The exquisite lavender kimono, the bun hair style specially designed for married women, and the handsome appearance that seems to be carved from the same mold as Souji - it is Souji's eldest sister, Hikaru Okita.
Okita Hikaru blinked his beautiful eyes vigorously a few times, as if to confirm his vision.
About 5 seconds later, the surprise turned into a voice:
"Ju-kun, you are finally back!"
As she spoke, she ran to Qingdeng in three steps and two steps at a time.
Qingden responded with a soft smile.
"Miss Okita, long time no see."
"Those tedious and annoying tasks have finally come to an end."
"So I can finally go home."
"Miss Okita, let's not talk about me for now. Let's talk about you. Why are you here?"
When Okita Hikaru heard this, he suddenly showed an expression of helplessness and excitement.
"I'm here to help."
"Recently, more and more people have decided to visit Nioh's hometown and become disciples of Natural Rishin-ryu because of their admiration for Nioh."
"You may not believe it, but the current number of apprentices in the Trial Guard Hall has almost exceeded 800!"
"Master Kondo is already too busy. As a last resort, he has no choice but to ask Rintaro and I to help."
Rintaro—that is, Okita Rintaro, Okita Hikaru’s husband-in-law, and the general secretary’s brother-in-law.
Qingdeng raised his eyebrows vigorously and exclaimed uncontrollably:
"800 people? That many?"
800 people - this number is almost approaching the three major sword halls in Edo, including Genbukan!
It is not wrong to call the Imperial Palace the hometown of Qingdeng...
It is no exaggeration to say that the Trial Guard Hall is the starting point of Qingdeng.
It is not only the starting point for him to become stronger, but also the starting point for him to have the current network of contacts.
Without the Imperial Guard Hall, Ayoto would not have been able to get to know the "Heroes of the Imperial Guard Hall" headed by Souji, and furthermore, he would not have been able to meet the members of the Chiba family.
Therefore, the Trial Guard Hall not only provided him with a core team to build his career, but also provided him with two wives.
Based on this deep friendship, it is not an exaggeration to say that Qingdeng considers the imperial examination hall as his hometown.
Qingdeng gradually grew into a powerful benevolent king, and the reputation of the Imperial Guard Hall also increased accordingly.
Today, the Trial Guard Hall is no longer a "Taro Dojo" with no reputation and few apprentices.
Natural Rishin-ryu is no longer the despised "peasant swordsmanship".
At first, the reason why Natural Rishin-ryu was scornfully called "peasant swordsmanship" by others was because, firstly, its disciples were mostly farmers from Tama, and secondly, because the moves of Natural Rishin-ryu were very simple, not flashy, and seemed
Rustic.
It’s okay to laugh at its audience, after all, it’s a fact. In the past, only farmers in Tama would learn Natural Rishin-ryu.
However, it would be complete ignorance to laugh at the natural Rishin-ryu technique.
To put it more elegantly, Natural Rishin-ryu inherits the ancient style of the Warring States Period.
To put it simply, Natural Rishin-ryu is a school that only pursues practicality.
He only pursues killing enemies cleanly, so naturally he doesn't have those fancy moves.
Since Yuanhe and Yanwu, warriors no longer need to wield swords and guns, and practical martial arts have lost the ground for development, instead giving rise to those fancy schools that look beautiful but are actually just superficial.
These flower shelf genres have greatly influenced people's aesthetics.
When people judge the level of a martial arts school, the standard based on it is no longer its practicality, but whether it is gorgeous and chic enough.
In recent years, as the Zunxing movement has been in full swing, a "retro style" has emerged across Japan.
People gradually abandoned those fancy schools and began to pursue practical martial arts that could break formations and kill enemies.
In this way, after the Warring States Period, Japanese martial arts ushered in a long-lost second spring - but unfortunately, in this era when guns and cannons became popular, the rise of swordsmanship was meaningless.
The reason why Shiweikan is able to usher in today's vigorous development is not only the "endorsement" of Aoden, but also partly because of the practical attributes of natural Rishin-ryu, which is very in line with the current trend.
Qingto and Okita Hikari exchanged pleasantries for a moment, then turned to look at the fat man not far away and said hello proactively:
"Mr. Dongcheng, long time no see."
The other party nodded slightly and responded:
"Tangerine-kun, it's been a long time."
Fat body, dirty clothes, slovenly appearance... Such an impactful appearance is none other than Aonto's old acquaintance - Kitaban Sadacho Kaiyuriki, the leader of the "Tojo Group", Tojo Shintaro.
I think back then, there were two major factions in the Hokuban Shojo clan - the "Arima-gumi" to which Aoto was affiliated, and the "Tojo-gumi" to which Nishino Hosejiro belonged.
Although the two factions occasionally cooperate, they are more competitive and often attack each other in order to snatch good cases.
Whenever he recalls these past events, Qingdeng will be filled with emotions, and he truly understands what it means to "change with the passage of time."
He left Beifansuo long ago.
And his three seniors - Hideyuki Arima, Hanjiro Inoya, and Masaji Ushiyama - are no longer "capital police".
Qingden has never forgotten the guidance and help Arima and others gave him back then.
After Tachibana Takayuki died unjustly, they have been investigating the cause of their old friend's death in their own way.
During the operation to track down the true cause of death of Genfusuiyo and Takayuki Tachibana two years ago, the information provided by Arima Hideyuki was of great help to Aomori.
Qingdeng will always remember the kindness of these three seniors in his heart.
Therefore, not long after he was promoted to a powerful side minister and servant of the imperial government, he began to reciprocate the favor.
At this time, Qingdeng was no different from a powerful official, and was favored by the general and the imperial court.
For him at that time, promoting Arima and others was just a piece of cake.
So, after some operations on his part, Arima and others all moved to the right and were upgraded several levels in a row——
Arima Hideyuki was promoted to the position of chief foreman, responsible for the outer appearance of Edo Castle and the large and small construction projects of the shogunate. He had jurisdiction over the chief foreman of Arima, the chief foreman, and the chief foreman of Kyoto.
Inotani Hanjiro was promoted to Hayashi Nobu and was responsible for managing the shogunate's mountains and forests. All felling, planting, maintenance, and transportation were managed by this position.
Ushiyama Masaji was promoted to the rank of Prime Minister and was responsible for managing the repairs of stone walls, moats, and bridges in Edo Castle, as well as managing Kanda, Tamagawa Josui, empty houses in Edo City, and homage houses (mansion given to ministers by the shogunate)
).
Two are in charge of civil engineering, and one is in charge of forestry... Anyone with a little common sense knows how powerful these three positions are!
Qingdeng's kindness to these three seniors is evident.
Everyone in the "Arima-gumi" has gone their separate ways... In other words, the "Arima-gumi" in Kitabanso no longer exists.
As for the "Dongcheng Formation", it has also undergone earth-shaking changes.
Shintaro Tojo is still the leader of the "Tojo Group", a member of the Hokkaido town, but... the core member of the "Tojo Group" is Hoseijiro Nishino, who is known as "the best master of solving crimes in the Hokkaido"
.
He had already unfortunately died in the line of duty during the operation to trace the Huan Fu Lake 2 years ago.
The "Arima Group" was disbanded, and the "Tōjo Group" lost its soul... The fierce scene of the "two groups fighting" will no longer appear again.
Every time he thinks about it, Qingdeng feels inexplicably sad.
Aoto still has a good impression of Shintaro Tojo.
Although he is the leader of the "hostile forces", Qingden does not hate him.
He is easy-going and has no airs, so he is considered a qualified leader.
His only shortcoming... is probably that he is too slovenly and indiscreet.
He doesn't like to take baths, his body and clothes are always dirty, and he often picks his nose in public, which is really as disgusting as possible.
In addition, his alcoholic personal style is also criticized.
It is reported that he goes to an izakaya to drink every night, often staying up all night long.
To be continued...