Although he had a rather short "lying talk" before going to sleep last night, which took a lot of time, Ogata still slept very soundly that night.
Early the next morning, Lin asked everyone to gather in the large room for six people where Ogata and the others lived.
Only the large room for six people where Ogata and the others lived had enough space to accommodate them for meetings.
If the meeting were held in the single room where Rin and Omachi lived, they wouldn't even have a place to sit, so they would all have to stand.
After everyone lined up in a circle and sat down on the tatami in Ogata's room, Lin cleared her throat and spoke first:
"Looking at everyone's looks, everyone had a good rest last night."
Thanks to his recent sea voyage, Ogata had long been accustomed to sleeping in the same room as Mamiya and the others.
Ogata slept very well last night and didn't even have a dream.
Judging from the looks of Mamiya and the others, they must have had a good rest last night.
After resting all night yesterday, A-Machi has recovered as before, his face has become rosy, and he is no longer as pale as before due to dizziness and nausea.
Rin also looked good, and her symptoms of seasickness must have dissipated like Atachi.
After a few simple greetings, Lin cleared her throat:
"Anyway - let's review the information we currently know again."
Lin winked at Mamiya and Makimura.
Obviously they didn't say anything to each other, but the tacit understanding cultivated by being together for a long time allowed Mamiya and Makimura to instantly understand what Lin asked him to do.
Mamiya and Makimura each held their swords and walked in different directions.
Mamiya walked towards the door, and Makimura walked towards the window.
After the two checked outside the room to make sure no one was eavesdropping outside the door or window, they nodded to Lin and sat back down in their seats.
When Mamiya and Makimura returned to their positions, they knocked on the ceiling above their heads with the knives in their hands to confirm that no one was eavesdropping on the ceiling.
After Mamiya and Makimura sat back down, Lin said seriously:
"According to the information provided by Miss Atachi, Shiranui has 24 jounin, 52 chuunin, and 139 genin. The total number of ninjas is 215."
"Of course - this is also the total combat power Shiranui had before Atachi-san left Shiranui."
"Shiranui Ri's combat power now is definitely less than what he had before Atachi-san left."
"After all, just the jounin and chuunin were killed a lot by Ogata Ittosai in Nijo Castle."
After Ogata and Atachi decided to form an alliance with Calabash House, they had shared all the information they knew about Shiranui Ri.
Everyone present knew the fact that Shiranui probably had the fighting power they had now, and that they had a special drug called "Yakshamaru".
Although everyone was familiar with the information, everyone still listened to Lin's story with serious expressions.
"Whether it's jounin, chuunin or genin, they are nothing to be afraid of. The only ones we need to watch out for are their leader, Enma, and their Four Heavenly Kings: Shuntaro, Gokutaro, Kotaro, and Shintaro."
Atachi not only shared the number of ninjas Shiranui had before she left, but also shared the list of the Four Heavenly Kings in Shiranui.
"Currently, Kotaro has been killed by Ogata Ittosai."
"Although one of the Four Heavenly Kings is currently missing, we still cannot take it lightly."
"After all, we can't rule out the possibility that Enma promoted a skilled ninja to be the new king during this period."
"We have to do two things first."
Lin raised two fingers.
"We currently only know that Shiranui's new base has been moved to Edo, but we still don't know exactly where it is in Edo Castle."
"So the first thing we have to do is: find the location of Shiranui's new base."
"As for the second thing, I want to find out what the 'imperial trial match' is all about."
"The 'Imperial Trial Combination' might contain some interesting and useful information for us."
"Anyway - let's all take action today."
"I will be responsible for finding out where the new base in Shiranui is."
Lin took the initiative to take on the task of finding a new base in Shiranui.
"I have some friendship with a local snake here in Edo. I am looking for the specific location of Shiranui's new base in Edo. This local snake is the right one."
"Uncle, please follow me today. With you following me, I will definitely be able to avoid a lot of resistance when discussing business with those local snakes."
"Mamiya, Ogata Ittosai, you guys should go out on the street today and ask passers-by what the 'Gozen Trial Combination' is all about."
"In addition to looking for information related to the 'Gozen Trial Alliance', you can also find out if anything worth mentioning has happened in Edo recently."
"If you inquire about the recent major events in Edo, you may be able to find some interesting and useful information."
"If you act alone, you may encounter dangers that you cannot solve alone, so you should act in pairs."
"Yahachi and Katsurokuro are in a group, and Kuro and Nanbei are in a group."
Lin turned her attention to Ogata and Omachi.
"Ogata Ittosai, you should team up with Miss Atachi."
"Those of you who are inconvenient to show your face, remember to disguise yourself."
Lin's arrangement is simple and clear.
No one had any objections.
…
…
Lin and Genichi, who were the quickest to get ready to go out, set off first to find the local snake in Edo that Lin just mentioned.
Mamiya, Makimura, Asai, and Shimada followed closely behind. After getting ready to go out, they dispersed in different directions in pairs, looking for information related to the "Gozen Trial Combination"
intelligence.
Only Ogata and Omachi remained in the hotel and still hadn't left the house.
It's not that Ogata and A-Machi are incompetent, it's just that A-Machi needs to put on makeup, so it takes a little longer.
Omachi is the rebellious ninja in Shiranui.
When Shiranui moved their base to Edo, it was very necessary for Atachi to disguise their faces like Ogata and Mamiya, the two fugitive fugitives from the shogunate.
When entering Edo Castle last night in the evening, Omachi had been lying behind Ogata, burying his face in Ogata's back. He never raised his head the whole time. Outsiders couldn't even see Omachi's face. So when Omachi entered the city last night,
It doesn't matter if you don't have to pretend.
But not now.
Now if he wants to walk struttingly on the street, it is very necessary for Atachi to put on a disguise on his face.
And the form of disguise that Atachi chose was makeup.
According to what Atachi said, she wanted to put on makeup that would make her father unrecognizable even after seeing her.
Ogata first went to a store specializing in women's cosmetics and bought various cosmetics that Atachi requested.
Ogata was lucky. Not far from the hotel where they lived, there was a shop specializing in women's cosmetics.
After buying the cosmetics she requested for Ah-Ting, Ah-Ting locked himself in her room and started putting on makeup.
And it only takes half an hour to put on this makeup...
Now half an hour has passed and she still hasn't seen Atachi come out of her room.
Ogata stayed in the large room where he, Mamiya and the others lived, silently waiting for Atachi to put on her makeup.
In the past half hour, Ogata had knocked on the door of Omachi's room several times, asking if he had put on his makeup.
The answers I got were all - soon, soon, just wait.
After waiting boringly for half an hour, Ogata was thinking about whether to knock on Omachi's door again and ask if he had put on his makeup——
call!
It was the sound of the door of the large room where Ogata was currently staying being opened.
Ogata hurriedly followed the sound.
I saw a woman wearing extremely heavy makeup standing at the door.
Looking at the "weirdo with heavy makeup" who slowly walked up to him with a smile on his face as he opened the door, Ogata asked in a surprised tone:
"Are you... Omachi?"
"Who else could it be besides me?"
"...What an incredible makeup look." Ogata said with emotion.
At this time, Amachi had her hair pulled back into the Shimada bun, which is very popular among women today.
Both eyes were painted with quite exaggerated red eyeshadow.
The two eyebrows were drawn into indescribable shapes.
The lips were stained with lipstick and looked unbearable.
I have to say - Atachi's makeup was quite successful.
Thanks to all this heavy makeup, Atachi's beautiful facial features have been messed up.
People like Ogata who have a very close relationship with Atachi would find it difficult to recognize her...
Atachi's current appearance is very much like that of a young girl who has just become interested in makeup, but because she is not yet proficient in makeup, she puts on very difficult-to-explain makeup...
Looking at Ogata's stunned look, Atachi nodded with a look of satisfaction on his face:
"It seems that my makeup was very successful."
"It's such a success..." Ogata couldn't help but applaud a few times.
…
…
There were originally only two pieces of clothing for Atachi - a kunoichi uniform from their Shiranui, and a yukata that Atachi bought in Kyoto after defecting from Shiranui and escaping to Kyoto.
Because A-Machi had very few clothes, on the way out of Kyoto to Owari, Ogata not only bought A-Machi a wakizashi and a Kaiken, but also bought a few items for A-Machi.
new clothes.
At this time, Omachi was wearing a light red kimono that Ogata bought for her. Her feet without socks were wearing a pair of very convenient straw sandals that were very similar to flip-flops on modern earth. She was walking with Ogata.
On a busy street in Edo.
Looking at the dense crowds of people in front, back and left, A-Machi let out a low exclamation.
"There are so many people..."
Ogata and Amachi are now in a commercial area lined with shops, so the flow of people is frighteningly high.
I saw only people everywhere. People gathered into mountains, people gathered into seas, and people piled up into walls.
This street is like a river whose bed is filled with mud and is heavily blocked. The river water can only flow forward with difficulty among these piles of mud.
When you see a gap in front of you, you jump in to fill it - this is how people move on this street.
People on this street are squeezing, squeezing, and leaning against each other, moving forward little by little, and moving forward slowly.
Edo was finally able to show Ogata its complete prosperity at dawn.
The scene in Edo during the day cannot be compared with what Ogata saw last night.
The thick makeup on Atachi's face attracted many people's attention.
But everyone just gave him a sideways look, and didn't look at him like he was looking at exotic animals.
It can be seen that in Edo, there must be many girls who are not good at makeup and paint their faces in messy shapes, otherwise everyone would not be so surprised...
It was the first time for Atachi to see such a prosperous scene. He looked left and right, looking at everything around him with curious eyes.
"We're not here to play." Ogata couldn't help but say in a helpless tone to Amachi, who seemed to be focusing on admiring the prosperity of Edo.
"I know." Amachi said, "I'm also seriously looking for someone who might know the details of the 'Gozen Trial Match'."
Ogata and A-Machi walked through this bustling commercial street together and came to a street with less dense crowds. Ogata found a very good person to ask - a teahouse sitting not far in front.
Old warrior on the bench outside.
This old warrior seemed to be around 50 or 60 years old, and his hair was nearly half white.
He is well-dressed and clean, and the sword placed on the stool on the right side of his body is clean from the scabbard to the handle. At first glance, he looks like a person who is usually very diligent in taking care of his sword.
The old samurai was sitting alone on the bench outside the teahouse, quietly sipping a cup of hot tea.
Whether you are sitting or drinking tea, there is an air of elegance.
This old warrior seemed to be a well-educated man at first glance.
This kind of seemingly well-educated samurai seems to be the kind of person who knows a lot about "imperial trials".
Ogata finally found a suitable target and took the initiative.
After asking Omachi to stand aside and wait for his return, Okon quickly walked towards the old samurai.
"Excuse me, is there anyone sitting next to you?"
After walking up to the old samurai, Ogen asked the old samurai politely.
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, the old samurai smiled slightly:
"There is no one, please sit down."
"grateful."
After sitting next to the old samurai and casually ordering a cup of tea, Ogata began to get close to the old samurai.
This old samurai was also a talkative person. Seeing that Ogata took the initiative to chat with him, the old samurai also actively responded to Ogata's every word.
In order to quickly close the distance between the two, Ogata took the initiative to introduce himself, saying that he was a ronin from Izumo named Majima Goro. He traveled far and wide to hone his sword skills and just arrived in Edo yesterday.
After a simple exchange, Ogata learned that the old samurai's surname was Nakahara and that he was an Edo native born and raised in Edo.
After seeing that the conversation was almost done, Ogata changed the topic:
"Nakahara-kun, do you know about the 'Gozen Trial Match'? After I arrived in Edo yesterday, I kept hearing people talking about the 'Gozen Trial Match'."
“Oh, ‘Gozen Trial Combination’.” Nakahara smiled, “Mashima-kun, it’s normal that you don’t know about ‘Gozen Trial Combination’.”
"After all, this is a new activity launched this year by Mr. Matsudaira Sadanobu."
"Mashima-kun, you must have heard of it to some extent - Matsudaira Sadanobu-sama took office three years ago in Tenmei 7 and became the new and old minister. He has been actively working on the reform of the shogunate, hoping to strengthen the power of the shogunate."
"In order to achieve this goal, Lao and Chinese adults have put forward many proposals in the past three years."
"One of the propositions is to 'revitalize the military disciplines'."
"Lord Lao Zhong thinks that the samurai are all corrupted."
"Indulging in pleasure, one forgets to practice literature and martial arts. There are even absurd phenomena of selling family heirloom swords just for pleasure."
"In order to cheer up the samurai, Lao Zhong put forward the idea of 'revitalizing the martial arts discipline' and encouraged the samurai to practice literature and martial arts to emulate the previous samurai."
"The 'Imperial Trial Combination' is the product of Lao Zhongsheng's idea. To put it simply, it allows those who participate in this trial to compete in knowledge and martial arts."
"The 'Imperial Trial Combination' is divided into 2 sessions."
Zhongyuan stretched out 2 fingers.
"The first knowledge competition. Only those who pass this knowledge competition can enter the second competition - the martial arts competition."
"In order to encourage civilians to practice martial arts together and strengthen their bodies, the 'Imperial Trial Combination' has no restrictions on participants."
"Both warriors and civilians can participate in this 'imperial trial'."
"But I don't think many civilians will participate in this 'imperial trial'."
"After all, when it comes to learning and martial arts, how can civilians be the rivals of warriors?"
"No civilian with any sense of self-awareness will participate."
"There are also no restrictions on the weapons used by participants."
"It doesn't matter whether you use a gun or a sword in a martial arts competition. There are no restrictions on the weapons or martial arts styles used."
"As far as I know - anyone who achieves good rankings in these two competitions will receive a considerable bonus."
"I forgot how much the bonus is exactly."
"I just remember that the amount is not small. This high bonus attracted many people to Edo."
"It's just that this 'imperial trial' is held for the first time, and the shogunate doesn't seem to have publicized it well."
"So it is not widely circulated. According to my estimation, the news that Edo is going to hold the 'Imperial Trials' is probably only spread in the Kanto region."
Ogata has been listening carefully and remembering.
After Nakahara finished speaking, Ogata nodded gently:
What Nakahara said just now can be regarded as clearing up a lot of the fog that filled Ogata's mind.
Ogata finally understood why since last night he had frequently heard Edo locals complaining that there were more ronin in Edo City - these extra ronin must have taken a fancy to the bonuses from the "Gozen Trial Match", and after hearing the news,
Come.
It can be understood why he and everyone in Calabash House don't know the existence of "Gozen Trial Combination" - because it is not spread widely enough, and only people in the Kanto region know the existence of "Gozen Trial Combination".
"Nakahara-kun." Ogata asked, "This 'Gozen trial match' has the prefix 'Gozen'. Could it be that it is a competition in front of the general?"
"How is that possible?" Zhongyuan chuckled, "How can the general have that spare time?"
“The reason why it’s called ‘Yuqian Trial Combination’ is just a name that sounds nice.”
"Then when will this 'imperial test match' begin?" Ogata then asked.
"In 10 days." Zhongyuan said without hesitation, "Registration is due in 7 days."
"After 10 days, let's compete on knowledge first."
"After screening out a group of people with insufficient knowledge, the remaining people will compete in martial arts."
"Mashima-kun, you can try to participate." Nakahara said in a half-joking tone, "Let's not worry about the bonus for the moment. If you can get a higher ranking in the two civil and military competitions, it will be a big deal.
What an honor."
"I will think about it carefully later." Ogata said perfunctorily with a wry smile.
…
…
While extracting information related to the "Gozen Trial Combination" from Nakahara, Ogata also asked Edo if anything worth mentioning had happened recently in a circumstantial way.
It's a pity that I couldn't ask anything from Nakahara. According to Nakahara - Edo has been calm recently and nothing major happened.
After collecting all the available information on Nakahara, Ogata bid farewell to Nakahara and went to join A-Machi who was hiding not far away.
After reuniting with A-Machi, Oban relayed all the information he had just collected to A-Machi.
"Oh~" After listening to Ogata's narration, Atachi raised his eyebrows, "Is this a trial set up to encourage everyone to practice martial arts... It feels very interesting, and I don't know how much the prize money is."
"What?" Ogata asked in a half-joking tone, "Are you interested in the bonus?"
"There is no one in the world who doesn't love money." Amachi responded, imitating Ogata's tone just now.
"Let's go." Ogata said, turning around and walking towards the middle of the street, "Let's go find more information."
…
…
Although after bidding farewell to the Central Plains, Ogata and Atachi have been actively searching for new information.
But it's a pity that after looking for several people one after another, these people couldn't tell what Ogata didn't know so far.
In a blink of an eye, it was noon.
After taking a look at the sun hanging high above his head, Ogata decided to go find a restaurant with Amachi to have lunch today.
Because Omachi said that she wanted to eat sushi, Omoto found a nearby sushi restaurant with a decent decoration.
Because it was already dinner time, nearly 80% of the seats in the sushi restaurant were already occupied by customers.
The two of them found an empty seat, ordered the sushi they wanted to eat, and chatted while waiting for the sushi to be served.
What was disappointing was that the guests at a table not far from Ogata and Omachi were speaking quite loudly.
There are 4 guests in total at that table.
The accents spoken by these four people are somewhat similar to the Izumo dialect. Ogata guessed that these four people should be from the areas surrounding Izumo.
The group of people were eating sushi and chatting loudly.
Not only did they speak loudly, they also laughed loudly.
Because the voices of these four people were so loud, Ogata had to concentrate to hear clearly what Amachi was saying to him.
Ogata doesn't like people who speak loudly in public.
After the laughter of the four people once again drowned out Omachi's voice, Ogata couldn't help but frown slightly and turned to look at the guests at the table.
After Ogata turned to look at the guests at the table, Amachi also directed his displeasure at the four people.
Amachi also hates people who make loud noises in public places, especially in restaurants.
Just when Ogata was about to stand up and remind the four people to pay attention to their volume, Ogata suddenly glanced at the sushi restaurant's door curtain and opened it.
Someone slowly walked into the sushi restaurant along the opened door curtain.
As soon as this person entered the sushi restaurant, Oconon heard a small exclamation from the customer at the next table:
"Ah, why is Yoshiwara Toxin here..."
I returned to work yesterday and was very busy, but I still managed to write a 6,200-word chapter.
Alas, internships for college students are so miserable. I feel like college interns like me are just a bunch of cheap labor...
*******
Matsudaira Sadanobu is the guy who always appeared in the mouths of characters before. He briefly appeared at the end of Volume 4. As soon as he appeared, he said that he would kill all the living people on Butterfly Island.
"Laozhong" is similar to the prime minister of our country - I know this knowledge has been said many times, but I know that some people must have forgotten it.
*******
I recommend everyone a very unpopular Japanese drama - "Yoshiwara Toshin".
Many of the inspirations in this volume come from this play.
Thanks to this drama, I learned a lot about Yoshiwara.
If you want to know more about Yoshihara, you can watch this drama.