I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Nowadays, most locks on the market are useless to Qingdeng; he can pry them all open with just a little time.

—Give me the right tools, and I can break out of prison right now.

The moment this thought crossed Qingdeng's mind, he was amused by it.

Breaking out of prison... that would be the most foolish thing to do for Qingdeng right now.

Once he forcibly steps out of the prison gates, Qing Deng will instantly transform from a "justified victim" into an "unreasonable madman."

His wisest choice now is to stay in the jail in Kodenma Town and wait for his friends outside to rescue him.

Although it might sound a bit boastful, Qing Deng believes he has a pretty good reputation.

He enjoys making friends, and because of his personality, he can get along with anyone.

He can chat with playboys like Hijikata Toshizo, and also enjoy drinks with cool and aloof guys like Saito Hajime.

The Chiba family, the scholars at the Banshu Research Institute led by Katsura Rintaro... Qing Deng had so many friends in his circle who could provide him with strong support.

Not to mention that Qingdeng also holds two trump cards:

A business conglomerate of unknown strength: Kiryu, the owner of the Gourd House, and Kinoshita Mai.

The current head of the Edo Shogunate and his mother: Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin.

Qingdeng knows very little about the Gourd House, so he will not comment on it for the time being.

However, one thing is certain: Kiryu and Kinoshita Mai will definitely not stand idly by and watch him fall into a deep straitened situation.

As for the latter... to be honest, Qing Deng couldn't guarantee that Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin would definitely come to his rescue.

Although he had just recently traveled incognito with the mother and son in Edo, which brought them closer, at the core, the relationship between Aoto and these two important figures was still that of ruler and subject.

We cannot use common sense to guess the thoughts of feudal rulers.

The group that attacked Qingdeng and imprisoned him was the "Direct Advisory Alliance" led by the Akabane family.

The samurai who served as direct advisors were the foundation of the Edo shogunate's rule. Although many of them had become corrupt and degenerate, the Edo shogunate truly could not do without them.

Under the relentless attacks of the Hitotsubashi faction, Tenshōin, who is now semi-retired and has more freedom of action, is not worth mentioning for the time being. Tokugawa Iemochi, who must always stand in the forefront, will inevitably have to be hesitant to act if he wants to deal with the "direct advisors alliance" that opposes Aōdō.

What's more, there were also the mad dogs of the Hitotsubashi faction closely watching Tokugawa Iemochi's every move.

If Tokugawa Iemochi did anything that would give others cause for criticism, he would be met with verbal attacks from the Hitotsubashi faction.

Given these numerous concerns, it remains to be seen whether Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin can actually provide Aoto with substantial support.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Qing Deng is not worried about his current situation.

He was absolutely confident that he could get out of prison smoothly... or rather, that his outside partners could help him get out of prison.

This is the source of his composure even while imprisoned.

—After I get out of prison, what should I do to deal with the Akabane family...?

While Qing Deng was deep in thought, his hands continued to fidget with the copper lock on the prison door.

The Akabane family's revenge was far more ruthless than Aoto had imagined. They actually used such a flimsy pretext to frame him...

This approach is tantamount to issuing a direct challenge to Qingdeng, a challenge that will last until the very end.

The little trouble the Akabane family has stirred up could hardly frighten Aoto.

Even when targeted by the Exile Group, which dared to openly kill people in the street and even did absurd things like burning down Edo and trafficking people, Aoto never backed down.

However, the Akabane family and the Hatamoto and Mikado family members they recruited to help and support them are ultimately a privileged group that controls a large amount of social resources.

Therefore, one must act with caution when fighting against them.

As early as this morning, when he learned that he had been arrested and that the Akabane family was the mastermind behind it, Aoto had already begun to think about how to launch a powerful counterattack against them!

Qingdeng silently pondered the serious political struggle.

Just then, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an orange light appearing at the edge of his right-hand field of vision.

Turning my head, I saw a prison guard patrolling around.

The orange light that Qingdeng saw came from the lantern in the jailer's hand.

"Ah, Lord Tachibana, you're still awake?"

When the jailer saw Qingdeng, he immediately put on a big smile and greeted him warmly, using only respectful and polite language.

The horrors of the prison guards in Kodenma-cho Prison House are only shown to the helpless commoners and ronin living in low-end cells such as the two-room prison and the commoners' prison.

They didn't dare to even breathe loudly in front of the hatamoto samurai living in the Age House.

Prisons are among the places where human relationships are most important.

The prison in Kodenma-cho is essentially a large detention center, housing suspects who have not yet been convicted.

In other words, all detainees in the prison may be released without charge in the future.

It's one thing for them to bully ordinary people. Even if they suffer great injustice and pain, what can ordinary people do against the prison guards? They can only swallow their bruised teeth.

How dare you disrespect the Hatamoto samurai?

So, what awaits you in the future is very likely a terrible retaliation...

Therefore, Qing Deng's first impression after being sent to the prison was: the sun was shining brightly and the flowers were smiling at me.

Every prison guard he encountered treated him with great courtesy.

"Mr. Orange" is long, "Mr. Orange" is short.

The first sentence is "Mr. Tachibana, have you eaten?", and the second sentence is "Lord Tachibana, are you comfortable sleeping on the tatami here?".

If it weren't for the fact that he was in a cell and the guards were outside, Qing Deng would have really thought he wasn't there to be imprisoned, but rather that he was there as a high-ranking official on an inspection tour.

"One cannot hit a smiling face," Qingdeng returned a faint smile to the jailer outside the door.

"Well, I'm not sleepy yet, so I'll get up and sit for a while."

Because he still had patrol duties to perform, the jailer exchanged a few perfunctory words with Qingdeng before picking up his lantern and leaving.

Just as the jailer's figure was about to disappear from Qingdeng's sight, Qingdeng suddenly noticed the purple belt around his abdomen.

—Ms. Okita…

Seeing an object evokes memories.

Purple is Souji's favorite color. She usually only uses a purple ribbon to tie her hair, and her daily outfits are mostly purple.

Thinking of Souji inevitably brings to mind everyone at Shieikan, and then all my relatives and friends.

—I wonder how everyone is doing now… After learning that I was imprisoned, they probably weren’t terrified, but they were likely at a loss for what to do…

Qing Deng let out a long sigh of relief.

—Miss Okita, Mai, and Elodie must be very worried about me right now. I feel so bad for them… Will Miss Sanako worry about me? Heh, Miss Sanako's thoughts are so hard to fathom…

A smile gradually spread across Qingdeng's cheeks.

Whenever he thinks of Souji, Kinoshita Mai, and Sanako's faces, Aoto can't help but smile peacefully.

For Aoto, the faces of Souji and the others possessed this peculiar magic.

Qingdeng cherished this indescribable tenderness all to himself.

However, at this moment... Qing Deng once again glimpsed a warm orange light at the end of his right field of vision.

Qingdeng's brows immediately furrowed.

—What's going on? Didn't a jailer just come on night patrol? Do the jailers at Kodenmacho Jail keep patrolling that frequently?

With questions swirling in his mind, Qingdeng squeezed half of his head through the gap between the prison bars and then turned his head with difficulty to look to the right.

Instantly, a sense of abruptness welled up in Qingdeng's heart.

no the same……

It's a little different!

The newly appearing orange light was more vibrant, more intense, and more imbued with a sense of... danger than the lantern light they had just witnessed.

Suddenly, a nauseating, acrid smell, just like burning firewood, began to seep into Qingdeng's nostrils.

—Could it be?!

A chill ran through Qingdeng's heart, and a piercing coldness shot up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

As if to confirm Qingdeng's bad guess, the orange light that appeared on the far right of Qingdeng's cell turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The shifting red light stretched across Qingdeng's right-hand field of vision, extending from one end to the other...

……

……

At this moment, if someone could look down on Edo, they would see red dots, like new shoots, suddenly emerging in the pitch-black night.

In the blink of an eye, the red dot transformed into a thick pillar of flame.

The fiercely burning pillar of flame spewed out menacing tongues of fire in all directions.

The flames resembled a bottomless, insatiable maw, devouring the surrounding houses and streets.

The night was engulfed in the fiery demon's venomous claws.

The night in Edo was lit up—in a way that no one wanted to see.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The urgent sound of bells reminding the townspeople to take refuge as soon as possible echoed throughout Edo.

"Fire! Fire!"

Where did the fire start?

"It looks like Kodenma Town!"

"Damn it! Why did it have to start tonight? It's windy tonight! The fire could have spread so easily!"

"Forget everything else! Let's pack our valuables and get out of here! The fire's spreading so fast!"

"Has the town's fire extinguishers been dispatched?"

"They've been mobilized for a while now! All the town firefighters in Edo are rushing to Kodenma Town!"