Probably because of the cold weather, Sanako's palms felt cool, but not as cold as ice.
Such a temperature, just right.
This cold touch spread from Sanako's palm to Qingdeng's arms and wrists, and then extended to the pit of his heart, calming the looming dryness.
Qingden unconsciously let go of the hand holding the knife.
"Tachibana-kun, you must not be provoked by Eiichi Shimizu."
Sanako said softly while slightly tightening her grip on Qingden's wrist.
"He obviously wanted to provoke you and lure you into taking the bait."
The general manager on the side echoed:
"Yes, yes! What Shimizu Eiichi did is what Mr. Hijikata told me before... uh... what is that? Ah! Yes! A conspiracy! Tachibana-kun, you must not fall for it. It’s a plan!”
Shimizu Eiichi's behavior can indeed be regarded as an irresistible conspiracy - anyone can see his intentions, but no matter how Qingdou takes the move, there will be severe consequences.
"It's incredible, Okita-kun, you actually understand what 'conspiracy' is."
"Hey! What's up with your look of relief like 'an old father sees his daughter finally knows how to cook'?!"
Qingto ignored the fuming Souji and turned his gaze back to Sanako's pretty face.
In order to lift up the slightly heavy atmosphere at this moment as much as possible, he deliberately said it in a joking tone.
"Miss Sanako, I thought someone like you, who values tradition, would encourage me to fight bravely and defend the honor of the samurai to the death."
A warrior can be killed, but cannot be humiliated... This is a very important background in Bushido.
Even though he knows he is outmatched, he still has to fight desperately to defend his personal honor. Anyone who can do this will not be regarded as a short-circuited fool by the world, but will be respected as a hero.
Sanako has received traditional martial arts education since she was a child.
In other words, concepts such as "reputation comes first" and "it's better to be in pieces than in ruins" should be deeply rooted in their hearts.
Qingto believes that even if Sanako doesn't encourage him to fight with the Qingshui clan, he probably won't encourage him to escape.
But who would have expected that as soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, Sanazi said quickly in a high pitched voice:
"'Defending glory' and 'die in vain' are two different things!"
Sanako, who behaves elegantly, rarely speaks in such a loud voice.
Her sudden high-pitched voice frightened both Ayoto and Souji.
Sanako also realized that he had lost his composure just now, and couldn't help but be startled.
Then, she bit her shell teeth lightly, assumed a "go all out" posture, and continued to speak in that rare high-pitched voice:
"The garrison force in Qingshui Residence is at least several hundred people, including martial arts masters such as the 'Blood Tiger' and the 'Double Spearman', and there is also a ready-made fortress to support...such a formation, Even if Brother Rong comes in person, he may not be able to get through!"
The "Ei-nii" in Sanako's mouth naturally refers to "Edo's strongest swordsman" - Chiba Eijiro.
"Of course I don't want you, Tachibana-kun, to get a bad reputation for avoiding and not fighting."
"But...but..."
Sanako hesitated, seeming to be thinking about his next words.
Sanako has always shown herself to be the perfect image of "graceful, elegant and dashing when wearing a women's kimono".
However, at this moment, she showed a completely different appearance from before.
I saw the expression on her pretty face slowly change slightly.
The facial lines gradually relaxed, the corners of the eyes and eyebrows drooped slightly, and the attractive red lips pursed slightly.
It seems that the whole person has become very... weak.
It was the first time Qingto saw Sanako showing such a girly side.
"I don't want you to die..."
Sanako looked straight into Qingden's eyes.
She squeezed Qingdeng's wrist tightly with her hands, as if she would never let go.
There was no room for joking...she was dead serious.
There was some strong determination deep in her eyes.
Qingdeng, who was stared at by such eyes, was speechless for a moment.
Obviously Sanako just grabbed his right wrist and looked directly into his eyes, but he had a strange feeling that his escape route was blocked...
"……I see."
Suddenly, Qingdeng sighed silently, and a faint helpless smile crossed his cheeks.
"I'm not an idiot. Of course I know that 'defending honor' and 'die in vain' are two different things."
"In the final analysis, my real goal right now is to completely destroy Huanfu Lake, not to fight to the death with the Qingshui clan."
"So, I'm measured."
"I won't do anything stupid unless I have to."
Hearing what Aomori said, Sanako and Souji both showed expressions of relief.
Especially Sanako, as Qingden finished speaking, her tightly pressed red lips raised slightly.
However, at this moment, a childish voice suddenly intervened between them.
"Mom, look, those two people are making love to each other in public."
Not far away, a little girl about 8 or 9 years old pointed at Qingto and Sanako, and said to the woman next to her with a smile.
The woman just looked away casually, but soon after seeing the long and short swords on Qingdeng's waist, her expression changed drastically.
Due to various considerations at the national level, the Edo shogunate gave the samurai the privilege of "killing rude civilians" - but even so, in order to prevent the samurai from killing indiscriminately, the shogunate still set extremely strict rules on this The conditions for its use are such that samurai are very cautious in using this right. Even if they are really humiliated by civilians, they will most likely choose to endure it as long as they can.
However, tragedies such as "a certain samurai must kill a certain civilian even though he knew he would be severely punished afterwards" still happened from time to time.
Once upon a time, there was a commoner who was a bitch and humiliated a certain samurai crazily, thinking that the other party did not dare to draw his sword.
The samurai was so angry that he wrote a suicide note and took care of all the funeral arrangements. Then he picked up his sword, broke into the civilian's house at night, and sent the civilian to see Amaterasu.
With so many lessons learned from the past, civilians in their right mind would try their best to avoid conflicts with samurai.
The woman immediately grabbed the little girl's hand, scolded her, "Don't talk too much," and then hurriedly dragged the little girl away from the place.
As she left, the woman muttered something in a low voice.
Although her voice was very soft, it was still heard by Qingden and others who had good hearing.
"You are so shameless. Even if you can't bear it, please at least go to Ueno Shinobazu Pond before doing such a thing..."
Ueno Shinobazu Pond - a famous date spot in Edo.
Speaking of date spots that are often used by young lovers, they are usually places that are not easily noticed, such as the back of the main hall of a temple or a rice storage warehouse along a river.
Closer lovers would choose date teahouses scattered throughout Edo, which were similar to today's love hotels.
The area with the highest concentration of dating teahouses is the area around Ueno Shinobazu Pond, especially around the dam built on the south side of Shinobazu Pond during the Enyo period in the mid-eighth century.
Since the name has the character "pond", as the name suggests, Ueno Shinobazu Pond is a huge pond.
Every summer, lotus flowers bloom all over the lake, which is very beautiful.
Many young men and women often fall in love in the dating tea house next to Ueno Shinobazu Pond in the name of watching lotus flowers.
Young men and women hold hands on a crowded street, and it is the woman who takes the initiative to hold the man's hand - in the eyes of the public of this era, this behavior is indeed very bold.
In fact, since just now, passers-by have been casting strange glances at Qingto and Sanako.
It's just that both Aoto and Souji were attracted by Sanako, and Sanako himself was busy persuading Aingto and had no time to think about anything else, so the three of them didn't notice the gazes of passers-by.
Fortunately, Sanako also wore a hat to cover her face like Qingto. Otherwise, if they saw this unknown man in a hat actually being intimate with such a beautiful woman... the male passers-by around him would probably be eager to shoot Qingdeng with jealous eyes.
In Japan today, the social atmosphere is still very conservative.
After all, it is still the 19th century, let alone Japan. The social atmosphere of Western countries at this time is not much better.
Although Qing Teng has a body from the 19th century, the thoughts in his head are from the 21st century, so they are not affected by the ethics of the current era.
What's more, he was still the one being held by the hand, the one who took advantage.
This way, he would be less likely to feel shy.
However... although Qingden could laugh off the little girl's unintentional jokes, it didn't mean that others could be as "generous" as him.
Obviously, Sanako, who was raised to be a model Yamato Nadeshiko, does not have the same enlightened thoughts and thick skin as Aomori...
The moment she realized that the little girl was talking about her and Qingden, Sanako's delicate body suddenly stiffened.
Then, she mechanically turned her extremely stiff neck and looked straight at the mother and daughter who were drifting away.
As soon as she said it, she suddenly shook off Qingdeng's wrist - the force was so strong! Qingdeng almost thought his right arm had been thrown away!
"I'm sorry, I'm in trouble."
While Sanako apologized to Qingto, she gracefully raised her hands and arranged her hair in front of her forehead.
"I just got excited and accidentally made a very indecent move. Please forgive me."
A very indecent move - this of course refers to her holding Qingdeng's wrist without authorization.
Sanako spat out harsh words that had a sense of distance.
However, this is not what a person with a blushing... no, pink face should say.
Although she tried hard to control it, the beautiful Sakura was still stained all over Sanako's face.
Unfortunately, due to the obstruction of the bamboo hat, Qingdeng did not have the opportunity to see this beautiful scene.
The last time Qingden saw Sanako blush... it was at the fireworks display half a year ago.
Reserved and dignified - these are the basic qualities that Yamato Nadeshiko should have.
On the other hand, my own behavior just now is completely contrary to these two terms.
Which Yamato Nadeshiko would flirt with a man on the street?
Thinking of this, Sanako felt more blood rushing to her head, and her face instantly turned pinker.
Souji, who was sandwiched between Aoto and Sanako, raised his head, looked at Aingto, and then at Sanako.
She, who was always calm and generous on weekdays, now showed a rare expression of restraint.
I saw Souji's shoulders tightening slightly, and his hands clasped in front of his chest tightly clasped together.
Qingden originally wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to tease Sanako - there were not many opportunities to tease Sanako.
However, after considering that Sanako was particularly thin-skinned, he finally gave up on the prank.
"Let's go back to the hotel. I'm a little tired and want to take a nap."
Qingdeng was the first to speak out, breaking the subtle atmosphere lingering between the three of them.
After saying this, he moved forward on his own.
Seeing Qingden take the initiative to save the siege, Sanako suddenly felt "saved".
Covered by the bamboo hat, she quietly raised her gaze, secretly cast a meaningful look at Qingden who was walking in front, and then quickly followed.
Souji was stunned for a moment, but quickly caught up with Qingto.
When the three of them were walking side by side, Aomori suddenly deliberately slowed down and fell behind Sanako and Souji.
When the two women in front of him were not paying attention, he quietly turned his head and looked at the Qingshui Tower behind him.
Looking at this lofty building that he had thrown into the distance, with only the top of the tower barely visible, Aonto whispered in a voice that only he could hear clearly what he had just vowed to say to Sanako and Souji. ensure:
"I won't do anything stupid unless I have to..."
…
…
That night--
Edo, a certain river beach——
Akutsu was pacing in place with an anxious look on his face.
From time to time he walked to the east, stopped for a moment, and looked at the distant sky.
Not long after, he suddenly turned around and walked a few steps to the west, then stopped and looked at the clouds in the other direction.
About 5 seconds later, he turned around again and walked back to the same location along the original path...
Seeing Akutsu being so restless, my grandson, who was sitting cross-legged not far away, said in a helpless tone:
"Akutsu-kun, please be patient and find a place to sit and rest."
As soon as my grandson's suggestion came out, Akutsu immediately frowned.
He stopped and turned his head.
An unfriendly gaze suddenly fell on my grandson.
Nishino is not familiar with Akutsu - after all, they just met each other not long ago.
However, judging from Akutsu's appearance and his daily behavior, Nishino was sure that he was a person with a bad temper.
Nishino originally thought Akutsu would quarrel with my grandson.
But who would have expected that after Akutsu glared at my grandson a few times, he actually found a relatively clean place to sit down.
Seeing this, Nishino couldn't help but whisper to my grandson beside him:
"You are quite prestigious."
My grandson smiled slightly.
"No, no. I am a relatively young person in the Great Salt Party, and I have never made any great achievements. The reason why Akutsu listens to me is simply because - he is a good boy."
As soon as my grandson finished speaking, Akutsu immediately reprimanded:
"Hey! What do you mean by 'he is a good boy'? I don't remember that the age difference between you and me is so big that you can call me 'child'!"
My grandson smiled and made no rebuttal.
Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!
Suddenly, the sound of snow boots scraping against the ground came from the side of Nishino and others.
Immediately afterwards, two black figures broke into their field of vision—it was Ebina and Ichinose.
As soon as Ebina Kata appeared, he said with a solemn expression:
"The situation is not good. The Phoenix House's defense is much tighter than we expected!"
*******
*******
Some book friends asked: Does the surname "Akutsu" have any cultural roots in it? Why in many anime works, people with bad tempers are always named Akutsu.
Regarding this... In fact, Leopard Leopard doesn't know much either. When I was designing a young and energetic character for the Great Salt Party, the name "Akutsu" suddenly popped into my mind.
