I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

Lin turned her gaze to Ogata.

"Ogata, who owns such a convenient thing as a human skin mask, is dying."

"If it's just for mutual benefit with Hasegawa, then there is no need to send too many people on the field."

"Only one player is enough."

"Are any of the four of you very interested in the imperial trial?"

As soon as Lin spoke, a voice sounded immediately:

"Let me go."

The owner of this voice is Ogata.

"Ayi." A-Machi, who was sitting next to Ogata, said in a surprised tone, "Are you so interested in that imperial test match?"

"Probably." Ogata shrugged and smiled.

"Ogata Yidaosai." Lin, who was still expressionless, asked back, "Are you sure you really want to participate in the imperial trial?"

"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "I'm still somewhat interested in this trial match where I can compete with masters from all over the world."

It can also help me brush up some experience points by the way.

Ogata added in his mind.

"That's fine." Lin gave Ogata a few meaningful glances, then sighed softly, "You and I are just allies, and I can't interfere with what you want to do."

After finishing speaking, Lin turned her head and looked at Mucun beside her.

"Mihachi, you can go to Hasegawa again tomorrow."

"Tell him: You can recommend him a friend who is good in skill and willing to participate in the imperial trial."

"But the premise of recommending it to him is"

Lin held out two fingers.

"Tell you the location of Shiranui's base."

"And in the days to come, help us pay attention to the information related to the movements of the ninjas in Shiranui, and share this information with us in time."

"Hasegawa is a member of the government. Through the channels of the government, you may be able to listen to some movements about the ninjas in Shiranui that are difficult for outsiders to detect."

"Understood." Mucun carefully wrote down what Lin said, and then asked, "If Hasegawa said that he didn't know where Shiranui's base is, what should we do?"

"Even if you don't know where Shiranui's base is, it doesn't matter." Lin said, "It's enough to ask Hasegawa, a senior military officer of the shogunate, to help keep an eye on the movements of the ninjas in Shiranui."

"If he rejects both of our two conditions, then you don't have to talk to him anymore."

"It would be best if Hasegawa knew the exact location of Shiranui."

"In this way, we may be able to defeat Shiranui before the imperial trial begins."

"Then Ogata Yidaosai won't have to make that effort to participate in the imperial trial."

Lin, who rarely uttered a witty remark, made many people present laugh.

Lian Xufang also showed a faint smile.

But after smiling, Ogata thought to himself:

If possible, I would like to complete this "Imperial Trial" completely.

After that, Ogata raised his hand subconsciously, and touched the money bag lying quietly in his arms.

at the same time

Edo, inside a certain mansion

pop, pop, pop

The muffled sound of bare feet stepping on the tatami broke the silence of the room.

A middle-aged man who was not too old walked slowly towards the room placed in the corner of the room.

The middle-aged man had a broad forehead, faint fine lines piled up on the slightly drooping corners of the eyes, and a short beard hung down from his chin.

Because he had just come out of the bathroom, there was still a faint heat lingering on his body.

At the same time, because the middle-aged man had just taken a shower, his shaved hair was naturally loose and not tied into a bun.

After walking slowly to the mirror in the corner of the room, the middle-aged man stopped and looked at himself in the mirror expressionlessly.

This is a very large standing mirror. The height of this middle-aged man is not very high, and his figure can just be reflected in this standing mirror.

Through this mirror, the middle-aged man can clearly see his own complexion, which is a bit haggard compared to a few months ago.

There is even a faint black mark on the lower eye sockets of his eyes.

These are not black marks on the eye sockets, but natural dark circles.

The middle-aged man raised his hand and touched the dark circle under his right eye.

Although there are dark circles around the eyes, the pupils of the middle-aged man's eyes still radiate arrogance and strength.

The faint dark circles set off the dazzling light in the eyes of the middle-aged man.

After briefly checking his current expression, the middle-aged man withdrew his gaze from the standing mirror in front of him, then walked slowly to a table not far away, and sat cross-legged beside the table Down.

On this table, there are pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and a piece of paper is spread.

Half of the paper has been covered with words as small as tadpoles.

After sitting down at the table, the middle-aged man picked up the writing brush on the pen mountain and continued writing on the paper.

The soft sound of brushes sliding on paper and the sound of burning candles dominate the room.

There was no noise outside the room, and there was no other person in this room other than the middle-aged man.

There was only this middle-aged man in the room.

It's a pity that this silence was not long before it was broken by an incredibly young voice outside the room.

"My lord. It's me."

As soon as the young voice fell, the middle-aged man who did not stop the brush in his hand said softly with a blank expression:

"Tachibana, come in."

"Yes."

wow.

The sound of the paper sliding door being pulled open was followed by respectful echoes.

The paper sliding door of the room was pulled open.

The person who opened the door was a young man who was probably just over 20 years old and knelt on one knee outside the room.

Standing up, entering the room, kneeling down on one knee again, closing the door, and facing the middle-aged man, this series of actions has an elegant atmosphere from beginning to end, and any outsider will find it pleasing to the eye.

"Old and middle-aged adults." The young man said, "I have already informed Ruonian Ji adults about the dinner at noon tomorrow."

Ruo Nianji is the second most important position next to Laozhong directly under the general, and manages officials outside the scope of Laozhong's authority.

Currently, there are 4 Wakanen who are serving in the shogunate.

As soon as the young man finished speaking, the middle-aged man nodded gently:

"Tachibana, thank you for your hard work."

Called the "old middleman" by this young man, the identity of this middle-aged man is also ready to be revealed. It is the current old middleman of the shogunate: Matsudaira Sadanobu.

And this young man is Matsudaira Sadanobu's nickname: Tachibana Yuma.

Although Tachibana was young, but because of his intelligence and intelligence, he was promoted by Dingxin early to be a small surname around him, and was responsible for doing chores for Dingshin.

Tachibana has a dignified appearance, although he is the holder of the Chuhe Yidao style, but his skin is fair, and he does not look like a samurai who is proficient in swordsmanship.

Because of Tachibana's handsome appearance, many people with good deeds jokingly said that Sakanobu promoted Tachibana as his surname because of Tachibana's appearance.

It's not uncommon for a powerful person to promote the handsome man he likes to a small surname.

But anyone who knows a little bit about Nobuo knows that these are just rumors, nonsense that deliberately or unintentionally smear Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Anyone who knows a little bit about Nobuo knows how strict Matsudaira is to others and to himself.

For beauty, Dingshin has always held the attitude of "not much interest".

After saying "Thanks for your hard work", Dingxin continued to say:

"Tachibana."

"Yes." Tachibana hurriedly replied.

"Obviously, we will hold a dinner with Ruo Nianji and conduct a new round of discussion on government affairs."

"You might be very tired tomorrow, and it's getting late now, so you should go down early and rest."

"Yes." After Tachibana answered "Yes" loudly, she paused.

Raising his head, he looked at Dingxin in front of him, to be precise, he looked at Dingxin's haggard face. After the dark circles around his eyes were obviously darker than before, he looked worried. Said in a tone of voice:

"My lord, please rest earlier."

"You seem to be falling asleep late every night lately. Please also pay more attention to your body."

As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, a faint smile appeared on Dingxin's face:

"I'm fine, I'm not old enough yet."

"I'm in the prime of life now, and this level doesn't make my body break down."

"It's just that there are a little more things to deal with recently."

"When the time is over, I'll go to bed early as usual."

After hearing what Dingxin said, Dingxin opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something else.

But after opening his mouth for a long time, he finally closed it again as if giving up.

After bowing to Matsudaira Sadanobu, when he was about to get up and leave, Tachibana paused as if he remembered something.

Then Chaosongping said:

"My lord, today I discovered an interesting thing related to the imperial trial. I don't know if I should report it to you."

"Oh?" Dingxin stopped the brush in his hand, "What's interesting? Tell me about it."

After saying that, the brush in Dingxin's hand moved again.

"That's what I just heard today."

"It is said that a group of samurai from Banner and Royal Family intend to show their skills in the Imperial Trial, in order to gain your appreciation from the old middle-aged adults."

"Huh?" The brush in Matsudaira Sadanobu's hand stopped again, and he turned his head and cast his gaze on Tachibana, "Won my appreciation?"

"Well, I don't know where these people heard about it."

Tachibana seemed to be amused by the words he was saying now, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"They seem to think that one of the important reasons why you, my lord, insisted on holding the imperial trial, is to select a few outstanding people in the imperial trial at the moment when the shogunate reform is in full swing. , acting as his own staff."

After hearing Tachibana's words, Shunshin immediately burst into laughter.

"Do you plan to pick out a few admired heroes in the trial match before the imperial court to serve as your staff? Who was the first person to spread this rumor?"

"I heard that there are still a few very outstanding talents among this group of people." Tachibana continued, "For example, a student named Takikawa Heiichiro from the banner."

"Takigawa Heiichiro?" Junshin said calmly, "I haven't heard of it."

"I've heard about his deeds before." Tachibana said, "Among the younger generation of bannermen and descendants of the royal family, he belongs to a very outstanding category."

"He is the eldest son of the Takikawa family. If I remember correctly, the family salary of their Takikawa family is 3000 shi."

"It is said that he studied under the Baichuan Dojo in Edo, and is a descendant of no outflow. He successfully obtained the certificate of no outflow from the Baichuan Dojo some time ago."

"In addition to his excellent swordsmanship, he is also the disciple of that master of Sinology. He has a profound attainment in Sinology."

Just after Tachibana's voice fell, Dingxin slightly raised his eyebrows:

"Is he still the disciple of Xiangsheng Chunshui? He is capable of both literary and martial arts. It seems that he is indeed an outstanding individual."

After saying that, the brush in Dingxin's hand moved again.

"I didn't even think about finding outstanding people to serve as staff in the trial match before the imperial court."