I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

After saying that, he turned to Qingdeng.

"Ju, you've been flipping through books a lot these past few days. Have you come up with any noteworthy reign titles?"

At this moment, Qing Deng was seen leaning on his elbow, slowly flipping through the old book in his palm.

Recently, the Tsing Huateng Group has continued to implement its style of "outsourcing all work that can be outsourced" and "the supreme leader must always be in the best condition."

He delegated most of the matters related to the enthronement ceremony and the reception of guests to others, while he himself was only responsible for handling the key tasks, such as the detailed defense of the Imperial Palace.

Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to join the "Era Name Writing Group" and work with the sinologists to come up with era names.

Having not read a book in a long time, he began to peruse those dusty classics.

Although he put his heart and soul into compiling a reign title that would be forever recorded in history, his sinological knowledge was ultimately no match for that of professional sinologists.

He proposed many reign titles, but they all lacked originality and were met with awkward laughter from sinologists...

"I am reading Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian."

As he spoke, Qingdeng showed the audience the book in his hand—one of the volumes of the Records of the Grand Historian.

"To be precise, I was reading the 'Hereditary House of Qi Taigong' in the Records of the Grand Historian."

"Our current situation is just like that of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods two thousand years ago."

"The various warlords fought and vied for power, and heroes vied for supremacy."

"Studying the history of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods might yield some insights."

Hijikata Toshizo asked further questions:

"So, have you gained anything?"

Qingdeng smiled helplessly:

"If I had gained anything from this, I wouldn't be here flipping through books."

After saying that, he leaned back against the elbow bar and continued to peruse the ancient book in his palm.

Hijikata Toshizo picked at his ear, his tone now one of confusion:

"Ju, to be honest, what kind of era name do you really want? If there isn't a definite standard, it will be difficult for us to handle."

Upon hearing this, both Yamanami Keisuke and Kondo Isami turned their heads and cast questioning glances at Aoto.

Hijikata Toshizo has just spoken their minds.

The sinologists racked their brains to come up with these alternative reign titles, and they all thought they were very good; any one of them would be worthy of the "excellent" rating.

However, when Qingdeng's opinion was sought, he only shook his head in refusal...

Qingdeng's vague and unclear evaluation criteria were almost confusing Hijikata Toshizo and the others.

Under everyone's gaze, Qingdeng gave a wry smile:

"To be honest, I don't know either."

"If I had to say... I would crave a reign title that would truly catch my eye."

Hijikata Toshizo frowned slightly:

"Make your eyes light up? Your requirements are a bit too broad. How would we know what kind of era name would make your eyes light up?"

Qingdeng let out a silent sigh, then said slowly:

"Give me one more... no, half an hour."

"If I still can't make up my mind after half an hour, then I'll just randomly pick one from these existing candidate reign titles..."

Suddenly, Qingdeng's voice weakened, and his words came to an abrupt end before he could finish speaking.

But he lowered his eyelids, his gaze narrowed, and he stared intently at the ancient book in his palm—or more precisely, at a particular sentence in the text.

"...Hey, I think I've got an idea...What do you guys think of this line?"

As he spoke, he sat up straight with a "roll," turned the ancient book in his palm so that the pages faced Hijikata Toshizo and the others, and pointed to a certain spot on it.

Hijikata Toshizo and the others quickly leaned closer to take a closer look.

The place Qingdeng was referring to was the famous line from the "Records of the Grand Historian: The Hereditary House of Qi Taigong"—"I, the King of Qi, held three military chariot meetings and six chariot meetings, uniting the feudal lords nine times and bringing order to the world."

"'Uniting the feudal lords nine times and bringing order to the world'...isn't this exactly our wish?"

Qingdeng grinned and smiled slightly.

"In that case, let's extract the words 'rectify the heavens' from these words—we will use the force of a raging storm to cleanse the world and restore order to the nation!"

As soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, everyone present was startled and instinctively looked at each other, exchanging glances.

After a brief moment of surprise, Hijikata Toshizo was the first to respond:

"'Kuangtian'... although it's a bit too straightforward, it suits my taste perfectly!"

With a concise reply and a cheerful smile, Hijikata Toshizo cast his "vote of approval" for this new alternative era name.

As soon as he finished speaking, Yamanami Keisuke, unsurprisingly, raised his objection:

"Mr. Tachibana, please forgive my bluntness, but this era name is too... too ominous! It is not suitable as an era name!"

"Any reign title should, like 'Ansei' and 'Bunju,' embody the beautiful wish for peace and tranquility in the world!"

What Yamanami Keisuke said makes a lot of sense.

Such a straightforward and menacing reign title... is truly a rarity in the world!

However, faced with Yamanami Keisuke's opposition, Aoto shrugged indifferently:

"'It embodies the beautiful wish for peace and tranquility in the world'? That's right, the word 'Kuangtian' fits your requirements perfectly."

"When we destroy Changzhou, drive out the bandits, and unify the world, then the world will naturally be at peace."

Before Yamanami Keisuke could respond, Kondo Isami suddenly interrupted:

"I also think this reign title is quite good."

Like Hijikata Toshizo, he also showed a joyful smile:

"Without complicated meanings, only sincere wishes, this is the true spirit of a samurai!"

Yamanami Keisuke glanced at Aoto, then at Hijikata Toshizo and Kondo Isami beside him, a look of helplessness gradually appearing on his face.

It is obvious that Aoto really liked the era names he had come up with on a whim—Hijikata Toshizo and Kondo Isami.

Yamanami Keisuke saw through their thoughts and knew that his efforts to persuade them would be futile, so he could only smile wryly and agree.

“I understand... It may not conform to tradition, but it's not a big deal.”

Seeing that the three people present all nodded in agreement, Qingdeng immediately curled his lips into a smug smile:

"Then let's settle on this! Our reign title will be—[Kuangtian]!"

……

……

The next day, early morning—

Kyoto, Imperial Palace—

As soon as the sky began to lighten, a tense atmosphere filled the Imperial Palace.

The guards were all on high alert, barely daring to breathe, to prevent anyone unrelated from approaching the palace.

Nagakura Shinpachi, who was guarding the south wall of the Imperial Palace, shouted loudly:

"Everyone, be alert! If you spot any suspicious individuals, expel them immediately!"

Almost simultaneously, Serizawa Kamo, who was guarding the north wall of the Imperial Palace, also issued a warning:

"Let me make this clear! Don't let me find anyone being careless! Otherwise, I'll make sure you can't get out of bed for the next three days!"

……

……

At this very moment, the Imperial Palace's Shishinden Hall—the place where the enthronement ceremony was held—was already filled with distinguished guests.

Looking around, all you see are important and influential figures.

The court officials, the chief ministers of the government, the powerful lords who controlled their own territories... all the high-ranking officials and dignitaries who could come, all came.

Because it was a public ceremony, everyone present wore the highest-level official formal attire (sash), making the atmosphere even more solemn.

Qingdeng arrived at the Zichen Palace early and sat down just a few steps away from the "High Imperial Platform" (the throne for enthronement).

Behind him, besides those noble nobles who were merely of noble blood, were pro-shogunate leaders who held real power, such as Matsudaira Katamori, the lord of the Aizu Domain, and Matsudaira Sadataka, the lord of the Kuwana Domain.

There was only one retainer sitting in front of Qing Deng, the current Kanpaku Nijō Nariaki.

Nijo Nariaki took over as Kanpaku last year.

The Grand Secretary is the highest-ranking official in the court. Although he does not hold real power and only has a prestigious title, he is far from being comparable to the Grand Secretary. However, in today's grand ceremony, he is still the one who leads the assembled officials.

Even before the ceremony began, many people were affected by the tense atmosphere, unconsciously tensing up and breaking out in a cold sweat.

More than a hundred years later, they are about to welcome another female emperor... Thinking about it carefully, one can't help but feel a sense of disorientation.

Finally... with a shout from the priest, the already quiet hall became even more silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The enthronement ceremony has begun!

Led by Nijō Nariakira, the retainers bowed in unison to the Takamidai directly in front of them.

Then—

Stroking, stroking, stroking, stroking, stroking...

The sound of clothes dragging on the ground could be heard from afar.

Then, we saw Prince Kazu, dressed in the imperial robes and ceremonial cap with twelve embroidered patterns, stepping steadily into the hall and slowly walking towards the "Takamitai" (the throne for enthronement).

Perhaps it was because she was wearing a formal dress, but today Princess Kazumi exuded an aura of "unapproachable authority"! Compared to her usual innocent and carefree demeanor, she was completely different!

Everyone knows very well that He Gong is just a "decorative vase".

Given that she was just an ordinary princess of mediocre quality... to put it bluntly, no one expected her to achieve anything on the throne.

Many people were even worried that she wouldn't be able to sit steadily on the dais today, fearing that she might fall due to nervousness and fear, making a fool of herself.