Although she did not use complicated words, her emotions and determination were clearly felt by Tokugawa Iemo.

Looking at the beauty in his arms, Tokugawa Iemo was slightly surprised at first, and then smiled calmly.

He didn't say much, just hugged each other tightly silently.

"Actually, another major reason why I set up this ambitious goal is that I am forced by reality."

"In recent years, I have increasingly felt that the corruption and weakness of the shogunate is inevitable."

"Now, no matter what strategy is adopted, it will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause, delaying the complete destruction of the shogunate by a few days."

"Since the building is about to collapse, it is better to prepare early and entrust the people of the world to trustworthy people as soon as possible."

"I also had high hopes for the Tokugawa clan."

"Unless I give birth to an heir, my successor will definitely be a happy man."

"Hitabashi Keiki has great ambition but little talent. He comes up with ideas one after another. He has neither the indomitable will nor the will to endure hardships."

"Allowing him to take charge of the shogunate will only accelerate the demise of the Edo shogunate."

"As for the other general candidates besides Hitotsubashi Keiki, they are all weak people who cannot be reused."

"So, after searching around, the only person who fits the image of a 'saint king' in my mind is Mr. Tachibana."

"Therefore, my favor for Mr. Tachibana is largely due to my disappointment in the Tokugawa clan."

Wagongong said in a teasing tone:

"Your Highness, if others hear your ambition, they will probably think there is something wrong with your brain."

Tokugawa Iemo smiled and said half seriously, half jokingly:

"Let them talk. I don't have anything else, but I still have the courage to withstand ridicule, and there is a lot of it."

"...Your Highness, can I ask you another question?"

"Well, tell me."

"Why do you trust General Tachibana so much?"

He Gong suddenly asked a sharp question.

"It is true that General Tachibana is the best among men."

"But... Zhou Gong was afraid of the day of rumors, but Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the time."

As a princess of the imperial court, He Gong has extremely high cultural accomplishments - after all, they have nothing else to do except reading books and reciting poems.

She has all the Sinological allusions at her fingertips.

"Your Highness, how are you sure that General Tachibana is the Holy Master who can make the people happy?"

"Just because he can govern Qinjin Fan well does not mean that he can govern the entire world well."

"What's more... Your Highness, please forgive me, I feel that even if I entrust the world to General Tachibana, he will not be able to bring about earth-shaking changes in this world."

"At most, it will just create another shogunate, changing from 'Tokugawa Tenka' to 'Tachibana Tenka'."

“Can ‘Tachibana Tenka’ really beat ‘Tokugawa Tenka’?”

"Perhaps...it will end up being another 'prosperity, the people suffer; death, the people suffer'...Huh? Your Highness, why do you look at me like this?"

Tokugawa Iemo said with a smile:

"It's nothing, I just feel happy."

"You didn't agree with me blindly, you had your own thoughts - this makes me very happy."

"He Gong, what you just said was very good."

"Indeed, I am not a god and cannot predict the future."

"So... to put it bluntly, I'm just betting that Mr. Orange is the one who can make history."

"However, bets are bets, and I'm not betting randomly without any strategy."

"Tachibana-kun... is a very magical person."

"I can vaguely feel that there is a 'fire' hidden in his heart."

"Because the time has not come yet, this 'flame' has not yet burned violently."

"But when the time comes, this 'flame' will show unprecedented heat."

"It was this 'fire' in his heart that made me make the decision to 'bet on Qingdeng'."

"I'm very stupid, so all I can think of about a prosperous life is nothing more than digging my belly into the ground and not picking up lost things along the way."

"Looking at Qingdeng...the world in his mind and his 'realm' may far exceed my imagination!"

"All in all, let's wait and see for now."

"This is the path I chose, and I have to witness it with my own eyes until the end."

Speaking of this, Tokugawa Iemo seemed to think of something, paused, and then changed the subject:

"Ah, right."

"This is a rare opportunity. Taking advantage of the good atmosphere tonight, He Gong, I have a piece of advice that I must tell you."

"Things in the world are often unpredictable."

"In this troubled world where war is everywhere, even the general conquering the barbarians cannot escape danger."

"So...if one day in the future, I can no longer be by your side, there are three people you can always trust."

As he spoke, he held out three fingers.

"The first is Tachibana Aoden, the second is Katsu Rintaro, and the third is mother."

"Tachibana-kun and Sheng-jun don't talk much."

"As for Mother... I know that your relationship with Mother is not very good."

"But, mother, she is not a bad person, she just doesn't know how to get along with you. It's not that she hates you."

"If you encounter difficulties that are difficult to cope with, or have no choice, you might as well go to these three people for help."

"They will never let you down."

As soon as he finished speaking, He Gong scolded him angrily:

"Your Highness, please stop saying such ugly words as 'I can no longer be by your side'!"

"I don't like such unlucky words!"

Tokugawa Iemo smiled:

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you unhappy."

"I just mentioned it to you out of caution."

"You just need to keep my words in your heart and think of them all the time."

…

…

The next day, early morning——

A certain deep mountain west of Edo——

Chirp——!Chirp——!Chirp——!

From time to time, you can hear the chirping of birds in the trees.

The early winter mountain wind blew past my ears, bringing with it a biting chill.

Qingto pushed aside the cane in front of him and asked Shikisaki in front of him:

"Mr. Shikizaki, haven't you arrived yet?"

Shikisaki replied without looking back:

"We're almost there. Do you see the mountain in front of us? We will reach our destination when we get over this mountain."

Last night, after using his money power, Shikizaki Kikiyoshi, who was initially hesitant, made up his mind instantly and said boldly, "Just leave it to me!"

This left Boss Kiryu speechless for a long time, who had spent a lot of time trying to understand the situation with emotion and reason.

Such a result was within Qingto's expectation. After all, Shikisaki Shiyō was a prodigal son who lingered in Yoshiwara all day long.

It would be really strange if such a person did not love money.

Of course, Qingdeng had no intention of blaming the other party.

Who would hate money? What's wrong with chasing money?

For Qingdeng, who now owns 400,000 shi of rich land, a mere 3,000 taels of gold is not worth mentioning at all.

If only this amount of money could be used to recast Vairocana and turn it into the legendary "black sword", that would be great.

After solemnly accepting the commission, Shikizaki Shiyuki said to Aonto:
To be continued...