I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

The latest website: After Natori withdrew from the room disheartenedly and prepared to go to Yoshiwara with Hasegawa later, Hasegawa turned to look at Mucun.

"Makimura, can you really let me meet that friend of yours? I really want to see what kind of young talent a person with such superb skills is like."

"Master Hasegawa." Mu Cun waved his hand, "As I said just now, my friend is quite shy."

"So many things have happened tonight. According to my estimation, he may be eating, drinking, and relaxing somewhere in Edo."

"Even if you go to Yoshihara now, you won't be able to find him."

"Master Hasegawa, if you really want to see him, I will fight for you later and persuade him to meet you."

"Is he not with you now, nor is he with Yoshihara... What a pity."

After Hasegawa sighed, he said seriously:

"...If possible, I would like to incorporate your friend into my Huofu Thief Kai."

"Are you planning to incorporate him into your Huofu Thief Kai?" Even though he had tried his best to control it, after hearing Hasegawa's words, Mucun's expression became weird.

"We, Huo Fu Thief Kai, have always been open to this kind of young talent with high strength." Just as Hasegawa finished speaking, he paused for a moment as if he suddenly remembered something.

Then added a sentence:

"Let me ask a question -- our Huofu Thief Gai cannot recruit people with bad deeds, so your friend should have no bad deeds, right?"

"Well..." Mucun scratched his hair with a wry smile, "How should I put it..."

"I don't know much about his past, so I don't know if he has done anything bad before."

"But regardless of whether he has a bad record before, he will definitely not work under your command-I can guarantee this."

"He doesn't like restraint very much, so he definitely has no interest in joining Huofu Thief Kai, an organization that is no different from the army."

"Is that so..." Hasegawa's face showed a more intense regret,

"Forget it...then can you tell me his name?"

"Mashima Goro."

Mucun dipped his fingers in the remaining tea in the teacup, and wrote "Mashima Goro" in four large Chinese characters on the tatami in front of him.

"Mashima Goro... a very imposing name."

"All in all - if you really want to meet my friend, after I go back, I will help you actively try to persuade my friend to meet you."

While talking, Mucun picked up his big sword that was placed beside him.

"Then, I will take my leave first."

"Huh? Makimura, won't you go to Yoshiwara with me?"

"What am I going to do in Yoshihara?" Mucun shrugged with a smile, "I don't know people in Yoshihara well."

"I came to negotiate with you only at the entrustment of my friend. Therefore, there is no need for me to go to Yoshihara with you."

"Now my task is also completed, so I should also go to my friend to return to life."

"Master Hasegawa, you can take your subordinate who committed the crime and apologize to Yoshihara's people. I will resign first."

After finishing speaking, Mucun carried his big sword and walked straight out of the door.

"Wait a minute, Mucun." However, just after Mucun took 2 steps, Hasegawa immediately called out to Mucun, "Makicun, can you stay with me for a while?"

"What's wrong?" Mucun asked in confusion.

"I... have something very important to tell you." Hasegawa said with an expression so serious that it is hard to add, "Can you wait here and wait for me and the people from the Shirobei Club to come back after making amends?"

Because Hasegawa's expression was very serious, there was no hint of jokes at all, so Mucun also frowned slightly under the influence of Hasegawa's serious expression.

"Important thing? What is it? Can't we talk about it now?"

Hasegawa shook his head: "What I want to say is too complicated, and I won't be able to finish it in a while, so I plan to make amends to the people in the Shirobei Club, and then I will tell you in detail."

"...I don't mind listening to you tell me something important about you."

Mu Cun, with a faint distressed look on his face, raised his hand and scratched his hair.

"But it's a bit too much for me to wait for you to come back here..."

"My friend is still waiting for me to return to him and report the result of my negotiations with you..."

"Then you go back to your friend first." Hasegawa said, "After returning to your friend, you can come back to me, okay?"

"...That's not a problem."

Hasegawa was silent for a while, then nodded slightly.

"Then I will trouble you." Hasegawa said while bowing deeply to Mucun.

...

...

Edo, Yoshiwara——

If the current time is converted into the time unit of the modern earth, it has passed 22 o'clock in the middle of the night.

Once past 22 o'clock in the evening, the gate of Yoshiwara will be closed, and both the officials of the Shirobei Clubhouse and tourists can only enter and exit through the sleeve doors on both sides of the gate of Yoshiwara.

The sleeve doors on both sides of the gate can barely accommodate 2 people, but because there is not much traffic at this time, even if there are only 2 narrow sleeve doors left, it is still difficult to cope with the current flow of people. More than enough.

After receiving the official servants who entered Yoshihara to capture the chrysanthemum monk, an urgent matter waiting for Shirobei to go to Yoshihara to handle immediately came to Shirobei, so Shirobei had to Leave Yoshiwara.

Going out to do some errands in Yoshiwara——for Shirobei, it was nothing more than an ordinary routine that he did almost every day.

However, Shirobei never expected that he was just going out to do errands as usual tonight, and as a result, so many things happened in the short period of more than one hour when he was not in Yoshihara.

As soon as Shirobei returned to Yoshihara, he learned from Guasheng and others what happened to Yoshihara during his absence.

Inside the clubhouse, Shirobei and most of the cadres of the clubhouse gathered together.

After hearing the whole story, Shirobei's first words were:

"What happened to those people who were injured when they captured Ju Xiaoseng?"

"The ones with more serious injuries were sent to the hospital early." Guasheng replied, "The ones with lesser injuries have all received treatment and bandaged their wounds just now."

"That's good." Shirobei nodded lightly, "Where is Little Monk Ju now?"

"He's in our prison right now." This time Keimon replied, "He just woke up and was making a lot of noise, so we tied him up with a cloth belt to keep him quiet. Q."

"...I understand the specifics." Shirobei raised his right hand and rubbed his temple, "Mashima-kun, is he really negotiating with Hasegawa Heizo, who was changed by Huofu Thief... "

"That's what he really told us..." Gua Sheng smiled wryly.

In Mashima... that is, after Ogata beat all the members of the Huofu Thief Kai Sixth Division to the ground, he left Yoshihara with his two friends who appeared suddenly (Makimura and Asai).

Before leaving Yoshihara, Ogata told Guasheng and others:

"My friend and I went to chat with Heizo Hasegawa, who was modified by Huofu Thieves, about tonight's affairs. You will stay in Yoshihara to drink tea and wait for me to come back. I will handle tonight's disputes. So don't worry about me, and don't worry about this incident tonight."

After leaving these words, Oobi quickly left Yoshihara with his two friends.

A while after Ogata and his friends left, a group of official servants who had been changed by Huofu thieves came.

This group of Huofu thieves who had just arrived in Yoshihara changed their positions to take away the members of the Sixth Division.

After the members of the Sixth Division, headed by Natori, were taken away by this group of Huofu thieves who had just arrived in Yoshihara, Shirobei returned after a while.

"Hasn't Mashima-kun come back yet?" Shirobei asked.

"Yeah." Gua Sheng nodded with a look of sadness on his face, "I haven't come back yet."

As soon as Guasheng's words fell, Kawajiro on the side muttered:

"Mashima-kun, does he really have a way to meet with Hasegawa, and then negotiate with Hasegawa..."

"Since Mashima said so swearingly before he left that he was going to negotiate with Hasegawa, then he should really have a way to meet and negotiate with Hasegawa..." Although he said so, Keemon There was still an air of uncertainty and unconfidence in his tone.

"Didn't Mashima-kun say that he is a ronin from Izumo?" Kawajiro continued, "A young ronin from faraway Izumo who just recently worked in our Shirobei Club... I can hardly imagine He has a way to meet with the chief executive of Huo Fu Thief Kai and start a negotiation..."

"...I think Mashima-kun might have a way to do it." Guasheng, who had been silent since just now, suddenly said, "I think...Mashima-kun is quite mysterious."

"Obviously it looks ordinary and ordinary, but it has such a strong skill."

"I feel that he may really have a way to meet with Hasegawa and negotiate with Hasegawa..."

As soon as Gua Sheng's words fell, everyone present nodded in agreement.

Guasheng and the others still vividly remember the figure of Ogata who defeated more than 20 Huofu thieves reformed by himself just now.

"... Mashima-kun and Hasegawa may be old acquaintances." Shirobei raised a possibility at this time, "Maybe Mashima-kun happened by chance on the way from Izumo to Edo. I got acquainted with Hasegawa."

"After all, Hasegawa often takes people all over Japan to catch those vicious criminals."

"That's why Mashima-kun and Hasegawa have known each other before—the possibility is not impossible."

As soon as Shirobei's voice fell, there was a sudden sound of "dong dong dong" footsteps approaching here suddenly outside the room.

The paper sliding door of the room was pulled open, and the person who opened the paper sliding door—an ordinary servant of their club shouted to everyone in the room in a somewhat anxious tone:

"Master Shirohei! Hasegawa Heizo-sama from Huofu Thief Kai is visiting!"

"... Hasegawa Heizo?" After hearing this subordinate's report, which was so surprising that it made people feel unrealistic, Shirobei's face was full of astonishment.

"Lord Hasegawa Heizo from Huofu Bandit Kai is here to visit!" The servant repeated what he had just announced.

At this moment, it's not just Shirobei.

Everyone in the room looked incredible.

Keeimon swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "Hasegawa Heizo...it should be that Hasegawa Heizo, right?"

"In the whole world, there is only one Hasegawa Heizo." After saying this to Keeimon angrily, Shirobei quickly stood up and walked quickly outside the room.

After Shirobei got up, the rest of the people in the room also got up belatedly, and then followed Shirobei.

After walking quickly to the gate of the clubhouse, Shirobei and the others saw two figures waiting outside the gate.

Because the job functions of Shirobei Clubhouse and Huofu Bandit Kai are completely different, and because of the completely different status of the two, Shirobei and Hasegawa Heizo have little friendship.

Although there is no friendship, but because the bases of each other are in Edo, Shirobei still saw Hasegawa's appearance by chance a few times.

Therefore, with just one glance, Shirobei recognized that one of the two people waiting outside the gate of the clubhouse was the leader of Huofu Bandit Kai-Hasegawa Heizo.

And after Shirobei recognized one of these two people as Hasegawa at a glance, Guasheng, Qingweimen and others also recognized who the other one of these two people was—it was Shiro who wanted to rob them just now. The Huofu Thief who contributed to the Hebei Club was changed to the leader of the 6th division, Natori.

Shirobei recognized Hasegawa, and Hasegawa also recognized Shirobei.

After seeing Shirobei leading a large group of people out of the clubhouse, Hasegawa immediately bowed deeply to Shirobei and others in front of him, and then said loudly:

"I have just learned about the series of disputes with you tonight."

"It's my subordinates who are too ignorant, which caused all these troubles tonight."

"I'm here now to apologize to everyone in Shirobei Clubhouse."

When Hasegawa bowed and apologized to the people in the Shirobei clubhouse in front of him, Natori, who was standing beside Hasegawa, followed immediately and followed Hasegawa to bow to the people in front of him.

Shirobei, whose astonishment still persisted, stared blankly at Hasegawa and Natori in front of him.

Shirobei who came back to his senses first said quickly:

"Master Hasegawa, please follow me into the house first. We will talk in detail after we enter the house."

...

...

When Hasegawa had just left Huofu Thief Gai headquarters and had not yet arrived at the Shirobei clubhouse——

Edo, somewhere——

"Yo, Brother Ogata."

After leaving Huofu Bandit Kai's headquarters, Mucun hurried to the meeting place agreed with Ogata.

After arriving at the agreed meeting place, Mucun saw Ogata leaning against the wall, gnawing on a big blessing.

Because it was in private and there were no passers-by around, Mucun could call "Ogata" openly instead of calling Ogata's pseudonym "Mashima".

In fact, even if Mucun calls Ogata "Ogata" by others, it's not a big deal.

After all, Ogata is not a very rare surname in Japan.

So just calling "Ogata" will not make people suspicious, just don't call out Ogata's full name "Ogata Yishi".

Seeing that Mucun was facing him, Ogata, who was nibbling on Daifuku, waved his hand towards Mucun in response.

When Mucun rushed to him with his big sword on his shoulder, Ogata just swallowed the Daifuku in his mouth.

"Mukun, you came at a good time." Ogata threw the only one left of Daifuku towards Mucun, "I just bought a few Daifuku, and there is one left. I can't eat any more, so I'll give you this."

"Oh! Then I won't be polite."

There also happened to be some hungry Mucun, after receiving the big blessing from Ogata's hand, he began to gnaw unceremoniously as he said just now.

"How?" Ogata asked, "How is the negotiation with Hasegawa going?"

Ogata's question is actually asking knowingly.

Because he knew the result of the negotiation just by looking at Mu Cun's expression now.

And Mucun's answer did not meet Ogata's expectations.

"It's a perfect ending." Because his mouth was full of great fortune, Mucun's speech was a bit vague, "Now Hasegawa is taking his subordinates who committed the crime to Yoshiwara to make amends."

"Will Hasegawa make amends in person?" Ogata raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You are really serious..."

"I think so too." After a wry smile, Mucun said seriously, "Ogata, you should go back later. I still have something to do later."

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just now Hasegawa told me that he has something very important to tell me."

"I've already made an appointment with him to wait for him and the people from Shirobei Clubhouse to come back after making amends at the headquarters of Huofu Thief Kai."

"Important things... What important things can he and you have to say?"

"I'm also very confused. Could it be that you want to talk to me about the follow-up of the events in Kyoto three months ago... Anyway, after you go back, Brother Ogata, tell the lord that I may go back later tonight."

"Understood. But——I won't go back too soon. I will go back to Yoshiwara later."

"Brother Ogata, are you going back to Yoshiwara later?"

"After all, I have to say goodbye to people." Ogata smiled, "And I haven't received my wages today."

...

...

Edo, Yoshihara, Shirobei clubhouse, reception room.

After Hasegawa's visit, Shirobei and others led Hasegawa and Natori to the highest-level reception room in their Shirobei clubhouse, which was specially used to receive some dignitaries.

After sitting down in the reception room, Hasegawa apologized to Shirobei and the others in a sincere tone.

And that Natori even poses Dogeza to Shirobei and others, apologizing to everyone in the posture of Dogeza.

After seeing Shirobei and the others, Hasegawa immediately recognized Guasheng as the girl Mucunkou said was pushed to the ground by his subordinates, her cheek was injured, and she got up from the ground tearfully.

Looking at Guasheng, whose left cheek was wrapped in sackcloth, Hasegawa's face and the apology on his face involuntarily became more intense.

So Hasegawa also made a very solemn apology to Guasheng.

"You must be Miss Guasheng. My subordinates used such brutal methods to bring you so much physical and mental harm. As the leader of Huo Fu Thief, I really cannot escape the responsibility."

Hasegawa, who was kneeling respectfully on the tatami, leaned over and apologized to Guasheng in a tone that solemnly made the listeners feel heavy.

"Please forgive my subordinates, we will also bear your medical expenses."

Gua Sheng: "?????: ???"

Guasheng felt a little confused.

It is true that she hurt the left side of her cheek because Natori and others were the first to use violence, but it was just a minor injury that was not painful.

After she was pushed to the ground, she was immediately helped up by her colleagues.

This wound on her face didn't hurt or itch to her. After Ogata settled Natori and the others, if it wasn't for the insistence of her colleagues, she wouldn't even bother to treat such a small wound.

It didn't cause any serious physical and mental harm like what Hasegawa said just now...

——Did Hasegawa-sama misunderstand something...

Guasheng really wanted to ask Hasegawa if there was any misunderstanding. She was not physically and mentally injured, but there were some small scratches on her cheeks.

But the surrounding atmosphere told Guasheng that it was not suitable for him to ask questions, so Guasheng could only hold back the question in his belly.

Hasegawa's sincere apology made Shirobei and others feel a little embarrassed.

"Master Hasegawa, and Master Natori, please raise your heads."

When Hasegawa finished his apology and was taking a breath, Shirobei hurriedly saluted Hasegawa and interjected aloud.

"Your apology, we have received it."

"For the dispute tonight, people on both sides of us actually have certain responsibilities."

"So let's just pass on what happened tonight. Just pretend that what happened tonight never happened."

"Thank you very much." Hasegawa bent down again to salute Shirobei in front of him, "I was in a hurry tonight, so I didn't have time to prepare enough apologies."

"I assure you: I will punish Natori heavily in the future, and I will visit again in the future with an apology."

"There's no need for an apology." Shirobei smiled helplessly, "As long as there is an apology from Hasegawa-sama, that's enough."

...

...

No matter what Shirobei said, Hasegawa insisted on visiting again in the future with a formal apology.

Hasegawa led Natori to apologize for nearly 20 minutes before finally leaving Yoshihara.

Shirobei led a group of cadres in the clubhouse to stand outside the gate of Yoshihara, watching the two of Hasegawa leave.

It wasn't until Hasegawa's figure completely disappeared that Guasheng, whose expression was still blank, said softly:

"I didn't expect that Hasegawa Heizo would come to apologize in person..."

Until now, including Shirobei, they are still immersed in the astonishment and surprise that Hasegawa Heizo, the leader of Huofu Thief Kai, personally came to the door to apologize.

Guasheng and the others imagined many possibilities that would happen after the incident of "conflict with the officials of Huofu Bandit Reform".

But they didn't expect the possibility of "Hasegawa Heizo coming to the door overnight to apologize"...

Or I thought of this possibility, but naturally felt that this possibility was impossible...

"Could it be that Mashima-kun really succeeded in meeting and negotiating with Hasegawa Heizo..." Kawajiro said slowly.

"...I suddenly want to have a good relationship with Mashima-kun." Keemon said with a serious face.

"Speaking of which—where's Mashima-kun?" Guasheng wondered, "Why isn't he with Hasegawa?"

"That's right. Where is Mashima-kun now?" Kawajiro raised his hand and scratched his hair, "I haven't paid him today's wages..."

...

...

After bidding farewell to Shirobei and others, Hasegawa led Natori back to their headquarters of Huofu Thief Kai without stopping.

As soon as he returned to the headquarters, Hasegawa cast his cold gaze on Natori.

"From now on, you are grounded."

"Until my next punishment is issued, you must not leave the detention room."

"Yes..." Natori, who had been pale since he followed Hasegawa to Yoshihara to apologize, nodded weakly.

After ordering two of his subordinates to take Natori to the detention room, Hasegawa hurriedly left for the quiet room where he usually used to take a nap when he was tired from work.

When taking Natori to Yoshihara to visit the door to apologize, Hasegawa told Yamazaki: If Mucun, who had returned to life with his friend, came back, he would bring Mucun to the quiet room he often used.

As soon as he came to the door of the quiet room and opened the door of the quiet room, Hasegawa saw Mucun again not long ago.

"Sorry, Mucun, for keeping you waiting."

"It's okay. Actually, I didn't wait too long." Mucun was sitting cross-legged carelessly at this time, and his big sword was placed on the tatami beside him.

"Tonight really made you laugh." Hasegawa smiled wryly and sighed, "I let you see the unbearable side of Huofu Thief..."

"It's nothing, I can understand." Mucun smiled slightly, "I was an official before, so I know very well—once there are too many subordinates under my command, it is inevitable that there will be a few people with bad conduct or foolishness for a while. .”

After sitting up straight with his crooked body, Mucun asked Hasegawa sternly:

"Hasegawa, it's not too early now, so let's make a long story short."

"What is the important thing you want to tell me?"

Mu Cun's straightforward request was exactly what Hasegawa wanted.

Hasegawa knelt down in front of Mucun, and a serious look climbed onto Hasegawa's face.

"Makimura. I know you and Ogata Issai are friends, so I'll just say it straight—is Ogata Isai still alive?"

Hearing Hasegawa's question, Mucun immediately frowned.

Mucun hadn't had time to respond. Hasegawa threw out new questions one after another like a cannonball.

"If Ogata Issai is still alive, has he come to Edo with you now?"

"If I'm in Edo, can you help me contact Ogata Ittosai?"

*****

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Today, I will share with you some popular science about bathhouses in the Edo period.

Bathing culture can be regarded as one of Japan's long-standing cultures.

The picture on the right is the most common bathhouse in the Edo period→

In Volume 3, there is a detailed mention of Ogata and Gamiya going to the bathhouse to take a bath. You can go back and review it.

Bathhouses generally have two floors. The first floor is for guests to take a bath, and the second floor is for guests to rest, play cards, chess, and brag after taking a bath.

One of the ideas in the political reform (lean government reform) presided over by Matsudaira Sadanobu (that is, the old middle-aged man who appears from time to time in this book) is to ban men and women from bathing together, because Matsudaira Sadanobu thinks that men and women bathing together is corrupt social atmosphere.

Therefore, since the Kansei period, there have been separate bathhouses for men and women.

It is said that after Matsudaira Sadanobu ordered the prohibition of men and women bathing together, many men hated Matsudaira Sadanobu to the bone (it is said)