——Yoshiwara Village Unity?
After hearing this unfamiliar term from the guests at the next table, Ogata turned his head and looked towards the door of the sushi restaurant.
The person who just opened the door curtain and entered the sushi restaurant was an extremely petite girl.
According to Ogata's visual estimation, the woman's height, converted into modern Earth units, was only about 1.43 meters - a little shorter than Lin.
She has a pretty face and a heroic air.
Very young, probably less than 20 years old.
She is obviously a girl, but she wears men's clothes.
Kimono, hakama, haori, tabi, and straw sandals are all worn neatly.
For some reason, the girl's dark blue haori was worn inside out.
It is worth mentioning that the girl had a wooden sword stuck in her waist.
The wooden sword on her waist is shorter than ordinary wooden swords - this length is suitable for people of her height.
As soon as the girl, who was dressed in men's clothes and had a wooden sword on her waist, entered the sushi restaurant, she immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the restaurant.
The girl acted as if she didn't see the curious looks coming from all around her.
Because of her short stature, the girl stood on tiptoe with difficulty, stretched her neck, and moved her eyes to scan the sushi restaurant, as if she was looking for something.
Finally - the girl's gaze was fixed on the four people who were sitting not far from Yu Ogata and whose voices were extremely loud.
After her eyes were fixed on the four people, the girl put down her tiptoed feet, held the wooden sword at her waist and walked slowly towards the four people.
The four men looked at the girl walking towards them with confusion on their faces.
"Finally found you."
After coming to the four people, the girl spoke in a cold tone without any emotion.
"I'm Ueyu Hide from the Yoshiwara Shirobei Club."
The girl took the initiative to give her home.
After hearing the word "Yoshiwara" from the girl's mouth, the expressions on the faces of these four people changed one after another.
After introducing herself, the girl, Uesugi Hide, continued in a calm tone:
"You four went to Plum Garden House in Yoshiwara to have fun the night before yesterday."
"After having fun, he claimed he was going home to get money."
"Meiyuanwu will send someone to follow the four of you home to get the money."
"And the four of you were so bold that on your way home you knocked out the man that Plum Garden House had sent to follow you to get the money, and then you ran away."
"You four really made it hard for me to find you."
"Pay back the money."
"The total amount of money you four spent at Plum Garden House the night before yesterday, plus the medical expenses for the guy who injured Plum Garden House, is 15 taels."
"If you pay me, I'll let you go."
Guasheng's words did not seem to scare the four people.
After Guasheng finished speaking, the four people either sneered or showed disdainful expressions.
"We have no money! Go away, go away!" One of the four men waved his hands at Guasheng, as if he was driving away some pests.
"...The four of you should have some shame."
Guasheng's face darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Do you know what your behavior of not paying back your debts means?"
"The money you owe will be charged to the accounts of the girls you named."
"That is to say, the 15 taels you owe will be credited to the accounts of the four girls you named that night."
"In order to pay back the money, they will have to extend their working time in Yoshiwara again."
"Do you really have the nerve to do such a despicable thing?"
"If you don't have the money to pay back, you can only come with me to our Shirobei Club in Yoshiwara."
"We have enough work for you to slowly pay off your debts..."
Before Guasheng could finish his words, the young man who was closest to Guasheng shouted:
"Stop making so much noise! ​​We have no money! We won't go to any Shirobei Club with you!"
"What do those prostitutes do? It's none of our business!"
"Wouldn't it be a good thing to let those prostitutes work longer in Yoshiwara?"
"Anyway, prostitutes don't have any other skills besides serving men, right?"
"Wouldn't it be great to continue working in Yoshiwara? I can still make a living with my only skill!"
"Get out of here now!"
"Just looking at the way you dress makes me angry!"
"You're just a woman, why are you wearing men's clothes? You even have a wooden sword on your waist, what's going on? Are you trying to imitate a samurai?"
As soon as the young man finished speaking, he was immediately echoed by his other three companions.
After hearing what they said, Guasheng's face turned even darker, as black as a piece of charcoal.
Cold rays of light began to flash from his eyes.
Another person whose expression suddenly turned ugly was Ogata.
After hearing what the young man had just said, "Anyway, prostitutes don't have any other skills besides serving men," Ogata's face darkened.
"…What a bunch of rude and shameless people." Ogata said softly in a voice that only he could hear.
"...In that case." Uesugi put his right hand on the wooden sword on his left waist, "Then I can only use some tough means to 'invite' you to come with me."
"Huh?" The young man who had just mocked Ueyu and Yoshiwara Yuu laughed coldly, "Why? You want to fight the four of us at the same time? Did you see the swords on our waists? Do you think you can be a match for four samurai... Ugh!"
call--!
Before the young man could finish his words, the wooden sword made a sound in the wind!
With lightning speed, Uesugi reached for the wooden sword at his left waist, pulled it out from the belt of his hakama, and made an upward thrust from bottom to top.
The tip of the wooden sword hit the young man's nose accurately, making a crisp sound of bone cracking, and broke the young man's nose with one stroke.
Looking at Uesugi's smooth, sharp, and efficient sword-drawing, Ogata couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise.
"Come with me outside." Guess said, pointing to the outside of the sushi restaurant, "Don't break anything in this restaurant."
After saying that, Uesugi took the lead and walked out of the sushi restaurant with her wooden sword.
The action of Guasheng breaking their companion's nose with a knife just now successfully angered the four people.
Going outside the spacious sushi restaurant was exactly what the four men wanted.
After Guess walked out of the sushi restaurant, the four men immediately picked up their knives and rushed out of the sushi restaurant following Guess.
No matter which country or era, there will always be people who like to watch the fun.
After Uesugi and the four men left the sushi restaurant, many customers who were eating sushi in the restaurant dropped the sushi and chopsticks in their hands and ran outside the restaurant to watch the fun.
Among those watching the fun were Ogata and Atachi.
When the two walked outside the sushi restaurant, they saw that the pedestrians on the street outside the sushi restaurant had voluntarily moved aside, leaving a large enough space.
Guasheng and the four scumbags who didn't pay their debts were standing in the middle of this spacious space.
The four men had already drawn their swords and stood in four different directions, surrounding Guasheng.
"Hey." A-Machi tugged at Ogata's sleeve, "Do you want to help?"
“No hurry.”
Ogata continued as he bent over and picked up a stone at his feet that was about the size of a baby's fist.
"You should have seen the knife that girl used to break the man's nose. Maybe the girl doesn't need our help."
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, the young man standing behind Guasera began to emit a Qi He and swung his knife at Guasera.
The four men still retained some rationality, knowing that if they used real swords to kill someone on the streets of Edo, they would not end well, so they all turned the swords in their hands and used the backs of the swords to deal with Uesugi.
It was as if Guasheng had eyes on her back, and she didn't even turn back to look at the enemy attacking her from behind.
Without even turning his head, he took a step to the side and accurately dodged the enemy's knife behind him.
Then, using his left foot as the axis, his foot drove his waist, and his waist drove his hands, he began to spin like a top. While his body turned to his rear, he swung his knife at the abdomen of the enemy behind him.
“Cough cough cough!”
After being stabbed hard in the abdomen by the melon, the man coughed violently and slowly fell to the ground.
After beautifully dispatching one of the four, Uesugi slid his feet, making the ground creak, and attacked the next enemy with nimble steps.
Ating, who was standing not far away and watching this one-on-four battle, let out a small cry of surprise:
“How amazing…”
"This girl is very smart." Ogata said in a calm tone, "She uses a sword technique that is very suitable for women."
"Compared to men, the biggest disadvantage of women is their lack of physical fitness and strength."
"And the swordsmanship used by this girl can be said to make up for this deficiency to a certain extent."
"The moves she used were mostly based on stabbing."
"A skill like stabbing can cause great damage even if it doesn't have enough power."
"And compared to slashing and chopping, stabbing techniques can more conveniently use the power of the waist and feet."
"After using the power of the waist and feet, even if it is a woman, the power of the stabbing technique is extremely impressive."
After hearing what Ogata said, Atachi turned his attention back to the 1-on-4 battlefield in front of him.
I found that it was just as Ogata had just said, the girl named Uesugi really preferred to use stabbing techniques.
In a blink of an eye, Guasheng had knocked down three of the four men, and without exception, these three men were stabbed by Guasheng and lay on the ground groaning and rolling in pain.
Uesugi gripped the wooden sword tightly in his hand, assumed a standard mid-range stance, and slowly approached the last enemy.
His three companions were knocked down one by one - the remaining man would never have imagined that such a scene would occur.
He tightened and loosened the katana in his hand, looking very anxious.
"I'll give you one last chance." Uesugi said, "Put the knife back and follow me to our Shirobei Club in Yoshiwara."
"Who... wants to go..." This sentence did not come from the last person who was still intact, but from behind Guasheng.
Guasheng raised his beautiful eyebrows in surprise, then turned around and looked behind him.
The person who said that was the one who was knocked down by Guasheng's sword just now.
At this moment, this guy was covering his stomach which had just been stabbed with one hand, supporting himself on the ground with the other hand, struggling to stand up from the ground.
Looking at the man who stood up again, Guasheng frowned slightly: "You are really tough."
"Because your sword doesn't hurt at all." Although this guy said this, his pale face made his words not convincing at all.
After standing up from the ground, he endured the severe pain in his stomach. While shouting, the guy raised his knife and chopped at Guasheng again.
Guasheng was neither surprised nor afraid of the guy who got up and swung his knife at him again.
He turned around and pointed the tip of the knife at the guy who was about to rush towards him.
After observing the man's knife's path and dodging it, Guasheng stabbed the man's abdomen with his sword again.
Another sword hit his abdomen and a painful groan came out of his mouth again.
But he did not fall to the ground.
Instead, he gritted his teeth, endured the severe pain, and struggled to stand.
There was a gleam of cruelty in the guy's eyes, and he grabbed Guasheng's wooden sword before he could retract the knife.
“Quick!” The next moment after he grabbed Guasheng’s wooden sword, the guy shouted to his only companion who was still standing, “Kill this guy !”
This man's words woke up his companion.
Realizing that this was a perfect opportunity to counterattack, his companion quickly ran towards Guase.
I didn't expect that the guy in front of me would use this trick, and a look of surprise flashed across Guasheng's face.
But this look of surprise only lasted for a moment on Guasheng's face.
After a cold snort, he shifted his feet, released his left hand that was originally holding the hilt of the sword, grabbed the shoulder of the guy in front of him, and then used his skilled judo skills to throw the guy heavily to the ground.
After being stabbed in the stomach twice by the melon, this person could only barely stay awake.
After being thrown to the ground by Uesugi using jutsu, this guy could no longer hold on. Although he did not faint, he did not have the strength to hold on to Uesugi's knife.
Although he finally regained the freedom of the wooden sword in his hand, it was already a little too late.
The one who was still intact among the four men had already rushed to Guasheng and raised the knife in his hand high.
However, Guasheng, who had just taken back the wooden sword, was unable to adjust his posture and stance.
There were cries of surprise from the crowd around.
Even Guasheng himself had a solemn light in his eyes.
But at this moment——
whoosh!
A stone suddenly flew out from a corner of the crowd.
The stone suddenly flew out from the crowd and accurately hit the chest of the last enemy in front of Guasheng.
Although the stone did not knock the guy down, it caused him pain and he could not help but stop.
However, his sudden pause made the chance of victory, which had finally come to him, disappear in an instant.
Guasheng seized this opportunity, quickly adjusted her stance, and once again used her best straight stab to knock down the last enemy in front of her.
After defeating all four of them, Uesugi looked relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ms. Guasheng! Miss Guasheng!"
As soon as Guasheng knocked down the four men, shouts immediately arose from the crowd gathered outside the battlefield.
Five strong men of different ages squeezed their way out of the crowd and ran to Guasheng's side.
The five of them all wore the same dark blue haori as Uekusa.
Moreover, the dark blue haori worn by these five people were also worn backwards, just like the haori worn by Uesugi.
"Keiemon, are you kidding me?" Ueyoshi said to the leader of the five people in an unpleasant tone, "Why do you always arrive on time after I beat up these bastards? Are you doing this on purpose?"
"Who told you to be so fast, Miss Uesugi?" The man called Keiemon by Uesugi was a middle-aged man who was not young anymore. "It can only be said to be a coincidence. Every time I finally caught up with you, you had already defeated the enemy."
"Forget it, let's take these four bastards back to the club." Guess nodded at the four people lying on the ground around them, "We need to make these four bastards work hard and repay the debt owed to Meiyuan House."
"Okay!" After Keiichiro shouted "Okay" in his loud voice, he called on his companion to tie up the four bastards who were knocked down by Uesugi.
While Kei'emon and the others were tying up the four bastards, Uesugi put the wooden sword in his hand back into his waist and walked towards a corner of the crowd.
To be more precise, he walked towards Ogata and Atachi who were standing in a corner of the crowd.
"Thank you for your help just now."
After arriving in front of Ogata, Uesugi bowed deeply .
"I saw it clearly just now - you were the one who threw that stone. Thank you very much for your support just now."
"Nothing." Ogata shrugged with a smile, "It's just a trivial matter."
Just as Uesugi said just now - the stone that flew out from the crowd just now was thrown by Ogata.
Before Guasheng and the four bastards started fighting, Xufang secretly held a stone in his hand, ready to support Guasheng at any time.
Just now, when he saw Guasheng encounter some trouble, Xufang immediately threw the stone he had been hiding in his hand, hitting the man in the chest, giving Guasheng time to adjust his stance.
Although Ogata felt that even without his help, Uesugi should still be able to successfully handle this one-on-four battle - at most he would have a few more injuries on his body afterwards.
"Miss Guess!" the middle-aged man named Keimon shouted at Guess, "These four bastards are tied up tightly!"
"Yes." Guess nodded, "Then let's go. Take these four bastards back to Yoshiwara."
Before leaving, Ueyu bowed deeply to Ogata once again.
After bowing to Ogata again, Uesugi led the five companions who were wearing the same dark blue haori as her, and escorted the four bastards who were still groaning in pain, slowly away from Ogata's sight .
After the girl named Guasheng left, the crowd who were watching the excitement nearby also dispersed.
Ogata and Atachi returned to the sushi restaurant.
After the two of them sat back at the table they were originally sitting at, A-Machi turned her head and asked Ogata:
"The girl just now said that she was from the Shirobei Club. What is the Shirobei Club?"
"I don't know." Ogata shook his head, "But from what the girl said, the Shirobei Club seems to be related to Yoshiwara."
The knowledge related to Edo, especially the knowledge related to Yoshiwara, directly hit Ogata's blind spots in knowledge.
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, a light laugh of "Haha" was heard from the table next to him.
"Neither of you are from Edo, right?"
Ogata and Atachi both turned their heads towards the sound.
The person who spoke was a middle-aged woman sitting at the table next to Ogata and his friends.
Ogata remembered this middle-aged woman - just now after the Chinese man entered the sushi restaurant, it was this middle-aged woman sitting next to Ogata who first shouted out the words "Yoshiwara-ri Tongxin", and then drew Ogata's attention to the entrance of the sushi restaurant.
The clothes this middle-aged woman was wearing didn't look cheap at first glance, and her manners and conversation were both elegant, so one could tell at a glance that she must be from a well-off family.
"Yes." Ogata nodded, "We two are indeed not native to Edo."
"The Shirobei Club... you two can think of it as the Yoshiwara magistrate's office." The middle-aged woman told Ogata and Atachi, "Yoshiwara is surrounded by tall wooden walls on all sides, like a castle, with only one entrance and exit."
"After entering Yoshiwara through the only entrance, you will see the 'Shirobei Kaiso' on your right hand side."
"As I just said, you can think of the Shirobei Club as the Yoshiwara's magistrate's office. The people in the club are responsible for managing various miscellaneous affairs in Yoshiwara."
"Maintaining public order in Yoshiwara is the main task of the Shirobei Association."
"There are 3,000 prostitutes in Yoshiwara, and countless people go in and out of Yoshiwara every day."
"When there is a large flow of people, it is inevitable that some scum will appear."
"Those who steal from prostitutes, those who don't pay after having a blast, those who use violence against prostitutes... these scumbags appear in Yoshiwara every day."
"When these scumbags who disturb Yoshiwara's public order appear, the Shirobei Club, which is responsible for maintaining Yoshiwara's public order, will take action to bring these scumbags to justice."
"Just now, Miss Ueyu Hide from Shirobei Club arrested a scum who didn't pay after having fun."
"I seem to have heard you call that woman named Ueura 'Yoshiwara Ri Doshin' before." Ogata asked, "What is Yoshiwara Ri Doshin? Is it the name of the official position of the Shirobei Society?"
"Hehe." The middle-aged woman covered her mouth and chuckled a few times, "No. 'Yoshiwara-ri Doshin' is not the name of an official position."
"'Yoshiwara-ri Doshin' is just a nickname given to Miss Ueyu Hide by us Edo people."
"Ms. Uesugi Hide is considered one of the celebrities in Edo."
"She is from the Shirobei Club."
"Although she is a girl, she has strong swordsmanship and the ability to handle affairs."
"Those who dare to disturb the peace in Yoshiwara will basically not be able to escape from Miss Uesugi Hide's clutches unless they flee Edo."
"In order to catch those who disturbed the public order in Yoshiwara and escaped from Yoshiwara, Miss Ueyu always traveled through the streets and alleys of Edo, so after a while, the people of Edo knew about Miss Ueyu's existence."
"Ms. Uesugi Hideo has become a celebrity in Edo without us even noticing."
"Because of Miss Uekusa Hide's presence, Yoshiwara's public security has improved a lot, so Miss Uekusa Hide is very popular in Yoshiwara and is loved by Yoshiwara's prostitutes."
"The prostitutes in Yoshiwara gave Miss Uesugi Hide a nickname: Yoshiwara Satoshin."
"It means 'the same heart of Yoshiwara'."
"And this name has also spread unknowingly, and people other than Yoshiwara Yuu have also begun to call Miss Ueyu Hide 'Yoshiwara Satoshi'."
"In addition to 'Yoshiwara Satoshi', Ms. Uesugi Hide has another nickname, which is 'Female Swordsman'."
"This title was given to Miss Ueura Hide by people outside Yoshiwara."
"Miss Guasheng Xiu's sharp swordsmanship left a deep impression on many people, so everyone gave Miss Guasheng Xiu the nickname 'female swordsman'."
"But compared to 'female swordsman', the title 'Yoshiwara-ri Doshin' sounds better and is more popular."
"Edo was so open..." As soon as the middle-aged woman finished speaking, Atachi nodded seriously, "Even women can become officials..."
"Wow~" the middle-aged woman covered her mouth and laughed, "Miss, you misunderstood."
"How can a woman be an official in the shogunate?"
"Ms. Ueyu Hide is not an official official of the Shirobei Club."
"He is someone hired by the Shirobei Club."
"So Miss Uesugi Hide is actually a commoner, not an official of the shogunate."
"The wages that Miss Uebu Hide received were all paid by the Shirobei Association itself, not by the shogunate."
"One of the reasons why the prostitutes in Yoshiwara gave Miss Ueyu Hide the nickname 'Yoshiwara Satoshin' was to make it easier to address Miss Ueyu Hide, who did not hold any official position."
"Although strictly speaking, Miss Ueyu Hide is not an official of the Shirobei Club, everyone actually treats her as an official of the Shirobei Club."
After Ogata and Atachi listened quietly to the middle-aged woman's introduction, they both thanked her for her patience in telling them about the Ni Ni Shirobei Club.
After the middle-aged woman finished her introduction, the sushi ordered by Ogata and Atachi was served.
As Omachi stuffed sushi into her mouth, she lowered her voice so that only she and Ogata could hear it and whispered to Ogata:
"That girl named Uemori is really amazing. She is actually called the 'female swordsman' by everyone."
"Yeah." Ogata nodded gently, and then imitated the volume of Atachi just now, and whispered, "It's amazing. But... although Miss Ueki's swordsmanship is indeed very strong, the title of 'female swordsman' is still a bit exaggerated."
A helpless smile appeared on Ogata's face.
"From what I can see, Ms. Ueura's swordsmanship is probably only on par with Shimada's. Her strength is not enough to be called a 'swordsman'."
"People in this country love to give people nicknames."
Speaking of this, Ogata couldn't help but complain.
"From ancient times to the present, people in this country have always loved giving people nicknames."
"What about Torakato, Thunder God, the Sixth Heavenly Demon King, the Echigo Dragon..."
"Even I have been given a lot of messy nicknames."
"I don't know if I will have any new nicknames in the future..."