A very slight sound, the sound of fingertips gently brushing against lips.

"..."

Tianzhangyuan suddenly opened his eyes wide, his eyes swaying like ripples on the surface of a lake.

Looking into Qingdeng's eyes, he seemed to be seeing an unbelievable sight.

The next moment, Qingdeng came back to his senses and slowly realized what a bold move he had just made.

He immediately retracted his hand and explained quickly:

"Ah, I'm sorry, because I saw that your lips were dirty, so I couldn't help but... hmm? Your Highness?"

"..."

Tianzhangyuan still opened his eyes wide, without even blinking, staring straight into the void in front of him, like a downed robot.

"Your Highness?"

Qingdeng held out his left palm and waved it in front of Tianzhangyuan's eyes.

Suddenly, she screamed like a cat whose tail was stepped on, and almost jumped up.

"Wow! I, I'm here! What's wrong?"

"Your Highness, what's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly become stunned just now?"

"What, there's nothing! It's just... just... I just suddenly remembered something, so I was stunned for a while!"

After saying that, Tianzhangyuan sat up straight again, straightened his face, and tightened all the lines on his face, looking serious.

Seeing this, Qingdeng couldn't help but change into a joking tone and joked:

"Your Highness, weren't you shy just now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tianzhang Academy suddenly became furious.

"How is that possible! Who do you think I am? I am 6 years older than you! I am not a little girl who is ignorant of the world. How could I be so embarrassed just because a child touched my lips?

Stay!"

Qingdeng was just joking. Seeing that he had achieved the effect, he immediately stopped teasing Tianzhangyuan. As he became more and more familiar with Tianzhangyuan, he realized more and more that this man liked to tease people.

The succubus is surprisingly interesting.

To be honest, Qingdeng himself didn't quite believe the joke he just casually told.

An old aunt who is about to enter her third trimester is so embarrassed that her brain is shutting down just because her lips were touched by a man?

Is this kind of thing possible?

Given Tianzhangyuan's heroic character, she would naturally not be angry with Qingdeng over such a trivial matter.

After angrily saying, "I won't do this next time! Don't touch my body without even saying hello like you did just now," this little episode ended.

Qingden picked up the lunch box and stood up.

"Then, Your Highness, I will take my leave first."

"Ah, Sheng Qing, wait a moment!"

"Your Highness, is there anything else?"

"If I remember correctly, in three days it will be a great event for your trial defense hall, right?"

"Well, yes."

"Send hello to your fourth generation head for me."

"Okay, I will."

"Ah! There's more!"

"Um?"

"Well... today... thank you. Thanks to you, I feel much better now."

"..."

Qingdeng did not immediately respond to Tianzhangyuan's gratitude.

After staring straight at the other person for a while, the corners of his mouth extended to the left and right respectively.

"Your Highness, why do you turn your head to the side? Is it because you feel ashamed to say 'thank you' while looking at the person you want to thank?"

"No Road Race!"

…

Click.

Qingdeng closed the door and made a soft "click" sound.

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap...

Qingdeng's footsteps gradually faded away.

Tianzhangyuan continued to maintain a straight posture with a solemn expression, as if Qingdeng was still standing in front of him.

The very next moment the sound of Qingden’s footsteps completely disappeared——

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa...!"

Tianzhangyuan lay face down on the ground, covering his face with his hands, his eyes blurred, and his fair and tender cheeks turned red rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"I was, was touched...my lips...were touched by a man..."

The hands covering the face slowly moved down, and the fingertips gently touched the red lips.

Even though Qingdeng had left, and even though it was several minutes ago that Qingdeng touched his mouth, Tianzhangyuan still remembered that weird itchy feeling on his lips, as if an electric current was flowing through him.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu——!"

Tianzhangyuan once again covered her face with her hands. She tried her best to open her palms, but she still couldn't block the increasingly bright red glow.

At this time, Tianzhangyuan seemed to have thought of something, and he paused.

Suddenly, she murmured to herself in a tone of three parts curiosity, three parts annoyance, four parts suspicion, and ninety-seven parts shame:

"He probably wouldn't put the finger that wiped my mouth into his mouth and taste it...?"

…

…

On the other side——

Qingdeng took out the handkerchief from his arms, wiped the fingers he had just used to wipe Tianzhangyuan's mouth, and silently stuffed the handkerchief back into his arms.

His face was expressionless the whole time, and he didn't even move his eyebrows.

He treats the women he loves eagerly; he treats ordinary women politely - even though he just made the rude move of "touching your lips" to Tianzhangyuan, this does not hinder Qingden at all.

Continue to think of yourself as a "gentleman".

…

…

Three days later, in the morning——

In the second year of Wenjiu (1862), December 5——

Edo, suburbs, somewhere——

Kondo Isamu wore a set of shiny family armor and sat upright on a horse with a golden sword.

Kondo Shusuke sat behind him with a smile.

"Oh! Asheng! You are the pride of our Tama!"

"Katsu! From today on, you are the fourth generation head of the Tenurishin-ryu clan! You must work hard!"

"We must carry forward the natural spirit flow!"

…

A large number of dark-skinned men wearing rough clothing gathered around Kondo Isamu, chattering in Tama dialect that was difficult for others to understand, and poured out complimentary words to Kondo Isamu without hesitation.

Kondo Isamu's original name was Shimazaki Shota. It was not until he was adopted by Kondo Shusuke that he changed his name to the current "Kondo Isamu".

However, even though his name has been changed, his blind daters in his hometown and his close friend Hijikata Toshizo still habitually call him "Akatsu".

Just in the early autumn of this year, Kondo Shusuke finally made up his mind to pass on the position of the fourth generation head of the Shiweikan and the Tenurishin-ryu clan to Kondo Isamu! From now on, he will step back behind the scenes and be a leisurely idle wild crane.

.

The passing ceremony is scheduled for December 5.

From a peasant, he counterattacked and became the leader of a certain swordsmanship school... From the perspective of this era, Kondo Isamu has indeed achieved extraordinary achievements.

Passing the throne - this is the most important matter in the world of literature and art, martial arts, politics, and business, and the most important thing that cannot be dealt with casually.

Regarding how to successfully hold the ceremony for Kondo Isamu's succession, everyone in the Imperial Guard Hall brainstormed and planned for a long time.
To be continued...