I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Whether he was going to work at the government office that had been turned into a thief's den, or to find Kinoshita Mai and other women, Aoto had to pass through that area.

As soon as Qing Deng appeared, Ootsuki Minoru hurriedly stepped out of a nearby alley and walked quickly toward Qing Deng.

It was obvious that Otsuki had done his reconnaissance in advance, figuring out where Aoto would appear, and thus set up an ambush.

Four months later, this woman, who held a significant place in Aoto Haraju's memories, reappeared right before his eyes, much to Aoto's surprise.

He had always thought that he would never have the chance to see Minoru Otsuki again after their parting at the fireworks festival this summer.

He had no intention of catching up with Otsuki Minoru, so when he saw Otsuki Minoru's face again, Aoto remained calm and his heart was not stirred at all.

Before Qing Deng could even ask Ootsuki Minoru with suspicion, "How did you end up here?", Ootsuki Minoru bowed deeply to Qing Deng with a mournful face, her upper and lower body forming a perfect 90-degree angle, exposing her entire nape to Qing Deng's eyes. Through the gaps in her clothes, one could vaguely see the deep bow of her smooth and delicate back.

"Mr. Tachibana, please help me!"

His very first words were something that left Qingdeng completely baffled.

Although it was still early and there were few pedestrians on the street, there were still a few porters and traveling merchants who worked from dawn till dusk moving back and forth on the street.

A beautiful woman, dressed in fine clothes and with a pretty face, pleads for help from a samurai lord in broad daylight and in front of everyone... This is quite a spectacle!

As a result, it attracted at least four people to stop and watch, and the number of people continued to increase.

To be honest, Aoto was completely bewildered by Otsuki Minoru's actions, and for a moment he wanted to just leave Otsuki Minoru there and ignore her.

If it's "Haru Tachibana Aoto", then he might still have some lingering feelings for this former goddess.

But Qing Deng had absolutely no feelings for Otsuki Minoru.

Seeing her ask him for help without any prior warning, Qing Deng felt nothing but a deep sense of bewilderment and a frown.

But perhaps out of curiosity, wondering what Ootsuki Minoru meant by "help me," and seeing Ootsuki Minoru's earnest appearance, almost kneeling on the ground, Aoto ultimately did not ignore Ootsuki Minoru.

Since I'm free today and have plenty of time, I'll listen to what she has to say.

The bustling, chaotic street center wasn't a good place for conversation, so Qing Deng led Ootsuki Minoru to this teahouse and booked a private room where they wouldn't be disturbed by outsiders.

Qingdeng got straight to the point, and Daiyue was equally unambiguous.

She didn't even bother to drink the hot tea on the table before bending down and pleadingly saying in a sorrowful voice:

"Mr. Tachibana, please save my husband! He... he's been captured by the Yakuza of the 'Shimizu Clan'!"

Otsuki Minoru's husband—that is, the young, wealthy scion named Otsuki Tsuneji.

The combination of the noun "Shimizu clan" and the verb "take away" caused Qing Deng to unconsciously frown slightly.

……

With slightly reddened eyes, Ootsuki Minoru choked back tears as she explained the whole story to Aoto.

Ootsuki Minoru wasn't a very eloquent speaker, and he spoke haltingly. Aoto concentrated and listened attentively, managing to make out what he was saying, albeit with some difficulty.

Four months ago, Otsuki Minoru and her husband Otsuki Tsuneji came to Edo to expand their business and negotiated a partnership with the Shimizu Clan, a powerful local force that was hard to ignore for anyone looking to make a big deal out of Edo. They attempted to work together with the Shimizu Clan to run a liquor business and sell the Shangsui liquor from the Kinki region to Edo.

Then, Aoto ran into Ootsuki Minoru and his group at the fireworks festival, and later rescued them from Shimizu Gosaku who suddenly went mad.

They had just arrived in Edo when they encountered such a frightening thing, and the person who brought them such a terrible experience happened to be the person they wanted to do business with.

Although Shimizu Gosaku held no real power within the "Shimizu Clan"—to put it bluntly, he was merely a dog kept by the clan's leader, Shimizu Eiichi—his sexual harassment of Otsuki Minoru and his beatings of Otsuki Tsuneji and others were entirely his personal actions and had nothing to do with the "Shimizu Clan" as a whole, many people were still terrified by this unexpected disaster.

Many of Otsuki Tsuneji's friends started to back out: Why don't we go back to Nara instead?

That's how the disagreement arose.

Some wanted to return to Nara, while another group, led by Ōtsuki Tsunetsugu, insisted on staying in Edo.

Although Tsuneji Ootsuki has the glamorous identity of a "rich kid" that many people envy, and seems to live a carefree life, he also has his own troubles.

The glorious achievements of his ancestors and fathers weighed heavily on him, making it hard for him to breathe.

When others mention his eldest son, they only think of him as XXX's grandson or YYY's son.

Ambitious Tsuneji Otsuki disliked this.

He longed to achieve something as soon as possible to prove his abilities and thereby escape the shadow of his ancestors and father.

The liquor business with the Shimizu clan would be a great opportunity for him to prove his abilities.

So even though he was the one who got beaten the worst by Shimizu Gosaku, he was still determined not to go back until he achieved something.

After several heated arguments, in the end—Otsuki Tsuneji parted ways with those who wanted to go back.

Those who want to go back can go back.

Ōtsuki Tsuneji, along with those who shared his views, remained in Edo.

Otsuki was one of the people who was terrified.

Terrified by the events of that night, Ootsuki Minoru, who was practically half-dead from his soul, was arguably the one who most wanted to return to Nara.

However, Ōtsuki Tsunetsugu was determined to stay in Edo, and Ōtsuki Minoru, as his wife, had no choice but to stay in Edo with him.

The sake, known as "Kōsō-sui" and produced in the Kyoto region, was always in high demand and short supply during Edo.

Otsuki Tsuneji had a stable supply of high-quality, inexpensive Shimizu, so when Otsuki Tsuneji approached them with a "cooperative project," the Shimizu Clan showed some interest.

The Shimizu Clan dispatched a minor leader named Sanada Junyuki to be in charge of liaising with Otsuki Tsuneji and others.

The negotiations between the two parties went very smoothly, so smoothly that Otsuki Minoru breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the deal should be settled.

As a result... just half a month ago, a new unexpected event occurred.

Ootsuki Tsuneji was suddenly taken away by the "Shimizu Clan".

One morning about two weeks ago, a large group of Yakuza from the "Shimizu Clan" stormed into the inn where Otsuki Minoru and the others were staying and took Otsuki Tsuneji away without saying a word.

Although Otsuki Minoru cried out in distress, "What's going on?" and "Why did you take my husband away?", the Yakuza who came to arrest him completely ignored Otsuki Minoru and rudely told him to get out of the way and mind his own business.

In the days that followed, Otsuki Minoru and his friends went to great lengths to save Otsuki Tsuneji.

In their hometown of Nara, these wealthy young men might be considered prominent figures, but their methods were completely ineffective in the treacherous and complex world of Edo.

Yakuza groups of the "Shimizu clan" level have always been targets that the Magistrate's Office and "towns' self-governing organizations" have tried their best to avoid conflict with.

Qing Deng, who was once a member of the Northern Barbarian Bureau, has a deep understanding of this.

Unless a major case such as a murder occurs, both the magistrate's office and the "townspeople's self-governing organizations" will use the tactic of "delaying" in all cases involving the "Shimizu clan," until the case is dropped.

With no way to report to the authorities and no one to turn to for help, Otsuki Minoru and his group only discovered that Otsuki Tsuneji had been kidnapped by a high-ranking official named Kitahara Konosuke, and nothing else.

Just as everyone was in despair, Ootsuki suddenly remembered: there was such a person who appeared in time to save them when they were about to be beaten to death by Shimizu Gosaku; that person's power was so great that even Shimizu Eiichi had to use the highest level of honorifics and bow respectfully when he saw him.

That person... might be able to save Ōtsuki Tsuneji!

The above is the entire backstory of why Ootsuki Minoru suddenly came to find Aoto.

"..."

Qingdeng tapped the table surface rhythmically up and down with his right index finger, resting it on the table.

The knocking sound added an unusual, tense atmosphere to the otherwise quiet private room.

Having explained his purpose, Ōtsuki Minoru kept his back bowed and anxiously awaited Aoto's reply.

Qingdeng remained silent because she felt a strange pressure.

Fortunately, the suffocating silence did not last long.

"...Miss Otsuki, do you know why your husband was kidnapped by Kitahara Konosuke's men?"

Organizations like the "Qingshui Clan," with their strict rules and orderly structure, rarely arrest people arbitrarily.

"I have no idea……"

Without hesitation, Otsuki answered quickly.

"I've asked the 'Shimizu Clan' about this many times, but they just won't tell me why they kidnapped my husband..."

At this point, Ootsuki seemed to recall some painful past events, and her emotions, which had just calmed down, began to ripple again, her tone becoming choked up once more.

"..."

Qingdeng fell silent again.

He grabbed the now-cold tea and gulped it down in one go.

Then I prepared to get up and leave.

Otsuki Minoru's husband was captured by the Yakuza of the "Shimizu Clan"... What does that have to do with him?

Actually, if the "help" that Ōtsuki Minoru mentioned was just a small favor for Aoto, then Aoto wouldn't mind doing a favor.

But it was clear that rescuing Ootsuki Tsuneji, who was not related to him, from the "Shimizu Clan" was beyond the scope of "a simple favor" in Aoto's eyes.

Is there any point in doing something that only involves risk and no reward, but offers only a slight benefit to oneself?

Although Qing Deng remained seated firmly on the tatami mat, her womanly keen observation allowed Otsuki to immediately perceive Qing Deng's intentions.

A sense of panic and helplessness instantly took over Ootsuki Minoru's expression.

A resolute look of "I'm going all out" flashed in Ootsuki Minoru's eyes.

"Orange-kun".

Otsuki Minoru took a half-step to the right, moving to a position where his body would not be blocked by the table. He lowered his waist sharply, pressing his smooth forehead against the tatami mat, and placed his hands in front of his head with only three fingers touching the ground—this was the highest level of Japanese greeting: Dogeza.

While kneeling, Otsuki Minoru subtly pulled up the collar of her kimono, revealing more of the back of her neck.

From Qingdeng's perspective, one can see large expanses of dazzlingly white, soft neck and back skin.

"Tachibana-kun! Please! Help me! I have no one else I can ask for help from!"

After saying this, Ootsuki Minoru deliberately lowered his head as much as possible, as if he wished he could merge his forehead with the ground.

At the same time, she arched her back slightly so that Qingdeng could see the back of her neck more clearly.

Ootsuki still vividly remembered how infatuated the man in front of her had been with her.

Back then, Qingdeng was most fond of the back of her neck.

He would often sneak peeks at the back of her neck, thinking he hadn't been caught, and would repeatedly praise her neck to her face in a tender tone, saying how beautiful it was.

In fact, Otsuki Minoru has always been proud of her beautifully swan-like neck.

This is why she deliberately pulled her collar back when she bowed her head and knelt on the ground, in order to please him—to seduce Qingdeng!

At this moment, a tremendous sense of shame enveloped Ootsuki Minoru.