The day when Ida Kyōbang arrived in Wakamatsu Castle, night—

Ruomatsu Castle, Qingdeng's room—

Qingdeng put down the scroll in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.

——Isn’t Iwakura Tsubasa still not found?

He was just browsing the latest delivery of "Western Intelligence Overview".

There is nothing worth noting about, it is all information that has been known for a long time.

The thing that Qingdeng is most concerned about now is "Iwakura Hitoshi's whereabouts".

The only thing that can be confirmed at the moment is that he must have gone to Changzhou.

Where did he hide the Emperor and the Crown Prince?

What actions he is going to do next?

These are all the information Qingdeng wants to know.

What if, after abducting the Emperor and the Crown Prince, Iwakura Hikari seemed to have evaporated from the world and was unable to find out his whereabouts and news.

From the North to the West, there were all state affairs he needed to worry about... Thinking of this, Qingdeng couldn't help but pursed his lips tightly and smiled bitterly.

As his status continues to rise, his private time is getting less and less, and he has countless to-do items every day.

At this time, he noticed later that the night was quite good tonight.

The full moon rises, and there is brightness as day.

He happened to feel tired, so he moved to the window, held the window ridge with both hands, looked out and enjoyed the scenery.

The bright full moon hangs high in the dome.

The Qingming moonlight poured down from the sky, illuminating Wakamatsu Castle and illuminating Aoden's face.

The evening breeze brings laughter and cups.

Aoden lowered his head and glanced downwards - he lived at the height of Wakamatsu Castle, and he could see the night view of Wakamatsu Town - and saw Wakamatsu Town divided into two distinct parts.

The first is "residential areas".

Because it was already night, the "residential area" was pitch black, and the town people were already asleep, and there were almost no lights. They could only occasionally see three or two pedestrians with lanterns and walking in a hurry.

The second is that there are many material pavilions, izakayas and casinos.

"Downtown" is simply the opposite of "residential areas".

The hall is bright, noisy, bustling.

The bright sea of ​​candles, laughter and scolding, and the drunkard walking swaying... What a lively scene.

Aoten was not interested in the night view of Wakamatsucho, so he glanced over quickly and looked up again, looking straight at the full moon in the sky.

The misty moonlight that is like a dream is filled with his eyes.

Somehow, he suddenly recalled the appearance of his wife and children.

——I wonder how the Chief Executive and the others were doing.

After Sekihara parted, Aoden never saw the Chief Executive again.

He had a longer time separation from Sanako and Awu. The last time he saw them was on the eve of his expedition to Sekihara.

While missing his wives, he also cared about his children (Ju Jiangchen, Ju Mozi).

Since their children were born, they have been together for a long time.

As soon as he thought of this, Qingdeng couldn't help but feel a little bit of self-blame.

——Are the chief officers and the others watching the moon now?

At this moment, Qingdeng understood why the ancients always linked "moon" to "longing".

Apart thousands of miles apart, lacking the means of contact, only the moon can connect everyone.

Just as Aoden was immersed in longing, footsteps from far to near came from the corridor, and Kondo's voice sounded:

"Qingdeng, are you here?"

"Yong, what's wrong?"

“Can I open the door?”

"Please."

Wow… the door was slowly opened.

Kondo, wearing casual clothes, leaned against the door frame and said to Aoden with a smile:

"Qingdeng, do you want to have a drink outside together?"

"Drink a drink? Are you and me?"

"Of course not, there are Nagakura Shinhachi and Saito Ichi. It is rare to come to Ouyu. It would be a pity if I don't appreciate the local customs and customs. So I'm going to invite all the captains and deputy captains here to have a long-lost 'New Selection Group Feast'!"

He said as he made a "drinking" gesture.

"Qingdeng, if you don't come, the banquet will be incomplete, so if you have time, come and attend. You can just take this opportunity to relax."

After hearing this, Aoden blinked and a smile appeared in his eyes - it was a coincidence that Kondo Yuki came very timely.

Influenced by longing, Qingdeng now happens to have the urge to "leave the deserted room".

He was still quite free and had nothing to do, so he couldn't attend a banquet.

——That’s right... It’s rare to come to Ao Yu. If you keep being stuck in the room, it’s a pity.

He silently agreed with what Kondo said just now.

So he turned around and took the sword on the knife stand next to him, and smiled:

"Okay, then let's hold a 'new group banquet' for a long time."

...

...

Wakamatsucho, somewhere—

Aoto, Kondo, Shinhara Nagakura, Saito Ichi, Serizawa Ya, Inoue Genzaburo, Harada Zuosuke—a group of seven people were wearing casual clothes and low-altitude hats that covered their faces, and walked in a low-key street in Wakamatsumachi.

The entourage also has the deputy captain of the second team, Toshi Nakajima, Sadaki Nakazawa, Sadaki Nakazawa, the deputy captain of the sixth team, the deputy captain of the seventh team, Kotoshi Nakazawa.

Others who did not come, including Abe Juro (captain of the 11th Team), Tani Mitsuro (deputy captain of the 4th Team), and others who did not come all declined Kondo's invitation for various reasons such as "not good at drinking" and "not adapting to the local environment".

When I first left Ruo Song Castle, I didn't realize something was different.

It was not until I entered the "downtown area" that I could witness the hilarious street scene.

Looking up, there were dense crowds of people filling the streets.

Hug and shout, rub shoulders and backs.

In many cases, Qingdeng and others could only "go with the flow".

There was a little gap in front of me, so I hurried forward and occupied it and moved forward little by little.

Seeing this, Shinhara Nagakura smacked his tongue and murmured:

"Many people... are almost at the temple fair."

Serizawa said lightly:

"The lords of the Ouyuri family gathered here, and if they were not noisy, they would be surprising."

The lords of the Ouhari clan brought their respective entourages to Wakamatsu Castle. Although they had not calculated in detail, according to conservative measures, Wakamatsucho now had at least 10,000 more people!

The hotel was full, and the master of Hengshan had to come forward in person and rented a large number of houses, which allowed all the vassals of the vassals to be properly resettled.

Most of these people are young and strong.

I think it is clear that how can energetic young people be able to hold back their tempers?

Therefore, whenever night falls, the vassals of the vassals go out in groups for fun.

They either sing and drink, linger in Youku, or burrow into the casino... Their consumption has effectively promoted the economic development of Wakamatsucho.

In recent days, the owners of various industries such as Wakamatsumachi's catering industry, gambling industry, and Shizuo's passion industry have all laughed from ear to ear.

The reason why Edo, which was once very backward, was able to rise to the "No. 1 town in the world" in a very short period of time was because of the "conference and explanation".

Every year, hundreds of vassal lords rushed to Edo with a large number of followers, which greatly promoted the economic circulation of Edo.

However, it is worth noting that the surge in traffic is a "double-edged sword", which has both considerable benefits and negative effects that cannot be ignored.

Poor mountains and bad waters lead to troubled people - this is not regional discrimination, but a serious scientific conclusion.

In contrast, "If the granaries are full, you will know etiquette; if you have enough food and clothing, you will know honor and disgrace."

Only when the people have sufficient granaries and sufficient food and clothing can they take into account etiquette and attach importance to honor and shame.

The scholars and citizens in Gyeonggi, Kanto and other places discriminated against the Aoyu people and regarded them as barbarians, which was not without reason.
To be continued...