"My lord." Nanahara on the side spoke out and said, "Please bear with me, we have now arrived in the castle town and will be able to return to the city soon." ”

"Nope." Matsudaira Genuchi refused without thinking, "I'm going to drink hot tea now." ”

Long before Matsudaira Gennai became the new daimyo of the Hirose Domain, Nanahara served as Matsudaira Gennai's bodyguard.

After spending so much time with Gennai Matsudaira, Nanahara has long been accustomed to Genuchi Matsudaira's character of wanting to eat and drink something all of a sudden.

At the same time, I am also accustomed to Matsudaira Gennai's insistence on eating and drinking now, which is quite unreasonable.

“…… I understand. "We will try our best to make hot tea for you as quickly as possible......"

Before Nanahara's words were finished, Matsudaira Genuchi interrupted:

"No need. I've found a way to drink hot tea. ”

As he said this, Gennai Matsudaira cast his gaze somewhere ahead.

Nanahara followed Matsudaira Gennai's gaze.

At the end of the line of sight, there is a sword hall that is emitting lights outward.

On the plaque hanging next to the gate of the Sword Pavilion, it reads - Sakakihara Sword Pavilion.

……

……

Hirose Domain, Kuronaga's Mansion -

Kuranaga and Ogata walked one after the other down a corridor of the mansion.

The entourage, and the flying ape.

The flying ape followed closely behind Kuranaga's side, a little ahead of Ogata.

Just now, Kuranaga said, "I'll take you to see how the women of Myohari Village are treated by Matsudaira Gennai," and then led Ogata out of the room with the flying ape and walked towards the depths of the mansion.

Kuranaga and Ogata were silent, and neither spoke.

Ogata only silently followed behind Kuranaga.

Despite the silence on the surface, Ogata is not at peace on the inside.

He was constantly imagining what he might see in the future, imagining how the women of Myohari Village had been tortured by Matsudaira Gennai......

The thought of what horrific sight he might see later, Xu felt goosebumps all over his body......

At this moment, Kuranaga, who was walking in front of Ogata, suddenly asked Ogata behind him:

"Ogata-kun...... You...... Have you ever read the "Historical Records" written by Tang Tutai Shigong? ”

"Read some ......"

Although Ogata didn't understand why Kuranaga asked him this question for no reason, Ogata answered honestly.

Although Ogata had not read through the Shiki, he had read several articles from his Chinese textbooks before coming to this Edo period.

"That'...... Ogata-kun, do you know the ...... of people? It is the person recorded in the "Historical Records of the Empress Dowager Lu" compiled by Taishi Gong......"

"I've heard ...... little"

Hearing Kuranaga's question, a strong, extremely ominous premonition emerged in Ogata's heart and swelled wildly.

At this time, Kuranaga just stopped in front of a paper sliding door.

Kuranaga looked at the paper sliding door in front of him with a complicated look, then turned to look at Ogata.

"Ogata-kun...... You must have guessed something by hearing my question......

"The old man is a person who attaches great importance to the cultivation of Sinology."

"When he was still alive, he forced the lord to read all kinds of Han books, mainly the Four Books and the Five Classics, and the history books of the Tang Dynasty."

"And yet...... When the lord read these Han books, he was not influenced by the words of the sage, nor did he realize any different feelings from the history books. ”

"Instead...... And knew something he wasn't supposed to know......"

"The lord inadvertently learned of the existence of Renbi in the process of reading the "Historical Records" once......"

"Since then, the lord has developed a strong interest in human beings......

And he's only interested in women. Therefore, whenever the lord has the opportunity, he will make the woman who made a mistake an adult......"

"The women of Myojang Village...... Young and old, they have all been made into human beings by the lord and his ......"

"Wait!"

Ogata hurriedly raised his hand and motioned for Kurunaga to stop.

"The old man...... Say no more...... I can't listen anymore......"

Just listening to what Kuranaga had just said, Oya felt dizzy, and a strong feeling of nausea continued to rise from Ogata's stomach, making him nauseous......

Looking at Ogata, who raised his hand to cover his mouth and his face was pale, Kuranaga sighed lightly.

“…… When the lord got tired of seeing and playing with these poor women, he threw them out of the city at will. ”

"I can't bear to let them die in the wilderness like this."

"So I took them back to my mansion and adopted them......"

"They're behind this paper sliding door right now......"

Kuranaga glanced at the paper sliding door next to him.

"Ogata-kun...... If you want to take a look at them and you're prepared, just pull the door and go in......"

"I won't force you to go in, and if you don't want to see it, you don't have to go in......"

With that, Kuranaga took a half-step back, giving Ogata a path to the paper sliding door.

Looking at the paper sliding door in front of him, Ogata only felt that his heart was beating wildly at a very high speed.

A fine cold sweat began to secrete on his forehead......

Even before the Edo period, Ogata had learned about people from a variety of sources, including books and the Internet.

Just by looking at the text introduction, Ogata felt his scalp tingle and didn't dare to think about it......

To enter or not to enter - there is a fierce ideological struggle going on in Ogata's mind.

Eventually, Ogata decided to reach out to the paper door knob in front of him.

The paper sliding door was slowly opened by Ogata.

Light poured down the open door into the dimly lit room.

Ogata walked slowly into the room, unable to see the room in time because his eyes were not used to the darkness for a while.

As his eyes got used to the dim environment, Ogata finally saw everything in the room.

It's a spacious room with a bed of bedding.

Most of the bedding bulged out unnaturally, and it was obvious that someone was lying in it.

There were six maids crouching next to some of the bedding or walking between each bedding.

After seeing Ogata, a stranger, suddenly break into the room, the six maids immediately cast a surprised, wary look at Ogata.

Just as one of the six maids was about to ask who Ogata was, he saw Kuranaga who had followed Ogata into the room.

Kuranaga motioned for the maids to remain silent, so the maids resisted the urge to ask who Ogata was, and allowed Ogata to scan everything in the room with stunned and shocked eyes.

After scanning everything in the room, a terrifying sight directly locked Ogata's gaze.

On a futon not far from Ogata, a "person" was lying.

Because this "person" is not covered with a quilt like the others, Ogata can clearly see what this "person" looks like.