I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Chiyo is a beautiful, intelligent, and shrewd girl who has helped Kazutoyo Yamauchi choose the right answer in important life decisions on many occasions.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo initially served Oda Nobunaga. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi was just beginning to rise to power, Chiyo recognized him as a strong "potential stock" and successfully persuaded Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who had just made a name for himself under Oda Nobunaga, to switch his allegiance to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Chiba was right about him; Toyotomi Hideyoshi did indeed become "the ruler of the land" and unified Japan. Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who had served under the Toyotomi clan early on because of Chiba's advice, was granted the title of lord of Kakegawa Castle with a fief of 5 koku.

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Chiyo once again astutely saw through the general trend of the world and believed that Tokugawa Ieyasu would one day defeat the Toyotomi clan.

He then successfully persuaded Yamauchi Kazutoyo to quickly defect to Tokugawa Ieyasu on the eve of the Battle of Sekigahara, the "once-in-a-millennium battle" that would determine whether the country belonged to the Toyotomi or Tokugawa families, and ultimately helped Tokugawa Ieyasu win the Battle of Sekigahara.

After Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Edo Shogunate, in gratitude for Yamauchi Kazutoyo's "flexible job-hopping," Yamauchi Kazutoyo was transferred by Tokugawa Ieyasu to become the daimyo of the Tosa Domain, which has a territory of 24 koku. The Tosa Domain has continued to exist to this day.

In this way, Yamauchi Kazutoyo, with the help of his "wise and capable wife Chiyo," transformed himself from a low-ranking samurai into a great daimyo with 24 koku of rice.

Because Yamauchi Kazutoyo's life story of achieving a remarkable turnaround thanks to his wife is so legendary and enviable, "Yamachi Kazutoyo and Chiyo" became a well-known anecdote during the Edo period. It was often used to educate one's children to find a virtuous and capable wife like Chiyo.

“Yong.” Abi, who hadn’t spoken until now, said calmly, “Get up a little earlier the day after tomorrow.”

"You'll be coming with us to the Matsui family home the day after tomorrow."

"The Matsui family is also very satisfied with your terms."

"They are also willing to facilitate this marriage between our two families. They have invited us to have dinner together tomorrow."

"Matsui Tsune will also attend tomorrow's banquet."

"So you'd better take good care of yourself tomorrow. Make sure you shave off all your stubble so you can make a good impression."

One shocking piece of news after another—Kondo was clearly starting to overwhelm himself.

He gripped the fabric on his knees with both hands, pursed his lips, and stammered for a long time, his face flushed, before finally saying in a deep voice:

"Father, Mother... I don't want to get married so soon..."

"The recent business situation of the Shiwei Hall has improved significantly, which is rare."

"I now want to focus all my energy on the operation of the testing center."

"If I get married... I'm afraid it will distract me."

“Heh,” Zhou Zhu said with a chuckle, “'Starting a family' and 'establishing a career' are two things that can complement each other.”

"If you marry a good wife who can help you with the trivial matters of life, wouldn't you be able to focus more on your career?"

Shusuke has a good temper and is willing to reason with Kondo—Abi, on the other hand, doesn't have such a good temper.

She raised her eyebrows, gave a cold snort, and then shouted at Kondo:

"Are you planning to wait until your hair turns completely white before getting married?"

"You're already 26! If you wait a few more years, no good girl will want to marry you!"

After being scolded by Abi, Kondo lowered his head and shrank his neck with practiced ease.

Abi's angry shout made the air in the entire hall become imposing.

Aoto, Okita, Saito, and Kyubei were all so intimidated by the suffocating aura emanating from Abi that they dared not move...

To ease the tension in the hall, Zhou Zhu blinked hard a few times, then quickly turned his gaze to Qing Deng.

"Oh, right, right. I almost forgot about Tachibana-kun."

“Ju-kun, these past few days, while Abi and I were looking for matchmakers to arrange a marriage for Yong, many matchmakers who know that the now very famous Ju Qingdeng is currently training at our Shiwei Hall told me that there are quite a few families with excellent conditions who want to help you find a good match.”

“I specifically asked around, and the families that want to take you as their son-in-law are indeed quite well-off; they are all very famous samurai families in Edo.”

"So? Are you interested in going on a blind date now?"

"You're 18 this year, which means you're past the age where you can get married."

"If you'd like to go on a blind date, I can help you contact a reliable matchmaker tomorrow."

"Huh?" Qing Deng was taken aback.

All eyes in the hall turned to Qing Deng.

“Blind dates…Young Master, I think you really should try going on blind dates now!” Sitting to the right of Qing Deng, Jiu Bingwei said excitedly, “The Ju family’s lineage needs to be continued. When Master was your age, you were already born!”

Feeling the gazes, a mixture of curiosity and other emotions, pressing down on him, Qing Deng twitched his lips, then gave a helpless smile:

"Thank you for your kindness, Master."

Qing Deng bowed to Zhou Zhu.

"But I have no intention of getting married right now."

“The ‘anti-foreign’ thugs in Edo are still rampant.”

"As a 'three-times' samurai, I simply do not have the energy to attend to matters of love and sex right now."

Qingdeng's polite refusal was not a mere formality or a lie; it was the truth of his heart.

He has now completely offended that anti-barbarian group.

He truly had no energy or inclination to get married and start a family until he had wiped out this irreconcilable enemy and eradicated this group of insane terrorists.

Upon hearing Qing Deng's reply, Jiubei immediately showed a dejected expression.

Zhou Zhu remained calm—after all, Qing Deng was merely a disciple and resident of their Shiwei Hall, and he had no right to interfere in Qing Deng's private life.

Since Qingdeng had made it clear that he didn't want to get married yet, Zhouzhu could only nod in agreement.

"Well, at your age, there's really no need to rush into thinking about matters of the heart."

"If you ever want to settle down someday, feel free to come to me anytime! I'll help you find a matchmaker!"

Zhou Zhuchao Qingdeng smiled freely.

……

……

That day, late at night——

Shieikan, between diners—

Qingdeng, who had already changed into her white pajamas and lay down in bed, suddenly felt a little thirsty.

So he had to lift the blanket he had just put on and go down to the kitchen to get some water.

Just as Qing Deng stepped out of the dining room and onto the corridor outside, he suddenly heard the sound of a door being opened beside him.

"Okita-kun?"

"Hmm? Tachibana-kun, you're still awake?"

On the other side of the corridor, Okita, holding a bathtub in his arms, blinked at Aoto in surprise, still keeping his bedroom door closed with one hand.

"I'm a little thirsty, so I thought I'd go to the kitchen to get some water." Qing Deng lowered his eyes and glanced at the bathtub in Okita's arms. "Okita-kun, are you going to Chihiro's place to take a bath?"

“Yes.” Okita nodded.

If Okita is going to take a bath at Chihiro's place, then of course he has to go down to the first floor of the Shieikan first.

Therefore, Aoto and Okita naturally walked side by side toward the staircase leading to the first floor.

The two remained silent at first.

But suddenly, Okita murmured in a tone that was hard to decipher:

"It feels a little scary..."

"Huh? Scary? What's scary?" Qing Deng asked in confusion.

"At dinner tonight, my master and the others mentioned taking Kondo to a blind date... I find that a little scary." Okita's lips curled into a wry smile. "It's probably because of my personality; I've never really liked blind dates..."

"I feel horrified when my parents suddenly force me to marry someone I don't even know."

During the Edo period, although people were free to fall in love, arranged marriages and marriages were still the mainstream practices for men and women.

After hearing Okita's remark, Aoto nodded in agreement: "Well... we think a lot like each other... Compared to arranged marriages, I personally prefer the kind of relationship where you meet by chance and then naturally get together."

Perhaps because he had heard too many bizarre blind date stories in his past life, Qingdeng has always had a slight aversion to blind dates.

"Hahaha." Okita's smile returned to her usual cheerful one. "So, Tachibana-kun, you don't like blind dates either."

"Compared to blind dates, I also prefer the kind of relationship where we meet by chance, gradually fall in love with each other over time, and finally get together naturally!"

The stairs from the second floor to the first floor weren't long; they had only exchanged a few words before they reached the first floor.

As the two were about to part ways and go about their own business, Qing Deng couldn't help but glance at the bathtub in Okita's arms.

"Speaking of which... Okita-kun, you really enjoy taking baths late at night, don't you?"

“I’ve been staying at Shieikan for so long, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take a bath at Chihiro’s house outside of the middle of the night.”

“Because there are fewer people in the bathhouse late at night, I’m often the only one in the entire bath,” Okita answered without hesitation. “I really like the feeling of having the whole bathhouse to myself.”

After saying that, Okita Asahito waved his hand forcefully.

"Alright, I should go take a shower now, or Chihiro-ya might have to close down."

"Okay, see you later."

As for Okita's habit of taking a bath when the bathhouse was about to close... Aoto had only mentioned it casually.

After saying goodbye to Okita, he put the matter out of his mind and went to the kitchen to get some water.

……

……

Time flies by in the blink of an eye.

In the blink of an eye, Qingdeng's short holiday came to an end.

Until the end of the holiday, Qingdeng lived a very regular life, spending his days in the Shiwei Hall focusing on his training.

Compared to Aoto, Kondo was much busier. In recent days, he had been dragged around by Shusuke and Abi to handle various matchmaking matters, such as having meals with the Matsui family and other things.

On the last day of the holiday, the big news that "Lord Aizu will hold a swordsmanship competition" was finally announced.

The Aizu Domain, as expected of one of the most powerful domains at the time, was incredibly wealthy—they directly dispatched some of their retainers to promote their competitions at various sword-fighting halls in Edo.

The location and time of the competition have been confirmed as Asakusa on April 16th, and each fencing hall will only allow a maximum of 3 students to participate.

Both Shusuke and Kondo intended to use this competition to hone the disciples in their dojo. If they were lucky enough to achieve a good ranking in this competition, they could further enhance the reputation of their Shieikan Dojo.

So on the very day that the samurai of the Aizu Domain came to promote the competition, Kondo and his men gathered all the disciples in the dojo and asked if anyone was willing to participate.