I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

At the Fushimiguchi, one of the "Seven Gates of Kyoto" in Kyoto, an official in his 30s registered a group of traveling merchants from Edo and waved to the people behind.

The leader of the merchants who lined up behind this line of Edo traveling merchants was an old man with a missing tooth.

Before the official could make a sound, the old man with one tooth missing walked over quickly while wearing a flattering smile.

While following the official saying something like "my goods are just some drinks, no problem", at the same time, he quietly stuffed two small things into the official's big slap.

The official lowered his eyes and looked at the palm of his hand—it was 2 pieces of douban silver.

After looking at the two douban silver coins, the officials quietly put the money away.

The handing and receiving of money by the old man and the official was smooth and smooth, as if it had been rehearsed in advance, or had been done countless times.

4 ox carts, and the goods on these 4 ox carts—this is all that the old man and his fellows brought to Kyoto.

The official who received money from the old man made some gestures around the four ox carts of the old man, pretending to be a "search", and then waved his hand to signal that the old man could enter the city.

...

...

After the old man with one missing front tooth led his caravan into the city, he didn't go straight to any hotel, or to a certain commercial area in Kyoto.

Instead, he led his caravan into an inaccessible alley in Kyoto.

"Master Samurai!" After checking the surroundings and making sure that there is no one else around, the old man shouted to the compartment of one of the bullock carts, "You can come out now."

Bang.

As soon as the old man finished speaking, the door of the ox cart was pushed open.

"I didn't expect it to go so smoothly..."

Ogata sighed with emotion as he slowly stepped down from the carriage of the bullock cart.

The old man with a missing front tooth had just made the deal with Ogata that Ogata gave him money, and he took Ogata to "smuggle".

According to the old man - he is already a habitual offender in this area.

On the surface, he is an ordinary wine merchant, but in private, he has helped countless people like Ogata who are inconvenient to enter Kyoto to "smuggle" smoothly, so as to earn huge extra money.

Holding the idea of ​​"try it, even if I fail, I still have a way to escape", Ogata nodded and agreed to the deal.

So there was the scene where the old man bought the officials with 2 douban silver just now, and the old man successfully took Ogata "smuggling" with him.

After getting out of the car, Ogata supported the knife on his waist and looked in the direction of the Fushimi Exit.

"It went so smoothly beyond my imagination..."

"These officials and officials in the capital are very corrupt."

The old man let out a sneer, and the smile on his face was full of strong sarcasm?

"No, it should be said—all parts of Japan now have the same virtues: utterly filthy. The Edo Shogunate is now dying."

"Kyoto has long been in disrepair. As long as you are willing to pay these gatekeepers, no matter who you are, Kyoto will let you in and out."

"I myself don't remember how many people I brought into Kyoto over the years."

"I thought that in Kyoto, there is a 'Nabuki' named Kamiyama Koshinosuke, and the officialdom here is not too corrupt."

Ogata has also heard of the name of "Mingho" Kamiyama Koshinosuke.

Although he didn't have a deep understanding of this character, Ogata had heard of titles such as "Kaiyama Eshinosuke's outstanding talents".

"Shenshan Yuezhisuke?" The old man shrugged, and the mocking look on his face became more intense, "Shenshan is indeed a character."

"But there is only one person left in Kyoto, Shenshan, who has some skills."

"As long as those few sacks and rice bags headed by Toda Tadahiro are still there, no matter how possible Shenshan is, it will be impossible to bring this Kyoto back to life.

"

"After all, no matter how clean a drop of water is, it is impossible to clean a muddy pond."

After hearing the old man's emotion, Ogata shrugged:

"It's fine no matter what, in short-the **** of the officials in Kyoto really helped me a lot."

Ogata, who was not very interested in these matters in the officialdom of Kyoto, reached into his arms while talking, and took out his purse.

After taking out 7 douban silver from it, they threw it to the old man.

"Here, the agreed reward."

After receiving the 7 douban silver pieces thrown by Ogata, the old man immediately beamed with joy.

In less than half a stick of incense, he made a net profit of 5 douban silver - such a bargain, it's hard not to laugh out loud.

"Samurai-sama, you are right, the government's government is not only beneficial to you, but also beneficial to me." The old man put away the doubanyin and said to Ogata, "Samurai-sama, I will give you something as a parting gift. "

After finishing speaking, the old man turned around and walked to a bullock cart next to him.

Searching for something in the packages placed on this bullock cart.

Finally—he pulled out a red tengu mask from it, and threw it at Ogata.

"Master Samurai, this is for you."

"Now that the Gion Festival is being held, it's a time when it's not strange to go out wearing a mask."

"This thing should come in handy for you who are inconvenient to let others see your face."

"Thank you very much." After taking the mask thrown by the old man, looking back and forth, and confirming that it is just an ordinary mask, Ogata smiled and thanked the old man, "This thing is inconvenient for me to show my face." It's really useful for people."

...

...

After watching the old man lead his caravan to leave, Ogata put the tengu mask on his face while secretly sighing in his heart: What a bold businessman...

Knowing that he might be a vicious wanted criminal, he dared to take the initiative to come to him for "doing business" - this courage made Ogata feel a little admiration.

The air permeability of this tengu mask, which can cover Ogata's entire face, leaving only a pair of glasses, can only be considered average, but it is not uncomfortable.

Because of wearing a mask, the field of vision instantly became narrow, which made Ogata feel quite uncomfortable.

——Let's make do with it.

After muttering secretly as if to comfort himself, Ogata walked slowly towards the exit of this alley.

Once out of the alley, the noise immediately hit Ogata like a tsunami.

——There are so many people...

Ogata looked up, and there were no less than a hundred people who appeared within his field of vision.

It's been a long time since I've been to a place with so many people, which made Ogata feel a little uncomfortable.

——Anyway... let's start with the pharmacy first.

Inhaling a mouthful of cold air into his belly, under the stimulation of this cold air, Ogata felt that his mind became more clear.

I casually found a passerby and asked "Where is the nearest pharmacy?" Then, following the passerby's instructions, I strode straight forward along the dirt road full of gullies under my feet.

It had not rained for several days, and under the sun, the dirt road under his feet was so hard that Ogata had the illusion that "the mud under his feet might be as hard as steel".

Just like what the old man said just now—now is the time when no one will feel strange even if you go out wearing a mask.

Those passers-by who passed by Ogata did not cast suspicious glances at Ogata who was wearing a tengu mask.

Either just cast a curious look, or simply ignore it.

From time to time, Ogata would also see passers-by who were also wearing masks.

And these passers-by who are wearing masks will basically nod to Ogata when they see this "similar" Ogata, and Ogata can't help but smile.

As the commercial area continues to approach, the flow of people around it has gradually increased.

The appearance of the houses on both sides of the street has also gradually changed.

The area where Ogata was located just now should be the residential area of ​​the citizens of Kyoto. There are ordinary houses on both sides of the street.

After entering the commercial area, the houses on both sides of the street have changed from ordinary houses to merchants.

After sweeping his gaze around, Ogata withdrew his attention and energy, and began to focus on finding the pharmacy.

After a while, Ogata found a beautiful house that was constantly smelling of medicinal materials.

Striding into the pharmacy and walking to the counter, a young man standing behind the counter immediately put on a flattering smile and asked Ogata "what do you want to buy?"

"Excuse me, do you recognize the handwriting of this prescription, and do you know which doctor wrote this prescription?"

Ogata took out the two prescriptions from his pocket and asked the young man.

Seeing that Ogata wasn't here to buy anything, the expression on the young man's face froze slightly.

However, the young man still displayed a very strong professionalism. After quickly adjusting the expression on his face, he took the two prescriptions from Ogata and watched them seriously.

"Master Samurai, I'm sorry." The young man looked at the two prescriptions for a while, then shook his head, "I can't recognize the handwriting..."

"That's it..." Ogata took back the two prescriptions, "So I'm sorry."

For such a result, Ogata had expected it a long time ago.

Ogata has long been prepared to fight a "protracted war".

Therefore, the people who saw this pharmacy did not recognize the handwriting on the prescription, and Ogata did not show any signs of frustration.

—Let's find a second pharmacy...

Ogata thought inwardly while leaving the pharmacy with nothing.

...

...

--Ok? Am I... entering the entertainment area?

Sensing the change in the surrounding atmosphere, Ogata raised his eyebrows and looked around him.

When I was in the business district just now, there were only some ordinary shops on both sides of the street.

From just now, Xu Bian began to gradually discover that the atmosphere around him and the scenes on both sides of the street began to gradually change.

Although there are still many shops on both sides of the street, besides these shops, there are many people performing arts on both sides of the street.

Not far in front of Ogata, a strong man who was about the same height as him lifted up a large rock, as if to show his great strength to passers-by.

After the giant man lifted the huge rock, he immediately received cheers and applause from everyone around him.

On the opposite side of the giant man who performed the lifting of stones, a young man whose clothes revealed the word "poor" played shamisen there.

It's a pity that not many people stopped to listen to the performance.

As Ogata looked around, these "entertainers" performing various performances filled almost every corner of the street.

They performed their respective specialties, attracting countless passers-by to stop and watch and applaud.

Ogata asked a passerby beside him and learned that he had actually entered the entertainment area of ​​Kyoto.

This street is called "Fangcheng Xiaolu" and is one of the most famous happy streets in Kyoto.

At the same time, according to the passer-by - there is a pharmacy opened in this small road in Fangcheng.

After confirming that he did not go the wrong way, Ogata walked towards the depths of Fangcheng alley, while looking around with curious eyes.

Even when he had not left the Hirose Domain before, Ogata had never seen such a bustling scene full of buskers.

At this moment, a loud, full-bodied male voice suddenly attracted Ogata's attention.

After Ogata looked at Xunsheng, his eyebrows were raised in surprise.

——It’s a storyteller...

The master of this sonorous, full-bodied male voice is a middle-aged man who is sitting on a small high platform.

Because of the distance, Ogata did not hear clearly what story the storyteller was telling.

I can only see that this storyteller is quite popular, and there are many listeners who are concentrating on listening to the book.

Looking at the storyteller, Ogata could only feel a sense of intimacy spontaneously.

In the previous life, Xu Bian liked listening to books very much.

And now is the first time Ogata has seen a storyteller since he came to this Edo period.

So after seeing the storyteller, Ogata's feet immediately stopped and he couldn't move.

—Go and listen.

Ogata, who couldn't resist the spontaneous intimacy, walked slowly towards the storyteller.

There are really many listeners gathered next to this storyteller.

There are three floors inside and three floors outside.

Just as Ogata was looking for a suitable gap to break into, his pupils shrank slightly.

Just because—when he was moving his gaze to find a gap just now, his gaze caught a glimpse of...a familiar figure.

Although the owner of this figure had changed clothes now, Ogata still recognized her at a glance.

She is now in the middle of the crowd, with her head up, listening intently to the storyteller.

Ogata, who felt his heartbeat was accelerating uncontrollably, directly gave up the plan of "finding a gap to break in" and decided to directly carry out a "frontal assault".

"Excuse me, please let me go."

Ogata used some rough movements to push away the listeners who were blocking him one by one, and launched an "assault" towards the middle of the crowd.

I was enjoying listening to the book, and suddenly someone behind me pushed me aside——no matter who I was, I felt a little displeased in my heart.

After several youths who were in their prime were pushed aside with brute force by Ogata, anger appeared on their faces immediately.

He turned his head, just about to scold Ogata.

But after seeing the two knives on Ogata's left waist, he abruptly swallowed back the words of reprimand that had come to his lips.

They were angry as they were, but not so angry that they lost their minds and provoked a samurai with a sword at his waist.

After using brute force to squeeze out a way, Ogata finally came to a place three steps behind her.

The reason why he didn't get any closer was mainly because Ogata was worried that if he got any closer, he would be discovered by her.

And Ogata planned to give her a little surprise.

And Ogata's plan was very successful - she put all her body and mind on listening to the book and didn't notice the existence of Ogata who was 3 steps away behind her.

After taking a deep breath to calm down the beating speed of his heart——

"Machi!"

Ogata called out the man's name.