I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Although some people say that the Ako warriors are hypocrites, I believe they are undoubtedly loyal and brave men!"

Through generations of storytelling, the nature of the "Ako Incident" has been basically defined as a "revenge drama in which justice triumphs over evil," and the image of the Ako righteous men has been defined as loyal subjects who were ready to die for their cause.

However, according to some historians, the Ako warriors were not as noble as they seemed.

At first, Oishi Kuranosuke and the others never even thought about avenging their lord.

During the Genroku era... What time is it now? The world has been at peace for nearly a hundred years, and everyone's minds have been corrupted by a life of ease. Who still cares about the relationship between the ruler and his subjects, or loyalty to the emperor?

Now that the company has gone bankrupt, the next thing to do is naturally to find another job! Who cares about avenging the original boss?

However, the extremely stable social order had led to the near saturation of the bureaucratic systems in various vassal states, and some of these states were already experiencing serious financial problems at that time.

With no vacant jobs and no spare money, Oishi Kuranosuke and the others couldn't find new work at all.

They were truly desperate, which is why they decided to go all out—since they were almost starving, they might as well go all out and make a name for themselves in history!

And so they were forced to avenge their lord.

The timing also provides some clues.

Lord Ako died in March of the fourteenth year of Genroku (1701).

However, Oishi Kuranosuke and others did not kill Kira until December of Genroku 12 (1702).

Why wait so long to launch a revenge attack?

Even if it's just to gather intelligence, Kira's residence is such a small place, does it really need to take a year and nine months to conduct reconnaissance?

Even if you were going to procure equipment, you didn't actually bring out anything particularly powerful. Besides, Kira Mansion isn't some heavily guarded den of dragons and tigers; sending a dozen or so highly skilled swordsmen would have been enough to wipe out the entire place.

In conclusion, the truth of the "Ako Incident" will probably never be known to people today.

Serizawa Kamo's sudden sabotage greatly displeased Kondo Isami.

Fortunately, at that moment, Yamanami Keisuke came to the rescue:

"I think Kondo-kun's idea is pretty good."

"Ordinary people don't know anything about 'the truth of history'."

"The Ako patriots were heroes deeply admired by the people and enjoyed extremely high prestige among the common people."

"If we imitate the clothing of the Ako patriots, we will surely gain a lot of goodwill from the people."

Yamanami Keisuke's statement garnered considerable support, and with his assistance, Kondo Isami's proposal received widespread backing.

However, at this very moment...

"Tachibana-kun!"

Sanako's sharp shouts echoed throughout the conference room.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound—and saw Sanako grabbing Kinoshita Mai's wrist, forcing her to raise her hand.

"Ms. Kinoshita has something to say!"

Kinoshita Mai's beautiful eyes were wide open, staring blankly at Sanako. Her small red lips moved rapidly, as if she wanted to say something, but her brain was overloaded and she couldn't say anything.

However, what she wanted to say was perfectly revealed in her eyes: You wretched woman, you actually betrayed me!

At the same time, Sanako curled her lips into a knowing smile.

Although he wasn't quite sure what new tricks this "cat and fox duo" had up their sleeves, Qing Deng still asked Kinoshita Mai first:

"A-Wu, is there anything you want to say?"

"Gurgle...!"

Kinoshita Mai's eyes darted around and darted away quickly.

After a moment, she whispered weakly:

"How about...designing the haori to be a light blue-green...?"

*******

*******

Actually, Leopard could have updated at 22 PM sharp, but that would have meant another short 4000-word post today, so Leopard wrote another 1000 words to make it 5100 words.

Please vote for this book with your monthly ticket, considering how hard Leopard has worked! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

PS: Sanako is getting gentler and gentler~ She's no longer the icy beauty she was when she first appeared.

Chapter 598 Shinsengumi uniforms: Light green Haori, explosive! 【4500】

Rewind a few minutes—

"That's all I have to say..."

After explaining her ideas in one breath without pausing, Kinoshita Mai seemed satisfied and let out a long sigh.

Sanako pondered for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.

"...Ms. Kinoshita, your idea is quite good. Why don't you share it with everyone?"

Kinoshita Mai paused for a moment upon hearing this.

Then, she chuckled:

"Um...! This...that...let's just forget it...My idea isn't anything special, it's not even worth mentioning, there's no need to publicize it..."

Sanako turned her head and gazed intently at Kinoshita Mai.

"I understand. In that case, I won't force you."

After saying that, she looked away and stared blankly ahead.

Seeing that Sanako was no longer "bothering" her, Kinoshita Mai showed a relieved expression.

However, at that moment... just as Kinoshita Mai relaxed her guard, in the blink of an eye, Sanako suddenly slashed out with her left hand like a snake emerging from its hole, grabbed Kinoshita Mai's right wrist and lifted it up, forcing her right arm to rise high.

At the same time, she quickly raised her voice to Qing Deng, who was seated in the main seat:

"Tachibana-kun! Ms. Kinoshita has something to say!"

……

……

Let's go back to the present—

"How about...designing the haori to be a light blue-green...?"

As soon as Kinoshita Mai finished speaking, the entire audience erupted in a cacophony of chatter.

The commander muttered:

"Ms. Kinoshita, I thought you would recommend that everyone wear bright red clothes..."

Hijikata Toshizo burst into laughter:

"Chief, not everyone would use their position for personal gain like you do."

Upon hearing this, Souji immediately showed a defiant expression.

She stood with her hands on her hips, pouting.

"I'm not abusing my power for personal gain! It would be so impressive if everyone wore purple and walked down the street!"

Hijikata Toshizo refused to back down and launched a sharp counterattack against her:

"Others will just think we're nouveau riche with money to burn and all we know is how to show off!"

Serizawa Kamo twitched the corner of his mouth:

"Light green...please spare me, I will never wear clothes of this color."

Harada Sanosuke murmured softly:

"Why light green? This color doesn't seem very imposing."

After hesitating for a moment, Todo Heisuke stammered:

"A light blue dress...isn't that too old-fashioned?"

It's no wonder that Heisuke Todo raised such a question.

The bright and refreshing light green color was once a very popular color, and high-ranking officials and nobles loved to wear light green clothes.

However, with the establishment of Tokugawa's hegemony, Edo, which was originally a desolate town, quickly prospered, and a large number of samurai from the countryside came to Edo to make a living.

In order to integrate into this glamorous metropolis as soon as possible and shed their country bumpkin identity, they all chose the then-popular light blue color for their clothing.

But little did people know that Edo people usually used light blue fabric as the lining of their kimonos and did not show it to others.

Wearing light blue clothing directly on the outside naturally invites ridicule from others.

In this way, light green gradually evolved into the symbol of the country samurai.

Becoming the center of everyone's discussion... this was an unbearable pain for Kinoshita Mai.

Her gaze darted around frantically, and her expression grew increasingly restrained and stiff.

Fortunately, Qingdeng gestured for everyone to be quiet.

The noisy meeting room, which was just a moment ago, suddenly fell silent.

"Ah Wu, tell me your thoughts. Why do you recommend light turquoise?"

As he spoke, Aoto gave Kinoshita Mai an encouraging look.

With Qing Deng's support, Kinoshita Mai's expression became noticeably calmer.

After taking several deep breaths, she spoke slowly and haltingly:

"First of all... light turquoise is very pretty, the color is bright and cheerful, and it's very eye-catching..."

"Secondly... light green is a commoner's color, wearing light green clothes... can make one appear approachable..."

"Finally... light blue was once the color of the ceremonial robes worn by samurai when committing seppuku... Using light blue as our representative color will demonstrate our fearlessness in the face of death, our unwavering determination to fight to the last moment to protect our dignity and honor, and our resolute commitment to fight until death..."

After speaking, Kinoshita Mai shrank back and raised her eyes, cautiously observing the expressions and movements of the people around her.