In the second year of Wanyan (1861), January 10 (the day Qingdeng was imprisoned), night - slander
Edo, Kodenma Town, Jiayashiki——
As night fell, the jailers in the prison finally stopped.
The sounds of lamentations, angry scoldings, begging for mercy, the sound of whips hitting human bodies, and the sound of stones crushing muscles and bones, all disappeared.
Because the environment suddenly became extremely quiet, Qingdeng was not used to it for a while.
The only inmate in the same area as Aoto, Kyoutaro Miyabe, was already asleep.
He slept quite gracefully, neither snoring nor grinding his teeth. He used his hands as a pillow and curled up like a cat, with his chest and shoulders rising and falling regularly.
There was no one left to chat with... A strong feeling of loneliness occupied Qingdeng's consciousness. slander
Although the living environment of Yangyashiki is very good, no matter how good the treatment, it is impossible to provide the prisoners with rich entertainment projects.
After all, this is Japan in the Edo period, not some modern "Madonna Country" that provides prisoners with five-star accommodation, refrigerators, color TVs, and game consoles.
Qingdeng is still energetic and doesn't want to sleep yet.
Extremely bored, he stuck his head out of the cell and looked at the big copper lock on the door.
The gap in the prison fence was very small, only half of Qingdeng's head could barely pass through the two gaps.
——This lock... although it is large and complicated, it is not impossible to pick open...
"Prying locks" is the key part of the cloud-ryu ninjutsu. slander
Relying on the powerful understanding ability of "Ghost Heart", the enhanced finger strength brought by "Skilled Hands +1", and Sa Shige's professional guidance, Qingden has grown into a master lockpicker in just a few months. .
Nowadays, most of the locks on the market are just fake in Qingdeng's eyes, and it only takes a while to pry them all open.
——As long as you give me the tools, I can escape from jail now.
As soon as this thought came to Qingdeng's mind, he was amused by the idea.
Jailbreaking... This is the most stupid behavior for Qingdeng at present.
Once he forcibly steps out of the prison door, Qingdeng will instantly change from a "justifiable victim" to an "irrational madman."
His wisest choice now is to stay in the prison cell in Kodenma Town and wait for the rescue of his friends outside. slander
Although saying this is a bit boastful, Qingdeng thinks that his popularity is quite good.
He likes to make friends, and because of his personality, he can get along with no matter who he is with.
You can chat with a playboy like Hijikata Toshizo, and you can also have a good time with a cool and cool guy like Saito Ichi.
The Chiba family, scholars from the Tibetan Studies Institute headed by Katsu Rintaro... In Qingto's circle of friends, there are really too many friends who can provide him with strong support.
Not to mention that Qingdeng still had two king bombs in his hand:
A business group with unknown strength: Boss Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita, both from Calabash House.
The current speakers of the Edo shogunate and their mothers: Tokugawa Iemo and Tenjoin. slander
Qingdeng knows very little about Calabash House, so he will not comment yet.
But what is certain is that Boss Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita will never sit back and watch him go behind bars.
As for the latter... To be honest, Qingto couldn't guarantee that Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin would definitely come to save him.
Although he had just visited Edo incognito with the mother and son a few days ago, and the distance between them had become closer, at the end of the day, the relationship between Qingto and these two important figures was still that of a monarch and a minister.
Common sense cannot be used to speculate on the thoughts of feudal rulers.
The group that attacked Aonto and put him in jail was the "Direct Participation Alliance" led by the Akabane family.
The direct ginseng samurai were the basis of the rule of the Edo shogunate. Although most of them have become rotten and reduced to mud that cannot hold up the wall, the Edo shogunate really cannot do without them. slander
In the crazy attack of the Hitotsubashi faction
Let’s not mention Tenjoin, who is currently semi-retired and can move more freely. Tokugawa Iemo, who has to stand in front of the stage all the time, will definitely take action if he wants to deal with the "Direct Participation Alliance" that is opposed to Aoto.
What's more, there are mad dogs from the Hitotsubashi faction watching Tokugawa Iemo's every move.
Whenever Tokugawa Iemo did anything that would lead to criticism, he would be verbally criticized by the Hitotsubashi faction.
Under such a premise with many concerns, whether Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin can bring considerable support to Aoto... This really has to be a question mark.
However, no matter what, Qingdeng is not worried about his current situation.
He has full confidence in whether he can successfully get out of prison...or whether his friends outside can help him get out of prison.
This is the biggest source of confidence for him to remain calm even if he is imprisoned. slander
——After being released from prison, how should we deal with the Akabane family...
While Qingdeng was deep in thought, his hands kept moving and he continued to play with the copper lock on the cell door.
The Akabane family's revenge methods were much more intense than Qingden imagined. To actually frame him directly with such a far-fetched reason...
This approach is tantamount to directly issuing a "fight to the death" invitation to Qingdeng.
How could Qingteng be frightened by the turmoil caused by the Akabane family?
Qingden never flinched when he was targeted by the anti-barbarian group who really dared to directly block the streets and kill people, and even did ridiculous things such as burning Edo and abducting people.
However, the Akabane family, as well as the helpers, Hatamotos, and royal family members they found were ultimately a privileged group that controlled a large amount of social resources. slander
Therefore, you need to proceed with caution when fighting them.
As early as this morning, when he learned that he was arrested and the mastermind behind it was the Akabane family, Aomori had already started thinking about how to launch a powerful counterattack against the opponent!
Qingdeng silently thought about the serious political struggle.
At this moment, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an orange light emerging from the end of his vision on the right.
Turning around, I saw that it was a jailer who was patrolling around.
The orange light that Qingdeng saw came from the lantern in the hand of the jailer.
"Ah, Tachibana-sama, are you still awake?"
When the jailer saw Qingdeng, he immediately put on a big smile and greeted him warmly, using respectful words and honorifics.
The terror of the jailors in the Kodenma Town Prison Yashiki will only be shown to the helpless commoners and vagrants who live in low-end prison cells such as the second prison and the public prison.
Facing the Hatamoto samurai living in Yangyashiki, they didn't even dare to take a breath.
Prison is one of the most humane and worldly places.
The prison in Kodenma Town is essentially just a large detention center, where the people in charge are all suspects who have not yet been convicted.
In other words, all detainees in prison may be released without charge in the future.
It's nothing more than bullying the common people. Even if they suffer great injustice and pain, what can the common people do to the jailers? He could only swallow the broken teeth into his stomach. slander
How dare you disrespect the Hatamoto samurai?
Then, what awaits you in the future will most likely be terrible revenge...
Therefore, Qingden's first intuitive feeling after being sent to the prison was: The sun was shining in the sky, and the flowers were smiling at me.
Every jailer he met treated him very politely.
"Mr. Orange" is long and "Mr. Orange" is short.
The first sentence is "Mr. Tachibana, have you eaten?", the latter sentence is "Mr. Tachibana, are you used to sleeping on the tatami here?".
If it weren't for the fact that he was in the cell and the guards were outside the cell, Qingdeng would have really thought that he was not in jail, but on inspection as a big leader. slander
Without reaching out to hit the smiling man, Qingden gave the jailer outside the door a faint smile.
"Well, I'm not sleepy yet, so I got up and sat for a while."
Since he still had patrol duties, the jailer chatted with Qingdeng all the time.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, they held up the lantern and walked away.
Just when the jailer's figure was about to disappear from Qingdeng's sight, Qingdeng suddenly noticed the purple belt around his abdomen.
——Miss Okita...
See things and think about emotions.
Purple is Souji's favorite color. She usually only wears purple ribbons to tie her hair, and she also wears purple-based clothes in her daily clothes. slander
When I think of the General Secretary, I can't help but think of everyone in the Imperial Guard Hall, and then all my relatives and friends.
——I don’t know how everyone is doing now... After learning that I was imprisoned, although they shouldn’t be horrified, they will probably be at a loss...
Qingden let out a long breath.
——Miss Okita, Amu, Elodie, they must be worried about me now, I feel sorry for them...Will Miss Sanako be worried about me? Haha, Miss Sanako’s thoughts are really hard to fathom...
A smile gradually emerged between Qingdeng's cheeks.
Whenever he thinks of the faces of Souji, Mai Kinoshita, and Sanako, Aoto can't help but smile peacefully.
To Ayoto, Souji and his friends’ faces possess this strange magical power. slander
Qingdeng only enjoyed this indescribable tenderness.
However, at this moment... Qingdeng once again caught a glimpse of a warm orange light at the end of his right field of vision.
Qingdeng's brows immediately frowned.
--what happened? Wasn't there a night guard who just came here? Do the guards at the Kodenma Town Prison Yashiki do night patrols so frequently?
Qingdeng was wondering, while squeezing half of his head out of the gap between the prison door fence, and then turned his head to look to the right with difficulty.
Instantly, a sudden feeling surged into Qingdeng's heart.
Different... slander
Something different!
The new orange light that appeared at this moment was brighter, more intense, and richer in... dangerous aura than the light of the lantern that he had just seen.
A cold, disgusting smell, like burning wood, penetrated Qingdeng's nostrils continuously.
--Could it be that? !
Qingdeng's heart sounded a fierce alarm, and a hair-raising chill shot up from the soles of his feet to Tianling Gai.
As if to confirm Qingdeng's bad suspicion, the orange light that appeared on the far right side of Qingdeng's cell turned into red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The ever-changing red light stretches across Qingdeng's right side of vision, extending from one end to the other...
…
…
At this moment, if someone could overlook Edo, he would be able to see red dots like sprouts popping up in the ink-black night.
In just a blink of an eye, the red dot turned into a thick pillar of flame.
The fiercely burning flame pillar spit out tongues of flames all around.
The flames were like a bottomless mouth that didn't know how to eat, swallowing up the surrounding houses and streets.
The night is immersed in the poisonous claws of the fire demon. slander
The night of Edo was lit up in a way that no one wanted to see.
clang--! clang--! clang--! clang--! clang--!
The urgent ringing of bells reminded the townspeople to evacuate as soon as possible, ringing throughout Edo.
"It's on fire! It's on fire!"
"Where did the fire start?"
"It looks like Kodenma Town!"
"Damn! Why did the fire happen to happen tonight? It's windy tonight! The fire can spread easily!"
"Don't worry about it! Just pack up and run away! The fire is burning so fast!"
"Has the town fire been activated?"
"We have been dispatched a long time ago! All the firemen in Edo are rushing to Kodenma Town!"
…
…
"Cough! Cough! Cough! Why is it that this place is on fire! I don't want to be burned to death! Hey! Jailer! Open the door quickly! Open the door quickly! If you don't hurry up, let him go!
When we come out, we will become roast chicken in the steamer! Open the door! Ahem...! Open the door quickly! ! "
Kyotaro Miyabe, who had just been awakened by the sudden burning smell, was now pulling the cell door tightly while roaring crazily outside the cell door. slander
The current prison house is really a mess.
"Hey! Jailer! Come and save us!"
"Masters! Please open the door for us quickly! The fire is almost coming!"
"Shut up! Didn't we try to save you?"
"No! The fire here is too big, I can't get through it!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It hurts! It hurts so much! Get water quickly! Put out the fire on my body!"
Footsteps, roars, shouts, wailings... all kinds of sounds mixed together. slander
No matter what the sound is, the same emotion lurks deep within it: fear.
Fear of fire is a biological instinct.
How many people are there who can be calm and calm even when they are in a fire scene?
The wooden beams licked by the tongues of fire made an uncomfortable "creaking" sound.
Thick smoke from the flames billowed in all directions.
There was an unpleasant heat in the air.
The scorching wind carrying sparks sprayed onto Qingdeng's face. slander
Suddenly, Qingdeng heard a strong vibration and fierce cracking sound coming from above him - a "boom" - the ceiling tightly wrapped in flames outside the cell collapsed, falling directly on the In the corridor outside Qingdeng's cell.
The moment the burned ceiling hit the ground, the fireball shattered like glass, and thousands of sparks flew across the sky like blooming flowers.
Along with the sparks dancing, there were also blazing heat waves sweeping in all directions.
Qingden felt a burning sensation coming towards him that seemed to melt him alive, and he subconsciously turned his head to avoid it.
At this time, a Pyro stumbled and fell through a hole in the collapsed ceiling.
From the appearance... he seems to be a jailer.
I saw him raising his hands high, shaking his shoulders, stamping his feet, sometimes running around and bumping around, sometimes lying on the ground rolling around, trying hard to get rid of the "Cloak of Fire" on his body. slander
His screams... no longer seemed like sounds that humans could make.
There was no place on his body from head to toe where the flames could not be seen.
Anyone with a little common sense can see that this jailer is hopeless, and rolling on the ground will not help at all.
After a while, Pyro's movements and shouts gradually stopped.
A few moments later, he lay motionless on the ground. Because his face and body had been eroded beyond recognition by the fire demon, it was impossible to tell whether he was lying on his back or prone...
Even a swordsman like Qingden, who is used to seeing killing, life and death, still couldn't help but feel his scalp numb after seeing someone burned alive on his face paint...
——Something's wrong...! slander
Qingdeng's eyelids suddenly sank, and his face was filled with dark clouds.
——The speed at which the flames spread... was a little too fast!
In Japan during the Edo period, most of the houses and buildings were made of wood, so they were very easy to catch fire. Once burned, a large area would be destroyed.
However, no matter how easy it is to burn, it cannot burn so fast!
Qingden instinctively sensed something was wrong.
However, he couldn't think about these twists and turns now.
——We must try to escape quickly...! slander
Qingdeng originally wanted to wait for the jailers to come and open the cell door, but judging from the current situation...the jailers who are in trouble can't count on it!
The burning smell in the air became stronger and stronger, and the carbon monoxide content skyrocketed to the point where it was almost impossible to breathe.
Qingdeng looked around his cell, looking for things that could come in handy.
Soon, he found his water bottle with a few drops of water left.
"Miyabe! Wrap your mouth and nose with a wet cloth, and then lie down on the ground!"
Qingteng reminded Miyabe loudly, while "hissing" he pulled off a section of his sleeve, wetted it with the last bit of water left in the water bottle, and put it around his face like a mask. superior.
At the scene of a fire, you should cover your mouth and nose with a cloth moistened with water to slow down the impact of carbon monoxide on the body. Try to keep your body down and stay in a low place with more oxygen. This is firefighting knowledge that all primary school students in the 21st century understand. . slander
However, people in this era certainly do not understand this knowledge.
Kyoutaro Miyabe chatted with him for a long time today, so out of this affection, Qingto decided to remind him so that he could take some self-rescue measures as soon as possible.
At this critical juncture, the only way Qingdeng could think of to get out of trouble was to use his own lock-picking skills to force open his cell door!
Picking locks to escape...at first glance, it sounds feasible.
But a cruel real problem loomed before Qingdeng: Where was he going to find a lock-picking tool that could be used instead?
Before being sent to prison, Qingdeng underwent a strict body search, and all his belongings, including his sword, were "kept for safekeeping."
At the moment, except for the clothes on his body, Qingdeng is in a complete "breeze on his sleeves" state. slander
——Isn’t there anything long and thin...
Qingdeng's eyes glanced back and forth across the three-stack cell.
Soon enough, out of the corner of Qingden's left eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black shadow striking his head from above...
*******
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The next plot is the last and longest plot of the second volume. Now that this plot is over, the second volume will be completed successfully, and the third volume can be started!
Please vote for me! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard's head cries.jpg) Defamation
