I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 998 Qing Deng and Tian Zhangyuan's "Newlywed Life" [4300]

thump.

Qing Deng moved his stiff feet, silently took two steps back, exited the earthen room, returned to the outside, and gently closed the door, blocking Tianzhangyuan behind it.

He stared at the door in front of him, thinking to himself:

——I must have seen it wrong.

He took a deep breath to calm the fear in his heart.

After calming down a bit, he pushed open the door again.

"Husband, welcome back!"

Same words, same scene... Tian Zhangyuan knelt at the porch, smiling as beautifully, and greeted him enthusiastically, just like a newlywed wife.

thump.

Qing Deng repeated the actions just now - stepping back, closing the door, and taking a deep breath - as if the image was played in reverse.

About 5 seconds later, he pushed the door open again.

"Husband, welcome back!"

thump.

Step back, close the door, and take a deep breath.

When he pushed open the door for the fourth time, he no longer heard "Welcome back", but the other party's angry shout:

"How many times do you want to do this again?"

Tian Zhangyuan was no longer kneeling, but stood up suddenly, with his hands on his hips, biting his teeth lightly, his cheeks flushed, looking ashamed and humiliated.

"It's already difficult for me to say this to you while holding back my shame! And you made me repeat it so many times! Do you really like hearing me say 'husband, welcome back' to you?"

After hearing this, Qing Deng apologized half-ashamedly and half-helplessly:
"Sorry, I was just... scared..."

Coming to a strange house and suddenly seeing the current empress dowager calling you "Husband, welcome back" like a newlywed wife... anyone would be scared.

Qing Deng subconsciously bit the tip of his tongue to confirm again and again that he was not dreaming.

"Your Highness, what do you want?"

As he asked, he looked up and down at Tianzhang Courtyard.

A cyan kimono, a beige belt...the clothes she was wearing were all common items, with ordinary styles and rough fabrics.

Perhaps because her hair was too short, she did not wear it in a bun, but instead tied it into a short ponytail as usual.

In the Edo period, married women often wore their hair in a bun.

As for unmarried girls, they often wear their hair in a Shimada bun.

Before marrying Aoto, Sanako and Ama often appeared in the "Shimada bun form".

After becoming "Tachibana Sanako" and "Tachibana Mai", they no longer wore their hair in this bun.

Apart from the wrong hairstyle, at first glance, the carved Tianzhangyuan really looks like an ordinary wife you can see everywhere.

After hearing Qing Deng's apology, the annoyance and shame on Tian Zhangyuan's face quickly disappeared like the tide - it seemed that she was not really angry.

Seeing Qing Deng asking directly about his intention, she chuckled a few times:
"Sheng Qing, have you ever played 'house'?"

"I played it a few times when I was young."

"It's good to have played! Sheng Qing, I hope you can play 'house' with me for half a day. I will be the wife and you will be the husband!"

"……Aha?"

"I hope you can play house with me for half a day..."

"No, I heard it. No need to repeat it a second time."

Whenever Qing Deng said "Hua?", the other party always thought that he had poor hearing - he just habitually used "Hua?" to express surprise.

"Your Highness, you, you..."

Because I was so shocked, my tongue was tied and I couldn't even speak smoothly.

It was not until a long while later that he gradually recovered:
"Your Highness, can you give me a reason?"

"Why do you want to play 'house'?"

"And we have to pretend that the relationship is so... so special."

Tian Zhangyuan tilted her head, curled the corners of her mouth, and narrowed her eyes into slits.

Qing Deng was very familiar with this kind of smile - it was the other party's signature smirk.

"Well... it would be too boring to tell you the reason directly."

"I'll tell you the answer after you finish playing 'house' with me."

"Of course, I don't intend to force you."

"If you don't like it, you can just leave."

"It's just that...if you leave me, I'll probably be so sad that I'll cry."

After saying this, she raised her arms in a pretentious manner, covered her face with her sleeves, and put on a pitiful look as if she was about to cry.

Then, she would occasionally raise her sly eyes, peering over the top of her sleeves to steal a glance at Qing Deng and observe his reaction.

——What kind of “I don’t intend to force you” is this…

Qing Deng's mouth twitched, and black lines appeared on his forehead.

Although he was confused,... strangely enough, he didn't feel bored.

First of all, he had long been accustomed to being teased by Tianzhangyuan.

Secondly, at this moment, there was a trace of...eagerness to try in his heart.

——I just wanted to know what she really wanted, so I was willing to cooperate with her, that's all, I had no other thoughts.

After thinking this over firmly in his mind, he stopped worrying about it.

"I understand. Please give me more advice!"

He spoke very quickly...without a moment of hesitation.

After saying that, he swiftly took off the two long and short swords from his waist and handed them to the other party.

“Eh…huh? Huh?”

Tian Zhangyuan froze in place, looking at Qing Deng in panic, appearing to be at a loss as to what to do.

"What's wrong? Your Highness, at this point, don't tell me that your attempt to play 'house' with me was all fake."

"Dangdang, of course it's not fake! I won't tease you with such a thing. I just... just... your impatience makes me a little... scared..."

"Huh? Am I impatient?"

Qing Deng blinked, looking innocent.

He had a very good feeling about himself, and his demeanor and behavior were very serious.

"You don't have any awareness of this... Oh, forget it..."

Tian Zhangyuan sighed softly, then with a complicated expression he reached out to take Qing Deng's two swords, then carried them back into the room.

When the husband returned home, he would first hand his sword to his wife, who would then place the sword on the sword rack - this was a common interaction between samurai couples during the Edo period.

While Tianzhangyuan was putting down his sword, Qingdeng took off his straw sandals, removed his bamboo hat, and stepped across the entrance.

As he entered the house, he looked left and right, examining the house carefully.

Like its exterior, the interior of the house is just as ordinary and unremarkable.

However, although it is very ordinary, it has all the necessary things.

Living room, bedroom, kitchen... everything is available.

Qing Deng came to the living room and looked around.

Apart from a round table and a cabinet, there was no other furniture in the living room.

He folded up a cushion and sat down on his knees in front of the round table.

As soon as he sat down, the aura of Tianzhang Court came back.

"Sheng... Sir, Sir, please have some tea!"

She brought a cup of hot tea and a plate of taro soup and handed them to Qingdeng with a solemn manner.

[Note: Taro soup is made by adding chestnuts and sugar to Ryukyu taro (i.e. sweet potato), boiling it, and then cutting it into pieces after it cools down.]

It was obvious that she was still not used to the term "husband". In fact, not only was she not used to saying it, Qing Deng was not used to hearing it either.

Whenever Qing Deng heard Tian Zhangyuan call him "husband", he would feel goose bumps all over his body and cold sweat would break out on his waist.

"Husband, have you eaten?"

"not yet."

Because Tenshoin had repeatedly emphasized yesterday that "go to 6-8, Shino-machi 3-chome at noon tomorrow", after finishing all the affairs, Qingdeng left Edo Castle without stopping and headed straight for the destination.

Upon hearing this, Tianzhangyuan was immediately delighted.

"That's perfect! I'm cooking! Please wait a moment, the meal will be ready soon!"

After saying that, she retreated in a hurry, and the sound of her footsteps gradually faded away.

Immediately afterwards, the "click, click, click" sound of the knife hitting the chopping board, the "sizzling" sound of the ingredients being put into the pot, and other sounds unique to the kitchen came one after another.

Qing Deng is not good at cooking. He only knows how to make very simple dishes such as boiled eggs and fried eggs.

Although he was not an expert in cooking, he could still tell Tianzhangyuan's cooking skills from the sounds - she was not good at cooking, just like him.

No, that's not right...her cooking skills may be even worse than his!

Whether it is the sound of cutting vegetables or the sound of pouring vegetables into the pot, there is a sense of overwhelming chaos.

You can tell at once that this is the noise only made by a "kitchen novice".

When you think about it, this isn't surprising.

Since she was born, she has been a pampered young lady, never having to do any housework.

After becoming the high and mighty Omidashi, she had even less reason to learn cooking.

Therefore, it is only natural that she doesn't know how to cook.

Qing Deng had roughly guessed what was happening in the kitchen right now...it was probably a chaotic mess.

——Can she do it…?
Qing Deng was secretly worried and turned his head involuntarily, looking towards the kitchen repeatedly.

He wasn't afraid that her cooking would be bad.

He was just afraid that she would accidentally hurt herself - the sound of cutting vegetables, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, with no sense of rhythm at all, really made him break out in a cold sweat.

Or worse, burn down the kitchen...

Fortunately, his worries did not become a reality.

About 20 minutes later, Tian Zhangyuan, sweating profusely without even taking off his clothes, came back to Qing Deng excitedly.

[Note: Katsunoki: An apron used for cooking in the Edo period, usually white.]

"My dear, I've been waiting for a long time!"

She set up two dining tables and placed the dishes on them.

Qing Deng looked down - a very simple meal of three dishes and one soup.

First, there was a very high pile of rice…it was so high that it was almost tiptoeing out. The height of the “rice mountain” was twice as high as the rice bowl.

At first glance, it looks shaky... as if adding one more grain of rice would cause the entire "rice mountain" to collapse instantly.

This is actually a kind of etiquette in the Edo period.

Because rice is very precious and most families simply cannot afford it, piling up a lot of rice high is a way of showing respect for each other.

The three dishes were pickled radish, fried tofu and stewed vegetables - very common home-cooked side dishes during the Edo period.

As for the soup, it was regular miso soup.

In terms of taste, it's quite fragrant.

But the appearance is... hard to describe!
Simply put, they all look unpalatable.

Even the rice was terrible, neither dry nor watery, somewhere between "rice" and "porridge". It was obvious that too much water was added or the heat was not controlled well.

You don't even have to taste it, you can tell what this lunch will taste like just by looking at it.

Although Qing Deng said nothing and showed no expression on his face, Tian Zhangyuan still lowered his head in shame.

She has eaten all kinds of delicacies from land and sea since she was a child, so she naturally knows what delicious food looks like.

She was not blind, so she knew how bad the meal she had prepared was.

She rubbed her hands nervously and gave a dry laugh.

"I'm sorry... cooking is so difficult... I don't think it will suit your taste, please forgive me..."

Looking at Tianzhangyuan who was buried deep in his body, Qingdeng smiled helplessly:
"Your Highness..."

Just as he was about to say this, the other party suddenly interrupted him:

"My husband, I am not your 'highness'."

Qing Deng was stunned for a moment, then asked reflexively:
"Then what should I call you?"

He paused, then changed his tone to a half-joking one:
"Want me to call you 'Mom'?"

In the Edo period, after having children, husbands sometimes addressed their wives as "おかあさん" (Okaa-san, meaning mother), indicating her motherly role in the family.

"No, no way! Don't call me that! We don't have any children yet!"

With a red face, she continued unhappily:
"Just call me by my name."

Calling her name... This actually made Qing Deng feel troubled.

As we all know, she had many names in her life.

Every time he enters a new stage in his life, he changes his name.

According to the rules, the shogun's wife was usually brought in from one of the five regent families (Ichijo, Nijo, Kujo, Konoe and Takashi) or the imperial family.

Therefore, in order to marry into the shogunate smoothly, after becoming the adopted daughter of Shimazu Nariakira, the former lord of Satsuma Domain, she then became the adopted daughter of Konoe Tadayoshi of the Konoe family, and her name was changed from "Shimazu Atsuko" to "Konoe Keiko".

In this case, her official name now should be "Jingzi".

Thinking of this, Qing Deng said:
"Then I'll call you 'Jingzi'."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tian Zhangyuan shook his head helplessly:
"'Jingzi'... Few people call me that, so I'm not used to it, and... I don't like it very much. Let's call you something else."

In order to further "guide" Qing Deng, she said quietly:

"Didn't you just call me by another name not long ago? I like you calling me by that name."

Qing Deng was stunned when he heard this.

Memories came flooding back... It was indeed not long ago, on the day when the three thousand Mito soldiers attacked, at the moment when Tenshoin leaned on him... At that time, guided by his emotions, he no longer called her "Your Highness", but subconsciously called out her other name...

With this thought in mind, he said softly:

“O Ka Tsu…”

Suddenly, Tianzhangyuan smiled very happily:
"That's right, just call me 'Yuyi'! This is my first name and also my favorite name."

"Yuyi" is her nickname.

Calling the Queen Mother affectionately "Yuyi"... Qingdeng was a little uncomfortable for a while.

However, when he thought that they were just playing house, this sense of connection instantly disappeared.

He adjusted his mood a little and continued what he had just said:

"Yuyi, don't worry about it."

"'Cooking' is not a difficult thing to practice."

"As long as you cook more, you will be able to cook delicious meals one day."

"We are already husband and wife anyway, we still have decades to go."

"There is a long way to go, take your time."

When these words were spoken, Tian Zhangyuan was stunned at first, then he suddenly froze and his face turned red.

Normally, it was only Tianzhangyuan who played tricks on Qingdeng, and he seldom had the chance to "fight back".

Seeing that Tian Zhangyuan was shy, he naturally would not miss this rare opportunity. He looked at her playfully and changed his tone to teasing:

"What? Dian...Yuyi, are you shy?"

"Aren't we playing 'house'? If so, then the more we immerse ourselves in the game, the more fun it will be, right?"

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