"It's nothing, it's just a whim. If you think about it carefully, it was a long time ago that I could be by my wife's side without any worries."

Hearing this, Sanazi burst into laughter:

"Okay, let's go then."

The General Secretary is busy at the Shinsengumi camp.

Ah Wu, whose daily routine has become more and more like a cat's recently, is sleeping soundly in her room.

Therefore, Yu Sanazi is the only wife who is free to accompany Qingdeng now.

Qingdeng helped Zonazi's waist, and they walked side by side to the courtyard not far away.

The scorching summer has passed, and the wind has a hint of autumn.

The gurgling water, the melodious chirping of birds, and the frightened deer tapping the stones rhythmically, making crisp sounds of "dong", "dong", "dong", add a touch of tranquility to the courtyard.

Sanako walked down the corridor, her two white little feet clinging to the flat wooden clogs under the corridor, and walked slowly towards the center of the courtyard - where the soft and sweet sunshine was filled.

“The weather is so nice.”

She raised her little face to welcome the warm sunshine, showing a soft smile like a Bodhisattva.

Qingden came to her side slowly, nodding gently in response, while admiring the scenery and Sanako's expression with interest.

Although it may be a bit corny to say this, as long as he sees his wives showing such happy expressions, Qingden will feel relaxed and fatigue, depression and other negative emotions will be instantly swept away.

Ikedaya, Kyoto Summer Formation... In recent days, these far-reaching battles that cannot be ignored have occurred one after another, leaving Ainoto no time to relax.

It's not bad to spend your days leisurely like this once in a while.

Suddenly, Sanazi asked him abruptly:

"Qingdeng, have you thought about the child's name?"

As she spoke, she raised her hand to caress her increasingly round and bulging belly.

Perhaps it is because both Sanako and Awu are martial arts practitioners and are healthy and strong, so they did not feel any strong discomfort after pregnancy, nor did they suffer from morning sickness, acidity, etc. They should eat and drink when they should.

There is nothing unusual except for the inconvenience of movement.

In other words, Ah Wu often suffers from leg cramps - a classic symptom of calcium deficiency in pregnant women.

In fact, after Qingdeng forced her to eat more calcium-rich foods such as shrimp shells, her problem improved a lot.

All in all, the two girls’ pregnancy went smoothly.

According to the doctor's diagnosis, because they were pregnant at very similar times, their delivery times were also very similar, with a difference of only a few days at most.

Around early November, the second daughter will give birth.

Early November...that is, 2 months later, the time is not far away.

Facing Sanako's question, Qingto was stunned, and then smiled awkwardly:

"Honestly... not yet. I'm really not good at naming..."

"Ah, I have already thought of the girl's baby name. Let's call it 'Ning Ning' (ねね). It sounds cute, isn't it?"

Sanako chewed the name "Ning Ning" gently.

"Ning Ning... Ning Ning... it's okay. It's not outstanding, but it's not bad either."

As if afraid that Sanako would regret it, Qingden nodded hastily:

"Okay, that's it for sure. If we give birth to a boy, the baby's baby name will be 'Jiulang'; if we give birth to a girl, the baby's baby name will be 'Ningning'."

At this time, Qingden seemed to have remembered something. After a pause, he continued:

"To be honest, I think 'Ning Ning' is pretty good as a girl's official name."

"Ju Ningning, nice to listen to and easy to write."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sanazi said angrily:

"Don't be lazy! The child's name is very important and cannot be careless!"

After squinting his eyes and glaring at Qingden, Sanako changed his tone to a softer tone:

"Qingdeng, I know you are not good at naming, so don't worry, take your time."

"Anyway, I have already decided on baby names for the boy and girl, so there is no need to worry about the baby having no names after birth."

"As for the official name, we can wait and think about it later."

According to Japanese practice, everyone in the samurai family will basically be given a nickname, and nicknames are often passed down from generation to generation.

Take the Tokugawa family as an example. Since the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu's nickname was Takechiyo, the eldest son born during the shogunate's term was all given this nickname.

The same is true for Qingdeng's family, who have used the nickname "Kuro" for generations.

His father Takayuki Tachibana's nickname was Kuro.

His own nickname is also Kuro.

Therefore, the baby name of his eldest son will follow the tradition and continue to use the name "Jiulang".

For Qingdeng, this saved a lot of time as he didn't have to waste time thinking about his son's nickname.

Qingdeng was worried a lot about the "child's name".

He happened to be recuperating from his injuries recently and had a lot of free time. He took advantage of this time to read through the Four Books and Five Classics, Songs of Chu, Man'yoshu and other classics, carefully looking for words suitable for use as names.

However...you can't expect a guy who named a black cow "Carrot" to have such outstanding naming skills.

Qingdeng really worked hard, but in the end he could only come up with the female nickname "Ningning".

Although I haven't decided on the child's official name yet, I have been able to decide on a boy's and a girl's baby names, which is a small achievement.

However, Qingdeng currently has only one baby name for boys and one for girls.

His wife, who is about to give birth, has two wives.

If Sanako and Amai both gave birth to a boy, or both gave birth to a girl, then the name would not be enough.

After all, it is impossible for both sons to be called "Jiulang" or both daughters to be called "Ningning".

If this happens... let's wait until then!

Just when the couple was quietly enjoying their solitude, the sound of fast and steady footsteps came from the direction of the corridor.

Qingdeng knew who was coming just by listening to the footsteps.

"Keisuke, what's wrong?"

As he spoke, he turned to look.

Sure enough, at the same time he turned his head, Shannan Keisuke's tall figure appeared at the end of the corridor.

Looking at the couple standing side by side in the center of the courtyard, Shannan Keisuke was startled for a moment, and then smiled:

"Am I disturbing you?"

Sanako smiled and shook his head:

"It's okay, don't worry about me. If there's anything important, just tell Qingdeng. I don't care."

"It's nothing important. I came here this time just to say hello to Mr. Ju."

"Congratulations?"

Qingdeng raised his eyebrows and asked:

"Jingzhu, what are you happy to say?"

A smile of pure joy appeared on Shannan Jingsuke's cheeks.

"Tachibana-kun, just now, the envoy from Edo arrived."

After Shannan Jingsuke finished his words, before Qingden could react, Sanako became excited first.

"The envoy from Edo? He's finally here!"

One month after the end of the war, Edo sent envoys to Qin - anyone with a little brain will know what this means.

Shannan Keisuke looked at Qingden, the joy on his face became even more intense.

"Junior Jun, prepare to receive the reward!"

…

…

"What kind of reward will the 'Benevolent King' receive this time?" - In recent days, this topic has often appeared at banquets, tea parties and dining tables among the people.

There is no doubt that Qingdeng, who had full command of the Changzhou Army and caused the Changzhou Army to suffer a heavy defeat, was the greatest contributor to this battle.

Earlier, Aoto led his troops to wipe out the leaders of the Zunbo faction headed by Miyabe Daizo and Yoshida Noma in the Battle of Ikedaya, saving Kyoto from the fire.

Because as soon as the "Ikedaya Incident" ended, Choshu immediately raised troops to launch the Eastern Expedition, so the shogunate had no time to reward Aonto.

For this reason, the shogunate will definitely attribute the two achievements of the Battle of Ikedaya and the Summer Formation of Kyoto together, and reward Aonto together.

The two skills added together... God knows what an amazing reward Qingdeng will receive this time!
To be continued...