Kinoshita Mai, who had pulled the face towel up to her lower eyelids, lowered her little head so that her chin was almost touching her collarbone. Her eyes were fixed on her petite toes and the ten delicate strands wrapped under the black footbags.
The toes are constantly gripping the ground beneath their feet.
Although Kinoshita Mai pulled up the hijab on her face and tightened it, she actually only pulled it up, and the bright red clouds covered the corners of her eyes and forehead.
Even though Kinoshita Mai wore it to cover the area below her eyes, he was already very familiar with Kinoshita Mai's face. When he looked at Kinoshita Mai wearing a hijab, he could automatically picture Kinoshita Mai's face in his mind.
.
Even the corners of his eyes and forehead were flushed... Qingden could already imagine how red the area under his eyelids was now.
At this moment, Qingdeng felt a little moved in his heart.
Based on Kinoshita Mai's behavior and explanation just now, it is not difficult to see that Kinoshita Mai was anxious to see Qingnobo's injuries with her own eyes, and that's why she made the abnormal move of "asking Qingnobo to take off his clothes quickly and let me see".
After it was confirmed that Qingdeng's injuries were not serious and his worries were relieved, he slowly began to realize what a bold thing he had just done.
In this kind of environment where there are no outsiders, a man and a woman alone, asking a man to take off his upper body clothes... This kind of thing is very bold in the 21st century, let alone the 19th century.
feudal society.
Kinoshita Mai was so concerned about his injuries, which really touched Qingto.
Originally, Qingdeng didn't feel too embarrassed. After all, "taking off his shirt and exposing the wound to others" was completely harmless to Qingdeng, and he made the bold request of "taking off his clothes and showing the wound"
The person is Kinoshita Mai, not him.
But...after seeing Kinoshita Mai with her head lowered and her cheeks flushed, Qingto could not help but gradually feel embarrassed due to the influence of the surrounding atmosphere.
In addition to feeling embarrassed, Qingdeng also found that the itching feeling in his heart was getting stronger...
Qingdeng felt as if an invisible hand was scratching his chest... There was an itchy feeling on his chest.
I don't know if he was affected by this itching feeling, but Qingdeng felt that his heart was beating a little faster now.
What a strange feeling... I have never experienced this kind of itching feeling in my heart, whether in my previous life or this life.
While Qingdeng put his clothes back on, he was thinking about what to say to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.
While he was thinking, Qingto's eyes unconsciously fell on Kinoshita Mai.
Something that Qingdeng found incredible happened suddenly.
When his eyes were focused on Kinoshita Mai, Qingden suddenly found that the numbness in his heart had become much stronger...
The sudden itching sensation in his heart made Qingden subconsciously raise his hand to scratch his chest.
Originally, he wanted to say something to get rid of the awkward atmosphere lingering between the two of them, but due to the sudden and intense itching sensation in his heart, Qingdeng didn't know what to say now.
what.
Fortunately, at this moment, a strange sound suddenly sounded, which helped Qingdeng solve the problem of "how to speak"——
Meow~~meow~~meow~~meow~~
As Qing climbed up to their sides, a black cat appeared out of nowhere.
This black cat didn't seem to be very afraid of people. It sat on the ground obediently and meowed several times at Qingdeng and Kinoshita Mai.
"Ah, it's a cat~" Looking at her favorite animal, Kinoshita Mai's eyes suddenly softened a lot.
"This cat is so fat..." Qingdeng sighed in a low voice.
"There must be someone feeding it nearby." Kinoshita Mai agreed softly.
This black cat is really helpful.
With the presence of this "third party", Aoto and Mai Kinoshita had a few simple discussions about the size of the black cat, and most of the awkward atmosphere around them immediately dissipated.
Taking advantage of this good momentum, Qingden said quickly to Mai Kinoshita: "Miss Kinoshita, it's time for us to go back."
Qingdeng raised his head and glanced at the sky, then said:
"Being so tormented by that mysterious man in brown robe... Before I knew it, it was already this time, I have to go back quickly."
Judging from the current weather conditions, it is almost 5 a.m.
It is now approaching May, the days are getting longer and longer, and the dawn is getting earlier and earlier. If Aoto and Kinoshita Mai don't go back quickly now, it will be almost dawn.
"Hmm..." Kinoshita Mai nodded lightly.
"Let's go." Qingdeng coughed a few times, adjusted his clothes and the mask on his face, and walked out of the alley first.
Whether it is the mysterious person, the eternal gift "Hachiman of the Immortal", or the tingling feeling of unknown origin that has not completely dissipated from Qingto's heart until now, all of them are put behind his mind for the time being.
, leave it to think about it later.
Now, hurry back to the trial clinic.
Qingto and Kinoshita Mai walked out of the alley one after the other.
At this time, Kinoshita Mai suddenly seemed to have recalled something, and her steps stopped.
"Ah, wait a minute." Kinoshita Mai called out to Qingto, "I almost forgot... Tachibana-kun, this is for you."
"Huh?" Qingden, who was walking in the front, turned his eyes in confusion, and happened to see Kinoshita Mai taking out a delicate cherry blossom from her arms.
It was the cherry blossom that Mai Kinoshita had taken off just before she left the riverside with Aoto and chased the mysterious man and was blown by the night wind in front of her eyes.
"this is?"
The corners of Mai Kinoshita's mouth hidden under the scarf curled up slightly: "Tachibana-kun, there are actually two reasons why I suddenly took you to see the cherry blossoms by the river just now."
"The first reason is that I told you that I want to try to see the night cherry blossoms."
"And the second reason... is that I want to make you an amulet."
After that, Kinoshita Mai closed her eyes, held the delicate cherry blossom with both hands, moved her lips, and recited something in a low voice to the cherry blossom in her palm with a volume as soft as a mosquito's moan.
The posture is solemn, like a devout believer praying to the gods.
Qingden originally had many questions that he wanted to ask Kinoshita Mai, but after seeing Kinoshita Mai's pious look, in order not to disturb Kinoshita Mai, he swallowed back all the questions that had flowed to his lips.
Belly.
——What is she doing?
Qingto asked himself this in his mind while gathering his thoughts. Relying on his newly enhanced hearing tonight, Qingto could barely hear clearly what Kinoshita Mai was reciting - a paragraph mixed with many ancient Japanese words, very mysterious.
Congratulations in Taoist style.
Aoto doesn't know much about Shintoism, so Aoto doesn't quite understand the meaning of this blessing that Kinoshita Mai is currently reciting.
Therefore, Qingto could only wait slowly, waiting for Kinoshita Mai to finish reciting her congratulatory message to the cherry blossom in her palm.
Finally - after a long while, Kinoshita Mai stopped chanting and slowly opened her eyes.
"Tachibana-kun, please accept this." Kinoshita Mai handed the cherry blossom in her palm to Qingteng with both hands.
To show respect, Qingto took the cherry blossom from Kinoshita Mai with both hands, "Miss Kinoshita, what is this?"
Kinoshita Wu smiled:
"You 'Sanchai' have been in a troubled time recently, haven't you?"
"The 'radical anti-barbarian faction' is still causing unrest."
"The notorious anti-barbarian group is still at large."
"So just now when I was passing by the riverside with cherry blossom trees, I thought about using the cherry blossoms to make you an amulet that can protect your safety."
Having said this, Kinoshita Mai's voice paused for a moment, and then changed to a proud tone.
"I know a pretty magical spell."
"As long as you recite this incantation to a cherry blossom, you can imbue the cherry blossom with divine power and turn it into a talisman that can bring good luck to the holder."
"It's very effective! I have tried it myself. After carrying around the cherry blossoms that have been imbued with divine power by my spell, my luck will really become very good!"
Qingto raised his eyebrows, lowered his eyes, looked at the cherry blossom in his hand, and couldn't help but smile: "In other words, Miss Kinoshita, the long paragraph you just recited to this cherry blossom sounded like a Shinto blessing.
Is that thing the spell you just mentioned that can imbue Sakura with divine power?"
"Yeah!" Kinoshita Mai pecked the little head vigorously a few times.
——Is there a spell that can imbue Sakura with divine power...
Although he has experienced the rather unscientific thing of time travel, Qingdeng is still a very firm atheist.
"Infusing magical power into cherry blossoms", "bringing good luck to people"... Qingnobo was not particularly interested in Kinoshita Mai's remarks.
But, after all, this is a good intention from others.
Therefore, Qingden held the cherry blossom to his chest with both hands very solemnly, and said sternly to Kinoshita Mai:
"Thank you, I will always carry this amulet with me."
After being told "Thank you" by Aoto... Mai Kinoshita, whose expression under the kerchief became slightly unnatural, placed her clasped hands in front of her body, stretched her left foot behind her right foot, and placed her left instep close to her right heel.
He stuttered in response:
"No, you're welcome...it's just a little effort from me..."
Seeing Kinoshita Mai's embarrassed posture, a faint and gentle smile unconsciously appeared on Ayoto's cheeks.
In my heart, the itching feeling that had finally dissipated for the most part reappeared.
…
…
at this time--
Edo, on a remote road——
"Ha ha ha ha……"
The mysterious man who had caused both Qingto and Kinoshita Mai to suffer so much was currently holding on to a wooden wall beside him out of breath, his shoulders and chest rising and falling violently.
"Ha...I'm really...old..."
The mysterious man raised his hand with a wry smile and wiped the sweat dripping down his face.
"It's only been a few moments...and I'm already breathing like this..."
After gasping for breath for a while, the mysterious man slowly adjusted his breathing rhythm.
After catching his breath, the mysterious man slowly straightened up, raised his head, and looked to the east - this was the direction where he had just encountered Qingdeng and Qingdeng.
"Why did Tachibana-kun's perception suddenly become so powerful...?"
"Obviously they have never discovered me before."
"It seems I have to pay more attention in the future..."
"In addition to the enhanced perception...the strength has also been enhanced a lot."
"Ho ho ho, I can't believe...even I can't figure out what kind of realm this young man will reach and what achievements he will have in the future..."
After laughing at himself a few times, the mysterious man suddenly found that the Western-style cloak on his body was stained with a lot of dust - it should have been accidentally collected from somewhere when he was trying to avoid the pursuit of Qingto and Kinoshita Mai just now.
Bar.
In order to remove the dust more easily, the mysterious man took off his cloak.
The cloak slipped down...the mysterious man's face and figure were finally revealed.
Also emerging from the cover of the cloak was the knife carried behind the mysterious man's back.
A knife with a purple handle and black scabbard.
…
…
There is an unknown group hoarding a large amount of kerosene in Edo City... Such a shocking thing, the Office of the Attorney General naturally pays the highest attention to it.
After Inotani and the others, with the help of Aoto and Mai Kinoshita, arrested Birthmark Face and others, the execution office immediately put them into jail and asked the jail officer who was responsible for interrogation not to be polite - give me a hard slap.
Torture them! Get information from them as quickly as possible.
As a result - the punishment of being held in stone, the punishment of Hai Lao's punishment, the punishment of hanging up... These tortures that make the victim unable to survive or die are all used on the bodies of people with birthmark faces and others.
These punishments and torture methods are indeed the perfect result of the combination of human malice towards the same kind and human imagination.
In less than half a day, Birthmark Face and others, who had been tortured to the point of death, revealed everything they knew.
It turned out that they were not members of the anti-barbarian group at all, nor were they members of any "radical anti-barbarian faction" organization.
They are a group of smugglers.
They accepted a commission from a man who called himself "Saburo" to "help purchase a large amount of kerosene". They purchased a large amount of kerosene from Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and other places in Kansai and transported it to Edo by sea.
The abandoned teahouse that Kinoshita Mai found was the "temporary warehouse" occupied by the Birthmark Faces and others specifically to store their goods.
As a smuggling businessman, Birthmark Face and others have always adhered to the principle of "only focusing on money" and "not asking customers any unnecessary questions".
Therefore, with the birthmark face, he had no idea who Saburo was, nor what he was planning to do with purchasing such a large amount of kerosene - he only knew that Saburo gave too much, so he accepted the "help" without hesitation.
Purchasing kerosene" task.
The delivery method agreed between him and Saburo was to pay and deliver the goods at the foot of a hill in the eastern suburbs of Edo on April 25.
After hearing such important information, the execution office immediately organized a team and rushed to the delivery location agreed upon by Birthmark Face and Saburo.
However... I stayed there until April 27th, but could not catch any suspicious persons...
It must have been that the force that Saburo was relying on got wind of it in time and knew that Birthmark Face and others had been arrested by the execution office. They stopped in time, leaving everyone in the execution station in vain.
Since they failed to catch Saburo at their delivery site...then they can only find another way to hunt him!
The execution office and Huofu Thieves cooperated with each other and quickly made the following arrangements:
1. Investigate all kerosene dealers in Edo and investigate whether anyone has purchased large amounts of kerosene recently.
2. Search the citywide to see if there are any places where kerosene is being hoarded, and encourage the public to report any suspicious places.
Someone is buying a large amount of kerosene... This is the kind of scary news that can make the high-ranking officials in the execution office and fire-paying thieves have trouble sleeping...
Qingteng and the "Three Chapters" warriors were busy again.
Although the execution office and the Huofu Thieves Gai took this "kerosene purchase incident" extremely seriously and invested a lot of energy and resources, the progress of the investigation is still quite slow...
The management of the grassroots level has always been quite poor.
The Edo South and North Administrative Offices had to rely on the assistance of "township residents' self-governing organizations" to manage Edo effectively... Regardless of anything else, this system alone relies on the assistance of other organizations to manage Edo well.
We are already destined to count on the simple and efficient administrative efficiency of the Southern and Northern Fans, so don’t make it too difficult for them...
More than ten days have passed, and we still haven’t found out the flow of kerosene in Edo, and who has purchased large amounts of kerosene...
Although Birthmark Face and others failed to provide much useful information for the practice, they did achieve one thing - they made the names of Mao Xiaoseng and Fox Xiaoseng even more famous.
During the recent period, the common people of Edo have been enthusiastically discussing the pair of phantom thieves who once again punished evil people in a very short period of time and made outstanding contributions to the peace of Edo.
Many people praised Mao Xiaoseng and Fox Xiaoseng for their righteous deeds. If they had not helped find and defeat Birthmark Face and others, with the ability of the practice with extremely poor administrative efficiency, someone might never have been discovered to be hoarding kerosene.
Of course, there are also some people complaining there: Although the cat monk and the fox monk both bear the title of "Phantom Thief", their recent actions include attacking the human-killing group and finding out who is hoarding fire.
Damn... these things have nothing to do with their title of "Phantom Thieves"!
This "kerosene storage incident" is the second time that the name Fox Monk has been spread in the market. It is also the second time that the pair of strange thieves, Cat Monk and Fox Monk, have appeared in the public eye by cooperating with each other.
inside.
Naturally, people paid more attention to the "newcomer" Hu Xiaoseng.
Many people began to speculate enthusiastically: What is the relationship between this little fox monk and the little cat monk?
For a time, various arguments arose.
It is said that the fox monk and the cat monk are master and servant...
Some people say that Fox Monk and Cat Monk are just like-minded comrades...
It is said that Fox Monk and Cat Monk are husband and wife...
Qingdeng only smiled at these random rumors.
Time passes like this bit by bit.
In the blink of an eye, April has passed.
May has arrived.
…
…
The first year of Wanyan (1860), May 5th——
Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Imperial Guard Hall——
Today's trial defense hall is quite lively.
Outside the living room, Okita opened the paper sliding door next to him wider, and then cooperated with Qingto, and the two of them moved a huge shelf into the living room one after another.
Because the width of this shelf is only slightly smaller than the width of the paper sliding door, both Ayoto and Okita moved it very carefully in order not to damage the shelf.
After carefully placing the shelves at the north end of the hall, Okita put his left hand on his hips and raised his right hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead: "Okay... let's put the dolls, armor and weapons now. Tachibana-kun, please wait here.
In a moment, I'll go get the doll."
Before he finished speaking, Okita ran out of the living room and came back after a while carrying a big box.
Inside the box, there are various strange dolls neatly placed, as well as a set of mini armor and a mini tachi.
Okita waved to Qingto, and while gesturing for Qingto to come over and put the items in the box on the shelf one by one, he asked Qingto back with a smile:
"Ji Jun, do you want to go to the kitchen together later to help auntie make rice dumplings?"
"Okay." Qingdeng smiled without thinking, "Anyway, I have a day off today and have a lot of free time."
Today is May 5th, the Dragon Boat Festival.
Japan also celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival. In the Edo period, the Dragon Boat Festival was one of the most important festivals, and together with the People's Day Festival, the Shangsi Festival, the Tanabata Festival, and the Double Ninth Festival, they were collectively called the "Five Festivals".
The Dragon Boat Festival was introduced to Japan from China after the Heian period (794-1192).
As soon as it was introduced, it quickly integrated with the Japanese culture and developed various customs full of Japanese characteristics.
Since ancient times, there has been an important activity during the Dragon Boat Festival: planting calamus at the door, which means to ward off evil spirits.
Placing calamus on the door is one of the most important customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, so the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the "Calamus Festival".
In Japan, calamus has other meanings besides exorcising evil spirits.
Because in Japanese, the pronunciation of calamus is the same as "martial arts", and the leaves of calamus also resemble samurai swords. Therefore, in the eyes of the samurai family, the Dragon Boat Festival has a special meaning.
Gradually, the Wu family associated the Dragon Boat Festival with celebrating the growth of the family boys.
By the time it developed into the current Edo period, Japan's Dragon Boat Festival had acquired the attribute of "Boys' Day", and its festival customs were completely different from those in China. It was basically two different things from the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival.
On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the samurai family will set up a shelf decorated with hina dolls in the house to display Sakata Kintoki, Emperor Jimmu, Chinese Zhongkui dolls, small armors, weapons, flags, and worship rice dumplings and cypress cakes.
, used to pray for the healthy growth of the boys at home and their success on the battlefield in the future.
On this day, real flags and carp streamers symbolizing success and the carp leaping over the dragon gate are also hung outside the house and in the courtyard.
Within five days of the Dragon Boat Festival, women will also make bouquets filled with fragrant medicine used to ward off evil spirits. These sachets, called medicinal jade, will all be hung on the duck house in the house.
However, although the Dragon Boat Festival in China and Japan are completely two kinds of festivals, there are still some common customs.
For example: People make and eat rice dumplings on this day.
The family has a trial gym for a big boy named Isamu Kondo, and it will be held grandly every Dragon Boat Festival.
The Trial Guard Hall is closed for a day today, and everyone is mobilizing to start decorating the Trial Guard Hall.
The Edo shogunate had regulations that all official officials could have a day off during the "Gogo Festival".
However, after encountering the "Kerosene Storage Incident", an atmosphere of extreme tension pervaded the practice from top to bottom.
Before the "kerosene storage incident" was fully investigated, it was a bit inappropriate to give "three times" leave to all members of the execution office.
So after careful consideration, those at the top decided to draw lots to allow half of the people to take a day off on the Dragon Boat Festival, while the other half would be arranged later.
Qingdeng was quite lucky: he won the lottery to "take a day off during the Dragon Boat Festival", so he got a day off today after a long absence.
Under the mobilization of Shusuke, Abi and others, diners such as Qingnobo, Saito, Nagakura, and Harada who are currently staying at the Shiwei Hall also decorated the Shiwei Hall.
Aoto and Okita were responsible for placing the shelves and dolls decorated with dolls in the living room.
Kondo, Saito, Nagakura, and Harada were responsible for planting irises, hanging flags, and carp streamers at the gate of the Imperial Guard Hall.
By the way - Hijikata didn't come to test the defense hall today.
According to Okita, during these important festivals, Hijikata is busy hanging out with his girlfriends, so Hijikata is basically nowhere to be seen.
While Aotomasa and Okita were meticulously placing the dolls on the shelves in the living room, there was a lot of excitement outside the imperial examination hall.
"Nagakura, stand further back. It should look better if you hang the carp streamer in that position." Harada, who was standing outside the gate of the trial guard hall, gave orders to Nagakura.
"Here?" Nagakura, who was standing inside the gate, held three carp streamers and stood half a step back.
"Well...you have to stand back a little bit."
"here?"
"...You stand a little further to the left."
"Left? Here?"
"I feel like you have to stand back a little bit."
"Where are you going to stand?! Are you okay or not?!"
"Well... forget it, you'd better stand back to the starting position."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Kondo, who was working with Saito to put calamus on the gate of the imperial examination hall, and was also cleaning the gate of the imperial examination hall, turned his head and smiled helplessly at Nagakura and Harada, who were making a lot of noise: "Carp streamers should not be hung up."
It doesn’t matter where it is, just find a place to hang it up.”
After that, Kondo smiled bitterly and said to himself: "I'm so old, why don't you celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival for me... ugh..."
Kondo sighed heavily, and then he and Saito beside him inserted irises on the door.
At this moment, a clear male voice sounded from the distance behind Kondo:
"Oh, Yong-kun, your carp streamers are so beautiful."
Kondo's body shook slightly for a few times, and then he turned his head around with a look of astonishment - he saw a very young young man holding the saber on his waist with a faint smile on his face.
, walked slowly towards their trial defense hall.
"Yongjun, good morning."
It’s Chiba Eijiro, the “Chiba of Technique”.
*******
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Author Jun Kepu: During the Dragon Boat Festival in the Edo period, riding, archery and horse racing events were held in some places. But such high-end activities obviously had nothing to do with the Imperial Guard Hall.
In modern Japan, the Dragon Boat Festival has basically become a Boys' Day. The nature of the Dragon Boat Festival has been very weak and it has completely become a festival to celebrate the boys in the family. However, traditional customs such as eating rice dumplings are still retained.
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