After more than a month of observation after moving into the imperial examination hall, Qingdeng had a certain understanding of his master's wife Abi's character.
In a nutshell - she is a very strong and aggressive mistress of the sword hall.
He is a bit serious about words and smiles. If you think about it carefully, Qingdeng has lived in the Trial Guard Hall for such a long time, and the number of times he has seen Abi smile happily does not seem to be more than 10 times.
I forget exactly when, but Qingto heard a little about Abi's past from Okita.
Ah Bi came from a well-off martial arts family, and she could be considered a eldest lady. Her strong character may have been contributed to by her family background.
With an excellent background, A Bi received an excellent education since he was a child.
In terms of knowledge alone, Abi, who had read poetry and books since childhood, was naturally higher than Zhouzhu, who was just a martial artist and could not even recognize Chinese characters.
Therefore, after the completion of the imperial examination hall, Abi was responsible for all the financial work in the hall.
Zhou Zhu was in charge of the operation of the sword hall, while Abi was in charge of the purse of the sword hall, and also in charge of the food, drink and sleeping habits of their extended family. The couple had a clear division of labor.
Therefore, as long as we know what A Bi is responsible for in the trial clinic on weekdays, it is not difficult to understand why A Bi has become so gentle in the past few days after seeing the "turnover" of the trial clinic rising.
Already.
"Ah, by the way, speaking of aunt... Tachibana-kun, I have to tell you this quickly." Okita suddenly said, "Master, aunt, and brother Kondo just went out, and it will be around four o'clock in the evening (evening)
They won’t be back until 8 o’clock).”
"Master, are they going out?" A hint of confusion appeared on Qingdeng's cheeks, "What are they doing out at this time?"
"It's nothing." Okita replied, "This morning, one of Master's and his relatives who lives in the northern suburbs of Edo accidentally broke his leg, so Master and the others went to visit their relative."
"It turns out that I'm going to visit my relatives. They won't be back until four o'clock in the evening...that means I, you, Saito and Kyuubei will have to figure it out for tonight's dinner."
After Okita nodded vigorously, he said excitedly: "Tachibana-kun, why don't we stop cooking at home tonight and go out to eat soba noodles?"
"Hmm? Okita-kun, do you want to go out to eat?"
"Yes!" Okita nodded vigorously again, "I haven't eaten soba noodles for a long time, and I want to try it after a long time. What do you think of Tachibana-kun?"
"Soba noodles..."
——Speaking of which, I haven’t eaten noodles in a long time...
Qingden, who remembered that he had not tasted noodles for a while, only thought for a moment and nodded slightly:
"I'm OK."
…
…
Aoto asked Kyubei and Saito for their opinions.
Kubei, an old and loyal servant of the Tachibana family, said without hesitation: No matter what he went to eat, he had no objection, as long as he didn't go to dangerous areas with poor security.
Not to mention Saito.
No matter whether Qingdeng asked him what he wanted to eat, what he wanted to eat, or whether he wanted to go somewhere to eat with him... this man would just reply with a blank expression: "I'm free to do it."
Since it was unanimously approved, it is time to proceed without further ado - Qingden and the other four closed the trial defense hall and strode towards a certain noodle restaurant not far from the trial defense hall, which Okita had heard people say was very delicious.
.
It happens to be dinner time now.
After opening the door curtain with a big word "面" written on it and entering the noodle shop, I was greeted by the aroma of sauce, the smell of people's sweat, the sound of noodles being cooked, the sound of chatting...these smells and sounds made up a surging atmosphere.
The "waves" hit Qingdeng and others one after another.
"Welcome!" A young girl wearing an apron around her waist and dressed as a hand-dresser brought a bowl of noodles she was holding to the table of a guest beside her, while using a heavy Kyoto
He warmly greeted Qingdeng and others with his accent.
"Four people!" Okita raised four fingers to Teyo, "Is there any room left?"
"Yes, yes! Please come with me!"
Tedai led Qingnobo and others to an empty table in a corner of the noodle shop that could seat six people.
After everyone sat down around the empty dining table, Qingdeng raised his eyes and looked at the menu hanging on the wall nearby.
Although this noodle shop is not big, it has quite a variety of dishes.
Clear soup soba, 16 fen. Miso soba, 18 fen. Tempura buckwheat, 32 fen... Aomori quickly scanned the names of the dishes on the menu one by one.
This menu is very carefully written.
Some noodles also have a line of small characters written at the back to mark the characteristics of this noodle.
For example - miso soba noodles are followed by the phrase "the sauce is more generous".
Qingden has always had a strong taste in food, and he likes dishes full of salt and soy sauce.
Therefore, he ordered a miso soba without hesitation.
Also without hesitation in ordering was Saito.
Saito didn't even look at the menu, so he just opened his mouth and ordered the most common and cheapest clear soup soba noodles for 16 Wen.
After looking at the menu for a few times, Kyubei ordered the cheapest soba noodles in clear soup.
After everyone else ordered the noodles they wanted to eat, Okita, who had been scanning the menu just now, turned his head and asked the hand 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 two more strips of tempura to miso soba?"
Okita and Tedai discussed his "customized soba" in detail.
Waiting is also waiting. While waiting for Okita to order his noodles, in order to pass this short period of free time, Qingto opened the system interface that he had not opened and examined in detail for some time——
【Name: Tachibana Aoden】(?)
[Talents currently possessed:]
[Night vision, sword genius, god of sleep, lone brave, eagle eye, left-handed, strong body, skillful hands, strong tongue, iron waist, steel bones, strong muscles, cat turns around, photographic memory]
Qingdeng's current system interface is finally no longer as "bleak" as it was when he first traveled through time.
He now has a total of 14 talents, and these 14 talents are extremely practical.
Qingdeng's eyes turned to the end of the "Talent List". Looking at the three talents of "Strong Muscles", "Cat Turn", and "Photographic Memory" that he copied from the game a few days ago, he couldn't help but feel...
I secretly sighed in my heart:
——These three new talents are really more perverted than the last...
"Strengthening muscles" that makes muscles less likely to fatigue... This talent is so useful that I don't need to go into details.
The "cat turn" copied from Sanako has an effect of "excellent body balance".
This talent may not seem to be of much use at first glance, but in reality it is of great use.
How to fall down when fighting someone is a science.
There is a skill in fighting skills that teaches you how to fall: receiving the body.
In a nutshell, when you are attacked by an opponent and lose your center of gravity and are about to fall to the ground, you use inertia to adjust your posture to reduce the impact, so as not to be injured on rocks or bumpy ground, and to quickly recover your posture.
.
If you have a good sense of balance, it means that you will not easily lose your balance when fighting with others, and if you accidentally lose your balance, you can quickly adjust your center of gravity and complete the body.
Having an excellent sense of balance will give you an advantage in battle.
As for the final "photographic memory"...not to mention that.
Extremely strong memory—this should be considered one of the most coveted talents for most people in this world.
In his previous life, when Qingdeng was still in school, he had coveted this kind of "photographic memory" talent countless times. As long as he had extraordinary memory ability, he could cope with school exams or learn other talents.
Get twice the result with half the effort.
And now - Qingdeng's fantasy has come true.
That Shannan actually has such a god-level talent... Qingdeng was not too surprised by this. After all, Shannan looked like the kind of educated person who had strong learning ability and was good at reading.
After Aomori took a rough look at his increasingly "growing" talent list, Okita finally finished customizing his "exclusive noodles" with his hand.
"The two people sitting next to us are so noisy..." After Teyo returned to the kitchen with the paper with the noodles ordered by Qingto and the others, Okita smiled bitterly, lowered his voice, and turned to the seat.
Qingdeng beside him whispered, "Chirping..."
Qingto smiled helplessly, then nodded, using his movements to express his agreement with what Okita had just said.
Sitting at the table next to Qingto and others were two middle-aged samurai with swords on their waists.
The noodles placed on their table had all been wiped clean by them, and their cheeks were glowing red due to drinking some wine.
Throughout the ages, no matter what era or country, there are three major topics that have always been men's favorites: military, politics, and women.
These two middle-aged men were chatting very passionately about one of the three major topics: politics.
Although they controlled the volume of their chat, probably because they lost control of their bodies due to being drunk, the sound of their conversation still disturbed Qingdeng and others.
But fortunately, after chatting for a few more words, this rather noisy middle-aged pair staggered out of the noodle shop——
"I heard... Hiccup... Mr. Jing Yi recently had a dispute with His Highness Tianzhangyuan..."
"Oh, it's not uncommon for Elder Jingyi and His Highness Tianzhangyuan to quarrel. The dispute between the two of them is meaningless at all. How can His Highness Tianzhangyuan compete with Elder Jingyi?"
"That's right. Her Royal Highness Tianzhangyuan is just the official wife of Lord Jiading and the nominal mother of Lord Jiamao. In terms of power, how can she, a young widow who is only 24 years old, compare to Elder Jingyi who is now the most powerful person in the world?"
"I guess Mr. Jing Yi might treat His Highness Tianzhangyuan with a 'kid-making' mentality."
"Compared to Her Majesty Tenzouin, who is just a woman and has no power, the Mito clan is the biggest worry for Mr. Ii right now."
"Yes, even if suddenly one day in the future, a group of Mito clan warriors appear and hack Elder Ii to death on the street, I will not be surprised at all..."
"Hiccup...huh? I've finished the wine...do you want to order two more glasses of wine?"
"No, no, just go to the next place and drink again."
"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 and asked Qingteng:
"Tachibana-kun, isn't Mito Domain one of the three vassals closest to the shogunate: the 'Gosan'? Why did those two people just say that Mito Domain is a big worry for Mr. Ii?"
Qingden couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "Don't you know?"
Okita shook his head: "I rarely pay attention to these family and national affairs..."
"Well..." Qingdeng touched his chin, "Where should I start to explain to you..."
Aoto is quite familiar with the grievances between Ii Naoki and the Mito clan - because the memory of "Original Tachibana Aoto" contains quite detailed relevant content.
Generally speaking, anyone who is slightly involved in Japan's current politics is aware of the grudges between Ii Naoki and the Mito Domain.
Just as Qingto was thinking hard about how to explain this slightly complicated issue to Okita in as simple a sentence as possible, an elegant male voice suddenly came from behind them:
"If you don't mind...I can come and help explain."
"Shannan-kun?" Qingden turned his head in surprise and looked at Shannan Keisuke, who was sitting back-to-back at the dining table behind him, tilting his head to give them a gentle smile.
…
…
Qingdeng's table is for six people, and there are enough empty seats for Shannan to come over and take a seat.
After inviting Shannan to sit down and share a table with them, Qingdeng immediately asked his elegant old friend in surprise: "Shannan-kun, 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 today to see the white plum blossoms that are still in full bloom."
"I accidentally became fascinated by it. When I came back to my senses, it was already dark."
"Even if I rush home to make dinner right away, it's still too late."
"This noodle shop is the restaurant I will definitely pass by when I go back to my home."
"So I decided to come here and simply kill off today's dinner."
"As a result, I never expected that after I entered this noodle shop and sat down at the still empty seat, I heard a familiar voice coming from behind me."
"What's bothering you?" Qingdeng swept his gaze and carefully looked at Shannan's face several times. As expected, he found a hint of sadness hanging between Shannan's brows, "Shannan-kun, what's bothering you?"
"Haha." Shan Nan 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 prying into his privacy forcefully.
On the contrary, he will not casually inquire into other people's privacy.
Since his old friend did not want to talk more about his "troubles," Qingdeng would not delve further into this issue.
"Ah... Speaking of which, Mr. Shannan, I seem to owe you a drink."
Qingto suddenly remembered: more than a month ago, the day after he traveled to the Edo era, after asking Shannan to confirm the relationship between the Shiwei Hall, Xuanbu Hall, and Xiaochiba Sword Hall, he promised Shannan that he would treat him to a drink.
A drink as a thank you.
"Hahaha." Shan Nan pursed his lips and smiled, "Then let's make up for the drink you owe now. I happen to be a little greedy too."
After Aoto smiled generously and repeatedly expressed that it was no problem, he stopped the hand who happened to be passing by their table and ordered 2 more bottles of sake.
"Okita-kun." At this time, Shannan turned his attention to Okita, "Are you very interested in the grudges between Ii Elder and Mito Clan?"
"That's a little bit." Okita used the thumb and index finger of his right hand to create a small gap, "I'm mainly curious about why Mito Clan, the 'Gosan', has such a bad relationship with Elder Ii.
"
Shannan smiled and put his folded hands on the dining table in front of him.
"The grudge between Ii Elder and Mito Domain...in short, it is that Ii Elder did three things that annoyed the feudal lords of Mito Domain."
"The first thing - Mr. Ii advocated 'founding the country', and his political views conflicted with the Mito clan, which advocated 'closing the country' and 'repelling foreigners'."
"In Mito Domain, there is a school of thought with a history of nearly two hundred years: Mito Studies."
"The Mito School is a school of thought that is centered on the teachings of Zhu Shunshui, a great scholar of the Ming Dynasty who did not want to serve in the Qing Dynasty, so he settled in our country, and was formed by integrating the traditional Chinese studies of our country."
“One of the core ideas of Mito Studies is to advocate the ‘King-honoring Thought’ of ‘respecting and loving the Emperor and protecting the Kingdom of God’.”
"Mito Domain is the birthplace of Mito Studies, and all the feudal lords have been deeply influenced by Mito Studies."
"Under the influence of Mito Studies, the vassals of Mito Domain generally have a strong awareness of 'getting rid of the barbarians and protecting the pure land of the Kingdom of God'."
"Seven years ago, after the black ships of the United States attacked, the current lord of the Mito Domain, Tokugawa Saiaki, who highly admired Mito studies, took the lead in issuing a call - never lift the 'Lockdown Order', use all the strength of the country to defeat
Yi Di, protect the Kingdom of God."
"After Tokugawa Saiaki issued this call, the feudal lords in Mito Domain responded in large numbers."
"In the eyes of the Mito feudal lords, Ii Naomichi, who advocated the 'foundation of the country,' was a coward and traitor who brought disaster to the country and the people."
"The second thing - Mr. Ii signed the "Japan-U.S. Treaty of Friendship and Commerce" and other five-nation treaties without waiting for His Majesty the Emperor's consent."
"Two years ago, when the United States and other countries forced our country to sign a new treaty, the Kyoto court was hesitant about whether to sign the new treaty and did not give an accurate answer."
"Because he was frightened by the military power of the Western countries, 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 had his own reasons for doing this, in the eyes of the Mito feudal lords who were deeply influenced by Mito's 'ideology of honoring the king', Mr. Ii's behavior of ignoring the emperor was treason."
"As for...the third last thing - after Ii took over the position of 'eldest brother', he severely attacked all his political opponents headed by Tokugawa Saiaki."
"The lord of the Mito Domain, Tokugawa Saiaki, was not only opposed to the old political views of Ii on the issue of 'founding the country or fighting the foreigners'"
"In the 'Hitabashi Nanki Controversy' that decided whether Tokugawa Keifuku or Hitotsubashi Keiki would be the shogun's successor, he also had a very sharp conflict with Mr. Ii."
"The well-known Hitotsubashi Yoshiki, who was highly regarded by the Hitotsubashi sect, was the biological son of Tokugawa Saiaki. In the fourth year of Honghua (1847), he was adopted to the Hitotsubashi family who had no heirs."
"Whether it is for his son's future or for the interests of his family, Tokugawa Saiaki naturally hopes to make his own son the new general."
"Therefore, in the battle for shogun succession two years ago, Mr. Ii was the staunchest Nanki sect, while Tokugawa Saiaki was the staunchest Hitotsubashi sect."
"After Elder Jingyi succeeded in taking the position of 'elder brother' and the 'Nanki Faction' won the overall victory, Elder Jingyi began to vigorously suppress all political opponents led by the 'Ichitsubashi Faction'."
"Tokugawa Saiaki, the person who has always been against him, has certainly been treated seriously by Mr. Ii."
"Elder Ii gave Tokugawa Saiaki the punishment of 'eternal seclusion'. If this punishment is not lifted for one day, Tokugawa Saiaki will not be able to leave his residence for one day."
"So——Okita-kun, can you understand why the Mito clan is said to be a big worry for Mr. Ii?"
"In the eyes of the Mito feudal lords, Mr. Ii is a traitor who disrespects the emperor, betrays his country for glory, and at the same time makes their lord suffer unjust injustice."
Okita has been listening very carefully.
After Shannan's words fell, he immediately exclaimed in a low voice: "So that's it... Mr. Shannan, you said it well, even a person like me who is not very bright can understand it clearly!"
Ayoto, who had been listening carefully just now, also followed Okita and praised Shannan's eloquence.
Ayoto asked himself - he could not summarize the grudges between Inaobi and the Mito clan in such a concise and concise way like Shannan did.
"You're flattered." Shannan smiled humbly at Qingto and Okita.
"No wonder the man just said that he wouldn't be surprised if he saw Mr. Ii hacked to death on the streets by the Mito clan's warriors one day in the future."
Okita stretched out his right hand, grabbed the ponytail on the back of his head, and gently fiddled with the ends of the braid with his index and middle fingers.
"Based on what Ii Dairo has done to the Mito clan so far...it's not surprising that the Mito clan's feudal lords would do anything to Ii Dairo..."
…
…
The next day, early morning——
The seventh year of Anzheng (1860), March 2——
In the Ii family's mansion, the courtyard adjacent to the gate was full of Ii Naobi's followers and guards.
They gathered around an exquisite sedan chair in the posture of stars holding the moon.
Beside the sedan door, Ii Naobi, with his hair and clothes neatly styled, stood opposite his wife, Ajiu.
"Walk slowly on the road." Ajiu, with a gentle smile on his face, bowed slightly towards Ii Naobi.
Every morning when Ii Naobi went to Edo Castle to deal with state affairs, he would go out to see each other off, and said "walk slowly on the road" to Ii Naobi - this has been a habit that Aku has insisted on for a long time.
Naobi Ii, 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 pretense or pretense.
Only decades of deep friendship and long-term close companionship can cultivate this kind of "returning to nature".
After saying to Ajiu, "Remember to keep warm," Ii Naobi stretched out his waist and got into his sedan.
Just as Naoki Ii's entourage was about to get up, a rather old samurai suddenly rushed through the open gate of Ii's house and rushed into the small courtyard adjacent to the gate.
He turned his eyes and spotted Ii Naobi sitting in the sedan that had not yet gotten up. He immediately ran straight towards Ii Naobi.
Ii Naobi's followers and guards did not stop the middle-aged samurai in any way and allowed him to get close to Ii Naobi.
"My lord," the middle-aged warrior whispered, "I have something to tell you."
Ii Naobi raised his eyelids, glanced at the middle-aged samurai, and then leaned towards the middle-aged samurai.
The middle-aged samurai immediately bent down and put his lips close to Ii Naobi's ear.
Ii Naobi listened expressionlessly, looking into the distance, calm and unmoving.
Aku, who was still standing by the sedan door, consciously took three steps back after the middle-aged samurai put his lips to Ii Naobi's ear, making enough room for her husband who no longer belonged to her alone.
Naoki Ii and the middle-aged man maintained this "you talk and I listen" posture for a long time. Finally, the middle-aged man stopped whispering and straightened his back.
Naoki Ii, on the other hand, continued to look into the distance expressionlessly, his thoughts unpredictable.
"...Ajiu." After a moment, Ii Naobi turned his head as if nothing happened, and smiled at Ajiu, "I'll leave first."
"Yes." Ajiu, whose gentle smile never faded, nodded vigorously.
Jingyi Naobi waved his big hand, and the attendants standing beside the sedan saw this and quickly closed the sedan door.
The procession, with Naomi Ii's sedan as the center, walked out of Ii's residence in a leisurely manner and headed towards Edo Castle in the distance.
…
…
About half an hour later——
Edo Castle, in a certain gorgeous room——
Naoki Ii sat in the west center of this gorgeous room.
He straightened his waist extraordinarily, lowered his head slightly, closed his eyes tightly, and tried to rest his mind.
Suddenly - a "crash" sound came, and a sliding door of the room located in front of Ii Naobi was slowly opened.
As soon as he heard the sound of the door being opened, Ii Naobi 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…
What sounded in front of Naoki Ii... was the sound of soft footsteps, like feathers falling to the ground.
Following an equally gentle sound of sitting on the ground, he fell——
"Lord Boss... raise your head."
After receiving the answer from this ethereal female voice, Ii Naobi slowly raised his head.
Sitting in front of him was a very young, beautiful woman wearing a purple blouse and a short ponytail.
"...His Royal Highness Tianzhangyuan, I feel relieved to see that you look good."
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This chapter has 7,000 words, and the amount of information is quite overwhelming. The author personally thinks that it has met the requirement of "write more today" mentioned yesterday (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)
This chapter has been completed!