I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 103 A 24-year-old boy and widow debuts! 【7000】

After more than a month of observation after living in the test hall, Qingdeng has a certain understanding of the character of his wife, A Bi.

In a word - she is a strong and pungent hostess of the sword gym.

He is a bit unsmiling, but when he thinks about it carefully, Qingdeng has lived in the test guard for such a long time, and the number of times he saw Ah Bi smiling happily is not more than 10 times.

Forgot exactly when, Qingdeng had heard a little about Abi from Okita.

Ah Bi came from a certain martial family with a good family background, and she can be considered a young lady. Her strong character may be caused by her family background.

With an excellent background, Ah Bi has received a very good education since he was a child.

In terms of knowledge, Abi, who has read poetry and books since he was a child, is naturally superior to Zhou Zhu, who is just a warrior and can't even read Chinese characters.

Therefore, after the completion of the test health hall, the financial work in the hall is handed over to Abi to be responsible.

Zhou Zhu manages the operation of the sword gym, A Bi manages the wallet of the sword hall, and also manages the food and drink of their big family. The husband and wife have a clear division of labor.

Therefore, as long as you know what kind of work Abi is in charge of in the test hall on weekdays, it is not difficult to understand why Abi has become so gentle after seeing the "turnover" of the test hall in the past few days. up.

"Ah, by the way, speaking of aunt... Tachibana-kun, I need to tell you about this quickly." Okita suddenly said, "Master, aunt, and Brother Kondo have just left the house, and it will probably be around four o'clock in the evening. 8 o'clock) and they will come back."

"Master, are they going out?" A bit of confusion climbed up Qingdeng's cheeks, "What are they going out at this time?"

"It's nothing." Okita replied, "This morning, a relative of Master and the others who lives in the northern suburbs of Edo accidentally broke his leg, so Master and the others went to visit their relative together."

"So it's to visit relatives. They can't come back until [-] o'clock... That means I, you, Saito, and Kubei four people will try to solve the dinner today."

After Okita nodded vigorously, he saw him say excitedly: "Mr. Tachibana, why don't we cook at home tonight, how about going out to eat soba noodles?"

"Huh? Okita-kun, do you want to go out for dinner?"

"Yeah!" Okita nodded vigorously again, "I haven't eaten soba noodles for a long time, and I want to go to the place where I haven't eaten for a long time, what do you think?"

"Soba..."

——Speaking of which, I haven't eaten noodles for a long time...

Remembering that he hadn't tasted noodles for a while, Qingdeng thought for a moment before slightly nodding his head:

"I'm OK."

……

……

Qingdeng asked Kubei and Saito for their opinions.

Jiubingwei, the old loyal servant of the Tachibana family, said without hesitation: He has no problem with what to eat, as long as he doesn't go to the dangerous area where the law and order is very bad.

Not to mention Saito.

No matter Qingdeng asks him what he wants to eat, what he wants to eat, whether he wants to go somewhere to eat with him... this man will only answer blankly: "I'm free."

Now that the unanimous vote has been passed, there is no need to delay——Qingdeng and his group of four closed the test hall, and strode towards a certain noodle restaurant not far from the test hall, which was introduced by Okita as very delicious. .

It's time for dinner.

After opening the door curtain with a big word "noodles" written on it, after entering this noodle restaurant, the smell of sauce, the smell of human sweat, the sound of noodles, the sound of chatting...these smells and sounds constitute a surging "Wave" patted Qingdeng and the others all at once.

"Welcome!" A young girl with an apron around her waist and a pair of hand-made clothes brought the bowl of noodles she was holding to the table of a guest beside her, while using a very heavy Kyoto With an accent, he warmly greeted Qingdeng and the others.

"Four!" Okita raised four fingers to Teshiro, "Excuse me, is there still room?"

"Yes, yes! Please follow me!"

Tedai led Qingdeng and others to a still vacant table that could seat six people in a corner of the noodle shop.

After everyone sat down around the empty dining table, Qingdeng raised his eyes to the menu hanging on the wall beside him.

Although this noodle restaurant is not big, the dishes are quite rich.

Soba noodles in clear soup, 16 Wen.Miso Soba Noodles, 18 Wen.Tempura buckwheat, 32 coins...Qingdeng quickly scanned the names of the dishes written on the menu.

The menu is well written.

There is a line of small characters written on the back of some noodles to mark the characteristics of this noodles.

For example - miso soba is followed by the phrase "more sauce".

Qingdeng has always had a strong taste in food, and he likes dishes full of salt and soy sauce the most.

Therefore, he ordered "Miso Soba" without hesitation.

Saito also ordered without hesitation.

Saito didn't even look at the menu, so he opened his mouth and ordered the most common, but also the cheapest, clear soup soba noodles at 16 renminbi.

After glancing at the menu, Kubei also ordered the cheapest clear soup soba.

After everyone else ordered the noodles they wanted to eat, Okita, who had been scanning the menu just now, turned his head and asked Tedai beside him:

"Can I order miso soba with tempura?"

"Of course!" Tedai smiled enthusiastically, "You can tell us what kind of noodles you want!"

"Then how much does it cost to add 2 extra pieces of tempura to the miso soba?"

Okita discusses his "custom soba noodles" with Teyo in detail.

Waiting is also waiting.While waiting for Okita to order his noodles, in order to pass this short spare time, Qing Deng opened the system interface that he hadn’t opened for a while——

【Name: Juqingdeng】(?)
[Current talent:]

[Night Vision, Sword Talent, Sleeping God, Lonely Danger, Eagle Eye, Left Hand, Fitness, Skillful Hand, Strong Tongue, Iron Waist, Steel Bones, Strong Muscle, Cat Turning, Photographic Memory]

Qingdeng's current system interface is finally no longer the "bleak" appearance it was when he first time traveled.

He now has a full 14 talents, and these 14 talents are all extremely practical.

Qingdeng's gaze turned to the end of the "Talent List". Looking at the three talents of "Strengthening Muscle", "Cat Turning", and "Photographic Memory" copied in the game a few days ago, he couldn't help but I secretly sighed in my heart:
——These 3 new talents are really more perverted than the other...

"Strengthening muscles" that can make muscles less prone to fatigue... I don't need to repeat how useful this talent is.

The "cat turn" copied from Sanako has the effect of "an excellent sense of body balance".

This talent may seem useless at first glance, but it is actually very useful.

When fighting with people, how to fall is a science.

In fighting skills, there is a skill that teaches you how to fall: accepting the body.

Shoushen: In a word, when being attacked by the opponent and losing the center of gravity and about to fall to the ground, use the inertia to adjust the posture to reduce the impact, so as not to be injured on rocks or rough ground, and to quickly restore the posture of one's own movements .

If you have a good sense of balance, it means that you are not easy to lose your balance when fighting with others, and you can quickly adjust your center of gravity after accidentally losing your balance to complete the body.

Possessing an excellent sense of balance will give you an advantage in battle.

As for the last "photographic memory"... let alone this.

Strong memory - this should be regarded as one of the most coveted talents in this world.

In his previous life, when Qingdeng was still in school, he coveted the talent of "photographic memory" countless times. As long as he has an extraordinary memory ability, it can be used for school exams or for learning other talents. Get twice the result with half the effort.

And now—Qingdeng's fantasy has come true.

That Shannan has such a god-level talent...Qingdeng is not too surprised by this, after all, Shannan looks like the kind of educated person with strong learning ability and good at reading.

After Qingdeng took a rough look at his increasingly "strengthened" talent list, Okita finally finished customizing his "exclusive noodles" with Tedai.

"The two people sitting next to us are so noisy..." After returning to the back kitchen with a piece of paper with the noodles ordered by the four of Qingdeng in his hand, Okita smiled wryly, lowered his voice, and turned his head to the seat. Qingdeng beside him whispered, "Twittering..."

Qingdeng smiled helplessly, then nodded, expressing his agreement with what Okita said just now with his movements.

Sitting at the table next to Qingdeng and the others were two middle-aged warriors with swords at their waists.

The noodles that were placed on their table had been wiped clean by them, and the cheeks of the two of them were glowing red due to drinking some wine.

Throughout the ages, no matter in which era or country, there are three major topics that men love most: military affairs, politics, and women.

The two middle-aged people were talking about one of the three topics very passionately: politics.

Although they did control the volume of their chats, it was probably due to the decline in their control over their bodies due to drunkenness, the sound of their conversations still disturbed Qingdeng and the others.

But fortunately, after chatting for a few more words, the noisy pair of middle-aged people staggered out of the noodle shop——

"I heard... hiccup... Elder Jing Yi recently had a dispute with His Royal Highness Tianzhangyuan..."

"Oh, it's not uncommon for Elder Jing Yi to quarrel with His Royal Highness Tianzhangyuan. The dispute between the two of them is meaningless. How can His Royal Highness Tianzhangyuan compete with Elder Jing Yi?"

"That's right. His Highness Tianzhangyuan is just the official wife of Duke Jia Ding and the nominal mother of Duke Jia Mao. In terms of power, she is a young widow who is only 24 years old this year. How can she compare to the elder Jing Yi who is now in power?"

"I guess Elder Jing Yi may treat His Royal Highness Tianzhangyuan with a 'fun child' mentality on weekdays."

"Compared to His Majesty Tenzhangin, who is just a woman and has no power, the Mito Domain is the big trouble in the heart of Elder Jing Yi."

"That's right, even if a group of mito feudal vassals suddenly appeared in the future and hacked Mr. Ii to death on the street, I wouldn't be surprised at all..."

"Hi...huh? We're done drinking...would you like to order two more glasses of wine?"

"No, no, let's go directly to the next one to drink."

"Okay, let's go."

After watching the middle-aged couple leave the noodle shop, Okita, who was forced to listen to their conversation completely, suddenly turned his face away and asked Qingdeng:
"Tachibana-kun, isn't the Mito clan one of the three clans closest to the shogunate: the 'Three Clans'? Why did those two just say that the Mito clan is a big worry for the elder Ii?"

Qingdeng couldn't help raising his eyebrows: "Don't you know?"

Okita shook his head: "I usually seldom pay attention to these important family and country events..."

"Well..." Qingdeng rubbed his chin, "Where should I start explaining to you..."

Qingdeng is well aware of the grievances between Ii Naosuke and the Mito clan - because "Ora Tachibana Qingdeng" has quite detailed related content in his memory.

Generally speaking, anyone who has a little knowledge of Japan's current politics is aware of the grievances and grievances between Ii Naosuke and the Mito Domain.

Just when Qingdeng was trying to think about how to explain this slightly complicated issue to Okita in as simple a sentence as possible, a refined male voice suddenly came from behind them:

"If you don't mind... I can help explain it."

"Shannan-kun?" Qingdeng turned his head in surprise to look at Shannan Jingsuke who was sitting at the dining table behind him with his back to back, and who was turning his head to show them a gentle smile.

……

……

Qingdeng's table is a table for six, and there is enough space for Shannan to come and sit.

After beckoning Shannan to sit down with them at the same table, Qingdeng immediately asked his elegant old friend in surprise: "Shannan Jun, why are you here?"

"I have encountered some troubles in the past two days." Shannan wrote lightly, "To relieve my depression, I went to Yushima Tenmangu Shrine again today to watch the white plum blossoms that are still in full bloom."

"Accidentally, I was fascinated by it. When I came back to my senses, it was already dark."

"Even if I rushed home to make dinner right away, it would be too late."

"This noodle shop is a restaurant that I will definitely pass by when I return to my home."

"So I decided to come here and simply kill today's dinner."

"As a result, I never expected that after I entered this noodle shop and sat down at the still vacant seat, I heard a familiar voice behind me."

"What's bothering you?" Qingdeng glanced at Shannan's face carefully several times, and found a faint look of sadness on Shannan's brows, "Shannan Jun, what's bothering you?"

"Haha." Shannan smiled indifferently, "It's just a trivial matter, so don't mention it."

Qingdeng is the kind of person who has a strong sense of privacy.

He doesn't like others to pry into his privacy forcefully.

On the contrary, he will not casually pry into other people's privacy.

Since his old friend didn't want to talk more about his "worrying things", then Qingdeng didn't want to delve into this issue any more.

"Ah...Speaking of which, Shannan-kun, I seem to owe you a drink."

Qingdeng suddenly remembered: more than a month ago, that is, the day after he traveled to the Edo Era, after he asked Shannan to prove the relationship between the Examination Guard Hall, Xuanwu Hall, and Xiaoqianye Sword Hall, he promised Shannan that he would treat him to a drink. A ton of wine as a thank you.

"Hahaha." Shannan pursed his lips and smiled, "Then make up for the wine you owe now, I just happen to be a little greedy."

After Qingdeng smiled generously, he repeatedly said that there was no problem. He stopped Teyo who happened to pass by their table, and ordered two more bottles of sake.

"Okita-kun." At this moment, Shannan shifted his gaze to Okita, "Are you interested in the grievances between Ii Taisao and Mito Domain?"

"It's a little bit." Okita made a small gap between his right thumb and index finger, "I'm mainly curious as to why the relationship between Mito Domain, who is the 'Royal Sanjia', has such a bad relationship with Mr. Ii. "

Shannan smiled and put his folded hands on the dining table in front of him.

"The grievances between Ii and the Mito clan... In short, Ii did three things that annoyed the Mito clan."

"The first thing-Ii Tai Lao advocated 'founding the country', and his political views conflicted with the Mito Domain who advocated 'closing the country' and 'repelling barbarians'."

"In the Mito Domain, there is a school that has a history of nearly 200 years: Mito Studies."

"Mito Studies is a school formed by integrating the Chinese national studies based on the theory of Zhu Shunshui, a great Confucian of the Ming Dynasty who did not want to become an official in the Qing Dynasty, so he lived in our country."

"One of the core ideas of Mitoology is to advocate the 'respecting the king' of 'respecting and loving the emperor and protecting the kingdom of God'."

"Mito clan is the birthplace of Mito studies, and the vassals were all deeply influenced by Mito studies."

"Under the influence of Mito studies, the vassals of the Mito clan generally have a strong sense of 'eliminating barbarians and protecting the pure land of the kingdom of God'."

"Seven years ago, after the attack of the black ships from the United States, the current lord of the Mito Domain and Tokugawa Naizaki, who highly admired Mito Studies, took the lead in issuing a call-never lift the 'lockdown order', and pour the power of the whole country to defeat the Yidi, protect the Kingdom of God."

"After Tokugawa Nariaki issued this call, the vassals in the Mito Domain gathered to respond."

"In the eyes of the Mito feudal vassals, Ii Naosuke, who advocated 'founding the country', is a cowardly traitor who has brought disaster to the country and the people."

"Second thing—Old Ii signed the "Japan-US Treaty of Friendship and Commerce" and other five-nation treaties without waiting for the consent of His Majesty the Emperor."

"Two years ago, when the United States and other countries forced our country to sign a new treaty, the Kyoto court has been hesitant about whether to sign the new treaty or not, and has not given an accurate answer."

"Being frightened by the military power of the Western countries, Mr. Ii had no choice but to sign these new treaties with the Western countries without the consent of His Majesty the Emperor."

"Although Mr. Ii has his own reasons for this move, in the eyes of the Mito feudal vassals who have been deeply influenced by the "ideology of respecting the king" of Mito studies, Mr. Ii's behavior of ignoring the emperor is a big treason."

"As for... the third last thing - after taking over the position of 'Tai Lao', Ii Tate severely cracked down on all his political enemies headed by Tokugawa Qi Zhao."

"Tokugawa Naizaki, the lord of the Mito domain, not only opposed the political views of the elder Ii on the issue of 'founding the country or expelling barbarians'"

"In the 'Hitsubashi·Nanki Controversy' that decided whether Tokugawa Yoshifuku or Hitohashi Yoshiki would be the heir to the shogun, he and Ii Taisao also had extremely sharp conflicts."

"The well-known Hitohashi Yoshiaki, who was admired by the 'Hitsubashi School', was Tokugawa Naizaki's own son, and was adopted to the childless Hitohashi family in the fourth year of Honghua (1847)."

"Whether it's for the future of his son or for the benefit of his family, Tokugawa Qi Zhao naturally hopes to make his own son a new general."

"Therefore, in the battle for the succession of generals two years ago, Ii Taisao was the most steadfast Nanji faction, while Tokugawa Qi Zhao was the most steadfast Hitotsubashi faction."

"After Mr. Jing Yi successfully sat on the position of 'Grand Boss' and the 'Nanji faction' won in an all-round way, Mr. Jing Yi began to vigorously suppress all political opponents headed by the 'Yitobashi faction'."

"Tokugawa Qizhao, who has been singing against him, is naturally taken seriously by Mr. Jing Yi."

"Elder Jing Yi gave Tokugawa Qizhao the punishment of 'eternal residence'. If this punishment is not lifted, Tokugawa Qizhao cannot leave his mansion for a day."

"So——Okita-kun, can you understand why the Mito domain is said to be a serious problem for the elder Ii?"

"In the eyes of the Mito feudal vassals, Mr. Ii is a traitor who disrespects the emperor, betrays the country and seeks glory, and at the same time makes their lord suffer injustice."

Okita has been listening very carefully.

After Shannan's voice fell, he immediately let out a low exclamation: "So it's like this... Shannan Jun, you speak well, people like me who don't have a bright mind can understand it very well!"

Qingdeng, who had been listening carefully just now, followed Okita and praised Shannan's eloquence.

Qingdeng asked himself - he couldn't have summed up the grievances between Wanjing Yi Naosuke and the Mito Domain in such a concise manner like Shannan did.

"You guys are overrated." Shannan smiled modestly at Qingdeng and Okita quite gracefully.

"No wonder the person just said that he wouldn't be surprised even if he saw Mr. Jingyi being hacked to death on the street by Mito feudal vassals some day in the future."

Okita stretched out his right hand, grabbed the ponytail at the back of his head, and gently fiddled with the end of the braid with his index and middle fingers.

"Looking at what Ii has done to the Mito clan so far...it's not surprising that the Mito feudal vassals did anything to Ii..."

……

……

The next morning, early in the morning—

In the seventh year of Anzheng (1860), March 3——

In the Ii family's mansion, the courtyard adjacent to the gate was full of Ii Naosuke's entourage and guards kneeling.

They gathered around a delicate sedan chair in the posture of many stars holding the moon.

Beside the sedan door, Jingyi Naobi, whose hair and clothes were neatly groomed, stood opposite his wife: Ajiu.

"Walk slowly on the road." Ajiu, with a gentle smile on his face, bowed slightly to Jingyi Naobi.

Every morning when Jing Yi Naobi went to Edo Castle to deal with state affairs, he would go out to see him off, and said to Jing Yi Naobi "walk slowly on the road"-this has been a habit that Ajiu has persisted for a long time.

Jing Yi Naobi, who also had a gentle smile on his face, raised his hand and smoothed out a wrinkle on Ajiu's collar, "The weather is a little cold these days, remember to keep warm."

The farewell between the two was simple and straightforward, without any fancy or artificial.

Only decades of deep friendship and long-term intimate companionship can cultivate this kind of "back to basics" farewell.

After saying "remember to keep warm" to Ajiu, Jing Yi Naobi got into his sedan chair with a cat on his waist.

Just when Ii Naosuke's entourage was about to get up their sedan chairs, an elderly warrior suddenly rushed along the open gate of Ii's house and rushed into the small courtyard adjacent to the gate.

He turned his eyes and found Jing Yi Naosuke sitting in the sedan chair that hadn't been taken up yet, and he immediately ran straight to Jing Yi Naosuke.

Naobi Ii's entourage and guards did not stop the middle-aged warrior in any way, allowing him to get close to Naobi Ii.

"My lord." The middle-aged warrior whispered, "Let me know something."

Jing Yi Naobi raised his eyelids, and after glancing at the middle-aged samurai, he leaned forward towards the middle-aged samurai.

The middle-aged samurai then bent down and put his lips close to Ii Naosuke's ear.

Jing Yi Naobi listened expressionlessly, looking into the distance, calm and unmoved.

Ajiu, who was still standing by the sedan door, took three steps back consciously after the middle-aged samurai pressed his lips to Ii Naosuke's ear, to make enough room for her husband who was no longer alone for the time being.

Ii Naosuke and the middle-aged man maintained this "you talk and I listen" posture for a long time, and finally the middle-aged man stopped whispering and straightened his back.

On the other hand, Jing Yi Naosuke continued to look into the distance with a blank expression, his thoughts were unpredictable.

"...Ajiu." After a while, Jingyi Naobi turned his head as if nothing had happened, and smiled at Ajiu, "I'll go first."

"Yeah." Ajiu, who had never dissipated the gentle smile on his face, nodded vigorously.

Jing Yi Naobi waved his big hand, and the attendants standing beside the sedan saw this, and quickly closed the sedan door.

The team centered on Ii Naosuke's sedan chair stepped out of Ii's mansion without haste, and headed for Edo Castle in the distance.

……

……

After about half an hour—

In Edo Castle, in a certain gorgeous room——

Ii Naosuke sat upright in the west center of this magnificent room.

He straightened his waist very straight, lowered his head slightly, closed his eyes tightly, as if resting his mind.

Suddenly—the sound of "cracking" came, and the sliding door of a room in front of Ii Naosuke was slowly opened.

As soon as he heard the sound of pulling the door, Jing Yi Naosuke immediately opened his eyes, then quickly bent his waist, lowered his head, put his hands on the tatami, and bowed respectfully.

Pa... Pa... Pa... Pa... Pa...

Resounding in front of Ii Naosuke... was the sound of soft footsteps like feathers falling to the ground.

With the same extremely soft sound of sitting on the ground, it fell——

"My lord...raise your head."

After receiving the consent of this ethereal female voice, Jing Yi Naobi slowly raised his head.

Sitting in front of him was a very young, beautiful woman in a purple smock and a short ponytail.

"...His Royal Highness Tianzhangyuan, I am relieved to see that your complexion is still good."

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　This chapter has 7000 words, and the amount of information is quite overwhelming. The author personally thinks that he has met the requirement of "writing more today" as he said yesterday (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)