Aoto carried his lunch box, and under the leadership of a certain Gochu Nagami, walked quickly towards the depths of the Edo Castle Honmaru.
[Note: Gochunagi: a type of Oku official position in the Edo period. Mainly responsible for serving the shogun or the imperial office, and also the main class of candidates for the shogun's side office]
After a while, the two of them came to a quiet and deep area.
Onaka Nagi took small steps, entered the imperial court, knelt on the ground, and said respectfully to the imperial court in front of him:
"Your Highness Tianzhangyuan, Lord Tachibana has arrived."
Take the throne room and the throne room - both are functional areas in ancient Japanese palace rooms. The former is the place where subordinates report news to the monarch and the monarch issues instructions; the monarch usually sits in the latter to accept the worship of his ministers and listen to his subordinates
Report news and summon or issue instructions.
As soon as Onaka Nagi finished speaking, a soft female voice that was extremely familiar to Ayoto came from the throne room:
"Let him come in. And, all of you, step aside."
Onaka Nagi lowered his shoulders, placed the index, middle and ring fingers of both hands lightly on the tatami, bent down, with his forehead almost lying on the ground, and responded with a respectful but yet powerful voice:
"yes!"
Immediately afterwards, the two imperial ministers, who were kneeling on the left and right sides of the throne room door, stretched out their slender arms in unison and slowly opened the door in unison.
[Okko surname: The personal maid of the imperial office. Girls from the Hatamoto family aged 7 to 13 serve as girls. (After the 13-year-old Yuanfu, they are called "Yuanfu surnames"), and they have the opportunity to be promoted to Onakanagi]
Spotless tatami mats, tasteful interior decorations, perfectly trimmed green potted plants, graceful and stunning beauties...
The moment Qingdeng and the beauty met their eyes, she showed a magnificent smile.
Sanako usually has two types of dressing styles.
One is the "Yamato Nadeshiko mode" wearing a women's kimono with her hair pulled into a Shimada bun.
The other is the "female warrior mode" who wears women's kendo uniforms and has her hair tied into a high ponytail.
Tianzhangyuan also has two types of dressing styles on weekdays.
One is the "miko mode" that is only worn in Tsukinomiya Shrine.
Her costume is a high-level miko uniform with white top and purple underneath, and her hairstyle is also a very typical miko hairstyle: her hair is tied into a low ponytail trailing behind her, and the roots of the braid are wrapped in white Japanese paper and tied with white and red threads.
The other is the "Odaisho model" that is most widely known to shogunate officials.
Her hair is tied into a short ponytail with a white hairband; because she has become a nun, she cannot wear too bright and flashy clothes, so the "Odaisho model" dressing style is generally light and elegant, and the outer layer is a purple blouse.
, the middle layer is a cyan furisode, and the innermost layer is a white base coat. It is solid color from the inside to the outside. There are no exquisite patterns on the fabric, and there are no decorations such as buns on the head.
Just like Sanako's "Yamato Nadeshiko Mode" and "Female Samurai Mode" can give people completely different perceptions, these two modes of Tenjoin can also give people completely different feelings.
For example, Tianzhangyuan in "miko mode" is a quirky big sister.
Then, Tenjoin in the "Odaisho model" is a stable and calm noble queen, which can make people intuitively feel that the woman in front of them is one of the most noble figures in the Edo shogunate!
Qingdeng stood up and stepped forward with ease, stepped through the waiting room, and stepped into the throne room.
As soon as his front feet stepped on the comfortable and soft tatami, the sound of the door being closed was heard with his back feet.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of soft footsteps gradually faded away... Yu Zhongna and the Yu Xiao family all obeyed Tianzhangyuan's order and left quickly without stopping for a moment.
In this quiet space, there was only a lonely man and a woman looking at each other.
At the very moment when the footsteps of Yu Xiaoxing disappeared completely in Yu Zhongnai——
"Haaah... I'm so tired... Sitting in such a rigid posture is really tiring...!"
Tianzhangyuan's waist seemed to have lost its bones, bending down instantly.
She first leaned forward with her upper body, then fell to the left side, and collapsed on the tatami like mud.
Well, the quirky big sister Qingdeng knew well is back.
"Your Highness, if the female officials of the Imperial Palace and the cabinet ministers of the shogunate see you like this, they will probably be paralyzed to the ground with fear."
Qingdeng complained half-jokingly while sitting cross-legged directly opposite Tianzhang Courtyard.
When no outsiders were present, his relationship with Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin had always been very casual.
"That's why I sent them away specially."
Tianzhangyuan, who was lying on his side on the ground, turned over, raised his left forearm while facing Qingdeng, supported his head, and continued with a smile:
"Without the distractions, you and I can feel much more at ease, right?"
"That's true."
Qingdeng nodded in agreement.
Then, he changed the subject:
"Okay, let's get back to the topic. Your Highness, you suddenly called me here. What do you want?"
"It's nothing, I just want to have lunch with you suddenly. By the way... let's play Shuangliu together, right?"
As she spoke, like a magic trick, she took out a plate of 'Shuangliu' from behind and pushed it to Qingdeng's knees.
"'Double Six'?"
Qingden raised his eyebrows.
"Sugoroku" can be understood as a board game from the Edo period. It is a very old and popular game. It is an imported product and was not created by the Japanese.
It originated in Mesopotamia in 2600 BC, was introduced to China via India, and took root in China. It was spread to Japan in the Nara period (710-784).
This game is similar to the modern "Monopoly". The dice are thrown to determine the points, and the game is played based on the points. The first one to reach the end wins.
The chessboard is filled with good or bad "life experiences" such as fires at home, broken hands and feet, sudden inheritance and becoming a super rich man, etc.
The reason why it is named "Double Six" is because this game requires the use of two dice, and the maximum number of two dice is two sixes.
In Qingdeng's eyes, in this era where there are neither electronic products nor card and board entertainment, "Double Six" is considered the most fun tabletop game.
When he was very bored on weekdays, he would occasionally play "Sugaroku" with Souji, Harada Sanosuke and others.
Qingdeng raised his eyes and stared straight at Tianzhangyuan's face, as if searching for something.
Before Tianzhang Academy noticed his little move, he nodded lightly.
"I know, let's play."
After that, he opened the game box in front of him and began to arrange the chess pieces.
At this time, Tianzhangyuan sat up.
"Tsk...this kind of clothes with very long and tight skirts is really in the way..."
The clothes worn by Tianzhang Yuan under the "Grand Imperial Palace Model" are very typical aristocratic clothing.
The skirt on the lower body is very narrow, as if the legs are tightly tied together. It is too narrow to swing the legs greatly, and can only take small steps when walking.
At the same time, because the skirt is very narrow, it is impossible to choose other sitting positions except "kneeling".
But... this cannot stop the unrestrained Tianzhang Academy.
"Hmm~ It's more comfortable this way."
She pulled the hem of her skirt up in one breath to just above her knees, and then sat cross-legged like Qingdeng.
Suddenly, the room became a little brighter.
This is of course not because candles are lit or sunlight is shining through - it's simply because Tianzhangyuan's legs are reflecting light.
I saw that her two calves were long and well-proportioned, slender yet voluptuous, as white as jade, and as smooth as the incarnation of silk.
Seeing this, Aoden couldn't help but feel: Naturally beautiful girls like Tenjoin, Sanako, Kinoshita Mai, Souji, and Elodie are really magical creatures. Don't they all have body hair?
?
If the person sitting in front of him at this time was Sanako, Mai Kinoshita or Souji, he would definitely open his eyes wide open and openly take in this alluring beauty.
However... the target happened to be his friend and boss.
He treats the women he loves with hunger and thirst; he treats ordinary women with courtesy. This is the biggest reason why Qingdeng always insists that he is a gentleman and hates others saying that he is lecherous.
As a result, he subconsciously looked away, not to look at Tianzhangyuan's beautiful legs - his move was completely captured by Tianzhangyuan.
"Ouch~~"
She narrowed her eyes, raised the corners of her mouth slightly, and curved her red lips into the shape of a "ω" cat mouth.
"Ju-kun, you don't need to be so polite~ I just exposed a part of my calf, why should I be so shy? So you kids are really~~ when you see your calf, you immediately think of 'this'
and an illegitimate child.”
When saying "this", Tenjoin raised the little finger of his right hand - in the Edo period, the little finger represented his girlfriend or mistress.
After Qingdeng heard this, he couldn't help but said in a helpless tone:
"First of all, I am not shy; secondly, I am already 20 years old this year, and I am not a child; finally, when I see calves, I think of mistresses and illegitimate children. People with such imagination are no longer children, but
You should be a doctor’s patient, right?”
Qingdeng's explanation failed to win Tianzhang Academy's approval.
She "chased relentlessly" and let out a joking laugh of "hee hee hee".
"Ouch~ You are starting to quibble~~ I think you are simply shy."
"You are already 20 years old this year, so what? I am already 26 years old........."
The further Tianzhangyuan continued speaking, the lower his tone became.
First, the volume gradually decreased, turning into a humming sound, and finally, I couldn't even speak.
Along with this, her head also became "down".
Every time she said the word "的", her head lowered a little, and the light in her beautiful eyes also dimmed a lot.
"...Your Highness, why do you say something like killing eighty enemies and losing ten thousand to yourself?"
"Nothing, no road race!"
Tianzhangyuan blushed, gritted his teeth, and raised his eyes to glare at Qingdeng.
"In short, I am an elder who will always be 6 years older than you! In my eyes, you will always be a child!"
Looking at Tianzhangyuan who clearly cared about his age, but still insisted on treating himself as a "mature elder", Qingdeng felt that his facial lines relaxed unconsciously.
Somehow, the idea of teasing the other party suddenly came into his mind.
"Your Highness, since you just said, 'You don't actually need to be so polite,' then it shouldn't be a problem for me to open my eyes wide and enjoy your beautiful figure, right?"
"That's natural."
Tianzhangyuan replied without thinking.
"In that case, you're welcome."
As he spoke, Qingdeng straightened his gaze and stared directly at Tianzhangyuan's calf.
"Huh?"
Tianzhangyuan was shocked.
"Huh? Ah! Wait, wait a minute! Are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious."
Qingdeng said seriously.
"Your Highness, as a mature elder, you will definitely not care about the immature eyes of a young child like me, right?"
"Well, that's natural! Come on, watch as you like! But you're only allowed to look, not touch. If you touch me, I'll just yell, 'Tachibana Qingden teased me,' and your reputation will be ruined."
"
What a cruel move... And if you insist on saying it, you are obviously teasing me... Qing Deng slandered.
Tachibana Aoden flirted with Tianzhangin Atsuhime - if this news spreads, it will not be as simple as losing his reputation...
Qingdeng put away his messy thoughts, sat up straight, and stared straight at Tianzhangyuan's legs with a solemn expression as if he was admiring a miracle.
"Oh~ Mr. Ju, your eyes are full of explicit desire, it's really obscene~~"
Tianzhangyuan's red lips changed back to the shape of a cat's mouth, and his tone of voice became a little more interesting.
"..."
"You are a child after all, you are so easily charmed by me."
"..."
"Hey, hey! Don't keep silent! Your behavior of staring at other people's legs without saying a word is quite scary!"
"..."
"Humph! So you kids who don't have enough experience are really..."
"..."
"Uh huh huh~~!"
Tianzhangyuan's cheeks gradually turned as crimson as the sunset.
"..."
"Gu Gu, Gu Wu Wu Wu Wu...!"
The cute toes wrapped in the white foot bags began to be grasped repeatedly uneasily.
"..."
"Enough, that's enough! It's almost time to see enough! No more!"
Tianzhangyuan stretched out his hands to block his calves.
"Isn't it His Highness who told me to let me look around?"
Qingdeng asked with an innocent face.
"No Road Game! I didn't tell you to keep watching without blinking, right? In short, you are not allowed to watch it anymore! If you watch it again, I will really yell, 'I was molested by Tachibana Aoden'! Okay!
Come on, come and play 'Double Six'!"
After that, in order to get rid of her shyness, she bent down, lowered her head, and "concentrated" on arranging the "Double Six" chess pieces.
Tianzhangyuan, knowing that he had been defeated by Qingdeng, secretly cast a resentful look at Qingdeng.
"Tch...he's just a kid 6 years younger than me..."
Qingdeng pretended not to hear, with a "returning from victory" smile on his face, and happily arranged the "Double Six" chess pieces with his opponent, and opened his own lunch box.
Probably because they are becoming more and more familiar with each other, whenever the two of them are alone, Tianzhangyuan will always appear more and more informal, less and less "easy-going" and less of a gentleman.
There is no so-called dining hall in Edo Castle.
Therefore, cabinet ministers like Aoto who commute to Edo Castle must bring their own lunch if they want to have lunch.
The person responsible for preparing lunches for Aoto is sometimes Abi (Kondo Shusuke's wife), Atsugi (Kondo Isamu's wife), sometimes Inoue Genzaburo, and most of the time it is Souji - today she is the one who is here to prepare lunches for Aoto.
Make a lunch box.
The bento that Souji prepared for Aoto today was 8 large rice balls stuffed with tuna.
Onigiri is made of rice and stuffed with tuna... This was a rare delicacy in the Edo period.
Souji's cooking skills have never disappointed Qingteng.
The rice grains with a slight vinegary taste are very chewy. Just bite the fish meat wrapped deep in the rice grains, and the rich umami flavor spreads out from the tip of the tongue to the entire mouth... It is really delicious.
Qingdeng held the rice ball with one hand and accompanied Tianzhang to "Shuangliu" with the other hand.
In the Tianzhang Courtyard opposite, people are also eating and playing games.
Tianzhangyuan, who has a distinguished status, naturally cannot eat food that is popular among common people like rice balls.
The food she ate was naturally an exquisite meal prepared with great care by the Yu Zhongju and tested for poison.
[Note·Yu Zhongju: The female official in Da'oli who is responsible for arranging meals and testing poisons.]
Not only did he cross his legs, but he also played "Shuangliu" while eating. When it was his turn to play chess, he immediately put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands and chewed the food in his mouth that made his cheeks bulge.
He concentrated on throwing the dice and moving the chess pieces; when it was Qingdeng's turn to play chess, he picked up the bowl and chopsticks and continued to eat rice.
Such an appearance...doesn't have the style that a great Odai should have at all.
However, this is her most relaxed and real look.
Because it is played by two people, the game pace is very fast.
When Qingdeng swallowed the last rice ball, they just finished the third round of the game - the result was that Tianzhangyuan won 2 games and Qingdeng lost 1 game.
This time, Tianzhangyuan did not return the chess pieces to their original positions, but let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay... let's stop playing here. Oops, it's been a long time since I played 'Double Six' with someone. This game is really fun."
Qingdeng glanced at Tianzhangyuan's expression, then put the chess pieces back on the chessboard and said softly:
"Your Highness, after I played around with you for a while, did you feel better?"
"Um?"
Tianzhangyuan was stunned.
Qingdeng continued the words silently:
"You're having trouble with Wakong again, right?"
"..."
Tianzhangyuan was silent for a long time, and then let out a dry laugh.
"Hahaha... You saw it... Yes, I had trouble with He Gong again, and I was very depressed, so I brought you over to play games with me. Thanks to you, I am in a much better mood now
Already."
Qingden smiled.
"That's good."
Tenjoin and Wagongiya were incompatible - this was hardly a secret in Edo.
In recent years, there have been rumors in the streets of Edo about the discord between Tenjoin and Wakong.
It's like "Tianzhang Academy and He Gong are quarreling again", "Tian Zhang Academy is fighting He Gong"... it's all there.
Regarding these rumors, Qingdeng, as an insider, dared to assure himself: There is definitely no fight between Tianzhangyuan and Hegong, but it is common for them to quarrel.
Since ancient times, discord between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has been a common thing, even in the deep palace.
However, the conflict between Tianzhang Academy and He Palace... cannot be taken lightly.
This matter has to start before marrying Miyashita.
With the cooperation of Ando Nobumasa and Iwakura Tomomi, the marriage between the shogunate and the imperial court was finally successfully achieved.
However, although Wagongiya agreed to marry, she put forward additional conditions-after marrying away to Kanto, she must maintain her original living habits, diet, clothing, furniture, and interior decorations, and everything should be the same as in Kyoto.
Since these requests were not excessive, Ando Nobumasa, the representative of the shogunate, agreed to them all.
During that time, Qingteng, who had already taken up the position of servant of Yutai and took charge of all affairs of Daou, was really busy.
In order to meet Wagongiya's requirements, he had to contact businessmen in Kyoto to purchase Kyoto-style furniture, decorations, and clothing. He also had to hire professionals who were familiar with public culture to decorate Wagongiya's bedroom. In addition, he had to contact the imperial court.
, confirm Wagong’s itinerary...
To this day, whenever Qingdeng recalls this painful time, cold sweat breaks out uncontrollably on his back...
He would rather attack Qingshui Residence again than take on such a torturous and troublesome task.
However, thanks to this mission, he got to know a group of Kyoto businessmen and built up a rough "Kyoto network".
With the help of Qingteng and Da'ao's female officials, they finally managed to arrange her bedroom in Da'ao before Hegong arrived.
Aoto only met Wamiya once, at her wedding to Tokugawa Iemo.
Wagongiya's first impression of Qingdou... can be summed up in one word: she really looks like a porcelain doll - the type that will break when touched.
The face is not pretty, but the skin is very fair.
Very short, only over 1.4 meters.
Very thin, I don't feel 35kg.
Such a thin body...it seems normal, after all, the public diet is famously light.
Qingden once tasted public food, and he commented that it tasted worse than kaiseki cuisine.
Eating this kind of bland food that is more flavorful than even the weeds on the roadside will make your body strong and healthy.
As soon as He Gong moved into Da'ao, he began to have conflicts with Tianzhang Yuan.
The views and living habits of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are really very different.
Tianzhangyuan is a standard daughter of the martial arts family. She likes archery, horse riding, and all kinds of energetic things.
He Gong is a standard daughter of a public family, who likes poetry, singing and dancing, and all kinds of elegant things.
Tianzhangyuan disliked her daughter-in-law's public aura.
And He Gong is also very tired of his "rude" mother-in-law.
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law look at each other with disgust.
Wagongong not only had a bad relationship with Tianzhangyuan, but also had a bad relationship with other big figures in Da'ao.
Minoruin (the birth mother of the Tokugawa family), Honjuin (the biological mother of the Tokugawa family), and Gotoki Takiyama... There was also a lot of friction between Wamiya and these people.
[Note: Yu Nian Ji: He is in charge of all affairs of the great Austrian people. Yu Tai is the host outside, and Yu Nian is the host inside. He can also serve as one of the ministers to discuss politics, and his power is comparable to that of Lao Zhong.]
In the final analysis, Wagongiya's unwillingness to accept the Wu family's lifestyle, insisting on maintaining the original living habits, and insisting on engaging in such special behavior is very annoying.
However, Wamiya and Tokugawa Iemo got along well.
Although Qingdeng did not witness it with his own eyes, according to others, the young couple played in harmony and respected each other as guests.
Qingdeng was not too surprised by this.
After all, Tokugawa Iemo was a being who could directly subvert Kyoto people's stereotype of "Eastern Yi".
Yun Wen and Yun Wu were of extraordinary magnanimity, polite and virtuous corporal, and had a wide range of interests. He could not only wield the sword of the samurai family, but also flick the paper fan of the public family... According to common sense, a man like Tokugawa Iemo, even if he doesn't like him, he doesn't like him.
As for hating him.
Aoto was not familiar with Wakura, so he had no feelings for her. He only met her once at her wedding to Tokugawa Iemo, and there was no communication between the two parties.
On the contrary, those female court officials who came with Hegong as dowry and were responsible for serving Hegong... Qingdeng was very annoying!
To put it in modern terms, these female court officials are all in trouble!
One is arrogant to compete with the other, and one is disgusting to compete with the other.
Sometimes they complain about the bad climate in Edo, sometimes they complain that the water quality in Edo is too hard, sometimes they complain that the Edo people have no taste, sometimes they complain that the Edo accent is unpleasant
If it's just regional discrimination and bad words about Edo and Edo people, then that's it. As a time traveler, Qingden doesn't have deep feelings for the land beneath his feet.
But the problem is... these stinky women come to disturb him every once in a while! They make him extremely annoyed!
*******
*******
If book friends who like Tianzhangyuan don’t vote for this book today, it would be really unjustifiable! (Leopard head weeping)
Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a recommendation vote! (Leopard Head Cries)
PS: Leopard Leopard is not praising Tokugawa Iemo. According to historical facts, Tokugawa Iemo was a very outstanding young man. There were countless people who criticized his political achievements and abilities, but his character was the only one that almost no one commented on.
