"When I learned what rewards you had received from Mr. Bojing today, I was shocked for a long time."

"It's a coincidence that I also directly asked Lord Boi if he knew why your promotion speed was so exaggerated."

"But unfortunately, Mr. Boi doesn't know the inside story."

"But I guess... this may be the handiwork of Lord Dashu."

"Master Dashu?" Qingdeng raised his eyebrows.

"'Duke Dashu asks you to go to the city on August 28th'."

Arima repeated what he had just said.

The so-called "climbing the castle" is the general name for entering Edo Castle where the shogun lives.

Because his status was too low, Ayoto had never entered Edo Castle, which had a status similar to the Forbidden City in Tang Dynasty.

"I personally think this is a very positive signal."

"This means that Dashu Gong is most likely interested in you who have performed extraordinary feats, and wants to see you in person."

"If Mr. Dashu really recruited you to Edo Castle for this reason, then it would make sense why you were promoted so abruptly."

"You rose to great heights because you were highly appreciated by those above you... There is a ready-made precedent within the shogunate."

"Who?" Qingdeng asked subconsciously.

Arima smiled calmly:

"Katsu-sama, who was rescued by Tachibana-kun before. He was just a junior Hatamoto, and now he is about to be promoted to a new warship leader."

Warship Officer: A new official position established by the Edo shogunate after the founding of the country due to the power of the great powers. It is responsible for purchasing, building warships and practicing warship technology. Its main responsibility is to strengthen the navy.

The "Katsu-sama" mentioned by Arima is none other than "Katsu Rintaro, the gunnery professor of the Toshu Tiao Institute and the Kōbu Institute of Artillery" that Seito saved during the "Battle of the Toshu Tiao Institute" a few months ago.

.

Katsurintaro, who was born as a junior Hatamoto, rose to prominence because he was deeply appreciated by his former senior officer Abe Masahiro.

Tokugawa Iemoji, who inherited the position of shogun two years ago, also admired Katsurintaro very much and has been cultivating him vigorously.

In terms of the speed of promotion of official positions, compared with Katsurintaro, Ayoto is really dwarfed.

Confirmed news has been received: Rintaro Katsu has been promoted to the new warship chief and will be fully responsible for the construction of the shogunate navy.

Qingteng, who was very benevolent to both Shenglintaro and Fanshudiao, had been keeping in touch with Shenglintaro in the past few months. Qingteng also visited Fanshudiao Institute several times in his spare time.

Although Katsurin Taro is a genius with extremely proud talents and resume, his personality is quite approachable. He is a gentle and humorous old man. Aoto gets along quite well with him and has a good relationship with him.

Thinking of this, Qingdeng suddenly realized: Unknowingly, his current connections seemed to have become a bit big...

Even the future warships became his friends. He also had a close relationship with the scholars at the Tibetan Studies Institute who were deeply versed in Western knowledge.

"all in all--"

Arima followed what he just said and continued:

"What is the specific reason? Even if we think about it dryly, we can't think of a reason."

"let it go."

"Remember to take your clothes out in the sun these days. If they get dirty, wash them in time."

"We can't behave badly in front of the emperor when we board the city on the 28th."

Speaking of this, Arima seemed to have thought of something, paused for a moment, and then smiled.

"If you're lucky... you might even be able to see His Highness Tianzhangyuan on the 28th."

Her Highness Tenjoin...a woman known to everyone in Edo and the dream lover of countless Edo men.

As we all know: As the mother of the current shogun Tokugawa Iemo Yori, Tenzouin is a die-hard supporter of Tokugawa Iemo, and the mother and son often "appear together".

When I went to see Tokugawa Iemo on the 28th... it was really possible to see the famous Tenjoin.

"Lord Arima." Qingteng asked out of curiosity, "Have you ever met His Highness Tianzhangyuan?"

Arima's status was just right to reach the threshold of the city. On the 1st, 15th and 25th of every month, as well as during holidays, Arima had to dress up and enter Edo with other officials.

City, say hello to the shogun, and celebrate the festival with the shogun.

"No." Arima shook his head, "His Royal Highness Tianzhangyuan rarely attends public events. And when I go to the city, I can only accompany him at the last table. The seat is so far away that even Dashu Gong's face cannot be seen clearly. I have never had the opportunity to see His Highness Tianzhangyuan.

of beauty."

"Sir Arima, hearing your tone...do you really want to meet His Highness Tianzhangyuan?" Qingto asked in a half-joking tone.

"I'm just curious about His Highness Tenzouin's appearance." Arima said calmly, "I've heard that His Highness Tenzouin has an appearance that is as good as a fish or a wild goose. It is said that the only person in Edo who can rival His Highness Tenzouin in terms of beauty is Xiao Chiba.

Chiba Sanako from the Sword Hall."

——Can you actually compete with Sanako-san in terms of beauty?

Upon hearing this, Qingdeng, who had previously been indifferent to Tianzhang Yuan, couldn't help but become a little curious about this widow who was said to be a virgin.

Arima, who noticed the change in Qingto's expression at this moment, chuckled "hehehe" a few more times.

"What? Mr. Tachibana, are you like those guys who always want to soothe the lonely hearts of young widows, have you developed a strong interest in His Highness Tianzhangyuan and have strange thoughts?"

"No," Qingdeng said angrily, "I just suddenly became curious about His Highness Tianzhangyuan's appearance."

Qingdeng paused for a moment, then continued in a joking tone:

"I'm not as boring as those people, always thinking about things that are impossible to happen."

"I, who have just been promoted to the rank of Hatamoto Samurai, can relieve the loneliness of His Majesty Tenzōin—is this possible?"

…

…

After the game against Xuanwukan, "peace" once again dominated Qingdeng's life.

If anything worth mentioning happened in the past few days... it should be that after a short and intense discussion, Qingdeng's schedule for August 25th was fully booked - the day of the 25th

, Aoto is going to the fireworks display with Souji, Kondo, Hijikata, Inoue, Saito, Nagakura, Harada, and Toudo to watch the fireworks.

At Souji, Nagakura sobered up and learned of Harada's plan to "watch the fireworks together". Souji, who is naturally playful, shouted "I'm going! I'm going!", although Nagakura was right.

I'm not that enthusiastic about this kind of activity, but I don't hate it either. I said, "If everyone goes, then I'll join in the fun."

When everyone was discussing this activity, Toudou Heisuke happened to come to visit, so Aitobo and the others took advantage of the situation and invited Toudou, who currently has a good relationship with the Kaiwei Hall.

Todo is also the kind of person who loves to have fun.

Faced with Qingdeng's invitation, he nodded almost without thinking.

Originally, Shusuke and his wife, Okita Hikaru and his wife, and Aoden's old servant Jiubei were all invited, but they all declined politely.

Shusuke and his wife, Jiubei said that they were old and could not afford such a joyous celebration.

Hikaru Okita has a completely opposite personality to Souji.

The General Secretary likes to be lively, and those bustling places and noisy activities are the General Secretary's favorite.

But Okita Hikari likes to be quiet. The more people are happy and the horses are barking, the more she wants to stay away. Secluded ancient temples, deep winding paths...these are the places where Okita Hikari is favored.

In short - on the 25th, these young people who live in the Imperial Guard Hall, plus Hijikata and Toudou, are going to go to the fireworks display together to have a good time.

After finalizing the details of the itinerary with the Director-General and others, Qingto realized belatedly that he seemed a little busy during this year's fireworks display, which officially started on August 23...

On the 23rd, I have a date with Mai Kinoshita. On the 24th, I will hold a swordsmanship performance with Sanako and Chiba Jutaro on the street at the conference site. On the 25th, I will watch the fireworks again with Souji and others...

This fireworks display will only be held for 3 days in total. During these 3 days, Qingdeng and he will carry out different activities with different people every day...

Although he was very busy, Qingden didn't hate this feeling.

time flies.

Unknowingly, time has quietly arrived on August 23rd...

…

…

In the first year of Wanyan (1860), on August 23, in the morning——

Edo, settlement, Angoulême house——

"Master! Master! Listen to me!"

Today is the day when Qingden comes to the residence to teach Elodie swordsmanship.

He entered Angoulême's house with ease and said hello to Elodie and the maid Leroy. Then Elodie suddenly shouted to Qingden in an excited tone.

"I have something great to tell you!"

Looking at Elodie who was so happy that she seemed to jump up, Qingden said curiously:

"Good thing? What good thing?"

"Grandpa, he agreed to take me to the fireworks display to watch the fireworks!"

"oh?"
To be continued...