Akabane's family, inside the mansion——瓓

"Damn it! Damn it! How could such a thing happen!"

The current head of the Akabane family: Akabane Sotaro took a big gulp of wine and said angrily.

Opposite him, Suzumura Kentaro, his retainer whom he deeply relied on: a very strong and sturdy man with arms as thick as elephant legs and palms covered with calluses, consoled him:

"Master Zong, you have already drank too much tonight, please stop drinking."

Akabane Sotaro turned a deaf ear to Suzumura Kentaro's advice.

"Damn...how could such a thing happen...how could such a thing happen!"

While he refilled the glass in his hand with wine, he blew his beard and muttered with eyes wide open.

If you want to use precise words to summarize Akabane Sotaro's recent mood——

Successfully attracted many Hatamoto and Yu family members who were willing to support their Akabane family... Sent the damn Tachibana Aoden to prison... Two happy things overlapped, and these two happiness brought me more

So much happiness, what I got, should have been a happy time like a dream... But why did it become like this?

His beloved son Akabane Koichiro was killed by Aoto - after suffering such humiliation and encountering such hatred, Akabane Sotaro could not let go.

If he doesn't avenge his beloved son, and if he doesn't vent all the evil in his chest, he swears he won't be a human being!

Of course, after living in the human world for more than forty years, and having been ups and downs in the big dye vat of the shogunate officialdom for such a long time, Akabane Soutaro, who was more refined than a fox, didn't he lose his mind when his blood rushed out?

A reckless person who acts blindly.

He knew that Qingdeng, who had both superior personal abilities and extraordinary popularity, was not a soft persimmon who could be manipulated by him.

Therefore, he did not act rashly.

The reason why Akabane dares to criticize Aotomo is because he is confident that he can completely rely on his family's energy and connections to defeat Aoto - if he knew that on New Year's Day, Wakatori Itakura Katsora would be respectful to Aoto

, and did not hesitate to teach his son Itakura Hirahiko a lesson in public. He might not have the confidence anymore.

On the night when the incident of "Itakura Hirahiko looking for Aoto, Tenchoin and his entourage" occurred, Tokugawa Iemo secretly summoned Itakura Katsutora and told him: He must not be brought to Aoto, Tenchoin and others for a private visit incognito.

Spread the word.

Tokugawa Iemo is currently only being targeted by the powerful Hitotori faction. He is not the kind of fictitious monarch who has no real power and is emptied out by his subordinates. What he says has weight - at least it has weight for Itakura Katsutora.

.

How could Itakura Katsutora dare not obey Tokugawa Iemo's order?

He immediately kowtowed and promised that he would never reveal anything about today's events to anyone else.

Itakura Katsutora remained silent. At that time, the number of people watching the whole process of "Itakura Katsutora's courtesy to Ayoto" was not large enough for the news to spread throughout Edo and beyond in a short period of time.

.

Therefore, due to this information gap, Akabane Sotaro did not know that Aoto's personal power was so great that even Nian Ji would have to give him a lot of money today.

Otherwise, the incident in which Aoto was falsely accused and imprisoned might not have happened - no matter how confident Akabane Sotaro was, he would not be so confident that he would think that he could bring down a man who even Wakatori had to treat him with courtesy over and over again.

Ever since he learned the news of his beloved son's death, Akabane Sotaro has been secretly dormant, looking for allies while waiting for the best opportunity to take revenge.

Hatamoto and the imperial family, who had a lot of political and social privileges, were inherently aloof under the rule of the Edo shogunate.

After nearly three hundred years of development, this group of "human masters" have long formed a political group with intricate relationships with each other.

Killing the children of the banner in public - Qingdeng's behavior is a blatant challenge to the authority of this group of worms whose eyesight has long been corrupted by the comfortable life! It is really intolerable!

What's more, there are many people in Hatamoto and the imperial family who dislike or even hate Qingto.

Qingdeng's origin was from an imperial family with a family income of less than a hundred shi.

In just less than a year, he transformed into a bannerman with a family income of over a thousand... For people who value blood and family status, they simply cannot accept that a person with low bloodline like Qingdeng can become a bannerman.

List.

Therefore, Akabane Sotaro had no worries about finding allies.

The Akabane family has always had good connections, and Akabane Sotaro happened to be the kind of person who was eloquent. After some lobbying and instigation by him, many people responded and soon a group of people were willing to help the Akabane family fight.

Qingdeng's "Zhishen Alliance" (Zhishen is the collective name for the Hatamoto and Imperial family members).

After several months of preparations, Akabane Sotaro, who felt that everything was ready, immediately officially launched his revenge against Aoto!

It has to be said that the process of revenge at the beginning was so smooth that even Akabane Sotaro was surprised.

He reported Qingdeng on the grounds of "abusing his power and killing Zhongliang in vain" and collaborated with his allies to put pressure on the execution office and other government departments.

As a samurai group directly subordinate to the shogun, the Hatamoto and the imperial family held almost all official positions in the shogunate.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to call them the cornerstone of the Edo shogunate.

Without them, the entire Edo shogunate would have to come to a halt.

Therefore, the influence of the "Direct Participation Alliance" formed by Sotaro Akabane cannot be underestimated.

Under the strong pressure from Sotaro Akabane and others, the government could not bear the pressure and imprisoned Aoden in Kodenmacho's prison.

Victory in the first battle...According to Akabane Sotaro's plan, the next step is to continue to put pressure on the government and convict Aonto!

Although he knew that this was impossible, Akabane Sotaro still sincerely hoped that Aoto could be sentenced to death!

Whether he ordered him to commit seppuku, sentenced him to beheading, or made him a test swordsman for the "executioner family" Yamada Asaemon's swordsmen, or a training target, as long as he could kill Aoto, Sotaro Akabane would be satisfied.

No matter what happens, he will be sentenced to exile!

Jiudu Mountain, Hachizhang Island...anywhere will do, as long as it can make his life worse than death!

After learning that Aotomo had been successfully imprisoned, Akabane Sotaro happily began to imagine the wonderful scenario of "Aotobu's death or being exiled". The corners of his raised lips could not be lowered.

However... what happened next was far beyond his expectations...

First of all, he never imagined that Qingdeng’s network resources would be so rich!

The Edo-owned Hokushin Ittoryu Dojo led by the Chiba family personally, Katsu Rintaro and the other high-ranking shogunate officials he brought to help with the platform, the scholars from the Hoshu transfer office, the Westerners in the settlement, and the officers who had been reformed by the thieves

, the "policemen" of Kitabansho Town, wealthy businessmen who played a decisive role in the Edo economic world...

Martial arts, politics, academia, business, the military, foreign forces...people from all walks of life and fields united with each other to redress Qingdeng's injustice.

I'm afraid I haven't had the opportunity to see such a grand battle in 10 years... It's really shocking.

If only a single force supported Aoto, Sotaro Akabane would not be afraid, but with so many forces supporting Aoto... this made Sotaro Akabane swallow uneasily.

It can be said that the strength and energy of the "Support Orange Alliance" are not weaker than the "Direct Participation Alliance" formed by Sotaro Akabane!

Just when Akabane Shotarou was thinking hard about how to deal with the offensive of the "Tangerine Support Alliance"... a new sudden accident suddenly reduced the main reason why Akabane Shotarou is drinking here now.

That was the sudden fire in the prison building in Kodenma Town! Aoto is missing!

It had been a long time since there had been a fire in the prison cell in Kodenma Town, but what happened was that the fire happened to happen on the day Aonto was imprisoned!

Such a coincidence makes it difficult not to make some connections.

Naturally, all kinds of conspiracy theories are rampant.

For example: "The fire in the prison house in Kodenma Town was man-made. It was set by the Akabane family! The purpose was to kill Aoden!"

Another example: "The Akabane family burned the Kodenma Town prison house, and then took advantage of the chaos to kidnap Aoto, lock him in the underground secret room of the Akabane family mansion or somewhere else, severely humiliate and torture Aoto, this is Aoto

The reason why he disappeared, and the truth about why the prison house in Kodenma Town caught fire for no reason!"

Faced with these various rumors and conspiracy theories, Akabane Sotaro really wanted to roar loudly: Even if it is made up, can it be reasonable?!

"Arson" is a serious crime that even a tall man (a man with a family income of more than 3,000 koku) would not be able to avoid!

Yes. Akabane Sotaro admitted that he really hated Aoto and wished that he would die quickly, but his head was not broken. In any case, he would never adopt this stupid idea of ​​"killing a hundred enemies and damaging himself by eight thousand"

Trick!

Akabane Sotaro firmly believes that "rumors stop only among wise men".

Anyone who is smart will definitely be able to tell that the fire in Kodenma Town Prison House and the disappearance of Aoto had nothing to do with the Akabane family.

However... in this world, after all, fools who have no ability to think or judge and follow what others say account for the vast majority of the population.

Recently, there have been frequent meddlesome people lurking outside the Akabane family's mansion who love to join in the fun.

Not to mention the children of the clan, even the ordinary servants of the clan will often receive strange looks from others when they go out on the street.

The Akabane family is really wet right now - it's not just shit, it's shit.

If this continues, if these outrageous rumors continue to spread... it is not impossible that the shogunate will launch an investigation into the Akabane family.

Inexplicably, he was blamed for "arson and murder"... How could Akabane Soutaro not be angry? How could he not be depressed?

Drinking from a porcelain bowl no bigger than the palm of your hand was really unsatisfying. Akabane Soutaro threw away the cup in his hand, picked up the bottle, and drank heavily with his head raised.

"Master Zong..."

Lingcun bit the bullet and persuaded him again.

"Please stop drinking..."

"Woeful! Woeful! Woeful!"

Akabane Sotaro rudely interrupted the leader.

"I can drink as much as I like!"

After roaring, Akabane Sotaro leaned over and leaned on the elbow rest on his side, taking a small sip and murmuring softly.

"Damn...damn Tachibana Aoden...it doesn't make people feel peaceful even if he goes missing...hiccup!"

Akabane Sotaro let out a big wine burp, his body shook hard, his hand became unstable, and the wine bottle slipped from his palm.

Under the influence of gravity, the wine bottle drew a straight line and fell towards the tatami beside Akabane Sotaro's knees.
To be continued...