I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

At this moment, Saigo Kinosuke smiled, half excited and half admiring, and exclaimed:

"I have to say, that Iwakura Tomomi is really capable."

"They snatched the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and two sacred treasures (the Yasakani no Magatama and the Yata no Kagami) from Kyoto, pulling them out of the tiger's mouth."

"Thanks to him, the imperial court is now under our control!"

After Iwakura Tomomi launched the unprecedented "Keio Incident," he fled to Choshu—a fact that was already common knowledge.

Upon hearing this, a strange light flashed in Katsura Kogoro's eyes.

However, he quickly suppressed this strange feeling and pretended to be calm.

……

……

With the alliance now formed, both sides can finally go their separate ways.

On the morning of the day after the alliance was signed, Katsura Kogoro and Saigo Kichinosuke bid each other farewell.

Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro will travel to Nagasaki to prepare for their upcoming trip—they will continue to act as lobbyists, persuading Tosa and Hizen to further expand their anti-shogunate forces.

After leaving Xiaguan, Katsura Kogoro spurred his horse on at full speed, wishing he could break the whip in his hand, completely ignoring the whimpers of his horse.

The reason he was in such a hurry to return to Hagi Castle was simply because he was extremely worried about the safety of the Emperor and the Crown Prince!

Last night, he dared not tell Saigo Kichinosuke the truth.

In fact, as early as half a month ago, the Emperor and the Crown Prince both fell seriously ill and were bedridden!

Like other nobles of the time, the Emperor and the Crown Prince suffered from poor health.

Their extremely unhealthy eating habits, coupled with a severe lack of exercise, mean that their bodies are far from healthy.

After the Emperor and the Crown Prince arrived in Choshu, Katsura Kogoro specially organized a professional "care team" to take care of them carefully. They would give them nourishing food when they were tired, add clothes when it was cold, and even have someone test their food for poison every day.

Such meticulous care is truly commendable.

However, the situation that Katsura Kogoro least wanted to see still happened... "Cultural incompatibility" was like a powerful cannonball, instantly knocking down the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

The climate of Choshu is very different from that of Kyoto, so it is not surprising that the Emperor and the Crown Prince would suffer from acclimatization problems.

Compared to the discomfort of not being able to adapt to the new environment, the excessive anxiety and worry took a much worse to their bodies.

The Emperor was unwilling to oppose the Shogunate, and even less willing to come to Choshu.

The actions of the people of Choshu in the past—disrupting the imperial court and falsely conveying imperial edicts—left a great psychological shadow on the Emperor.

He now harbors deep distrust of the people of Changzhou and is extremely unwilling to associate with them.

In order to resist, he directly adopted the strategy of "non-violent non-cooperation," not eating properly, not sleeping properly, and finding ways to oppose Changzhou.

Even though he was sick, he refused to take his medicine obediently, and it seemed that he had self-destructive tendencies.

As for the Crown Prince, he is still young, only 13 years old this year. He was suddenly kidnapped to the distant Changzhou, which caused great harm to his young mind.

If the news that "both the Emperor and the Crown Prince have fallen ill" were to get out, it could cause a stir within the pro-imperial faction.

Therefore, Katsura Kogoro strictly controlled the news, never letting the outside world know the truth about the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

At the same time, he invited renowned doctors from all walks of life and spared no effort in treating the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

With the situation having developed to this point, he could no longer care about the Emperor's resistance.

Even if it means using brutal methods, we must force the medicine into his mouth!

To restore the Emperor and the Crown Prince to their health, Katsura Kogoro spared no expense, arranging expensive tonics, rare medicinal herbs, and so on, truly disregarding costs.

However... even after doing all this, the Emperor and the Crown Prince's health did not improve, and their condition worsened day by day.

Before Katsura Kogoro could rush to Shimonoseki to meet with Saigo Kinosuke, the Emperor and the Crown Prince were too weak to get up, which made him very anxious.

He had done everything he could... Katsura Kogoro was at his wit's end.

All he has left to do is clasp his hands together and pray to God.

Left with no other choice, he, who had never believed in gods or Buddhas, had to invite a group of highly accomplished old monks to chant sutras and incantations for the Emperor and the Crown Prince every day, praying for their health and well-being.

……

……

2 days later—

Choshu Domain, Hagi Castle——

The journey, which was originally scheduled for three days, was compressed into two days by Katsura Kogoro.

Upon arriving at the gates of Hagi Castle, he dismounted before his horse had come to a complete stop and strode quickly into the depths of the castle—the residence of the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

"Mr. Gui! Greetings!"

"Mr. Gui! Welcome back!"

"Mr. Katsura! This is the latest news about Tachibana Seiden. Please take a look!"

Along the way, he encountered many subordinates, but Katsura Kogoro didn't bother to greet them and simply dismissed them all, leaving military and political affairs to be dealt with later.

Just as he was about to arrive at the residence of the Emperor and the Crown Prince, he suddenly saw a familiar figure—Iwakura Tomomi walked towards him expressionlessly.

"...Mr. Gui, you're back."

Katsura Kogoro took two quick steps and asked in a fast voice:

"Mr. Iwakura, how are His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince?"

During his time away from Hagi Castle, Katsura Kogoro entrusted the important task of caring for the Emperor and the Crown Prince to Iwakura Tomomi.

"..."

Iwakura Tomomi adopted an enigmatic silence.

After a moment, he turned around and said softly:

"...Mr. Gui, may I speak to you in private?"

In an instant, Katsura Kogoro was stunned, and an extremely strong sense of foreboding welled up in his heart.

He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and followed.

Before long, Iwakura Tomomi led Katsura Kogoro into an empty room.

Iwakura Tomomi silently closed the door, then turned and said without looking back, her expression devoid of joy or sorrow:

"His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince have both died of illness."

"……what?"

Iwakura Tomomi's voice was very soft, but because the room was very quiet, every word he spoke was clearly heard by Katsura Kogoro.

Although he heard it clearly, the overwhelming shock left him speechless, and he couldn't help but ask a question.

Iwakura Tomomi's indifferent expression remained unchanged as he repeated, word by word:

"His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince had been ill for a long time and were too weak to recover. Unfortunately, they passed away the night before last."

"Mr. Iwakura, if this is a joke, please correct me as soon as possible..."

"This is no joke. His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince are indeed no longer alive. Would you like me to take you to see their remains?"

Boom!

With a loud thud, Katsura Kogoro lunged at Iwakura Tomomi, grabbed his collar, and pulled him up.

But Katsura Kogoro's eyes were wide open in anger, with countless red blood vessels gushing from the whites of his eyes, making him look just like a raging lion.

Iwakura Tomomi seemed to have anticipated Katsura Kogoro's attack. He neither struggled nor resisted, but calmly stared at his opponent, appearing indifferent and ready to accept whatever he wanted.

Katsura Kogoro opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to scold Iwakura Tomomi.

But just as he was about to speak, he seemed to realize something and paused.

Yes, what right did he have to grab Iwakura Tomomi by the collar?

He had long anticipated the deaths of the Emperor and the Crown Prince, hadn't he?

When he left Hagi Castle to meet Saigo Kinosuke, the Emperor and the Crown Prince were on their deathbeds, beyond medical help, and could only place their hopes on Buddhism, incantations, and other mystical practices.

Under such circumstances, their sudden passing was only to be expected.

After regaining his composure, Katsura Kogoro dejectedly released Iwakura Tomomi's collar, staggered back several steps, and crashed heavily into the wall behind him.

"It's over...it's all over..."

He muttered as he covered his pale face.

He and Saigo Kichinosuke finally managed to forge the "Satsuma-Choshu Alliance".

Just as they were preparing to make their mark, they suddenly received this devastating news...

Controlling the imperial court... this was a "trump card" that their powerful forces had worked so hard to obtain.

Before they could even use this trump card, the Emperor and the Crown Prince both passed away... This "trump card" was now useless!

The deeper he thought about it, the paler Katsura Kogoro's face became, and his spine bent over and over.

Iwakura Tomomi stared intently at the dejected Katsura Kogoro, and suddenly said in a slow voice:

“Mr. Katsura, now is not the time to be pessimistic. Although His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince have passed away, we still have ways to make amends.”

Katsura Kogoro paused for a moment, then raised his puzzled gaze.

"Remedy? How can this be remedied? Can you conjure up a prince?"

The current emperor has four princes, three of whom died young, leaving only the crown prince alive.

Now that the crown prince has passed away, the emperor's bloodline has been cut off. Where are they going to find a new prince?

Katsura Kogoro's rhetorical question was clearly sarcastic, and I felt that Iwakura Tomomi was talking nonsense.

Unexpectedly, Iwakura Tomomi nodded solemnly and forcefully:

"That's right, it's about 'conjuring' a prince."

The unexpected reply left Katsura Kogoro stunned once again.

"...Huh? Mr. Iwakura, what are you talking about?"