Akabane family, inside the mansion——
"Damn it! Damn it! How could such a thing happen!"
The current head of the Akabane family: Akabane Sotaro took a big sip of wine and said angrily.
Opposite him, Suzumura Kentaro, his retainer whom he deeply relied on: a very strong and tough man with arms as thick as elephant legs and palms covered with calluses, consoled him:
"Master Zong, you have already drank too much tonight, please stop drinking."
Akabane Sotaro turned a deaf ear to Suzumura Kentaro's advice.
"Damn...how could such a thing happen...how could such a thing happen!"
As he refilled the glass in his hand, he blew his beard and stared, mumbling.
If you want to use precise words to summarize Akabane Sotaro's recent mood——
Successfully attracted many Hatamoto and Yu family members who were willing to support their Akabane family... Sent the damn Tachibana Aoden to prison... Two happy things overlapped, and these two happiness brought me more So much happiness, what I got was supposed to be a happy time like a dream... But why did it become like this?
His beloved son Akabane Koichiro was killed by Aoto - after suffering such humiliation and encountering such hatred, Akabane Sotaro could not let go.
If he doesn't avenge his beloved son, and if he doesn't vent all the evil in his chest, he swears he won't be a human being!
Of course, after living in the human world for more than forty years, and having been ups and downs in the big dye vat of the shogunate officialdom for such a long time, Akabane Shotarou, who was more refined than a fox, didn't he lose his mind when his blood rushed out? A reckless person who acts blindly.
He knew that Qingdeng, who had both superior personal abilities and extraordinary popularity, was not a soft persimmon who could be manipulated by him.
Therefore, he did not act rashly.
The reason why Akabane dares to criticize Aotomo is because he is confident: he can completely rely on his family's energy and connections to defeat Aoto - if he knew that on New Year's Day, Wakatori Itakura Katsora would be respectful to Aoto , and did not hesitate to teach his son Itakura Hirahiko in public, he may not have the confidence anymore.
On the night when "Itakura Hirahiko was looking for Aoto and Tenshoin's group", Tokugawa Iemo secretly summoned Itakura Katsutora and told him: He must not bring Aoto and Tenshoin with him. The matter of the private visit in disguise spreads out.
Tokugawa Iemo is currently only being targeted by the powerful Hitotori faction. He is not the kind of fictitious monarch who has no real power and is emptied out by his subordinates. What he says has weight - at least it has weight for Itakura Katsutora. .
How dare Itakura Katsutora disobey Tokugawa Iemo's order?
He immediately kowtowed and promised that he would never reveal anything about today's events to the outside world.
Itakura Katsutora remained silent. At that time, the number of people watching the whole process of "Itakura Katsutora's courtesy to Ayoto" was not large enough for the news to spread throughout Edo and beyond in a short period of time. .
Therefore, due to this information gap, Akabane Sotaro did not know that Qingtou's personal power was so great that today Ruinian Jidu would have to sell him a lot of money.
Otherwise, the incident in which Aoto was falsely accused and imprisoned might not have happened - no matter how confident Akabane Sotaro was, he would not be so confident that he would think that he could bring down a man who even Wakatori had to treat him with courtesy over and over again.
Ever since he learned of the death of his beloved son, Akabane Sotaro has been secretly dormant, looking for allies while waiting for the best opportunity to take revenge.
Hatamoto and the imperial family, who had a lot of political and social privileges, were inherently superior under the rule of the Edo shogunate.
After nearly three hundred years of development, this group of "human masters" have long formed a political group with intricate relationships with each other.
Killing the children of the banner in public - Qingdeng's behavior is a blatant challenge to the authority of this group of moths whose eyesight has long been corrupted by the comfortable life! It’s unbearable!
What's more, there are many people in Hatamoto and the imperial family who hate or even hate Qingto.
Qingdeng's origin was from an imperial family with a family income of less than a hundred stones.
In just less than a year, he transformed into a bannerman with a family income of over a thousand... For people who value blood and family status, they simply cannot accept that a person of low bloodline like Qingdeng would become a bannerman. List.
Therefore, Akabane Sotaro has no worries about finding allies.
The Akabane family has always had good connections, and Akabane Sotaro happens to be the kind of person who is eloquent. After some lobbying and fanning by him, many people responded, and soon a group of people were willing to help the Akabane family fight. Qingdeng’s “Direct Participation Alliance”. (Zhishen is the collective name for Hatamoto and Yujia).
After several months of preparations, Akabane Sotaro, who felt that everything was ready, immediately officially launched his revenge against Aoto!
It has to be said that the process of revenge at the beginning was so smooth that even Akabane Sotaro was surprised.
He reported Qingdeng on the grounds of "abusing his power and killing Zhongliang in vain", and worked with his allies to put pressure on government departments such as the execution office.
As a samurai group directly subordinate to the shogun, the Hatamoto and the imperial family held almost all official positions in the shogunate.
Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call them the cornerstone of the Edo Shogunate.
Without them, the entire Edo shogunate would have to come to a halt.
Therefore, the influence of the "Direct Participation Alliance" formed by Akabane Sotaro cannot be underestimated.
Under the strong pressure from Sotaro Akabane and others, the government could not bear the pressure and imprisoned Aoden in the prison of Kodenmacho.
Victory in the first battle...According to Akabane Sotaro's plan, the next step is to continue to put pressure on the government and convict Aonto!
Although he knew that this was impossible, Akabane Sotaro still sincerely hoped that Aoto would be sentenced to death!
Whether he ordered him to commit seppuku, sentenced him to beheading, or made him a test sword and training target for the swordsmen of the Yamada Asaemon clan of the "executioner family", Akabane Shotaro would be satisfied as long as he could kill Aoto.
No matter what happens, he will be sentenced to exile!
Jiudu Mountain, Hachijo Island...anywhere is fine, as long as it can make his life worse than death!
After learning that Aoto was successfully imprisoned, Akabane Sotaro began to happily imagine the wonderful situation of "Ao noto's death or exile". The corners of the raised lips could not be lowered.
However... what happened next was far beyond his expectations...
First of all, he never expected that Qingdeng’s network resources would be so rich!
The Edo-owned Hokushin Ittoryu Dojo led by the Chiba family personally, Katsu Rintaro and the other high-ranking shogunate officials he brought to help the platform, scholars from the Hoshu transfer institute, Westerners in the settlement, and officers who had been reformed by the fire thieves , the "policemen" from Kitabansho Town, wealthy businessmen who played a decisive role in the Edo economic world...
Martial arts, politics, academia, business, the military, foreign forces...people and forces from all walks of life and fields unite with each other to redress Qingdeng's injustice.
I'm afraid I haven't had the opportunity to see such a grand battle in 10 years... It's really shocking.
If only a single force supported Aoto, Sotaro Akabane wouldn't be afraid, but with so many forces supporting Aoto... this made Sotaro Akabane swallow uneasily.
It can be said that the strength and energy of the "Support Orange Alliance" are not weaker than the "Direct Participation Alliance" formed by Sotaro Akabane!
Just when Akabane Shotarou was thinking hard about how to deal with the offensive of the "Orange Support Alliance"... a new sudden accident, the main reason why Akabane Shotarou was drinking here now, suddenly came to light.
That was when the prison house in Kodenma Town suddenly caught fire! Qingdeng is missing!
It had been a long time since there had been a fire in the prison cell in Kodenma Town, but what happened was that the fire happened to happen on the day Aonto was imprisoned!
Such a coincidence is hard not to make people think of it.
Naturally, all kinds of conspiracy theories are rampant.
For example: "The fire in the prison house in Kodenma Town was man-made. It was set by the Akabane family! The purpose was to kill Aoden!"
Another example: "The Akabane family burned down the Kodenma Town prison house, and then took advantage of the chaos to kidnap Aoto, lock him in the underground secret room of the Akabane family mansion or somewhere else, and severely humiliate and torture Aoto. This is Aoto The reason for the disappearance and the reason why the prison house in Kodenma Town caught fire for no reason!"
Faced with all kinds of rumors and conspiracy theories, Akabane Sotaro really wanted to express his filial piety loudly: Even if it is made up, can it be reasonable? !
"Arson" is a serious crime that even a tall man (a man with a family income of more than 3,000 koku) would not be able to avoid!
yes. Akabane Sotaro admitted that he really hated Aoto and wished that he would die quickly, but his head was not broken. No matter what, he would not use this stupid trick of "killing a hundred enemies and damaging himself by eight thousand"!
Akabane Sotaro firmly believes that "rumors stop only among the wise."
Anyone who is smart will definitely be able to tell that the fire in the prison house in Kodenma Town and the disappearance of Aoto had nothing to do with the Akabane family.
However... in this world, after all, the vast majority of the population are fools who have no ability to think or judge, and follow what others say.
Recently, people who like to join in the fun have frequently been crouching outside the Akabane family's mansion.
Not to mention the children of the clan, even the ordinary servants of the clan often receive strange looks from others when they go out on the street.
The Akabane family is really wet right now - it's not just shit, it's shit.
If this continues, and if these outrageous rumors continue to spread... it is not impossible for the shogunate to launch an investigation into the Akabane family.
Inexplicably, he was blamed for "arson and murder"... How could Akabane Sotaro not be angry about this? How not to be depressed?
Drinking from a porcelain bowl no bigger than the palm of your hand was really unsatisfying. Akabane Sotaro threw away the cup in his hand, picked up the bottle, and drank with his head raised.
"Master Zong..."
Lingcun bit the bullet and persuaded again.
"Please stop drinking..."
"Woeful! Woeful! Woeful!"
Akabane Sotaro rudely interrupted the leader.
"I can drink as much as I like!"
After roaring, Akabane Sotaro tilted his body, leaning on the elbow rest on his side, taking a small sip and muttering softly.
"Damn...damn Tachibana Aoden...it doesn't make people feel peaceful even if he goes missing...hiccup!"
Akabane Sotaro let out a big wine burp, his body shook hard, his hand became unsteady, and the wine bottle slipped from his palm.
Under the influence of gravity, the wine bottle drew a straight line and fell towards the tatami beside Akabane Sotaro's knees.
The moment the wine bottle hit the tatami and made a muffled sound of "winter"——
Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!"
Phew! Phew!
Outside the room, there were sounds of doors being kicked open, human screams, and...the sound of blades cutting flesh...
Akabane Sotaro's eyes suddenly widened, and his drunkenness disappeared.
"What's going on?! What happened?!"
Suzumura's reaction was slightly faster than Akabane Sotaro's.
After being stunned for a moment, he immediately picked up the knife that was resting on his right leg, inserted the knife back into his waist, and pulled the blade out of its sheath.
"Master Zong! Please stay close to me and don't leave me!"
…
At this moment——
Somewhere inside the Akabane mansion—
"Who is coming! Do you know where this place is?!"
A retainer of the Akabane family with a sword in his hand stopped a man in black with a lot of blood on his body.
Just now, a group of men in black, all dressed in black and wearing black face scarves, poured into the Akabane family's mansion from all directions. They broke into the house roughly and killed everyone they saw, including retainers and servants. Don't let it go.
"..."
The man in black ignored the retainer's question. Without saying a word, he rushed straight towards the retainer in front of him!
"hateful!"
While cursing, the retainer readied the knife in a mid-section stance, pointing the tip of the knife directly at the man in black.
"This is the residence of the Hatamoto Akabane family! We will never allow thieves like you to mess around!"
Before he could say anything else, he quickly took out his sword and slashed it down towards the head of the man in black.
clang!
The man in black raised his sword to defend himself and intercepted the retainer's attack in mid-air.
The next moment, a black shadow flashed out from behind the man in black - it turned out that there was an accomplice of the man in black, hiding behind him. He took advantage of the retainer's knife to be held by the man in black, and his body When the door was wide open, he quickly stepped out, stepped forward, and slashed the waist of the retainer with his sword.
Poof!
Blood splatters.
The blade of the sword swept horizontally across the retainer's waist - the retainer was cut in half. A true cut in half.
The upper half of his body lost support and fell down along the smooth incision.
Cutting in half is an extremely painful way to die.
The important organs of human beings are basically concentrated in the upper body, so if the artificial soil is cut in half along the waist, the person will not die so quickly.
After wailing and screaming in pain for a long time, he will die from excessive blood loss.
This is the situation of retainers now.
He stared blankly at his body that had lost his lower body, and the severe pain came slowly.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh-!"
Screams resounded throughout the world.
Similar scenes appeared everywhere in the Akabane family mansion.
"What's going on?! How could this happen?!"
Akabane Sotaro's face looked miserable and his lips trembled.
"Who are these thieves?!"
"Master Zong! Let's go!"
Lingcun pulled Akabane Sotaro towards the Fujumon Gate (a small door located at the back of the house for people carrying urine and feces to enter and exit).
Before they had gone a few steps, they saw a strong man in black blocking their way.
This man is extremely tall, and he is holding a sword with a large arc in his hand. The handle and scabbard are both red and black...
"W-who are you?!"
Akabane Sotaro said sharply.
"Why did you break into my mansion and kill my people?!"
"..."
The strong man in black remained silent and ignored Akabane Sotaro at all.
He stepped on solid and powerful steps and slowly approached Akabane Sotaro and Suzumura.
"Master Zong, please step back..."
Suzumura raised his sword with a solemn expression and started to move in the middle.
Swordsmanship is not Suzumura's specialty, but he is not the kind of person who knows nothing about swords. He holds the catalog qualification of Katori Shinto style.
Facing Suzumura who was already in an attack stance... the strong man in black still walked steadily and at the same pace, as if he ignored Suzumura.
"Drink!"
With the burst of Qi, Suzumura took a step forward, closing the distance between himself and the man in black in one breath, and at the same time raised the blade, preparing to slash the Tianling Gai of the strong man in black.
At this moment, the strong man in black seemed to have been cast by "acceleration magic", or the time was slowed down and returned to the normal flow rate.
He was walking forward leisurely a moment ago, and suddenly turned into an indistinguishable afterimage!
He rushed towards Suzumura like a whirlwind.
Immediately afterwards, two sword flashes flashed in the air.
With his first strike, he saw Suzumura making a ready movement for a slash, raising the sword high, and slashed away Suzumura's right hand holding the sword with one blow.
The second knife cut through a cold arc and cut off Suzumura's throat.
With his vitals wounded, the loyal retainer didn't even have a chance to scream, before he slowly fell forward and died.
After beheading Suzumura, the strong man in black swung the sword in his hand downwards, and after sprinkling the blood on the blade, he rushed towards Akabane Sotaro without changing his whirlwind momentum.
"you……"
puff!
In the darkness, a white blade flashed.
Akabane Sotaro had just had time to shout out the word "you" when the rest of his words were permanently blocked in his throat due to severe pain and breathlessness...
The strong man in black pierced Akabane Soutaro's chest and heart with an unpretentious "deep stab", giving Akabane Soutaro a chill.
"Ho...! Ho...!"
Akabane Sotaro, who kept spitting out blood foam from his mouth like a fish blowing bubbles, used his last bit of strength to reach out and grab the face towel of the strong man in black.
When he was dying, he wanted to see with his own eyes who the person who killed him was, and he wanted to die clearly.
It's a pity... Akabane Sotaro's vision is just a wishful thinking after all.
His heart was pierced... With such an injury, his remaining life would only count down in seconds.
Akabane Sotaro's hand had just put on the black-clothed man's face scarf, and the strength in his hand disappeared as quickly as the snow in spring...
The strong man in black twisted the knife in his palm half a circle inside Akabane Sotaro's body, opened the muscles that tightened the blade due to the severe pain, and slowly withdrew the knife.
Akabane Sotaro's body, which was still lifeless and now without support, swayed twice before falling heavily to the ground.
"grown ups."
At this time, a thin dwarf emerged from the shadows on the side.
"Everything is done. There are 31 people in the Akabane family, and no one is alive."
The strong man in black nodded slightly.
"very good."
As he spoke, he inserted the knife in his hand...the handle and scabbard of the knife were both red and black. Just by looking at the shape, you could tell that it was definitely not a mortal thing. He inserted it casually on the floor at his feet.
"Let's go, we made such a big noise. Tsujiban (a sentry post set up by daimyo and hatamoto at the intersections of Edo samurai residential areas during the Edo period) was intended to strengthen samurai self-discipline and prevent samurai from killing people randomly on the streets at night. )’s officers should be here soon.”
After that, the strong man in black didn't even look at the knife that he had used to kill people just now and was now abandoned like a worn-out shoe. He led the thin man away with empty hands.
…
…
The entire Akabane family was killed - this incident shocked the entire Edo!
A whole family was brutally killed... Even if such a vicious incident happened to common people, the government would find it unbearable, let alone someone with a certain social status and a high family income?
Cases of this nature have met the conditions for the thieves to take action.
Therefore, the government immediately dispatched firepower to investigate the case against the thieves.
On the afternoon of the next day after the Akabane family was exterminated, another veteran of Aoto's officialdom: Inoya Hanjirō secretly visited the Imperial Guard Hall——
"What? Found Tachibana-kun's ghost at the murder scene of Akabane's house?!"
Due to the excessive shock, Souji couldn't help shouting, his voice breaking loudly.
"Mr. Inotani!" Harada shouted, "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake? Don't create another misunderstanding of 'accidental mistake'!"
Although Kondo, Hijikata, Saito and others did not shout directly like Souji and Harada, the shock and astonishment on their faces was no less than those of these two people.
Inoya sighed with a complicated expression:
"In the early hours of this morning, after the police officers from the Huo Fu Thief Reform stationed at the site, they immediately found a knife suspected of being stolen not long ago. After careful identification... it is now 100% safe. Confirmation: This sword is indeed Tachibana’s sword: the sword that slays ghosts and gods.”
"The reason why I made a sudden visit to your residence is because I was ordered by Lord Arima to tell you that Tachibana's current position... is very delicate."
"The government has listed Tachibana as a major suspect in the murder of 31 members of Akabane's family."
"Now there is a discussion within the government: After Tachibana successfully escaped from the fire scene in Kodenma Town Prison Yashiki, in order to avenge the Akabane family who put him in jail, he first stole the sword back, and then entangled a group of accomplices , killed Akabane's entire family, and because he was afraid of being arrested, he fled Edo overnight after the incident - this is the reason why Tachibana was suddenly stolen and why Tachibana has not been found until now."
"Although a formal arrest warrant has not yet been issued, the government has essentially begun sending people throughout the city to arrest Ju."
As soon as Inotani finished speaking, the Souji immediately said urgently:
"Wait a minute! What's going on?! Because Jun Tachibana's knife was found at the murder scene, do you suspect Jun Tachibana is the murderer? Regardless of Jun Tachibana's current whereabouts, Jun Tachibana is not a fool, how could he be there? After killing someone, leave something that can prove your identity at the crime scene?!"
"Mr. Inotani! This is obviously someone deliberately framed and framed Tachibana-kun!"
"He purposely stole the Dingguishen from Beifan, and after killing all Akabane's entire family, he deliberately left the Dingguishin at the scene!"
Hijikata reached out and pressed Souji's shoulder.
"Soji, calm down."
Inoya closed his eyes and sighed heavily.
"Oh...Okita-kun..."
"We're not idiots with defective brains."
"Why can't we see that the act of 'deliberately leaving the ghosts and gods at the scene' is the same as loudly saying to us: 'Quick! Go and doubt the orange'."
"Don't we know that it is too far-fetched to list Tachibana as a major suspect just for this reason?"
"well……"
Inoya sighed again. After brewing his emotions for a moment, he continued:
"But... the people at the top... no, it should be said that it is the entire Edo shogunate and the three hundred princes in various parts of the country. What they pursue has never been fairness, justice, and the truth. What they want, from the beginning to the present, is One thing: Don’t cause me any trouble, don’t threaten my bottom.”
Speaking of this, Inoya sighed for the third time.
"None of you have been officials in the shogunate, right?"
"If you are like me and have been struggling in the big dye vat of officialdom for nearly twenty years, then you should be able to understand that some seemingly stupid behaviors of the government actually hide... quite dark wisdom. .”
"Of course the people above also know that there is a high probability that some unknown person or group stole Tachibana's saber and deliberately left it at the murder scene in order to divert the attention of the government, or directly blame Tachibana for the murder— —But so what?"
"To the people above, it doesn't matter whether the murderer is Tachibana or not, and what the truth is."
Inoya stretched out his hands, pointing with one finger to the ceiling above his head and the other to the cushion under his buttocks.
"There are only two things they care about - the look of the person above them, and whether the cushion under their buttocks is still secure."
"If only common people or filthy people are killed, then there is still room for the case to be delayed for a long time."
"But Hatamoto...and this kind of high-status and well-known Hatamoto has been murdered...for a case of this nature, it is impossible for the government not to catch the murderer as soon as possible!"
"Under pressure, the government will definitely treat this case quickly and strictly."
"But everyone knows that catching a murderer is not that simple!"
“It is normal for a crime to take half a year or even a year or two before the culprit is finally caught.”
"So, if the time drags on for too long, no one can be sure that the people at the top will just grab some scapegoats to take the blame in order to explain things to the people at the top as soon as possible."
"In fact, this kind of thing... I have witnessed it several times during my term of office..."
"The main culprit who put Tachibana in jail was the Akabane family, so Tachibana had a very sufficient motive to kill."
"There was Tachibana's saber at the murder scene... Although it's very reluctant, it doesn't mean it can't be used as evidence!"
"The motive and physical evidence are all there, plus Tachibana's current whereabouts are unknown, and there is a possibility of absconding in fear of crime... To be honest, the chain of reasoning for suspecting Tachibana to be the murderer is quite complete."
"Therefore, if the people at the top are really forced to jump over the wall by the pressure of reality...then Tachibana is the best scapegoat."
Inoya finished.
"how so……"
Souji muttered absentmindedly.
At this time, Inoya sighed for the fourth time.
"Hey...how have you been doing these past few days? Have you collected any new clues about Tachibana's whereabouts?"
"No……"
Kondo shook his head.
"We have searched all the places where Mr. Tachibana usually goes and where he might go... and found nothing."
Saito Kazuchi, who had been with Aotobu as a bodyguard for a period of time and therefore had a general understanding of Aotobu's daily activities, said slowly after approaching Aoto:
"Mr. Tachibana rarely hangs out in teahouses, izakayas, and flower streets. The places he frequents are nothing more than Chishiya, the residence, and Chiba Dojo."
These days, the various members and forces of the "Tangerine Support Alliance" headed by Shiweikan, Chishiya, and the Chiba family have tried their best to find Aomori.
They searched every corner of Edo, eager to turn Edo over.
The result... was still nothing.
"...Find Tachibana as soon as possible."
Inoya said solemnly.
"Tachibana must stand up and prove his innocence, the sooner the better!"
"Otherwise, the longer time passes, the more unfavorable the situation will be for him!"
"At this stage, the government is only treating Tachibana as a 'major suspect'. If the real murderer cannot be caught, and Tachibana is still missing...then the people waiting on top will really be under pressure. At this moment, Tachibana is probably no longer a 'suspect', but has been firmly identified as the 'real murderer'!"
"It will be troublesome then..."
The Souji and others all showed solemn expressions...
…
…
A fire broke out in the Kodenma Town prison building, "Nioh" Tachibana Aoden disappeared, and the whole Akabane family of Hatamoto was killed...
The second year of Manyan (1861) has just begun, and a series of unbelievable and terrifying incidents have occurred in Edo...
For a time, the air in the streets and alleys of Edo was filled with tension.
I'm afraid... no one could have imagined that just the next night after everyone in the Akabane family was killed, a new horrific incident occurred!
Kanazawa Chusuke, captain of the second division of the Fire Thieves, and his sister Kanazawa Qin - died tragically on the street.
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This chapter is a long-lost 8,000-word chapter! It’s not too much to ask for a monthly ticket!
Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard head crying.jpg)
