I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

After wiping away the sweat and stains from her body and getting dressed, the new wife walked slowly to the portrait, reached out, and gently stroked it as if she were touching something fragile.

After touching the portrait again and again, Shinzawa Hiroshi couldn't help but whisper affectionately:

"When... will I finally be able to become a member of the Chiba family...?"

The woman depicted in this painting is none other than Chiba Sanako, the apple of the eye of the Chiba family!

If an unsuspecting person saw that Hiroshi Niizuma had hung a portrait of Sanako in his bedroom, they would surely think that Hiroshi Niizuma had a crush on Sanako.

But in reality... that's not the case.

Hiroshi Niizuma hung Sanako's portrait in the most conspicuous place in his bedroom for his own future prospects!

In the Edo period, when class order was extremely rigid, "martial arts training" was one of the few ways for samurai to break through class barriers.

In order to improve the overall quality of the samurai under their command, or to gain a reputation for appreciating talent, the shogunate and the feudal lords of various regions often hired highly skilled warriors to serve as officials.

For example, Miyamoto Musashi, a famous swordsman in the early Edo period. He is the most typical example of someone who "gained an official position through martial arts".

Miyamoto Musashi was originally just a poor wanderer who had no fixed abode and didn't even know what he would eat for his next meal.

However, having created the "Niten Ichi-ryu" style and possessing exceptional martial arts skills, he gradually built his reputation through sheer strength, eventually gaining the appreciation of Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the lord of Kumamoto Castle, who then hired him to move to Kumamoto Castle to teach military strategy.

He rose rapidly through the ranks, transforming himself from a lowly ronin into a prominent samurai with an official position.

To put it simply, let's take a recent example—Chiba Eijiro is also a typical example of someone who "gained an official position through martial arts skills."

Seven years ago, the Mito Domain invited Chiba Eijiro, whose strength was almost supernatural, to serve as an official there. In order to keep this monster, the Mito Domain specially offered Chiba Eijiro an official position with an incredibly high status and salary.

Chiba Eijiro, who had previously shown no interest in an official career, surprisingly accepted the invitation to serve in the Mito Domain this time. He moved to the Mito Domain and began his official career there.

Throughout history, these inspiring stories have motivated generations of ambitious warriors who wanted to make a name for themselves through their own abilities.

"I want fame and glory! I want to use my sword and my martial arts to achieve great fame and glory!" - Countless samurai flocked to martial arts schools with this belief, practicing martial arts like crazy, all in order to become the next Miyamoto Musashi or Chiba Eijiro!

However, relying on martial arts to gain fame and fortune... is bound to be a cruel path where one general's success is built on the bones of countless others.

So many people want to achieve upward social mobility through martial arts, so why are you the one who succeeded?

If you want to make this brutal path easier... the only shortcut is to rely on connections.

If you have a solid and reliable network of connections, if you can get someone to recommend you to the shogunate or the feudal lords of some domain... then you won't have to worry about your talents and martial arts not being put to good use.

Therefore, prestigious martial arts families like the Chiba family have become the dream destination for many martial artists.

The Chiba family is universally recognized as the most prestigious martial arts family—without exception!

He founded the Hokushin Itto-ryu school, whose disciples are spread throughout Japan and which is already showing signs of becoming "Japan's number one swordsmanship school"; the clan has produced many outstanding talents, with almost no mediocre ones, especially Chiba Eijiro, whose name is destined to be etched in the history books of the future...

Such a family... not to mention anything else, their network of connections alone is terrifying!

For a martial artist who aspires to achieve fame and fortune through martial arts, becoming the adopted son or son-in-law of this "number one martial arts family" and gaining access to the family's vast network of connections... is practically a guarantee of instant success!

Therefore, countless people yearn to become a member of the Chiba family—Kanto Niizuma is among them.

Hiroshi Niizuma was very confident in his abilities. He felt that with his talent and swordsmanship, he might not be able to gain important positions in the shogunate, but he would have no problem obtaining high-ranking positions and generous salaries in the feudal lordship of a certain domain... He only lacked the relevant connections!

Although he was a hatamoto samurai, his family was only an ordinary mid-level hatamoto, not a prominent and wealthy family, and the resources his family possessed were quite limited.

Relying solely on the power and resources of one's own family... obtaining an official position with a salary of five hundred bushels of grain would be the limit.

Shinzawa Hiroshi did not want his future achievements to be limited to this.

He wants to obtain a higher official position! He wants to achieve greater success through his swordsmanship!

So... he set his sights on the Chiba family, and on the only unmarried woman in the Chiba family: Miss Sanako.

If one could become the son-in-law of the Chiba family, why would one worry about not having connections to leverage? Why would one worry about not being able to obtain a high-ranking official position?

After making up her mind to "definitely become the son-in-law of the Chiba family," Shinzawa Hiroshi commissioned a famous painter to paint a portrait of Sanako. She then hung the portrait in the most prominent place in her bedroom to constantly remind herself—she was not yet the son-in-law of the Chiba family! She still needed to work hard!

Hiroshi Niizuma didn't have any special feelings for Sanako.

He admitted that Sanako was indeed a stunningly beautiful woman, but Niizuma Hiroshi had absolutely no interest in matters of love.

He only cares about his own future and his own fame!

To achieve his ambitions, even though Sanako was an ugly woman with a crooked nose and protruding teeth, Hiroto was able to marry her without blinking an eye or hesitating.

Of course—marrying Miss Sanako…it’s easier said than done.

Sanako's heart is an impregnable fortress. For a long time, countless outstanding talents have tried their best to break through this solid fortress, but in the end, they only ended up with a humiliating defeat.

Given the disastrous experiences of his predecessors, Hiroshi Niizuma set himself a plan to "take things step by step and proceed gradually".

For now, focus on improving your swordsmanship and reputation! Aim to reach a level of strength and fame that will attract the attention of Sanako and the Chiba family behind her!

If he were strong enough that everyone in the Chiba family would look up to him, then the difficulty of winning Sanako's heart and becoming a member of the Chiba family would be greatly reduced.

Therefore, when he learned that the Aizu-no-Kou was going to hold a swordsmanship tournament in Asakusa, Hiroshi Niizuma signed up for the competition without hesitation.

Such a grand competition would certainly attract the participation of major sword-making schools like Genbukan and Kochiba Kenkan. Chiba Sadakichi, Chiba Dozaburo, and Chiba Jutaro would undoubtedly lead their disciples to compete.

In other words, this is a golden opportunity to prove my strength to the Chiba family!

For this major competition that will begin tomorrow... Hiroshi Niizuma is determined to win!

To motivate himself, Hiroshi Niizuma made a special trip to Kanda Tamachi and Okecho this afternoon to observe the Genbukan and Kochiba Kenkan from afar.

This is also one of Hiroshi Niizuma's personal habits. Whenever he feels that his emotions urgently need to be encouraged, he will run over to peek at the Genbu Hall and the Chiba Sword Hall.

Every time Hiroshi Niizuma saw these two magnificent kendo halls, he felt a surge of power welling up inside him—I must become the son-in-law of the Chiba family! Even if it means marrying into the family!

This is what he told Chiba Jutaro after they bumped into each other on the street this afternoon about "pre-match preparations".

“Just wait… Chiba family…” After repeatedly stroking the portrait several times, Hiroshi Niizuma finally slowly lowered his hand from it. “I will definitely make you accept me…”

……

……

In Edo, somewhere, in a slightly dilapidated longhouse—

"Hmm~ Hmm hmm hmm~~ Hmm hmm~"

Humming a nursery rhyme, Asa carefully carried a teacup filled with hot tea with both hands as she slowly walked out of the kitchen and headed straight for the living room.

In the main room of this dilapidated house, a young man who looked no more than 20 years old sat expressionlessly in front of a table piled with books and manuscripts.

"Sōjirō! The tea's here! Let's take a break and have some tea!"

Asa handed the tea she had just brewed to the young man... who was also her husband, Yuzaki Sojiro.

"Ah... thank you." After thanking his wife Asahi in a soft voice, Sojiro picked up the hot tea that Asahi had just brewed and sipped the tea slowly.

After serving her husband tea, Asa didn't leave immediately. She glanced sideways at the large stack of blank manuscripts on the table in front of Sojiro.

“Sōjirō…” A hint of worry flashed across Tsukasa’s brows. “Still no inspiration today?”

“…Sigh, yes.” Sojiro let out a long sigh, then placed the teacup he was holding casually on the corner of the table with a melancholy look on his face. “My mind is blank…I have absolutely no idea what to write…”

After saying that, Sojiro ran his fingers through his messy hair with a distressed expression.

"What are we going to do... If this continues, we won't even have enough to eat next month..."

Sojiro was a novelist who made a living by writing "shakuhon" and "yuben" (books for reading aloud), as well as "huaben" (storybooks) for storytellers.

"Salu" was originally a humorous novel specifically depicting life in brothels.

The reader mainly describes historical stories and myths.

With his passable imagination and writing skills, he and his wife Asi lived a comfortable life, though not wealthy.

However... recently, Sojiro encountered a significant problem—he found himself stuck in a creative block.

My mind, which is usually full of interesting ideas, suddenly went blank, and I couldn't think of any interesting story plots.

This situation has lasted for nearly two months, and the lack of inspiration has not improved.

Poor condition, lack of inspiration... For two whole months, Sojiro only produced waste paper that even he himself was extremely dissatisfied with.

This prolonged inability to work has severely impacted their family's livelihood...

Sojiro's family was also the type that "if you don't work, you don't eat."

Having gone two whole months without any income, their family's meals these past few days have consisted of nothing but salted radishes.

Next month, we might not even be able to afford salted radishes.

Looking at her husband's worried face, Asi, wanting to share his burdens, pondered for a moment while raising her hand to play with the hair at her temples:

"Sōjirō, if you really have no inspiration... why don't you just write the story of 'Eternal Sword Saint' Ogata Itsei and 'Hidden Sword Saint' Kinoshita Genichi?"

"Aren't these two the most popular stories?"

“No way.” As soon as Asa finished speaking, Sojiro shook his head with a wry smile. “I’m in really bad shape right now… Even if I were to write the stories of the ‘Eternal Sword Saint’ and the ‘Hidden Sword Saint,’ I wouldn’t know how to begin… Sigh…”

"..." Looking at her husband who let out another long sigh, Asi felt very sorry for him, but she didn't know how to help him.

Thud!

At that moment, a dull thud came from the entrance of the house.

Upon hearing the voice, Asi was startled at first, then quickly got up and ran towards the entrance.

Hey! Red bean bun!

Red bean bun – a black and white kitten that Sojiro's family adopted two years ago.

As expected, when they rushed to the entrance of the house, the red bean buns had knocked over all their utensils again.

Meow~ Meow~ Meow~

Upon seeing its mistress arrive, Doushabao immediately meowed and fled the crime scene at top speed.

"Really... thankfully, the thing that got knocked over this time wasn't anything fragile..."

The object that was knocked over by the red bean bun was a wooden Buddha statue called Niou, which Sojiro and Asuka had recently obtained from a temple and used to ward off evil spirits.

*******

*******

The author was very busy in real life yesterday, my dear Asu... never mind, I won't say anything more.

In short, I didn't have much time to write yesterday because of some things, so today's word count is a little lower. I'll try to update more tomorrow (crying face).