I formed the strongest swordsman group

The glance that Sanako gave Qingdeng... only lasted for a moment.

She seemed to be just a little curious and puzzled by this stranger who suddenly followed Kondo into the living room and had never seen it before.

After briefly glanced at Qingdeng with doubts, she seemed to have lost interest in Qingdeng, she withdrew her gaze from Qingdeng's body, lowered her eyes, looked at her nose and her heart.

"Shigetaro-kun, Ms. Sana, I haven't seen you for a while." At this moment, Kondo, with a smile on his face, warmly greeted the couple.

"Hahahaha." Chiba Shigetaro laughed heartily a few times, "Well, it's true that we haven't seen each other for a while."

Compared with Chiba Shigetaro's casualness, Saona is much more disciplined.

With textbook-like standard movements, she lowered her upper body and saluted Kondo and the others: "Kian, Yu-kun, Okita-kun, I hope you will forgive me for taking the liberty to visit with my brother."

During the gap between the two parties greeting each other, Kondo led Qingdeng and Okita to the back of Zhou Zhu, and sat upright on the ground.

After Kondo and Chiba Shigetaro exchanged a few simple words, Chiba Shigetaro cast a curious look at Qingdeng who was sitting behind Kondo:

"Yongjun, who is this?"

"Oh, Shigetaro-kun, let me introduce you." Kondo smiled and moved his body slightly to the side, "This name...you must have heard it these days, this is The newcomer to our testing hall that I mentioned to you before: Juqingdeng."

"Meet you for the first time." As soon as Kondo's voice fell, Qingdeng immediately bowed to the siblings in front of him, "I'm Ju Qingdeng."

——Is this Chiba Shigetarou...

While introducing himself to the siblings, Qingdeng quietly looked at Chiba Shigetaro.

Because Zanako's appearance and figure are too eye-catching, Qingdeng has been subconsciously looking at Zonako just now, while ignoring Zonako's elder brother.

Should it be said that their family's genes are very strong? As the older brother, Chiba Shigetaro also has a handsome face.

Edo women in this era liked men who were full of masculinity-and Chiba Shigetaro happened to be this type of man.

Chiba Shigetaro is tall and strong, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, his eyes are extremely energetic, and he looks quite energetic, with the appearance of a "hot-blooded man".

In addition to the "beauty gene", their Chiba family seems to have a very good "height gene".

The siblings are both quite tall.

According to Qingdeng's visual inspection, Chiba Shigetaro's height is about the same as him, around 1.75 meters, while Sanako's height is about 1.6 meters.

The height of Sanako... In this era where the average height of men only fluctuates around the figure of "1.5 meters", that is really rare.

Take the present as an example—at present, there are no more than 50 women in Edo with a height of more than 1.6 meters... Qingdeng feels that there may not be more than 50...

For Qingdeng, the only shortcoming of Chiba Shigetaro's appearance is that he, like Kondo, has a crescent hair...

Although it's been a while since he traveled to this era, Qingdeng still hasn't gotten used to this ugly Yuedai head.

In Qingdeng's eyes, this ugly Tsukiyotou sealed the appearance of both Kondo and Chiba Shigetaro...

In terms of appearance, Chiba Shigetaro and Sanako have quite a lot of similarities in appearance, especially their noses, their tall noses are almost carved out of the same mold.

But in terms of personality... the difference between the two brothers and sisters is a little bigger.

From Chiba Shigetaro's words and deeds, it is not difficult to see that he is a very bold person.

Compared with Chiba Shigetaro, Sanako is much quieter.

How should I put it... Ever since Qingdeng met Sanako for the first time just now, he felt that Sanako's temperament matched her identity quite well, she was very "Miss".

Sanako is Chiba Sakakichi's daughter and Chiba Shusaku's niece.

Chiba Shusaku created the current "Japan's No. 1 Swordsmanship School": Beichen Yidao Style.

As Chiba Zhouzuo's younger brother, Chiba Dingkichi, assisted his brother in carrying forward and perfecting the Beichen One-Sword Style.

So... one can imagine what position and identity Sanako is in the current "Japanese martial arts world".

She is undoubtedly the "Miss of a famous family in the martial arts world" and "the daughter of martial arts". In terms of her status, there should be few women in the current "Japanese martial arts world" who can compare to her.

Qingdeng guessed: This Sanako most likely received a lot of extremely strict education since she was a child, with the goal of cultivating her into a qualified "Yamato Nadeshiko".

She carried a very elegant aura with every gesture.

Except for bowing down to salute Qingdeng and others just now, the rest of the time, Zuo Nazi's waist has been very straight, with two catkins overlapping on his legs, and the graceful swan neck with elegant lines. The arc of the body is raised, and the body is neither rigidly tense nor slumped into a puddle rudely.

Her graceful and elegant sitting posture is a beautiful scenery that is pleasing to the eye and entertains the heart.

Whether it was in the previous life or in this life, this was the first time that Qingdeng saw such a woman who behaved like a "big lady".

Qingdeng felt that even if she asked this Sanazi to eat sticky natto and smelly snail powder or durian, she could eat these foods with a "sense of luxury".

However, the fly in the ointment is... this "Miss" doesn't seem to be the kind of person who is easy to get along with...

If the temperament exuded by Shigetaro is "bold", "enthusiasm" and reminiscent of "flame", then the temperament exuded by Nasanako is "cold" and "stranger". "Don't get close" is reminiscent of "ice cubes".

Qingdeng has observed: since he followed Kondo and Okita into the living room, Sanako's expression... has not changed in any way until now - it has always been expressionless...

Her expressionless face made the air around her seem to cool down a few degrees.

——Like Saito, are you unsmiling...

The aloof appearance of Sanazi made Qingdeng think of his bodyguard who might not have spoken more than 10 sentences at the end of the day...

After Qingdeng reported his name, Chiba Shigetaro was first startled, then hurriedly moved his eyes up and down, quickly looking at Qingdeng.

"Oh? You are that Ju Qingdeng?" Two joyful eyes burst out from Chiba Shigetaro's eyes.

And after Qingdeng's self-introduction fell, Sanako also turned his gaze back to Qingdeng, with a surprised light shining in his pupils.

However——just like before, Sanako simply looked at Qingdeng for a while, then looked away, and didn't even look at Qingdeng again.

"Hahahaha." Chiba Shigetaro patted himself on the thigh with a gentle force, "Tachibana-kun, I've wanted to see you for a long time!"

"When you first joined the test hall, Yong Jun once told me: They have a promising seed in the test hall."

"At that time, I wanted to come to the test hall to see what the young man who was praised by the brave man looked like, and whether he was really a good young man as the brave man said. "

"But who knows, before I even had time to visit the test hall, I learned about your feat of 'winning more with less, defeating powerful enemies in a snowy night'."

"When I first heard the relevant rumors, I thought I had heard it wrong."

"After confirming with others many times, I finally confirmed that the person who made such an incredible feat is indeed the newcomer in the test guard hall."

"In the past few days, our Little Chiba Sword Academy has often seen apprentices gather together, discussing the new 'monster newcomer' from the test guard hall."

Having said that, Chiba Shigetaro paused as if he suddenly remembered something.

Immediately afterwards... He narrowed his eyes slightly. With an... intriguing gaze, he carefully looked at Qingdeng.

Because Chiba Shigetaro's gaze was quite dark, no one present could have noticed that he was looking at Qingdeng with a strange gaze.

I saw: While looking at Qingdeng carefully, he muttered in a volume that only he could hear clearly:

"Well...he is very tall...about as tall as me..."

"You are also very young..."

"The appearance...is quite handsome..."

"The only shortcoming is that I didn't keep a tidy haircut... I kept a hair that seemed so difficult to manage..."

After muttering in such a low voice, Chiba Shigetaro subconsciously—slightly slanted his eyes, and squinted at his sister beside him.

Chiba Shigetaro's look at his sister came and went quickly.

After glancing at Sanako, Chiba Shigetaro quickly looked away, and everyone present, including Sanako, didn't notice Chiba Shigetaro's little move.

Chiba Shigetaro, who had finished secretly looking at Qingdeng, turned his attention to Shusuke and Kondo.

"Master Zhou Zhu, Yongjun." Chiba Shigetaro sighed enviously, "I really envy you, you are really an incredible young hero in the guarding hall this time."

"Hahaha." Zhou Zhu said with a smile, "'envy us'... Shigetaro-kun, your words are a little too exaggerated."

"I'm not exaggerating, I really envy you all." Chiba Shigetaro shook his head, then heaved a long sigh, showing helplessness, "The recent business situation of our Little Chiba Sword Gym...is not very good .”

"Recently, my father and I have been distressed by the delay in recruiting high-quality and worthy newcomers."

"Ah, having said that... Mr. Zhou Zhu, Mr. Yong, why is Mr. Ju still here at this point in time?"

It wasn't until this time that Shigetaro realized: Why is Qingdeng, an apprentice of the sword gym, at Kondo's house now that it is already night?

"Ah, that's how it is..." Kondo concisely told Shigetaro the whole process of "taking in" Qingdeng and others.

After knowing the detailed reason why Qingdeng appeared here at this time, Chiba Shigetaro frowned slightly: "I see..."

Chiba Shigetaro, with a bit of regret and remorse floating on his face, slapped his thigh again: "Those beasts of the 'Big Barbarians' are really getting more and more despicable...!"

"Even doing such despicable things as setting fire to someone's house."

"If the fire gets out of control accidentally, how many people will lose their lives and lose their homes...!"

"They don't care about the lives of those innocent people..."

After sighing heavily, Chiba Shigetaro raised his gaze, and offered basic condolences to Qingdeng such as "No one in your family is injured".

...

...

Chiba Shigetaro seemed to be very interested in Qingdeng's "Snowy Night Battle".

After expressing basic condolences to Qingdeng whose house was burned, he asked Qingdeng the details of the battle with excitement and anxiety, and asked how Qingdeng commanded the inferior troops to fight back against the "Win Yi" Pie".

However, after Chiba Shigetaro's questions fell, Sanako softly reminded her brother in a cold tone:

"Brother, it's not very early now, let's talk about business first."

Hearing Sanako's reminder, Chiba Shigetaro froze for a moment, then raised his hand to scratch the hair on the back of his head, and let out a haha.

"That's right, it's true that we should talk about the business first."

After finishing speaking, Chiba Shigetaro put down his hand grabbing his hair, and cleared his throat forcefully.

"Master Zhou Zhu, Yongjun, let me make a long story short."

"The reason why my sister-in-law and I came to visit unexpectedly tonight is actually to tell you a good thing."

"Oh? Good thing? Please tell me." Seeing that Chiba Shigetaro was about to talk about something serious, Zhou Zhu straightened his waist, and Kondo and the others sat up a little more upright.

"Master Zhou Zhu, Kondo-kun, the Yushima Tenmangu finally nodded their agreement—they agreed that our Little Chiba Sword Hall and your Weiwei Hall will hold an event at the Yushima Tenmangu on the day of the Plum Blossom Festival. A 'red and white battle'!"

As soon as Chiba Shigetaro finished speaking, the faces of Zhou Zhu, Kondo, and Okita were all full of joy.

"Oh!" Okita shouted excitedly first, "That Yushima Tenmangu finally agreed...that's great..."

Chong Tian and the others were all showing excitement - only Qing Deng was stunned.

ha? What? Yushima Tenmangu Shrine? Plum Blossom Festival? "Red and White Battle"? What the hell?

Yushima Tenmangu, Plum Blossom Festival, Red and White Battle...Qingdeng knew the meaning of these three words, but he didn't know the meaning of these three words together...

Japan is a country that likes festivals very much and has a very prosperous "festival culture".

The festival activities of various names are dazzling. Throughout the year, there are large or small festivals held almost every month.

In Japan in the Heian period, there was a great scholar with great knowledge and many writings in his life: Michizane Sugawara.

Due to some extremely complicated reasons, after the death of Sugawara Michizane, the emperor who was not a puppet at that time but still had real power ordered the construction of "Tenmangu" to worship this great scholar. After that, Michizane became a part of the Shinto belief. And gradually spread to the whole of Japan. Because Michizane was an outstanding scholar and poet during his lifetime, he was worshiped as the god of learning.

A shrine dedicated to Doshin: Tenmangu is gradually opening up all over the country.

"Yushima Tenmangu" is one of the branch offices of Tenmangu in Edo.

Daozhen loved plum blossoms during his lifetime, so a large number of plum trees are planted in each Tenmangong.

With the evolution of time, a kind of festival dedicated to commemorating Taoism was born-this is the "Plum Blossom Festival".

On February 25th every year, people will go to the nearby Tenmangu Shrine to admire plum blossoms.

This plum blossom festival is one of the favorite festivals of Japanese literati.

Every plum blossom festival, you can see a group of literati under a certain plum blossom tree in Tianmangong, reciting poems and singing waka there.

Counting the days, this year's Plum Blossom Festival is coming soon. Today is February 10th. In half a month, this year's Plum Blossom Festival will begin.

As for this "Red and White Battle", it is also known as "Joint War Game", which was one of the most popular games played by warriors in ancient Japan.

The warriors participating in the game are divided into two teams: the red team and the white team, and the number of players is not limited.

The heads of the red team are tied with red belts, while the heads of the white team are tied with white belts. Both teams have a porcelain plate tied to their foreheads, and one person from each team is responsible for the "general" of the whole team.

The rules of the game are quite simple: two teams fight with wooden or bamboo swords. If the porcelain plate on the head is blown, it means "you are dead". If you want to quit the game immediately, which side's "general" If the porcelain plate in the game is smashed first, it means which side loses.

To put it simply, it is a "strategic war chess game" that tries to "kill" the opponent's general on the premise of ensuring that one's own general will not "die in battle".

Because the rules are simple, the process is fun and exciting, and it is not only a competition of personal force, but also a competition of tactics, so this "red and white battle" is quite popular, and it can be said to be the favorite game of warriors.

No matter how hard he thinks, Qingdeng can't figure out how the "plum blossom festival" which symbolizes elegance and the "red and white battle" which symbolizes violence...how these two irrelevant words are connected together.

Chong Tian, ​​who was sitting beside Qingdeng, noticed the bewildered expression on Qingdeng's face at this moment.

"Ah... I almost forgot." Okita raised his hand and played with his ponytail, "It seems that we haven't mentioned this to Tachibana-kun yet..."

After finishing speaking, Okita stuck out his tongue, licked his slightly dry lips, and then explained to Qingdeng little by little what the hell was this "Red and White Battle at Yushima Tenmangu Shrine".

...

After listening to Okita's explanation, Qingdeng finally understood what was going on.

This has to start with the shrine master of Yushima Tenmangu...the head of the shrine.

The god master of Yushima Tenmangu is a kind-hearted person.

In the past few years, the development of this country is really invisible...

All kinds of messy bird things appeared one after another, but there was not a single good thing that could inspire people.

Over time, the mental outlook of the people has become a little sluggish.

The priest is very worried about the current situation of the people.

Therefore, he made up his mind to do something practical for the people as much as he could—he decided to hold this year's "Plum Blossom Festival" as lively as possible! Let the people enjoy this festival better and drive away the haze on the faces of the people.

The mind has been made up, the mind has been made up.

Regarding the specific new activities to be held, the divine master, who was very flexible and not rigid in thinking, immediately had an idea.

If there is any kind of activity that attracts the most illiterate people... there is no doubt that the warriors fight.

As long as there are warriors fighting with weapons on the streets, there will never be a shortage of bystanders.

Then, simply invite two sword gyms to hold a "red and white battle" in Yushima Tenmangu on the day of the Plum Blossom Festival!

God Lord, he just met two friends who opened a sword gym.

And these two friends of his are the owner of the Little Chiba Sword Gym: Chiba Sakakichi and the owner of the Test Guard Gym: Kondo Shusuke...

*****

*****

Yesterday was the Dragon Boat Festival, so the number of words today is a little less...

The author will try to work harder tomorrow (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)