The comfortable and pleasant breath like the spring breeze, and the fresh and sweet breath, like two smooth silks, not only tickled Qingdeng's ears, but also made Qingdeng feel a strange sense of comfort. .
"How's it going? Are you free tonight?"
Tianzhangyuan whispered new seductive words in a gentle tone.
His body moved as if controlled by the voice. Qingden turned his head and saw a pair of beautiful, moist eyes looking straight at him.
The waves in his eyes were rippling and soft.
The red lips curved into the shape of a cat's mouth.
The eyes were narrowed so thin that the upper and lower eyelashes almost touched each other.
The frown between his brows exudes a wonderful magic power that seems to captivate people.
Maybe it's because of his face, or maybe it's because of his personality. Tianzhangyuan often gives people a... very lustful feeling.
Tianzhangyuan's daily behavior and movements always remind Qingdeng of the famous demon in European and Middle Eastern folklore: the succubus.
She already has the look of a succubus that can make countless men willingly donate their energy. After showing such a seductive expression and uttering this string of words that can arouse people's endless reverie, she becomes even more "succubus". Demonized”!
To say something like this on this occasion... Your Highness, are you serious? !
At this moment when he was looking at the succubus who was 6 years older than him, a long-lasting event from the past flashed into Qingdeng's mind——
Previously, Qingdeng had heard such a rumor related to Tianzhangyuan from someone:
Tian Zhangyuan is a "passionate" woman. After Tokugawa Iesada died of illness, she became a widow at a young age and felt extremely lonely. In order to express her loneliness, she often secretly summoned some young men with good faces and strong bodies into Edo Castle...
——Could it be said that...this rumor is not groundless...?
Just when Qingden exclaimed in his heart...
"Pfft..."
A hint of a childlike smile emerged from his eyes, which were deeply covered by the velvet-like long and soft eyelashes.
Tianzhangyuan hurriedly raised his cattails and covered his mouth desperately, but laughter like silver bells still escaped.
"G-g-g-g...!"
A beautiful smile flashed on Tianzhangyuan's cheeks.
"Sheng Qing, you showed a very interesting expression again."
After saying that, she seemed to be unable to bear it any longer. She pressed her flat belly with both hands and laughed so hard that she even shed tears from the corners of her eyes.
When Qingdeng saw this, he was stunned at first, and then he immediately realized that he had been tricked by this widow with a bad personality again.
"Your Highness..." Qingdeng sighed helplessly, "Can you stop making such jokes on me...?"
"Sorry, sorry." Tianzhangyuan gradually stopped laughing, "I feel weird myself. Anyway, I can't help but want to play a prank on you. Why is that? Ah, maybe it's because Sheng Qing, you usually You are always serious, so it makes me want to tease you, and I want to see you show more interesting expressions other than 'serious'."
--Um? Am I always serious in my daily life?
Qingden rubbed his face.
In Qingto's understanding, "serious" should be the exclusive adjective for a lonely person like Saito Ichi who can not smile all day long.
While he was thinking to himself, Tianzhangyuan suddenly sent a meaningful look at him.
"Sheng Qing, although it's a bit hard to say this...but I am very disappointed with your performance just now."
"Aha?"
Qingdeng was concerned about the content of this sentence, so he fixed his gaze on Tianzhangyuan's delicate face.
Before he had time to ask anything, he heard Tianzhangyuan continue his words in a faint tone:
"You, after hearing me ask, 'Are you free tonight?', a thought that was very rude to me came to mind. Am I right?"
"Don't think about sophistry. I can basically guess what you were thinking at that time. It's nothing more than: 'Ah, is this woman really the same as those rumors said, a woman who often uses young and strong women as her husband? A promiscuous woman that a young man summons into his room?'"
"..." Qingdeng was speechless for a moment, and turned his gaze guiltily to avoid looking at Tianzhangyuan.
Although he really didn't want to admit it...but Tianzhangyuan was basically right.
There are some slight discrepancies between what Tianzhangyuan said and the real situation, but it is generally correct.
Qingdeng didn't know how to reply for a while, so he could only remain awkwardly silent.
Just when he was thinking about whether to activate the talent he got an upgrade on today: "Trickster +1" to get rid of this topic to Hu——
"But... it's not entirely your fault, Sheng Qing."
Tianzhangyuan raised his chin at an imperceptible angle and looked at the sky in the distance.
"My reputation among the people... has never been very good. So it's understandable that you would have such thoughts."
"To be honest, I don't really want to talk about this topic with others, but it wouldn't be good if you keep having unnecessary misunderstandings. So I'd better clarify it with you."
Tianzhangyuan put on a solemn face and a solemn tone.
"'Tianzhangin Atsuki is very lustful', 'Tianzhangin Atsuki longs for a man's arms', 'Tianzhangin Atsuki has many male pets', 'Tianzhangin Atsushi has affairs with many men'... These rumors widely circulated in the market are completely false and nonsense..."
Tianzhangyuan seemed to suddenly think of something and suddenly got stuck.
"Ah... No. If you say it's 'complete nonsense', it doesn't seem right."
"It should be said: Some of these rumors are nonsense, but some are absolutely true."
When Qingdeng was a little careless, Tianzhangyuan once again made a surprising statement with a joking tone.
Tianzhangyuan once again showed his "succubus face": his red lips curved into a cat's mouth shape; he squinted his eyes to look at people; his eyes flashed with a dazzling glass light.
(Some of these rumors are nonsense, but some are absolutely true...)
As if a tape recorder was installed in his ear, Tianzhangyuan's words echoed in Qingdeng's ears several times before slowly dissipating in the air and in Qingdeng's mind.
Qingdeng never thought he was lewd.
Although he is in love with many girls at the same time, he never thinks of himself as a lustful and lustful person.
However... he really couldn't help himself right now.
At this moment, Qingdeng's mind was "ripples" uncontrollably, and he thought to himself unconsciously:
——Since only some of these rumors are false...then which part of the rumors are true? Is it true that he secretly keeps many male pets? Is it because your temperament is really lustful? Or……
Tianzhangyuan has been paying close attention to the changes in Qingdeng's demeanor.
After seeing Qingdeng's expression become a little unnatural, she seemed to have read through Qingdeng's inner thoughts and chuckled a few times, "Kukuku~".
Tianzhangyuan stood on tiptoe and leaned his upper body towards... No, correction. It’s posted to Qingdeng!
Tianzhangyuan leaned forward on tiptoe, causing the distance between her and Qingdeng to be shortened in one breath.
As the distance between the two parties narrowed, Qingdeng could almost feel the soft weight and hot body temperature transmitted from Tianzhangyuan's delicate body.
"If you want to know which parts of these rumors are true and which parts are false..."
The red lips pressed lightly against Qingdeng's ear, breathing out a breath of ecstasy.
"Then train well, perform tasks well, and... make me happy in the new royal court episode~"
"Whenever I feel that the time is right, or when I am in a good mood, I will tell you my little secrets that are not known to everyone~~"
"To show my gratitude to you for punching that person for me just now, I will reveal a secret to you first."
"'Tenjoin Atsuhime longs for a man's arms' - this rumor is true."
"By the way: I prefer people younger than me to people older than me. Even if they are 6 or 7 years younger than me, it's not unacceptable to me."
"Hehe~ This is the first time I have told this secret of mine to outsiders. I am so shy~~"
After saying that, Tianzhangyuan opened his mouth slightly and bit Qingdeng's earlobe.
Obviously the pain from the bitten ear was not strong... but Qingdeng still felt as if he had been scalded by boiling water. He quickly leaned away from Tianzhangyuan and threw a stunned look at Tianzhangyuan. Sight.
The widow still showed her "succubus face" with "lips like a cat's mouth and squinting eyes to look at people".
She slowly flattened the soles of her feet, retracted her upper body from reaching towards Qingdeng, then covered her mouth and laughed happily.
"Kukukuk~~Sheng Qing, your expression has become interesting again~~It's just that I bit your ear. As for you, do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
Looking at Tianzhangyuan who was smiling very happily, Qingden twitched the corner of his mouth in dumbfounded laughter.
At this moment, Qingdeng sincerely realized a "truth":
This woman... is indeed a succubus...!
A series of conversations between Qingdeng and Tianzhangyuan were conducted at a volume that only the two of them could hear clearly.
Therefore, Tokugawa Iemo and the two sisters on the side did not know what these two people said.
At the same time, because Tianzhangyuan's actions were too subtle, they did not notice that Qingdeng's ear was bitten by Tianzhangyuan.
From their perspective, they only saw Tianzhangyuan saying a lot to Qingdeng, and then Qingdeng kept showing weird expressions, while Tianzhangyuan kept laughing happily.
"Mother," Tokugawa Iemo couldn't help but ask, "What did you and Tachibana-kun talk about?"
"Well... I won't tell you~"
Tenshoin winked playfully at Tokugawa Iemo.
Tokugawa Iemo smiled helplessly. Seeing that Tenshoin did not want to say more, he did not continue to ask any more questions.
"Speaking of which..."
Tokugawa Iemo turned to look at Aoto.
"I really didn't expect it. Tachibana-kun, have you reached the stage where you can release your 'power'?"
What Tokugawa Iemo was referring to was, of course, Aomori's sudden and astonishing move of "power" when he faced Saichiro and others just now.
"No..." Qingdeng shook his head without thinking, "I haven't really reached this level yet."
Tokugawa Iemo's sudden question made Aonto's emotions, which had been "turbulent" by Tenshoin's seductive words and deeds, gradually return to calm.
After sorting out his words for a moment, he continued:
"I'm still stuck in the 'I don't have the freedom to control the situation yet' stage."
As soon as the battle with Saichiro and others ended, Aomori's "power" automatically stopped being released.
After that, no matter how hard Qingdeng tried, he could no longer release the "potential" according to his own will.
This shows that he still has not reached the state of "being able to freely control power" like Eijiro Chiba, Shusaku Kondo, and Souji.
However, although he has not yet truly reached this state, Qingdeng can truly realize that he is not far away from this state!
Continue to improve yourself, or... with a little more opportunity, you can truly reach this realm that countless warriors dream of!
At this moment, three melodious bells floated into the ears of Qingdeng and others.
Dang~~dang~~dang~~
This is the sound of the clock of time.
Clock of Time: A tool set up by the shogunate to inform people in Edo City of the current moment.
Beginning with the installation of a bell tower at Nihonbashi Honseki 3-chome in the third year of Kan'ei (1626), more than a dozen places including Kan'ei-ji Temple, Senso-ji Temple, Ichigaya Hachiman, Akasakada-machi Moriman-ji Temple, Yotsuya Tenryu-ji Temple and Mejiro Fudo-mon Temple were established. A bell tower was erected.
The Bell of Time is a public facility built with public funds from the shogunate, so there is a standardized way of ringing the bell.
Every hour, the bell rings.
The first is to ring the bell three times in advance. The first time is longer, and the second and third times are struck continuously to indicate that the time will be told next and to remind people around you to prepare to listen to the bell.
In Chinese yin-yang theory, odd numbers are yang numbers, and the largest "nine" among the odd numbers is the most auspicious number.
Influenced by this theory, the Japanese call the first hour of the day, that is, 0 o'clock in the morning, "Twilight Nine O'clock" or "True Night Nine". The bell is rung as many times as the number in the title is.
For example, at 9 o'clock in the evening (0 o'clock in the morning), the bell is rung 9 times.
The numbers of time are counted backwards in the order of "nine eight seven six five four".
And so on:
2 o'clock in the morning is the "eight o'clock in the evening" and the bell is rung eight times; 4 o'clock in the morning is the "seven o'clock in the evening" and the bell is rung seven times.
By 6 a.m., it is almost dawn, so the name will change from "Twilight" to "Chao", but the number remains unchanged, and it is called "Morning Six O'clock".
Next is morning at five o'clock (8 a.m.) and four o'clock (10 a.m.).
Noon is considered the beginning of the other half of time, so the numbers need to be calculated from the beginning at noon. The title changes back to "Nine O'clock", and the number of bell ringings also changes back to 9.
Nine o'clock (12 noon), eight o'clock (2 p.m.), seven o'clock (4 p.m.)...
At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, because night is approaching, the title changes from "Chao" back to "Twilight" and is called "Twilight Six O'clock".
Five o'clock in the evening (8 p.m.), four o'clock in the evening (10 p.m.)...
At 0 o'clock in the morning, a new day begins, and the number returns to the original "nine".
So it goes round and round, over and over again.
The bells that Qingdeng and others just heard were the preparatory sounds from the nearby bell tower to remind them of the time.
Tokugawa Iemo stopped and listened.
A moment later, six bells echoed in the air.
6 bells - 6pm - 6pm.
Tokugawa Iemo raised his head and looked at the sky that was starting to darken.
"Time flies so fast... Before you know it, the day is over..."
After letting out a self-deprecating chuckle, Tokugawa Iemo called Aoto and the two sisters to him.
"Since it's already late, today's visit... will end here."
"Tachibana-kun, Saege, Yae, thank you very much for today."
"Thanks to your company, my mother and I were able to travel around Edo so smoothly today."
Upon hearing this, Qingdeng immediately replied:
"General, you're too polite. Rather, I have to apologize to you and His Highness Tenshoin. I'm really sorry just now because I had a conflict with those Confucian scholars and Itakura Hirahiko, which caused your I’m really sorry that my schedule and time were delayed a lot.”
Tokugawa Iemo smiled and shook his head:
"No, it was those people who were at fault first, and your mother needs to apologize. Today's visit has benefited me a lot. I have personally seen what kind of life the people of Edo live today."
"What I saw today is just the tip of the iceberg of the suffering of the people."
"So, if I have the chance, I would like to visit a place farther away and see what kind of life the people outside Edo live."
Speaking of this, Tokugawa Iemo looked straight into Qingto's eyes with a smile.
"When the time comes, please be my bodyguard again!"
