I formed the strongest swordsman group

Somewhere in Edo Castle——

The night is deep and the moonlight is hazy.

Although the brutal war has been over for some time, the town has not yet completely escaped the shadow of war.

I sniffed my nose slightly and seemed to be able to smell the blood in the air.

If you listen carefully, you can seem to hear continuous scolding.

The people who had temporarily left Edo to avoid the war had not returned yet, so the entire city was dark and quiet.

Except for a few areas with light such as Edo Castle and Nihonbashi, it was pitch dark everywhere.

Even Yoshiwara, known as the "city that never sleeps", has not been open during this period. The dark night opened its big hand and grasped Yoshiwara in its palm.

There were no human voices, no dog barking, only the occasional chirping of insects.

Suddenly, at this moment, at the end of a certain path, a strange sound suddenly came out -

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap…

It's the sound of wooden clogs stepping on the ground.

The figure swayed... In a moment, four warriors jumped into the path from the side, and then walked straight forward at a rapid pace.

The four people stood in a "triangle".

A young man wearing purple clothes and a low-brimmed hat is located in the center of the "triangle" - the hat on his head is pulled down so low that it is difficult for outsiders to see his specific appearance.

The other three stood in front, left and right of the young man in purple, forming the three corners of a "triangle" and protecting the young man in purple in the middle.

As the three men marched, their heads and eyes never stopped moving, repeatedly scanning the surroundings. Their left hands always tightly grasped the scabbards of the swords at their left waists, and their right hands were bent and held in front of their abdomens, ready to fight "anytime they could draw their swords."

With such positions and postures, it is not difficult to find that these three people are the bodyguards of the young man in purple.

Their stance, pace, breathing patterns, and even their eyes - these three bodyguards all displayed extremely high qualities, emitting the aura of strong men.

To be able to have such a powerful bodyguard...there is no doubt that the young man in purple must not be an ordinary person.

In addition, they were very careful not to reveal their tracks. They didn't even use lanterns, but relied entirely on the faint moonlight and the excellent eyesight of the leader to find their way.

They walked hurriedly, hurriedly... After about twenty minutes, they finally stopped - in front of them was a small, inconspicuous temple located on the street corner.

During the Edo period, Buddhism was very popular thanks to the strong support of the shogunate.

Therefore, although Edo did not have much else, it had the most temples.

Small temples like this can be found everywhere in Edo.

The young man in purple raised his hat slightly, and with a complicated look hesitantly looked along the brim of the hat towards the temple gate.

After a while, he lowered his hat again and walked forward.

Before entering the temple, the three bodyguards stopped, turned their heads back, and checked again to see if anyone was following them.

After confirming that everything was alright, the three of them withdrew their gazes and followed the young man in purple into the temple.

After the purple-robed young man passed through the temple gate, he walked straight through Baizhou and strode into the Buddhist hall.

【Note: Baizhou: The area in front of the house that is paved with white fine stones.】

The Buddhist hall is not big, and there is a Buddha statue of mediocre quality. There are no monks, only four warriors of different ages and sizes waiting here.

Seeing the young man in purple coming, the four men immediately took off their swords from their waists, held them with their right hands, then bent their waists and knees, and saluted each other respectfully.

"Everyone, get up. Sorry to have kept you waiting."

As soon as the purple-robed youth finished speaking, one of the four people immediately responded:

"Your Highness, you are too kind!"

He paused, cleared his throat, put on a flattering smile, and prepared to flatter the other party with more disgusting words, but was interrupted by the purple-clothed young man:

"Let's skip the extra small talk for now."

After saying that, the young man in purple raised his hand and took off the hat on his head.

As the hat fell off, his face was finally revealed.

A neatly trimmed bun, a broad forehead, and fairly regular facial features...it was none other than Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu, the leader of the "Hitotsubashi faction"!

Such a big shot actually showed up here... Anyone with a brain would know that this is extremely unusual!

Ichihashi Yoshinobu casually threw away the bamboo hat in his hand and said calmly:

"Time is running out, let's get started."

…

…

Ever since he boasted to the imperial court that "the campaign to expel the foreigners will begin on May 10," which put the shogunate into an extremely unfavorable and passive situation, Ichihashi Yoshinobu voluntarily resigned from the post of "Shogun Go-mi-jo" (deputy shogun) and lived in seclusion at home.

Thanks to his prominent status, even Tokugawa Iemochi could not do anything to him.

Otherwise, with all the trouble he has caused, he wouldn't deserve ten heads!

At that time, if Qing Deng had not turned the tide and single-handedly persuaded the British fleet in Edo Bay to retreat, giving an explanation to the people of the world, it would be hard to tell how the situation would have ended.

Hitohashi Yoshinobu was the leader of the "Hitohashi faction".

His resignation naturally caused the power of the "Ichibashi faction" to plummet, and they could no longer compete with the "Nanki faction".

The protracted "Nanji-Ichibashi dispute" ended in such a ridiculous ending - a casual remark changed history.

Since he retired to his home, Ichibashi Yoshinobu has become an "invisible person", not caring about political affairs and rarely even going out.

After a long time, people almost forget his existence.

In fact, although Ichibashi Yoshinobu stopped socializing and traveling, he was never "turning a deaf ear to the outside world and pretending to be a transparent person". He has always been paying close attention to the outside world.

Whenever an important event occurred, his spies would deliver the news to his mansion as soon as possible.

In order to conceal his tracks, he would often sneak out of the mansion to meet and talk with the core members of the "Ichibashi Faction" to share information - just like right now!

At this moment, Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu and the four others - all of whom were the core members of the "Hitotsubashi faction" - sat face to face on the cushions in the Buddhist hall, skipping unnecessary greetings and directly starting a secret meeting!

Funny enough, these four people are very interesting. Their body shapes are exactly one fat and one thin, one tall and one short, with distinct features, making them easy to identify.

As soon as the meeting started, Ichibashi Yoshinobu turned his head to look at the thin man and asked directly:

"Any news about Tokugawa Iemochi?"

The thin man nodded vigorously and said in a heavy tone:

"Lord Ichibashi, I have received accurate information that Tokugawa Iemochi is not dead!"

Yoshinobu Ichibashi frowned:

“Is the information accurate?”

The thin man nodded again:

"I am willing to guarantee this with my own life, it is absolutely accurate!"

“…”

Facing the thin man's sonorous and powerful reply, Ichihashi Yoshinobu first remained silent, and then said softly without any sadness or joy:

"I see... Tokugawa Iemochi is not dead..."

As he muttered this, he lowered his head slightly and drooped his eyelids.

Beneath his thin eyelashes, one can vaguely see a variety of emotions emerging from his eyes.

First there was "surprise", then a hint of "regret" and "bewilderment"...among all these emotions, there was a faint flash of "relief" as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

At this moment, the fat man suddenly raised his fist and pounded the mat under him, gritting his teeth:

"Damn it, how could this happen... He's not dead...!"

The tall guy next to him echoed:

"Tsk, he's really lucky. He's still alive despite being so badly injured..."

Except for Ichibashi Yoshinobu, the other four people present all had indignation on their faces, and a gloomy atmosphere was floating among them.

In recent days, while waiting for the results of Tokugawa Iemochi's treatment, there have been mixed feelings within the shogunate.

It goes without saying who will be happy and who will be sad.

For the members of the "Hitotsubashi Group", this is a once-in-a-lifetime and precious opportunity!

They were all looking forward to it, hoping that the treatment would fail and that Tokugawa Ieyasu would die quickly!

As long as Tokugawa Iemochi died, Ichibashi Yoshinobu would be able to come out and inherit the position of shogun naturally!

By then, the "Yiqiao faction" will be able to make a comeback and get rid of all the bad feelings in their hearts!

Tokugawa Iemochi's coming to power made the "Nanki faction" flourish.

The rise of the "Nanki School" means the decline of the "Hitotsubashi School".

Faced with the suppression of the "Nanji faction", they had long been holding back their anger, just waiting to vent it one day.

Of course, all of the above must be based on the fact that "Tokugawa Iemochi is dead."

If he had not vacated the "position", Ichibashi Yoshinobu would not have been able to become the new general.

In this light, it is not difficult to imagine how much the members of the "Hitotsubashi faction" were looking forward to the news of Tokugawa Iemochi's death.

It’s a pity that the greater their expectations, the greater their disappointment.

Tokugawa Iemochi is still alive... To them, this was the most tragic news.

Just as everyone was secretly worried, the thin man suddenly said:

"Although Tokugawa Iemochi survived, his body was reportedly too weak to be revived."

Yoshinobu Ichibashi suddenly raised his eyebrows.

"What did you say? Tokugawa Iemochi is in deep sleep?"

The thin man nodded slightly, and then succinctly told everything he knew.

From Tokugawa Iemochi’s “coma” to “only relying on water and porridge to maintain life”.

After hearing this, the fat man slapped his thigh and glared at the thin man angrily:

"Why didn't you tell me such an important thing earlier?"

The thin man was speechless and lowered his head in shame.

In an instant, this sudden new news caused the atmosphere on the scene to change strangely.

The tall man stroked his chin and said in a playful tone:

"Tokugawa Iemochi has become a half-dead useless person... This is going to be difficult..."

It would be best if Tokugawa Iemochi died.

If he is still alive, he can only consider himself unlucky and continue to wait for the opportunity to counterattack.

But as luck would have it, he was in a state between "life" and "death", neither fully alive nor completely dead...

This situation was completely beyond the expectations of Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi and others.

The temple became quiet inside and outside...

In this silence, the thin man, the fat man, the tall man and the short man looked at each other, stared at each other, and started a silent communication.

Gazes with various emotions were wandering in the air.

Yoshinobu Ichibashi did not join in.

He lowered his head and stared at the ground in front of his knees expressionlessly, neither looking like he was in a daze nor like he was in a daze.

After a moment, their "communication" ended.

The fat man, the thin man and the short man all looked uncertain and indecisive.

Only Gao Lao had a determined look on his face, as if he had made up his mind.

Then he turned his head, looked straight at Ichihashi Yoshinobu, and cleared his throat:

"Your Highness Ichihashi, in my opinion, Tokugawa Iemochi's coma may be a godsend!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ichibashi Yoshinobu seemed to have predicted what he was going to say next. He suddenly raised his hands, covered his ears tightly, and curled up into a ball.

"Shut up... I don't want to hear it..."

Gao Lao ignored Yiqiao Qingxi's wishes and continued to speak:

"Since Tokugawa Iemochi is not dead, let us let him die."

He paused here, took a deep breath, adjusted his demeanor and tone, and then said word by word in a serious tone:

"Assassinate Tokugawa Iemochi! Make sure he never wakes up!"

Yoshinobu Ichibashi covered his ears tightly, unwilling to listen to these terrible words.

However... this is just a futile effort.

Even though he had covered his ears, Gao Lao's voice still penetrated his palms and reached his ears clearly.

As soon as these words were spoken, the thin man, the fat man and the short man all changed their expressions.

The fat man took the lead:

"Hey! What nonsense are you talking about?!"

The thin man followed closely:

"Do you know what you're talking about?"

The tall man crossed his arms and responded calmly:

"Of course I know what I'm talking about. I'm not talking nonsense or joking. I'm serious."

"You guys don't really want to wait for Tokugawa Iemochi to die naturally, do you?"

"How long do we have to wait for this?"

"I don't want to be a person who sits and waits for opportunities!"

"'Assassinating the general' is a risky move, but also a brilliant one."

"As long as we succeed in killing Tokugawa Iemochi, we can revitalize the entire chess game!"

His words left everyone at the scene speechless.

At this time, Ichihashi Yoshinobu finally put down his hands that were covering his ears and murmured in a trance:

"Assassinating the general... How could I... How could I do such a treasonous thing..."

Gao Lao was stunned by Ichibashi Yoshinobu's weak attitude.

He gritted his teeth and said anxiously:

"Your Highness Ichibashi, those who want to achieve great things will not care about small kindnesses and small righteousness! What's more, Tokugawa Iemochi is our enemy!"

“…”

Yoshinobu Ichibashi did not respond and remained silent.

Suddenly, the dwarf, who had been in deep thought, said:

"Your Highness, please listen to me!"

As he spoke, he bent down and bowed deeply to Ichihashi Yoshiki, with his hands on the ground, his forehead an inch above the ground:

"I also believe that the assassination of Tokugawa Iemochi is imperative!"

"Let's put aside my selfishness and talk about justice!"

"This is a time of crisis!"

"There are traitors like Satsuma and Choshu inside, and strong bandits like England and Russia outside!"

"Tokugawa Iemochi is in a coma and has lost the ability to govern the country!"

"Therefore, we urgently need a wise and brave general to lead us!"

Having said this, he suddenly raised his head and looked straight at Ichibashi Yoshinobu with fiery eyes.

"Your Highness Yiqiao, we need you! The whole world needs you!"

"I sincerely believe that you can lead the shogunate out of this predicament!"

"Killing the current general is certainly cruel."

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures!"

"The death of Tokugawa Iemochi will bring about the rebirth of the shogunate... no, the world!"

The tall guy and the short guy had the same idea.

The two of them formed a common front and stopped talking. They just looked at Ichihashi Yoshinobu and waited quietly for his reply.

The fat man and the thin man looked at each other - they both noticed strong hesitation on each other's faces - as if they wanted to say something, but were reluctant to speak.

Finally, they both turned to look at Yoshinobu Ichibashi, waiting for his reply.

Under the gaze and expectation of everyone, Yoshinobu Itohashi, with an unpleasant expression, finally broke his silence:

"This is a serious matter... Let me imagine it carefully."

After saying this, he grabbed the sword beside him and made a gesture to leave.

Upon seeing this, the dwarf immediately changed his expression to one of indignation:

"Your Highness, please don't be indecisive!"

"We are all looking forward to your ascension to the throne, and are willing to make any sacrifice for it!"

"Please don't let us down!"

Yoshinobu Ichibashi froze.

He just "stopped" in mid-air, neither standing up nor sitting down.

Gao Lao continued to stare at Ichihashi Yoshinobu, narrowing his eyes slightly, and his gaze became meaningful.

The next moment, he whispered:

"Your Highness Yiqiao, do you still remember the ideal of 'cultivating oneself, managing the family, governing the country, and pacifying the world'?"

This sentence was like a bolt of lightning, hitting Ichihashi Yoshinobu hard on the head! It shook him all over!

At the same time, his facial expression underwent a new change.

His expression was still dominated by a strong hesitation. However, this "hesitation" gradually deepened and became more serious, and finally turned into "struggle"!

Another moment of silence...

However, this time the silence did not last long.

Then, Yoshinobu Ichibashi slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"……I see."

After mumbling, he suddenly opened his eyes, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes:

"Then let's do as you say and kill Tokugawa Iemochi...!"

Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a recommendation ticket! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

PS: Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu is a very interesting person. When I was researching his life, I found that he had a major character flaw. I will tell you more about it later when the time comes.