The vassal of a vassal is not my vassal - this sentence can be applied to China in the Western Zhou Dynasty, Europe in the Middle Ages, and Japan in the Edo period.

From Seito's perspective, Ichimura Tetsunosuke was a typical "vassal of vassals".

Therefore, there is no master-slave relationship between them.

However, because Ichimura Tetsunosuke admired Aoto very much, after receiving the instruction, he would call Aoto the "big lord" while calling Hijikata Touzo "my lord".

…

After a few simple greetings, Toshizo Hijikata picked up the hot tea in front of his knees, took a sip, and his facial expression gradually became serious:

"Ju, let's forget about the gossip and let's talk about business."

When Qingdeng heard this, he nodded slightly and straightened his facial lines, and said calmly:

"Well, there's something you want to say, but it doesn't hurt."

Hijikata Toisho drank the tea in the cup in one gulp, and then took out a thin booklet from his arms.

"Tangerine, look at this."

After that, he opened the book, turned to a certain page, put it on the tatami, handed it to Qingden's knees, then picked up the shamisen by his leg, held it diagonally in his arms, and made a graceful pose.

Hand shape, start playing on your own.

It has to be said that the reason why Hijikata Toshizo became Super Neptune is not only because he is more beautiful than Pan An, but also because he is versatile and has many talents such as playing the piano and singing that are very popular with the opposite sex.

If the young girls saw his current cool and unrestrained appearance of "holding the piano in his arms and stroking the strings," I'm afraid he would gain many "captives".

Just when Qingdeng was about to reach out to pick up the booklet, coincidentally, a gust of breeze blew from the window, causing the pages of the booklet to turn.

Toshizo Hijikata, who was concentrating on playing the piano, did not notice this little accident.

Qing Deng originally wanted to warn him out loud, but his keen eyesight suddenly noticed that there seemed to be something interesting written on the booklet after turning the page.

So, he picked up the booklet, cleared his throat, and then read aloud directly to what he saw:

"Huang Ying, the sound of the duster is also..."

In an instant, Hijikata Toshizo's face suddenly changed color. He didn't even bother to play the shamisen. He hurriedly put the piano back in its place and took back the booklet.

"Idiot! Where are you reading?! Tsk... why did you turn to this page...!"

Ayoto ignored Hijikata Toshizo's complaints and asked curiously:

"Susan, is this a haiku you wrote?"

After Hijikata Toshizo hesitated for a while, he touched his nose and answered coldly:

"What bad luck, you actually saw it... Yes, it's a haiku written by me."

Qingdeng lengthened his tone and changed into a semi-joking tone:

"Hey~~ I've known you for so long, and this is the first time I've read your haiku."

When talking about Hijikata Suisan, people's inherent impression is nothing more than a vicious tongue, a romantic, and a bad temper.

You may have never thought that the dignified "Deputy Chief of Ghosts" is unexpectedly an elegant person.

Hijikata Toshizo particularly likes elegant things, especially haiku.

When he had nothing to do, he would pick up paper and pen and compose haiku happily. He even gave himself the nickname "Toyama".

According to Souji, he has accumulated several large volumes of haiku collections.

What a pity that although he loved writing haiku, he rarely showed his works to outsiders.

As a result, it was only today that Qing Teng finally had the honor to read his masterpiece.

Qingdeng repeated softly while recalling what he had just seen:

"Huang Ying, the sound of the duster is also... what's next?"

Hijikata Toshizo glanced at Ayoto angrily.

Although he had an impatient look on his face, as if he didn't want to talk to Qingdeng about this topic any more, at the same time, the corners of his lips were slightly raised, as if he was secretly chuckling, and he overall showed a look of "rejection"

Weird look of "Yi Ying".

"Oh, I really can't do anything about you! Since you are so curious, I will make an exception and read it to you today!"

As he spoke, he straightened his clothes and sat down, cleared his throat vigorously, then half-closed his eyes with an intoxicated look on his face, and softly chanted:

"Huang Ying~ The sound of the duster couldn't help but stop~"

"..."

"Hey, don't be silent, give me some reaction."

"Ah, I'm sorry... I don't understand haiku, so I don't quite understand what your haiku means."

"Hey, it really is high mountains and flowing water... It means that the chirping of the oriole is so beautiful that I can't help but stop the duster in my hand and listen to the birdsong with all my concentration."

"...Eh? Is that it?"

I saw Hijikata Toshizo immersed in his own world. He half-closed his eyes, as if he was imagining something, and continued to look intoxicated:

"After listening to this haiku, didn't you have such a picture in your mind? The gentle breeze, the quiet afternoon, the disappearing birdsong... What a beautiful artistic conception..."

"So why are you holding the duster?"

"It's not me holding the duster! The duster or whatever, it doesn't matter at all! The main thing is this artistic conception! This atmosphere! Oh...forget it! You and Xiao Si are so moral! You don't know how to be elegant! Talking about haiku with you is just like that

Play the piano to the cow!"

Seeing that the other party seemed to be losing his temper, Qingdeng quickly showed a heartless smile to lighten the atmosphere.

"Don't be angry. I am indeed a vulgar person with no sense of elegance, but I think your works are quite interesting. Let me listen to your other works."

"No, you won't understand the subtlety of haiku."

"Then let me listen to your most confident works. Maybe after listening to your proud masterpiece, I will be able to appreciate the subtleties of haiku."

"If you want to understand haiku, just go and taste the works of Matsuo Basho, Kobayashi Icha and other famous artists. I know my level very well, and my works are not interesting to read."

Although he said this, his hands seemed to have independent consciousness, quickly opening the book and turning the pages with a "clatter".

Immediately afterwards, that strange look of "wanting to refuse but welcome again" appeared on his cheeks again.

He licked his lips, his eyes brightened, and the corners of his lips raised high, unable to suppress them no matter what.

"I am best at chanting scenery. When it comes to my most confident works, or my favorite works, they have to be my poems chanting scenery."

He turned a page.

"Well...this song is not very good, the artistic conception is too bad."

He turned another page.

"This song... lacks rhythm and does not reflect my superb level at all."

He turned another page.

"This one... oh, no, no, this one is too good. Even if I read it to you, you won't be able to appreciate the beauty of it. Well... it's really hard to choose..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was like "an amnesia patient suddenly regaining his memory". He suddenly raised his face and slapped his thigh:

"That's not right! We're not having a poetry meeting! We're talking about haiku! Tachibana, it's your fault for interrupting and causing me to follow suit!"

Qingdeng looked innocent and pointed at himself:

"Eh? Is this my responsibility?"

Hijikata Toshisan's face didn't turn red, his heart didn't beat, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.

"Take it! This is where I want you to read it, and you are not allowed to read anything else!"

He turned the book to the first page and forced it into Qingdeng's arms.

After this small episode, their conversation finally got back on track.

After laughing and making trouble, the two quickly sorted out their emotions and transformed back into the decisive "Nioh" and "Deputy Commander of the Demon".

After Qingdeng took the booklet, he held it in both hands and quickly scanned the book, scanning ten lines at a time.

Hijikata Toisan remained silent and waited quietly.

About 10 seconds later, Qingdeng quietly closed the booklet in his hand, his face expressionless, his tone neither sad nor happy:

"What is supposed to come will eventually come... Changzhou is going to fight us with his life."

Hijikata Toshizo shrugged.

"The minds of people in Changzhou are always abnormal. It is only expected that they would do such a thing."

The shogunate's "Changshu Expedition" has long been known to everyone. How could the people of Choshu not know about it?

After the disastrous defeat in the Shimonoseki War and the setback of being expelled from Kyoto, most people, including Seito, thought that the radicals in Choshu would calm down for a while, and at least the conservatives could regain some voice.

Unexpectedly... the Choshu radicals led by Hisasaka Genrui not only failed to learn their lesson and correct their evil ways, but instead became even more crazy!

They blamed all the blame for their miserable situation today on the shogunate.

The shogunate went back on its promise! They said, "On May 10th, we will begin to fight against the barbarians." But when that day came, they sat back and watched! Not only did they not fight against the barbarians, they stabbed us, Choshu, in the back! We were expelled from Kyoto.
To be continued...