I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

……

……

Today, all officials of any rank are required to ascend Edo Castle to celebrate the Shangsi Festival with the Shogun—and Ii Naosuke, as the Grand Elder, would certainly not be absent.

At this very moment, at the gate of the Ii family mansion, more than seventy of Ii Naosuke's attendants and guards were inspecting their equipment, such as haori, straw hats, and swords.

Inside the mansion, Ii Naosuke, already dressed in formal attire, strode alone toward the house where a palanquin had been prepared.

At this moment, an old retainer of the Ii family appeared anxiously from the corner of the corridor behind Ii Naosuke, and then rushed to Ii Naosuke's side in great haste.

"My lord! My lord!"

The old minister knelt on one knee in front of Ii Naosuke and presented a clean white envelope with both hands.

"My lord," the old minister said in a low voice, his tone barely audible to anyone but himself and Ii Naosuke, "this morning, an anonymous letter was delivered to the Ii family residence."

"According to the letter, a group of Mito Domain retainers will attempt to ambush and kill you in the streets in the coming days."

"...An anonymous letter?" Naosuke Ii calmly took the envelope, pulled out the letter, and unfolded it forcefully.

The letter was quite simple – it merely informed Ii Naosuke that the samurai of the Mito Domain were preparing to launch a "Heavenly Punishment" operation in the coming days, and warned Ii Naosuke to be careful.

After quickly reading the contents of the anonymous letter, Ii Naosuke calmly tossed it back to his senior retainer.

"The samurai of the Mito Domain have their eyes on my head... so what?"

"Does this mean I should never go out again?"

After saying this, Ii Naosuke bypassed the old minister kneeling in front of him and said, "Later, help me find out who sent this anonymous letter."

"My lord! My lord!"

The old minister quickly stepped forward and knelt down in front of Ii Naosuke.

"Please at least increase the number of guards. I'll arrange some new guards right now..."

"Absolutely not!" Ii Naosuke interrupted the old minister sharply. "Under normal circumstances, it would be fine, but today we absolutely cannot increase the number of guards."

"There are regulations regarding how many guards one can bring when climbing the city walls to celebrate the Shangsi Festival."

"As a senior member, I cannot break the rules myself and set a bad example for others."

After speaking, Ii Naosuke once again bypassed the old retainer who was blocking his way.

The old minister, undeterred, once again stood in front of Ii Naosuke.

"My lord..."

"No need for further words," Ii Naosuke said calmly. "Everyone has their own destiny."

"If the assassins are determined to kill me, no matter how carefully they guard against me, there will be weaknesses."

At that moment, Ajiu arrived.

Aku, who habitually saw Ii Naosuke off at dawn, appeared from the side corridor.

"What's wrong?" Aku looked at Ii Naosuke, and then at the old minister who was still kneeling in front of Ii Naosuke.

“It’s nothing.” Ii Naosuke smiled slightly at Aku. “We were just discussing political affairs.”

Ii Naosuke glanced at the old minister, signaling with his eyes: Stop talking! Move aside!

The old minister stared at Ii Naosuke's resolute face, gritted his teeth, and quickly stepped aside.

"Let's go, Madam." Ii Naosuke raised his hand and beckoned to Aku.

Aku followed Ii Naosuke, and the two walked outside in silence.

"Ah..." Ajiu looked up and winked at the snowflakes falling gently overhead. "It's snowing..."

Ii Naosuke and Aku looked up at the snow together: "It's snowing at this time of year... that's really rare."

"Are you wearing something thicker?" Ajiu asked.

“Of course.” Naosuke Ii smiled and patted the thick clothing on his chest.

"It's good that you're dressed warmly." Ajiu smiled gently. "Just don't catch a cold."

Suddenly, a cool snowflake lazily landed on Ajiu's nose.

Seeing this, Ii Naosuke smiled and reached out his finger to brush the snowflakes off Aku's nose.

“This snow has come at just the right time,” Ii Naosuke said with a smile. “I was just worried that I was stuck on the new waka poem about snow that I told you about before.”

"I hope this unexpected heavy snow will bring me new creative inspiration."

Ajiu covered her mouth and smiled: "Then you mustn't waste this rare snow."

"Hurry up and use this early spring snow to gain new inspiration," Aku said playfully. "I'm still waiting to hear your new waka poem. I haven't seen a new work of yours in so long."

Ii Naosuke smiled and nodded. "Since you have such high expectations, I'd better write even better."

"My lord," a burly man standing beside the sedan chair said in a deep voice, "it's almost time."

This burly man was a close confidant of Ii Naosuke—the vice-captain of Ii Naosuke's guard: Kawanishi Chuzaemon, an outstanding swordsman in the Ii family.

"Yes." Ii Naosuke nodded. "Madam, I'll be leaving now."

Ajiu nodded: "Be careful on the road."

Ii Naosuke once again raised his hand to brush away a snowflake that had landed on Aku's face, then crouched down and slipped into the palanquin.

The attendants standing by the sedan chair door quickly closed the door after Ii Naosuke climbed into it.

Just as the sedan chair doors were closing, Ii Naosuke glanced sideways and gave his wife, who still wore a radiant smile, a deep look…

"Lift the sedan chair!" Kawanishi Tadazaemon shouted.

More than seventy of Ii Naosuke's attendants and guards, who had been kneeling around the palanquin, stood up, holding their swords.

They formed a long procession, guarding the palanquin carrying Ii Naosuke.

Huff...! Huff...! Huff...!

The wind suddenly picked up.

Amidst the increasingly fierce winds, Ii Naosuke's entourage strode out of the Ii family mansion with an air of grandeur, turned onto the main road outside the mansion, and arrived at... the Sakurada Gate at a leisurely pace.

Sakurada Gate was one of the gates of the moat of Edo Castle, located between Sakuradabori and Triumphbori.

Because it was still early and the weather wasn't very good, there were only a few tea and snack shops and a handful of passersby on the main road outside Sakuradamon.

This main road outside Sakurada Gate was the only way for Ii Naosuke to travel to Edo Castle.

The sudden appearance of the Ii family's procession outside Sakurada Gate instantly turned this otherwise quiet street into a bustling and noisy place.

The waiters at the roadside tea shops, the pedestrians on the street... they all looked up and cast curious glances at the large group from the Ii family.

At this moment, among the curious gazes directed at the Ii family's group, there were also some... strange looks.

Eighteen samurai, who were lurking in various places outside Sakurada Gate, slowly raised their eyes.

With resolute eyes, they stared intently at the palanquin in the center of the Ii procession, which was being protected by more than seventy guards.

……

……

Arimura Jizaemon, who had only intended to close his eyes and rest, actually fell asleep in a daze.

In his dream, amidst a state of confusion, he felt his vision gradually clear.

Looking at the scene that suddenly appeared before his eyes, Arimura Jizaemon immediately realized—I was dreaming.

Even though he knew he was dreaming, Arimura Tsujizaemon felt like he couldn't wake up.

He dreamt of the day before yesterday... March 1st, when he and his comrades held their final battle meeting...

On March 1, he and his comrades gathered at a rented house in Yamazaki on the west bank of the Nihonbashi River under the name of a "calligraphy and painting association".

Their leader, Tetsunosuke Seki, sat cross-legged in the center of the room, while Tsuyoshi Arimura and the others sat around him.

"The execution of the traitor Ii Naosuke will take place on March 3rd!" Seki Tetsunosuke's voice was terrifyingly low. "The date will not change."

"This day is the Shangsi Festival, and officials of some rank will go up to Edo Castle on this day to celebrate the festival with the Shogun."

"As long as we set the day of Heaven's Punishment, our ambush will not fail!"

"Now—let me explain the assassination procedure again after my final revision."

Upon hearing this, Tetsunosuke Seki immediately became alert and focused their attention on the matter.

"When the Ii family's procession crossed the bridge outside Sakurada Gate, they first killed the guards at the front."

Seki Tetsunosuke raised his hand and pointed to the map spread out in front of him.

"In this way, the others in the queue will be attracted by the anomaly ahead and rush forward, thus weakening the defenses around the sedan chair."

"The rest of the men launched an attack from the sides of the palanquin, where the defenses had weakened, and took the head of the traitor Ii Kuni in one fell swoop."

Seki Tetsunosuke looked up at a burly man sitting to his left.

"Mori Gorokuro is in charge of killing the guards at the head of the line."

"Mori-kun, on the day of the operation, you disguise yourself as a ronin who is going to seek justice and approach the front of the line."

"When the guards at the front of the line come forward to drive you away, take the opportunity to draw your sword and kill them."

"Yes!" Mori Gorokuro nodded vigorously.

"Those responsible for launching the attack from the left flank, that is, the samurai side, are—" Seki Tetsunosuke looked at the several young men on his right, "Kurosawa Tadazaburo, Yamaguchi Tatsunosuke, Sugiyama Yaichiro, Arimura Tsuzuemon, and Masuko Kinpachi."

"Among them, Tadazaburo Kurosawa served as the vanguard of the left wing."

"The people in charge of the right wing, that is, the side of the moat, are: Ozeki Kazushichiro, Sano Takenosuke, Inada Shigezo, Moriyama Shigenosuke, Hirooka Kojiro, and Kaigo Tsuseki nosuke."

"The next three will be Hasuda Ichigoro, Koibuchi Yoshito, and Hiroki Matsunosuke."

Every time Tetsunosuke called out a name, the person whose name was called would loudly respond with "Yes!"...

……

……

"Hey, Arimura-kun, wake up! Don't sleep. The traitor is here."

Arimura Tsuzaemon heard Kurosawa Tadazaburo's voice and felt his body being shaken slightly.