki Ryoji finally got his breath back, tightly gripping Nozawa’s arms, forcing himself to steady his voice: "Lord Nozawa, all our hope rests on you now. Please, you must..."

"I’ll do my best!" Nozawa promised, then went with the attendant to see Oda Nobunaga.

Oda Nobunaga was inside, drinking with a dour face, but did not look especially beaten down. Seeing Nozawa come in, he barely lifted his eyelids, shooting him a glance and asking gruffly, "You here to plead for Ken too?"

Nozawa didn’t mind his tone. He found a seat for himself, smiled at Ikegami Keisuke in thanks for the tea, then turned to Nobunaga and said, "Of course. Lord Maeda and I have been friends for years—I can’t just watch him go to his death."

Nobunaga looked askance at him. "So even they could pull strings big enough to get you involved. Still, this doesn’t look like much of a plea—you should see Fujihachiro and Chiyoda, begging on their knees for half an hour!"

Nozawa ignored that; he wasn’t fond of people who pushed too hard, and couldn’t connect with Nobunaga. After a moment’s thought, he said, "There’s no point letting Lord Maeda die in vain. Why not let him redeem himself with merit?"

"If I start letting that slide, anyone will think they can pull a blade in my house." Nobunaga seemed to have set his mind—Maeda Toshie must be punished by law. He drank, uncaring: "Don’t bother trying to talk me out of it, save your breath. My mind’s made up!"

Nozawa fell silent for a while, then sighed: "He just got married, too..."

Nobunaga paused, nodding slowly. "That child Ah Song, right? She’s a good kid."

"She is. Her father died long ago at Anxiang City—killed by the Imagawa family." Nozawa sighed. "Her mother remarried right away, and she grew up at Hosokawa Castle as an adopted daughter. She’s always liked Lord Maeda—he once nearly got her killed but she never blamed him. When she grew up, she ran straight to Qingzhou City to marry him. And now, barely two months after the wedding, she’s about to lose her husband. It’s a bit pathetic."

Nobunaga slowly set his cup down, reflecting. "Why are you telling me all this? Trying to tug at my heartstrings? Mercy alone isn’t enough to pardon a crime."

Nozawa gazed at him evenly. "Not quite. I mean that, if Lord Maeda dies, she’ll be all alone—she has no family left."

He spoke the last line very slowly. Ikegami Keisuke found it mystifying, but Nobunaga quickly caught on—he started to say something, then stopped, finally waving his hand irritably: "You always have to make things difficult. Go back to your Wanjin. This isn’t your business!"

"Then I ask Your Lordship to reconsider!" Nozawa had nothing else to add. He got up and left. He’d already asked everything he wanted—this really wasn’t his problem. Clearly, Nobunaga wasn’t targeting him.

Nobunaga was still willing to give him some leeway—after all, Nozawa was truly capable, and damned stubborn too. Once again he waved him off: "Yeah, yeah, I get it, just stay out of it!"

This meant Nozawa should keep his mouth shut, not go spreading rumors. He didn’t mind, and left right away.

Outside, Sawaki Ryoji and Niwa Nagahide were still waiting. When they saw him come out, Sawaki Ryoji rushed over anxiously, asking, "What did the Lord say?"

Nozawa shook his head and sighed. He really did keep his mouth in check—after all, it wasn’t his business, and Nobunaga wasn’t plotting against him.

Sawaki Ryoji’s face turned ashen in an instant; it seemed his closest brother really was doomed this time.

Nozawa sighed again, patting his shoulder: "I’ll try persuading the Lord of Upper General too. You guys think of something as well. See if you can get someone else influential to speak on his behalf."

Sawaki Ryoji nodded blankly at first, then snapped out of it and bowed to Nozawa: "Thank you so much."

"No need to thank me. I didn’t do much." Nozawa kept it warm and gentle. "Anyway, let’s all keep thinking. We have to get Lord Maeda out of this somehow."

Sawaki Ryoji agreed over and over, and Nozawa said no more, leading Ah Man, Ah Qing, and the rest over to another house to rest.

......

"Um, should we visit Ah Song?" On the way to the other house, Ah Man asked, a little regretfully.

Her first encounter with Maeda Toshie hadn’t been pleasant—they almost ended up fighting to the death on the spot. But Maeda Toshie was good at making friends and never looked down on Ah Man for being a fake Samurai; after more contact, they got along. He even once taught Ah Man the "trick" to tying a chasen bun, saving her from constantly having to yank her hair tight.

Now that Maeda Toshie was about to commit seppuku, Ah Man, being nostalgic, kind of wanted to go visit his "widow." Hell, if she ran into cruel servants bullying the mistress now, she’d be happy to slap them around a bit and help Ah Song through the hard times.

Nozawa didn’t really care either way, and replied offhandedly, "No need, Maeda Toshie won’t die." With Ah Man, he didn’t need to hide anything. But then he reconsidered and changed his mind: "Actually, let’s go while we’re at it."

Maeda Toshie wouldn’t die, but since everyone assumed he was doomed, Nozawa figured he should at least show his face and boost their friendship value—just in case Maeda Toshie had some inside scoop from Oda Nobunaga later and kept it from him.

Ah Man was shocked: "He’s not going to die? I thought you failed to plead for him! If even you can’t do it, who could possibly have the face for it?"

Nozawa wasn’t that sure himself; all he was certain of was that something was off. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Chances are it’ll be Katsuyori Shibata—or you could say, all the Owari nobles."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Ah Man didn’t get it, confused. "That old Shibata really has that much clout?"

Nozawa shook his head. "It’s not about clout. There’s a very good chance Oda Nobunaga wants Maeda Toshie to go undercover within the nobles, to plant a spike inside the Owari noble clique."

"But Maeda’s family are nobles in the first place!"

"He’s just a noble’s fourth son with no inheritance. His most immediate status is as one of Nobunaga’s personal attendants, and his loyalty is to Nobunaga first." Nozawa mused, "You’ll see—so long as Katsuyori Shibata comes to plead, Maeda Toshie will be spared death but exiled from the Oda Danjo Chonosuke family. That way, he’ll be able to build ties with Shibata and gain their trust."

Ah Man stared for a bit, then asked hesitantly, "How can you tell? You’re not just guessing, are you?"

Nozawa shook his head again and said quietly, "Haven’t you noticed? Oda Nobunaga personally meddled in Maeda Toshie’s marriage, helping him marry Ah Song, that orphan girl. Maeda Toshie is now the household retainer around Nobunaga with the fewest kin ties to the Owari noble clan—he’s perfect for an undercover job."