To them, Onokoji Kōchi’s ideological change was a serious betrayal!

Therefore, people suspect that the murderer who assassinated Gongzhi Jixiaolu was a person with lofty ideals!

However...the subsequent investigation results exceeded everyone's expectations.

When the "Sanchai" samurai from the Kyoto Administrative Office were investigating the sword that Anekokoji Kōchi had snatched from the assassin, they found out that the sword was Tanaka Shinbei's sword.

Tanaka Shinbei—a master of swordsmanship in the Satsuma Domain and a current master of Nodachi.

It is said that he participated in many assassination missions, so he was known as "Jinzhan Shinbei", and he was as famous as Okada Izo of Tosa Domain, Kawakami Hikosai of Higo Domain, and Nakamura Hanjirō who also belonged to Satsuma Domain.

Now that it was confirmed that it was Tanaka Shinbei's sword, he naturally became the number one suspect.

As a result, he was immediately arrested and sent to the Kyoto Prison.

During the interrogation, Shinbei angrily denied committing the crime.

But when the interrogator showed him his sword, his expression suddenly changed.

Immediately afterwards, he took advantage of others' unpreparedness, immediately pulled out the ribs, committed seppuku and committed suicide on the spot.

After the murderer saw the ironclad evidence, he realized that he had no way to defend himself, so he committed suicide out of fear of guilt. Under normal circumstances, the case would have been over.

Unexpectedly, things took another twist.

Not long after Tanaka Shinbei committed suicide, someone came forward and said: On the night when Anekokoji Kouchi was killed, Tanaka Shinbei had a sufficient alibi.

That night, he was drinking alcohol somewhere to soothe his sorrows - because his saber was stolen.

It was undoubtedly a great shame and humiliation for a samurai to have his ever-present sword stolen.

He failed to protect the sword well, and the sword was used by others... He felt that he had no shame in living, so he committed suicide.

What's more, the Satsuma clan, which had been riding a wall, had no reason to kill Anekokoji Kōchi.

What is the truth? With Tanaka Shinbei's suicide, it is no longer known.

Unless some new witnesses or evidence emerge, the real culprit who killed Onekokoji will never be found.

Some conspiracy theorists say that the murderer was from Choshu and that he stole Tanaka Shinbei's sword to frame Satsuma.

However, this argument is obviously untenable.

What reason did Changshu have to offend Satsuma?

If Changshu wants to cause trouble, it should be to trouble the shogunate.

What is the benefit to them from attacking Satsuma?

In any case, the murder of Anekōji Kochi and the huge suspicion of Tanaka Shinbei led to a serious consequence - the Satsuma Domain became the target of public criticism.

This is not a warrior, a civilian, or a cat or a dog on the roadside being killed, but a serious minister being assassinated!

This is of a serious nature.

Although all the ministers in the imperial court are a bunch of wimps who only know how to sing the wind and the moon, they are nobles after all.

In this way, the Satsuma clan was reputed as "the murderer of ministers".

In order to give an explanation to his ministers, Emperor Tohito even removed the Satsuma Domain from the responsibility of guarding the palace gates. The Satsuma Domain's influence in Kyoto was greatly reduced.

The three-legged alliance has already begun to waver significantly.

Choshu was busy fighting off the barbarians, Satsuma was burdened by the sudden murder of Anekokoji Kōchi, and the shogunate... Aoshito and others were also busy.

After the incident of repelling the foreigners was temporarily over, the shogunate was finally free to deal with the nine British warships docked in Edo Bay.

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Chapter completed!