Fortunately, the days when he was drafted to transport hot springs coincided with the busy farming season.

As we all know, there are only a few days in the year suitable for farming.

If you miss this period, you will have nothing to gain this year.

Although Tamamo Mae's father begged and begged for some time, he was still ruthlessly rejected.

It's been two months since I left.

By the time he returned home, there was no doubt that the busy farming season was over, and even trying to make up for it would not help.

To make matters worse, he accidentally sprained his waist while carrying a heavy soup bucket.

When he managed to get home, his injuries were so severe that it was difficult to even walk.

He was delayed in farm work, injured his body, and made such a huge sacrifice, but the shogunate refused to pay even a penny in compensation and left him to fend for himself.

Humiliation, grief, hatred... a torrent of painful emotions swallowed up Tamamo Mae's father.

He was so angry that he vomited blood and fell to the ground. He died soon after.

Even though they have been so miserable, their family's tragedy is not over yet.

Peasants in the feudal era had no means of resisting disasters, so they stopped talking.

Even in years with excellent harvests, they can barely feed themselves.

This is true even in good years, let alone the loss of harvest due to missing the farming season?

The shogunate will not exempt you from taxes because you lacked money and food and your family died.

The pressure of filling your stomach, the pressure of paying taxes... Even if you sell all the valuable things in the house, it will still be a drop in the bucket.

Tamamo-mae's mother was already weak and could not withstand such a torment.

Her husband died, she was unable to pay taxes, and she was hungry... Under multiple blows, she also left Tamamo-mae.

Those happy days, those days when both parents were healthy and carefree, disappeared like a dream.

The family was destroyed... all because of a bucket of hot springs from the general's house.

As an 8-year-old girl, the only way to survive is to wander and beg.

Fortunately, not long after she started wandering, she was taken in by the owner of a girls' house in Yoshihara.

After several years of training, she became a wandering girl in Yoshihara.

With her good looks and sharp tongue, she was like a fish in water in Yoshiwara.

Although she can't become an oiran, she still has many benefactors and is one of the most popular oiran girls in the shop.

She has never forgotten the tragedies she has experienced, and she does not dare to forget them.

Her hatred for the shogunate has not faded over time, but has become stronger. Living in Yoshihara, which is both glamorous and dirty, she has witnessed more darkness with her own eyes.

One day, by chance, she learned of the existence of the Punishment Group.

After learning that the Hōzhu-gumi was a secret society established during the Kansei period (1789-1800) with the mission of overthrowing the shogunate, she immediately became strongly interested in it.

With a strong hatred for the shogunate, she joined the execution group without hesitation.

Taking advantage of her identity, she began to deliberately get close to the dignitaries of the shogunate to collect intelligence for the execution team.

Except for a few exceptions, the retirement age for women is 28 years old.

When you reach this age, you can either raise enough money to redeem yourself and regain your freedom, or you can retreat to the second line and engage in back-office work, specifically serving the young wandering girls in the store.

As one of the top names in the store, she had already earned enough money to redeem herself.

However, although she redeemed herself, she did not leave Yoshiwara. Instead, she was transferred to a job specifically responsible for supervising and training wandering girls. She continued to stay in Yoshiwara and continued to collect intelligence for the Execution Team.

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty years have passed.

She has gone from being as beautiful as a flower to being as old as she is now.

The Dharma Execution Team is still the same Dharma Execution Team.

The shogunate is still the same shogunate.

Over the years, all their efforts to bring down the curtain have ended in failure.

Old people died and quit one after another... Unconsciously, Tamamo Mae became the oldest person in the organization.

"Down with the shogunate"... seems to be an unfulfilled dream forever.

Tamamo Mae couldn't help but think:

——The history of the Fa Zhu Group probably ends today...

Gradually, she slowly came back to her senses.

Looking up, the surroundings were empty.

Everyone was gone.

Those who said "I won't accompany you" ran away completely.

Those who advised others not to leave and called them "cowards" probably saw that most people had left and no longer had the confidence to persist, so they also ran away.

The association that lasted for nearly half a century has come to such a tragic ending...

——Forget it...that's it...

Failure after failure has completely exhausted Tamamo Mae's energy.

At this moment, she couldn't feel any joy or sorrow.

She had a messy look on her face and stood up stiffly, resembling a clay or wood sculpture.

Where to go next?

Where else can I go?

How will I live in the future?

While she was silently thinking about these heavy questions——

"Okay! This place is good! Let's use this place as the base for our comeback!"

The sudden young voice made her startled.

She turned her head mechanically and looked around - only to see a young man in his 20s standing with his head held high, his hands on his hips, and looking confidently at the open space below his feet.

Neither ugly nor handsome, neither fat nor thin, neither tall nor short... This person exudes an "ordinary" atmosphere from the inside out.

Tamamo recognized this young man. He had just joined the Punishment Team not long ago. Due to his junior status, she did not remember his name.

"...Why don't you leave?"

Driven by curiosity, Tamamo Mae couldn't help but ask aloud.

The young man looked at her and raised his eyebrows:

"Huh? Mother-in-law, are you still there? I thought you were all gone."

Because of her seniority, Tamamo-mae is often addressed as "Mother-in-law" within the organization.

At this time, Tamamo suddenly discovered that there was a child next to the young man... Correction, it was a child holding a baby.

The child was about 3 or 4 years old. He stood next to the young man with an expressionless face. His expression showed a strange maturity, which was not at all what a child of his age would look like.

It is worth mentioning that he was holding a baby in his arms - judging from the appearance, it should be a baby girl.

The baby was covered with a raincoat, and I don't know if it was because of her big heart or something else, but she fell asleep in the wind and rain without being affected by the external environment at all.

The young man noticed Tamamo Mae's gaze and smiled:

"These two children were adopted not long ago."

"My elder brother is a deaf and mute person who was born deaf, and my younger sister is still an infant."

"I thought they were pitiful, so I adopted them."

After saying that, he raised his big hand affectionately and rubbed the boy's little head.

Tamazomae doesn't care what happens to the brother and sister.

She only focuses on one thing now: What's going on with this person? Why is he still here?

"Why don't you leave?"

Tamamo Mae restated the question just now, and then added:

"Didn't you see that the team has dispersed?"

Faced with Tamamo Mae's questioning, the young man's reaction was quite calm.

I saw him spreading his hands, shrugging, and showing an optimistic smile:

"Although the team is broken up, we are not dead yet, are we?"

"Since there is still three inches of breath under our nose, we still have a chance to regain our strength!"

"Mother-in-law, look, this place has beautiful mountains and clear waters. The most important thing is that it is in a remote location and is not easily discovered by the government. It is really a good place to establish a base!"
To be continued...