"Do you have a regular contact person with that mysterious group?"
Qingden calmed down his emotions and continued to ask.
"Yes, some...the person who is responsible for contacting Kimura and I...is a young samurai who calls himself Yuuki Kamenosuke..."
"Yuki Kamenosuke..." Qingto chewed the name several times, "Do you know where this person lives?"
"I don't know... Yuuki Kamenosuke has always been secretive about his age, address and other information... Maybe even the name "Yuki Kamenosuke" is a pseudonym..."
"Then how do you usually communicate with each other?"
"First, Yuuki Kamenosuke usually sends us a letter first, reminding us when and what day to meet at the Chikaya House in Yoshiwara... After meeting and talking about things, we go our separate ways..."
"Does Yuuki Kamenosuke have any notable appearance features?"
"Physical features...Physical features...His eyes are very thin, his cheekbones are high, he is a little taller than me...and...he speaks with an Edo accent..."
"Don't you have more obvious appearance features? For example, where is the scar on your body?"
Qingdeng's face was covered with black lines.
The eyes are very thin, the cheekbones are high...this type of facial features is too common. If you randomly pick 100 people on the street, there will be at least 30 people with such faces.
"Scars... ah! Yes, yes! There are deep scars on the back of Yuuki Kamenosuke's right hand and above the collarbone on the left side!"
Qingdeng nodded slightly. Finally, he got some useful information.
"Aside from the above, do you know any other information about Yuuki Kamenosuke?"
"This, this..." Huosaka looked embarrassed, "Sir, I have told everything I know. I really don't understand Yuuki Kamenosuke. I also said just now
Well, Yuuki Kamenosuke is very secretive about his personal information. I don’t even know if the name ‘Yuki Kamenosuke’ is a pseudonym...”
Qingdeng frowned.
Just when he was about to say something, Tianzhangyuan on the side rushed to say:
"...Hizaka Genzo, let me remind you. You secretly colluded with the gang that destroyed Edo and killed Tadayoshi, and indirectly participated in the 'Odenmacho Prison House Arson', 'The Akabane Family's Extermination' and other murderous crimes. According to the shogunate
According to the laws, at the very least, you will be sentenced to 'transformation' and 'exile'."
Change: that is, depriving the warrior of status and demoting him to a commoner.
The moment Tenshoin's words fell, Kawasaka collapsed as if he had lost his backbone, his body suddenly shrank, and his shoulders and lips trembled.
Whether it was "reform" or "exile", these were all forms of torture that the samurai would turn to with disgrace.
In addition to losing face, the former also lost the "iron crops" that could be enjoyed for generations as long as the incense continues.
As for the latter...
It would be better to be imprisoned in Edo than to be exiled - this is the true feeling of most people about the punishment of "exile".
Being imprisoned in Edo was at least still in human society.
But if you are exiled...the common places of exile for the Edo shogunate are either deep mountains and wild forests, or overseas islands. In short, they are all undeveloped areas that even Robinson Crusoe would shake his head when he comes.
Many prisoners who were sentenced to exile died miserably on the exile grounds due to poverty and illness before their sentences were over.
"but--"
At this time, Tenshoin's words made Kasaka's body stop trembling.
"You now have a chance to atone for your sins."
"As you can see, we now need information about the hateful gang behind the scenes that has led the recent series of tragedies."
"As long as you actively cooperate with us and assist us, I can help you in the future and let the judges of Yinweifang give you a lighter sentence."
Ginmigata: The judicial institution of the Edo shogunate. It is responsible for handling penalties and litigation.
"This... sir, are you... everything you said true...?"
There were little sparks of light in Kasaka's eyes.
Tianzhangyuan smiled.
"Of course, although I can't tell you who I am, I can reveal to you: I can establish a relationship with Ginmi Fang."
By the way, Tianzhangyuan at this time also covered his face and hair with a cloth like Qingdeng, leaving only a pair of beautiful eyes exposed.
For the current Huosaka, no matter what the tall woman in front of him said is true or false, as long as there is a slight possibility that the government can reduce his punishment, it is worth his efforts.
Therefore, Huosaka frowned and lowered his head.
He painstakingly searched every corner of his mind and carefully investigated whether there was any missing important information that could help him reduce his sentence.
After a while, Qingdeng suddenly said:
"Since your meeting place is at Yoshiwara's Yuma House... then has Yuuki Kamenosuke ordered Yuma? Does he have a favorite Yuma?"
As if the words awakened the dreamer, Huosaka suddenly opened his eyes wide, revealing a look of relief as if he was suddenly enlightened.
"Young girls... ah! There are so many! Yuki Kamenosuke especially likes the popular popular yandere from Senkaya: Baiju! Every time after talking to me and Kimura, he will definitely talk to Baiju before leaving.
go!"
Baiju... Qingdeng silently remembered the name of this wandering girl.
There are obvious appearance features and common wandering girls, so the information is rich enough!
…
…
After interrogating Huosan, Tianzhangyuan ordered his subordinates to escort Kimura Shuma over.
At first, Kimura was still tough-talking, insisting that he was innocent and knew nothing.
But after seeing Kasaka sitting dejectedly on the ground and not daring to look at him, he suddenly understood everything.
"You traitor!"
Kimura rushed towards Hosaka with red eyes. If the banshi on his left and right hadn't stretched out their hands to hold him down in time, he might have bitten Hosaka's neck with his teeth.
"Traitor! Bastard!"
Since he couldn't get close to Huosaka, Kimura simply cursed.
"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have roped you into my gang in the first place!"
Kimura's roar echoed throughout the small interrogation room.
Tianzhangyuan, who couldn't stand the noise, raised his beautiful eyebrows, then turned to the second sister behind him and said:
"Let him calm down."
Yasushige and Yadeng nodded.
Then, the two of them walked up to Kimura without any explanation, and then they both flew up with a kick, hitting Kimura right in the belly.
Kimura screamed "Wow", and the "Ouch" curse turned into a "Hmph hum" moan.
In this way, the two sisters restored Kimura's calmness through physical means.
"Hosaka Genzo has used all his moves."
Qingden walked slowly to the opposite side of Kimura and said coldly:
"Now, it's your turn. Tell me everything you know, and don't try to deny it or pretend to be stupid. This is the last chance we leave to you."
Huosaka has surrendered, and there is no point in "persisting in the war of resistance"... Kimura, who had to accept this reality, lowered his head with a gloomy expression.
Suddenly, in a lifeless and dejected tone, he told the story exactly how he got to know the gangster and how he later cooperated with the gangster.
According to Kimura, one day not long after Aonto joined the bandit gang, the gangsters suddenly came to him.
In this way, he got in touch with the gang.
Kimura didn't know any more than Hisaka about this gangster who secretly pursued Ayoto and acted unscrupulously.
The confessions they gave were basically consistent - there was only one major discrepancy.
In the version described by Hizaka, it was Kimura who provided the gang with indoor maps of the Kodenma Town Prison Yashiki and Kitabansuo.
But according to Kimura, the provider of the map became Huosaka.
"You're talking nonsense!"
Huosaka blushed and said.
"The person who provided the map to that gang of thieves was obviously you!"
"Don't be so cruel and slanderous!"
Kimura retorted not to be outdone.
"When the other party asked us to provide an indoor map of Kodenma Town's prison house, I already noticed that there was something strange about these guys! I even advised you to proceed with caution! What happened? You made your own decision! You foolishly agreed to it all
All the other party’s requirements!”
"You fart! Kimura is counting, I didn't expect you to be quite good at telling lies with your eyes open!"
"Hmph! Genzo Hosaka, don't think that I don't know your little thoughts! Don't you just want to absolve yourself? You shamelessly framed me! You poured all the shit on me and picked yourself to pieces.
Damn it! I have never seen such a shameless person!"
The two had a heated argument.
What’s interesting is that neither Kimura nor Hisaka’s expressions or tone of voice seemed like they were lying.
——It is simply a real-life version of "In the Bamboo Forest"...
Qingdeng secretly felt funny.
Although Aotomo in his previous life was not very fond of reading Japanese literature, he had heard a little about the famous novel "In the Bamboo Grove" written by the great writer Akutagawa Ryunosuke.
"In the Bamboo Forest" tells the story of a samurai and his wife Masa on their way to Wakasa. After encountering the thief Tajomaru, the samurai was bound, and the samurai's wife Masa was insulted by the thief. In the end, the samurai died, Tajomaru was captured, and Masa escaped to
Kiyomizudera. The story unfolds with the main background of interrogating relevant witnesses and prisoners in the court.
The novel has a total of seven paragraphs, which are descriptions of love by seven people including the policeman, the thief Shinjomaru, and Masa. These seven confessions together form the content of the novel.
The strange thing is that the samurai said that he committed suicide, and Tajomaru and Masa each admitted that they killed the samurai. Taken individually, their words can be justified, but they are contradictory. Whose words are true? Whose words are false? The truth
How exactly? Only God knows.
Who is lying, Kimura or Higasaka?
Who is the person who provided the gangsters with the indoor maps of Kodenma Town Prison Yashiki and Kitabansho?
It doesn't matter, whatever happens is fine... Qingdeng thought to himself.
He didn't care or be interested in the chaos between Kimura and Huosaka.
All his thoughts have already flown to the splendid "Japan's No. 1 Flower Street"...
…
…
Kimura and Kawasaka, who had no "use value", were imprisoned in the prison underground of Tsukinomiya Shrine.
Also temporarily imprisoned were Tsuchida Masayoshi and Kazama Nobuyoshi, who were confirmed to be innocent.
Qingden and Tianzhangyuan walked side by side on the way out of the interrogation room.
"Sheng Qing, what are you going to do next?"
Tianzhangyuan asked as he pulled off the cloth covering his face.
"I'm going to Yoshiwara."
Qingden replied.
"Are you looking for that wandering girl named Bai Ju?"
"Well, yes. She might know Yuuki Kamenosuke's address, or some other more useful information."
"Then when are you going to leave?"
"If nothing else happens... tonight."
"Do you need me to send someone to help you?"
"No need, I'll just go alone. Yoshiwara is the 'city that never sleeps' in Edo. There are so many people, so a large group of people will be very conspicuous."
"That's right..."
Tianzhangyuan nodded lightly.
Suddenly, Qingdeng felt a strange sight... The owner of this sight was naturally Tianzhangyuan.
He turned around and found Tianzhangyuan looking at him with a playful expression.
"Shengchen, you wouldn't take the opportunity to vent your long-standing desires in Yoshiwara's maid's house, right?"
Qingdeng laughed dumbly.
"Your Highness, you are joking, I will not do such a thing. To be honest, I am not interested in wandering girls. In my life so far, I have never been to Yoshiwara."
Inadvertently, a surprised look passed through the eyes of Tianzhangyuan.
"Hoho~ Have you never been to Yoshiwara? This is really rare~~ I thought that every Edo man must have had fun in Yoshiwara. Not bad, you have such a good character, keep it up
!I don’t like the kind of man who is carefree, lustful, and enjoys sex.”
"..."
"Huh? Sheng Qing, what's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly look away?"
"No, it's nothing..."
As Qingdeng spoke, he moved his gaze a little further with even more guilt.
Although Qingdeng never lingers in the land of romance, his behavior in the "love between men and women" is not much better than those of those "big prostitutes in the flower street"...
At this moment, Qingdeng suddenly heard the sound of intensive turning of books not far away.
"Um……?"
Qingden stretched his neck and listened.
I saw a longing figure in a room diagonally opposite him.
This is a room full of the smell of ink and books.
A large number of books and scrolls are either neatly arranged in the bookshelves standing on the wall, or piled haphazardly on the floor.
"Book Mountains" and "Juan Ridge" that are half a person's height rise from the ground, blocking the originally spacious room into a complex labyrinth.
About twenty people who looked like scholars were hurriedly walking back and forth in this "maze" made of paper.
Tianzhangyuan noticed Qingdeng's confused gaze and took the initiative to explain:
"This room is the 'front line' for our pursuit of the secret drug."
Although she used a half-joking tone, the content of her words was quite serious.
"It is a well-established fact that mysterious drugs can affect people's minds and make people's temperaments extremely aggressive."
"If this is the case, then some of the 'violent incidents' in the past may have involved mysterious drugs."
"Therefore, I asked my subordinates to search the past files of the execution office, the Hufu Thief Kai, the self-division and the eight states directors to see if they can find any new useful clues."
"However……"
Speaking of this, Tianzhangyuan changed the subject and took on a helpless tone.
"The amount of work involved in this task is much greater than I imagined."
"I have deployed enough manpower, but after checking for more than half a month, I still found nothing."
"well……"
Qingdeng cast a comforting look towards Tianzhangyuan.
"Your Highness, don't be discouraged. Your idea is right. When there is a shortage of information, checking past documents and case files is indeed a good way to break the situation."
"Detecting cases is a matter of luck."
"Your subordinates may find some key clues in the vast ocean of literature tomorrow."
"Hahaha." Tianzhangyuan smiled and said, "I accept your good words."
Ayoto and Tenjoin exchanged words with each other, and before they knew it, the two of them had arrived outside the main hall of Tsukinomiya Shrine.
"Ah, that's right." Tianzhangyuan seemed to have remembered something and clapped his hands, "I almost forgot. Sheng Qing, since you are going to Yoshiwara tonight... then help me by the way.
Say hello to Miss Guasheng."
"Miss Guasheng?"
"Huh? Sheng Qing, don't you know the name of Miss Yoshiwara Toshin: Miss Gua Shenxiu?"
Tianzhangyuan puffed up his cheeks in dissatisfaction.
*******
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Ah! Melon! It’s melon!
Ouch! (In a state of insanity.jpg)
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This chapter has been completed!