I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Her high ponytail, tied behind her head and reaching her waist, then swayed and flew around.

—No, no! Chiba Sanako, why are you thinking such nonsense again!

Sanako spoke with a detached, third-person tone, coldly and solemnly stating in her mind:

—Whether Ju Qingdeng took care to keep warm or not is none of your business.

—Discard these trivial thoughts and continue practicing your sword!

Sanako let out a long sigh, her expression and emotions returning to calm.

She picked up her bamboo sword again, preparing to return to the center of the dojo to continue practicing Sujin.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the dojo.

"Sanako! Sanako! Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"

Chiba Jutaro pushed open the dojo door, his face full of anxiety and panting heavily.

An unpleasant shadow suddenly appeared between Sanako's delicate brows.

She dislikes anyone interfering with her practice.

However, she knew in her heart that Chiba Jutaro must have come to her in a great hurry because something serious must have happened.

So she asked quickly:

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Chiba Jutaro swallowed hard to moisten his parched throat. A few beads of sweat were about to drip down his chin to the ground, but he didn't bother to wipe them away.

"Sanako! Tachibana, Tachibana-kun has been thrown into jail by the authorities!"

pat.

The bamboo sword fell to the ground.

Sanako's once steady and determined gaze instantly became empty and blank.

He seemed to be staring blankly at something in front of him, or perhaps he wasn't looking at anything at all; his expression was dazed.

It took quite a while before Sanako regained her composure as a female warrior.

"Brother! What happened?"

Sanako stepped over the bamboo sword at her feet and darted to Chiba Jutaro's side.

Why was Tachibana-kun arrested by the authorities?

……

Similar scenes appeared throughout Edo...

……

Edo, the Thousand Things Shop—

“嗯嗯哼哼~~”

Kinoshita Mai hummed a little tune she made up on the spot while grooming the big orange cat's fur.

Splash!

Suddenly, the shop door opened.

"Ah, Mr. Kiryu, welcome back! Huh? Mr. Kiryu, why do you look so serious? Have the prices of fruits and vegetables at the market gone up again?"

"...Young Master." Kiryu casually tossed the vegetable basket aside without batting an eye. "Listen to me calmly—"

……

Edo, a settlement for Westerners —

"What? Miss Leroy, is it all true? Master has been thrown into jail?"

Ignoring the cold floor, Elodie jumped up from the chair, her bare feet boldly stomping onto the ground.

Seeing this, Leroy hurriedly said:

"Miss! The floor is cold. You'll catch a cold if you stay like this. Please go back to your chair or put on your socks!"

"My body isn't so weak that I'll catch a cold just from walking barefoot! Forget about my feet, tell me quickly, what crime did Master commit? Why was he imprisoned?"

……

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Test Guard Hall——

"Hey! Harada-kun, explain yourself!"

In his haste, Souji instinctively grabbed Harada's collar and shook him violently.

Kondo, Hijikata, Saito, Nagakura... everyone in the Shieikan was gathered around Harada.

"Commander, calm down."

A large hand suddenly landed on the commander's right shoulder.

"How is Harada supposed to talk to you like this?"

“Mr. Hijikata…” Souji turned his head, glanced at Hijikata behind him, then bit his lower lip and released Harada.

"Harada." Hijikata stepped forward and stood directly in front of Harada. "Tell me everything you know."

“Well…” Harada looked troubled. “I don’t know much either… I just overheard a few words from passersby when I was out for a walk.”

“It’s alright,” Hijikata said. “Just tell me what you know.”

"Well... Mr. Tachibana is currently being held in the prison in Kodenma Town. If I remember correctly... the charge seems to be 'abuse of power and wrongful killing of soldiers within the unit'."

"Abuse of power? Wrongful killing of soldiers within the unit?" Hijikata pondered. "In other words, Tachibana was arrested by the authorities for taking someone's life... Harada, do you know the name of the person Tachibana killed?"

"Ah, I remember that person was in something called Yu..."

Harada crossed his arms and focused intently on his thoughts, his face flushed red.

"No...I don't think I can remember..."

Just as Harada was about to give up, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Saito's red haori out of the corner of his eye.

In an instant, his eyes widened.

"Ah! I remember now! It's Akabane! The person killed by Mr. Tachibana was named Akabane Koichiro!"

……

……

Home confinement, exile, and the death penalty were the main punishments in the judicial system of the Edo Shogunate. In principle, there was no "penalty" that stipulated "imprisonment for a certain number of years".

The prison in Kodenma-cho was the largest prison established by the shogunate.

After a brief interrogation at the magistrate's office, suspects deemed likely to commit crimes were immediately transferred to a prison for further interrogation and investigation.

In other words, a prison house is a detention center or holding facility for prisoners who have not yet been sentenced.

However, torture chambers were also set up in the prison quarters. Therefore, the interrogation and investigation process could be described as punitive.

The prison in Kodenma-cho is divided into East Prison and West Prison, which are further subdivided into several areas, with the prisoner's place of confinement determined by their status and gender.

The hatamoto samurai were imprisoned in the Ageyashiki.

The royal family members, monks, clergy, and doctors were confined in the Young House.

Other ordinary townspeople, farmers, ronin, etc., were imprisoned in the large prison, the two-room prison, and the commoners' prison in the east and west.

Women, regardless of their social status, were imprisoned in the Yangwu on the west side, hence the name "Women's Prison".

Although the prisoners were all unconvicted suspects, life in the prison was extremely difficult.

Due to poor sanitation, many people died in prison after falling ill.

For ordinary people, the prison in Kodenma-cho was a "living hell".

……

……

Edo, Kodenmacho, Ageyashiki—

"Did you have an affair with the proprietress of Kikuta-ya?! Confess now!"

"My lord! I'm innocent! I'm innocent! The landlady said her drain was clogged and asked me to come and unclog it. That day I stayed in the landlady's kitchen the whole time, I didn't go anywhere else, let alone the landlady's room! I really didn't do anything despicable!"

"Hmph! We found your loincloth in Kikuta-ya's room, the evidence is irrefutable! And you still dare to deny it! Guards, add another stone to his leg!"

"Wait, wait a minute! No! No! My legs are about to give out, please have mercy... Ahh ...

……

Screams, cries, shouts, pleas, curses... a symphony of these sounds continuously permeated the air of the prison.

Qingdeng wanted to close his eyes and rest, but it was too noisy outside.

Trying to calm down... that's definitely not going to work.

Left with no other choice, Qingdeng simply opened his eyes and got up.

As he lifted his eyelids, the unfamiliar ceiling came into Qingdeng's view.

"This tatami mat is quite comfortable to lie on..."

In a society like Edo, where class distinctions were highly rigid, a major characteristic was that "class distinctions were evident everywhere in life"—even imprisonment was no exception.

The highest-class prison, namely the Ageyafu, where Qingdeng is currently staying, is a place specifically for holding hatamoto samurai. It is incredibly luxurious!

Not only are there single rooms, but the environment is also clean and the air is fresh.

Tatami mats, bedding, chamber pots... all kinds of daily necessities are available.

In comparison, the lowest level of prison was the commoners' prison... When Qing Deng was still serving in the "Sanhui" branch of the magistrate's office, he had been to the commoners' prison a few times. To be honest, after going once, he never wanted to go a second time.

The air in the prison seemed to have solidified into a gel-like substance, damp, sticky, and smelly.

It's common for a cell to hold a dozen or so people, and it's not unusual to hold twenty or even thirty.

For the common people's prison, the shogunate adopted a management method of "using prisoners to govern prisoners".

Simply put, it involves choosing one person to be the "boss" in each cell.