I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"'Expel the barbarians' faction now dares to kill even the 'Three Returns' members...?" Arima frowned slightly. "...Tachibana-kun, give me a detailed written report by tomorrow afternoon. I will handle this matter personally."

Qingdeng: "Yes."

“…Let’s go.” Arima glanced at Inoya, then turned his back to Aoto and the others. “We still need to go to the Magistrate’s office for a meeting. The meeting should be starting soon.”

"Let's talk about everything after the meeting."

Inugaya glanced at Arima's retreating figure, then at Aoto beside him, pursed his lips, and then strode after Arima.

“…Ibaraki was just worried and confused. Don’t take Ibaraki’s reprimand to heart.” Ushiyama raised his hand and patted Aoto’s shoulder. “You are, after all, Ryūji’s son. Ibaraki was just concerned about you, his junior, which is why he reprimanded you like that.”

“It’s alright, Mr. Ushiyama.” Qing Deng smiled slightly at Ushiyama. “I know that the reason Mr. Inoya shouted those words at me just now was because he was worried about me. Don’t worry, Mr. Ushiyama, I won’t treat Mr. Inoya coldly because of this.”

"That's good then." Niu Shan, who usually had a stern face, had a rare smile on his cheeks.

"Ju, let's go."

Niu Shan patted Qing Deng on the shoulder again.

"It's time to go to the meeting."

*******

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[Information that can be released at this time!]

Aoto's father, Tachibana Takayuki, married at the age of 15, had Aoto at the age of 16, and passed away at the age of 33. He was of the same generation as Inoya and Ushiyama.

Chapter 22 Ding! New mission!

After reaching the top floor of the Northern Frontier Office, Qing Deng and the others stopped in front of an impressive paper sliding door.

Arima called out loudly to those inside the room, and only after receiving permission to enter did he lead Aoto and the others into the room.

As soon as Aoto entered the room, he saw a fair-skinned, fat man—it was none other than Usui Tadajiro, the Hokubansho-cho magistrate who had seen off Aoto and his men, who were in charge of suppressing the "Jin-gishu," the night before.

As one of the two "mayors" of Edo, Usui exuded an air of wealth in both appearance and demeanor.

"Oh! Arima, you're here. You're the first ones here." After a brief greeting to Aoto and the others, Usui gestured for them to sit on the tatami mats on the left side of the office. "Please have a seat."

Arima led Aoto and the others to sit properly on the left side of the room.

A short while later, the door to Bo Jing's office was opened again, and a group of people entered... making Qing Deng and the others' expressions turn strange.

"Ugh..." Inoya muttered softly, "The faces of the Tojo Clan members are just getting more and more annoying..."

The new batch of people consists of 4 people.

The leader was a middle-aged man around 40 years old.

The middle-aged man's head appeared very large compared to his body. His hair, which wasn't styled in a topknot, was messy and looked like it hadn't been combed for several days.

Her originally fairly regular facial features have become slightly distorted due to the plumpness of her cheeks.

His face was covered in oil and grime, and there was a faint trace of eye discharge in the corner of his eyes, making him look like he had just woken up and hadn't had time to wash his face yet.

During the Edo period in Japan, it was not fashionable to grow beards; most adult men were accustomed to shaving their facial hair clean.

But this man went against the trend—he had a thick beard, which was as messy as his hair.

He had a large, protruding belly, and the flesh on his stomach jiggled with each step he took, giving people an inexplicable urge to go over and pinch it.

Despite his disheveled appearance, strangely enough, his gaze was clear and lucid.

Such a slovenly face, yet with such bright eyes... it looks extremely incongruous, like two springs that can gush out clear water from the bottom of a pool of sewage.

A middle-aged man who looks very sloppy, unkempt, and unremarkable—that's what anyone would think if they saw him.

Shintaro Tojo – the name of this middle-aged man.

This unkempt middle-aged man is none other than Arima, the other Yoriki in the Hokuban-sho-cho district.

The three people following Dongcheng were the three Tongxin under Dongcheng's jurisdiction.

All the members of the Kitaban-sho-cho-kai are here now.

For ease of reference, the officials of the Hokuban-sho (Northern Frontier Office) always referred to Arima and Aoto and others under Arima's jurisdiction as the "Arima Group." Then, they referred to Tojo and the three dōshin under Tojo's jurisdiction as the "Tojo Group."

The town of Teimachi in Edo was divided between these two groups.

In the officialdom, there is no shortage of intrigue and competition, and this department, which is divided into two parts and has only eight members, is no exception.

The "Arima Group," to which Aoto belongs, has always been in a competitive relationship with the "Tojo Group."

Two groups got into a heated argument over a case that could easily boost their performance—a common sight at the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office.

The two groups were often vying for cases, so their relationship wasn't very good.

After the members of the "East City Group" entered, the most lively Inugaya immediately glared at them fiercely.

Niu Shan, who is usually taciturn, stared at the Dongcheng Group members with sharp eyes.

While Pig Valley and Ushiyama were glaring at the members of the "East City Group," the members of the "East City Group" glared back without backing down.

Neither group joined the "staring contest".

Arima, who was usually indifferent to fame and fortune and rarely argued with others, knelt respectfully, his eyes downcast and his mind focused.

Dongcheng sat cross-legged, staring blankly at the ceiling, picking at his right toes with his right hand as he did so. After picking at his toes, he raised his right hand and blew his nose...

The two groups were staring at each other—while Qingdeng remained uninvolved.

Qingdeng is now looking at the books on the bookshelf next to him with great interest.

Reading was Qingdeng's greatest interest in his previous life, besides fitness.

Although in his previous life he was a muscle-bound brute who practically built his brain into muscles, his reading preferences were quite literary.

He loved reading poetry, especially Russian poetry, and his favorite poet was the renowned writer Pushkin.

Upon entering Usui's office, Qing Deng's attention was immediately drawn to the bookshelf filled with books standing on one side of the office, and he looked at the books on the shelf with great interest.

Japan at this time was still greatly influenced by Chinese culture, and none of the intellectuals in the Edo period did not read Chinese books.

The bookshelf in Bo Jing's office is filled with Confucian classics, such as the Analects and the Four Books and Five Classics.

Just as Qing Deng's attention was focused on the bookshelf, another group of people entered Bo Jing's office.

This group of people who came this time were temporary returnees.

The Temporary Regime is a department composed of elites selected from those who have worked in the Setamachi Regime for a long time. Its task is to guide and assist the Setamachi Regime. The organization consists of 2 members and 6 members of the same mind.

Simply put, they were the Edo police's training squad, fire brigade, and all-purpose tool.

We'll move them wherever they're needed.

Because all the members of the temporary group were once elites in the town, they are all relatively old, with the youngest being around 30 years old.

"Ah..." Inugaya sighed again, a low groan only he, Aoto, and Ushiyama could hear, "Those who came back temporarily are still as fierce as ever..."

The elite temporary guards are often dispatched to handle some extremely troublesome cases.

This also resulted in an unusually high rate of dark circles under the eyes for those who returned temporarily.

Everyone's eyes exuded an air of irritation, as if to say, "What? I'm busy! Don't mess with me!"

After the eight temporary returnees arrived, Usui's office immediately became crowded.

Following closely behind the temporary returnees were two very young men.

These two young men were the two most powerful members of the entire Beifan Bureau, and the only ones without any middle-level cadres in the entire bureau: the two secret agents of the Hui.

If one were to use a single idiom to describe the appearance of these two soulmates in the hidden chapter, it would be—utterly unremarkable.

The secret mission's job was to conduct espionage activities throughout Edo, gathering intelligence for the town and temporary missions.

Therefore, due to the nature of this job, all members of the Hidden Gang are required to be people with ordinary appearance and temperament.

If it's the kind of face that has no presence, that people forget after one glance, and that you can't find in a crowd, then that would be the best!

The entire police force of the Edo Hokuban Police Station consists of 8 officers responsible for fighting on the front lines, 8 temporary officers who are responsible for both fighting on the front lines and serving as "all-purpose bricks," and 2 secret officers responsible for intelligence activities.

Seeing that all the members of the "Three Returns" had arrived, Bo Jing stood up slowly with his hands behind his back.

"Looks like everyone's here."

"To avoid disrupting everyone's work today, I'll keep it brief."

Usui cleared his throat forcefully, then took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and shouted loudly:

"Lord Ii has given the order: a large-scale assessment will be held on March 1st!"

"Assess the performance of all officials who have served in the Edo South and North Garrisons three times!"

"Those whose performance is unsatisfactory—will be dismissed immediately!"

As soon as Usui said this, the previously quiet office immediately became noisy.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Bo Jing in astonishment.

"Lord Ii is going to assess our performance on March 1st?" Arima, sitting directly in front of Aoto, stared at Usui with astonishment, his eyes fixed straight ahead. "Lord Magistrate, why so suddenly?"

Ii Dairo – this is not a person’s full name.

The "大老" at the end is an official title.

As the government that currently rules Japan, the Edo Shogunate naturally has a mature system of official positions.

At the very top of the Edo Shogunate was the "Sei-i Taishogun," whose position was hereditary by the Tokugawa family and similar to that of the Chinese emperor.

Generally speaking, the official position below the General of the Expedition is "Laozhong".

The position of Lao Zhong is similar to that of the prime minister in China.

However, in special circumstances, an official position with status and power even above that of the elder statesman would be established—that is, the Grand Elder.

The position of Dairo was not permanent; it was only established during special periods. This highly powerful position meant that, throughout the more than two hundred years of the shogunate's history, only a handful of people had ever held the position of Dairo.

And coincidentally—just two years earlier, in the fifth year of Ansei (1858), due to national turmoil and the urgent need for a strongman to take charge, the position of Daolao was reinstated for various reasons.

A strongman named Ii Naosuke was put in this position.