Aoto carried his lunch box, and under the leadership of a certain Gochu Nagami, walked quickly towards the depths of the Edo Castle Honmaru.

[Note: Gochunagi: a type of Oku official position in the Edo period. Mainly responsible for serving the shogun or the imperial office, and also the main class of candidates for the shogun's side office]

After a while, the two of them came to a quiet and deep area.

Onaka Nagi took small steps, entered the imperial court, knelt on the ground, and said respectfully to the imperial court in front of him:

"Your Highness Tianzhangyuan, Lord Tachibana has arrived."

Take the throne room and the throne room - both are functional areas in ancient Japanese palace rooms. The former is the place where subordinates report news to the monarch and the monarch issues instructions; the monarch usually sits in the latter to accept the worship of his ministers and listen to his subordinates

Report news and summon or issue instructions.

As soon as Onaka Nagi finished speaking, a soft female voice that was extremely familiar to Ayoto came from the throne room:

"Let him come in. And, all of you, step aside."

Onaka Nagi lowered his shoulders, placed the index, middle and ring fingers of both hands lightly on the tatami, bent down, with his forehead almost lying on the ground, and responded with a respectful but yet powerful voice:

"yes!"

Immediately afterwards, the two imperial ministers, who were kneeling on the left and right sides of the throne room door, stretched out their slender arms in unison and slowly opened the door in unison.

[Okko surname: The personal maid of the imperial office. Girls from the Hatamoto family aged 7 to 13 serve as girls. (After the 13-year-old Yuanfu, they are called "Yuanfu surnames"), and they have the opportunity to be promoted to Onakanagi]

Spotless tatami mats, tasteful interior decorations, perfectly trimmed green potted plants, graceful and stunning beauties...

The moment Qingdeng and the beauty met their eyes, she showed a magnificent smile.

Sanako usually has two types of dressing styles.

One is the "Yamato Nadeshiko mode" wearing a women's kimono with her hair pulled into a Shimada bun.

The other is the "female warrior mode" who wears women's kendo uniforms and has her hair tied into a high ponytail.

Tianzhangyuan also has two types of dressing styles on weekdays.

One is the "miko mode" that is only worn in Tsukinomiya Shrine.

Her costume is a high-level miko uniform with white top and purple underneath, and her hairstyle is also a very typical miko hairstyle: her hair is tied into a low ponytail trailing behind her, and the roots of the braid are wrapped in white Japanese paper and tied with white and red threads.

The other is the "Odaisho model" that is most widely known to shogunate officials.

Her hair is tied into a short ponytail with a white hairband; because she has become a nun, she cannot wear too bright and flashy clothes, so the "Odaisho model" dressing style is generally light and elegant, and the outer layer is a purple blouse.

, the middle layer is a cyan furisode, and the innermost layer is a white base coat. It is solid color from the inside to the outside. There are no exquisite patterns on the fabric, and there are no decorations such as buns on the head.

Just like Sanako's "Yamato Nadeshiko Mode" and "Female Samurai Mode" can give people completely different perceptions, these two modes of Tenjoin can also give people completely different feelings.

For example, Tianzhangyuan in "miko mode" is a quirky big sister.

Then, Tenjoin in the "Odaisho model" is a stable and calm noble queen, which can make people intuitively feel that the woman in front of them is one of the most noble figures in the Edo shogunate!

Qingdeng stood up and stepped forward with ease, stepped through the waiting room, and stepped into the throne room.

As soon as his front feet stepped on the comfortable and soft tatami, the sound of the door being closed was heard with his back feet.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of soft footsteps gradually faded away... Yu Zhongna and the Yu Xiao family all obeyed Tianzhangyuan's order and left quickly without stopping for a moment.

In this quiet space, there was only a lonely man and a woman looking at each other.

At the very moment when the footsteps of Yu Xiaoxing disappeared completely in Yu Zhongnai——

"Haaah... I'm so tired... Sitting in such a rigid posture is really tiring...!"

Tianzhangyuan's waist seemed to have lost its bones, bending down instantly.

She first leaned forward with her upper body, then fell to the left side, and collapsed on the tatami like mud.

Well, the quirky big sister Qingdeng knew well is back.

"Your Highness, if the female officials of the Imperial Palace and the cabinet ministers of the shogunate see you like this, they will probably be paralyzed to the ground with fear."

Qingdeng complained half-jokingly while sitting cross-legged directly opposite Tianzhang Courtyard.

When no outsiders were present, his relationship with Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin had always been very casual.

"That's why I sent them away specially."

Tianzhangyuan, who was lying on his side on the ground, turned over, raised his left forearm while facing Qingdeng, supported his head, and continued with a smile:

"Without the distractions, you and I can feel much more at ease, right?"

"That's true."

Qingdeng nodded in agreement.

Then, he changed the subject:

"Okay, let's get back to the topic. Your Highness, you suddenly called me here. What do you want?"

"It's nothing, I just want to have lunch with you suddenly. By the way... let's play Shuangliu together, right?"

As she spoke, like a magic trick, she took out a plate of 'Shuangliu' from behind and pushed it to Qingdeng's knees.

"'Double Six'?"

Qingden raised his eyebrows.

"Sugoroku" can be understood as a board game from the Edo period. It is a very old and popular game. It is an imported product and was not created by the Japanese.

It originated in Mesopotamia in 2600 BC, was introduced to China via India, and took root in China. It was spread to Japan in the Nara period (710-784).

This game is similar to the modern "Monopoly". The dice are thrown to determine the points, and the game is played based on the points. The first one to reach the end wins.

The chessboard is filled with good or bad "life experiences" such as fires at home, broken hands and feet, sudden inheritance and becoming a super rich man, etc.

The reason why it is named "Double Six" is because this game requires the use of two dice, and the maximum number of two dice is two sixes.

In Qingdeng's eyes, in this era where there are neither electronic products nor card and board entertainment, "Double Six" is considered the most fun tabletop game.

When he was very bored on weekdays, he would occasionally play "Sugaroku" with Souji, Harada Sanosuke and others.

Qingdeng raised his eyes and stared straight at Tianzhangyuan's face, as if searching for something.

Before Tianzhang Academy noticed his little move, he nodded lightly.

"I know, let's play."

After that, he opened the game box in front of him and began to arrange the chess pieces.

At this time, Tianzhangyuan sat up.

"Tsk...this kind of clothes with very long and tight skirts is really in the way..."

The clothes worn by Tianzhang Yuan under the "Grand Imperial Palace Model" are very typical aristocratic clothing.

The skirt on the lower body is very narrow, as if the legs are tightly tied together. It is too narrow to swing the legs greatly, and can only take small steps when walking.

At the same time, because the skirt is very narrow, it is impossible to choose other sitting positions except "kneeling".

But... this cannot stop the unrestrained Tianzhang Academy.

"Hmm~ It's more comfortable this way."

She pulled the hem of her skirt up in one breath to just above her knees, and then sat cross-legged like Qingdeng.

Suddenly, the room became a little brighter.

This is of course not because candles are lit or sunlight is shining through - it's simply because Tianzhangyuan's legs are reflecting light.

I saw that her two calves were long and well-proportioned, slender yet voluptuous, as white as jade, and as smooth as the incarnation of silk.

Seeing this, Aoden couldn't help but feel: Naturally beautiful girls like Tenjoin, Sanako, Kinoshita Mai, Souji, and Elodie are really magical creatures. Don't they all have body hair?

?

If the person sitting in front of him at this time was Sanako, Mai Kinoshita or Souji, he would definitely open his eyes wide open and openly take in this alluring beauty.

However... the target happened to be his friend and boss.

He treats the women he loves with hunger and thirst; he treats ordinary women with courtesy. This is the biggest reason why Qingdeng always insists that he is a gentleman and hates others saying that he is lecherous.

As a result, he subconsciously looked away, not to look at Tianzhangyuan's beautiful legs - his move was completely captured by Tianzhangyuan.

"Ouch~~"

She narrowed her eyes, raised the corners of her mouth slightly, and curved her red lips into the shape of a "ω" cat mouth.

"Ju-kun, you don't need to be so polite~ I just exposed a part of my calf, why should I be so shy? So you kids are really~~ when you see your calf, you immediately think of 'this'

and an illegitimate child.”

When saying "this", Tenjoin raised the little finger of his right hand - in the Edo period, the little finger represented his girlfriend or mistress.

After Qingdeng heard this, he couldn't help but said in a helpless tone:

"First of all, I am not shy; secondly, I am already 20 years old this year, and I am not a child; finally, when I see calves, I think of mistresses and illegitimate children. People with such imagination are no longer children, but

You should be a doctor’s patient, right?”

Qingdeng's explanation failed to win Tianzhang Academy's approval.

She "chased relentlessly" and let out a joking laugh of "hee hee hee".
To be continued...