Takasugi then pressed for the opening of Shimonoseki Port to foreigners, which led both the reformist and moderate factions to try to kill him, and in April he escaped to the Shikoku region with his mistress Ono (later called Baishoni), relying on the support of Enseki KUSANAGI there.
4月には、下関開港を推し進めたことにより、攘夷派・俗論派に命を狙われたため、愛妾・おうの（後の梅処尼）とともに四国へ逃れ、日柳燕石を頼る。