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This Oishi Kuranosuké was absent at the castle of Akô at the time of the affray, which, had he been with his prince, would never have occurred; for, being a wise man, he would not have failed to propitiate Kôtsuké no Suké by sending him suitable presents; while the councillor who was in attendance on the prince at Yedo was a dullard, who neglected this precaution, and so caused the death of his master and the ruin of his house.
In the end, after Etchu and Kotsuke had been brought under Kenshin's sway, peace was concluded between him and the Hojo, and he turned his full strength against his perennial foe, Shingen. But at this stage the situation was entirely changed by the appearance of Oda Nobunaga on the scene, as will be presently narrated.
"Last year, in the third month, Asano Takumi no Kami, upon the occasion of the entertainment of the Imperial ambassador, was driven, by the force of circumstances, to attack and wound my Lord Kôtsuké no Suké in the castle, in order to avenge an insult offered to him.
"This is a passing strange story of yours; however, I will go myself to-night to my lady's apartments and keep watch. You can come with me." Accordingly, that night my lord Kôtsuké no Suké sat up in person. "We have come to meet you. The pains you are suffering are terrible, but they are nothing in comparison with those of the hell to which we are about to lead you."
Through one of his officers, Funada Yoshimasa, he obtained a mandate from Prince Morinaga, and then, feigning sickness, he left the camp in Yamato and returned to Kotsuke, where he lost no time in making preparations for revolt.
For example, when the descendants of Minamoto no Yoshiiye acquired great properties at Nitta and Ashikaga in the provinces of Kotsuke and Shimotsuke, they took the territorial names of Nitta and Ashikaga, remaining always Minamoto; and when the descendants of Yoshimitsu, younger brother of Yoshiiye, acquired estates in the province of Kai, they began to call themselves Takeda.
When he saw Kôtsuké no Suké, he caused the gates to be opened, and, thinking it more than strange, said "Is this indeed you, my lord? What strange chance brings your lordship hither thus late at night, on horseback and alone, without a single follower?"
Then Oishi Kuranosuké sent a messenger to the neighbouring houses, bearing the following message: "We, the Rônins who were formerly in the service of Asano Takumi no Kami, are this night about to break into the palace of Kôtsuké no Suké, to avenge our lord. As we are neither night robbers nor ruffians, no hurt will be done to the neighbouring houses. We pray you to set your minds at rest."
And when at last it became evident from the letters which arrived from Yedo that Kôtsuké no Suké was thoroughly off his guard, Kuranosuké rejoiced that the day of vengeance was at hand; and, having appointed a trysting-place at Yedo, he fled secretly from Kiôto, eluding the vigilance of his enemy's spies. Then the forty-seven men, having laid all their plans, bided their time patiently.
The first is the receipt given by the retainers of Kôtsuké no Suké's son in return for the head of their lord's father, which the priests restored to the family, and runs as follows: "MEMORANDUM: ITEM. ONE HEAD. ITEM. ONE PAPER PARCEL. The above articles are acknowledged to have been received. "To the priests deputed from the Temple Sengakuji, His Reverence SEKISHI, His Reverence ICHIDON."
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