I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Despite his confusion, he still stepped forward and walked towards the house.

Boom, boom, boom.

He knocked on the door.

No one answered from inside.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

He knocked on the door again.

This time, he used even more force.

Still no response.

Is nobody here?

As he thought this, he reached out and pulled on the door—the door was easily pulled open.

The door wasn't locked.

Qingdeng's confusion grew stronger.

He stepped over the threshold and into the earthen area.

[Note: Doma: In Japanese architecture, the doma is the transitional area between the outdoors and the indoors, and is part of the house's interior. While there's a custom in Japan of removing shoes indoors, there's a space before entering the foyer where shoes can be worn – that's the doma.]

Is anyone there?

He shouted into the house.

He had expected to be met with silence again.

Unexpectedly, no sooner had he finished speaking than footsteps approached from the depths of the corridor.

Familiar footsteps... a composed and elegant way of walking...

A woman dressed in a light blue kimono appeared gracefully from inside the house with small, quick steps, and then came to Qing Deng's side.

"My husband, welcome back!"

Tenshōin, with the hem of her kimono tucked in, knelt on the ground, greeting Seidō with a beaming smile and a shy expression on her face—just like a newlywed wife.

Qingdeng stood frozen in place, his eyes glazed over, staring blankly at Tianzhangyuan—he looked exactly like a clay or wooden sculpture.

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P.S.: This volume is full of heavy content, finally I can write some lighthearted plot!

Chapter 998 Qingdeng and Tianzhangyuan's "Newlywed Life" [4300]

thump.

Qingdeng moved his stiff feet, silently took two steps back, left the earthen chamber, returned to the door, and gently closed the door, blocking Tenshōin behind it.

He stared intently at the door in front of him, thinking to himself:

—I must have misread it.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

After calming down a bit, he pushed the door open again—

"My husband, welcome back!"

The same words, the same scene... Tenshōin knelt in the entrance hall, smiling radiantly, welcoming him with the warmth of a newlywed wife.

thump.

Qing Deng replicated the actions from before—stepping back, closing the door, and taking deep breaths—as if the video were playing in reverse.

About five seconds later, he pushed the door open again.

"My husband, welcome back!"

thump.

Step back, close the door, and take deep breaths.

When he pushed open the door for the fourth time, he no longer heard "Welcome back," but rather the other person's angry shouts:

How many times do you want me to start over?!

Tianzhangyuan stopped kneeling and stood up abruptly, hands on his hips, biting his teeth, his cheeks flushed, looking as if he was enduring shame and humiliation.

"It's already hard enough to say these things to you while enduring the shame! And you made me repeat them so many times! Do you really enjoy hearing me say 'Husband, welcome back'?"

Upon hearing this, Qingdeng apologized, half ashamed and half helpless:

"Sorry, I was just... startled..."

Imagine arriving at an unfamiliar house and suddenly seeing the Empress Dowager greeting you like a newlywed wife, "Husband, welcome back"... Anyone would be startled.

Qingdeng subconsciously bit the tip of his tongue, making sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Your Highness, what...what is your purpose?"

As he asked the question, he scanned Tianzhangyuan up and down with his eyes.

Her outfit—a light blue kimono, a beige sash—was all common, mass-produced clothing, plain in style and made of rough fabric.

Perhaps because her hair was too short, she did not wear her hair in a bun, but instead wore it in a short ponytail as usual.

During the Edo period, married women often wore their hair in a bun.

As for unmarried girls, they often wore the Shimada bun hairstyle.

Before marrying Aoto, Sanako and Ama often appeared in public with their hair in the "Shimada bun" style.

After becoming "Tachibana Sanako" and "Tachibana Mai", the two of them stopped wearing this hairstyle.

Aside from the wrong hairstyle, at first glance, the carved Tenshōin really does look just like any ordinary housewife you could see anywhere.

Upon hearing Qingdeng's apology, the anger and embarrassment on Tenshōin's face quickly dissipated like the receding tide—it seemed she wasn't truly angry.

Seeing that Qingdeng directly asked about her intentions, she chuckled lightly a few times:

"Sheng Qing, have you ever played 'house'?"

I played it a few times when I was very young.

"That's enough! Sheng Qing, I hope you can play 'house' with me for half a day. I'll be the wife, and you'll be the husband!"

"...Huh?"

"I hope you can play 'house' with me for half a day..."

"No, I heard you, there's no need to repeat it a second time."

Whenever Qingdeng says "Huh?", the other person always thinks he has hearing problems—he just habitually uses "Huh?" to express surprise.

"Your Highness, you, you..."

So shocked was he that his tongue got tied and he couldn't speak fluently.

It took him quite a while to gradually recover:

"Your Highness, can you give me a reason?"

Why play 'house'?

"And they even had to pretend to have such a... such a special relationship."

Tenshoin tilted his head, curled the corners of his mouth, and narrowed his eyes into slits.

Qing Deng was all too familiar with that smile—it was the other person's signature wicked grin.

"Well... telling you the reason directly would be too boring."

"I'll tell you the answer after you finish playing 'house' with me."

"Of course, I don't intend to force you."

"If you're not happy about it, you can just leave."

"However... if you abandon me, I might be so sad that I cry my eyes out."

After saying that, she pretended to raise her arms, covered her face with her sleeves, and put on a pitiful look as if she was about to cry.

Then, she would occasionally raise her cunning eyes, her gaze darting over the top of her sleeve to steal glances at Qingdeng and observe his reaction.

—What kind of "not intending to force you" is this...?

Qingdeng twitched his lips, and black lines appeared on his forehead.

Although he was completely confused, strangely enough, he didn't find it annoying.

Firstly, he was already used to being teased by the Tianzhang Academy.

Secondly, at this moment, he felt a slight... eagerness to try.

—I just wanted to know what she really wanted, so I deliberately cooperated with her, that's all, I had no other intentions.

After making this firm decision in his mind, he stopped worrying about it.

"I understand. Please give me your guidance!"

He spoke at lightning speed... without the slightest hesitation.

Having said that, he deftly unfastened the two swords, one long and one short, from his waist and handed them to the other party.

"Huh... wait? Wait, wait?"

Tensho-in stood frozen in place, looking at Ao-den in a flustered manner, seemingly at a loss for what to do.

"What's wrong, Your Highness? Now that things have come to this, don't tell me that all the talk about playing 'house' with me was just a lie."

"Ta-da, of course it's not fake! I would never play a trick on you like that. I just... I just... your eagerness is making me a little... scared..."

"Huh? Am I that impatient?"