I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Yes, yes! Shimizu Eiichi's actions are exactly what Mr. Hijikata told me about before... uh... what was it again? Ah! Right! A calculated scheme! Tachibana-kun, please don't fall for it!"

Eiichi Shimizu's actions were indeed an open and difficult scheme to resist—anyone could see his intentions, but no matter how Aoto responded, he could not escape the severe consequences.

"Wow, Okita-kun, you actually know what 'open strategy' is."

"Hey! What's with that look of 'a father seeing his daughter finally learn to cook' on your face?!"

Ignoring the ruffling Souji, Qing Deng turned his gaze back to Sanako's pretty face.

In an attempt to lighten the somewhat somber atmosphere, he deliberately spoke in a joking tone.

“Miss Sanako, I thought someone as traditional as you would encourage me to fight bravely and defend the honor of a samurai to the death.”

A warrior can be killed, but not humiliated... This is a very important underlying principle of Bushido.

Even knowing they are outmatched, they still fight desperately to defend their personal honor—anyone who can do this will not be considered a fool by the world, but rather revered as a hero.

Sanako received traditional samurai education from a young age.

In other words, the concepts of "honor above all else" and "better to die a glorious death than live a shameful life" should be deeply ingrained in their minds.

Qing Deng believes that even if Sanako doesn't encourage him to fight the Shimizu clan, she probably wouldn't urge him to run away.

But to everyone's surprise, no sooner had Qing Deng finished speaking than Sanako quickly raised her voice and said:

"Defending honor and dying in vain are two different things!"

The elegant Sanako rarely speaks in such a loud voice.

Her sudden high-pitched voice startled both Aoto and Souji.

Sanako realized that she had just lost her composure and was momentarily stunned.

Immediately afterwards, she bit her lip, adopting a "go all out" attitude, and continued speaking in that unusually high voice:

"The garrison inside the Qingshui Mansion numbers at least several hundred men, including martial arts masters like 'Blood Tiger' and 'Dual Gunner,' and there's also a ready-made fortress to rely on... With such a force, even if Brother Rong himself came, he might not be able to get through!"

The "Brother Rong" that Sanako mentioned was naturally referring to "Edo's strongest swordsman"—Chiba Eijiro.

"Of course I don't want you, Tachibana-kun, to suffer a terrible reputation for avoiding battle."

"But...but..."

Sanako stammered, as if she was thinking about what to say next.

Sanako has always presented herself as a perfect figure, exuding elegance and grace when wearing a women's kimono.

However, at this moment, she showed a completely different side of herself than before.

A subtle change slowly occurred in the expression on her pretty face.

Her facial features gradually relaxed, her eyes and eyebrows drooped slightly, and her alluring red lips were slightly pursed.

She looked very... frail.

This was the first time Aoto had seen Sanako show such a girlish side.

"I don't want you to go and die..."

Sanako stared directly into Aoto's eyes.

She gripped Qingdeng's wrist tightly, as if she would never let go.

There's no room for jokes... She's very serious.

There was a strong determination hidden deep in her eyes.

Under such gazes, Qingdeng was speechless for a moment.

Even though Sanako had only grabbed his right wrist and looked him straight in the eye, he had a strange feeling that all his escape routes were blocked...

"……I see."

Then, Qing Deng sighed silently, a faint, helpless smile creeping onto his face.

“I’m not stupid. Of course I know that ‘defending honor’ and ‘dying in vain’ are two different things.”

"Ultimately, my real goal right now is to completely destroy the Illusionary Deposition, not to fight the Clear Water Clan to the death."

"Therefore, I know what I'm doing."

"I won't do anything foolish unless absolutely necessary."

Upon hearing what Aoto said, both Sanako and Souji showed expressions of relief.

Especially Sanako, as Qing Deng finished speaking, her originally tightly pursed lips slightly curled up.

However, at this moment, a child's voice unexpectedly entered their conversation.

"Mom, look! Those two are being all lovey-dovey in public!"

Not far away, a little girl, about 8 or 9 years old, pointed at Aoto and Sanako while smiling and talking to the woman next to her.

The woman had only casually glanced over, but her expression changed drastically when she saw the two swords, one long and one short, at Qing Deng's waist.

Due to various considerations at the national level, the Edo Shogunate granted samurai the privilege of "killing rude commoners." However, to prevent samurai from indiscriminately killing and fighting, the Shogunate set extremely strict conditions for its use, so that samurai were very cautious in using this right. Even if they were really humiliated by commoners, they would mostly choose to endure it.

However, tragic cases of "a samurai knowingly killing a civilian despite knowing he would be severely punished afterward" still occur from time to time.

There was once a commoner who acted foolishly, thinking he was clever enough to assume the other party wouldn't dare draw his sword, and proceeded to humiliate a certain samurai.

The samurai, enraged, wrote his will and arranged all his affairs. Then, he drew his sword and broke into the commoner's house at night, sending the commoner to meet Amaterasu.

With so many precedents to follow, any ordinary person with a sound mind would try to avoid conflict with a samurai.

The woman immediately grabbed the little girl's hand, scolded her for "not talking," and hurriedly pulled the little girl away from the spot.

As she left, the woman muttered something softly.

Although her voice was very soft, it was still heard by Qing Deng and the others who had excellent hearing.

"How shameless! Even if you can't resist, at least wait until you reach Shinobazu Pond in Ueno before doing this kind of thing..."

Ueno Shinobazu Pond – a famous dating spot in Edo.

When it comes to dating spots frequently used by young couples, they are usually places that are not easily noticed, such as the back of the main hall of a temple or rice warehouses along the riverbank.

Couples who were closer to each other chose to visit teahouses scattered throughout Edo, similar to love hotels today.

The area with the highest concentration of dating teahouses is the area around Shinobazu Pond in Ueno, especially around the embankment on the south side of Shinobazu Pond, which was built in the mid-8th century during the Enkyō period.

Since the name contains the word "pond," it is self-evident that Ueno Shinobazu Pond is a huge pond.

Every summer, lotus flowers bloom all over the lake, which is very beautiful.

Many young men and women often use the excuse of admiring lotus flowers to meet and express their love in the teahouses by Shinobazu Pond in Ueno.

Young men and women holding hands on a busy street, with the woman taking the initiative to hold the man's hand—this behavior is indeed very bold in the eyes of the public in this era.

In fact, since earlier, passersby had been casting strange glances at Qing Deng and Sanako.

It's just that Aoto and Souji were both distracted by Sanako, and Sanako herself was busy persuading Aoto and had no time to pay attention to anything else, so the three of them didn't notice the gazes of passersby for a long time.

Thankfully, Sanako was also wearing a straw hat to cover her face, just like Aoto. Otherwise, seeing this mysterious man in a straw hat being intimate with such a beautiful woman... the male passersby around them would probably have wanted to shoot Aoto with envious eyes.

Japan today still maintains a very conservative social atmosphere.

After all, it was only the 19th century. Not to mention Japan, the social atmosphere in Western countries at that time was not much better.

Although Qing Deng has a 19th-century body, the thoughts in his mind come from the 21st century, and therefore he is not influenced by the ethical views of the current era.

What's more, he was the one who got the hand-holding, the one who benefited.

In this way, he would be even less likely to feel shy.

However... while Qingdeng could laugh off the little girl's unintentional joke, it didn't mean that others could be as "magnanimous" as him.

It's obvious that Sanako, who was raised to be a model of a Yamato Nadeshiko, didn't have the same open-minded ideas or the same thick skin as Aoto...

The moment she realized the little girl was talking about her and Aoto, Sanako's delicate body stiffened abruptly.

Then, she mechanically turned her incredibly stiff neck, staring blankly at the mother and daughter who were walking further and further away.

In the blink of an eye, she jerked her wrist away from Qingdeng's—with tremendous force! Qingdeng almost thought his right arm had been flung off!

"I'm sorry, I was being presumptuous."

While apologizing to Aoto, Sanako gracefully raised her hands and tidied the hair on her forehead.

"I was a little emotional just now and accidentally did something very indecent. Please forgive me."

A very indecent gesture—this naturally refers to her taking Qingdeng's wrist without permission.

Sanako spoke in a stiff, distant manner, using very formal and aloof language.

However, this is not something someone whose face is already flushed... no, pink should say.

Despite her efforts to control herself, a beautiful blush of cherry blossoms still covered Sanako's entire face.

Unfortunately, because of the straw hat, Qing Deng was unable to witness this beautiful scene.

The last time Aoto saw Sanako blush was at the fireworks festival six months ago.

Reserved and dignified—these are the basic qualities that a Yamato Nadeshiko (ideal Japanese woman) should possess.

Looking back at my own behavior just now, it completely contradicted these two concepts.

Which Yamato Nadeshiko would be seen arguing and pulling at men in the street?

Thinking of this, Sanako felt more blood rush to her head, and her face instantly turned even pinker.

Caught between Aoto and Sanako, Souji raised his head, looked at Aoto, and then at Sanako.

She, who is usually so poised and confident, was unusually reserved at this moment.

The commander's shoulders tightened slightly, and his hands, clasped together in front of his chest, were tightly gripped.

Qing Deng wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to tease Sanako—opportunities to tease Sanako are few and far between.

However, after considering that Sanako was particularly sensitive, he ultimately gave up on the idea of ​​playing a prank.

"Let's go back to the hotel. I'm a little tired and want to take a nap."

Qing Deng spoke first, breaking the subtle atmosphere that had been hanging over the three of them.

After saying this, he moved his feet on his own and went straight ahead.

Seeing that Qing Deng had taken the initiative to come to her rescue, Sanako immediately felt "saved".