Su Shuang's world is collapsing [Comprehensive]

Time has slowly come to the end of March in the second year of Meiji.

It has long been reported that the new government army will send a fleet north.However, the Kaiyang Maru, the flagship of the old shogunate army's navy, ran aground and sank during the raid on Ezo.

No, if the Kaiyang Pill is there, maybe it won't help.Because I heard that in the fleet going north this time, there are ships that are newer than Kaiyang Maru.

Therefore, the cadres of Goryokaku were devastated, and Hijikata, as an army, pursued and was even more busy preparing for battle.

In the past few days, the air pressure inside and outside Goryokaku has been very low.

On this day, until late at night, various combat meetings and countermeasure meetings continued in Hijikata's room.

Liu Quan, who is the surname of the earth army and not the acting leader of the new group, can only wander outside the door at this moment, fulfilling the responsibilities of a surname.

Sometimes she also goes in to refill tea.But at that time, Hijikata could always be seen frowning, or thinking without saying a word, or looking at information or maps, and at most, when Liu Quan was refilling the teacup in his hand, he would throw a veil at her. He came over with a blank look, and then quickly returned to work.

He is just like the companions of the Shinsengumi who drank the water that turned into a Rakshasa and overdrawn their lives to obtain greater abilities. more time.

His desperate appearance, even if he just stood by and watched silently, made people feel a burst of pain.

But Liu Quan knew that at this moment, he couldn't really help him.

The Republic of Ezo is doomed to perish, just as even Zhuge reincarnated cannot save Shu Han from demise.All she could do was to be on standby as much as possible in this desperate situation, to stay vigilant and sober, and try to find an opportunity to save Hijikata's life.

Finally, late at night, the door opened.

Liu Quan, who was sitting on a chair outside the door and reading a book, stood up immediately, but saw that the first person to come out was Shimada.

After Shimada saw Liu Quan, he hesitated for a moment, but stopped in front of her.Others filed out from behind him.

After those people had left, Shimada spoke.

"Mr. Qingyuan, the meeting is over."

Liu Quan nodded, and said with a smile: "You've worked hard, Shimada-kun! Today's meeting was so long, I'm going to get some snacks for Mr. Hijikata—"

Shimada had a troubled look on his face. "No, it's better not to be like that now."

Liu Quan was taken aback. "Why?"

Shimada paused. "At the meeting just now, a fierce dispute broke out between two parties with different opinions...Hijikata-kun seems to be in a very bad mood. Let him be alone now."

Liu Quan was speechless for a moment.

Seeing her like this, Shimada seemed to hesitate again, and then said in a low voice: "...Moreover, someone has asked you to resume your status as the acting leader of the Shinsengumi Ichiban Group and accept the appointment to take up a position in the army. It is also a requirement to participate in the current job.”

Liu Quan was taken aback.

"what……?!"

She used to disguise herself as a man to join the Shinsengumi, but it doesn't seem to be a secret anymore.Maybe after she came to Ezo, there are still many people who can't see the truth that she is a woman, but it doesn't rule out that there are some smart people here who can see the secret behind her disguise—she changed clothes When men's suits came to Ezo, they didn't do the rigorous and lifelike cross-dressing as they did when they participated in the Shinsengumi in Kyoto.

She just kept combing her long hair into a ponytail, changed into men's western clothes, and continued to use men's language when speaking—she didn't even bother to deliberately lower her voice and speak in a deep voice—— In other words, these small tricks seem to be a bit insufficient to dispel the doubts of some caring people.There will probably always be people who can't help but wonder why the former acting head of Shinsengumi Ichiban has such an indistinguishable appearance.

Of course, no one dared to ask such reckless questions directly to the army of the Ezo Republic and his small surname.However, the two parties involved, whether intentional or unintentional, seemed to have no intention of carrying out the seamless transfiguration of the past, nor did they seem to have the intention of deliberately covering up the present perfunctory attire. It is more and more fueling the doubts and other derived ideas in the minds of interested people.

A few years ago, some prejudiced or radical members of the Shinsengumi might have proposed to use the law in the game—although the law does not stipulate how to punish women who disguise themselves as men and join the Shinsengumi—to deal with Liu Quan .But now the talents in Ezo are dying, and after several large-scale defeats in the Shinsengumi, capable cadres have sacrificed and left the team, so the existence of Liu Quan seems too conspicuous.

Some people must think that a person like her who grew up with the Shinsengumi and completed many difficult tasks, does not give advice or go to battle to kill the enemy during difficult times of war, but only follows Hijikata and acts as his surname , It's a bit too wasteful.At least Liu Quan's combat effectiveness is still impressive now. In addition to her previous sword skills, she can also use foreign guns.This kind of person can be used as a gun to kill the enemy at least in a big war.

The war is coming.They finally lost their temper.Even if you can't directly ask the earth side such crude questions as to whether his surname is male or female, but asking Liu Quan, a former important cadre of the Xinsengumi, to reappear at such an important moment to charge forward, can still hide under the mask of righteousness After that, he said it in a high-sounding manner.

Shimada saw from Liu Quan's face that she already understood the meaning behind this proposal, so he nodded to her and said comfortingly: "Hijikata-san will not agree to such a request. Those people want you to die ...This kind of thing can never be agreed to even by us as Shinsengumi's companions."

Liu Quan forced a smile.

"Thank you... Shimada-kun, I am very grateful for your kindness."

Shimada looked at her with worried eyes, then left without saying anything.

Looking at the door that was carefully closed by the last person to leave, Liu Quan took a deep breath.

"Mr. Hijikata... I'm coming in."

With that said, she opened the door and walked into the room.

...for a moment she stopped.

Tufang left the desk and was standing in front of the window.The two windows were wide open, and he leaned against the frame, staring out gravely.

The soles of Liu Quan's boots tapped on the wooden floor, making crisp footsteps.Even after hearing this, the earth party did not look back for a while.

"...I don't remember letting you in," he said dryly.

"I'm sorry." Liu Quan apologized insincerely, "But I heard that the meeting is over...the kitchen has prepared snacks, can I go get them now?"

Tufang replied briefly and sternly: "No need, I'm not hungry."

... What questions are running through his mind right now?How to deal with the new government army that is about to cross the sea?Or how to deal with calls for her to revert to men's clothing, accept official duties and join the army?

"Is there... anything I can do?" Liu Quan asked tentatively, staring at his displeased side face.

"……No!"

Earthwork blurted out almost immediately.Then there was an expression of chagrin and bewilderment because the tone of rejection was too blunt and rude for a moment.

But Liu Quan pursed his lips and smiled slightly.

"...This shows that there are really things I can do." She said in a gentle tone.

Tufang suddenly turned his head and stared at her face.

"...No. Xue Ye, listen to me...you don't have to work so hard. There's really nothing you can do now....It seems that I blamed you just now, I'm sorry."

He seemed to be desperately trying to explain something, to clarify her so-called "misunderstanding".

Liu Quan looked back at him, walked around the desk slowly, and walked in front of him.

His body language showed no objection to her approach, he just stood there quietly looking at her.But the closer she was to him, the more clearly she could see the sadness and anger floating in his deep eyes.

"It's okay." She stopped a step away from him, looking straight into his eyes.

"...But, if there is really nothing wrong...why do you show that expression?" She raised her head and asked softly.

Hijikata's hands were still clasped around his chest, with a tired look on his face and solemn and sad eyes.

"I'm just a little tired from meetings all day..." he said refusally, as if planning to send her off right away.

"I think I should rest..."

"Mr. Tufang?" Liu Quan called him suddenly tentatively.

"You know... I'm willing to do anything for you, okay?" She said slowly, watching Hijikata's expression gradually turn from shock to complexity.

"...Deputy Chief."

"...Take back that address just now!" Tu Fang suddenly shouted sharply.

"Right now!"

Liu Quan was taken aback.

It was actually a temptation for her to call him "Deputy Chief". Now it seems that her conjecture is completely confirmed——

What Hijikata is worrying about, besides military affairs, is probably the proposal that Shimada mentioned.

However, his attitude said it all.Compared with the overall situation of military affairs, what he wants to protect now is her more - this realization somehow made her feel warm in her heart.She pursed her lips, and a happy smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

...It was no longer the time when he resolutely left her alone in the corner room where the crisis was lurking in the brightly lit Shimabara, and said "she is capable enough to handle those things by herself", right?

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February 6: