At the same moment that the cold mechanical system sound fell, Qingden's hand that put away the knife paused in mid-air. Lan
——? !
It is difficult to use specific words to describe Qingdeng's current mood.
Qingdeng was afraid that he had heard wrongly, so he quickly called the system, opened the system interface, and pulled out his personal talent list.
At the end of the list, his new talent: Optimus Prime, was prominently on top.
Focus your awareness on the entry, and a virtual light screen that introduces your talent will pop up.
Renzu's hardness is higher than that of ordinary people - it is exactly the same as the introduction of the system sound that he just heard, and he did not hear it wrong.
Renzu: An elegant name for a very important male organ. Lan
——As expected, the masters are among the people...
Qingdeng put away his personal system interface, then unconsciously turned his head to look at the handsome uncle lying unconscious on the ground not far away.
This uncle actually possesses this kind of talent that can be envied by countless men... This once again proves: no one should be underestimated. Even if you look unremarkable on the outside, you may be hiding something deep.
——Is the hardness increased...
Qingdeng felt a strange sense of conflict in his heart.
On the one hand, I feel that this talent is not very useful. It can only be used when going to Wushan with a woman. It is not very practical at other times.
But on the other hand... driven by male pride and sensibility, Qingdeng's mood was honestly colored with ecstasy and anticipation. Lan
Let me ask you, which man wouldn’t want that part of his body to be stronger?
If anyone dares to answer "no" to the above question, then Qingdeng would really like to see with his own eyes who this divine person is, who can have such determination and control over human physiological instincts.
——Forget it, why are you thinking so much?
Qingdeng thought to himself.
——Anyway, I can’t use this talent now...ah hahaha...hahaha...haha...ha...
Before his thoughts were over, an unspeakable sense of loss and frustration surged into Qingdeng's heart...
I wanted to laugh at myself half-jokingly, but the power of this wave of self-mockery far exceeded Qingdeng’s prior imagination... Lan
Qingdeng didn't like the land of fireworks and willows, and in this era where there was neither antibiotics nor advanced hygiene concepts, looking for flowers and willows was a very risky thing.
Regarding matters between men and women, Qingdeng's vision is very simple: he just wants to become lovers with the girls he loves, then sleep together on the premise of your consent, and finally enter the palace of marriage together.
At first glance, Qingdeng seems to be very close to this goal.
He had just fought side by side with Zonazi a while ago, and the two of them would wrap up the same scarf affectionately together and walk in the snow together in Edo at night.
Kinoshita Mai was obedient to him due to her personality.
Souji just confessed to him last night.
Things looked great, as if Qingden was only one step away from marrying them. Lan
But in fact... Even based on the most optimistic judgment, Qingdeng still doesn't think that he can marry the three of them and live a happy life together, where the husband sings, the wife sings, the couple sings in harmony, and it is something that can be achieved quickly. Target.
Qingto still doesn’t know what Souji is thinking.
But Kinoshita Mai made it clear: She hopes Qingteng can only pamper her.
Unfortunately, Zonazi's ideas are exactly the same as Kinoshita Mai's... No, they are much more harsh than Kinoshita Mai's ideas!
Zonazi, who has a stronger personality, is far stronger than Kinoshita Mai, a soft girl, on many issues including relationships.
Although she did not say it outright, Qingto could vaguely sense from her daily words and deeds that it was more difficult for Zonazi to accept that her future husband had another woman than Mai Kinoshita.
It’s a long road...Lan
——Forget it...the day will come when you can use this talent...
"Tangerine-kun."
At this time, Tokugawa Iemo came over to Aoto
The chaotic thoughts in Qingto's mind were interrupted by the intervention of Tokugawa Iemo's childish voice.
"Thank you for your hard work. Are you injured?"
Qingdeng shook his head and replied: "An enemy of this level will not hurt me."
Tokugawa Iemo nodded: "Well, that's good."
While the two were talking, Tianzhangyuan and Erzhong sisters surrounded them one after another.
"Lord General."
Saashige lowered her voice very low and said at a volume that even Tokugawa Iemo and others standing right in front of her could barely hear:
"Let's leave this place of right and wrong quickly before the officials from the 'Three Chapters' of the Enforcement Office and the officials from the nearby own division have arrived."
After the security personnel arrived here, even if Qingdeng and his party were victims, they would inevitably be taken to the nearby police station or even the yamen of the execution station for questioning.
By then, today's long-awaited private visit by Tokugawa Iemo will definitely come to nothing.
Tokugawa Iemo, who understood the pros and cons, nodded without thinking: Lan
"Well, you're right. Let's go."
Just when a group of people were about to leave quickly——
"Huh? I recognize this person. Isn't he that Pingshan Chong?"
Suddenly, an exclamation sounded from not far away, attracting the attention of Aoto and Tokugawa Iemo.
"Huh? Ah, it's true, it's really that Hirayama Chong."
To the right of Qingdeng and others, there were two middle-aged ladies, both around 40 years old, pointing at the handsome man who had just had a fierce battle with Qingdeng and was now unconscious on the ground. Click and talk.
"Eh? Miss Ah Ren, Miss Atang, do you know this ronin?" Lan
A young girl standing side by side with these two aunts asked doubtfully.
"Well, this ronin's name is Hirayama Oki. It used to be the hometown of Atou and I... that is, a lower-level feudal lord of the Owari clan. I remember... it must have been more than 20 years ago. Hirayama Oki was involved in a fight. An unfortunate marriage led to the current miserable situation of having to live all over the world. The incident that caused Hirayama Oki to be deprived of his official position was quite famous throughout the Owari Domain at that time, and I still remember it until now. Remember the whole story and the specific details.”
"Reduced to a rogue because of a marriage?" The young girl tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"Well... where should I start..."
"Aren, let me tell you. Back then, my parents and I lived near the dojo opened by Hingshan Chong, so I knew the tragic experience of Hingshan Chong better than the average person. I even knew many people who were not familiar with it. A well-known secret.”
"Hirayama Oki was originally the master of a dojo in the countryside of Owari Domain that taught Kashin Akechi-ryu."
"With his outstanding skills and good teaching ability, although Hingshan Chong's dojo cannot be said to be full of masters, it can also be said to be a crowded place." Lan
"I remember it very clearly. That year was the eighth year of Tianbao (1837)...that is, almost 24 years ago, Hirayama Chong married a very beautiful woman through a blind date. That woman...I remember her name was Aguang .”
"As I said just now, my home was near Pingshan Chong's dojo, so I was lucky enough to see that Aguang in person."
"She is indeed a very beautiful woman! Her skin is white and tender, her eyes are big, her mouth is small, and her figure is graceful and slender. She looks like she just stepped out of a beauty painting."
"With a handsome face, outstanding swordsmanship and talent, a prosperous dojo career, and such a beautiful wife, Hirayama Chong's life should have been very happy."
"But... the bad thing is that his wife is so beautiful. She was attracted by Takao Kansuke, the only son of Takao Juntaro, the elder of the Owari clan at the time."
"Don't you know, my elders? He is responsible for commanding all the warriors in the domain and taking charge of all the affairs of the domain. It is the most important and prominent official position in the domain."
"So, sometimes it may not be a good thing if your wife is too beautiful." Lan
"After Takao Kansuke fell in love with Hikaru, he deliberately tried to take Hikari away from Hirayama Chong and make him his own."
"There is no suspense in this duel. As soon as it begins, the ending is doomed."
"Although Hirayama Chong is a master of a dojo and has good swordsmanship. But after all, he is just a lower-level vassal who doesn't even have an official status. How can he be able to fight against the elder's son?"
"I don't know what happened after that."
"In short, Takao Kansuke relied on his own power to successfully force Hirayama Chong to separate from Aguang, and then successfully brought Aguang into his house."
】
The young girl who had been listening quietly interjected with a shocked look on her face:
"Ah... my wife was snatched away... faced with such a shame and humiliation, Hingshan Chong... didn't this person ever think about revenge?" Lan
After asking, the young girl turned her head and glanced at the handsome uncle who was still unconscious on the ground not far away...Hirayama glanced at him, with a hint of sympathy in his eyes.
"Why haven't you thought about it? No man in his right mind can endure such humiliation, right?"
"After Hikari was taken away by Takao Kansuke, Hirayama Oki immediately started preparing to assassinate Takao Kansuke. He tried to imitate Ogata Ittousai, who had fought hundreds of battles and killed the lord of Hirose domain, and killed Takao Kansuke. .”
"However, it is easy to imitate Ogata Ittousai, but it is not so easy to replicate the success of Ogata Ittousai."
"Whenever Takao Kansuke goes out, he will always be accompanied by 10 martial arts masters whom he hired with huge sums of money."
"Hirayama Chong, who was carried away by anger, resolutely decided to continue the assassination operation regardless of the huge gap in numbers and strength between the two sides."
"There are many different opinions on what method Hirayama Oki used to assassinate Takao Kansuke." Lan
"According to the most widely circulated version...Hirayama rushed out on a dark and windy night, and ambush Takao Kansuke at the place he must pass when he returns home."
"The choice of time and place is impeccable, but the gap in combat power between the two sides is really too far."
Although Hirayama Ou fought desperately, he was still outnumbered. If his legs and feet were not agile enough and he could not run fast enough, he would definitely have been hacked to death by Takao Kansuke's guards. "
"Did the assassination fail..." The young girl sighed, regret and pity appearing on her face, "A great future, a happy family, just because the elder's son fell in love with his wife..."
Having said this, the young girl pursed her lips tightly as if she had finished speaking.
"Oh, there's no way. People without power are easily bullied... I'll go on."
"After Hirayama failed to kill Takao Kansuke, he naturally had no way to stay in Owari Domain anymore. He could only leave his hometown and become a ronin." Lan.
"Perhaps they were worried that Kansuke Takao was at fault first. The Owari Domain did not dare to make this matter too big, so they did not issue a wanted order for Hirayama Oboru and allowed Hirayama Oboru to fly away."
"Although I haven't learned about it in detail about how things went after Pingshan Chong, I have heard a little bit about it."
"I heard that Hirayama Oboru sank for a while after leaving Owari Domain, but he picked himself up and tried to make a comeback."
"He traveled around, promoting himself to various vassal states, hoping to use his swordsmanship skills to get an official position in a foreign land."
"But being an official is not that easy."
"Within each vassal state, there are a lot of idle warriors waiting in line to become officials. They are eagerly waiting for the employees in various positions to die or be abolished so that they can Take your place."
"How can it be so easy for a stranger like Pingshan Chong to jump in?" Lan
"What's more, many vassal states are so poor that they can hardly take the blame. A few vassal states can only survive by borrowing money from Osaka merchants."
"These poor feudal lords can't wait to have most of the samurai in their territory who reach out to the feudal government for Lumi disappear every year. How can they hire more new samurai?"
"Hirayama Ou traveled through most of Japan, but no feudal state was willing to take him in - this is the last rumor I know about this poor man."
"It seems... Hirayama Ou is still a ronin who can't find his destination."
"Not only failed to escape the predicament, but he also became more depraved... He actually collaborated with other people to engage in such despicable deeds... What was a high-spirited dojo demonstrator back then has now become a man who makes a living by resisting fraud and abduction. The local ruffians...are really a trick of fate!"
Aoto and Tokugawa Iemo quietly listened to the end of the conversation between the aunt and the young girl.
Qingto subconsciously squinted his eyes and peeked at Tokugawa Iemo next to him. Lan
Tokugawa Iemo's face seemed to be painted with a layer of bluish paint, and his expression was extremely solemn.
It seems that what happened to Hirayama Oki greatly touched Tokugawa Iemo.
However, this is natural.
Tokugawa Iemo was determined to restore the authority of the shogunate.
The tragedy of Oki Hirayama's life nakedly and directly exposed the two irreconcilable social contradictions in the current era that Tokugawa Iemo must face if he wanted to realize ZTE.
First, class contradictions are unprecedentedly acute.
Senior samurai like Takao Kansuke occupy a large amount of social resources. Remain firmly in the position of "exploiter". A simple sneeze from one of them is an irresistible hurricane wave for the "exploited". Lan
Secondly, the shogunate system is on the verge of collapse.
To put it bluntly, the samurai class is a privileged class that does not engage in production and relies entirely on money and food provided by the shogunate and the vassal state.
300 years ago, when the Edo shogunate was founded, the number of samurai was not that large, so both the shogunate and the feudal lords could afford to maintain samurai in their respective territories.
But as time went by, the long-term peaceful life led to an explosion in the number of samurai.
Today, the excessively large number of samurai groups has become a huge economic burden for the shogunate and the feudal lords.
In order to maintain their rule, the shogunate and the feudal lords carried out large-scale increases in revenue and expenditures more than once.
Reduce the number of officials; reduce salaries; try every means to reduce the number of warriors in the territory...
The life of the Tokugawa clan has become better - but the samurai at the bottom have suffered.
The increasingly difficult days forced many middle- and lower-level samurai to leave the vassal state and find another way out due to family bankruptcy.
The outlook and social order of the Edo period made it difficult for samurai to find good jobs.
The vassal state, which was generally impoverished, significantly tightened the standards for hiring officials.
As a result, the number of ronin has not been fundamentally reduced, which has led to the current number of unemployed ronin remaining high, and there is a steady increase trend...
Hirayama Chong's tragic experience is just a microcosm.
It can be expected that similar things, and even more extreme things, are taking place in various parts of the country continuously. Lan
Today's incognito visit has just begun, and I have directly witnessed such bloody and cruel people's sentiments...
Qingden didn't know what Tokugawa Iemo was thinking at this time.
But judging from his current expression...he guessed that Tokugawa Iemoji's heart might not be too peaceful right now.
Tokugawa Iemo stood there thoughtfully.
After a long time passed like this, he silently withdrew his attention and eyes from the old man and the young man who were still discussing Hirayama Chong.
"...let's go."
After leaving these words, the young monarch sighed with a mixed expression and walked straight to the crossroads ahead without looking back...
Which direction should we go next?
He seems to have not decided yet.
…
…
At this moment——
Edo, Chishiya——
Kinoshita Mai knelt obediently behind the counter, concentrating on checking Kiryu's account books. Lan
Meow~~
His figure has gained weight again, proving more and more the truth of the saying "big oranges are the most important". He lay lazily beside Mai Kinoshita's legs and combed his hair leisurely.
Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps coming from far and near outside the door, approaching Qianshiwu.
At the same moment when she heard these footsteps, Kinoshita Mai's delicate body suddenly stiffened.
Although Kinoshita Mai's personality has become much more cheerful due to the influence of love after she fell in love with Aoto, her introverted nature and shyness towards strangers have always been impossible to change so quickly.
"There are, there are guests..." Kinoshita Wu hurriedly put away the account books, abacus, and pen and ink.
Almost at the same time as she was getting ready to welcome the guests - bang - the shop door was pushed open. Lan
Kinoshita Mai quickly lifted her head off the counter and forced out an unnatural smile.
"H-Welcome Hikaru...eh? Mr. Kiryu?"
The person who pushed open the door was none other than Kiryu.
"Young Master, I'm back after shopping for groceries."
Kiryu, who had a gentle and gentle smile on his old face as always, waved the heavy vegetable basket in his hand to Kinoshita Wu.
"Mr. Kiryu, welcome back!"
The stiff smile turned into a bright smile. Lan
"You came back really early today. Is there no one in the vegetable market today?"
"Well, today is New Year's Day after all, so the flow of people in the vegetable market is naturally not as good as in the past. Here, young master, the white tofu you have been longing for."
"Okay~~ You can eat soup tofu tonight~~!"
Kinoshita Mai happily took the food basket from Kiryu's hand.
Just as she was humming a tune and turning around, ready to take the ingredients in the basket into the kitchen——
"...Young Master, don't leave yet."
"Huh? Mr. Kiryu, what's wrong?"
Kinoshita Mai stopped her feet, turned back, and looked at Kiryu in confusion.
"I...have something important to tell you - about your grandma."
