I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

After bidding farewell to Ogata and watching Ogata leave, Naoshu disbanded the team and asked their apprentices to go back to their homes and rest earlier.

This morning, the team departed from Isshiki Sword Hall. There were nearly 20 people from Wuyangyang.

And now the team returning to the Isshiki Sword Hall consists of three people: Zhizhou, Rushui, and Isshika.

Zhizhou, Rushui, and Issehua's grandfather and grandson San just set off to return to their home. Rushui immediately asked Zhizhou as if he couldn't wait:

"Father... That Goro Mashima... where did you find such a powerful swordsman?"

Because there are no outsiders now, and everyone is surrounded by his own family, Rushui has no scruples when he speaks.

This question, Rusui has been holding in his heart since witnessing Ogata's second killing of An Yun, and it is finally time to wait for the best time to ask this question until now.

"It was me and Xiaohua who happened upon each other when we traveled to East Japan." As soon as Rushui's words fell, Zhizhou said without thinking.

"Why does he wear a hat and a face towel all the time?" Rushui asked, "Is he dressed like this because of a wound on his face?"

"No, it's just because he likes to dress up like this." Zhi Zhou lied without blinking his eyes.

"So that's it..." Rushui nodded gently while listening attentively.

Thoughtful light gleamed in his eyes.

After asking this question about the appearance of "Mashima Goro", Rusui was silent for a moment, then frowned and switched to a new topic:

"This year's'Big Test Combination'... It's really terrible..."

"Well, yes." Zhi Zhou sighed lightly, and agreed, "Yuan Ming Hall suddenly has such a powerful master, and Yagi seems to have changed himself..."

"What good is it for my disciples to indulge in humiliating me and wait? It will only make them a target for the Yuanming Pavilion..."

"After that, when I have time, I will take Nanjo and Shimura with them, go to Yuanmingguan in person, and ask Yagi in person what is going on."

Zhizhou and Rushui started a conversation between you and me on the series of changes in today's "Big Test Combination".

Isshiki quietly followed behind these two people, silently.

The grandfather and grandson's feet are not slow at all. Between Zhizhou and Rushui's conversation, the three have returned to their luxurious dojo with the door plaque of "Ono One Sword and One Color Hall".

Isshika's mother: Isshishi just had something to go to the western suburbs of Daban today to visit a friend of hers, and he won't return until tonight, so there are only a few waiters left in their home.

"I'm tired." As soon as I got home, Yi Shihua said to her grandfather and father, "Go back to the room and rest."

After he finished speaking, without waiting for Zhizhou and Rushui to make any response, Isshihua strode towards the stairway leading to the second floor.

Rushui stood on the spot, looking at Isshika's back in the room with a meaningful gaze.

Nao Zhou now wants to go back to his room and take a break.

"Rushui, I will also go back to my room and rest. Call me when I have lunch." After that, he turned around and left.

But before he could take a few steps, he heard Rushui say to him:

"...Father. I have something important to tell you, do you have time now?"

Zhi Zhou stopped and turned his head, looking at Rushui several times up and down as if he was about to pierce through the entire body of Rushui.

"...Come to my room."

"Yes!"

The father and son entered Zhizhou's room one after another.

As soon as Rushui, who was walking behind, closed the door, he immediately asked Zhizhou in a hurry:

"Father, have you seen the true appearance of Goro Mashima? How does he look?"

"Also—Father, are you familiar with Goro Mashima? How is his character? Is he married?"

Like water, like a cascade of pearls, spit out a series of questions towards Zhi Zhou.

As if he had expected Rushui to ask him these questions, Zhizhou walked to the window and sat cross-legged while listening to the questions Rushui asked him with a calm expression.

"... Rushui, did you intend to let Mashima-sama come to marry our little flower?"

"Hahaha..." Rushui let out a dry smile with a bit of embarrassment, "As expected of my father, you can see through my careful thoughts."

"Father, as you know, Xiaohua is 21 years old this year."

When he said this, Rushui frowned as if he was spitting out some bitterness, and sighed heavily.

"Other daughters, by the time Xiaohua's age, already have a walking child."

"I can't count how many quality boys we recommended to her, but she rejected them all."

"Her vision is really too high, saying,'I only like men with strong swordsmanship'."

"I recommended some boys who are quite accomplished in swordsmanship to her, and she said that she didn't like these boys. I really don't know what she wants..."

"Because of Xiaohua's marriage, my eyebrows are almost pale."

"After another two or three years, when Xiaohua is 23 or 24 years old, not many people will be willing to let their son marry a girl of this age anymore."

"And now—a man who is about the same age as Xiaohua and possesses extremely powerful swordsmanship appears."

"Isn't Xiaohua someone who likes strong swordsmanship? Isn't Majima-sama very suitable? In terms of swordsmanship strength, I feel that no one in the entire Osaka can compete with Majima-sama!"

"Moreover, more importantly-I think the relationship between Xiaohua and the Majima-sama is also very good."

"In the'big test match' just now, I have always seen Xiaohua talking to Majima-sama."

Rushui became more excited as she spoke, and her eyes were about to shine.

"I'm still guessing-Xiaohua, who never put on makeup before, puts on makeup so suddenly today, maybe because of that Goro Majima, in order to dress herself well in front of Goro Majima."

"If Majima-sama’s appearance and character are all right, and Majima-sama is not married, then I think the match between Majima-sama and Xiaohua will be..."

Ru Shuizheng said impassionedly, Zhi Zhou suddenly waved his hand to be quiet.

"Okay, stop talking."

Zhi Zhou said blankly.

"It is absolutely impossible for Xiaohua and Majima-sama to unite."

Rushui was taken aback: "Why?"

"The reason is simple-Mashima-sama is already married and has a beautiful wife."

Nao Zhou's simple words changed Rushui's face: "Mashima-sama... is already married?"

"Well, that's right. And according to my observation, he and his wife's relationship is also very good." Zhizhou turned his head and stared at Rushui. Concubine?"

"Of course-can't tolerate it." Rushui said in a deep voice.

Like ancient China, ancient Japan practiced the "monogamy and multiple concubines" system. As long as you have money, you can marry as many concubines as you like, but you can only have one wife.

However, because the current economic situation of the samurai is generally unbearable, even many big names in the same place are embarrassed to borrow money from merchants, and many middle and lower-level samurai are so poor that they can’t even get their wives. The samurai missed.

Therefore, the most profitable groups in Japan's "monogamy and multiple concubines" system are actually those who are rich and cannot do well.

You samurai can't even get a wife, and we can sleep with several wives every night-this is also one of the most common words used by businessmen to mock samurai.

The "concubine" in ancient Japan, like the "concubine" in ancient China, had a much lower status in the family than the "wife".

A certain concubine was treated coldly by his wife and mother-in-law, and his life was miserable-news of this kind can be regarded as endless.

Because of the low status of concubines, many families with good ancestry do not allow their own women to be other concubines.

The Isshiki family happens to be this kind of family.

"Oh..." Rushui sighed heavily, "It's...it's a shame...I also thought that I finally met such a good man who is expected to be my son-in-law... Now that Lord Majima has already married a wife, then this It can only be done. Huh? Father, what's the matter?"

Rushui saw Zhi Zhou slowly standing up.

"Rushui, if you don't have anything to continue to tell me, then hurry up and do what you should do."

"I'm going to talk to Xiaohua about certain things now."

…

…

Isshika just said that she was going to go back to the room to rest—but in fact, after she went back to the room, she was not resting at all.

When she returned to the room, she first took off the socks she didn't like to wear, and then knelt down on her knees by the window, looking thoughtfully at the sky outside the window.

Looking at the sky, I was fascinated, when a sudden sound outside the door interrupted Yi Shihua's thoughts.

"Little Flower."

It was Nao Zhou's voice.

"Grandpa, what's the matter?"

"Is it convenient for me to go in now?"

"Now? Come in."

Zhi Zhou opened the door and stepped slowly into the room.

"Grandpa, what's the matter?"

"...Xiaohua." Zhizhou sat cross-legged in front of Isshihua, "I'll just say it--you have a good impression of that adult..., right?"

Although he said "right?", Zhi Zhou's sentence didn't have the slightest tone of interrogative sentence, and some only had the tone of affirmative sentence.

Isshiki is not an idiot, she naturally knows who "that adult" refers to by Zhizhou.

"I..." As soon as Zhi Zhou's voice fell, Yi Shi Hua showed a slight panic on her face, and her small mouth opened slightly.

It seems to want to say something subconsciously.

But as soon as her mouth opened, and after she uttered the word "I", Yishihua stopped.

After a pause, the traces of panic on Yoshiki's face slowly dissipated.

Changed back to the usual expressionless look.

"...Grandpa, you are wrong." Isshiki said calmly, as if she was talking about something trivial, "I don't have a good impression of that adult."

Isshiki paused again.

Then he said word by word:

"I like that adult very much."

Nao Zhou seemed surprised that Isshiki would answer that way.

"...The days you spent with that adult...there were only a few days together? When did you fall in love with that adult?"

Gu </span> "I don't know. I only know that when I recover, I find that as long as the adult talks to me, I will be very happy."

"...Grandpa, I didn't expect you to have such a quick mind."

Isshiki's tone was very rare and half-joking.

"I was able to discover my feelings for that adult so quickly."

"Don't think of your grandfather as an idiot." Zhizhou said lightly, "After seeing you spend so long to dress up today, I realized that my baby granddaughter's heart may have been stolen by someone. gone."

"Are you here to ask me this question?" Isshiki asked.

"Of course not. The reason why I am here now is to remind you-our Isse family women must never be someone else's concubine."

"Even if the opponent is the emperor, it won't work."

"Little Flower, can you understand what I mean?"

"...Don't worry. Grandpa." Isshiki turned his gaze back to the window, "What kind of person am I, don't you know?"

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who can behave like oneself and run stupidly to be someone else's concubine?"

"and…"

In Yi Shihua's beautiful eyes, the light named "Lonely" flickered a few times.

"Next time I want to see that adult, I don't know when it is. Even if I want to run to be his concubine, I don't have that chance."

A few smiles appeared on Zhizhou's face: "Of course I know your character, so I'm just here to remind you."

After all, Zhi Zhou stood up.

"That's all I want to say."

"It's almost time for lunch, don't be late when you're in the dining room for dinner."

Zhi Zhou opened the door and prepared to go out.

As soon as he opened the door of the room, he saw Rushui carrying a small package and hurriedly rushing towards this place.

"Little Flower! Little Flower!"

"Father, do you have something to tell me, too?" Isshiki frowned.

"I have nothing to tell you, but I have something to let you do." Rushui smiled bitterly and shook the package in his hand toward Isshika.

"Your mother, that daredevil, went to visit her friend, but forgot to bring the gift she gave."

"Xiaohua, after waiting for lunch, can you please send this gift over?"

"Where is the old friend's house your mother visited, you should know?"

"Yeah, I know." Isshiki nodded, "I see, after waiting for lunch, I will give this gift to him immediately."

…

…

As an island nation, Japan has three large islands-Honshu Island, Shikoku Island, and Kyushu Island, not counting the Ezo Land that has not yet been fully ruled.

Among the three large islands, Honshu Island has the largest area, and almost all the best areas in Japan are on Honshu Island.

Most of the big cities: Edo, Kyoto, Osaka... are all located on Honshu Island.

Shikoku Island is located in the southwest of Honshu Island.

Osaka is very close to Shikoku Island.

Starting from Osaka, heading all the way to the southwest, crossing the sea, you will arrive at Shikoku Island.

At this moment—

Shikoku Big Island, a certain sea area in the south—

"Damn... I didn't catch a few fish..."

On a small fishing boat, a dark-skinned fisherman cursed and gathered a dilapidated fishing net from the sea.

He is an ordinary fisherman from Tosa Clan in Shikoku.

The recent harvest is getting worse, so today he ventured to sail the fishing boat into the depths of the sea, thinking that the sea farther from the coast might be able to catch more fish.

It's a pity that things backfired. Even when I went to a place surrounded by vast oceans, I couldn't catch a few fish.

"Luck is really back..." The fisherman spit on the sea, "Go back..."

He is very far away from the coast now-if he is not worried, it must be impossible.

He is a poor fisherman, he naturally does not have a compass, such an expensive thing that can distinguish the position, and he uses his memory to remember the direction of the coast.

If he accidentally forgets the position of the coast, or remembers the position of the coast incorrectly, then he can't go back.

Fishing here was a bit frightened, and seeing the poor harvest, he naturally retreated in his heart, and decided that today's "sea fishing" would end here.

He put away the fishing nets and picked up the oars. When he was about to row back to the shore, his eyebrows jumped suddenly and he stared to the west in a daze.

"what is that…?"

He suddenly discovered—on the sea level to the west, there seemed to be strange black shadows shaking.

Driven by curiosity, the fisherman put down the oars in his hands, stood up, squinted his eyes, trying to see clearly what the black shadow swaying from the sea level to the west was.

After a while, the fishermen saw two pointed things rising from the sea level.

These two pointed things keep rising to the sea level.

Soon after, the fishermen saw... the sail.

A huge sail on one side.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The fisherman sat on the boat with his eyes rounded in horror.

ferry.

He saw the boat.

He saw 2 huge boats as big as a hill!

The pointy thing that rose from the sea level just now is the top of the masts of these two giant ships!

"What is this? What is this?!"

The fishermen were so frightened that they turned pale and sweated.

Japan, which implements a closed-door system, has extremely strict control over the shipbuilding industry.

According to the regulations of the Edo Shogunate-whether public or private, it is not allowed to build large ships with a capacity of more than 500 shi.

So the boats currently owned by Japan...to be more ugly, they are just slightly larger wooden boats.

Has this fisherman ever seen such a huge boat with a height of tens of meters and a length of tens of meters?

In the eyes of this fisherman, these two big ships are like monsters moving on the sea.

The fisherman stared at the two giant ships in a daze. After a long while, he later realized that he was blocking the two giant beasts.

"That's it! That's it! That's it! That's it! That's it! That's it!"

Another handful of cold sweat spewed from the fishermen.

He quickly grabbed the oars, turned the oars at a speed never reached in his life, and moved away from the direction of the two "behemoths".

…

…

The bow of one of these two big ships—

A young man with a petite figure, holding a handle with a knife, sitting on the bowsprit, singing loudly:

"The battle flag is flying~?"

"Qiancheng gourd holds high~?"

"We will finally win the battle~?"

"Don't let the Tokugawa samurai be arrogant~?"

"Daban's revenge is reported today~?"

"Sure to let Tong Yin fly again~?"

"We are going to march~?"

"We are going to march~?"

"We are going to the Eastern Kingdom~?"

"Let's log in in Edo~?"

The young man was singing happily. A crew member of UU Reading www.uukanshu.com suddenly rushed behind him and said loudly to the young man:

"Master Hesubee! A fishing boat was found ahead! What should I do?"

"Fishing boat?" The young man called He Xufeng stopped singing, "There are fishing boats in this place... Oh, this fisherman is really kind enough to come to such a deep sea to fish."

"Just ignore it."

"Yes!"

"Ah, by the way, keep me informed-think of a way to increase the speed a little bit."

"I don't want to miss the'Daban Spring Array'."

A strange flush appeared on He Xufeng's face.

While breathing heavily, he said in a gentle tone:

"I've...can't help...can't help but want to use the firepower of our battleship to blast Osaka quickly!"