I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

Ogata, Hasegawa and the others quietly listened to Granny Cake's chatter all night.

It wasn't until late at night and Granny Cake's physical strength was exhausted that she finally ended the chat that Granny Cake was talking about there.

After returning to his room, Ogata didn't lay down the quilt directly to sleep.

Instead, he sat by the window with Da Shitian in his arms.

Like waiting for someone.

And the person Ogata was waiting for didn't make Ogata wait too long.

After a while, a magnetic middle-aged male voice came from outside the door:

"Ogata Ittosai. It's me—Hasegawa Heizo."

"Just pull the door and come in."

Wow.

The paper sliding door was pulled open.

Hasegawa Heizo's not so stalwart figure appeared within Ogata's field of vision.

Hasegawa came alone.

Not only did he come alone, but he also took off the knife from his waist and carried it with his right hand.

After entering Ogata's room, Hasegawa walked in front of Ogata without any timidity, and knelt down in front of Ogata as if he had entered his own home.

"...Ogata Yidaosai." Hasegawa said softly, "You seem to have guessed that I would come to see you quietly."

"Of course." Ogata shrugged, "Seeing me, who should have died on Butterfly Island, appear in front of me again, it's impossible not to come and see me?"

"I didn't expect you to be able to escape from Butterfly Island..."

"Don't say it's a small butterfly island." Ogata chuckled a few times, "Even if I'm trapped in the hell of the underworld, I will do my best to fight it out."

Speaking of this, Ogata gripped Da Shitian in his arms a little bit.

"Enough gossip, Hasegawa-sama."

"A fight or a fight—you pick."

"If you want peace,

The two groups of us acted like we had never met each other - I warmly welcome. "

"If you want to fight, take me, the thief, back into prison - I will accompany you at any time."

"But if you want to fight, let's change the venue first."

"It's not easy for Granny Cake to run this hotel by herself."

"I don't want to kill people here, it will affect Granny Cake's business."

There were dead people—a big no-no in running a hotel.

If there is a war here, regardless of the broken things, just the dead bodies here will seriously affect the reputation and business of Granny Cake's hotel.

After saying these words, Ogata stopped talking, quietly waiting for Hasegawa to give him his answer.

Hasegawa looked up and down Ogata several times with complicated eyes.

Then—

"...Let's just pretend we haven't seen anyone before."

Hasegawa sighed lightly.

"If we start a war with you, it doesn't matter whether we win or lose."

"Even if we can win, I'm afraid there are not many people left who can stand properly."

"I still have important tasks to carry out in Kyoto. I can't just arrest you alone, which will affect the tasks that should be completed."

"Isn't it because you respect me that you decided not to fight me?" Ogata asked in a half-joking tone.

"I really respect you as a person." Hasegawa said softly, "But after all, I am an official, and you are a thief. Distinction between public and private—this is the principle I have always abided by."

Hasegawa grabbed the knife placed on the tatami next to him.

Just when Hasegawa was about to leave, he suddenly stopped his feet as if he remembered something.

"By the way. Ogata Yidaosai." Hasegawa turned around again, "Just now you suddenly gave me grandma cakes and told me 'don't just talk', I always feel that you have something to say—yours What is the purpose of these words?"

"...Master Hasegawa, do you know why Granny Gao suddenly asked you if you could investigate the Tianming fire?"

"have no idea."

Ogata explained to Hasegawa concisely the fact that Granny Gao and her originally happy family were destroyed by the Tianming fire.

After listening to Ogata's explanation, Hasegawa looked shocked.

"It turned out to be like this..."

After listening to Ogata's explanation, Hasegawa immediately understood why Granny Gao asked him to come to Kyoto, whether he came to investigate the Tianming fire...

"...Thank you for letting me know."

After leaving these words, Hasegawa didn't stay any longer, and left Ogata's room straight away.

After seeing Hasegawa leave, Ogata also closed his eyes, leaned against the wall behind him, hugged Shitian in his arms, and began to sleep.

Ogata is now more used to sitting up and sleeping than lying down.

If he was sitting up and sleeping, he would be able to respond quickly if something happened—such as an assassin attacking him.

Although he has closed his eyes and fell asleep, Ogata is actually in a state of half-asleep and half-awake-this is also a skill that Ogata has unknowingly cultivated.

Falling asleep in this half-asleep and half-awake state, once there is any movement around you, you can immediately notice and wake up.

Although the surrounding rooms were occupied by officials of Huofu Bandit Kai headed by Hasegawa Heizo, Ogata still slept very soundly without any psychological pressure.

Hasegawa also obeyed what he said - he spent the night peacefully with Ogata as if he hadn't seen Ogata.

And Hasegawa, who is on a mission, does not want to lose his precious subordinates because of Ogata.

And Ogata didn't want to cause trouble in his life and bring trouble to Grandma Cake.

Ogata, Hasegawa and the others spent a peaceful night in this way.

When it was just dawn, Xu Bian heard noisy footsteps coming from outside the door.

The sound of noisy footsteps slowly shifted from outside the door to outside the hotel's gate.

Awakened by the loud footsteps, Ogata turned his head and looked out the window.

Hasegawa and his party have mounted their respective horses and are ready to go in front of Grandma Cake's hotel gate.

After watching Hasegawa and his group leave, Ogata retracted his gaze, tightened the knife in his arms, and went back to sleep——Hasegawa and others traveled at different times from him, avoiding each other. It's exactly what Ogata wanted.

...

...

"Guest officer! Come! This is for you!"

After sleeping for an extra half an hour, Ogata stretched his waist, stood up slowly, and was about to leave the hotel where Granny Cake was staying and set off for Kyoto.

Just when Ogata was about to leave, Granny Cake stopped him suddenly and handed some grandma cakes to Ogata.

"this is?"

"For you!" Granny Cake smiled.

"Ah, this..." Ogata just wanted to politely refuse, but Granny Gao took the lead and said:

"Take it with peace of mind! It's just a few pastries! It's not worth a lot of money!"

Speaking of this, Granny Cake paused.

Then he slowly revealed a warm smile.

"Thank you for chatting with me for so long with Hasegawa-sama last night. Mother-in-law, I haven't tried to chat for so long."

"...you're welcome, then——I'll accept this grandma's cake."

...

...

On the distant horizon, the shadows of a large area of ​​blurred buildings can already be vaguely seen.

Ogata, who was standing in the distance, looked at Kyoto, which was already close at hand.

Knowing that Xinri Village is very close to Kyoto, and that it takes less than half an hour to walk, Xu conveniently left his horse to Grandma Gao to take care of it temporarily.

Riding a horse into Beijing is not only too ostentatious, but also how to place the horse in Kyoto is also a problem.

Therefore, it is more convenient not to ride a horse when entering Beijing.

Regarding Ogata's request to take care of the horse, Granny Cake accepted without hesitation.

Granny Cake, who has been alone for a long time, not only has no resistance to this kind of work of taking care of animals, but even quite welcomes it.

Ogata is racking his brains now.

I racked my brains to think of ways to enter Kyoto.

Ogata has not forgotten his identity - the most wanted criminal in the country.

Although he was arrested once by Hasegawa and the others, whether his arrest warrant has been revoked with his imprisonment a few months ago-this is unknown.

In this era of backward information circulation, criminals have been arrested for a long time, but the arrest warrant is still hanging out - this kind of thing is not uncommon.

Ogata didn't want to encounter too many moths outside the capital before he even entered the capital.

Just when Ogata was thinking about whether there was a safer and safer way to enter Beijing——

"Hehehehe..."

There was a low laugh from behind.

"Master Samurai, you seem to have encountered some troubles, and I may be able to help you solve the troubles you are encountering now."

Ogata turned his head and looked behind him.

It was a short old man who was grinning at him.

Ogata couldn't help looking at the old man's face a few more times.

Because this old man's front tooth is actually missing - it's really hard to bear to look at it a few more times.

"Oh? Do you know what my trouble is now?"

"I don't know how to get into Kyoto - am I right? I have met countless people like you, so I can tell at a glance that you are also the kind who can't swagger for various reasons Those who entered Kyoto."

What the old man said was actually no different from Ming saying: "You are a wanted criminal".

"You know that I'm the kind of person who can't enter the capital openly, but you still dare to talk to me." Ogata said in a joking tone, "You are also very courageous, old man."

"That's natural. If a businessman like us who travels north and south is not courageous enough, he won't be able to accomplish anything."

"I don't usually have the habit of reading wanted notices, so I don't know who you are—but this kind of thing is not important."

"Whether it's ordinary people who keep their own laws, or people like you who are inconvenient to show their faces, the best way to enter Kyoto is to go to the 'Seven Ports of Kyoto'."

"'Seven mouths of Kyoto'?" Ogata, who didn't know much about Kyoto, frowned.

"Two hundred years ago, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his unification of Japan, he built a fortification called 'Odoi' in Kyoto."

The old man with one missing front tooth was talking to Ogata.

"The so-called 'Royal Residence' can be understood as a city wall."

"'Odoju' stretches from Omiya in the north, Toji Temple in the south, Kamogawa in the east, and Kitano Shrine in the west, almost enclosing all the main streets in Kyoto."

The old man knows the history of Kyoto very well.

"With the establishment of 'Yutuju', Kyoto has been divided into 'Luozhong' and 'Luowai'."

"Although it is divided into two parts, almost all the essence of Kyoto is in Luozhong."

"So it can be said——Luozhong is Kyoto, and Kyoto is Luozhong."

"And what connects Luozhong and Luowai is the 'Seven Ports of Beijing'."

"The current 'Seven Exits of Beijing' are Nagasaka Exit, Kurama Exit, Ohara Exit, Awata Exit, Fushimi Exit, Niaoyu Exit, and Tanba Exit."

"But in fact—there are more than these 7 gateways to enter Kyoto."

"The gates to enter Kyoto are not always the same. In addition to the construction of the imperial palace, there will be new gates set up in the name of the construction of the imperial palace and the shrine."

"The number of gates sometimes even reaches more than 10."

"As far as I know - there are currently nine gates open."

"But when you go in and out of Luozhong and Luowai, you mainly use the 7 ports I mentioned just now."

"If you want to enter Kyoto, there is no other way but to go through these gates."

Pay attention to the official account: the base camp of book friends, pay attention to get cash and coins!

"Is there no other way to enter Luozhong other than going through these gates?" Ogata asked, "For example, by water."

The old man shook his head.

"If you don't go through these gates, the best way to enter Luozhong is probably to forcibly cross the 'Yutuju'."

"But 'Royal Residence' is not so easy to read."

"'Odoju' is a fortification built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with a lot of money."

"Over the past two hundred years, the shogunate has never slackened in the maintenance and repair of the imperial residence."

"Even those skilled ninjas can't get over Midoi."

"If you want to enter Kyoto, the safest way is to go to the 'Seven Ports of Kyoto'."

Speaking of which, the old man opened his mouth wider.

The smile on his face was also a bit more intriguing because of the widening of his mouth.

"I still have a pretty good deal that I want to do with you. This deal will allow you to pass through the 'Seven Gates of the Capital' and enter Luozhong in one go. I wonder what your intentions are?"

"...Tell me about your business."

...

...

The Gion Festival is the busiest time of year in Kyoto.

It's not just ordinary common people who love the Gion Matsuri.

Those merchants like the Gion Festival even more.

Before dawn, a large number of traveling merchants from all over the country gathered outside the city of Kyoto, counting the goods they brought in, calling for their companions, and yelling in various accents one after another.

These businessmen from all over the country were preparing for this year's Gion Festival in Kyoto dozens of days or even months ago.

Every year, the Gion Festival is a carnival time for the common people in Kyoto. The money that they are usually reluctant to spend will be spent recklessly at this time, so it is impossible for any businessman to let go of this great opportunity to make money.

As one of the largest and most important cities in Japan, Kyoto is naturally impossible for cats and dogs to come and go here at will.

Each of the "Seven Ports of Beijing" has a large number of officials deployed.

When every caravan enters Kyoto, it will be subject to heavy checks.

The officials held a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, and checked all the businessmen who planned to enter Beijing one by one. While checking every tourist who planned to enter Luozhong, they also charged tolls.

This is also the main reason for setting up the "Seven Ports of Beijing" - to collect "passage fees" to fill the treasury of the shogunate.