"By the way - the same is true in the Xuanwu Hall. Some people in the Xuanwu Hall also despise us, so I also hate some of the apprentices in the Xuanwu Hall."

"I don't know why my aunt has a prejudice against Little Chiba Sword Hall, but I guess...she might be the same as me: she hates those apprentices in Little Chiba Sword Hall who look down on our trial guards."

"Because we hate those guys, we don't want us to hold a 'Red and White Battle' with Little Chiba Sword Hall in public. If we lose to Little Chiba Sword Hall in public, it will definitely make those who are already

Those stinky guys who look down on us are even more proud."

"So that's it..." Qingdeng, who had been listening quietly, let out a sigh of relief.

——Some people in the Xuanwu Hall and the Little Chiba Sword Hall despise our trial defense hall... Well, this is quite normal...

——If no one in these two sword halls looks at our trial guard hall with colored glasses, then it would be abnormal...

Whether it's reputation or the quality of students... the Imperial Guard Hall, the Xuanwu Hall, and the Little Chiba Sword Hall are not on the same level. The two sides, who had no chance of having any intersection, came together entirely because of the "ancestral friendship."

.

Such a huge disparity in strength and status naturally makes it very easy for some people in the Xuanwu Hall and the Little Chiba Sword Hall to develop a strong sense of superiority towards the Shiwei Hall.

"Ah, I seem to have said too many heavy things." Okita laughed a few times at this time.

A cheerful smile appeared on his face again.

"Let's not talk about these heavy things and let's talk about more interesting topics!"

As soon as Okita finished speaking, he showed a meaningful smile towards Qingden, then stretched out his right elbow and poked Qingden's side.

"Ji Jun, I didn't expect you to be the kind of person with honest eyes."

Qingdeng was stunned: "The eyes are very honest? What do you mean?"

"Just now, when I was preparing to enter the living room to meet Mr. Jutaro and the others, I kept paying attention to your eyes." The sly smile on Okita's face became more and more intense, "I guessed that you were meeting Sanako.

After becoming a young lady, both eyes will definitely look straight."

"It turns out--it's true."

Hearing Okita's teasing, Qingto's cheeks couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

The topic suddenly jumped from the heavy "discrimination in the sword hall" to "beautiful girls"... The content of the topic spanned so much that Qingdeng couldn't react for a while.

Qingdeng coughed softly a few times, tried hard to suppress the embarrassment on his face, and said:

"Well...Okita-kun, I want to clarify that I am not a lustful person who can't move when he sees a beautiful woman. This is just a natural reaction of mine..."

"Tachibana-kun, you don't need to explain more, I understand, I understand." Before Qingto could explain anything, Okita folded his hands in front of his chest and nodded his head vigorously, "Everyone has a love for beauty.

Of."

"When facing those handsome men and beauties, no matter who they are, they can't help but look at them a few more times."

"When I first met Ms. Sanako, my reaction was similar to yours, Tachibana-kun - I was completely dumbfounded. This was the first time I saw such a perfect woman, both in appearance and family background.

"

"Oh, I don't know which lucky person will be able to hold such a beauty in his arms in the end."

"Huh?" A look of surprise flashed through Qingden's eyes, "Miss Sanako, hasn't she gotten married or engaged yet?"

Okita nodded: "Yes, no man is lucky enough to change Miss Sanako's surname."

"It seems to me that Sanako-san is quite old." Qingto said, "She should be 20 years old, right?"

"Well...if I remember correctly..." Okita pursed his lips and made a recalling gesture, "Miss Sanako was born in the ninth year of Tenpo (1838), and is 6 years older than me."

"I am 16 years old this year, so Miss Sanako's age is... her age is..."

Okita hesitated and stretched out his hands in front of him, wiggling his fingers.

After a while, Okita clapped his hands on his legs and confidently reported an accurate number to Qingto:

"28 years old!"

"...You are 16 years old this year, and if Sanako-san is 6 years older than you, then Sanako-san should be 22 years old this year."

quiet……

The hall suddenly became extremely quiet.

Okita, who was full of confidence, froze in place as if he was under a "petrification magic".

Aoto didn't mean to make the atmosphere so awkward...but Okita's calculation just now was so wrong that he couldn't help but speak out and correct it immediately.

After a long while, I finally saw Okita lift the "petrification magic".

I saw him immediately placing his palms in front of his eyes again and flexing his fingers.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that he gradually lowered his hands, and then gradually put away his confident smile.

The head is lowered.

The shoulders are tightened.

Her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"Sorry... I made a miscalculation..."

"It's okay, it's okay." Qingdeng quickly comforted him, "Although it's not correct, the number you calculated is very close to the correct answer."

Aoto, who knew the level of Okita's arithmetic skills, cleared his throat in order to save Okita who was now blushing from embarrassment, and then took the initiative to speak out, breaking the silence and awkward atmosphere:

"Miss Sanako is 22 years old this year, but she hasn't gotten married or engaged yet. This is really strange... Logically speaking, with Miss Sanako's qualifications, it is impossible to lack admirers and suitors, right?

?”

A 22-year-old single woman... In this era, this kind of woman is already considered the kind of "super leftover girl" who would make many families who are looking for a daughter-in-law frown after seeing her.

Due to the short life expectancy and other reasons, in ancient Japan, women generally got married relatively early.

Being married as a wife at the age of 14 or 5, and being the mother of many children before the age of 20 - in this era, this is just a very common thing.

22 years old... I am still single at this age. Let alone the Edo period, even in the 21st century, I am afraid that my parents will be urging me to find a partner.

"Yes, a woman with both good looks and a prominent family background like Miss Sanako will definitely have no shortage of people who will come to propose marriage."

After Qingto took the initiative to bring up a new topic, Okita answered the conversation enthusiastically, and most of the awkward atmosphere that had been floating in the air immediately disappeared.

"If the men who want to marry Sanako line up, they should be able to line up from Edo to Yokohama."

"I'm not sure why Sanako-san hasn't gotten married or been engaged to anyone until now."

"Maybe it's because I haven't been able to find the person I like."

"A woman like Miss Sanako must have very high standards for men. Men with ordinary conditions should not be able to catch Miss Sanako's eyes."

"Tsk, tsk." Okita smacked his lips a few times at this moment, "'To be favored by a beauty of Miss Sanako's level'... Only the one-in-a-million dragon can get this honor.

Already..."

…

…

Edo, Okemachi, Little Chiba Sword Hall——

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...

Chiba Jutaro was galloping along a corridor in the sword hall.

Jutaro's family is the same as Kondo's family - they both have a structure where the home and the dojo are integrated.

He turned a corner, climbed to the second floor, and walked straight along the corridor opposite the staircase. Finally, Chiba Jutaro stopped in front of a simple sliding paper door.

This is his bedroom.

After opening the door and entering his bedroom, Chiba Jutaro quickly ran to a locker placed in the corner of the bedroom, opened the bottom cabinet, and used a very skillful technique to put the cabinet in the bottom cabinet.

I moved everything inside, and found a small booklet at the bottom of the cabinet whose pages were somewhat damaged due to frequent flipping.

Chiba Jutaro flipped the book with a big hand and turned the book backwards with a rough and rough movement. The pages that were turned quickly made a "squeaking" sound.

On the flipped pages, names were written one after another.

Kawai Shirohei, Arai Kotaro, Tanaka Torazou, Yamawaki Shutaro...

Only a very small number of these names are "safe and sound".

Most of the names have a huge cross drawn on them.

And at the bottom of these crossed names, there is a short "comment" written on them.

These "comments" are all kinds of strange:

He is too drunk, his personality is too flamboyant, he has nothing but his family background, he doesn’t like Sanako at all, he just wants to cling to our Chiba family...

Chiba Jutaro turned to the blank page at the back of the book in one breath, then took a brush and an inkstone from the desk next to him. After filling the brush with ink, he solemnly wrote a name on the book:

Orange Qingden.

Chiba Jutaro casually put the brush aside, then took the booklet farther away, and carefully looked at the new name he had just written in the booklet as if he were looking at a work of art.

After a moment, a smile filled with anticipation appeared on Chiba Jutaro's cheeks.

"I'm going to be busy again... I hope this Tachibana Aoden won't be the kind of guy who has a good first impression, but after a long period of contact, he realizes that he is a bad person..."
To be continued...