Seeing that they were about to talk about business, Shannan Keisuke and others gathered their thoughts and consciously came over to sit next to Aoto and Tojo Shintaro, sitting with their knees touching, forming a ring.

Shintaro Tojo asked:

"Ikeda House? What is this place? Where is it located?"

Qingdeng turned to look at Shannan Jingsuke.

"Kingsuke, map."

His words were obviously redundant.

Before he could speak, Shannan Keisuke consciously took out the notebook he carried with him from his pocket, and then pulled out a neatly folded map of Kyoto, unfolded it, and placed it on the tatami in front of everyone's knees.

“Ikedaya is located on Sanjo Street.”

Shannan Keisuke took over the conversation and answered for Qingden.

As he spoke, he reached out and pointed out the specific location of Ikeda House on the map.

"This is a very ordinary, inconspicuous hotel."

"The decoration is ordinary and the operator is not a very famous person."

"However, not long ago, we received reliable information - a large number of guests have been coming in and out of Ikedaya recently."

"This is no longer the kind of traffic that an ordinary hotel like this should have."

"According to the investigation, the operators of Ikedaya did not invest in advertising their store in tabloids or do anything else that could increase its popularity."

"To sum up, it is obviously abnormal for hotel business to suddenly boom when nothing happened."

"Although the authenticity of this information is still open to question,...it is said that the guests who have frequently visited Ikeda House recently are all from Changshu."

Coming from Changzhou - everyone understands what this sentence means.

Shannan Jingzhu paused and then added:

"It is said that one of them includes Miyabe Daizo, one of the core figures of the Zombie Movement."

Miyabe Daizo, a Kumamoto clan official, joined the Imperial Logistics Party in the first year of Bunkyu (1861), and began to be active in Kyoto in the second year of Bunkyu (1862). After the "August 18th Coup" broke out in Bunkyu's third year (1863), Chang

After the state forces were exiled, he also went to Choshu Domain.

To put it simply, this person is a veteran-level Zunhui patriot, who enjoys a high reputation among Zunhui patriots and plays a decisive role in the current Zunhui movement.

"Miyabe Daizo..."

Shintaro Tojo chewed the name gently.

"If we can capture or kill this person alive, we will be able to greatly suppress the arrogance of those with lofty ideals, which will be a great benefit to us."

At this point, his conversation suddenly changed:

"But...I'm curious about something."

"If Miyabe Daizo really sneaked into Kyoto and frequently visited Ikeda House, what was his purpose?"

"A big shot like him shouldn't be personally involved in danger."

As soon as he finished asking, Shannan Keisuke immediately answered:

"Mr. Dongcheng, we have naturally taken your question into consideration."

"For those with lofty ideals, the current Kyoto is undoubtedly a dragon's pond and a tiger's den."

"Miyabe Daizo will risk his life to sneak back to Kyoto... After thinking about it, there is only one answer: the Zunbo faction plans to launch a large-scale operation in Kyoto! Therefore, a big shot like him is needed to take charge of Kyoto.

!”

As soon as this statement came out, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense.

"Huh! That's just right!"

Nagakura Shinpachi sneered a few times and then said:

"After we were kicked out of Kyoto, these scum have been like rats in the ditch, annoying to death!"

"I hope they will get out of the ditch quickly and fight us with real swords and guns!"

Shannan Keisuke and Harada Sanosuke nodded—Nagakura Shinpachi spoke their minds.

As Nagakura Shinpachi said just now, after going underground, the patriots were like rats in the ditch, hiding in hidden places, popping out from time to time to contaminate food and bite people.

Although no serious losses were caused, the frustrated feeling of "wanting to fight but not being able to fight" made the Shinsengumi soldiers feel extremely irritable and suffocated in their hearts.

If the patriots really plan to launch a large-scale operation in Kyoto... this is no small matter!

It's no surprise what these lunatics do.

But if you think about it from another angle, this is a great opportunity to catch them all!

When I think about sending these bastards to the West, Shannan Keisuke, Nagakura Shinpachi and others feel full of energy!

Tojo Shintaro pondered thoughtfully for a moment.

Suddenly, he raised a new question:

"Since this hotel named 'Ikedaya' is very suspicious, have you taken corresponding countermeasures?"

Shannan Keisuke opened his mouth and was about to answer.

But Qingdeng spoke one step ahead of him:

"Of course there are countermeasures!"

"Since we know that there is something wrong with this hotel, how can we not take precautions against it?"

"Currently we cannot confirm the true identity of the group of people who entered and exited Ikeda House, so we should not act rashly."

"If there is a misunderstanding, it will be a small matter to embarrass someone, but it will be a big deal to alert someone, and the opportunity may be wasted."

"Therefore, I sent one of my subordinates who is very good at hiding himself, and ordered him to dress up as a hand, lurk in Ikeda House, and monitor his movements at all times."

When Qingdeng mentioned the term "capable man", Qingdeng curled up the corners of his mouth with a meaningful look on his face.

After hearing this, Shintaro Tojo nodded.

"Well, that's very good."

As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes and stared at the map of Kyoto in front of his knees. His eyes quickly wandered over the houses and streets, and he frowned slightly.

"...Your Highness, may I express my opinion?"

Qingdeng made a "please" gesture without thinking.

"Mr. Dongcheng, you're welcome. If you have something to say, it's okay to say it. We're all ears."

Shintaro Tojo sat up slightly, his expression serious.

"Your Highness, I personally think that Kyoto will be in danger in the next period of time!"

"It is very likely that the patriots will launch a large-scale attack while the Gion Festival is in full swing!"

Gion Festival... Hearing this word, Aoto, Shannan Keisuke and others all raised their eyebrows with solemn expressions on their faces.

There isn't much else in Kyoto, but there are a lot of various festivals.

With thousands of years of history, Kyoto has preserved many cultural monuments, with more than 1,600 temples and more than 400 shrines scattered throughout Kyoto.

Throughout the year, Kyoto’s temples and shrines hold various festivals and festivals.

There are grand events almost every month.

In January, go to Kamo Shrine’s “Hakuba Memorial Ceremony”; in February, to Yoshida Shrine’s “Setsubun Festival and Nuo Ceremony”; in March, to Suishinin’s “Tōdō Dance”… In November, Fushimi Rice The "Fire Festival" at He Taisha Shrine; in December, the "Suten God" at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

Among these many festivals and festivals, the most famous and grandest is undoubtedly the "Gion Matsuri" in July.

The Gion Festival is one of the three major festivals in Japan, along with the Kanda Festival in Edo and the Tenjin Festival in Osaka.

In 869 AD, a plague raged in the city of Kyoto. In order to eliminate the plague, the emperor ordered 66 spears to be erected in Kyoto's Shenquan Garden, and the statues of the Gion Shrine were welcomed to the Shensen Garden. This was the predecessor of the Gion Festival. Garden Yulinghui".

Nowadays, various Gion Festival activities are held in Kyoto town from July 1st to 31st every year, and the entire month of July is the time for the Gion Festival.

The highlight of the Gion Festival is undoubtedly the Yamaboko Parade on July 17.

The so-called "yamaboko" is a beautifully decorated float carried by humans, specially used for parades in festivals. It is decorated with exquisite paintings and decorations, and sometimes includes character performances, reflecting Japanese historical stories. , myths and legends and natural landscapes, etc.

On this day, July 17, the gorgeous and gorgeous Yamaboko fleet will parade through the towns of Kyoto to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters for the townspeople. Along the way, the sounds of music, shouts, and cheers from the audience interweave with each other, pushing the festival to a climax.

Shintaro Tojo continued quietly:

"Changzhou...or in other words, the current goal of the loyalists is very clear, which is to find ways to cause trouble for the shogunate and weaken the shogunate's strength by any means."

"Assassinations, arson...these brutal acts are all carried out around the ultimate goal of 'attacking the shogunate'."

"Kyoto is the residence of the Emperor."

"There is no doubt that if Kyoto is plunged into a huge crisis and the emperor is exposed to critical danger, the shogunate will be the target of public criticism."

"In addition, it can also make the governor of Gyeonggi Province bear the reputation of being 'incompetent'."

Speaking of this, he specially rolled his eyes and glanced at Qingdeng.

"That being the case, there is no better time to start than the Gion Festival."
To be continued...