I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 1002: "Like a wolf and a tiger" Tenshoin! The Mito conquest begins! [4500]

tired……

Sleepy……

Exhausted...

sleepy……

Qing Deng slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing that caught his eye was the ceiling, which he was not used to seeing yet.

——Did I fall asleep…?
He had no memory of when he fell asleep or how long he slept.

Affected by the boiling emotions, a large section of memory before going to bed became particularly vague.

The only thing he remembered was that he fell asleep due to overwork - he fell asleep because he was extremely tired.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell into a deep sleep.

He hadn't experienced such a deep and fragrant sleep for a long time.

As he gradually regained consciousness, he felt fatigue all over his body suddenly increase, as if he had gained dozens of pounds.

My limbs felt sore, my head felt swollen...especially my waist, which felt a strange numbness.

Even though he has the gift of "Iron Waist +6", he is still so exhausted... One can imagine how crazy the fight between him and Tianzhangyuan was.

——What about Yuyi…?
Qing Deng vaguely remembered that Tian Zhangyuan fell asleep at the same time as he did.

Tianzhangyuan, who was also tired and fell asleep, should lie next to him.

However, at this moment, there was no one beside him.

He turned his eyes blankly, looking for the figure of the beauty.

There was no space to hide people in the room, which was neither too big nor too small, and there was not even any furniture.

The only thing worth noting was a set of wet bedding in the corner.

This set of bedding is not just wet.

Looking closely, one could vaguely see a small puddle of water underneath, wetting the tatami.

Qing Deng suddenly remembered that before falling asleep, he mustered up his last bit of energy and changed into a set of dry bedding, which was the same bedding he was sleeping on now.

Tianzhangyuan had anticipated this situation and specially prepared two sets of bedding.

I scanned every corner of the room, but there was no sign of Tianzhangyuan... She must have gone out.

Qing Deng touched her quilt and found it was still warm.

This means she left not long ago.

——What time is it now?

Qing Deng picked up the pocket watch beside the bed and opened the cover - it was just past 4 a.m.

When he held Tianzhangyuan in his arms, he paid special attention to the time, which was about 8 o'clock in the evening.

In other words, 8 hours have passed.

As soon as night fell, he and Tian Zhangyuan hurriedly completed their simple wedding, and then went straight to bed without stopping.

Since we didn’t even have time to eat dinner, we had plenty of time.

Although it is 8 hours, the time for sleeping is probably only a little more than 3 hours.

The other 5 hours...how should I put it...5 hours that are indescribable.

Tenshoin, by himself, dragged Aoto for 5 hours, achieving a "number" that Sanako, Mai Kinoshita and Souji had never achieved.

Qing Deng finally understood the profound meaning of the proverb "Thirty is like a wolf, forty is like a tiger".

What's more, this "wolf" is a "ferocious wolf" with 29 years of pent-up desires.

The scenes before going to bed are certainly worth reminiscing, but now is not the time to do that.

What he cares about most at the moment is naturally the future of Tianzhangyuan.

He climbed out of bed, put on his clothes, picked up the sword he always carried with him, and walked straight out of the room.

Because the shrine was "cleared out" by Tensho-in, there was no light at all in the shrine.

He didn't know the internal structure of the shrine, so he could only walk out in the direction he came from.

The deep corridor stretched forward, seemingly without end.

No matter where you go, no matter how long you walk, what awaits you ahead is only deep darkness.

Before he knew it, he arrived at the venue of his wedding with Tenshoin, the Shinto Hall.

At this time, finally, a color other than "darkness" appeared in his vision——

A touch of white.

A touch of holy white.

Tian Zhangyuan was seen neatly dressed, standing in the center of the hall, with his hands folded in front of him, staring at the shrine in front of him.

The dress she was wearing was the spotless white wedding dress.

But at the moment, she was not wearing a white cotton hat or socks.

Her soft black hair was loose and she had a pair of bare white feet.

She really cherishes this dress and regards it as a treasure.

Before having sex with Qing Deng, she solemnly took off her clothes and folded them neatly, not allowing even the slightest stain to stick to them.

——Yu Yi...what is she doing?
Instead of sleeping in bed in the middle of the night, he ran to a secluded temple... Such strange behavior made Qing Deng confused and curious.

Driven by curiosity, he did not move forward immediately, but quietly hid behind a pillar, cleverly concealing his body and secretly observing the other party's every move.

At this time, there was a sudden movement in Tianzhang Courtyard——

She took staggering, seemingly injured steps, one step deep and one step shallow, and moved to the front of the shrine.

Snapped!
Snapped!
Accompanied by two crisp claps, she closed her eyes, lowered her head, and clasped her hands together - the standard posture for making a wish to God.

"Tensho-in-den, the three great sisters of the lord of the house, respectfully pay homage to the Inari Daimyojin of the Inari Shrine."

She gave her full name and introduced herself to the god respectfully.

Then she stated her wish directly:

"Please protect the source of the nectarine green to the clear."

The sudden roll call... and it was the full name that was only used in very formal occasions, which made Qing Deng stunned.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered that just when the wedding was over, Tenshoin had told him that this shrine was very effective.

In addition, he still remembered the "little trick" - when making a wish at this shrine, as long as you speak out your wish, you can greatly increase the success rate of your wish.

The continuous voice of Tianzhangyuan pulled his consciousness back to reality.

He held his breath and listened attentively.

"Inari Daimyojin, I'm so sorry."

"As you saw tonight, I did something very immoral."

"As the Grand Lord of the Shogunate, I have violated the moral code."

"As a nun, I broke the precepts."

"It's all because I...fell in love with someone I shouldn't have."

"My actions were really selfish."

"Such an extraordinary act will cause great damage to the prestige of the shogunate."

"Besides, it will also cause him great harm."

"Now, he has reached a high position and has a bright future."

"However, no matter how high his position is, no matter how strong his power is, it cannot offset the guilt of having an affair with the Great Emperor."

"If the outside world knew what happened tonight, he would bear an infamy that could never be erased."

"I knew this, but I...but I...but I..."

She kept murmuring...

Her voice became more and more shaky...

Because Qing Deng was hiding behind her, he could only see her back and could not witness the changes in her expression.

"But I...can't suppress my emotions anymore..."

“I want to be there for him.”

"No matter what happens, even if the world turns upside down, I will not change my mind."

"And that's precisely because I want to be his half more than anyone else, so... I'm afraid."

"And today the world is in chaos, with many heroes fighting for their lives."

"Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, Hizen, the 'Ichibashi faction' that has not yet disappeared... and the mysterious Dharma Party..." "Surrounded by wolves, there is no peace... I am so scared."

"I'm afraid I'll never see him again..."

"Before this, I could meet Jia Mao every day and listen to his complaints. When I sent letters to Sheng Qing, I always received a reply quickly."

"This comfortable life almost makes me forget the difficulties of the world."

"Jia Mao's serious injury made me suddenly realize that we are all mortals, we don't have unbreakable bones, and we don't have more lives than others."

"I am too weak... I can't even be compared to his other three wives."

"Ms. Sanako, Ms. Mai, and Ms. Souji are all rare and outstanding women."

"Compared to them, I have nothing to recommend me except my noble birth."

"Whenever he was about to go into danger, I could only stand by and watch."

"Just like not long ago, I watched him go to fight Shuten-doji."

"Just like not long ago, I watched him stop the 3,000-strong army of Mito Domain."

"He defeated powerful enemies time and time again and survived time and time again."

"But what about next time? What about the next time?"

"The enemies are as numerous as grass... How long will it take, how many fierce battles will we have to fight, before the world of peace and prosperity will come?"

"I'm afraid he'll be exhausted physically and mentally, I'm afraid he'll get sick from overwork, I'm afraid he'll... die young..."

"So, I want to hurry up and marry him as soon as possible while he still has some free time, and become his real wife."

"So, I couldn't wait to prepare for today's 'playing house' and tonight's wedding..."

"Honestly, even I feel that what I did is pathetic and humble."

"But I don't regret it."

Having said this, she paused.

Then she smiled.

It was very strange. She had her back to Qing Deng and he couldn't see her expression, but he could feel that she was smiling.

She curled up the corners of her mouth, smiled happily, and joy jumped between her brows.

"Although I was only his wife for half a day - and I was just pretending - I am satisfied."

"I am even more overwhelmed by the joy of tonight."

"Today is the happiest day I've had since I married into the shogunate."

“I have no regrets.”

"I wouldn't dare ask for more."

"So, Inari Daimyojin, you can do whatever you want with me."

"I have violated moral principles and broken the rules. I have committed such disloyal, unjust, and selfish acts. No matter how terrible the punishment is, I deserve it."

"I am willing to accept any divine punishment."

"I just hope you can protect him..."

She finished speaking.

As she finished speaking, she hunched her shoulders and lowered her head deeply... her posture was very humble.

The tremor in the voice was obvious...

Trying hard to suppress some emotions...

At this moment, a beam of bright moonlight penetrated the gap in the ceiling and hit her directly.

In the moonlight, the white dress on her body reflected a soft luster.

Countless particles visible to the naked eye seemed to be attracted by her and were spinning around her up and down.

The darker the temple is, the brighter the moonlight and the more holy the woman in the center of the moonlight appear.

"…Being husband and wife for only half a day is not worth mentioning. We will be husband and wife forever, and we will be together forever - I promise you."

Suddenly, a firm voice came from behind her.

She opened her eyes, her gaze was complex and indescribable.

She opened her clasped hands, raised her head, and slowly turned around.

The two lines of sight merged in mid-air.

Under the moonlight, the two looked at each other from a distance.

Silent and fearless.

……

……

No matter what the world feels, the passage of time never stops - this is both the fairness and cruelty of time.

The sun rises, lifting the veil of night and a new day arrives.

Criticisms from the world, evaluations from future generations... Qing Deng doesn't care about any of the above.

He is a thorough "pragmatist" and these false reputations cannot hurt him at all.

Therefore, even if his marriage with Tian Zhangyuan was made public, he would not care and would not even raise an eyebrow.

However, at Tianzhangyuan's strong request, they temporarily concealed their true relationship with each other.

They had just driven away the "Ichibashi faction" and dominated the shogunate, and right after that, Qing Deng married Tenshoin openly - what was going on?
How will the world view Qingdeng? And how will it view the "Nanji School"?

By then, Qing Deng will truly become the "Japanese version of Dong Zhuo"!

This was tantamount to confessing one's own fault, confirming the "Yiqiao faction"'s criticism of Qing Deng.

"Tachibana Aoto's debauched harem" was an important excuse for the "Ichibashi faction" to start an uprising.

Therefore, for the sake of the overall situation, at least at this stage, the relevant information must not be disclosed to the outside world.

In order to convince Qing Deng, Tian Zhang Yuan also specifically said:
"This feeling of 'hiding the relationship and getting along secretly' is pretty good."

After that night, Tian Zhangyuan returned to his mischievous self that loved to play tricks on Qing Deng.

For this reason, Qing Deng didn't know whether she was serious or joking.

However, considering that she once did an extraordinary thing of "tease Qing Deng with her two small feet through the curtain of the sedan chair in front of Sanako", it doesn't seem surprising that she would have such thoughts.

In this way, the two of them lived a "double life".

On the surface, she and Qing Deng continued to act together and maintain their "king and subject relationship", with the latter still calling her "Your Highness" and the former still calling him "General Tachibana".

But in private...

As the saying goes, "Thirty is like a wolf, forty is like a tiger."

Tianzhangyuan seemed to want to take out all the desires, loneliness and grievances that she had accumulated over the past twenty-nine years on Qingdeng.

All in all, "Marrying Tianzhangyuan" is an episode in Qingdeng in recent times.

After this incident, Qing Deng's life returned to normal. He threw himself into official duties again and focused all his energy on the upcoming "Mito Conquest"!
Just a few days passed in the blink of an eye.

The day for sending troops - February 2th - has arrived quietly!
……

……

January 1865, 2 -

Edo, northern suburbs——

The Shinsengumi's 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, and part of the 9th division—this mighty army, totaling more than 3,000, lined up safely.

Qingdeng held Vairocana on his waist and rode the ox in front of the battle formation.

A number of high-ranking officials of the shogunate, including Tenshoin and Katsurintaro, came to see him off.

With the help of talents such as "Fitness +6" and "Yuan Yang +7", Qing Deng's recovery speed has always been abnormal.

After more than a month of quiet rest, Qing Deng's injuries have improved greatly.

Although it has not yet healed, there is no risk of the wound splitting, and the strength has recovered by about 50%.

In this state, it is more than enough to conquer the Mito Domain, whose national strength has been greatly reduced!
He did not recite a complicated anti-rebel manifesto aloud, but simply spread out his light green haori and shouted:

"Let's go! Conquer Mito!"

Kondo Isami beside him immediately shouted:

“Eh—eh—”

The next moment, three thousand soldiers shouted “Oh oh oh oh——!” in unison, shaking the heaven and earth!

Three thousand troops marched northward, heading straight for Mito Domain!

The Mito conquest begins!
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PS: The pleasant and lighthearted plot ends here... The Northern Expedition begins! By the way, it won't be long before this volume will be successfully concluded. Bao Baozi has already thought of the title of the next volume - Volume 6 "Operation at the Top"!
(End of this chapter)