I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 813: Law to punish the party · Prajna, come to the rescue! [Leopard 6K2]

Kyoto, Sanjo Ohashi (west of Kamo River), Ikeda House, a room on the second floor——

Katsura Kogoro took off the sword from his waist and held it in his right hand.

When he entered the room, there were already quite a few people sitting inside.

Seeing Katsura Kogoro coming, everyone in the room moved to the left and right like Moses parting the sea, making way to the main seat.

"Mr. Gui, please come here!"

An unprepossessing samurai - he was Ōtaka Matajiro, another leader of the Sonnōjō faction - stepped forward and made a "please" gesture to Katsura Kogoro.

Katsura Kogoro nodded and took a step forward.

At this time, Ohtaka Matajiro looked confused.

"Mr. Gui, who is this?"

As he asked the question, he raised his eyes and looked straight at the young samurai who was following closely behind Katsura Kogoro, sizing him up and down carefully.

This man was tall and slender, about 1 meters tall, without a wakizashi on his waist, only a katana with a red and purple handle and sheath.

Although he was wearing a proper kimono, he had a Western bowler hat on his head and a Western cloak that reached his waist on his shoulders.

Mixing Japanese and Western styles...it's as weird as it can be.

After seeing how this person was dressed, everyone in the room looked displeased.

All of you present here are supporters of the idea of ​​respecting the country's people.

They feel a deep-seated disgust and rejection for everything Western, whether it is ideas or clothing.

Therefore, it is no wonder that everyone has such a reaction right now.

When they saw this man wearing a Western-style top hat and a Western-style cloak in front of them, they were all furious and cast displeased and resentful glances at him.

Katsura Kogoro explained calmly:

"This is my bodyguard."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man raised his hand to press down the hat on his head and bowed slightly.

"Hello, I'm Katsura Kogoro's bodyguard, thank you for your guidance."

As he spoke, a teasing look emerged from the brim of his hat.

"…Hey, what's with you wearing this?"

What is coming will eventually come - a sturdy and strong warrior suddenly stood up and moved to the side of the "top hat warrior".

  The "top hat warrior" spread his hands with an "innocent" look:

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with my outfit?"

The "mighty warrior" gritted his teeth and pointed at the other's hat and cloak.

"Your hat! And your cloak! They are such an eyesore! People wearing Western clothes are not welcome here! I'm giving you two choices now, either take off your hat and cloak, or get out of here with your clothes!"

After saying this, the "mighty warrior" raised his right hand and pressed the hilt of the sword at his waist, his threat becoming more serious than ever.

However, in response to the "strong warrior's" harsh threats, the "top hat warrior" responded calmly.

He raised his head slightly and glanced at the other person calmly.

"What if I say 'I refuse'?"

"I will neither take off my hat nor my cloak, nor will I leave Katsura Kogoro's side."

"What can you do to me? What can you do to me?"

Suddenly, the room was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder.

The "mighty warrior" suddenly frowned, his eyes bulged, and veins popped out on his neck and temples.

Then there was a "clang" sound - he raised his left thumb, pressed against the guard of the knife, and pushed the knife out about an inch, revealing the red copper latch.

The other party's murderous intent was already revealed! On the other hand, the "top hat warrior" did not move at all. Everything was the same as before. He stood straight, his arms hanging naturally, and his expression was calm and composed.

At this critical moment, a big, broad hand reached out from the side and stood between the "top hat warrior" and the "strong warrior".

"enough!"

Katsura Kogoro raised his voice and swept the entire audience with a sharp gaze.

"Are we gathered here just to fight?"

"They're already fighting among themselves before the meeting even starts. How ridiculous!"

"The internal fighting among us Zunyang patriots has lasted too long! Enough blood has been shed!"

"Do we have to continue fighting among ourselves even in this small space?"

"Matsuda-kun, take your knife back!"

"Tonight... No, no matter when or where, we, the noble warriors, cannot draw our swords against our companions again!"

"It is precisely to achieve this goal that I have been running and struggling till now!"

The "mighty warrior" called "Matsuda-kun" hesitated for a moment, snorted coldly, and put the sword back into the sheath with a "clang".

"Boy, you saved your life!"

As he spoke, he glared at the "Top Hat Samurai" a few times, then sat back in his original seat angrily.

The "Top Hat Samurai" shrugged his shoulders and a meaningful chuckle floated out of the corner of his mouth.

Katsura Kogoro gave him an unpleasant look.

"gone!"

Before he finished speaking, Katsura Kogoro strode towards the main seat in the room.

The "Top Hat Samurai" followed.

  He slightly closed the distance between him and Katsura Kogoro, and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear clearly:

"Kogoro, you saved that man's life. Your advice just now was very timely. If you were half a second slower, that man's eating utensils would have fallen to the ground."

  Katsura Kogoro frowned, and changed his voice so that only the two of them could hear it, half warning, half requesting:

"Let me make it clear first, you can't do anything rash tonight."

  The "Top Hat Samurai" laughed:

"I will try my best."

Katsura Kogoro tilted his head slightly, glared at him with complicated eyes for a few seconds, then stopped talking and ignored him.

  After taking his seat at the main seat, Katsura Kogoro turned his head and looked at Ohtaka Matajiro:

"Otaka-kun, where's Mr. Miyabe? Hasn't he arrived yet?"

Ohtaka Matajiro replied:

"Mr. Miyabe should be here soon."

Coincidentally, just as Katsura Kogoro finished asking the question, he heard footsteps approaching from the direction of the corridor.

With a whoosh, the door was pushed open.

A middle-aged man around 45 years old walked into the room slowly.

When this middle-aged man appeared, everyone at the scene, including Katsura Kogoro, looked at him with respect.

This man had a neatly shaved head, was neither fat nor thin, and had an average appearance.

However, his thick and heavy eyebrows and bright eyes are very eye-catching.

His eyes, in particular, are the best interpretation of the phrase "eyes like lightning". He looks awe-inspiring without being angry.

He was not just anyone else, but Miyabe Teizo, whom even Katsura Kogoro had to respect!

Miyabe Teizo - born in 1820, he was originally a lecturer in Yamaga-ryu military studies in the Kumamoto domain and a close confidant of Sanjo Sanetomi.

  His eyes swept around the room, finally settling on Katsura Kogoro, and he greeted him in a neutral tone:

"Kui-kun, long time no see."

Katsura Kogoro bowed slightly and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner:

"Mr. Gongbe, I haven't seen you for a long time. May I ask if you are in good health?"

"Well, it's nothing serious. I'm just a little old, so my legs and feet are not as flexible as before."

As he spoke, he sat down next to Katsura Kogoro, and the two of them sat with their knees touching.

At this moment, a loud shout suddenly came from outside the door:

"Dear guests! We are here to serve drinks!"

  The samurai sitting by the door responded:

"come in!"

With a "Okay", the door opened again, and Ikedaya's assistants filed in - Tainosuke was among them.

The waiters held wine trays filled with freshly warmed wine and tiptoed carefully into the room.

The guests in the room were all samurai. They had all followed samurai etiquette, taken off their swords from their waists and placed them on the ground to their right sides.

  There are swords all over the ground... If you accidentally step on or kick the swords of these samurai masters, it will be no joke, and there will be bloody disaster!

Therefore, for the sake of their own lives, the mobile phone operators had to concentrate fully and be extremely alert.

For Yamazaki Sho, a professional ninja, this little thing is no problem at all.

While deftly dodging the swords on the ground and serving drinks, he calmly turned his eyes and looked around, looking for important figures such as Katsura Kogoro.

After a while, he discovered Katsura Kogoro sitting on the main seat, as well as other famous sonnong patriots such as Ōtaka Matajiro and Kitazoo Jima.

——Which one is Miyabe Teizo?

Compared to Katsura Kogoro, whose portraits are everywhere, Miyabe Teizo, who often works in secret and rarely appears in public, has a very mysterious appearance.

As of now, the shogunate has not yet drawn an accurate portrait of him.

  Just when Yamazaki was worried, someone came to his rescue:

"Mr. Miyabe, please put your sword here so it won't get stepped on."

The person who spoke was a young man, no more than seventeen or eighteen years old.

He had good intentions.

  However... as soon as he finished speaking, a series of sharp and fierce gazes came towards him!

Yamazaki Zheng immediately side-eyed and looked at the middle-aged man sitting next to Katsura Kogoro.

  ——He is Miyabe Teizo...!

He was secretly delighted in his heart, but appeared to be indifferent on the surface, pretending that he had not heard the conversation.

After firmly memorizing the appearance of Miyabe Teizo, he and the other waiters quickly handed out the drinks and then slowly left the room.

As soon as they left, severe questioning broke out in the room.

"How dare you mention Mr. Miyabe's name in front of outsiders, you bastard?!"

  The young man just now lowered his head in shame:

"T-Thoroughly sorry! I was so stupid!"

The young man became the target of public criticism.

Fortunately, Miyabe Teizo came to the rescue and said:

"Okay, it's just a small oversight. Don't worry about it. Just be more careful in the future."

Since Miyabe Teizo said so, everyone could only let it go and not pursue the young man's fault anymore.

Miyabe Teizo glanced at the wine in front of his knees, then looked at everyone present.

After a while, his eyes fell on the "top hat samurai" next to Katsura Kogoro.

"Gui-kun, who is this?"

"Mr. Miyabe, he's my bodyguard."

Miyabe Teizo raised his eyebrows and changed his tone to one of surprise:

"Bodyguard? Mr. Gui, it's really strange that you would hire a bodyguard."

As far as Miyabe Teizo knew, Katsura Kogoro had never hired bodyguards to protect himself before.

  Katsura Kogoro gave a bitter smile:

"He was... forced upon me by a 'friend' of mine. He said that Kyoto is currently in danger and it would be much safer to take him with me."

Somehow, when the word "friend" was mentioned, a strange look appeared on Katsura Kogoro's cheek.

  Miyabe Teizo showed an "I see" expression, turned his head to look at the "Top Hat Samurai", looked him up and down several times, and asked:

"May I ask your name?" The "Top Hat Warrior" curled the corners of his mouth, raised his hand, and pretended to press the top hat on his head.

"I don't have a name to tell you, you can just call me 'Prajna'."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly froze...

Miyabe Teizo holds an extremely high status in the hearts of the vast majority of people present.

  Mr. Miyabe is asking you a question, and it's fine if you're just pretending, but you actually refuse to even give a proper name!

Everyone present already hated this guy in Western clothes, and now they hate him even more.

  In order to ease the atmosphere, Katsura Kogoro had to explain helplessly:

"I'm very sorry, he doesn't know the etiquette, please forgive me."

The "mighty warrior" who had just clashed with the "top hat warrior"... that is, with Prajna, sneered a few times and taunted in a muffled voice:

"Humph! You're hiding your true identity. Don't you even have a name you can reveal to others?"

Prajna did not indulge the other party and directly hit back:

"I'm just too lazy to tell you guys my real name."

Good-for-nothing - this title is like a huge rock falling into the lake, immediately causing a thousand waves!

In a flash, angry glances pierced straight towards Prajna.

"What did you say?!"

The "mighty warrior" stood up suddenly, with anger in his eyes almost bursting out.

Prajna calmly crossed her legs, propped up her right arm, and supported her chin:

"Hmm? Did I say something wrong?"

"Don't you think you are very capable?"

"Let me ask you—"

"Is there anything about you that doesn't make people think you are good-for-nothings?"

"Is there anything about you that makes people look up to you?"

"Was it the disastrous defeat in the Shimonoseki War?"

"Or was it the embarrassing escape from the 'August 18th Coup'?"

"Or are you still being chased and beaten by the Shinsengumi, unable to walk openly on the streets of Kyoto, and even afraid to give your name in a Kyoto hotel?"

After throwing out this series of questions like a machine gun, Prajna leisurely swept her gaze - eyes filled with strong sarcasm - across the faces of everyone in front of her.

Anyone caught by his gaze lowered their heads and looked away, as if they had done something wrong, not daring to look him in the face.

There is a saying that "Lies will never hurt, but the truth is the sharpest knife."

What Prajna just said was like a knife with every word cutting through it.

Even if I wanted to argue, I couldn't refute it.

  In recent years, the performance of the Sonnang faction has been very bad indeed - to put it bluntly, it has been extremely embarrassing!

First, Choshu boasted about its plan to expel the foreigners, and on May 5 last year, it took the stance of “making sure the foreigners come and never return.”

Even the imperial court had high hopes for Choshu and praised Choshu's righteous act.

However... the US-French coalition forces only sent a few warships and defeated Choshu without losing a single soldier. How shameless of them to show off their shamelessness.

Not only did the Sonjō faction lose face, but even the imperial court, which had always supported the Sonjō faction and had hoped that Choshu would fight a good battle, was turned into a ridiculous clown.

What followed was the "August 18th Coup", in which Choshu was driven out of Kyoto by the Kai-Satsuma coalition forces, and lost its greatest advantage of "holding the imperial court hostage".

Then, there is the current "fear of the Shinsengumi like a tiger".

After the "August 18th Coup", Kyoto completely became the world of the pro-shogunate faction.

The Shinsengumi was in charge of Kyoto's public security and was searching for Sonnōjo activists.

Although the Shinsengumi has not arrested any big shots so far, they have caught a lot of small fish and shrimp.

As a result, the Sonnōjō activists could only hide secretly in various corners of Kyoto. When they saw a samurai wearing a light green haori, they would turn around and run away. It has almost become a stress response.

Although what Prajna said was all true, the dignity of the warriors and the dignity of the patriots made them unwilling to face this cruel fact, let alone swallow it.

"You bastard...!"

The "mighty warrior" let out a hoarse roar from between his clenched teeth.

  The next moment, he pounced on the other party like a tiger!

In a flash, his big hand had grabbed the other person's collar.

  At this moment, Miyabe Teizo suddenly spoke:

"…Matsuda-kun, stop it!"

The "mighty warrior" stopped immediately, his big hand stopped in mid-air, his fingertips only half an inch away from Prajna's collar.

"Mr. Miyabe?"

He looked at Miyabe Teizo with a puzzled look on his face.

  Miyabe Teizo repeated calmly:

"Matsuda-kun, stop it."

"Your anger will only make people look down on us even more."

"Don't we, the patriots, have the ability to humbly accept criticism and honestly face accusations?"

Having said that, he pointed at Prajna and raised his voice.

"Did he say anything wrong just now?"

"He's telling the truth, isn't he?"

"If we get so angry and even resort to violence to prop up our pitiful self-esteem just because someone else tells us the truth and points out our failures and shortcomings, then we should just disband as soon as possible and go back to our own homes!"

“How can such an arrogant, closed-door organization achieve anything?”

The loud voice of Miyabe Teizo was clearly heard by everyone present.

Looking up, whether it was the "mighty warrior" or others, everyone had a look of shame on their faces.

  After hesitating for a moment, the "mighty warrior" saluted respectfully to Miyabe Teizo:

"Mr. Miyabe, I know I was wrong..."

After saying this, he silently sat back in his original seat, and his appearance became extremely obedient.

Just a few words were enough to calm down the furious crowd... This shows the prestige of Miyabe Teiza among the Sonnōjo patriots.

After criticizing harshly, Miyabe Teizo turned slightly and faced Katsura Kogoro.

"Gui-kun, I'm sorry for making a fool of myself."

After hearing this, Katsura Kogoro quickly responded:

"No, we were the ones who were rude first! I should be the one to say sorry to you!"

Although the process was quite tortuous, a conflict that almost broke out was finally averted thanks to the mediation of Miyabe Teizo.

Katsura Kogoro let out a long sigh as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders, then turned his head slightly and cast a murderous, ferocious look at Prajna.

"You...are you here to protect me, or to harm me?"

  Prajna shrugged and spread his hands:

"I'm sorry, that's just how I am."

"I speak my mind, say whatever I want to say, and never indulge anyone."

"Because of my unpleasant personality, I am often scolded by my master."

He apologized verbally, but there was no sincerity on his face.

In short, after this little disturbance, order at the scene was finally restored.

  Miyabe Teizo scanned the entire room and asked:

"Is everyone here?"

  Ohtaka Matajiro replied:

“Basically everyone is here.”

Miyabe Teizo nodded slightly:

"Well, without further ado, let's start tonight's meeting!"

At this time, Katsura Kogoro frowned slightly and looked around.

"Wait! Where's Yoshida-kun? Where did Yoshida-kun go?"

The Yoshida-kun he mentioned was none other than Yoshida Toshima, who was listed among the “Three Best of Shoin” and “One of the Four Heavenly Kings of Matsumon”.

Miyabe Teizo, Katsura Kogoro, and Yoshida Toshima - in tonight's meeting, these three people have the most honorable identities.

  In response to Katsura Kogoro's question, Miyabe Teizo smiled slightly:

"Just before departure, Yoshida-kun accidentally kicked over the tea and wet his hakama. He had to change his clothes, so he will arrive a little later."

  After hearing this, Katsura Kogoro smiled helplessly:

"Ha... Yoshida-kun is still the same, too serious."

Yoshida Minoru was a person who valued tradition very much. His personality was conservative to put it nicely and old-fashioned to put it bluntly. It was for this reason that he, like Kusaka Genzui, would go all the way down the path of "radical anti-foreignization".

He enjoys the red tape that others would rather avoid.

"Yoshida-kun hasn't arrived yet, let's wait for him."

As soon as Katsura Kogoro finished speaking, Miyabe Teizo shook his head:

"No, Yoshida-kun told me himself that we should start the meeting first and not wait for him."

Since Miyabe Teizo said so, Katsura Kogoro felt embarrassed to continue insisting and could only nod in agreement.

As the instruction to "start the meeting" was given, everyone stood up and adjusted their seats.

Katsura Kogoro and Miyabe Teizo sat side by side on the main seat. The others were divided into two rows on the left and right according to their status, and sat below Katsura and Miyabe, facing each other.

  Meeting, start!

……

……

Kyoto, Kiyamachi (west of Kamogawa), somewhere——

"Shinpachi, where are we now?"

Souji asked Shinpachi beside him while looking around blankly.

Nagakura Shinpachi looked around.

"I don't know... I just remember that the river in the distance is the Kamo River."

Since the start of the operation, how many hotels and pubs have been searched?

They have lost count.

All I know is that as soon as they see a hotel or pub, they rush over in droves, and then leave with regret after getting nothing.

Over time, their fighting spirit, which had been ignited by Qing Deng's passionate speech, gradually faded.

As bad as it gets, tonight happens to be a typical "tropical night".

The temperature and humidity are high, and the perceived temperature is off the charts.

The extremely uncomfortable and sultry weather further dampened their morale.

After the successive blows, looking up, there was no life left on everyone's face.

At this moment, they are trotting towards their next target.

Souji looked up at Kondo Isami in front of him.

"Brother Kondo, where are we going now?"

Kondo Isami took out a map from his pocket and took a look at it.

"The place we are going to now is... the 'Ikeda House' next to the Sanjo Bridge!"

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(End of this chapter)