I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 1020 Hot Spring! Hot Spring! Hot Spring! Hot Spring and Sea Otter Meat [4300]

Compared to Hijikata Toshizo, Elodie's injuries were much lighter.

While the former was still lying in bed groaning, the latter was already able to get out of bed and walk.

For this reason, she was able to follow Qing Deng to conquer Mito and go to Ou.

Although Qing Deng clearly said, "It's okay if you don't come, just stay in Edo and recuperate quietly," Elodie still shook her head without hesitation.

"I have nothing to do in Edo anyway, so let me go with you!" - Elodie said this sincerely.

Seeing that she was determined, Qing Deng didn't say anything more. After reminding her to "take care of yourself", he allowed her to go with him.

Because Elodie has rarely appeared in public recently, many of the Shinsengumi's soldiers did not know that the chief had also come to Ou.

Qing Deng vaguely remembered that Elodie once said that she was very interested in hot springs.

She had long heard of Japan's hot springs and had always wanted to experience them for herself.

Unfortunately, like Qing Deng, she has not been able to realize her wish due to lack of time and opportunity.

Therefore, after obtaining permission to "take his subordinates to the hot springs", the first person Qing Deng thought of to invite was Elodie.

It turns out that she is indeed interested in hot springs.

In response to Qingdeng's invitation, she immediately broke into a bright smile, demonstrating with her actions the concrete interpretation of idioms such as "eyes shining" and "joy visible on face".

Seeing her so happy, Qing Deng couldn't help but feel happy too.

Whenever Qing Deng thought about what Elodie had gone through in recent months, he couldn't help feeling guilty - she had worked so hard!

The long war that began with the "Choshu Conquest" and ended with the "Edo Siege Battle" gave birth to countless heroes.

Among these many heroes, Elodie may not be ranked first, but she is definitely in the top five!

He led a thousand men from Hachioji to fight desperately to stop the Fuchi coalition, and later participated in the defense of Edo and held the Akasaka Gate.

After reviewing the battle, it is not difficult to find that if it were not for the desperate fighting of Elodie, Hijikata Toshizo, Hachioji and thousands of others, Edo would never have been able to hold out until Aoto and his reinforcements arrived!
Truly an outstanding achievement.

He is just a civil servant in charge of account books, but he is braver than countless military generals!
Elodie's outstanding military achievements changed countless people's views of her.

Before this, her reputation within the Shinsengumi was... to put it bluntly, very bad.

It's not just because she is a foreign woman, but also because of her age.

Elodie is not very old, and she has a childish baby face, so her appearance age is much lower than her actual age.

Letting this kind of kid be the director of the finance department, on an equal footing with Deputy Director Hijikata, Director Kondo, and Deputy Director Yamanami... there are many people who disagree with this.

Many people believe that Elodi got in through the back door and was able to seize the high position simply by relying on his identity as "Rinoh's apprentice."

As a result, Qing Deng was also forced to bear the blame for nepotism.

The slander that Elodie had suffered before was so bad that the current reversal was so refreshing!

She silenced those who doubted and slandered her with her solid achievements!
Nowadays, everyone comments on her like this: She is worthy of being Nioh’s apprentice!

Just like that, Elodie's reputation took a 180-degree turn, from "a little devil who got in through the back door" to "a Valkyrie who has a disciple like her master."

Elodie had worked hard and made great contributions, but she had not yet received the reward she deserved - this was mainly because Qing Deng was too busy, busy fighting against the "Ichibashi faction" and busy conquering Mito, and had never had time to deal with the reward issue.

A large number of heroes, including Elodie - who had made contributions in the Second Battle of Sekigahara, the Battle of Hachioji, the Siege of Edo and other battles - have not yet been rewarded.

This is a big project.

Because the war lasted for a long time and its intensity was high, there were relatively many people who made contributions.

According to conservative estimates, there are at least thirty people who have made great contributions and whose rewards need to be decided by Qing Deng himself.

When Qing Deng left Ou and returned to Otsu, the first thing he had to do was to bestow rewards, and he would never treat any hero unfairly.

There will definitely be no shortage of rewards from Elodie, and Qingdeng would never mistreat his own beloved disciple.

Before giving her the formal reward, let her enjoy it first, this is the reward she deserves.

With this thought in mind, Qing Deng silently pondered in his heart:

——Let’s take this opportunity tonight to make it up to her.

……

……

That night--

A certain hill north of Wakamatsu Castle, the royal hot spring of the Aizu Matsudaira family——

The air smelled of sulfur.

Translucent steam rises up.

Such a strong heat wave makes people feel warm just by looking at it.

Among the layers of fog, eight naked and strong bodies can be vaguely seen.

Looking closely, these eight people were not others, but the Shinsengumi generals led by Qing Deng.

It was impossible for Qing Deng to bring only Elodie to the hot spring, so he also invited Kondo Isami and others.

Funny enough, all the Shinsengumi generals, including Aoto, were basically "country bumpkins" of ordinary origin.

Therefore, their concept of "hot spring" is very consistent: hot spring? Oh, I know, it's the kind of hot water that is very beneficial. What? You ask me if I have ever soaked in it? How could I have soaked in it!

Because they all had a strong curiosity about hot springs, Kondo Isami and others nodded without hesitation when they received Qing Deng's invitation.

The Aizu Matsudaira family's private hot spring is not far away.

If you ride a horse, it only takes 10 minutes to reach this nameless hill.

After climbing to the top of the mountain, you will find a spacious, steaming hot spring pool.

This hot spring pool is in the shape of a long strip running from east to west. Qing Deng roughly estimated that its area is about four to five hundred square meters, which is simply a large swimming pool.

According to the prior introduction of Hengshan Zhushui, there was only one spring here at first.

Successive lords of the Aizu domain continually expanded the pond around this spring, leading to its current size.

It is worth mentioning that there is a small house next to the pool, which is equipped with food, tea, bedding and other daily necessities, as well as games such as Go, Shogi, and Sugoroku. If you are tired of soaking, you can go directly into the house to rest and entertain yourself.

In a nutshell, this is a resort with complete facilities!

Qing Deng couldn't help but be amazed: the Aizu Matsudaira family really knows how to enjoy life.

Elodie was the only female, so the west end of the pool was her exclusive area.

Qing Deng and other men stayed together at the east end of the pool.

Because this hot spring pool is in a long strip running from east to west, with the east and west ends far apart, there is no need to worry about Elodie being spied on - Kondo Isami and others would not do such a tasteless thing.

After leading Qing Deng and his group to change clothes, the guards of the hot spring quietly retreated, leaving enough space.

At this moment, Aoto, Kondo Isami, Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Ichi, Serizawa Kamo, Inoue Genzaburo and Harada Sanosuke - the seven of them were scattered, each occupying a place, enjoying the hot spring in various postures.

"Hah~ It feels so good~ Oh oh~ So good~ My waist~ My back~ My shoulders~ My feet~ My hands~ My buttocks~ The skin all over my body feels so relaxed~"

Harada Sanosuke let out a strange cry while spreading his arms and leaning against the pool wall behind him.

Shinpachi Nagakura on the side said bluntly:

"Zanosuke, you're making so much noise."

"Haaah~~"

Kondo Isami turned his head and gave Inoue Genzaburo a helpless look:
"Uncle Yuan, why are you making weird noises too?"

Qingdeng smiled slightly:
"Let them be. Such a great hot spring really makes people want to scream." Harada Sanosuke nodded quickly and cheered for Qing Deng:
"That's right! Mr. Ju is right! I want to ask you, why can you hold back from moaning?"

Although Qing Deng and the others did not scream like Harada Sanosuke, they all showed a comfortable expression.

Even Saito Hajime, who never showed his emotions, smiled faintly, and his originally cold facial lines softened.

The water temperature of this hot spring is relatively hot, ranging from about 40 to 50 degrees.

At the beginning, Qing Deng and others were not used to the extremely high water temperature.

They lingered by the pool for a long time before finally sinking into it with great difficulty.

Humans are indeed very adaptable creatures.

After a while, Qing Deng and others got used to the water temperature and gradually "sank" into it.

Only by experiencing it yourself can you truly feel the difference between hot springs and ordinary hot water.

Although the specific reason is unclear, the skin will become smooth after bathing in hot spring water.

Of course, your skin will still get wrinkled after soaking for a long time.

One of Qing Deng’s hobbies is taking a bath - he loves the feeling of being surrounded by hot water.

At this moment, Qing Deng felt the muscles all over his body gradually relax, his nerves also relaxed, and his body and mind entered a state of complete relaxation.

The relocation of the shogunate center, the strengthening of Qinjin's national strength, the new round of large-scale conscription of the Shinsengumi...all these annoying and tedious affairs disappeared from his mind.

Qingdeng hasn't experienced this feeling of having an empty head and not thinking about anything for a long time.

It is no exaggeration to say that he felt like he was about to melt into the pool like an ice cream.

Because this hot spring is open-air, you can see the open sky as soon as you look up.

The weather is very nice tonight, with no clouds in the sky.

The moon has not yet risen, so the stars are shining brightly.

Qing Deng leaned against the pool wall behind him, looked up at the sky, and the bright stars filled his eyes.

The night breeze that blows from time to time brings coolness and takes away the heat.

It feels cool above the neck and hot below the neck. This strong contrast gives me a different kind of pleasure.

Soaking in hot springs while appreciating the starry sky...it is truly the ultimate enjoyment in the world.

——It would be nice if Sanako and the others were here too.

Qing Deng really wanted to share his joy and emotion at this moment with his most important wife and children - including Tianzhangyuan of course.

Qingdeng had no idea whether Tianzhangyuan liked to take a bath or not.

Anyway, Sanako, Mai and Souji all like taking baths, and they often bathe together on weekdays.

Because of this, the bathtub in Qing Deng's house gets dirty easily.

Every time they bathed together, the water in the pool would become turbid and filled with strange liquids.

Qing Deng had never hated the fact that there were no hot springs in his territory as much as he did at this moment.

Qinjin Fan had everything, including fertile fields, water transport, and beautiful scenery, but it didn’t have any hot springs.

Although with Qing Deng's power, he could easily order people to transport hot spring water from afar to Otsu bucket by bucket, just like the "Gokiyu" of the Edo Shogunate, but Qing Deng would never do such a thing that would cost the people a lot of money and time.

As far as Qing Deng knew, this "Imperial Drainage Soup" was a disguised form of corvee labor, and many civilians were harmed by it.

Spending countless manpower and material resources just to take a hot spring bath... Qing Deng couldn't do such a shitty thing.

——When the world is peaceful in the future, let’s go on a family trip.

Looking at the hot spring water around him, Qing Deng made a secret decision.

In addition to Ou, Hakone, which is closer to Otsu, is also a hot spring resort.

At that time, he can bring his wife and children to Hakone and enjoy the pleasure of "bathing in hot springs".

Thinking of this, Qing Deng couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

He was immersed in a beautiful fantasy... Suddenly, Saito Ichi, who was not far away, said to him:

"Mr. Tachibana, there has been no news from the director for a long time."

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng immediately turned around and shouted towards the west end of the pool:
"Elodie! Are you there?"

As soon as the voice fell, Elodie's voice came from a distance:

"I'm very good!"

Listening to Elodie's energetic voice, Qing Deng withdrew his gaze with relief.

When people are in a high temperature environment, their peripheral capillaries will dilate, and a large amount of blood will enter the human venous system, causing a decrease in effective circulating blood volume, and then symptoms of dizziness will occur.

Since most of the people there are rough dudes, there is no need to worry about the "men's bath".

Even if someone gets carried away, it can be discovered quickly.

The "women's bath" was different, as only Elodie was bathing there.

If she accidentally got dizzy, no one would notice in time.

So, to be on the safe side, Qing Deng would shout "Elodie! Are you there?" every once in a while to make sure she was still awake.

……

……

Nagakura Shinpachi: "Do you know? It is said that eating more kelp is good for growing hair."

Kondo Isami: “I think I’ve heard of it.”

Serizawa Duck: "That's true. Do you know 'like cures like'? Eating the brain can nourish the brain, eating bones can nourish the bones, and kelp looks like hair, so eating more kelp can indeed help grow hair."

Nagakura Shinpachi: "Is that so... Then I have to eat more kelp..."

Inoue Genzaburo: "What's the matter? Shinpachi, are you having trouble with your hair?"

Nagakura Shinpachi: "I don't know why, but I've been losing a lot of hair lately... It's really strange. I'm not a strategist who often uses my brain, and I don't have any worries recently, so why am I losing so much hair..."

Boring conversations like this continued on and on.

It would be too boring if you just soak in the hot spring and do nothing else.

To kill time, Qing Deng and the others chatted about random things, but the content of their chat was not very meaningful.

Because it was a long-awaited leisure time, everyone consciously avoided serious topics and only talked about some family matters.

Suddenly, Harada Sanosuke, who had been silent from a while ago, spoke up:

"I'm hungry... let's have a midnight snack!"

His nonsensical words immediately attracted the attention of Qing Deng and others.

Nagakura Shinpachi asked first:

"Midnight snack? Is there anything to eat here?"

Harada Sanosuke chuckled:
"Actually, I bought sea otter meat at the market in Wakamatsu-cho today! I've never eaten sea otter meat before, so let's try it together!"

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In the blink of an eye, it's the end of the month again! Book friends who have monthly tickets, please be sure to vote for this book! (crying leopard head.jpg) Please vote for the monthly ticket! Please recommend! (crying leopard head.jpg)

PS: I wanted to invite the vice-captains to the hot springs, but there would be too many people. I had no choice but to let them go.

(End of this chapter)