By now, the doubts in Qingdeng's heart were completely clear.
"Ha..." Qingden chuckled at a volume that only he could hear clearly, with a charming look on his face.
"Father, father...?" Itakura Hirahiko covered the left side of his face that was beaten severely by Itakura Katsutora, with a look of disbelief on his face, "How...?"
How could his father, who was supposed to be busy with official duties, appear here... Itakura Hirahiko could no longer think about this kind of problem.
His whole mind was now focused on the slap his father had just thrown at him.
If his father scolded him because of his relationship with Aoto, then Itakura Hirahiko would still understand.
But in public, he slapped him hard and shouted, "How can I be rude to His Majesty Nioh?"... Itakura Hirahiko couldn't understand this!
Yes. Tachibana Aoden is now a famous person in the shogunate officialdom... but he is not famous enough to allow his father, Takashi Wakato, to give him face like this, right?
Itakura Hirahiko was stunned on the ground and even forgot to get up.
Everyone basically had a dumbfounded look on their faces.
This "everyone" naturally includes the people who gather to watch the show and join in the fun.
It is impossible for ordinary people to easily come into contact with senior officials of Ruonianji's level in their daily lives.
Therefore, when Itakura Katsutora got out of the sedan, the onlookers around him did not recognize who this grand and powerful old man was.
It wasn't until Itakura Hirahiko called him "father" that everyone suddenly knew that this old man was the "Deputy Prime Minister" Itakura Katsutora.
Although the common people are generally uneducated and uneducated, they can still distinguish between Nian Ji and Huo Fu Thieves, who has a higher official position.
Is the reputation of Niou so great? How can he be so respectful to Ruonianji?
Suddenly, the space with Qingdeng as the center was filled with an air of uncertainty.
"Get up." Itakura Katsutora said coldly with a frosty face, "How long are you going to sit paralyzed on the ground? Get up!"
As soon as Itakura Katsutora finished speaking, Itakura Hirahiko shuddered instantly, and the fat on his face and stomach trembled vigorously.
Although Itakura Hirahiko's temperament was arrogant and domineering, he would never dare to make a mistake in front of his father.
He ignored the pain on his face and hurriedly stood up, then quickly walked to Itakura Katsutora's side and stood respectfully with his hands lowered.
His posture was so low that he looked like a humble waiter.
"Follow me." After coldly saying these words to Itakura Hirahiko, Itakura Katsutora walked up to Aoto in three steps at a time.
"Jen...ah, no, Mr. Tachibana, I did not teach my son well, so the dog was so stubborn and rude that he bumped into you. I am really sorry, but please forgive me."
After saying that, Itakura Katsutora put his hands close to both sides of his thighs and bowed to Aomori in a standard 90-degree bow that couldn't be faulted.
Itakura Hirahiko was at a loss and looked at his father who was bowing and apologizing to Aoto with a dazed expression... Although a long time had passed, his consciousness still had not caught up with the current situation.
At first glance, Itakura Katsutora is saluting Aomori. But if you look closely, you can find that the direction Itakura Katsutora is facing... is not that straight.
His body tilted to the right at a slight angle, and to his right...the people standing in this direction were none other than Tokugawa Iemo and Tenshoin.
"What are you still waiting for?!"
Itakura Katsutora's loud shout was like a thunder, shaking Itakura Hirahiko awake.
"Why don't you apologize to General... Why don't you apologize to Tachibana-sama!"
Itakura Katsutora almost spilled the beans, but fortunately he reacted in time and quickly changed his words.
"Yes, yes..."
Itakura Hirahiko suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He had rarely seen his father beating and scolding him like this...
Itakura Katsutora's stern shouting made his mind regain some clarity, and his brain began to spin again.
When something goes wrong, there must be a monster. His father treated Qingdeng so politely and even bowed and apologized to him at the expense of his own status... This is definitely not because Qingdeng is a rising star in officialdom that everyone is eyeing!
There must be some deeper reason...
Itakura Hirahiko couldn't think of a reason for a while, but he understood: no matter what the reason was, there was one fact that could not be avoided: things were serious!
The reason behind why my father reacted so abnormally is definitely not simple!
If he doesn't listen to his father quickly and act according to his instructions, he will definitely be in bad luck!
Thinking of this, he didn't dare to delay any more and quickly lowered his waist, folding his body so that the fat on his belly almost stuck to his thighs, and respectfully said to Qingden with fear:
"Little... no, Tachibana, Mr. Tachibana, I, I was confused just now and bumped into you accidentally. Please forgive me... I'm very sorry..."
Everyone present was stunned.
It was horrifying to see Hirahiko Itakura, who was so arrogant just a few minutes ago, now bowing and apologizing with fear to the person he had just been shouting "I want to chop off both of your arms".
Some people who are aware of Itakura Hirahiko's character and know his past misdeeds now feel even more like a dream.
"..." Qingnobo did not immediately respond to Itakura and his son's apology.
He casually cast his gaze at Tokugawa Iemo and Tenshouin behind him.
The mother and son glanced at each other, and then they both nodded gently to Qingdeng.
Itakura Hirahiko first received a heavy punch from Aoto, and then received a fierce slap from his father. Now he humbly bowed and apologized to Aoto and his party in front of the public.
He has been punished enough.
Therefore, Qingnobo didn't mind forgiving Itakura Hirahiko.
Aoto and Itakura Katsutora tacitly concealed the true identities of Tokugawa Iemo and Tenshouin.
Since Itakura Katsutora mainly performed the scene of "Nioh reveals his true form and Xiao Xiaojin bows his head", then Aoden could only cooperate with him and perform this play to the end.
After consulting the Tokugawa family and Tenshoin for their opinions, Aoto turned his attention back to Itakura and his son in front of him and said calmly:
"Okay, we accept your apology. That's it for today. I hope you won't try to retaliate against us out of resentment in the future."
Before he could finish speaking, Qingdeng specifically raised his eyes to look at the rotten scholars not far away.
It is self-evident who the "you" in his mouth refers to.
The corrupt scholars noticed Qing Deng's glance towards them... For a moment, it was as if a paint shop had opened, and the depressed "red", the fearful "white", and the shrinking "black" all burst out from their faces.
out.
They are just Confucian scholars who don't even hold an official position. How could they possibly have the ability and courage to take revenge on Qingdeng!
As early as when Qingdeng took off the bamboo hat on his head, these corrupt people had already lost the courage to continue to oppose Qingdeng.
This was the case just when we knew Qingdeng's true identity, let alone seeing the dignified Ruonianji respecting Qingdeng so much now?
The current reaction of the rotten scholars...their current attitude towards Qingdeng...can be summed up by a famous line in "Historical Records: The Benji of Xiang Yu", which is really appropriate: walk on your knees, don't dare to look up!
"Don't dare, don't dare..." Itakura Hirahiko wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Tachibana-sama, thank you for your willingness to forgive Inuko's mistakes." Itakura Katsutora buried his waist and head lower, "Your magnanimity will never be forgotten by me. Please rest assured that from now on, I will strictly treat you."
If you discipline your dog more, you will never let him make trouble outside and cause trouble."
Qingdeng responded softly, "Yeah."
Is Itakura Katsutora really heartbroken and decided to discipline his son well from today on, or is he just saying insincere words... Qingto can neither control nor want to control this.
At this time, Tianzhangyuan suddenly stood two steps forward, stood side by side with Qingdeng, and said softly:
"let's go."
Qingdeng nodded, put the bamboo hat on his head again, and asked:
"Where do we go next?"
Tokugawa Iemo came forward, and after pondering for a moment, he pointed at the street intersection not far away.
"I haven't thought about it yet. Anyway... let's get out of here first."
Qingden smiled in agreement.
He turned around in the direction Tokugawa Iemo pointed.
In an instant, all the onlookers within Qingdeng's sight moved away to the left and right like Moses parting the sea, leaving a wide and straight avenue.
Surrounded by a bunch of eyes with different emotions, a group of people led by Qingdeng walked westward along this broad avenue.
He walked without any sloppiness and was clean.
Only a new legend of "Nioh" Tachibana Aoden was left.
…
…
After Aoto left, Itakura Hirahiko let out a long sigh of relief.
"Father……"
As he straightened up, he tentatively asked Itakura Katsutora in front of him in a cautious tone.
"you……"
However, just as he had time to say the word "you", the rest of his words were interrupted impatiently by Itakura Katsutora.
"Shut up!" Itakura Katsutora cast a cannibalistic look at Itakura Hirahiko, "It seems that I do indulge you too much. Just because of your stupidity, I... no, our entire
The family was almost killed by you."
"Ah?" Itakura Hirahiko's eyes widened in shock, "Father, father! I don't understand! That Tachibana Aoden, does he have that much energy? Could it be that there is something behind him that even we can't afford to offend?
backing?"
The corners of Itakura Katsutora's eyes twitched hard a few times, and his face turned green and white for a while.
"Shut up! I don't want to listen to you now! Come home with me! I...will teach you a lesson today!"
Hearing this, Itakura Hirahiko's complexion now turns blue and white...
…
It is reported that that night, heart-rending screams from an unknown source were heard continuously from the Itakura family's mansion.
For a long time after that, people did not see Itakura Hirahiko again...
Where did he go?
This question is probably only known to God, Earth, Hirahiko Itakura himself and Katsutora Itakura...
…
…
Qingdeng and his party, having completely put behind them this series of disputes that "began with 'Confucianism' and ended with 'power'," walked aimlessly along an unknown long street.
Suddenly, Qingdeng felt a warm breath with a refreshing fragrance coming from behind - Tianzhangyuan suddenly quickened his pace and walked to his side.
"Sheng Qing, thank you so much just now."
"Um?"
When Qingdeng's eyes reflexively glanced at Tianzhangyuan, he happened to see Tianzhangyuan make an action towards him... which made him feel so astringent for no reason -
The intertwined hands are placed on the plump peach; the upper body is tilted in the direction of Qingdeng; because the upper body is leaning forward, the peach is uncontrollably pushed back; the skirt of the front chest is slightly drooping and separated under the influence of gravity;
A beautiful smile hung on her beautiful face, and her two beautiful eyes narrowed into a pair of cute crescent moons...
At this moment, Qingden felt as if his body was being controlled by something... He couldn't help but look at Tianzhangyuan, who looked so apathetic now, from beginning to end, back and forth several times.
It wasn't until Tian Zhangyuan's sentimental look was deeply imprinted in his mind that he realized belatedly that he was doing something very rude, and quickly turned his gaze away.
Tianzhangyuan withdrew his body and asked in a panic to deal with his embarrassing emotions:
"Thank you? What are you thanking me for?"
"Thank you for punching that so-and-so for me."
The smile on Tianzhangyuan's pretty face got even bigger.
"To be honest, I was ready to take action myself and punch that person hard, but it's a pity that you got there first."
"But it doesn't matter. Seeing you beat that so-and-so so hard, my anger is almost gone."
After saying that, Tianzhangyuan burst into hearty laughter.
"Your Highness, you are so polite." Qingdeng handed over the "classic polite expressions" that have been tried and tested hundreds of times without hesitation, "I just did something trivial and insignificant."
——Speaking of which... That Itakura Hirahiko is really perverted... He can actually tell whether a woman is a virgin by smell...
——I don’t know if he is just making up nonsense, or if... he really has such an ability...
Qingdeng, who was thinking about this secretly for no reason, unconsciously gave Tianzhangyuan a look full of strange emotions.
——So... are the folk rumors true? The former general never touched Tianzhangyuan due to physical and personality reasons?
Just when Qingdeng's mind was filled with these messy thoughts——
"...Sheng Qing."
Tianzhangyuan suddenly called Qingdeng.
"Huh?" A strange emotion of "having done bad things and been caught by others" came to Qingdeng's heart. He asked with a guilty look on his face, "Your Highness, what, what's wrong?"
"Looking at your expression, you seem to... care about what that person said."
Tianzhangyuan smiled meaningfully.
Before Qingdeng could answer, she stood up on her tiptoes slightly, bringing her lips and delicate body closer to Qingdeng.
"If you care... would you like to come to Tsukinomiya Shrine tonight? I will stay at Tsukinomiya Shrine tonight and will not go back to Edo Castle."
Tianzhangyuan's warm breath lingered in Qingdeng's ears.
Stay around for a long time.
*******
*******
The author was not in good condition yesterday, so today's chapter is a little shorter (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)
This is also an old problem of the author. When a complete plot ends and it is time to start the next plot, I often feel like I have no idea where to start.
