】

Speaking of this, Tianzhangyuan specifically turned his eyes and glanced at Qingdeng.

She wanted to see what kind of interesting reaction the other party would show after hearing her ambiguous remarks.

However...it didn't go as expected.

Qingden lowered his eyelids, and the light in his eyes under his long eyelashes became dim and unclear.

She was stunned for a moment, then showed a calm smile.

"...Sheng Qing, don't show such an expression."

"My previous life was indeed a mess."

"But now, the situation is very different."

"Although 'Shimazu Yuichi' will not come back, the story of 'Tenjoin Atsuhime' has just begun."

"To be honest, I am very satisfied with my current life."

At this point, Tianzhangyuan's pretty face showed some tenderness.

"Although there is a lot of work every day, it is very tiring, and one annoying thing comes one after another, but there are also many gratifying and happy things that happen."

"Although the old friends are gone, more and more new people are being met."

"Now I have an adopted son, as well as Saege, Yae and other trustworthy subordinates, and... and..."

Her voice became choppy, as if she was planning her next words.

Not long after, she raised her eyes, looked straight at Qingdeng in front of her, and said word by word:

"I have a friend I can rely on."

"I'm very satisfied with my current life."

"So satisfied that I don't even want to change it."

"Let the dreams of your youth dissipate with the passage of time."

"I am only focusing on one thing now - to assist Iemo with all my heart, to fulfill the responsibilities of the Oitaisho, so that the people in this land can live a good life with enough food and clothing."

"This is my only dream at the moment~~"

Tianzhangyuan became more and more enthusiastic as he talked, and his every move was filled with surging enthusiasm and strong vitality.

She slowly realized that she seemed to be too excited, so she quickly sat up straight and put the catkins back on her lap.

"Ah hahaha, I'm sorry, I've been chattering non-stop since just now."

"You must be tired of hearing all my old stories from the past, right?"

"In normal times, I would never tell anyone about my past casually."

"It's not an interesting anecdote. Using it as a topic will only make the atmosphere dull."

"Maybe it's because the beautiful scenery just now made me feel so good, so I couldn't help but say all these things that should be said and things that shouldn't be said at once."

“Okay, let’s end this boring ‘Story Conference’ for now~~”

Looking at Tianzhang Yuan's cheerful appearance, the gloomy color in Qingdeng's mouth and eyes gradually faded away unconsciously.

"...Your Highness, to be honest, I have been thinking about what words to use to give you some comfort."

"It seems like I'm worrying too much."

After Tianzhangyuan heard this, he immediately put his hands on his hips and said with feigned dissatisfaction:

"Sheng Qing, don't underestimate me."

"I am Atsuhime Tenshoin who has successively dealt with troublesome people such as Shimazu Noribin, Honjuin, Ii Dairo, Hitotsubashi Yoshiki, etc."

"If I were that kind of weak person, I wouldn't be able to persist until now under heavy pressure."

As soon as Tianzhangyuan finished speaking, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the sedan from far to near.

Immediately afterwards, a respectful male voice came in:

"Your Majesty the Governor, we are about to arrive in Kyoto. Your Majesty the General has given an order: We will rest for a while and organize our troops. Please wait for a moment."

Qingdeng nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I understand."

…

…

Santiao Bridge - the end point of Donghai Street and Zhongshan Street.

Kyoto can be divided into "Luozhong" and "Luobei".

In a broad sense, Kyoto is Luozhong + Luoyang.

Kyoto in a narrow sense—and also the Kyoto most recognized by the “natives” of Kyoto—is “Luozhong”.

Although the former concept has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, the latter still occupies a place in people's traditional concepts.

Yachuan is an important dividing point between "Luozhong" and "Luobei".

To the east of the Kamogawa River is "Luowai", and to the west of the Kamogawa River is "Luozhong".

Generally speaking, you can only truly enter Kyoto by crossing the three bridges over the Kamogawa River.

The bridgeheads on both sides of the Sanjo Bridge were already crowded with Kyoto citizens who came to join in the fun.

After nearly 230 years, the Tokugawa shoguns returned to Luo... This was not only a historic political event, but also a major social event closely related to the future lives of the people of Kyoto.

The subsequent negotiations between General Tokugawa and the imperial court, as well as the results of their subsequent discussions, will determine Japan's future destiny to a large extent!

Is it to resist the foreigners?

Or should we continue the current policy of compromise?

Thinking of this, the citizens of Kyoto who came to join in the fun couldn't help but swallow their saliva, and their faces were uncontrollably filled with solemn emotions.

Finally, under people's eager gaze, Tokugawa Iemo's Kamiro queue slowly came into view.

The leading gunmen carried their spears, raised their heads and held their chests high, and walked by in high spirits under the gaze of everyone.

The troops that followed closely, including the disciples, the Xiao surname group, the vanguard bow group, and the vanguard iron cannon group, also tried their best to show their majesty and heroic appearance.

In order to maximize the majesty of the general and leave a good impression on the people of Kyoto, when he was about to enter Kyoto, Tokugawa Iemo specially ordered the entire team to stop and rearrange their military appearance.

The style carved by the queue cannot be described as irregular and majestic.

However... the reaction of the onlookers present was very calm.

They all stared at the shogun's formation in Shangluo with cold eyes and expressionless faces.

Such a scene...compared with the enthusiastic scene that appeared when Ayoto defeated the Ise bandit army a while ago and returned from the victory, it was really different.

However, this is also natural.

From ancient times to the present, people in Kyoto do not want to see people from Kanto.

Although from a historical perspective, Kyoto people are not good at fighting and are always conquered by the Kanto people.

The birth of the Edo shogunate was based on the powerful military power of the Bando samurai.

However, the people of Kyoto's view of the Kanto people has always remained the same - they look down upon the Kanto people.

The reason why this is so can be considered to be partly cultural factors. Kyoto culture has a certain degree of exclusiveness.

On the other hand, Kanto people do not regard Kyoto and Osaka people as their own people.

In terms of distance and distance, neither Kyoto nor Osaka was the core territory of the shogunate.

The basic base of the shogunate has always been the eight states of Kanto.

In this way, the people of Kyoto naturally had no feelings for the Tokugawa shoguns.

What's more, they even cast disgusted looks at Tokugawa Iemo's troops in Kamiro.

In order to prevent accidents from happening, Kyoto Shidai and Kyoto Town deployed the largest security force and set up long and tight cordons on both sides of the street to prevent young people from approaching Tokugawa Iemo.

The vast army of generals slowly passed by the silent citizens of Kyoto in a dead silence...

…

…

Kyoto, Nijo Castle——

Nijo Castle is a castle that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

It was also the palace of the Tokugawa shoguns in Kyoto.

Therefore, starting from today, Tokugawa Iemo, Tenjoin and other high-level shogunate officials will all move into Nijo Castle.

The castle was expanded due to the emperor's fortune, and later repaired several times due to natural disasters, fires, lightning strikes, Ogata Ittousai's attacks and other events.

Although Nijo Castle has been in a "semi-abandoned" state for more than two hundred years, there are always dedicated people to maintain it.

When Tokugawa Iemo arrived - Kyoto Shojidai and Kyoto Town Council immediately organized a large number of manpower to carry out a large-scale cleaning of Nijo Castle.
To be continued...