Chapter 1039: One Thousand and Forty Cold and Merciless!

Under the desperate cover of several companions, the two killers finally arrived in front of Muto Masaaki's carriage...

Just as they were about to rush into the carriage and hack Muto Masaaki to death with his swords, Muto Masaaki directly struck out with his palm, knocking the killer in the front back several steps!
Seeing this, the second killer who followed closely behind him also quickly took out a grenade and pulled the fuse, intending to die together with Muto Masaaki!
However, Sato Zhenzhao reacted very quickly and immediately jumped out of the carriage and hid behind it.
"boom!"

There was a loud explosion and the killer was blown to pieces. The carriage was also blown to pieces, and Muto Masaaki was blown to the ground!
"Homeowner!"

Seeing Mutou Masaaki lying on the ground, his guards were furious. Some wanted to check on Mutou Masaaki's condition, while others thought that Mutou Masaaki was killed in the explosion and wanted to kill these assassins to avenge Mutou Masaaki.
At this time, several killers were overjoyed, thinking that they had completed the mission. Moreover, seeing their companions decreasing one after another, they knew that they would be wiped out sooner or later if they stayed here, so they looked at each other and immediately began to leave the battlefield and ran away separately!
However, at this time, amid the anxious shouts of many guards and followers, Muto Masaaki, who was lying on the ground, gradually made some movements...

After waking up, Muto Masaaki felt extreme pain all over his body, especially in his ribs, as it seemed that several of his ribs were broken.

Seeing Mutou Masaaki waking up, his personal guards were extremely excited. For safety reasons, they looked for a doctor for Mutou Masaaki and immediately found a carriage to send the seriously injured Mutou Masaaki back home!

Half an hour later, the whole Heian-kyo knew that one of the five big bosses, Muto Masaaki, had been assassinated. Ishihara Nobuyuki, the head of the three magistrates and also in charge of the defense of Heian-kyo, was also very angry!
Ishihara Nobuyuki immediately arranged for his subordinates to impose martial law throughout the city to search for the assassins. At the same time, he also strengthened the defense of his lord Toyotomi Hidetada and the residences of ministers and public departments in Heian-kyo to prevent similar assassination attempts from happening again!

On the same night, Ishihara Nobuyuki, who was worried about the comfort of Muto Masaaki, came to the Muto family despite the dissuasion of his subordinates!
Mutō Masaaki's eldest son, Mutō Soichirō, came to the gate of the palace on behalf of his father and family to welcome Ishihara Nobuyuki, the head of the Three Magistrates.

When Muto Soichiro saw Ishihara Nobuyuki appear, he bowed nearly ninety degrees and said:

"Thank you for coming, Master Ishihara!"

Ishihara Nobu nodded slightly and followed Muto Soichiro into the mansion. Because he was worried about Muto Masaaki's injury, Ishihara Nobu went straight to the point and asked:

"Ichiro, how is your father doing?"

Soichiro Muto replied without thinking:

“Doctor Ono just examined my father. He has two broken ribs and his internal organs have been impacted. Overall, there is nothing serious and his life is not in danger. However, he needs to recuperate for a while…”

Hearing this news, Ishihara Nobuyuki frowned slightly, but the tension in his heart was also relieved a lot!
Although he was willing to take risks and come to visit Muto Masaaki so eagerly when the assassin had not been caught yet, his personal relationship with Muto Masaaki was not very good. Strictly speaking, the two of them were not even friends, but colleagues working together!

One of them is one of the five big bosses, and the other is one of the three magistrates, both of whom are very important figures in Higashima. However, Ishihara Nobuyuki was born in the common people's class and was valued by the previous Taiko Toyotomi Ieyasu, who promoted him out of turn!

The Muto family is a hereditary noble family, and Muto Masaaki represents the interests of the traditional noble family. The difference in the two people's backgrounds has led to great differences in their political views!
For this reason, in the shogunate led by the former shogun Toyotomi Ieyasu, the two men had frequent verbal battles due to their different political views, and they even mocked and ridiculed each other!

But the past is the past, and the present is the present. At this moment, both of them were entrusted by Toyotomi Ieyasu to take care of the young lord, Toyotomi Hidetada, in accordance with the old lord's will, and they must assist the young lord Toyotomi Hidetada and maintain the Toyotomi family's rule in Higashijima!
Therefore, even though the two people had different political views and their personal relationship was average, they still sought common ground while reserving differences, worked together for the common goal, and together formulated a plan to divert the trouble away······························

Although he really disliked Muto Yoshiaki who always considered himself a noble, Ishihara Nobuya had to admit that this guy was quite talented and knowledgeable. He was different from those nobles who liked to boast and pretended to be decent people on the surface, but were actually useless.
And their next plan to divert the trouble away requires the operation and planning of Muto Masaaki. Without Muto Masaaki, everything might fail!
Therefore, considering the overall situation, Ishihara Nobuyuki was so anxious and worried about Muto Masaaki's situation. Otherwise, he would not care about the life or death of this noble bastard Muto Masaaki!

Judging from what Mutō Soichirō said, Mutō Masaaki's situation seems to be a blessing in disguise!
Although it sounded like Muto Masaaki would need to recuperate for a while, Ishihara Nobuya was still quite satisfied. Before coming, he had been worried that Muto Masaaki would follow his old lord Toyotomi Ieyasu!
After knowing Mutou Masaaki's situation, Ishihara Nobuyuki had no other ideas. After instructing Mutou Soichiro to take good care of Mutou Masaaki, he planned to leave!

However, what surprised Ishihara Nobu was that at this moment a maid came over and said:
"Master Ishihara, the master of the family invites you to speak!"

Ishihara Nobuyuki was very confused when he heard this. He didn't know why Mutou Mazaaki came to him instead of recuperating from his injury. However, he didn't think much about it and followed the maid to Mutou Mazaaki's room...

As soon as he entered the room, Ishihara Nobuyuki could smell the strong smell of herbs, which was mixed with a hint of blood. At this time, Muto Masaaki, who was pale and weak, tried hard to sit up, but in the end he failed and could only continue to lie down.
Seeing this, Muto Masaaki sighed helplessly, then waved his hand to signal his son to leave. Seeing this, Ishihara Nobuyuki did not bother to be polite with him and sat down cross-legged, frowning and asked:

"Muto-kun, why did you ask me to come over when you are already in this state and you don't want to take care of yourself?"

Facing Ishihara Nobuyuki's question, Muto Masaaki did not answer but asked back:

"Has the assassin who tried to kill me, Ishihara-kun, been caught?"

Ishihara Nobu shook his head and said:

"Not yet, but don't worry, Muto-kun. I have already started searching the entire city. It won't be long before I catch those bastards who tried to assassinate you!"

After saying this, Ishihara Nobuo paused and continued:
"Once I catch these people, I will hand them over to you, Muto-kun, to deal with!"

Seeing that Ishihara Nobu thought he wanted revenge, Muto Masaaki immediately shook his head and said:
"Ishihara-kun, you need to find out where these things came from as soon as possible!"

Ishihara Nobuo was a little confused after hearing this. He hesitated for a moment and asked:

"Muto-kun, who do you think sent these people at this moment?"

Faced with this question, Muto Masaaki did not answer it immediately, but seemed to recall something, and a complex expression emerged in his expression·································

It was not until Ishihara Nobuyuki became impatient that Muto Masaaki said in a deep voice:

"I think these are coming from Da Zhou now!"

"Da Zhou?"

Muto Masaaki's answer surprised Ishihara Nobuyuki. After hesitating for a moment, he said:
"The information I got is that the people who assassinated you were a group of down-and-out samurai. Weren't they sent by those daimyo lords?"

Muto Masaaki shook his head and said, "They are indeed dressed like some down-and-out warriors, but they all use the martial arts of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Some of them have martial arts that are so powerful that you can tell they are from the Great Zhou army!"

"And most importantly, they are very good at using firearms. The reason I am like this is because one of the assassins used a firearm called a grenade!"

After hearing what Muto Masaaki said, Ishihara Nobuyuki's expression gradually became serious. After a moment of silence, he asked solemnly:
"Muto-kun, you're saying that the Fengwu Army has noticed us, and they're planning to attack you?"

Upon hearing this, Muto Masaaki took a deep breath and nodded and said:
"I think so!"

After answering this question, Muto Mazaaki couldn't help but have an image of a girl in his mind. She was holding a bamboo sword and had scars all over her body, but she still had a stubborn look on her face. Thinking of this, Muto Mazaaki seemed to feel a little guilty...

Seeing that Muto Masaaki gave a positive answer, Ishihara Nobu hesitated and asked:
"Muto-kun, are you really unable to contact Morie? If we have her help, we will be even more powerful!"

Muto Masaaki smiled bitterly and shook his head and said:

"She seems to have forgotten that she is a citizen of East Island and is obsessed with love between men and women. Most importantly, she must hate me!"

Upon hearing this answer, Ishihara Nobuyuki frowned. He has always had fantasies about Akiyama Morie. After all, as long as Akiyama Morie is willing to make sacrifices for Higashima!

Then not only all the problems can be solved, but Higashima may even be able to realize the dream of his old lord Toyotomi Ieyasu to rule China!

But now, Muto Masaaki's answer undoubtedly poured a bucket of cold water on him, extinguishing all the fantasies in his heart!

After thinking for a while, Ishihara Nobuyuki asked Muto Masaaki:

"Half a year has passed. Muto-kun, do you have any new views on the situation in Da Zhou?"

Muto Mazaaki thought for a while and said:

“The Fengwu Army’s speed of action is much faster than we expected. At first we thought that even if Ye Mingsheng could unify the Great Zhou, it would take at least three years…”

"But now Ye Mingsheng's speed is much faster than we expected. I think if everything goes well, he may be able to unify the Great Zhou in a year!"

Hearing this answer, Ishihara Nobuo said with some dissatisfaction:
"Mr. Muto, you really think too highly of Ye Mingsheng. Don't forget that a few days ago, news came from the Great Zhou that Xu Zhaojie had already started a counterattack in Jingchu and had achieved very positive results!"

Muto Masaaki said calmly:
"Ishihara-kun, don't forget how far we are from the Great Zhou. It will take us a long time to get the news!"

"In my opinion, Xu Zhaojie was already dead after his failure in conquering Jiangnan. His current counterattack in Jingchu is just a flash in the pan!"

"Xu Zhaojie can no longer cause any trouble. There is no one in the entire Great Zhou who can stop Ye Mingsheng's ambition and his conquest!"

At the end, Muto Mazakaki couldn't help but sigh again. Seeing Muto Mazakaki praising Ye Mingsheng so much, Ishihara Nobuyuki said with some dissatisfaction:

"Muto-kun, there is a saying in the Great Zhou that the more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more she likes him!"

"Hahaha!"

After hearing this, Muto-kun was also amused by him, and then Muto Masaaki shook his head and said:

"Do you think she'll recognize me?"

Ishihara Nobuo fell silent after hearing this. After a moment, he said quietly:
"Muto-kun, she is your biological daughter, do you really want to give up on her?"

“I think you should understand what this means to her…”

Hearing this, the image of the little girl reappeared in Muto Masaaki's mind, but this time he no longer felt guilty. With a heart of stone, he said coldly:

"Her last name is Akiyama, not Muto!"

"She has never been a member of the Muto family, let alone my daughter. Her life or death has nothing to do with me!"

Feeling the coldness in Mutou Masaaki's words, Ishihara Nobuyuki couldn't help but take a good look at Mutou Masaaki. Although he knew that Mutou Masaaki was a cold-blooded and ruthless person, he didn't expect that Mutou Masaaki would be so cold-blooded and ruthless that he would actually put his own daughter to death!

After thinking for a moment, Ishihara Nobuya said affirmatively:

"Mr. Muto, you are a hero of East Island. The people of East Island and the Lord will remember your contribution!"

In response, Muto Masaaki did not continue the topic, but changed the subject and said:
"Ono-kun said that I need to recuperate for three months. During this time, I will not be able to take care of government affairs. Leave everything to Mitsunari. After I recover, I will continue to promote the progress of the plan!"

Ishihara Nobu nodded and agreed:

"No problem. Kobayakawa should be back from Sakkun soon..."

(End of this chapter)