The guards who came up suddenly froze on the spot, their eyes were straight, their expressions were blank, they could neither advance nor retreat.
Suddenly, they looked at each other, eye to eye, and started a silent communication with their eyes——
Nioh? Is it really him?
How do I know? I've never seen Nioh!
Anyway, let’s report it to the superiors first!
Well, let’s do it!
After reaching a consensus, one of them raised his chest and raised his head, and said loudly to Qingdeng in a neither humble nor arrogant tone:
"Please wait!"
After saying that, he turned around and retreated into the feudal mansion in three steps and two steps at a time.
With the help of waiting time, Qingden raised his eyes and swept his eyes without leaving any trace.
At first glance, there is nothing special about the Tosa Domain's mansion.
Like other mansions, it has two doors: a large door and a small door.
The gate will only be opened when the feudal lord arrives or other important events occur.
The small door opened on the side of the main door is used for daily entry and exit.
The simple black and white color constructed by black tiles and diamond walls has become the basic color of the entire mansion.
The flag embroidered with the Yamauchi family crest "three cypress leaves" was hung high in a conspicuous place, stretching in the wind.
In the past peaceful times, these "XX Domain Offices in Kyoto" were without exception the Qingmizu Department, which was very comfortable.
The reason is quite simple.
First, the Kyoto court had no real power and there was no need to have in-depth contacts with it.
Secondly, the shogunate was very taboo about direct contact between the vassal state and the imperial court.
The trigger for the Ansei Prison a few years ago was that the emperor went beyond the shogunate and directly issued a secret order to the Mito Domain to "take down the boss Ii and launch the reform of the shogunate." After Ii Naoki learned about this, he directly used it as a
The handle initiates a major cleaning.
Therefore, under the strict supervision of the shogunate, each domain could have very little communication with the imperial court.
As a result, the daily work of each vassal's "Beijing Office" was nothing more than greeting, saying hello, and giving gifts to the Emperor on every important holiday.
However, with the outbreak of the Zunxing Movement, these Kyoto feudal residences that had no sense of existence before and no one paid attention to them have suddenly become the most important frontline positions!
This is the case with the Tosa Domain.
Since Hanheita from Takibu City led 400 feudal soldiers to Kyoto, the place has become the headquarters of the Tosa Kinou Party, and countless Tosa feudal warriors come and go here every day.
Aoto turned his head and looked at the small door not far away, and then noticed: Every Tosa domain soldier who passed by his eyes was full of energy, high-spirited, and walked in a hurry, with the wind at his feet.
To a certain extent, the mental outlook of the vassal soldiers represents the strength of the entire vassal state.
Needless to say, the feudal lords of Satsuma, Choshu, Aizu and other powerful feudal lords are exuding a strong aura of confidence in every move they make.
As for those small vassals with stone heights of only tens of thousands of stones... their vassal officials are basically like walking corpses, with dull eyes, numb expressions, and shaky steps, just like salted fish.
However, this is understandable.
The area of these small vassals is so small that you can't find their territories on the world map.
Their too weak strength limits their development everywhere. Even if they are determined to do a big business, they can't do anything. They can only live day by day.
In this once-in-a-lifetime world of great conflict, it is destined that only the heroes who stand on the shoulders of "giants" such as the Shogunate, Satsuma, and Choshu can shine!
Aoto does not yet know the specific details of the Tosa Domain, but judging from the spirit of the feudal warriors, it is enough to conclude that the Tosa people are at a loss!
The guard who came in to report did not keep Aoto and Yataro Iwasaki waiting for too long.
Only 3 minutes later, he returned to their sight.
"plz follow me!"
While he spoke respectfully and seriously, he bent down and turned sideways, making a "please" gesture to Qingden.
Qingdeng nodded slightly, then raised his chin and signaled, "Lead the way."
Just when Yataro Iwasaki was about to step up to follow, the guard added at the right time:
"Only Nioh-sama can enter!"
Iwasaki Yataro was startled for a moment, then turned to look at Aoto, asking for his opinion.
Qingdeng whispered without thinking:
"Iwasaki-kun, please wait here for a while, I'll be back soon."
Saying this, he untied and carried Vairochana and Dingguishen with his right hand.
After receiving Aoto's clear instructions, Iwasaki Yataro immediately said "yes", then obediently took his steps back, stood under the earthen wall not far away, and stood respectfully with his hands lowered.
…
…
Under the leadership of the guard, Qingdeng strode across Baizhou, stepped onto the entrance hall, and walked into the depths of the mansion.
[Note·Hakushu: The place where the front door of a large mansion is paved with fine white stones.]
There is nothing particularly eye-catching about the internal structure of the Tosa Domain Residence.
Simple furniture and unremarkable decoration style.
However, there was one place that caught Qingdeng's attention.
When Qingdeng turned into a corridor and passed an open-air courtyard, he suddenly discovered that many young warriors were practicing martial arts in the courtyard.
Looking around, there were about twenty people waving bamboo swords and wooden knives enthusiastically, and they kept shouting powerfully.
Suddenly, I heard someone cheering:
"It's written! Look at it quickly!"
After saying that, he raised a pair of straw sandals in his hand.
I saw the two characters "西" and "伊" written on the soles of these two straw sandals respectively.
"From now on, I will wear these shoes every day and crush the 'Western Barbarians' under my feet! This will encourage me not to forget my ambition to resist the barbarians!"
The other people who gathered after hearing the sound commented on the pair of straw sandals:
"Yoshimura-kun, you are such a genius!"
"What a great idea you have!"
"Yoshimura-kun, I'm not good at writing. Could you please do me a favor and write the word '西伊' on the soles of my shoes?"
"I also want!"
"And I!"
They rushed to take off their straw sandals and handed them to the feudal lord named "Yoshimura".
Yoshimura did not reject anyone who came, and with a flourish of his pen, he wrote the word "Western Yi" in large letters on the soles of pairs of straw sandals.
"Bros!"
At this time, someone jumped on a big stone, raised his arms and shouted.
"Continue to practice! We must get rid of the smell of mutton! Let the kingdom of God be peaceful and peaceful! Let those sergeants who are not enterprising and eat all day long see how powerful we are!"
As soon as he finished speaking, enthusiastic echoes suddenly broke out.
"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!"
"Nakajima-kun, well said!"
"Fame only comes from horses!"
"Compared with the sergeants who only know how to bully others, we country soldiers are the real samurai!"
"Yoshimura-kun, write '西伊' on the sole of my left shoe, and then write 'Sgt' on the sole of my right shoe!"
"Me too! I will trample both Xiyi and Sergeant under my feet!"
After being beaten hard, they spread out and continued to practice martial arts. The sound of sword swinging "hoo", "hoo", and "hoo" became the only sound that dominated the courtyard.
"..."
Qingdeng quietly took in this scene, a look of dumbfounded laughter flashing across his eyes.
…
After walking forward for some distance, Qingdeng suddenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching from far ahead - two young warriors with dark skin and wearing rough linen clothes were walking towards him.
Their lips moved, as if they were whispering something.
Although there was still a considerable distance between them, Qingdeng could clearly hear their conversation with his excellent hearing:
"Teacher Wu Shi is truly a great talent! Joining the King Qin Party is indeed the right thing to do!"
"Yes, as long as we follow Teacher Wushi closely, we will definitely leave a mark in the history of youth!"
"Humph, we are running for the country, but those pig-like sergeants are indifferent and are still clinging to their one-third of an acre of land. Ha! They are really a shame to Tosa!"
"Let's work together to do something great, and let those bastard sergeants take a good look at it! Look at what the country soldiers they look down on are capable of!"
"When the great cause of Zun Hui is completed, we may all be promoted to sergeants due to our outstanding achievements!"
"Hahaha, that would be great! Those pigs who only know how to eat, drink and have fun should give way long ago!"
Qingdeng passed their shoulders, and the next moment his sleeves met, he quietly turned his head and looked deeply at the backs of the two countrymen who were still making impassioned speeches.
Then, he suddenly sighed to the guard in front of him who was guiding him:
"You hard-working members of the royal party are really energetic."
The sudden compliment made the other person feel at a loss.
Although he didn't understand why, he still replied politely:
"Thank you for the compliment..."
However, before he could finish his words, Qingdeng added:
"It's just that your passion seems to be in the wrong place."
The guard's brows suddenly frowned:
"Your Excellency, why do you say this? You should have seen it just now, right? We, the Qinwang Party, are united as one, and we are determined to fight against the invaders as our own mission!"
As if he had heard some funny joke, Qingden shrugged, an intriguing smile appearing on the slightly upturned corners of his mouth.
"We are united as one to resist the foreigners? Is this really such a thing?"
After saying that, he laughed "hum hum", his deep laughter mixed with an elusive meaning.
At the same time, his expression changed significantly.
When he first set foot in the Tosa Domain, Aoto's expression was very serious.
But now, his facial lines were completely relaxed, as if he was in a happy mood.
Although the guard didn't understand what he meant, he instinctively felt that Qingdeng was mocking their loyalists.
In anger, he snorted coldly and ignored Qingdeng.
Qingdeng also stopped talking and just smiled to himself.
After passing through several more corridors, the doorman finally stopped in front of a certain hall door.
"Your Excellency, please come in."
As he spoke, he got down, knelt on one knee by the door, and stretched out his hand to open the paper sliding door.
The warm sunlight leaked into the hall little by little along the cracks in the door that gradually opened.
The overflowing pale golden luster spread across the ceiling, exaggerating the tatami mats and illuminating the dark crowd in the hall.
The moment the paper sliding door was opened, a bunch of sharp and piercing eyes came towards Qingdeng.
Looking around, there were about twenty people sitting evenly on the left and right sides of the hall.
Although their faces and clothes were different, they had one thing in common, that is, when Qingdeng appeared, they all showed terrifying expressions and threw themselves at Qingdeng in a uniform manner. A vicious look.
These lines of sight converged into one, gathering into an invisible mountain, pressing down on Qingdeng's shoulders.
An ordinary person with no experience in the world would probably be frightened by the terrifying battle and his legs would tremble, just like Qin Wuyang who accompanied Jing Ke to assassinate the King of Qin.
However, for Qingdeng, who has been through the sea of blood in the mountain of corpses countless times, this situation is just a small scene.
With a slight smile on his face, he took long strides and walked to the middle of the hall as if strolling in a leisurely way. Then he bent down and sat down, with two swords placed neatly on the tatami on the right side of his body. .
There was no one on the main seat in front of him... It seemed that Takeshi Hanheita hadn't arrived yet.
As Qingdeng entered and took his seat, discordant noises gradually emerged from the otherwise silent hall.
The Qinwang Party members present turned their heads sideways and whispered to their companions around them.
Although they all kept their voices extremely low, with the blessing of the talent "Wind Perception +1", to Qingden's ears, their conversation was no different from shouting at the top of their lungs.
Since they had nothing to do anyway, Qingden simply raised his ears and listened carefully to their conversation——
"Is he really Tachibana Aoden?"
"Well, that's right, it's him."
"I thought that Nioh, who was a master of martial arts, would be a big, muscular man."
"I heard that he wanted to see Mr. Wu Shi by name."
"It's so strange... We have no contact with the Shinsengumi, so why would he suddenly visit here?"
"God knows."
"Coming here alone...huh, you are quite brave."
"Everyone cheer up, we still don't know whether the other party is an enemy or a friend. If the other party is malicious, don't hesitate, just attack in groups. Remember, if the war starts, you must protect Teacher Wushi's safety
.”
…
Alertness, fear...all kinds of emotions related to "alertness" permeated the entire scene.
Although the authority of the shogunate has declined sharply in recent years, under the influence of historical inertia, the three hundred princes still have a certain fear of the shogunate.
For this reason, although Choshu, Tosa and other forces have almost put the word "anti-makuta" on their foreheads, they have not yet completely broken up with the Tokugawa family.
In this way, both sides are in a hazy state of "about to be broken but not yet broken".
But no matter how you put it, in terms of political stance, there is no doubt that Seinoto, as a general of the Sabaku faction, has an unquestionable hostile relationship with the Tosa Kinnoi party, which unequivocally and strongly supports the anti-rebellion movement.
In this way, it is not difficult to understand the series of violent reactions displayed by the Qinwang Party members present.
After all... when an important figure from the enemy—and a top-notch "one-person army" combat force—suddenly arrives at your own base camp, anyone will feel nervous.
At this moment, a young warrior with thick eyebrows and big eyes suddenly stood up and came out of the queue, approaching Qingdeng with a lunge.
"Lord Nioh, it will take some time for Teacher Wu to arrive."
Qingdeng squinted his eyes, glanced at the other party, and said softly: "Oh":
"It's okay, I can wait."
After hearing this, the young warrior grinned:
"We have to wait anyway, so let's do something more meaningful! I've heard about Nioh's reputation for bravery for a long time, but I'm not talented enough. Please enlighten me!"
After finishing speaking, he glanced at his companion not far away.
In the next breath, after receiving the signal from his eyes, the person immediately threw out an ordinary-looking knife.
The sword that flew into the air drew a beautiful parabola and fell steadily into the palm of the young warrior.
"Lord Nioh, let's use this sword to compete!"
The young samurai said as he handed the still-warmed sword to Qingteng.
Qingdeng raised his hand to take the knife lightly, and then pushed the knife out of the sheath with a "click" - a dazzling cold light illuminated his face.
The cold steel blade...but it's not edged.
"In order to be closer to actual combat, we members of the Qinwang Party directly use unedged real swords when practicing martial arts!"
The young warrior said this with pride.
When Qingdeng heard this, he couldn't help laughing:
"Do you use force to make friends? Your behavior is quite reminiscent of the Warring States Period."
As he said this, he handed the unedged real weapon to his left hand, and then stood up slowly.
"Okay, you're right. I'm idle anyway, so why not do something more meaningful? Then... Come on over!"
*******
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PS: Let’s test your reading comprehension skills - Why did Qingdeng suddenly laugh after watching the training scene of the Qin Wang Party members and hearing the chat between the two Qin Wang Party members? Why did his expression change from serious to
For ease?
This chapter has been completed!