I formed the strongest swordsman group

"...Ji Yi."

After taking a deep look at the "talent list" in his hand for the last time, Iemo Tokugawa folded the booklet together.

"Are you really... unwilling to temporarily step down from the position of the boss and avoid the edge?"

"General." Ii Naosuke laughed, "I am the descendant of the 'Red Yasha' Ii Naomasa who made countless heroes fear in the Warring States Period three hundred years ago."

Jing Yi Naobi raised his head slightly, his pupils were full of pride.

"Back in the day, the ancestor Ii Naomasa personally led the "Ii Chibei Squad", and served as the vanguard of the army many times, overcoming obstacles for the Tokugawa family."

"The ancestors are so brave, how can the minister, as his descendants, shrink back."

"It is my pride to serve as the vanguard general of the shogunate and to serve the Tokugawa clan."

"Please, General, don't take away the pride of the subject!"

...

...

"My lord..."

"Master General." Tianzhangyuan quickly raised his eyes to look at Tokugawa Iemo who was slowly walking towards her.

She wanted to ask how the conversation with Jing Yi Naosuke was going.

However, after seeing Tokugawa Jiamo's expression at this time, she already knew the answer to this question.

"Is that so..." Tianzhangyuan murmured, "Isn't he willing to temporarily step down from the position of elder..."

Tokugawa Iemo, with an extremely complicated expression on his face, remained silent.

He slowly lowered his gaze, looking at the "talent list" that Ii Naosuke handed him just now, which was tightly clutched in his left hand...

"Since Jing Yi doesn't want to step down from the position of the boss for the time being..." Iemo Tokugawa said softly, "then we can only try to strengthen Jing Yi's guards."

"Mother, I would like to select a group of strong enough warriors to supplement Jingyi's guard team. What is your intention?"

Tianzhangyuan nodded lightly without thinking for too long: "That's the only way to go."

...

...

Reverse the time back to the time when Jingyi Naobi had not yet met Tianzhangyuan——

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Shouwei Museum, outside the gate——

"Kondo-kun, Kubei, see you tonight." Qing Deng tightened the black scarf around his neck.

Although it is already March, the weather is still surprisingly cold.

In such a cold weather, it might snow, so just in case, Qingdeng and Saito wore bamboo hats to block the snow.

"Odd-numbered months" are the months in which the Northern Fans are in charge of governing Edo, while "even-numbered months" are the months in which the Southern Fans are in charge of governing Edo.

Now that February has passed and March has arrived, Qingdeng has resumed the life of a civil servant who "works at sunrise and rests at sunset".

"En. Be careful on the road." Kondo-kun waved to Qingdeng.

Under the watchful eyes of Kondo and Kubei, Qingdeng and Saito each carried the bento made by Kubei for them, and rushed to Beibansuo one after the other.

After getting Abi’s permission to use the kitchen of the testing hall freely, Jiubingwei still maintained his previous habit——every morning when Qingdeng needed to go to work, he prepared bento for lunch for Qingdeng.

With the addition of Saito, a new family member, this habit has become to prepare meals for Qingdeng and Saito every day.

Facing the slightly icy cold and biting morning wind, Qingdeng walked down the high slope where the testing hall is located.

Suddenly, he saw a very familiar figure in front of him...

It's Shannan Jingsuke.

Qingdeng slightly raised the brim of the bamboo hat on his head, and shouted to the back of Shannan who was walking in front of him, hurriedly not knowing where he was going:

"Shannan-kun!"

After Shannan heard Qingdeng's voice, he immediately stopped and turned around.

"Huh? Mr. Tangerine?"

Shannan blinked at Qingdeng in surprise, then spread his teeth and smiled.

"The two of us seem to have a special relationship recently." Shan Nan quickly approached Qingdeng, and continued jokingly, "I ran into you in the noodle shop yesterday, and today I ran into you on the street."

"Shannan-jun." Qingdeng asked, "Why are you here?"

"Isn't it the Shangsi Festival tomorrow?" Shannan crossed his hands into the sleeves on both sides of Haori, "I plan to go to Nihonbashi to buy some for tomorrow when it is still early and there are not too many people. A gift from a sinology master who has taken care of me a lot.”

During the Shangsi Festival in the Edo period, in addition to praying for unmarried girls in the family, there was also the custom of presenting items, food, etc. to masters of learning and various skills.

However, this custom is a bit unpopular, and few people will observe this custom on the Shangsi Festival.

After explaining to Qingdeng why he was here, Shannan looked at the bento in Qingdeng's hand.

"Mr. Ju, are you about to go to Beifan to serve the public right now?"

Qing Deng nodded.

"That's it..." Shannan said with a smile, "Then we happen to be on the same road for a while."

Shannan, who was planning to go to Nihombashi to buy gifts, and Qingdeng, who was going to work—they happened to be on the same road for a short distance.

So, the two naturally walked side by side.

"Ah, by the way, Mr. Ju." Just walking a few steps with Qingdeng, Shannan asked Qingdeng curiously, "How is Mr. Chongtian now? He should be fine, right? I think he seemed drunk yesterday Pretty awesome."

"Oh... Okita-kun..." Qingdeng smiled helplessly, "Okita-kun is fine."

"He's still sleeping now. According to my estimation, he won't be able to wake up until noon."

Last night, after meeting Shannan in that noodle shop, Qingdeng and the others chatted with Shannan for a long time.

Shannan is very knowledgeable, well-informed, and has a flamboyant tone, so chatting with him is not boring at all.

At the beginning, they were chatting about the grievances and grievances between Yi Naosuke and Mito Fan.

While chatting, the topic suddenly turned to the practice of swordsmanship.

After exchanging their experience in practicing swordsmanship with each other, the topic inexplicably shifted to the special food of their respective hometowns.

Chongtian and Shannan are half-citizens, they are both from the Northeast.

Okita's hometown is Shirakawa Domain in Northeastern Japan, and Shannan's hometown is Sendai Domain in Northeastern Japan.

However, although Okita’s hometown is the Shirakawa clan in the northeast, he was born and raised in Edo, and he hasn’t even returned to his hometown a few times. He can’t speak a word of Tohoku dialect, he can only speak the standard of this era Chinese, that is, Kanto dialect.

When everyone was chatting, a wine merchant suddenly entered the noodle shop and sold his wine.

The wine merchant said that his wine is a carefully crafted boutique, with a taste and strength different from all wines on the market.

This aroused Okita's interest.

Due to his personal character, Okita never lacks curiosity and spirit of exploration when dealing with new things that he has never seen before.

After hearing from the wine merchant that his wine was different from other wines on the market, Okita immediately became curious. After seeing that the price was not expensive, he bought a bottle and tried it with Qingdeng and others.

This wine merchant is not talking nonsense, the wine he sells is indeed very unusual - the "delay" effect is extremely strong.

When I first drank it, I didn't feel how strong the wine was.

But after a while, there will be an extremely strong stamina that makes people feel dizzy and cheeks swell.

Qingdeng and Shannan are people who can drink fairly well, so they can withstand the impact of this stamina.

But Okita can't do it.

Probably because of his young age, Okita's drinking capacity is quite average.

He was directly knocked down by the strong stamina, and changed back to the state after the celebration banquet a few days ago - drunk into a "soft lying" shape, Qingdeng had to carry him back again.

"Okita-kun is still sleeping now..." Shannan laughed dumbly, "It's fine as long as there is nothing serious about him."

During the conversation, the two had come to a shopping street full of shops. .

The current time is only before 8 o'clock, and this shopping street has gradually revealed its prosperity.

Shops opened one after another, and pedestrians laughed and shuttled on the street.

At first glance, it is a grand scene of peace and prosperity.

But after taking a closer look, you will find that under this "magnificent scene", there are shocking filth hidden everywhere.

Beggars can be seen everywhere on the roadside; poor vagrants who have lost their salary who wandered from nowhere; merchants with sad faces who are making business more and more difficult due to the deteriorating economy...these pictures are hidden in the corner of "Grand Scenery" , all silently telling the onlookers who come and go: this is not an era worth looking forward to.

Looking at the dirty scenes hidden in every corner of the street, Shannan suddenly said quietly:

"The number of beggars and wanderers on the street always seems to be increasing..."

As soon as the Shannan dialect was finished, Qingdeng immediately answered in a half-joking tone:

"In today's world, it's strange that the number of beggars and ronin don't increase?"

Shannan was startled, then chuckled silently a few times: "That's right..."

"If you think about it calmly - it is not easy for the shogunate to guarantee the general stability of the country now."

Shannan raised his head and looked at the center of Edo, where he could just see the blurred shadow of Edo Castle.

"Although I don't like Mr. Ii's overly tough ruling style that ignores the will of His Majesty the Emperor, it is undeniable that he is an indispensable figure in this country at present."

"He suppressed countless careerists who had evil intentions after the prestige of the shogunate was severely damaged by strong ships from Western countries."

At this time, they happened to pass by the torii gate of a shrine.

Shannan raised his eyes and glanced at the shimenawa rope wrapped around the torii gate, which had a very sacred meaning.

"...Elder Jing Yi, he is like a broken demon arrow, suppressing countless monsters and monsters."

Hearing Shannan's slightly figurative metaphor, Qingdeng couldn't help laughing: "Is it a broken magic arrow... You make a strange metaphor..."

Poma arrow: A ritual blessing in Japanese Shintoism, specially used to exorcise evil spirits and pray for blessings.

Almost all of Qingdeng's current knowledge of Jingyi Naosuke comes from the memory of "Original Ju Qingdeng".

I don't know if it's because "Yuan Ju Qingdeng" is a member of the government, but "Yuan Ju Qingdeng" has quite a positive impression of Jing Yi Naosuke in his memory.

In the memory of "Yuan Juqingdeng", the image of Jingyi Naosuke...is very close to what Shannan said just now-although he is not a capable minister with the talents of the world, but his existence, It is indeed like a demon-breaking arrow, sealing countless demons.

Before they knew it, they had come to a crossroads.

Qingdeng wants to go to the left, while Shannan wants to go to the right.

"Shannan-kun, let's not live here for now."

"Yes." Shannan waved to Qingdeng, "I'll see you later."

After saying goodbye to Shannan, Qingdeng took Saito and left.

Shannan didn't leave immediately.

He stood on the spot, quietly watching Qing Deng's figure shrinking in his field of vision.

After Qingdeng's figure completely disappeared from his eyes, he said to himself with a volume that only he could hear clearly:

"The country is in crisis...but I have nowhere to show my talents..."

Shannan slowly half-closed his eyes.

In the pupils of the eyes, a somewhat lonely color flashed.

...

...

That day, late at night——

Edo, Ii's residence, Ii Naosuke's bedroom—

Jing Yi Naobi, already dressed in a pair of pajamas, was kneeling behind the desk, writing something furiously.

"What are you writing?"

Unexpectedly, Ajiu approached from behind Jing Yi Naobi with a smile on his face.

"Ah, ma'am." Jing Yi Naobi glanced at Ajiu, who had already sat behind him, and quickly turned his gaze back to the desk in front of him.

"It's just dealing with some unfinished government affairs today."

"It turns out that I was dealing with government affairs..." Ajiu's eyebrows showed a little regret at this moment, "I thought you were writing the snow-themed waka that you told me before..."

Waka with the theme of snow?

After Jingyi Naobi thought about it for a while, he finally recalled that this happened.

Probably more than a month ago, on the night when Ju Qingdeng first learned about the deeds of "Snow Night Chaos", he mentioned to Ajiu that he had a new inspiration for a waka with the theme of snow.

After reminiscing, Jing Yi Naosuke secretly felt guilty in his heart.

Obviously, he has already made an agreement with Ajiu: After finishing this Japanese song, he will show it to her as soon as possible.

As a result - he has been very busy recently, so he has completely put this matter behind him...

"Madam..." Jing Yi Zhibi took several deep breaths, suppressing the guilt in his heart, "I can't rest for a while, so you should sleep first."

Ajiu never asked or interfered with Ii Naosuke's work.

In the past, she would nod without hesitation, and then obediently follow Jing Yi Naosuke's instructions to rest first.

But now... for the first time, Ajiu did not immediately carry out Jingyi Naobi's order.

She stared at Ii Naosuke, who was facing away from her, with a rather weird expression.

"...Master Ii, are you hiding something from me?"

Jing Yi Naosuke's pen suddenly paused.

"Why did you ask so?"

"It's nothing." After Ajiu blinked vigorously, Mukai Yi Naobi squeezed out a... unnatural smile.

"It's just that you always feel that you seem to have something on your mind."

Ii Naosuke: "..."

In the bedroom, it was so quiet for a moment that only the sound of burning candles remained.

Jing Yi Naobi slowly put the writing brush in his hand on the pen mount placed in the corner of the table.

"Ma'am..." Jing Yi Naobi turned around and faced Ajiu.

In his pupils, there is a soft light that is completely different from his appearance today when he confronted Tianzhangyuan.

"You are overthinking."

"I have nothing on my mind."

"Maybe it's because I've been too busy recently, and my face is a little haggard, so you might think that I'm very worried now."

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Ajiu looked straight at Ii Naobi.

"...It's good that you don't have anything on your mind." Ajiu blinked his eyes quickly a few times.

Jing Yi Naobi nodded: "Okay, don't think too much, go and rest."

"Yeah." Ajiu responded very readily this time, "You too, go to bed early."

"You've been too busy recently. Look, your cheeks have turned sallow."

Ajiu raised his hand and touched Ii Naobi's wrinkled old cheek.

"Okay..." Jing Yi Naobi raised his hand, and lightly grasped Ajiu's hand that was caressing his cheek, "I will rest after dealing with this last bit of government affairs."

Jing Yi Naobi supported Ajiu, and personally helped Ajiu into her bed before returning to the desk.

By candlelight, he carefully examined his wife's face whose breathing had gradually become even and soft.

His gaze gradually changed from soft to complex.

call……!

At this time, there was a piercing wind outside the window.

The wind is very strong and cold tonight, like a knife.

Jing Yi Naobi turned his eyes away from Ajiu's face and turned to the window not far away.

Speaking of which... in half a month, it will be the time when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom...

Suddenly - the long-lost Waka inspiration flashed through my mind.

Ii Naosuke took out a blank piece of paper from the desk, and while seeing no cherry blossoms flying, only the cold wind blowing outside the window, he quickly wrote a waka on the white paper:

[Scattered cherry blossoms are crushed into dust, and the fragrance is still full of heaven and earth]

Jingyi Naobi picked up the paper, carefully admiring and analyzing this new waka that he composed.

"ha……"

After making a self-deprecating chuckle, he threw the paper with his new waka on the desk, and then continued to concentrate on handling the government affairs at hand.

...

...

the next day—

In the seventh year of Anzheng (1860), March 3——

"It's so cold..."

After finishing today's morning exercise, Qingdeng shivered involuntarily after he came to the courtyard of the testing hall with his dental kit.

Qingdeng raised his head and looked at the sky above his head: "It's really cold today..."

The sky this morning is quite dark.

The dense dark clouds are extremely low, making people feel breathless.

After vigorously rubbing his two arms with chicken skin, Qingdeng quickly fetched clean water for washing from the well.

"Hello Claws... (Good morning)" At this time, Okita, who was not yet fully awake, closed his eyes tightly, carried his toothbrush, and staggered towards the well.

Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew, directly waking up Okita.

"...Goo!" Okita suddenly opened his eyes, raised his hands, and rubbed his arms vigorously, "It's so cold!"

"Keep warm." Qingdeng reminded, "It's a bit cold today."

Okita looked up at the gray sky above his head, curled his lips: "Why is the weather so bad today... It's a rare Shangsi Festival, I planned to go out to see the peach blossoms this afternoon..."

Today is the Shangsi Festival that many unmarried girls are looking forward to.

Shangsi Festival also has another name, that is "Peach Blossom Festival", because this time happens to be the time when peach blossoms are in full bloom.

After rubbing his arms to warm them up, Okita quickly ran to Qingdeng's side, and fetched his share of well water for washing from the well.

"Mr. Ju." Brushing his teeth, Okita asked Qingdeng in an ambiguous tone, "How do you plan to spend today's Shangsi holiday?"

"Except for practicing sword in the test hall, I don't have any activities to participate in." Qingdeng replied in a joking tone.

He has no daughter in Qingdeng, and there are no unmarried girls in the test hall.

This Shangsi Festival is just a very ordinary day for Qingdeng and Shiweiguan...

—Speaking of which... Arima-sama and the others should be on their way to Edo Castle by now...

A small official like Qingdeng can spend today's Shangsi Festival leisurely and leisurely.

But officials with a slight rank like Arima must go to Edo Castle today to celebrate the Shangsi Festival with the shogun in the Great Hiroshima of Edo Castle.

Qingdeng guessed that Arima should have changed into the most solemn dress by now, and led his entourage towards Edo Castle.

"Mr. Ju, since you don't have much to do today, would you like to go see the peach blossoms with me this afternoon?" Okita's cheeks were filled with anticipation and joy, "Now is the time of the year when the peach blossoms are in full bloom. , it would be a pity if you don’t go and enjoy it.”

"Look at the peach blossoms..."

Today's weather is not very good, Qingdeng doesn't particularly want to go out.

Just when Qingdeng was thinking about whether to accept Okita's invitation to see flowers, he suddenly saw a white spot as big as a grain of rice passing by his eyes.

"Um?"

Qingdeng and Okita who also noticed the white spot raised their heads and looked towards the sky.

"It's snowing..." Okita murmured.

I saw dots of snowflakes descending from the clouds, embellishing the gray sky.

The snowflakes flying in the wind are like naughty elves.

The scene of flying fine snow made Qingdeng involuntarily recall a famous sentence in an ancient prose that he had learned before: If the catkins are blown up by the wind.

"The weather this year is really abnormal..." Okita smiled bitterly, "It's already March, and it's still snowing..."

Qingdeng nodded in agreement.

The sudden falling snow further dropped the already low temperature.

The chill wrapped around his body was getting heavier and heavier, and Qingdeng, who could hardly bear the cold, quickly washed up with Okita, and then fled back to the testing hall.

...

...

Today, all officials of a little bit of rank have to go to Edo Castle to celebrate the Shangsi Festival with the shogun - as the elder, Naosuke Ii, it is impossible for him to be absent.

At this moment, at the gate of the Jingyi family's mansion, more than seventy attendants and guards of Jingyi Naosuke are checking their haori, bamboo hats, sabers and other equipment.

Inside the mansion, Ii Naosuke, who had already changed into a dress, walked towards the house where the sedan chair was prepared, alone.

At this time, an old official of the Jingyi family appeared anxiously from the corner of the corridor behind Jingyi Naosuke, and rushed to Jingyi Naosuke in a hurry.

"My lord! My lord!"

The veteran knelt on one knee in front of Jing Yi Naosuke, and handed over a clean white envelope with both hands.

"My lord." The old minister lowered his voice, and said in a deep voice that no one could hear clearly except him and Jing Yi Naobi, "This morning, an anonymous letter was delivered to the mansion of my Jing Yi family."

"According to the letter, in the near future, there will be a group of mito feudal vassals who intend to intercept and kill you on the street."

"...Anonymous letter?" Jing Yi Naosuke took the envelope calmly, pulled out the letter paper from inside, and spread the letter paper vigorously.

What was written in the letter was quite simple—it was just to inform Ii Naobi that the vassals of the Mito domain were preparing to launch a Tianzhu operation in the next few days, so that Ii Naobi should be careful.

After quickly reading the contents of the anonymous letter, Jing Yi Naosuke threw the letter back to the veteran with a calm expression.

"The vassals of the Mito domain are eyeing my head... so what?"

"Am I never going out again?"

After finishing speaking, Jing Yi Naobi bypassed the veteran who was kneeling in front of him: "Help me find out who sent this anonymous letter later."

"My lord! My lord!"

The old minister walked quickly to Jingyi Naosuke again and knelt down.

"Please at least add more guards, I will arrange some new guards now..."

"No!" Jing Yi Zhibi sternly interrupted the veteran's words, "It's fine if it's normal, but today there must be no more guards."

"There are rules on how many guards you can bring when you go to the city to celebrate the Shangsi Festival."

"As the boss, I can't break the rules and set a bad example for others."

After finishing speaking, Jing Yi Naobi once again bypassed the veteran standing in front of him.

The veteran stood in front of Jing Yi Naosuke again without hesitation.

"My lord..."

"There is no need to say any more." Jing Yi Naobi remained calm, "Everyone has his own destiny."

"If the assassins want to kill me wholeheartedly, no matter how hard they try to defend, there will be loopholes."

At this time, Ajiu came.

Ajiu, who habitually sent Ii Naobi away from home in the early morning, appeared from the side corridor.

"What's wrong?" Ajiu looked at Jing Yi Zhibi, and then at the veteran who was still kneeling in front of Jing Yi Zhibi.

"It's okay." Jing Yi Naobi smiled at Ajiu, "I'm just discussing government affairs."

Jing Yi Naobi glanced at the veteran, and signaled to him with his eyes: Don't say any more! Step aside!

The veteran stared at Jing Yi Zhibi's determined face, gritted his teeth, and stepped back quickly.

"Let's go, ma'am." Jing Yi Naobi raised his hand to beckon Ajiu.

Ajiu followed Jing Yi Naosuke's side, and the two came outside the house without saying a word.

"Ah..." Ajiu raised his head and blinked at the flying snow above his head, "It's snowing..."

Jing Yi Naobi looked up at the snow together with Ajiu: "It's snowing even in this season...it's really rare."

"Did you wear something thicker?" Ajiu asked.

"Of course." Jing Yi Naobi smiled and patted the thick clothes on his chest.

"Just dress thickly." Ajiu smiled sweetly, "Don't catch a cold."

Suddenly, a cold snowflake lazily landed on the tip of Ajiu's nose.

Seeing this, Jing Yi Naobi smiled and stretched out his fingers to wipe off the snow on Ajiu's nose.

"The snow comes at a good time." Jingyi Naobi smiled, "I am worried that the creation of the snow-themed Shinwa song I told you before has hit a bottleneck."

"I hope this out-of-season heavy snow can bring me new creative inspiration."

Ajiu covered his mouth and smiled: "Then you must not waste this rare snow."

"Hurry up and take advantage of this early spring snow to gain new inspiration." Ajiu said mischievously, "I'm still waiting to appreciate your new waka. I haven't seen your new work for a long time."

Jing Yi Naobi nodded with a smile, "Since my wife is looking forward to it so much, then I have to write better."

"My lord." A strong man standing by the sedan door said in a low voice at this moment, "It's almost time."

This strong man is a close friend of Ii Naosuke - the deputy captain of Ii Naosuke's bodyguard: Kawanishi Chuzaemon, an outstanding swordsman from the Noi Ii family.

"Yeah." Jing Yi Naobi nodded, "Madam, I'll be leaving first."

Ajiu nodded: "Be careful on the road."

Jing Yi Naobi once again raised his hand to wipe off a snowflake that fell on Ajiu's face, and then ducked into the sedan chair.

The attendants standing by the sedan door quickly closed the sedan door after Jing Yi Naobi got into the sedan chair.

At the last moment when the car door was closed, Jing Yi Naobi turned his eyes and took a deep look at his wife who was still smiling...

"Get up the sedan chair!" Kawanishi Chuzaemon shouted.

Kneeling on one knee around the sedan chair, more than seventy Ii Naosuke's entourage and bodyguards stood up holding their knives.

They lined up in a long line, guarding the sedan chair that Ii Naosuke was riding on.

call……! call……! call……!

The wind suddenly increased at this moment.

In the strong wind blowing more and more, Ii Naosuke's team stepped out of the Ii family's mansion imposingly, turned onto the avenue outside the mansion, and arrived at... outside the Sakurada Gate at a leisurely speed.

The Sakurada Gate is one of the moats of Edo Castle, located between Sakurada-bori and Kaishuan-bori.

Because it is still early, and the weather today is not very good, there are only a few refreshment shops and a few passers-by scattered on the avenue outside the Sakurada Gate.

This avenue outside the Sakurada Gate is the only place Ii Naosuke must pass to go to Edo Castle.

The Ii family's team suddenly appeared outside the Sakurada gate, making this very quiet street suddenly lively and noisy.

The guys at the refreshment shop by the roadside, the passers-by on the street... They all raised their heads and cast curious glances at the huge team of Jing Yi's family.

At this moment, among the curious eyes cast on Jing Yi's team, there are some... strange eyes.

The 18 samurai hiding outside the Sakurada Gate slowly raised their eyes.

With resolute eyes, they stared at the sedan chair in the center of Jingyi's team, which was guarded by more than 70 guards.

...

...

Yumura Jizaemon, who was only planning to close his eyes and rest his mind, fell asleep in a daze.

In his sleep, amidst the chaos, he felt that the vision in front of him gradually became clear.

Seeing the picture that suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, Arimura Jizaemon immediately woke up - I was dreaming.

Knowing it was a dream, Arimura Jizaemon felt unable to wake up.

He dreamed of the day before yesterday... that is, March 1, he and the rest of the comrades held the final battle meeting...

On March 1, he and his comrades gathered in the rental house in Yamazaki on the west bank of Nihonbashi in the name of "Calligraphy and Painting Club".

Their leader, Seki Tetsunosuke, sat cross-legged in the center of the room, and Murura Jizaemon and others sat around Seki Tetsunosuke.

"The Heavenly Execution of the national traitor Ii Naosuke is scheduled for March 3!" Seki Tetsunosuke's voice was terribly low, "The time will not change again."

"This day is the Shangsi Festival. Officials of a certain rank will go to Edo Castle on this day to celebrate the festival with the General."

"As long as Tianzhu is fixed on this day, our ambush will not be in vain!"

"Now—let me explain again the assassination steps that have been modified by me."

As soon as Kan Tetsunosuke said this, Murura Jizaemon and others cheered up and concentrated.

"When the Ii family's queue passes the bridge outside the Sakurada Gate, kill the guards at the head first."

Guan Tetsunosuke raised his hand and pointed to the map laid out in front of him.

"In this way, other people in the queue will be attracted by the mutation ahead and rush forward, and the defense around the sedan chair will be weakened."

"The rest attacked from both sides of the sedan chair with weakened defenses, and took down the head of the Ii country thief in one fell swoop."

Guan Tetsunosuke raised his head and looked at a strong man sitting on his left.

"Gorokuro Mori will be responsible for beheading the guards at the head of the queue."

"Sen-kun, on the day of the operation, you will pretend to be a ronin who is going to seek revenge and approach the front of the queue."

"When the guards at the front of the queue come to drive you away because they don't know why, you wait for the opportunity to draw your sword and kill the enemy."

"Yes!" Mori Gorokuro nodded vigorously.

"The people in charge of attacking from the left wing, that is, the side of the samurai house—" Guan Tetsunosuke looked at the several young people on the right, "Kurosawa Chusaburo, Yamaguchi Tatsunosuke, Sugiyama Yaichiro, Arimura Jizaemon , Zengzi Jinba."

"Among them, Kurosawa Chusaburo is the vanguard of the left wing."

"The people in charge of the right wing, that is, the side of the moat, are: Oseki Kazuchiro, Sano Takenosuke, Inada Shigenosuke, Moriyama Shigenosuke, Hirokako Jiro, and Kaigo Sonosuke."

"The post-response will be performed by Goro Hasuda, important person Koibuchi, and Matsunosuke Hiroki."

Every time Guan Tetsunosuke called a name, the person whose name was called would respond with a loud "yes"...

...

...

"Hey, there is a village gentleman, wake up, don't sleep. The country thief is here."

Arimura Jizaemon heard Kurosawa Chusaburo's voice and felt his body being shaken slightly.

The dream suddenly shattered.

Arimura Jizaemon slowly opened his eyes after his consciousness returned to reality from this dream that recalled the past.

As soon as he opened his eyes, the orange pattern of Jingyi's house came into his eyes.

Looking at the queue of Ii's house not far away, Arimura Jizaemon, who was hiding in the dark alley with Kurosawa Chusaburo, let out a long breath, then stretched out his hands that had been folded in his arms to keep warm, and stretched his waist The knife in the middle was pulled out of its sheath...

In this chapter, Naosuke Jingyi wrote the waka "still full of fragrance" on the day before the Shangsi Festival; on the day of the Shangsi Festival, he received an anonymous letter reminding him to be careful about assassination; Jing Yi Naosuke refused to be on the day of the Shangsi Festival Add guards... [The above plots are all historical facts, and the author does not have any original ideas]

So don't say that the plot is so strange, why Ii Naobi is so deadly and so on, the historical facts are like this, and the author is just writing down the real history.

Iemo Tokugawa persuaded Ii Naosuke to temporarily step down from the position of boss, which is also a plot adapted by the author based on historical facts.

In historical facts, it was Naobi Ii's cronies who persuaded Naobi Ii to avoid the front for the time being, but Naobi Ii refused.

By the way—[Although Ajiu is the original character of this book, she actually has a historical prototype]

Her historical prototype is a lover of Jing Yi Naosuke who helped him survive the lowest period of his life. Because of this, I designed Jing Yi Naosuke and Ajiu to be so affectionate, and I will share with you in detail later. Talk about the archetypal character of Ajiu.