I formed the strongest swordsman group

Edo, a certain commercial street——

After noon, the weather became clearer.

The warm sunshine, which is rare in winter, slanted down from the cloudless high sky. Cast the figures of Qingdeng and his party on the red soil road that is extremely compacted by countless feet, hooves, and wheels.

From the perspective of Qingdeng and his group, the shops on the right were bathed in shining sunlight, while the shops on the left were immersed in relative shadows.

The strong contrast between light and shadow brings a vivid texture like oil painting to this downtown area, which is very well-known in Edo.

Men and women of different classes, identities, and costumes bustled around, driving back and forth.

The cold wind with snow particles blowing from time to time, tightened the skirts of every pedestrian.

The shops lined up in a row are filled with a wide variety of goods, and izakayas, tea houses, and confectionery houses are lined up, and the tempting aroma of tea-flavored snacks lingers on the nose.

For Edo people, these are just ordinary scenes that can be seen every day, and they have long been tired of seeing them.

But for a certain young man who is walking in front of Qingdeng now... For this canary-like young man who has been imprisoned in the "big iron cage" of Edo Castle for many years, these street scenes are all So fresh and interesting.

"Is this the Hirokoji within the Imperial Gate of the Suji Bridge... Seeing is worth seeing once."

Tokugawa Iemo, like Grandma Liu who had entered the Grand View Garden, looked left and right with bright eyes, and stopped from time to time to look at something or someone wholeheartedly.

"Mother... Ah, no, my lord, what is that? It smells so good."

"Oh, that."

Tenzhoin, who walked side by side with Tokugawa Ieshige, smiled and replied:

"That is the special food of Kanto: Monjayaki. It is made by mixing batter with various ingredients, pouring it on a hot iron plate and roasting it. When eating, use a special small spoon to shovel a little bit, and then put it on the iron plate Squeeze it, and eat it after it is burnt and crispy."

"Oh! So that's Monjayaki! It feels quite similar to the okonomiyaki in Osaka. I've heard about Monjayaki for a long time, but today I finally got to see it! My sis, why don't we taste it together? "

Tianzhangyuan nodded lightly without thinking:

"Why not? Tachibana-kun, Sajue, Yae. Do you want to come and eat together? I treat you~~"

Tianzhangyuan turned her head back and asked Qingdeng and Erzhong sisters who were standing in a row behind her and Iemo Tokugawa.

At this time, Qingdeng no longer wore the new clothes specially bought for the New Year, but changed into very simple clothes.

A brown padded coat made of rough linen; a plain black long hakama; a low-edged bamboo hat with frayed edges that can just cover most of Qingdeng's face.

In addition, the saber on Qingdeng's waist was also changed.

Wakizashi is still the same Wakizashi, but Dingguishen has been replaced with an ordinary knife that can control the public.

The knife has been changed, the style of dressing has changed, and most of the face has been covered. From head to toe, there is a "simplicity" atmosphere of country people... let alone someone else, even Kinoshita Mai, Sanako and the chief executive are here , and most of them couldn't recognize this "old hat" as Qingdeng at the first time.

"Master Yu Du, thank you for your kindness."

Yarn weighed first.

"But I'm not hungry yet, so I won't eat."

Yae stammered and echoed:

"Me, me too."

"Both of you don't eat... what about you?"

Tianzhangyuan focused its attention on Qingdeng standing in the center of the two sisters.

"Mr. Orange, do you want to eat?"

Qingdeng thought for a while, then nodded and said:

"Then... I'd rather be respectful than obedient."

Although Qingdeng wasn't hungry yet, God knows when the mother and son are going to visit Edo Weifu.

Therefore, for the sake of prudence, it is better to eat more and save more energy.

"You're welcome, just eat with your belly open!"

Tianzhangyuan smiled, and joked:

"Please eat all you can eat monjayaki, I still have money."

Tokugawa Ieshige personally took the lead and led the crowd to the monjayaki stall not far away that was constantly exuding a tempting aroma, and now it happens that there is no need to queue up.

"boss!"

Tianzhangyuan erected three scallion-white jade fingers.

"Three copies of writing!"

With the two identities of the Odaisho and the Commander-in-Chief of the New Imperial Court Ban, Tenzho-in Temple, which frequently travels between Edo Castle and Tsukinomiya Shrine, is naturally far more familiar with the customs and customs of Edo than Tokugawa Iemo, and understands better. How to deal with the common people in Edo.

"Okay!" The stall owner responded enthusiastically.

After a while, Qingdeng, Tenzhangin, and Tokugawa Kamo each held a steaming bowl of Monjayaki, sitting in a row on a bench next to the booth, eating Yaki.

Monjayaki is just an ordinary folk snack that can be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys of Edo.

For Qingdeng, the monjayaki peddled by this stall tastes good, but that's it - but Tokugawa Jiashige eats it with relish.

I saw him holding the freshly baked words, looking here, smelling there, looking at it like a work of art for a long time, before picking up a piece and putting it in his mouth.

While chewing, he nodded, with surprise and joy shining in his eyes.

"boss!"

Tokugawa Iemo raised his head, and spoke loudly to the stall owner with a Kishu accent that couldn't be more standard:

"Your craftsmanship is really good!"

"Thank you for the compliment!"

The stall owner laughed a few times.

"Guest officer, from your accent, you must be from Kizhou, right?"

"oh?"

Iemo Tokugawa raised an eyebrow.

"Your ears are amazing! Yes, I'm from Kishu!"

Tokugawa Jiashige sat up a little bit and straightened his clothes.

"I am a vassal of Kishu: Momo Asano. This is my sister, these two should be my servants, and this is my bodyguard."

Tokugawa Iemo's fingers pointed at Tianzhangyuan, Erzhong Sisters and Qingdeng respectively.

"Hahaha, I have been selling monographs in Edo for more than 30 years! People everywhere have seen them, so I have developed a good ear!"

"Kishu is great! It's rich and the location is good. Not only is it very close to the holy land of Koyasan, but it's also not far from Kyoto and Osaka. Whether it's shopping in a big city, or praying to the gods, it's very easy!"

Koyasan: The main mountain of the Japanese Tantric Shingon sect, this thousand-year-old Japanese Buddhist holy place is located in the territory of the Kishu Domain.

"Look at your outfits... are you travelers?"

"Well, yes."

Tokugawa Jiamao replied.

"To be honest, I have had the ambition to visit all the places of interest in the world since I was a child. Edo is the largest city in Japan. Wouldn't it be a pity if I didn't come to see it for myself?"

Speaking of this, Tokugawa Iemo moved his eyes and scanned the street scene around him, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"This trip to Edo is really worthwhile. The size and prosperity of Edo really deserves its reputation."

Iemo Tokugawa, an "outsider", praised Edo, which seemed to make the stall owner, an "old Edo native", very happy.

"Of course!"

The stall owner put his hands on his hips and looked proud.

"This is the residence of the shogun! How could it not be big and prosperous enough?"

"..." Iemo Tokugawa remained silent, and glanced at the stall owner meaningfully.

After a while, I heard him say quietly:

"Well... I really hope this city can continue to prosper like this..."

Iemo Tokugawa closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, he burned and ate all the words in his hand.

"Boss, thank you for your hospitality. See you again. If there is another chance, I will definitely visit again."

"Okay! Guest officer, I wish your trip will be smooth and successful!"

"Hahaha! Good! Thank you for your good words!"

Under the leadership of Tokugawa Ieshiro, Qingdeng and his group left the Monjayaki booth in a big way.

"Mr. Tangerine."

Suddenly, De Jia turned his head and asked Qing Deng who was walking behind him.

"Aside from this Jinbiqiao Yumenneiguangxiaolu, are there any other well-known downtown areas nearby?"

Qingdeng pondered for a while, then replied:

"If there is any downtown area nearby...then it must be Nihonbashi."

"Nihonbashi..." Iemo Tokugawa nodded, "Okay, then let's go to Nihonbashi!"

A group of people made an emergency turn to the right and walked quickly in the direction of Nihonbashi.

"Whirring whirring……"

Although it was very subtle, Qingdeng could clearly hear the tense and rapid breathing coming from his side with the innate ability of "Wind Senser".

Looking sideways—his lovely senior: Ms. Yae is repeatedly opening her red lips, taking deep breaths. With the help of the large and rapid agitation of the chest cavity, he calmed down the anxiety in his heart.

Sha Zhong was calmer than her sister.

However, if you look carefully, you can find that the lines of Sha Chong's facial features are tense, and his expression is a little unnatural.

It can be seen that her inner state is not as breezy as it appears on the surface.

"...Miss Sazhong, senior."

With a vague smile on his cheek, Qingdeng leaned his upper body towards the second sister, lowered his voice, and whispered in a volume that only the three of them could hear clearly:

"I heard that writing the word 'person' on the palm, and then nibbling on the palm of your hand can effectively relieve tension."

After hearing this, Sha Chong gave Qing Deng an annoyed look.

"Mr. Tachibana, although Yae and I look like children, don't really tease us as children..."

"Ahhhhmm..."

"Hey! Don't eat your hands! Are you stupid? Spit out your hands!"

Looking at the elder sister who slapped the sister on the back of the head while nibbling her hands "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

Whether the tension between the sisters has been relieved, Qing Deng does not know.

Anyway, after seeing such an interesting interaction between the sisters, he relieved a lot of his own pressure.

Judging from the content, the mission of Qingdeng and Erzhong sisters today is very simple. They only need to protect the personal safety of the mother and child when Tokugawa Kashige and Tianzhangyuan visit in disguise.

However... At the same time, this task is very difficult - if something goes wrong, Qingdeng and the Erzhong sisters may not even have ten heads enough to chop off...

Protect the Great General Zhengyi and the Great Imperial Palace—even just chanting this sentence is enough to scare and paralyze a large group of people.

Why did Iemo Tokugawa choose to visit Edo in today's Weibo?

The reason is not difficult to explain.

In the fifth year of Ansei (1858), Tokugawa Ieshige, who was originally the lord of the Kishu domain, inherited the position of the general of Zhengyi and entered Edo with the support of Ii Naosuke and other Nanki factions.

Therefore, roughly speaking, Ieshiro Tokugawa has been in power in the Edo shogunate for nearly three years—he wanted to see with his own eyes how the country’s people had changed under his two-plus years of rule.

National parade - this kind of thing, there is no such condition to carry out.

But it's not a problem to go around Edo at the "foot of the emperor".

As early as the end of autumn last year, Ieshige Tokugawa had plans to visit Edo in a micro-service. However, due to the busy government affairs, various important matters that must be resolved immediately emerged one after another, and it was too late to squeeze out the time for free allocation.

It was not until this year's New Year's Day that I finally managed to get out of the mountain of work, and finally I was able to officially put the long-awaited "visit to Edo" on the agenda.

Therefore, there is today's scene of "Tianzhangyuan's mother and son walking side by side in the streets of Edo incognito, side by side".

After making a little joke with the second sister, Qingdeng turned his eyes back to the front of himself, and refocused his energy on the escort task in front of him.

Looking at the backs of Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzhangin in front of him, Qingdeng couldn't help but think to himself:

——This mother and son really appreciate me enough...

Since you want to leave the impenetrable Edo Castle and come to experience the people's sentiments in the mixed market, it is impossible not to bring bodyguards.

The best candidates for bodyguards are naturally the rank-and-file members of the new imperial family who were trained by Iemo Tokugawa as a direct subordinate.

Tokugawa Jiashige and Tianzhangyuan chose the second sister as the entourage of this trip-Qingdeng was not surprised by this at all.

Although the Erzhong sisters are young, they are beyond reproach in terms of loyalty and strength. They are the confidantes of Tianzhangyuan's mother and son.

In addition to the double sisters, there are many people in the new Yuting Fan who are very suitable to be transferred to serve as guards.

For example, Qingdeng's "indoor fighting method" teacher: Tian Cangxiao.

As a result, none of them were selected—only Qingdeng was an exception.

This surprised Qingdeng a little.

He has not been a member of the New Royal Court for a long time, and it has been less than half a year since he was fully engaged.

As far as Qingdeng knows, there is no newcomer who is more pink than him in the new Yuting Fan.

It stands to reason that this kind of arduous task with extremely high requirements for loyalty and force value should not be handed over to a rookie like him.

But the truth is so dramatic.

It should not be difficult for anyone with a little discernment to see the political signal: Tianzhangyuan mother and son really trust and value Qingdeng very, very much! He really regards Qingdeng as an absolute confidant who can trust him with his back!

Thinking of this, Qingdeng couldn't help shrinking his shoulders, his expression became weird and unspeakable.

Being able to be trusted by Tokugawa Iemo, who is the current king, as a confidant... This is a wonderful thing that many people dare not even dream of!

Presumably, in the eyes of many people, the opportunity that Qingdeng encountered should not cause the ancestral graves to emit green smoke, but should cause the ancestral graves to breathe fire!

However, for Qingdeng...he felt that being a part of the "Jiamao·Tianzhangyuan" camp might not be a good thing...

According to Qingtou's shallow knowledge of Japanese history, the Edo shogunate will undoubtedly collapse in a certain year and a certain day in the future.

But when exactly was it destroyed, and whether the vassals and the Tokugawa family headed by Tokugawa Iemo had a good end... Qingdeng's eyes were darkened.

To be honest, Qingdeng didn't really want to be associated with politics.

He's only good at hacking people, he doesn't think he has a political mind.

But his current status and popularity make it impossible for him to get rid of this vortex called politics.

Even if Qingdeng does not pay attention to politics, politics will pay attention to Qingdeng.

Right now, Iemo Tokugawa is taking advantage of his position to pull Qingdeng into his pro-army, namely the Shingoiban.

From now on, Qingdeng's body will have the brand of "has worked for Tokugawa Kashige and Tianzhangyuan".

Judging from the current situation, the degree of "compatibility" between Qingdeng and Tianzhangyuan's mother and child is constantly intensifying, so there are signs of this brand getting deeper and deeper.

The current Qingdeng, even if he wants to cut off Tianzhangyuan's mother and son, he can't find a chance - at least not now.

——I can only take a step forward and see one step at a time...

Qingdeng raised his hand helplessly and scratched his hair.

...

...

In a short while, Qingdeng and his party arrived at Nihonbashi smoothly.

As the starting point of the "Five Streets" connecting all important places in the country, Nihombashi has naturally become the most crowded and lively place in Edo.

With Nihonbashi, a huge wooden bridge, as the center, there are a large number of shops and vendors in the surrounding area. People with five elements and eight works gather here.

Even if it is the New Year's Day, this "No. 1 Business District in Edo" has not completely lost its vitality.

"Junior, junior, cheer up."

Yae swallowed hard, stood on tiptoe, and brought her small mouth to Qingdeng's ear.

"The flow of people in Nihonbashi is so heavy...we have to be extra careful! Beware of any suspicious people approaching Lord General and Lord Yu Du."

Qingdeng laughed dumbfounded, and said:

"Senior, don't worry. Although the public security in Edo is by no means good, it is not so bad that you will encounter accidents when you go out. There is a huge flow of people in Nihonbashi. It is indeed necessary to be more vigilant, but it is not too bad. It's so necessary..."

Qingdeng hasn't finished speaking yet——

"Hey! Bastard! You touched my scabbard!"

Thirteen disheveled ronin surrounded Tenzhangin... and Iemo Tokugawa next to Tenzhangin in a fan formation.

*****

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I finally finished writing today's chapter before 24 o'clock (Leopard head crying.jpg)