Osaka, the hotel where Ogata and his friends were staying——
With the help of O-Machi, he put on his kimono, hakama, and haori, put two new swords on his left waist, and turned to O-Machi and O-Tsuku who were standing by and said:
"Then I'll go first."
Ogata had already gotten used to the feeling of wearing a sword on his left waist. After sending Daishiten and Daishizai for repair, Ogata felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he had taken off his clothes and was running naked.
Not only am I not used to it, but I always feel insecure without two knives on my waist.
No one can predict what an "emergency" situation is.
Who knows, while we are waiting for Mahasikāya and Mahāshikazā to recover, suddenly one day, a madman who enjoys killing indiscriminately will come at Ogata with a knife.
So to be on the safe side, on the day he sent his sword to be repaired, Ogata bought two new swords from a sword shop.
Because he only planned to use them temporarily, Ogata didn't plan to spend a lot of money to buy any expensive swords. The two swords only cost Ogata 2 taels of gold in total.
A-Machi, who was kneeling in front of Ogata, nodded and smiled:
"Be careful on the road."
Today is the day of the "Big Trial".
Since he had already promised Naoshige that he would attend, Ogata had no intention of going back on his word.
It was only about 7 o'clock in the morning, and there was still some time before the start time of the "big test": 8 o'clock. For the sake of courtesy and not wanting to be late, Ogata had already dressed with the help of Atachi and was ready to go.
Fengma had gone out early in the morning and went to visit his old subordinate Senbei to hang out and reminisce about the past.
"Do you two have any plans this morning?" Ogata asked.
"No plans!" Azhu said first, "Miss A-Ming and I are planning to go to some places we haven't been to yet!"
Ogata nodded: "Then you two can just go somewhere to hang out and kill time this morning."
"I'm leaving now and will be back after noon today."
After saying that, Ogata waved to A-machi and the others while leaving the room. Then he left the hotel without stopping and strode towards the venue of this year's "Big Test" - Zenhyo-kan.
…
…
Osaka, Isshiki Sword Hall, Isshiki Hana's room——
In the clean and tidy room, the only sound was the sound of a comb combing hair.
Isshiki was wearing her favorite goose yellow kimono, a pink belt around her waist, and a pair of cute white cloth socks on her feet. She was combing her hair in front of the mirror.
After combing her waist-length hair neatly, Isshikika began to tie her hair with a slightly awkward technique.
She first combed her hair into the most popular hairstyle nowadays: Shimada bun.
After tying her hair up, Isshikika began to look at herself in the mirror carefully.
She looked at the right half of her face with a Shimada bun, then looked at the left half - finally, she pursed her lips, shook her head gently, and let her newly tied hair loose.
After letting her hair down, Isshikika tied it into a new hairstyle: a bun.
After styling her hair into a new style, Isshikika repeated the previous steps - she looked at herself in the mirror carefully, and then let her hair down again.
She keeps changing her hairstyle.
Shimada bun, ball bun, Katsuyama bun... She tried all the most common hairstyles for girls nowadays, but no matter which hairstyle it was, she felt somewhat dissatisfied.
Eventually, she changed back to her original hairstyle - the now popular Shimada bun.
After combing her hair, Isshiki opened a small box on the table next to her.
The box contains the cosmetics that I borrowed from my mother since I started learning how to put on makeup from her the day before.
As far as she can remember, Isshiki has had no interest in makeup and never wears it. She usually goes out with a natural look.
It was not until the day before yesterday when she asked her mother for advice that Isshikika came into contact with this skill for the first time.
Although she had tried very hard to learn makeup from her mother in the past two days, perhaps because Isshiki had little talent in this area, it took her two full days for her to only learn how to apply lipstick and draw eyebrows.
After opening the shell-shaped box containing lip balm, Isshikika dipped the ring finger and little finger of her right hand into the light pink lip balm. Then, she followed her mother's instructions and applied the lipstick red according to her memory.
——It seems that the paint is too bright... It looks like a prostitute...
Wipe off and reapply.
——It’s a bit too light… It’s like not applying any makeup…
Wipe it off again, apply it again...
Isshikika rubbed her lips over and over again for seven times before finally achieving a color that barely satisfied her.
After wiping off the remaining lipstick on her fingers, Isika began to draw her eyebrows.
Compared to tying the hair and applying lipstick before, drawing eyebrows was much smoother, and Isseka achieved the desired effect in just one go.
Putting down her eyebrow pencil, Isshikika heaved a sigh of satisfaction.
"Xiaohua, are you ready? You've been fiddling around in your room for nearly half an hour. What are you doing? Are you sleeping in? It's almost time to leave! If you are sleeping in, get up quickly!"
Isshiki was startled by the sudden voice of her father, Isshikirushui, outside the door.
Naoshige is now old, so most of the affairs of the sword hall are now handed over to Isshikika's father: Isshiki Ryosui.
Now Rushui is almost the de facto owner of the Yisese Sword Hall, so he has to participate in the "Grand Test" feast.
"No, no, I'm not sleeping in!" Isshika said hurriedly.
"If you're not sleeping in, get out of here! It's time to set off!"
After he finished speaking, Isshikika heard the footsteps of her father gradually fading away.
After confirming that her father had left, Isshikika turned her gaze back to the mirror in front of her.
Isshikika, who usually goes out without makeup and is used to her bare-faced appearance, couldn't help but feel a strange sense of unfamiliarity when she looked at herself in the mirror with red lips and drawn eyebrows.
Isseka's skin is very fair, the kind that can reflect light under the sunlight.
Her already very fair skin complements her red lips with lipstick, making Isshikika exude a beauty that is completely different from her bare-faced state.
"Half an hour..."
Isshikihana murmured.
"It's been so long already..."
She was so absorbed in fiddling with her hair and makeup that it felt like less than an incense stick of time had passed.
After confirming that there were no problems with her hair and makeup, Isshikika stood up, folded her hands in front of her, slowly walked out of the room, and walked towards the door of their Isshiki Sword Hall.
At this time, quite a few people had gathered at the gate of Isshiki Sword Hall - Isshiki Hana's grandfather and father, as well as more than a dozen apprentices who would be taken to participate in the "Grand Test" later.
Zhi Zhou and Rushui are now giving a lecture to the dozen or so apprentices in front of them. What they are saying is nothing more than reminding them to be polite and not do anything that would tarnish the reputation of their Yise Sword Hall.
Among these more than ten apprentices, only three of them will go on stage to compete with others. The rest are valued by Zhizhou and Rushui, who plan to take them to watch the competition, see the world, and take a good look at how the masters wield swords.
Zhi Zhou and Ru Shui's lecture just ended at this time.
When Rushui saw a goose yellow figure walking slowly towards them , she quickly turned her head.
After seeing her daughter's current appearance, Rushui couldn't help but be startled: "Xiaohua, you...are wearing makeup?"
As a father, it was the first time for her to see her daughter putting on makeup.
"It was just a spur of the moment, I just painted my lips and drew my eyebrows casually." Isshika said lightly.
The dozen or so apprentices who had just been scolded swarmed over Isiseka.
"Ms. Isshiki! Your makeup is so pretty!"
"Ms. Isshiki, this is the first time I've seen you put on makeup?"
"Miss Isshiki..."
…
Isshikika, who is beautiful, has excellent swordsmanship, and is the granddaughter of the master of the sword hall, has always been very popular in Isshiki Sword Hall and is the dream lover of countless apprentices in the hall.
In fact, there are also many apprentices of Isshiki Sword Hall who pursue Isshiki Hana, but so far no suitor has been favored by Isshiki Hana.
Faced with the apprentices who gathered around her and vied with each other to praise her, Isshikika just smiled politely and said some bland polite words.
Rushui looked at her daughter with confusion as she suddenly put on makeup.
As for Naoshige, he was now looking at Isshikika not far away with a complicated expression, as if he was thinking about something.
"...Okay, now that everyone is here, let's go." Zhi Zhou said softly, "Don't be late, and...don't let the distinguished guest I invited with great difficulty wait for us too long."
…
…
In order to avoid a farce of being late due to not knowing the way, when Ogata was strolling around Osaka with A-Machi, A-Tsuku and others yesterday, he stopped by Zenhyo-kan to check out the place and confirmed its location.
Following his memory, Ogata headed straight towards Zenhyo-kan, and soon the magnificent gate of Zenhyo-kan appeared within his field of vision.
Only people related to the sword halls are allowed to enter and watch the "Grand Test".
Because irrelevant people were not allowed to watch, the sword halls did not publicize their feast to the outside world.
Therefore, not many people know that the annual "Grand Test" will be held at Quanbing Hall today.
At this time, there were not many people gathered outside the gate of the Quanbing Hall. Only a few people would stop for a moment, stretching their necks to look into the hall, and when they found nothing interesting, they would retract their necks and continue doing what they were doing.
At the gate of the Quanbing Hall stood four very handsome young men.
Ogata thought that these four people were probably the ones who were in charge of standing at the gate and receiving all visitors, so he walked quickly towards them and asked them:
"Have the people from Isshiki Sword Hall arrived?"
The four young men looked at Ogata with puzzled and wary eyes.
A young man who looked very honest said directly: "The people from Isshiki Sword Hall haven't come yet."
"Is that so... Sorry to bother you then." Ogata bowed politely to the four people. He then walked to the gate of the sword hall, hid under the shade of a tree, and waited for Isshiki Naoki and others to arrive.
If you arrive at Zenbei-kan in advance on the day of the "Grand Test", please wait outside the hall for a while. After I arrive with my people from Isshiki Kenkan, I will take you in together - these were the exact words that Naoshige said to Ogata after he successfully invited him.
According to Naoshige, their "big test" has extremely strict entry and exit regulations.
VIPs are allowed to enter to watch the trial, but they must be personally led into the hall by someone of sufficient importance from each sword hall.
They rely on these strict regulations to prevent irrelevant people from sneaking in.
In other words, Ogata, who is currently alone and without the guidance of Naosuke and the others, cannot enter the museum at all.
Since Naoshiro and the others had not arrived yet, Osamu followed Naoshiro's previous instructions and stood quietly by the door of the museum, waiting for their arrival.
——By the way…it seems like the cherry blossoms are in full bloom now…
Ogata raised the edge of his hat slightly and looked up at the blue sky above his head.
——It’s been so long since I came to the Edo period, but I still haven’t seen a sea of ​​cherry blossoms in full bloom…
It is now mid-April, and Ogata suddenly remembered that this is the time when cherry blossoms all over Japan are in full bloom.
When thinking of cherry blossoms, Osamu recalled that it had been nearly two years since he had traveled through time. Although he had seen cherry blossoms in these two years, he had never seen a seemingly endless sea of ​​cherry blossoms.
Watching all kinds of wonders and sights that he had never seen before - this is Ogata's greatest hobby, no doubt about it.
——I’ll see if there’s a chance later and take A-Machi to see the sea of ​​cherry blossoms…
"Hey, you!"
Just as Ogata was daydreaming to kill time, a rude shout from beside him interrupted his thoughts.
Ogata looked over in the direction of the voice - he saw a young samurai with handsome features, but with a topknot that dragged his looks down to a negative number, striding towards him.
"What are you standing here for?"
The young samurai then shouted rudely at Ogata.
"If you want to enjoy the cool air, go somewhere else!"
…
…
Beiyuan got up before dawn today.
The reason for doing this is not for anything else, just to have more time to dress myself up.
The hair on the top of the head was shaved bald, and the hair on the temples was combed neatly into a perfect bun.
The nose hairs were cleaned carefully, the nasal mucus was picked out completely, and the nails on both hands were trimmed.
Perfect—this is Kitahara’s only evaluation of his current image.
Since waking up... no, it should be said that since last night, Kitahara felt his heart beating wildly and he was too excited to fall asleep.
He can't wait.
He couldn't wait to show off his swordsmanship in front of Isshikika and the heroic sight of defeating the enemy with his neat swordsmanship.
He loves Isshikihana to the point of being almost fanatical. In order to pursue Isshikihana, he has already carefully investigated her preferences and tried hard to become a man that Isshikihana would like.
In order to achieve this goal, Kitahara established good relationships with almost all of Isshiki Ka's friends, and then asked them one by one for all the information related to Isshiki Ka.
All his hard work was not in vain - last year, he successfully found out the type of person Isshiki liked: someone with strong swordsmanship.
When Isshikika discussed marriage-related issues with many of her friends, they all said the same thing: I only like people who are strong in swordsmanship.
Kitahara was quite excited when he learned this information.
Someone who is strong in swordsmanship——Isn't this referring to me?!
He has shown extraordinary talent in swordsmanship since he was a child, and he believes that his swordsmanship level is unparalleled among the younger generation in Osaka.
Moreover, he is handsome and has a good family background, so he and Isshikika are a perfect match.
In all of Osaka, is there anyone who is more compatible with Isshiki Hana than him?
Kitahara has always longed to show off his swordsmanship in front of Isshikika.
Finally! This opportunity he had been waiting for came!
This is the “big test” that is about to begin today!
Isshiki Ka had never participated in the "Big Test" before, but for some reason last month, Isshiki Kenkan announced that Isshiki Ka will definitely come to watch the "Big Test".
For a moment, all of Isshikika's admirers, led by Kitahara, were excited and ready to try.
Kitahara is not the only one who admires Isshikika.
After learning that Isshikika was coming to watch the "Big Test", a large number of apprentices began to work hard, trying to gain the qualifications to watch or participate in the "Big Test".
As for Kitahara - after learning the news that made him ecstatic, he began training like crazy.
And now, it was finally time to test his hard training... no, to test his long-term efforts in pursuing Isshikika.
Kitahara couldn't remember how many times he had come to the gate to check if anyone from Isshiki Sword Hall had arrived.
He hoped to personally lead the Isshiki Sword Hall's people in. This way, it would be easier for him to get close to Isshiki Naoshu and the others.
"Have the people from Isshiki Sword Hall arrived?" As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the hall, Beiyuan asked the four fellow apprentice brothers who were responsible for receiving guests at the door.
"Senior Brother Beiyuan, not yet." The four fellow disciples hurriedly said respectfully.
"Not yet..." With a hint of disappointment in his eyes, Kitahara prepared to return to the museum.
But at this moment - out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar figure standing next to the museum door.
"Hmm?" Kitahara frowned and looked at the samurai wearing a hat and a turban standing by the door of the hall.
——This guy...why does he look familiar...why is he standing next to the gate of our sword hall?
After thinking for a moment, Kitahara suddenly remembered who this person was.
——Isn’t this the guy who performed sword-drawing techniques on the street a few days ago to sell tooth powder?
After recalling who this person was, Kitahara looked at the samurai in the bamboo hat with naked contempt immediately appearing in his eyes.
What he despised most were those who used swordplay as an eye-catching circus.
It is because there are too many people like this that the reputation of the samurai has been ruined and the level of swordsmanship has been lowered.
Kitahara admitted that this man was quite good at sword-drawing, but that was all. He, Kitahara, could also do the same movements that this man used to chop the wooden board, and even do it better than him.
This clown who uses swordsmanship as a tool to attract attention is only suitable to continue selling tooth powder on the street and has no right to stand by the gate of Quanbing Hall.
With contempt for the samurai in the bamboo hat, Kitahara strode towards him and shouted:
"Hey, you! What are you doing standing here? If you want to enjoy the cool air, go somewhere else!"
…
…
Ogata glanced at Kitahara, who looked familiar but couldn't remember where he had seen him before, and said softly:
"I'm not enjoying the cool air, I'm waiting for someone."
"If you are waiting for someone, please stand farther away and wait for them." Kitahara continued in a strong tone, "You will cause trouble for us if you stand here."
"I am not some random person." After realizing that this person might think he was just some nobody who had nothing to do with the "Great Test", Ogata explained, "I was invited by Isshiki Naoshu of Isshiki Sword Hall to come and watch the 'Great Test' with everyone from Isshiki Sword Hall."
"The person I am waiting for now is Mr. Isshiki..."
Before Ogata could finish his words, Kitahara opened his mouth in an exaggerated manner and said in a tone of naked mockery:
"You? Invited by Mr. Isshiki? You're a street juggler selling tooth powder. Can you at least tell a decent lie?"
"If a well-known figure like Mr. Isshiki were to invite others to watch the 'Grand Test', he would definitely only invite some outstanding people. Why would he invite someone like you?"
"Don't you think about your age? Is it possible that someone of your age would be invited by Mr. Isshiki?"
——Tooth powder?
The fog that shrouded Ogata's mind suddenly dissipated.
He finally remembered who this person was.
Isn't this the samurai who stood next to Miura who came to chat with Atachi a few days ago?
"I didn't lie." Ogata's tone was already somewhat impatient, "Once Mr. Isshiki and the others arrive, the misunderstanding will be resolved."
"That's enough. Stop talking nonsense." Kitahara couldn't believe that a young man who had been selling tooth powder on the street a few days ago could receive an invitation from Mr. Isshiki. "Please leave quickly. If possible, I don't want to do anything impolite to you."
As soon as Kitahara finished speaking, the four apprentices in charge of receiving guests, who also doubted Ogata's identity, came over and looked at Ogata with vigilance while supporting their senior brother.
Kitahara's arrogant attitude has made Ogata frown.
"I'll say this one last time - please leave."
As the last syllable of Kitahara's "Please leave" fell, a shout filled with fear and panic exploded from the intersection not far from them:
"Kitahara! Who do you want to leave?!"
This shout made Beiyuan's face change suddenly.
The person who uttered this roar was Isshiki Naoshige, whose face was slightly pale and who was leading everyone from Isshiki Sword Hall to run towards this side at a rapid pace.
…
…
Zhi Zhou now felt that the clothes on his back were wet - wet with cold sweat.
In order to prevent Ogata, who might arrive early, from waiting for a long time, Naoshige led his men to set off early.
Ogata's guess about the reason why Naozune invited him to watch the "Daisaikou" was actually completely correct - the reason why Naozune invited Ogata was actually to establish a good relationship with Ogata in order to achieve the goal of "overthrowing the shogunate in a roundabout way."
Naoshige had already deeply realized that it was useless to keep inviting Ogata to join their "cause to overthrow the shogunate."
In this case, let's try another approach: first establish a good relationship with Ogata, and once the relationship with Ogata becomes close, then invite him to join us in devoting himself to the overthrow of the shogunate.
In short - no matter whether Ogata will eventually agree to join in the overthrow of the shogunate, it is always a good thing to have a good relationship with Ogata.
Naoshige has made up his mind: no matter what, he must get closer to Ogata in today's "big test".
However... Naoshige, who was full of confidence, just saw the gate of Zenhyokan when he saw a scene that made him break out in a cold sweat - Kitahara, whom he knew, was surrounding Ogata with four young men who were probably also apprentices of Zenhyokan.
At the same time, I happened to hear Kitahara say: I'll say this for the last time, please leave!
Zhi Zhou's brain froze for a moment under the impact of all the emotions.
He was angry at first - he begged Ogata to come and watch the "big test" with an attitude that he wanted to kneel on the ground and beg Ogata to come and watch the "big test", and finally invited Ogata to come, but Kitahara chased Ogata away?
After anger comes fear.
He was afraid that Ogata would leave in anger, making all his previous efforts go to waste.
At the same time... I was also afraid that Kitahara, who was so rude to Ogata, would be retaliated by Ogata...
Isshikika, who was walking behind Naoshu at this time, also widened her beautiful eyes, with a look of surprise and a little...anger at Kitahara who was yelling at Ogata to leave.
Without giving it much thought, Zhi Zhou blurted out:
"Kitahara! Who do you want to leave?!"
…
…
"Mr. Isshiki...?" Kitahara looked at Isshiki Naoshige who had strode up to them with a look of shock.
Naoshige ignored Kitahara and asked Ogata in a panic:
"Mashima-san, Kitahara and the others didn't do anything to you, did they?"
The honorific that Naoshige used to address Ogata was the highest level of honorific.
Kitahara had never seen Naoshige be so respectful to anyone before, and now it was his turn to have his brain shut down.
"…It's okay." After all, it wasn't a big deal, and in order not to make things difficult for Naoshu, Ogata decided to make a big deal out of a small matter. "It was just a small misunderstanding."
Ogata briefly introduced what had just happened.
Seeing that the matter was not serious and Ogata did not seem very angry, Naoshu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Beiyuan, this man is a distinguished guest of our Isshiki Sword Hall! How could you be so rude to him just now!"
Although Ogata didn't seem very angry, Kitahara had just been so rude to Ogata that he couldn't just let it go. He still had to apologize.
Kitahara is now completely confused.
He stared blankly at Ogata, then at Isshiki Naoshige.
Finally——I looked at Isshikika again.
Isshikika was looking at him as always with eyes that seemed to be devoid of any emotion or color - but deep in Isshikika's dark pupils, Kitahara still detected a hint of resentment and displeasure.
Kitahara realized that he had gotten into trouble, and in order to save his image in the eyes of Isshikika and others, he quickly bowed 90 degrees to Ogata:
"I'm so sorry! I was rude just now! Please forgive me!"
At this moment, Beiyuan no longer had the arrogant attitude he had just had.