I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

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[Japanese History Mini-Lesson Begins!]

After Japan entered the Edo period in 1603, more than two hundred years ago, the Edo Shogunate, in order to maintain its rule, promulgated a national policy of "isolationism," maintaining contact only with China, Korea, and the Netherlands.

Until its doors were forced open by the American fleet seven years ago, the Edo Shogunate had only ever interacted with the Netherlands among all Western countries.

Therefore, both official and unofficial circles collectively refer to Western cultural knowledge as "Dutch Studies" and Western medicine as "Dutch Medicine."

Chapter 24 The Punishment of the Party and Saito Hajime

Since "Yuan Juqing Deng" took office, in a total of six months, the Malaysian Communist Party has put him in charge of 11 cases on his own.

Of these 11 cases, there were serious crimes like murder and theft, as well as some relatively easy cases, but no matter what kind of case it was, it didn't matter to "Haruji Aoto"—he couldn't solve any of them...

Not only did they fail to solve the case, but what's worse, they also created a lot of laughable situations...

such as--

During the investigation of the murders, the victims' genders and causes of death were mixed up...

During the investigation of a theft case, items at the scene were accidentally damaged, causing the crime scene to be completely disfigured...

Even when investigating relatively simple cases like "the boss is suspected of abusing employees," he can still come up with a whole host of problems.

No matter what the case is, in the end, it always takes other people to clean up the mess left by "Haru Tachibana Aoto".

The Tojo Clan, which is in competition with the Arima Clan, would naturally want to take advantage of the Arima Clan's new "high-quality male" status.

So, the members of the "East City Group" gave "Haru Tachibana Aoto" an insulting nickname: the dull-witted "Dumb-headed Aoto".

This nickname initially circulated only within a small circle of the "East City Group".

But gradually, under the deliberate influence of the "East City Group," this nickname spread wider and wider.

To this day, this nickname has spread throughout the entire Beifan Institute.

Almost everyone in the Hokuban-sho knew that the Arima Group in the Sadamachi district had produced a big idiot nicknamed "Dumbo Den".

Because Hara Tachibana Aoto was so incompetent, Usui repeatedly suffered criticism because of the trouble she caused. So even Usui didn't like Hara Tachibana Aoto. That's why there was a hint of annoyance in Usui's eyes when she was talking to Aoto earlier.

Fortunately, no matter how others mocked "Haru Tachibana Aoto", the members of the "Arima Group" remained united.

Whether it was Arima, Inoya, or Ushiyama, none of them ever viewed their junior with prejudice. On the contrary, they always provided him with help, teaching Hara Tachibana Aoto how to handle paperwork and how to handle various cases, trying to help him get rid of the nickname "Dumbhead Aoto".

After Qing Deng respectfully said, "This humble official understands...", Bo Jing gave a few more instructions to everyone in the room regarding "Elder Jingyi's assessment".

Only after a short while did he appear somewhat tired and wave to the crowd.

"Alright, I've said everything I needed to say."

"Disband! Everyone go back to your own business!"

"May you all strive hard!"

"In a month and a half, I hope to see the 'third round' of my Northern Frontier Office, where no one is humiliatingly stripped of their official position!"

As he said this, Usui glanced at Aoto again...

Just as everyone inside the room was getting up in twos and threes to leave, suddenly a horse tilted its head slightly to the side and whispered to the three people behind it: Qing, Zhu, and Niu:

"After the meeting, everyone should go back to my office first."

……

……

Arima's office at the Hokuban-sho (Northern Frontier Office) —

"...Tachibana-kun. Although Lord Magistrate's words were a bit harsh, he was only thinking of you..."

After Arima and his group returned to Arima's office at Arima's request, Arima immediately sat down behind his desk and began to awkwardly offer words of comfort to Aoto.

He probably thought that what Bo Jing said to Qing Deng in front of everyone was very likely to hurt Qing Deng's self-esteem, so he racked his brains to come up with words to comfort Qing Deng.

But in reality, after being reprimanded to his face by Usui, Aoto did not feel that his self-esteem was damaged.

He just felt... extremely depressed!

How many more scapegoats do I have to take the blame for?!

After being targeted by the "Expel the Barbarians" faction, having his money stolen by the Yakuza, and being scolded by his relatives and friends for concealing his attack by the "Expel the Barbarians" faction, a new accusation, "Dumbhead Deng," has been placed on Qingdeng's back...

Since his transmigration, in less than three days at most, Qingdeng has either been taking the blame or on his way to taking the blame...

A wave of unrest, a wave of up again.

The two major problems of the anti-foreign faction and the Yakuza have not yet been solved, and now a new problem has emerged.

The assessment organized by Elder Ii a month and a half later... the urgency and seriousness of this new trouble is not much less than that of the anti-foreign faction that has its eyes on him.

Even a hero can be brought down by a penny – this is an eternal truth.

If they were kicked out of the Northern Barbarian Garrison for three years, it would mean that Qingdeng and his family's only source of income would be cut off.

Samurai have a hard time finding jobs, and many positions are unwilling to hire them.

There were even a considerable number of jobs that were strictly forbidden for samurai to participate in.

If you want to work on a construction site carrying bricks or wood, the foreman probably won't even pay you any attention.

The class divide meant that most commoners viewed samurai as a bunch of troublesome old men, preferring to leave their own hands empty rather than hire them.

If Qing Dengzhen is kicked out of the Northern Barbarian Bureau, then not only will he be unable to repay the money to the "Qingshui Clan," but even his daily food, drink, and toilet needs will become a major problem.

Before the anti-foreign faction could even come to take his head, or the "Shimizu clan" could harass them, he and Kyubei would probably starve to death at home...

One troublesome problem after another came knocking... making Qingdeng want to escape reality...

"...Lord Arima, don't worry." After Arima's words of comfort faded, Aoto, who was standing side by side with Ino and Ushi, suppressed his frustration and forced a smile at Arima. "I'm not so fragile that I'd be so easily discouraged and devastated by something so trivial."

Upon hearing Qing Deng's words, Arima's face showed a hint of relief.

After offering a few more words of comfort to Aoto, Arima gradually stopped speaking to him, his face hardening as he said seriously:

"You all heard clearly what the Commissioner said at the meeting, didn't you?"

"I won't bother with any more official jargon or platitudes."

"In short—let's all work hard for the next month and a half."

"There is no need to worry about being eliminated in the assessment in a month and a half due to insufficient performance."

Arima slid his gaze, taking a close look at the faces of Ao, Ino, and Ushi.

"There is still enough time; we have plenty of time to prepare."

"As long as we work together and help each other, it won't be too difficult for us to pass Elder Ii's test."

At this point, Arima deliberately focused more of his gaze on Aoto.

Green, Pig, and Ox: "Yes!"

“Tachibana-kun.” Arima then turned his gaze back to Aoto. “Regarding the matter of you being targeted by the ‘Anti-Foreign Faction,’ I will report this to the Magistrate-General later and discuss with him how to handle this matter.”

"For the next period of time, remember to avoid walking at night and going to places with few people."

"Then……"

Arima paused for a moment.

"...Don't do something as stupid as 'concealing and not reporting' again."

"At a time when the 'expelling the barbarians' faction is becoming increasingly rampant, you, who have been attacked by the 'expelling the barbarians' faction twice, should report the relevant information about the 'expelling the barbarians' faction that attacked you as soon as possible. That is the right thing to do."

Arima's slightly furrowed brows relaxed a little.

"If anything happens to you, we will have no face to see Longzhi a few hundred years from now."

Qingdeng: "Yes..."

Arima waved his hand and said, "Inoya, Ushiyama, you two stay here. Tachibana, you go and carry out your patrol duties for today."

When Qingdeng saw that Yuma only asked him to leave, while leaving only Zhu and Niu behind, he was stunned.

“…Yes.” After glancing thoughtfully at Inoya and Ushiyama standing on either side of him, Aoto gave a slight bow to his superior before quickly leaving Arima’s office.

After Qing Deng stepped out of the room and confirmed that Qing Deng had completely left, Arima immediately raised his owl-like eyes and stared at Ino and Ushi.

"You two should know why I asked you to stay, right?"

"...Regarding Tachibana's assessment, and the attack on Tachibana by the Anti-Foreign Party, right?" Ushiyama said casually.

Arima nodded: "What the Magistrate said just now... is absolutely right."

"Given Tachibana's current political record, it's highly unlikely he'll pass the assessment in a month and a half."

“If we don’t quickly come up with a way to help him, in a month and a half, Mr. Ju will definitely be dismissed from his post.”

"Therefore, I plan to hand over some cases that are easier to boost my political achievements to Mr. Ju."

"In the next month and a half, I hope you two can help Tachibana-kun as much as possible."

"With our assistance, it's not impossible for Tachibana-kun to pass Elder Ii's test."

“That’s for sure.” Inoya grinned. “You don’t need Arima-sama to tell us; we’ve been thinking the same thing all along.”

After a slight smile, Inugami... lowered his head slightly.

The corners of her mouth, which had been turned up, drooped down.

"Tachibana-kun is Takayuki's only son."

"Even if it's just for Takayuki's sake, we have to help Tachibana-kun to the end."

As he finished speaking, a shadow of pain and regret crossed Inugaya's brow.

"Back then... if we had reached out to help Takayuki in time, he might not have owed that 'Shimizu Clan' any of those bullshit gambling debts, and he might not have been forced to die in vain by that damn 'Fazhu Party'."

"This time, even if it costs me my life, I will help Tachibana-kun..."

"Igaya!"

Before Pig Valley could finish speaking, Ushiyama, who had been silent until now, cut him off with a stern face.

"In the magistrate's office...don't mention Takayuki's matter." Ushiyama glanced warily at the door behind him, "And definitely don't mention the 'lawful extermination of the party'...!"