I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Only after Qing Deng's figure had completely disappeared from his sight did he mutter to himself in a voice only he could hear:

"The nation is in peril... yet I possess a wealth of talent, with nowhere to put it to use..."

Shan Nan slowly closed his eyes.

A hint of melancholy flashed in his eyes.

……

……

That day, late at night——

Edo, the Ii family residence, Ii Naosuke's bedroom—

Ii Naosuke, dressed in his nightgown, knelt behind his desk, writing furiously.

What are you writing?

Suddenly, Aku approached Ii Naosuke from behind with a smile.

“Ah, Madam.” Ii Naosuke glanced at Aku, who had already sat down behind him, and then quickly shifted his gaze back to the table in front of him.

"I'm just handling some unfinished official business for today."

“So you were handling government affairs…” A hint of regret appeared between A-Jiu’s brows. “I thought you were writing that snow-themed waka poem you told me about before…”

A waka poem with a snow theme?

After a moment of recollection, Ii Naosuke recalled that this was indeed the case.

About a month ago, on the night he first learned about Tachibana Aoto's "snowy night battle," he mentioned to Akyu that he had a new inspiration for a waka poem with snow as its theme.

After recalling the events, Ii Naosuke felt a pang of guilt.

I had already promised Aji that I would show this waka poem to her as soon as I finished it.

As a result—he's been so busy lately that he's completely forgotten about it...

“Madam…” Ii Naosuke took several deep breaths to suppress his guilt. “I can’t rest right now, you should go to sleep first.”

Aku never inquired about or interfered with Ii Naosuke's work.

In the past, she would have nodded in agreement without hesitation and then obediently followed Ii Naosuke's instructions to rest.

But now... for the first time ever, Aku did not immediately carry out Ii Naosuke's orders.

She stared at Ii Naosuke, who had his back to her, with a rather strange expression.

"...Lord Ii, is there something you're hiding from me?"

Ii Naosuke's pen suddenly paused.

Why...why do you ask that?

"It's nothing." After blinking hard, Aju forced a smile at Ii Naosuke that wasn't very natural.

"It's just that I always feel like you have something on your mind."

Ii Naoki: "..."

The bedroom fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of the candle burning remaining.

Ii Naosuke slowly placed the brush in his hand on the brush holder placed in the corner of the table.

“Madam…” Ii Naosuke turned around to face Aku.

His eyes shone with a gentle light that was completely different from when he confronted the Tenshoin today.

You're overthinking it.

"I don't have anything on my mind."

"Maybe it's because I've been too busy lately and my face looks a little tired, so you mistakenly think I'm preoccupied with something."

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine."

Aku stared intently into Ii Naosuke's eyes.

"...It's good that you don't have anything on your mind." Ajiu blinked a few times quickly.

Naosuke Ii nodded: "Alright, stop thinking about it and go get some rest."

"Mm." Ajiu responded very readily this time. "You too, get some rest."

"You've definitely been too busy lately. Look, your cheeks have turned quite sallow."

Aku raised her hand and touched Ii Naosuke's wrinkled, aged face.

“Okay…” Ii Naosuke raised his hand and gently grasped the hand that Aku was using to stroke his cheek. “I will rest after I finish dealing with this last bit of government affairs.”

Ii Naosuke helped Aku into her bed before returning to his desk.

By candlelight, he carefully examined his wife's face, whose breathing had gradually become even and gentle.

His gaze gradually shifted from gentle to complex.

call……!

Just then, a piercing sound of wind came from outside the window.

The wind is strong and cold tonight, like knives.

Ii Naosuke turned his gaze away from Aku's face and towards the window not far away.

Speaking of which... in just half a month, it will be cherry blossom season...

Suddenly—a long-lost inspiration for waka poetry flashed through my mind.

Ii Naosuke pulled a sheet of white paper from his desk. Looking out the window, where no cherry blossoms were in bloom, only a biting wind was blowing, he quickly wrote a line of waka poetry on the paper:

Even fallen cherry blossoms, crushed into dust, still fill the world with their fragrance.

Ii Naosuke picked up the paper and carefully analyzed the new waka poem he had composed.

"what……"

After letting out a self-deprecating chuckle, he casually tossed the paper with his new waka poem on it onto his desk and then continued to concentrate on his official duties.

……

……

The next day—

The seventh year of Anzheng (1860), March 3——

"It's so cold..."

After finishing his morning exercise, Qingdeng carried his dental kit to the courtyard of the Shiwei Hall and immediately shivered involuntarily.

Qingdeng looked up at the sky and said, "It's so cold today..."

The sky was quite dark this morning.

The dense, dark clouds hung extremely low, making it feel like you couldn't breathe.

After vigorously rubbing his arms, which were covered in goosebumps, Qingdeng quickly drew water from the well for washing.

"Good morning..." At this moment, Okita, who was not fully awake, walked unsteadily toward the well with his eyes closed and his toothbrush in hand.

Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew in, waking Okita up from the cold.

"...Gulp!" Okita suddenly opened his eyes, raised his hands, and rubbed his arms vigorously. "So cold!"

"Take care to keep warm," Qingdeng reminded him. "It's a bit cold today."

Okita looked up at the gloomy sky above and pouted, "Why is the weather so bad today... It's the Shangsi Festival, and I was planning to go out and see the peach blossoms this afternoon..."

Today is the Shangsi Festival, which is eagerly anticipated by many unmarried girls.

The Shangsi Festival also has another name, which is the "Peach Blossom Festival," because this is the time when peach blossoms are in full bloom.

After rubbing his arms together to warm them up, Okita quickly ran to Aoto's side and drew his share of water from the well for washing.

"Tachibana-kun," Okita asked Aoto in a muffled voice while brushing his teeth, "how do you plan to spend today's Shangsi Festival holiday?"

"Besides staying in the Shiwei Hall to practice swordsmanship, there's not much else I can do," Qing Deng replied jokingly.

Qingdeng had no daughter, and there were no unmarried girls in the examination hall.

For Qingdeng and Shiwei Hall, the Shangsi Festival was just an ordinary day...

—Speaking of which… Lord Arima and the others should be on their way to Edo Castle by now…

A minor official like Qingdeng can leisurely spend today's Shangsi Festival holiday.

But officials of a certain rank, like Arima, must go to Edo Castle today to celebrate the Shangsi Festival with the Shogun in the Grand Hall of Edo Castle.

Qing Deng guessed that Arima should have already changed into his most formal attire and was leading his entourage toward Edo Castle.

“Tachibana-kun, since you don’t have any plans today, would you like to come with me to see the peach blossoms this afternoon?” Okita’s cheeks lit up with anticipation and excitement. “Now is the time of year when the peach blossoms are in full bloom, it would be such a shame not to go and admire them.”

"Want to see the peach blossoms...?"

The weather wasn't very good today, and Qingdeng didn't particularly want to go out.

Just as Qing Deng was pondering whether or not to accept Okita's invitation to see the flowers, he suddenly saw a white dot the size of a grain of rice flash past his eyes.

"Ok?"

Aoto and Okita, who also noticed the white dot, looked up at the sky.

"It's snowing..." Okita murmured.

Snowflakes drifted down from the clouds, dotting the gray sky.

The snowflakes, scattered and drifting in the wind, are just like mischievous little elves.

The sight of the fine snowflakes dancing in the air reminded Qingdeng of a famous line from an ancient text he had studied before: "Not as good as willow catkins rising with the wind."

"The weather this year is really abnormal..." Okita smiled bitterly, "It's already March, and it's still snowing..."

Qingdeng nodded in agreement.

The sudden snowfall caused the already low temperature to drop even further.

The chill that enveloped them grew stronger and stronger. Unable to bear the cold any longer, Aoto and Okita quickly washed up and then fled back to the Shieikan.