During his trip to Kiyomizu-dera, Zhang Heng bumped into Okita Soki, who had his first awakening of love.
Since he had already made an agreement with Okita Soki, Zhang Heng wasn't in a hurry.
Although Okita Soki was coughing, he wouldn't die anytime soon. As the most powerful person in this quest, he was like a main course that tasted, tasted, and tasted great. Once Zhang Heng finished his meal, he wouldn't be in the mood to taste the other appetizers.
Therefore, Zhang Heng did not mind pushing back the time of the duel. After all, he had other things to do now. The two swords he borrowed from the Vermilion Bird Dojo and another dojo seemed to be of high quality. Unfortunately, like the Riizhi, they were still a long way from being famous.
This was especially true for the Suzaku Dojo's Miike Mitsuyo. Not only was it not made by Miike Mitsuyo, Zhang Heng even asked a professional collector to appraise it, but he couldn't be sure if it was really Miike Mitsuyo's work.
This was also the most troublesome part about this quest. According to Scarlet, the swords that appeared here didn't have the corresponding item prompt even if they were in their hands. For example, Scarlet experienced the Eiroku Incident, and her friend experienced the Demon Blade Reborn quest. Both of them had a clear goal to find. This time, Zhang Heng entered the Bakumatsu Kyoto quest, however, was a gathering of experts. This also meant that he might have to make a decision in the end.
But for now, he didn't have to worry about this problem. All he had to do was challenge all the masters and collect famous swords.
…
Another week had passed since the trip to Kiyomizu-dera.
The Choshu vassals hadn't come to him for revenge. Initially, Zhang Heng thought it was a little strange. With their style of doing things, it made no sense for them to stay silent for so long unless something more important happened. Now, he finally received news that Shinsaku Takasugi, who was recuperating in Sakurayama, died of illness.
This was indeed a major event that would shake the world.
Shinsaku Takasugi was the leader of the anti-shogunate faction in the Choshu Domain. In his early years, he was radical in his actions. He planned to assassinate the Westerners, burn the British legation, and force Emperor Kōmei to issue an amnesty. After that, he single-handedly formed a special force to overthrow the shogunate. After the Choshu Domain suffered a crushing defeat, he represented the Choshu Domain and was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Britain, the United States, France, and the Netherlands. After the Choshu Domain surrendered to the shogunate, he lived in exile for a period of time. But not long after, he and Ito Hirobumi seized the power of the Choshu Domain by force and carried out a series of Westernized reforms, allowing the Choshu Domain to embark on the road of prosperity and power. Later, in the counterattack of Oshima and Kokura, he defeated the shogunate's fleet.
In the end, he died on his sickbed on the eve of the new era.
One could imagine how sorrowful the Choshu Domain people who stayed in Kyoto were. No wonder they couldn't care less about the Koyama dojo for the time being.
Zhang Heng didn't feel much about Shinsaku Takasugi's death. Anyway, he didn't stand on either side. He was just a bystander. Compared to this shocking news, he was more concerned about another piece of news — Juzumaru had arrived in Kyoto!
Juzumaru was one of the five swords in the world, as famous as Mikazuki Munechika. It was a treasure of Honokuji Temple, and its current owner was Kirino Toshiaki, who was known as the Four Executioners of the Bakumatsu.
This person was Saigo Takamori, the leader of the Satsuma Domain. In order to overthrow the shogunate, he was willing to abandon his samurai's honor and became a killer who specialized in assassinating the shogunate's minions. Countless shogunate officials died in his hands, and the news of his arrival in Kyoto was revealed at the critical moment of Shinsaku Takasugi's death.
Was the Satsuma Domain planning to use the death of their ally, Shinsaku Takasugi, to make a big move?
For a time, undercurrents began to surge in Kyoto again. The ronin of the Shinsengumi and Meitei groups patrolled the streets every day with their swords. However, before Kirino Toshiaki could be found, the people around him were already suffering from their harassment. The emperor and the gongfu were eating melon seeds in the imperial city, enjoying the show. On the other hand, the shogunate's people were in danger.
Zhang Heng was also paying attention to the development of the situation. It was rare for him to get the exact whereabouts of the five swords in the world. Of course, he wanted to take this opportunity to take Juzumaru into his pocket. However, the premise was that he had to find Kirino Toshiaki before the Shinsengumi did. It wasn't going to be easy. There were many anti-shogunate forces in Kyoto, and no one knew where Kirino Toshiaki was hiding now.
On the other hand, the French businessman had fewer and fewer people following him because of his hard work during this period. Coupled with the news that Kirino Toshiaki had arrived in Kyoto, no one was in the mood to keep an eye on him anymore.
So Gabriel found Zhang Heng that afternoon and asked mysteriously, "Are you free tomorrow night?"
"Huh?" Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
"There's an important banquet tomorrow night. I need you to be my interpreter. Don't worry. If you do a good job, I can pay you ten small coins in one go," the French businessman added.
So far, his job as a translator had not been easy at all, and it was completely disproportionate to the generous pay. However, Zhang Heng knew very well that this situation would not last forever. Now that the meat of the show was finally being served, he believed that as long as he agreed to Gabriel's request, he would know what the French businessman had been planning all this while.
However, the money this time was not going to be easy to earn.
No matter what the other party planned to do, it was obviously not something that could be revealed. Zhang Heng was not naive enough to think that Gabriel would really believe that a strange ronin like him could keep secrets. So, it was not difficult to guess what the other party planned to do after "using" him.
Zhang Heng needed to decide if he should take the risk. If it was only for the ten small coins, he would have turned around and left. Anyway, he had made a lot of money during this period, and Akane Koyama had been offering to waive his rent, but he refused. At the very least, he could continue to work as a translator for other businessmen. The only downside was that he would get paid slightly less.
What really interested Zhang Heng, however, was the group of people that Gabriel was going to meet.
Now that he knew that it was the shogunate who had been following the French businessman, it meant that Gabriel was likely to be in contact with the Tobaku. Zhang Heng wanted to find Juzumaru, and Kirino Toshiaki's whereabouts were also in the hands of the Tobaku.
Therefore, it was difficult for Zhang Heng to refuse to go to the banquet tomorrow night. This was the only useful clue he had at this stage, and he was confident in his swordsmanship. After thinking for a moment, Zhang Heng agreed to Gabriel's request. The latter seemed relieved to hear that.
"Great. Let's meet at the same place tomorrow night."
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