I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"If you ask me to do rough or hard work, I will definitely do it without hesitation."

"But this kind of work requires management and thinking... Qingdeng, you should entrust this important task to someone else!"

Qing Deng Wan Er:

"Ah Wu, have more confidence in yourself."

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed Kinoshita Mai's two rounded shoulders, turned her around halfway so that her back was facing his chest, and then pulled the girl into his arms.

"Didn't you always tell me that you didn't want to continue like this?"

"You really want to get rid of your bad habit of not being good at communicating with people and not even daring to make eye contact with strangers, don't you?"

"And now is the best time for you to start changing yourself."

"Taking the first step is always difficult, but once you take the first step, the rest are much easier."

"You have the talent, believe in yourself."

Qingdeng's encouragement had an immediate effect—but not much.

Kinoshita Mai fiddled with her fingers, her gaze darting away, muttering to herself:

"That's true, but... but..."

Looking at the still hesitant girl in red, Qing Deng smiled helplessly, then changed the subject:

"There's no need to rush the matter of the ninja squad for now."

"Before that, I need to give you a equally important classified mission."

"This task should be a piece of cake for you, who once struck fear into the hearts of all the villains in Edo as the 'Neko-sō'."

Upon hearing this, Kinoshita Mai raised her head and pressed it against Aoto's chest, their eyes meeting.

"What mission?" she asked Qingdeng with a look.

Qing Deng said solemnly, enunciating each word clearly:

"Keep an eye on Kiyokawa Hachiro and report his daily activities to me in great detail."

……

……

3 days later—

After passing through Shinagawa-juku, Kawasaki-juku, Kanagawa-juku, Hodogaya-juku, Totsuka-juku, Fujisawa-juku, Hiratsuka-juku, Oiso-juku, and Odawara-juku, the entire Shinsengumi army arrived at Hakone-juku, the 10th post station on the Tokaido, at dusk on the third day.

When talking about Hakone, one cannot help but mention the famous mountain located there: Mount Hakone.

In Japan, there is a well-known saying: "The Hakone Mountains are the most dangerous in the world."

The “danger” here does not only refer to the high altitude of Mount Hakone (1438 meters), but also to its danger – danger in the real sense.

Mount Hakone is an active volcano. Due to frequent geological activity, natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and landslides often occur.

However, "danger" and "opportunity" are often twins.

While the still-dormant fire of Mount Hakone poses numerous dangers, it has also endowed it with considerable geothermal resources.

As early as the Heian period more than 800 years ago, Hakone was a well-known hot spring resort and hot spring town.

The seven most famous hot springs among them—Ta-no-Sawa, Yumoto, Sookura, Dojima, Miyanoshita, Kiga, and Ashino-Yu—are collectively known as the "Seven Hot Springs of Hakone".

To be honest, Qingdeng really wanted to go to a hot spring; he had never been to a hot spring before in his life.

In his previous life, he had only ever soaked in those "hot springs" that had a beautiful name and fancy publicity, but were actually just a pool of boiler water.

Of course, it would be even better if we could bring Sanako, Kinoshita Mai, and Souji along for a mixed-gender bath where we can drink and soak in the hot spring at the same time.

In order to protect Edo and to monitor the flow of people and goods throughout the country, as well as to gather intelligence on public opinion events, the Edo Shogunate established checkpoints at various important nodes in the five major cities.

Because Hakone is located at a crucial strategic point and has a treacherous terrain, the shogunate established the "Hakone Pass" there.

It was the closest checkpoint to Edo on the Tokaido, and could be considered the gateway to Edo.

For this reason, Hakone Customs House is the largest and most rigorous of Japan's many customs checkpoints, and is known as "Japan's No. 1 Customs House".

The Hakone Pass was managed by Odawara Castle, a fortress on the Kanto Plain.

Its two main gates, the Upper Gate and the Edo Gate, open at approximately 6:00 AM and close at 6:00 PM. In principle, passage is prohibited at night, but special permission is required for passage in special circumstances.

There are about 20 officials of various ranks guarding the area every day, rotating every month.

The guards here are well-equipped, with 5 bows, 10 arquebuses, and 10 spears.

Although such a level of defensive force is negligible in today's chaotic world, it was quite terrifying in the previous peaceful times when people were complacent and the military was indolent.

In all the checkpoints during the Edo period, there was a saying: "Enter the gun, exit the woman."

The term "entering the iron cannon" refers to the strict prohibition against carrying arquebuses (matchlock guns) when entering Edo from the checkpoint. The purpose was to maintain the safety of Edo.

If it is absolutely necessary to bring it in special circumstances, then a special certificate is required, namely the "Tektōte-gata" of the Shogunate's senior officers.

The stamp on the voucher will be strictly verified, and its owner, quantity, items, place of origin, and destination will also be checked.

As for "出女" (chu nü), it refers to the fact that women in Edo were not allowed to leave their homes.

According to the regulations for the sanjin kotai, the wives of feudal lords had to become hostages of the shogunate and reside in Edo for an extended period.

If these hostages were to escape back to their vassal states without authorization, the political consequences would be enormous. Therefore, the "exile of women" was strictly prohibited, even more strictly than the investigation of firearms.

If a woman needs to go outside the customs office due to special circumstances, she also needs to obtain a permit, namely the "Woman Pass Hand" document, as well as an "identity card".

When a woman brings these two items to the checkpoint, the checkpoint manager will send a female checkpoint officer, known as a "woman who sees women," to thoroughly examine her entire body to confirm that she is the person described in the "woman's pass" and "identity card."

This inspection is very rigorous.

The men would make the women loosen their hair and take off their clothes to check if they matched the characteristics recorded in the documents. They would even conduct detailed examinations on issues such as whether the women had hair, physical characteristics, moles, and whether they were pregnant.

In addition, the customs authorities have the right to conduct the same checks on men with androgynous appearances in order to prevent situations where women disguise themselves as men and sneak out of the customs office.

Fortunately, before their departure, Tokugawa Iemochi granted the Shinsengumi the privilege of "passing through checkpoints directly without being inspected."

Otherwise, the commander-in-chief will be in big trouble.

Based on her pretty looks... the probability of her being dragged for a checkup is 100%.

A light snow fell in the afternoon, which delayed us.

After the gray clouds dispersed, Qingdeng ordered "speed up," and they finally managed to pass through Hakone Pass before the gray veil covered the sky, and arrived at Hakone-juku, located behind the pass, on schedule.

The Hakone-juku staff put in an extraordinary amount of effort to entertain the Shinsengumi.

Local delicacies were served one by one to the soldiers' tables.

Hot spring black eggs boiled in hot spring water, hot spring tofu soaked in hot spring water, hot spring buckwheat noodles made with hot spring water, hot spring steamed buns, hot spring capelin fried in hot spring water... it's hard to tell whether we're eating food or hot spring water.

Perhaps it was because of the snow that fell this afternoon that everything that had been snowed in one go today, that the sky is exceptionally clear tonight.

While enjoying a hot spring bath under the bright moonlight, Qing Deng gathered the brothers from Shieikan and held a simple banquet.

This is the first gathering of the elite guards since they set off for the expedition.

Sanako and Kinoshita Mai also attended the banquet.

Since it was a casual, everyday gathering, there was no distinction between superiors and subordinates, and everyone just sat wherever they pleased.

"Gentlemen, how does it feel to be an officer and command troops?"

No sooner had Qing Deng finished speaking than Hijikata Toshizo said in an annoyed tone:

"Why do you talk as if we're all great generals commanding thousands of troops?"

Nagakura Shinpachi smiled wryly:

"To be honest, I'm not used to it yet."

Immediately afterwards, Todo Heisuke continued:

"I get along well with my teammates, but... I'm not so sure whether I can lead them into battle successfully in the future."

Everyone was talking at once.

At this moment, Yamanami Keisuke seemed to remember something important, and his expression became solemn.

After a moment, he put down his bowl and chopsticks, turned around, and faced Qingdeng:

"Tachibana-kun, although it's a bit of a downer to talk about business during a meal, I still want to report to you as soon as possible: From what I've observed, quite a few members of the Shinsengumi are already having complaints about your strict management."

Upon hearing this, most of the people in the room turned serious.

Before Yamanami Keisuke could finish speaking:

“They feel that your order to ‘forbid contact with women of the night’ is too harsh and excessive. They strongly demand that this order be repealed.”

Edo's sex industry was too developed, with both the Yoshiwara, a place where birds nested and swallows slept, and a large number of Okabako, where prices were low.

Kabuki, Joruri Bunraku puppet shows, storytelling... these forms of entertainment are not something everyone can appreciate or engage in.

However, no man who is physically and mentally normal can dislike sex.

Therefore, over time, after a long day of hard work, it became a common way of life for men in Edo to relax in places like Kamiyahara and Okakura, or at the very least, to go to places frequented by nightingales like Honjo, Samega Bridge, and Asakusa-do.

Aoto forbade the Shinsengumi soldiers from having any contact with prostitutes... This was practically like forbidding them from eating, and it was simply unbearable for them.

"Mr. Tachibana, Mr. Yamanami is right."

Kondo Isami put down his chopsticks, crossed his arms, and continued in a deep voice.

“I’ve also noticed this situation. A significant number of the team members hope that you can allow them to go to prostitutes to relax… To be honest, your ban has only deepened their resentment.”

Souji, Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Hajime, and the others nodded. It seemed that there were people in their ranks who were dissatisfied with Aoto's "sex ban."

Suddenly, Harada Sanosuke interrupted:

"Mr. Ju, why don't we just lift this ban?"

Hijikata Toshizo frowned.

However, before he could speak, Qing Deng interrupted with a laugh:

"That won't do. If I give in to the people below who express dissatisfaction, what authority will I, as the garrison commander and captain, have left?"

"The ban will not only not be lifted, but will continue until it reaches Kyoto."

"Gentlemen, imagine this: an army that can play with women whenever it wants and enjoy itself whenever it wants, can that still be called an army? That's bandits."