Chapter 105 Outside the Sakurada Gate, the age of violence! [8800 words
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"...Jing Yi."
After taking a final, deep look at the "talent list" in his hand, Tokugawa Iemo closed the booklet.
"Are you really... unwilling to temporarily step down from your position as the elder to avoid the spotlight?"
"Sir General." Ii Naobi laughed, "I am a descendant of the 'Red Yasha' Ii Naomasa who made countless heroes fearful during the Warring States Period three hundred years ago."
Ii Naobi raised his head slightly, his eyes full of pride.
"Thinking back to those days, my ancestor Ii Naomasa personally led the "Ii Akabei Corps" and served as the vanguard of the army many times, overcoming obstacles for the Tokugawa clan."
"My ancestors were so brave, how could I, as a descendant of them, shrink back?"
"It is my pride to serve as the vanguard general of the shogunate and serve the Tokugawa clan."
"Please, General, please don't take away my pride!"
…
…
"Mother mother..."
"Sir General." Tianzhangin quickly raised his eyes and looked at Tokugawa Iemo who was slowly walking towards her.
She originally wanted to ask how the conversation with Ii Naobi went.
However, after seeing Tokugawa Iemo'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 his position as the elder..."
Tokugawa Iemo, who had an extremely complicated expression on his face, remained silent.
He slowly lowered his gaze and looked at the "Talent List" that Naoki Ii had just given him, which he was clutching in his left hand...
"Since Ii is not willing to step down from his position as the elder..." Tokugawa Iemo said softly, "The only way we can do this is to strengthen Ii's bodyguards."
"Mother, I would like to select a group of warriors who are strong enough to supplement Jingyi's escort team. What are your intentions?"
Tianzhangyuan nodded gently without thinking for too long: "That's the only way it can be."
…
…
Time goes back to when Naoki Ii had not yet met with Tianzhangin——
Edo, Koishikawa Kohinagayanagicho, outside the main gate of the Imperial Guard Hall——
"Kondo-kun, Kyubey, I'll see you tonight." Aonto 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 as a precaution, both Ayoto and Saito wore hats to protect their heads from snow.
The "odd months" are the months when the Northern Division is responsible for governing Edo, while the "even months" are the months when the Southern Division is responsible for governing Edo.
Now that February has passed and March has arrived, Qingdeng has resumed his civil servant life of "working at sunrise and resting at sunset".
"Yes. Be careful on the road." Kondo-kun waved to Qingto.
Under the watch of Kondo and Kyuubei, Aoto and Saito each carried the lunch boxes that Kyuubei made for them and rushed to the Kitabansuo one after another.
After getting Abi's permission to freely use the kitchen of the Kaiwei Hall, Kubei still maintained his previous habit of preparing lunch lunch for Aoto every morning when Aoto had to go to work.
After adding Saito as a new family member, this habit became preparing meals for Aoto and Saito every day.
Qingdeng faced the slightly cold and biting morning wind and walked down the high slope where the trial defense hall is located.
Suddenly, he saw a figure in front of him who looked very familiar to him...
It's Shannan Jingsuke.
Qingdeng slightly raised the edge of the bamboo hat on his head, and shouted towards the back of Shan Nan who was walking in front of him, not knowing where he wanted to go in a hurry:
"Shannan-kun!"
After Shannan heard Qingdeng's voice, he immediately stopped and turned around.
"Hmm? Tachibana-kun?"
Shannan blinked at Qingdeng in surprise and then smiled.
"The two of us seem to be particularly connected recently." Shannan quickly approached Qingdeng and continued joking, "I ran into you by chance at the noodle shop yesterday, and I bumped into you again on the street today."
"Shannan Jun." Qingdeng asked, "Why are you here?"
"Isn't it Tomorrow's Tomorrow?" Shannan crossed his hands and dug into both sides of Haori's sleeves, "I plan to take advantage of the fact that it's still early and there aren't too many people, so I can go to Nihonbashi and buy some for tomorrow.
A gift to express condolences to a sinology master who has given me a lot of care."
During the Edo Period, in addition to praying for unmarried girls in the family, there was also the custom of giving gifts, food, etc. to masters of knowledge and various skills.
However, this custom is a bit unpopular, and very few people will celebrate this custom during the Shangsi Festival.
After explaining to Qingdeng why he was here, Shannan looked at the lunch box Qingdeng was holding.
"Tachibana-kun, are you on your way to Beifan to pay your respects now?"
Qingden nodded.
"That's it..." Shan Nan smiled, "Then we happen to be traveling on the same road for a while."
Shannan, who was planning to go to Nihonbashi to buy gifts, and Aoto, who was about to go to work - they happened to be traveling on the same road for a short distance.
So, the two naturally walked side by side.
"Ah, by the way, Tachibana-kun." Shannan had just walked a few steps with Qingto, and asked Qingto curiously, "How is Okita-kun doing now? He should be fine, right? I think he seemed to be quite drunk yesterday.
It’s pretty awesome.”
"Oh...Okita-kun..." Qingteng smiled helplessly, "Okita-kun, there's nothing serious about him."
"He's still sleeping now. According to my estimation, he won't be able to wake up until noon."
Last night, after meeting Shannan by chance in that noodle shop, Qingdeng and the others chatted with Shannan for a long time.
Shannan is very knowledgeable, well-informed, and has a great talk, so chatting with him is not boring at all.
They started by talking about the feud between Ii Naobi and the Mito clan.
While we were chatting, the topic suddenly turned to the practice of swordsmanship.
After exchanging their experiences on practicing swordsmanship, the topic inexplicably turned to the special delicacies of their respective hometowns.
Okita and Shannan are half fellow villagers, they are both from the Northeast.
Okita's hometown is Shirakawa Clan in Northeast Japan, and Shannan's hometown is Sendai Clan in Northeast Japan.
However, although Okita's hometown is the Shirakawa clan in Tohoku, he was born and raised in Edo. He has never even been back to his hometown a few times. He can't speak a word of Tohoku dialect. He can only speak the standards of this era.
language, that is, Guandong dialect.
While everyone was chatting, a wine merchant suddenly entered the noodle shop and peddled his wine.
The wine merchant said that his wine is a carefully crafted high-quality product, and its taste and intensity are different from all the wines on the market.
This piqued Okita's interest.
Due to his personal personality, Okita never lacks curiosity and exploration spirit when it comes to new things that he has never seen before.
After hearing the wine merchant say that his wine was different from other wines on the market, Okita immediately became curious. Seeing that the price was not expensive, he bought a bottle and tried it with Aomori and others.
This wine merchant is not talking nonsense. The wine he sells is indeed extraordinary - the "delay" effect is extremely strong.
When I first drank it, I didn't realize how strong the wine was.
But after a while, there will be a wave of extremely strong energy that makes people feel dizzy and makes their cheeks swell.
Qingdeng and Shannan are both pretty good drinkers, so they can withstand the impact of this wave of energy.
But Okita can't.
Perhaps because of his young age, Okita's drinking capacity is quite average.
He fell down directly due to the strong stamina, and returned to the state after the celebration banquet a few days ago - drunk and "limp", and Qingdeng had to carry him back again.
"Okita-kun, he's still sleeping now..." Shannan laughed dumbly, "It's fine that he's fine."
While talking, the two of them came to a shopping street full of shops.
It's only 8 o'clock now, and this shopping street is already gradually showing its prosperity.
Shops opened one after another, and pedestrians walked back and forth on the street with laughter.
At first glance, it looks like a peaceful and prosperous scene.
But after taking a closer look, you will find that under this "grand scene", there are shocking things hidden everywhere.
Beggars can be seen everywhere on the roadside; poor wanderers who have lost their salaries and have wandered from nowhere; sad-looking merchants who have become increasingly difficult to do business due to the deteriorating economy...these are scenes hidden in the corners of "Shengjing"
, all silently telling the onlookers coming and going: This is not an era worth looking forward to.
Looking at these dirty scenes hidden in every corner of the street, Shannan suddenly said quietly:
"The number of beggars and rogues on the street seems to be increasing..."
As soon as Shannan finished speaking, Qingdeng immediately spoke in a half-joking tone:
"In today's world, it would be strange if the number of beggars and ronins doesn't increase, right?"
Shannan was stunned for a moment, then chuckled silently: "That's right..."
"If you think about it calmly - it is already very difficult for the shogunate to ensure the general stability of this country."
Shannan raised his head and looked towards the center of Edo, where he could just see the blurry shadow of Edo Castle.
"Although I don't like Mr. Ii's overly tough governing style that even ignores His Majesty the Emperor's will, it is undeniable that he is an indispensable figure in this country."
"He suppressed countless careerists who had evil intentions after the prestige of the shogunate was severely damaged by the strong ships of Western countries."
At this time, they happened to pass by the torii gate of a shrine.
Shannan raised his gaze and glanced at the shuriken rope wrapped around the torii gate, which had a very sacred meaning.
"... Elder Jing Yi is like a demon arrow, suppressing countless demons and monsters."
Listening to Shannan's somewhat vivid metaphor, Qingdeng couldn't help but laugh: "Broken Demon Arrow... Your metaphor is weird..."
Demon-breaking arrow: a ritual blessing in Japanese Shintoism, specially used to ward off evil spirits and pray for blessings.
Almost all Aoto's current understanding of Ii Naoki comes from the memory of "Original Tachibana Aoto".
I don’t know if it’s because Hara Tachibana Aoto is a member of the government, but Hara Tachibana Aoto’s memory has a very positive impression of Ii Naomi.
In the memory of "Original Tachibana Aoden", the image of Naoki Ii... is quite close to what Shannan said just now - although he is not a powerful minister with great talents, his existence,
It is indeed like a demon-breaking arrow, sealing away countless demons.
Before they knew it, they had come to a crossroads.
Qingdeng should go to the left, and Shannan should go to the right.
"Shannan-kun, please say goodbye for now."
"Yes." Shannan waved to Qingdeng, "See you later."
After saying goodbye to Shannan, Qingto took Saito and left.
Shannan did not leave immediately.
He stood there, quietly watching Qingdeng's figure shrinking within his field of vision.
Until Qingdeng's figure completely disappeared from his eyes, he said to himself at a volume that only he could hear clearly:
"The country is in crisis... but I have so much talent and knowledge that I have nowhere to put it to use..."
Shannan slowly half-closed his eyes.
A somewhat lonely color flashed through his eyes.
…
…
That day, late at night——
Edo, the Ii family's residence, Ii Naomi's bedroom——
Naobi Ii, who was already dressed in pajamas, was sitting on his knees behind the desk, writing something furiously.
"What are you writing?"
Suddenly, Ajiu came over from behind Ii Naobi with a smile.
"Ah, madam." Ii Naobi glanced at Ajiu who was sitting behind him, and quickly returned his eyes to the desk in front of him.
"I'm just dealing with some unfinished government affairs today."
"So you were dealing with government affairs..." A trace of regret appeared in Ajiu's eyebrows at this moment, "I thought you were writing the Japanese song with the theme of snow that you told me before..."
A Japanese song with a snow theme?
After Ii Naobi thought about it for a moment, he recalled that this was indeed the case.
Probably more than a month ago, on the night when he first learned about Tachibana Aoto's "Snowy Night Fight", he mentioned to Aku that he had new inspiration for a snow-themed waka.
After recalling it, Ii Naobi secretly felt guilty in his heart.
He had obviously made an agreement with Ajiu: after completing this waka, he would show it to her as soon as possible.
As a result - he has been very busy recently and has completely forgotten about this matter...
"Madam..." Ii Naobi took several deep breaths to suppress the guilt in his heart, "I won't be able to rest for a while now, so you should go to sleep first."
Ajiu never asked or interfered with Ii Naobi's work.
In the past, she would have nodded in agreement without hesitation, and then obediently followed Ii Naomi's instructions to rest first.
But now...Aku, for the first time, did not immediately carry out Ii Naobi's orders.
She looked at Naoki Ii, who was facing away from her, with a... rather strange expression.
"...Lord Ii, are you hiding something from me?"
Ii Naobi's writing suddenly paused.
"Why did you ask so?"
"It's nothing." After Ajiu blinked hard, Naobi gave Ii a... not very natural smile.
"I just always feel like you have something on your mind."
Ii Naoki: "..."
In the bedroom, it was so quiet for a moment that only the sound of burning candles was left.
Naoki Ii slowly placed the brush in his hand on the pen mountain placed at the corner of the desk.
"Madam..." Ii Naobi turned around and faced Ajiu.
His pupils were shining with a soft light that was completely different from the way he looked when he was competing with Tianzhang Academy today.
"You are too worried."
"I have nothing on my mind."
"Maybe it's because I've been too busy recently and my face looks a little haggard, so you mistakenly think that I'm very worried right now."
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Ajiu looked directly at Ii Naobi.
"...As long as you don't have anything to worry about." Ajiu blinked his eyes quickly several times.
Jingyi Naobi nodded: "Okay, don't think too much, go and have a rest."
"Yeah." Ajiu responded very cheerfully this time, "You too, go to bed early."
"You have indeed been a little too busy recently. Look, your cheeks have turned a lot sallow."
Ajiu raised his hand and touched Ii Naobi's wrinkled old cheek.
"Okay..." Ii Naobi raised his hand and gently grasped Ajiu's hand that was caressing his cheek, "I will rest after I finish handling the last bit of government affairs."
Ii Naobi supported Ajiu and personally put Ajiu into her bed before returning to the desk.
By the candlelight, he carefully looked at his wife's face, whose breathing had gradually become evener and softened.
His eyes gradually changed from soft to complex.
call……!
At this time, there was a harsh sound of wind outside the window.
The wind is very strong and cold tonight, like a knife.
Ii Naobi withdrew his gaze 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 inspiration for Japanese songs flashed through my mind.
Naoki Ii pulled out a piece of white paper from the desk, and while looking out the window where no cherry blossoms were flying and only the cold wind could be seen, he quickly wrote a waka on the white paper with a pen:
[Falling cherry blossoms are crushed into dust, but their fragrance still fills the universe]
Ii Naobi picked up the paper and carefully appreciated the new Japanese song he had written.
"ha……"
After letting out a self-deprecating chuckle, he threw the piece of paper with his new waka on it on the desk, and then continued to concentrate on handling the government affairs at hand.
…
…
The next day——
The seventh year of Anzheng (1860), March 3——
"It's so cold..."
Qingdeng, who had finished today's morning exercise, immediately shuddered involuntarily after carrying his dental equipment to the courtyard of the trial defense hall.
Qingdeng raised his head and looked at the sky above his head: "It's so cold today..."
The sky this morning is quite dark.
The dense dark clouds were so low that it made people feel breathless.
After vigorously rubbing his two arms with chicken skin a few times, Qingden quickly fetched clean water from the well for washing.
"Hello... (Good morning)" At this time, Okita, who had not yet fully woken up, closed his eyes tightly, carried his dental appliance, and staggered towards the well.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew, waking Okita up from the cold.
"...Guh!" Okita opened his eyes suddenly, raised his hands, and rubbed his arms vigorously, "It's so cold!"
"Keep warm." Qingdeng reminded, "Today's weather is a bit cold."
Okita looked up at the gray sky above his head and curled his lips: "Why is the weather so bad today... On this rare Shangsi Festival, I originally planned to go out to see the peach blossoms this afternoon..."
Today is the Shangsi Festival, which many unmarried girls are looking forward to.
The Shangsi Festival is also known as the "Peach Blossom Festival" because this is the time when the peach blossoms are in full bloom.
After rubbing his arms to warm them up, Okita quickly ran to Qingden's side and fetched his own share of water from the well for washing.
"Tachibana-kun." Okita, who was brushing his teeth, asked Qingto in a vague tone, "How do you plan to spend today's Shangsi holiday?"
"Aside from practicing swordsmanship in the trial hall, I don't have any other activities to participate in." Qingden responded in a joking tone.
Qingdeng has no daughters, and there are no unmarried girls in the imperial examination hall.
This Si Festival is just an ordinary day for Qingdeng and Shiweiguan...
——Speaking of which... Arima-sama and the others should be on their way to Edo Castle now...
A small official like Qingdeng can spend today's Shangsi Festival leisurely and leisurely.
But officials of lower rank like Arima must go to Edo Castle today to celebrate the Kamisaki Festival with the shogun in the Ohiro Room of Edo Castle.
Ayoto guessed that Arima should have put on the most solemn attire by now and led his entourage towards Edo Castle.
"Tachibana-kun, since you have nothing to do today, do you want to go see the peach blossoms with me this afternoon?" Okita's cheeks were filled with anticipation and excitement, "Now is the time of year when the peach blossoms are in full bloom.
, it would be a pity not to go and enjoy it."
"Are you looking at the peach blossoms..."
The weather today was not very good, and Qingdeng didn't particularly want to go out.
Just when Qingden was thinking about whether to accept Okita's invitation to see flowers, he suddenly saw a white dot as big as a grain of rice passing in front of his eyes.
"Um?"
Aoto and Okita, who also noticed the white spots, raised their heads and looked toward the sky.
"It's snowing..." Okita muttered.
Only scattered snowflakes were seen falling from the clouds, dotting the gray sky.
The snowflakes flying in the wind look like naughty elves.
The scene of the dancing fine snow made Qingdeng involuntarily recall a famous sentence from an ancient article he had learned before: It is not like catkins blowing up due to 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 caused the already low temperature to drop further.
The chill that enveloped the body became more and more severe. Qingnobo and Okita, who could hardly stand the cold, quickly finished washing together and then hid back to the trial defense hall as if they were running away.
…
…
Today, all officials of some rank need to go to Edo Castle to celebrate the Kamisaki Festival with the shogun. As the elder, Naoki Ii will not be absent.
At this moment, at the gate of the Ii family's mansion, more than seventy of Ii Naobi's followers and guards were inspecting their haori, bamboo hats, sabers and other equipment.
Inside the mansion, Ii Naobi, who had already changed into his formal clothes, walked alone and striding towards the house where a sedan chair had been prepared.
At this time, a veteran of the Ii family appeared from the corner of the corridor behind Ii Naobi with an anxious look on his face, and then rushed to Ii Naobi's side in a hurry.
"My lord! My lord!"
The old minister knelt on one knee in front of Ii Naobi and handed over a white envelope in his hand with both hands.
"Lord." The old minister lowered his voice and said in a deep voice that no one except him and Ii Naobi could hear clearly, "This morning, an anonymous letter was dropped into the residence of my Ii family."
"According to the letter, in the near future, there will be a group of Mito Domain warriors who want to intercept and kill you on the streets."
"...Anonymous letter?" Naoki Ii calmly took the envelope, pulled out the letter paper from inside, and unfolded it forcefully.
The content of the letter was quite simple - it just informed Ii Naobi that the feudal lords of the Mito Domain were preparing to launch a Tenchu operation in the next few days, and told Ii Naobi to be careful.
After quickly reading the contents of the anonymous letter, Ii Naobi threw the letter back to the old minister with an indifferent expression.
"The feudal lords of Mito Domain are eyeing my head...so what?"
"Am I just going to never go out again?"
After that, Ii Naobi bypassed the old minister who was kneeling in front of him: "Please help me find out who sent this anonymous letter later."
"My lord! My lord!"
The old minister quickly walked over to Ii Naomi and knelt down.
"Please at least add more guards. I will arrange some new guards now..."
"No!" Ii Naobi sternly interrupted the veteran, "If it were normal times, that would be fine, but today we must not increase the number of guards."
"There are rules for how many guards you can bring with you when you go to the city to celebrate the Shangsi Festival."
"As an elder, I cannot break the rules and set a bad example for others."
After speaking, Ii Naobi once again bypassed the veteran who was standing in front of him.
The old minister persisted and stood in front of Ii Naobi again.
"Lord..."
"No need to say more." Ii Naobi said calmly, "Each person has his destiny."
"If the assassins are bent on killing me, no matter how carefully they prepare themselves, there will still be flaws."
At this time, Ajiu came.
Aku, who habitually sent Ii Naobi away from home in the early morning, appeared from the side corridor.
"What's wrong?" Ajiu looked at Ii Naobi, and then at the old minister who was still kneeling in front of Ii Naobi.
"It's okay." Ii Naobi smiled at Ajiu, "I'm just discussing government affairs."
Ii Naobi glanced at the old minister and signaled to him with his eyes: Don't say any more! Get out of the way!
The veteran stared at Ii Naobi's determined face, gritted his teeth, and quickly stepped aside.
"Let's go, Madam." Ii Naobi raised his hand and waved to Ajiu.
Ajiu followed Ii Naobi, and the two of them arrived outside the house in silence.
"Ah..." Ajiu raised his head and blinked at the flying snow falling freely above his head, "It's snowing..."
Ii Naobi and Ajiu looked up at the snow together: "It's snowing at this time of year...it's really rare."
"Are you wearing something thicker?" Ajiu asked.
"Of course." Ii Naobi smiled and patted the thick clothes on his chest.
Suddenly, a cold snowflake lazily landed on the tip of Ajiu's nose.
Seeing this, Ii Naobi smiled and stretched out his fingers to brush away the snow spots on Ajiu's nose.
"The snow came at the right time." Naomi Ii smiled, "I'm worried that the creation of the new Japanese song with the theme of snow that I told you before has hit a bottleneck."
"I hope this unseasonal 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 get new inspiration from this early spring snow." Ajiu said mischievously, "I'm still waiting to appreciate your new Japanese song. I haven't seen your new work for a long time."
Ii Naobi smiled and nodded, "Since Madam is looking forward to it so much, then I have to write better."
"Lord," a strong man standing next to the sedan door said in a loud voice, "it's almost time."
This strong man is a close confidant of Naomi Ii - the deputy captain of Naomi Ii's bodyguard: Chuzaemon Kawanishi, the outstanding swordsman of the Noi family.
"Yes." Jingyi Naobi nodded, "Madam, I will leave first."
Ajiu nodded: "Be careful on the road."
Ii Naobi once again raised his hand to brush away 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 Ii Naobi got into the sedan.
At the last moment when the car door closed, Ii Naobi turned his gaze and took a deep look at his wife who was still smiling sweetly...
"Get up the sedan!" Chuzaemon Kawanishi shouted.
More than seventy of Ii Naobi's entourage were kneeling on one knee around the sedan, and the guards stood up holding their swords.
They lined up in a long line to guard the sedan chair Ii Naoki was riding.
Huh...! Huh...! Huh...!
The wind suddenly increased at this moment.
In the strong wind that was blowing stronger and stronger, Ii Naoki's team walked out of the Ii family's mansion in a majestic manner, turned onto the avenue outside the mansion, and arrived at a leisurely speed... outside the Sakurada Gate.
Sakuradamon is a gate of the moat of Edo Castle, located between Sakuradabori and Kaishoubori.
Because it was still early and the weather today was not very good, there were only a few refreshment shops and a few passers-by on the avenue outside Sakurada Gate.
This avenue outside the Sakurada Gate is the only place Naomi Ii must pass on his way to Edo Castle.
The Ii family team suddenly appeared outside Sakurada Gate, making this originally quiet street suddenly lively and noisy.
The clerks at the refreshment shops on the roadside, the pedestrians on the street... they all raised their heads and cast curious glances at this huge team of Ii family members.
At this moment, among the curious glances directed at the Ii family team, there are some... strange sights.
The 18 samurai lurking everywhere outside Sakurada Gate slowly raised their sights.
With resolute eyes, they stared at the sedan in the center of Jingyi's team, which was protected by more than seventy guards.
…
…
Arimura Jizaemon, who originally planned to just close his eyes and rest his mind, suddenly fell asleep in a daze.
In his sleep, amid the chaos, he felt that the vision in front of him gradually became clearer.
Looking at the picture that suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, Arimura Jizaemon immediately woke up - I was dreaming.
Even though he knew he was dreaming, Arimurajizaemon felt like he couldn't wake up.
He dreamed of the day before yesterday...that is, March 1st, the scene where he and other comrades held the final combat meeting...
On March 1, he and his comrades gathered in the Yamazaki rental house on the west bank of Nihonbashi Bridge in the name of "Calligraphy and Painting Club".
Their leader, Seki Tetsunosuke, was sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, while Arimura Jizaemon and others were sitting around Seki Tetsunosuke.
"The execution of the national traitor Naomi Ii is scheduled for March 3rd!" Seki Tetsunosuke's voice was horribly deep, "Time will never change again."
"This day is the Shangsi Festival. Officials of some rank will board Edo Castle on this day to celebrate the festival with the shogun."
"As long as we set the execution date on this day, our ambush will not be in vain!"
"Now - let me once again explain the assassination steps after my last revision."
As soon as Sekitetsunosuke said these words, Yumurajizaemon and others cheered up and concentrated their attention.
"When the Ii family's queue passes the bridge outside Sakurada Gate, kill the leading guard first."
Seki Tetsunosuke raised his hand and pointed at the map spread in front of him.
"In this way, other people in the queue will be attracted by the changes in front and rush forward, and the defense around the sedan will be weakened."
"The rest of them launched an attack from both sides of the sedan where the defense was weakened, and took off the head of the Jingyi country thief in one fell swoop."
Seki Tetsunosuke raised his head and looked at a strong man sitting on his left.
"Gorokuro Mori will be responsible for killing the guard at the head of the queue."
"Mori-kun, on the day of the operation, you will pretend to be a ronin who comes to redress your grievances and approach the front of the queue."
"When the guards at the front of the queue come to drive you away without knowing why, you should wait for the opportunity to draw your sword and kill the enemy."
"Yes!" Gorokuro Mori nodded his head vigorously.
"The people responsible for launching the attack from the left wing, that is, the side of the samurai house -" Seki Tetsunosuke looked at the young men on the right, "Kurosawa Chusanburo, Yamaguchi Tatsunosuke, Sugiyama Yaichiro, Arimura Cizaemon
, Masuko Kinpachi."
"Among them, Kurosawa Chuzaburo served as the vanguard of the left wing."
"The people in charge of the right wing, that is, the side of the moat, are: Ozeki Kazushichiro, Sano Takenosuke, Inada Shigezo, Moriyama Shigennosuke, Hirokako Nojiro, and Kaihou Kaisonosuke."
"The following three people will be responsible for the post: Hasuda City Goro, the important person Libuchi, and Hiroki Matsunosuke."
Every time Seki Tetsunosuke calls a person's name, the person whose name is called will respond with a loud "yes"...
…
…
"Hey, Mr. Youmura, wake up, don't sleep. The national thief is here."
Arimura Jizaemon heard Kurosawa Chuzaburo's voice and felt his body being shaken slightly.
The dream was suddenly shattered.
After his consciousness returned to reality from this dream that recalled the past, Arimura Jizaemon slowly opened his eyes.
As soon as he opened his eyes, the orange pattern of the Ii family came into view.
Looking at the queue of Ii's family not far away, Arimura Jizaemon, who was hiding in a dark alley with Kurosawa Chusaburo, took a deep breath, then stretched out his hands that had been folded in his arms to keep warm, and stretched out his waist.
The sword was pulled away from its sheath...
In this chapter, Naoki Ii wrote the waka "The fragrance still fills the world" on the day before Sangsi Festival; on the day of Sangsi Festival, he received an anonymous letter reminding him to be careful about assassination; Naoki Ii refused to do it on the day of Sangsi Festival on the grounds that he could not break the rules.
Add more guards... [The above plots are all historical facts, and the author has no original creations]
So don't make any arrogant remarks about how the plot is weird, why Naomi Ii is so desperate for death, etc. The historical facts are like this, and the author is just writing down the real history.
Tokugawa Iemo persuades Ii Naoki to temporarily step down from the position of elder, which is also a plot adapted by the author based on historical facts.
According to historical facts, it was Naoki Ii's close confidants who advised him to stay out of the spotlight, 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 one of Ii Naobi's lovers who helped him survive the lowest period of his life. Because of this, I designed Ii Naobi and Ajiu to be so affectionate. I will expand on it with you when I have the opportunity.
