I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Although he knew the other party was a spy for the Big Salt Party, Qing Deng not only did not report him, but also continued to rely on him as always—of course, he would not be allowed to participate in certain missions involving important secrets.

Qing Deng swiftly dispatched Toujou Shintaro, ordering him to eliminate the bandits in the shortest possible time, and sent Niimi Nishiki, Harada Sanosuke, and their Fifth and Tenth Divisions to assist him.

Shintaro Tojo is indeed a capable and reliable official.

After more than half a month of intensive bandit suppression, the bandits were either killed or fled, and peace returned to the roads around Kyoto.

Seeing that the bandits had been cleared, Qingdeng sent Dongcheng Shintaro over today to give a detailed report on the work.

Qingdeng waited silently while sitting up straight and tidying his clothes.

Before long, he heard heavy footsteps approaching from afar.

Whoosh—the door opened, and Aoto's large, stout figure came into view.

"Your Highness, it's been a long time."

Shintaro Toujou bowed slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Don't stand on ceremony, relax."

Qingdeng waved his hand as he spoke.

Suddenly, his gaze involuntarily tilted downwards, staring intently at Shintaro Toujou's right abdomen, his eyes flashing with complex emotions.

His unusual behavior was only temporary.

Qingdeng quickly adjusted his gaze and expression, remaining calm and composed.

Shintaro Tojo's work report was nothing special.

He simply stated the results of the battle in a concise manner, mentioning how many bandits he had killed and how many heads he had chopped off.

After listening quietly, Qingdeng gave the other person an appreciative look.

"Toujou-kun, thank you for your hard work."

Shintaro Toujou quickly said:

"I dare not accept such praise."

At this moment, he probably remembered something important, his expression changed slightly, and he looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't, as if he was reluctant to speak.

Qing Deng noticed his subtle changes in expression.

"Toujou-kun, what's wrong? If there's anything you want to say, please feel free to say it."

Qingdeng's words dispelled the other party's last remaining concerns.

"...Your Highness, I have something to report to you."

He adopted a solemn expression and said, word by word:

"From what I've discovered, many Kyoto residents sympathize with Choshu."

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng couldn't help but show a look of astonishment:

"Sympathy for Choshu? For the gentry and commoners of Kyoto?"

Shintaro Toujou nodded vigorously and continued the conversation:

"Because of the Ansei Five Nations Treaty, there was a shortage of goods in the country, prices soared, and people's lives were severely affected. Therefore, many Kyoto gentry and commoners have always sympathized with the Choshu Domain, which actively expelled foreigners."

"Recently, the 'Chōshū Bixi' has become popular in Kyoto's urban areas."

Qing Deng interjected:

“'Bixi'? What is that?”

Shintaro Toujou answered:

“‘Bixi’ is a dialect word meaning sympathy. Simply put, it means that when people chat, they always use euphemistic language to express their sympathy for Changzhou.”

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng immediately understood.

The Edo Shogunate strictly prohibited the public from openly criticizing politics.

However, as the saying goes, "where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure."

Regardless of what orders the shogunate issued, ordinary people had many ways to cope.

The most typical example is what Shintaro Toujou just mentioned: using various "secret language" and "coded language" to discuss and criticize current affairs.

"Besides the 'Chōshū Bixi', a round red bean glutinous rice ball called 'Chōshū Hagi Mochi' also became popular in Kyoto."

“‘Chōshū Hagi Mochi’ is actually a specialty of the town of Chōshū Hagi Castle.”

"Recently, many shops in Kyoto have started selling this kind of hagi mochi."

"When selling this mochi, the shopkeeper will arrange three round mochi in a '品' shape, with a pair of chopsticks placed horizontally on top, which looks like the Mori family crest 'Ichimonji Sansei'."

"The price of this cake is uniformly set at 36 wen, symbolizing that the Changzhou vassal state has a grain yield of 36 shi."

When you buy it, you should say '負けてくれ' (Give me a discount).

The seller would then reply '負けん' (cannot be cheaper).

"This is a classic pun."

“‘負ける’ can mean either a price reduction or failure.”

That is to say, "Chōshū will not fail."

“These people expressed their spiritual support for the Choshu Domain through hagi mochi and puns.”

"Besides Hagimochi, 'Chōshū-katsu' from Chōshū has also become popular and is one of the most popular dances in Kyoto at present."

"As the name suggests, this is a dance that celebrates the victory at Choju."

"It is said that this dance originated in a restaurant in Akaishi,"

"The master, drunk, dressed in his child's clothes and started dancing 'Changzhou Sheng'. His wife managed to stop him, but the child suddenly died."

"The neighbor came over to ask what was going on, and the restaurant owner said that the child died because his wife stopped him from dancing, and that if he didn't dance, he would cause trouble."

"So the neighbor went home and danced the same dance. The word spread quickly, and 'Changzhou Sheng' soon became known throughout the capital."

"Even the kapok produced in Changzhou, an essential material for dance, became a hot commodity overnight."

At this point, Dongcheng paused, hesitated for a moment, and then continued:

"There is one more thing that I think it would be better to report to you at the same time."

"After our army achieved a complete victory in the Battle of Kyoto Summer Campaign, a samurai from the Choshu Domain named Yamamoto no Suke committed suicide in Amagasaki when he was retreating westward with the main force, feeling that there was no hope of escape. His body was buried on the spot."

"For some reason, a while ago, news suddenly spread that 'Yamamoto Fuminosuke's grave has miraculous effects in curing difficult and complicated diseases,' so people from the surrounding area rushed to pay their respects."

"The local lord could not stop it, so he ordered his men to rebury the body elsewhere."

"When his men were digging the grave, one of them suddenly became stiff and feverish and died, which frightened the lord so much that he never dared to covet the graveyard again."

"This miracle has further strengthened the people's faith, and people are flocking to the area to worship."

"The local people specially named this cemetery 'Tomb of Regret' to express their sympathy and pity."

After finishing speaking, Shintaro Tojo stood quietly, waiting for Aoto's response.

"..."

Although Qingdeng remained silent and calm, he was already cursing in his heart.

—Tsk... What kind of mess is this?!

—Could it be that all these guys are suffering from Stockholm syndrome? The more they are abused, the more they feel good?

Stockholm syndrome is a classic mental illness. Its main manifestation is that when faced with extreme threats, the victim develops emotional identification with the perpetrator and forms a harmonious relationship with them.

With the "Choshu Conquest" imminent, Qingdeng dispatched a large number of elite ninjas, led by Yamazaki Susumu, to the western country to gather intelligence.

As a result, Qing Deng's intelligence network in Kyoto has become much weaker, and he hasn't received much intelligence related to Kyoto recently.

If it weren't for Shintaro Toujou's series of reports to him today, he would have been completely unaware of the recent changes in Kyoto.

To be honest, Qing Deng genuinely felt that these Kyoto gentry who sympathized with Choshu were either deliberately malicious or unfortunately suffering from Stockholm syndrome, having developed an emotional identification with the perpetrator.

If it were someone from another place, that would be one thing, but why do you Kyoto people sympathize with Choshu?

In the Battle of Ikedaya, radicals in Choshu planned to burn down Kyoto and kidnap the Emperor in the chaos.

If Qingdeng and the others hadn't thwarted their plot, who knows how many people would have died that night.

In the Battle of Kyoto, Choshu mobilized tens of thousands of troops, their advance aimed directly at Kyoto.

If it weren't for Qing Deng leading his troops to hold off the Choshu army on the outskirts of Kyoto, this battle would have caused Kyoto unimaginable damage.

It is obvious that Choshu never cared about the lives of the people of Kyoto.

In order to achieve their goals, they have repeatedly plunged innocent people into misery.

Even though Choshu is so bad, there are still so many people in Kyoto who sympathize with and respect Choshu.

This...this...

Qingdeng was speechless for a moment, and even if he wanted to curse, he didn't know who to curse.

Suddenly, Shintaro Toujou asked:

"Your Highness, should we ban these actions in support of Changzhou?"

Qingdeng waved his hand:

"No need, I'm not that petty."

"There must be someone behind these events stirring things up."

"We can only 'dredge,' not 'block.'"

"Otherwise, we'll be playing right into their hands."

“At that time, we will be labeled as ‘narrow-minded’ and ‘oppressive to the people’.”

As Qingdeng spoke, he narrowed his eyes, his gaze unfriendly, his expression serious, as if deep in thought.

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