Ke Xue World: The Confrontation between Black and Red

"This should be the family emblem of the Hojo family."

Just as others were brainstorming about what this circular pattern represented.

Suzuki Sonoko felt more and more familiar with him, so she rubbed her chin and suddenly an idea flashed in her mind. She said affirmatively:

“Yes, it’s the family crest of the Hojo family.

I saw this family crest on an invitation card sent from the Hojo family a few days ago.

It’s exactly the same as what’s drawn on this paper.”

At gatherings in upper-class circles, whether they are business gatherings or private banquets, there will always be people attending wearing clothing with family crests printed on them.

And the people in the circle often change for various reasons.

Familiar faces may leave due to bankruptcy of family businesses or joining the wrong team, while new faces will mostly appear for the opposite reasons.

You can identify a person's origin, confirm their identity, and determine their position by looking at the family crest patterns on their clothing, accessories, and other items.

It is a compulsory course that children of chaebols like them, especially heirs or eldest sons and daughters, must master when communicating with the outside world.

When her elder sister Ayako was the heir to the family, Suzuki Sonoko was studying these courses. Her family did not have such strict requirements on her that she had to memorize all the family crests, or be familiar with the family crests and members of various families such as the aristocratic chaebols.

After Suzuki Sonoko became the heir halfway through, no matter how much she crammed herself, she could not make up for the more than ten years of heir education that she had missed.

Therefore, in some aspects, such as knowledge of family crests, the learning method is basically to cram and sharpen the knife before the battle.

That is, based on the list of guests attending the event that was learned in advance, learn and memorize the origins and family backgrounds of these people.

Although unexpected situations may occur occasionally, such as guests coming with a companion, and this companion also wears clothes embroidered with their family crest and comes from a good family.

But it’s not a big problem.

If it is an important occasion, the Suzuki couple or Suzuki Jirokichi will basically attend together and then give gentle reminders from the side.

However, if it is a gathering of people of the same age, new faces will be "kindly" advised by people around them before they even appear in front of Suzuki Sonoko.

"The heir of the Suzuki Group, that girl in the corner who likes to wear ugly headbands and has no one around her except the waiter."

"You just arrived and you don't know, she didn't like to attend such social occasions before she was the heir of the Suzuki Group, and she didn't like to make friends with people like us."

'So, you'd better not go and make trouble for yourself.'

'Come, let me introduce you to some new friends...'

...

Therefore, even though Suzuki Sonoko has been the heir of the Suzuki Group for a long time, she still needs to work hard to learn the knowledge of family crest patterns.

As for why she was able to identify it so quickly this time, it was because compared to the complex patterns, there were a bunch of similar family crests next to it that always interfered with people's memory.

The Hojo family's family crest is simple and clear, and highly recognizable.

Also, my family received an invitation with the same pattern two days ago.

The Suzukis took this very seriously. Not only did they put the matter on the agenda early on, they also canceled all overseas trips before and after the banquet date.

Even the consortium's shareholders' meeting, which was scheduled to be attended by all employees and had been scheduled a month ago, was postponed.

In order to look their best at the event, the Suzukis and their daughter specially invited a top handmade dress maker to come to their home and ordered several dresses tailored for them.

He also gave his daughter a detailed and solemn introduction to the Hojo family.

As others looked at her,

Suzuki Sonoko, who still remembered clearly, briefly recounted to Conan and others the information her parents had told her about the Hojo family.

Hattori Heiji, who had read this kind of information, looked serious:

"No wonder that man didn't let us call the police and took all four arrows away. I think he recognized the pattern on the arrows as the family crest of the Hojo family."

Regardless of the purpose of the murderer, it was to implicate the Hojo family and use the Hojo family emblem on the arrow used in the crime.

It really came from the Hojo family.

Since the Hojo family crest appeared at the scene of the attack, the identities of the two uncles and nephews were obviously not ordinary wealthy businessmen.

The things involved are likely to involve the complicated internal struggles among the aristocratic families and chaebols.

Conan also thought of this, but there was no response from Rina Hanano. Based on the existing clues, they could not continue their reasoning.

At this moment, Yuanshan Heye suddenly said:

"Sonoko, look at this, is this the family emblem?"

As she spoke, Toyama Kazuha picked up the pen that Hattori Heiji had placed on the table after he finished drawing, and on the other blank page of the open notebook, she drew a circular pattern that was slightly more complicated than the Hojo family crest.

"I saw it on the sleeve of the red coat underneath the man's hunting coat."

Earlier in the red maple forest, when Yuehui appeared, Hattori Heiji noticed the pattern on the red-tailed feather arrow.

And Toyama Kazuha's attention was attracted by the silver line pattern on the hem of Utsunomiya Hiroshi's sleeve, which was reflected by the moonlight when he raised his hand.

At first, she didn't realize it was a family crest and just thought it was some auspicious pattern.

However, after hearing what he has heard now, he realized that the two uncle and nephew who could be attacked and assassinated with feather arrows printed with the Hojo family emblem were definitely not ordinary people.

She began to wonder whether the pattern embroidered on the sleeve of her inner garment, which she saw under the moonlight, was also a family crest.

Everyone looked at Suzuki Sonoko with anticipation. The highly anticipated Suzuki Sonoko took a deep breath:

"Okay, give me some time to carefully recall what my private teacher taught me."

After saying that, Suzuki Sonoko closed her eyes and began to dig out from the depths of her mind the memory of the personal trainer with gentle eyes and brows who taught her the family crests and the history behind each family.

But looking at Suzuki Sonoko's increasingly furrowed brows and her unconsciously tense expression, everyone knew that her recollection was not going smoothly.

Sure enough, two minutes later, Suzuki Sonoko, who had found nothing, opened her eyes and shook her head.

Just when everyone thought that this clue had to be put aside for the time being and the answer could be found in relevant books and materials later.

Suzuki Sonoko took out her cell phone, and with a "click" sound, the flash light came on, followed by a "crackling" sound of typing on the phone.

“I sent it to my personal trainer and should have an answer soon.

Don’t worry, she’s a professional.”

After doing all this, Suzuki Sonoko put her phone on the table and said confidently.

"It's so late, will it disturb other people's rest?"

Mao Lilan looked up at the time on the wall and felt a little embarrassed.

Suzuki Sonoko waved her hands, with an expression that said you don’t know anything:

"Teacher Masako has always been concerned about my learning in this area, fearing that I would lose face for the Suzuki family in social situations due to my lack of knowledge, and that she would be embarrassed in the etiquette circle.

So she kept telling me that if I was unsure or didn’t know something, I should ask her right away so she could give me notes in time.”

As for disturbing someone, that doesn't exist. The Suzuki family spends such a high fee on hiring teachers every year, and they don't just want those few classes.

Providing answers to questions for the heir of the Suzuki Group is just one of her jobs.

However, Suzuki Sonoko did not say this to Mao Lilan in person, but replied:

“It’s really not nice to disturb you so late, so I plan to buy some tourist souvenirs for Ms. Masako when I go back.

Xiaolan, if you have time, please help me choose and give me some suggestions."

Mao Lilan nodded:

"Yeah. But... I'm afraid I don't have much time these two days."

Suzuki Sonoko glanced at Conan beside Xiaolan and said with understanding:

"I know. You are worried about this little brat, so you plan to protect him every step of the way in the next few days, right?"

Mao Lilan did not answer, and her cheeks turned slightly red, but the light in the living room was dim, so Suzuki Sonoko did not notice it.

Conan pricked up his ears and was deeply moved.

"Then just take him with you. With you and Ah Zhen here, not to mention one attacker, even if there are ten, they can't get close to that brat."

Kyogoku Makoto, who was given great trust by his lover, nodded seriously:

"Well, I will protect you."

Being ignored, Yuanshan and Ye pretended to be dissatisfied:

"What? Are you going to leave me and Hattori aside?

We can protect Conan, too."

Suzuki Sonoko shook her head very seriously, then smiled mischievously:

"I just don't want to disturb your date."

"What...what date? That's not the case.

Hattori came here this time because he received an invitation to participate in the treasure hunt competition."

Yuanshan and Ye's faces suddenly turned red, even the dim light in the living room could not cover it up, and heat could be vaguely seen coming out.

She stammered as she explained, but Suzuki Sonoko didn't believe her at all. She looked at the miko costume that Toyama Momiji was wearing with an ambiguous expression:

"Oh~ No, that means that Hattori-kun, who came here purely to participate in the treasure hunt, only invited you as a by-product.

And by the way, I also prepared this miko costume for you, which is obviously not an ordinary one."

Yuanshan Heye felt that she was almost cooked by the heat. At this moment, she didn't even have the courage to look down at her clothes.

Her sweaty hands unconsciously lifted up the hem of her skirt.

Hattori Heiji next to her was not much better than her. If the temperature of Toyama Kazuha's face could cook eggs, then Hattori Heiji was like a boiling kettle.

The only sound left in my mind was the humming sound of boiling water.

Fortunately, he had the natural dark skin inherited from his grandfather's genes to cover it up, otherwise he really wouldn't even dare to sit down and would have to find a crack in the ground to crawl into immediately.

The two pairs of young lovers fell into a sweet silence.

Suzuki Sonoko, who created this scene with just a few words, calmly picked up her phone and read the message just sent by her private trainer.

"Teacher Masako said that the one with the greatest similarity is the Utsunomiya family crest."

After sending the message that Teacher Masako has worked hard and I will bring you some travel specialties when I return.

Suzuki Sonoko turned the screen of her mobile phone towards the others, and saw a family crest pattern that was more exquisite than the one painted by Toyama Kazuha, with a similarity of more than 90%.

Yuanshan Heye thought about it again and confirmed the answer:

"When I saw it, the man's sleeves were slightly wrinkled as he walked. If they were flattened, the pattern would look like this."

To be able to become the personal trainer of the Suzuki Group's heir, Teacher Masako must have some ability and intelligence.

Even though Suzuki Sonoko only asked which family crest this pattern belonged to, the other party not only gave the answer but also attached introduction information about the Utsunomiya family at the end.

From the origin of the family to the changes of each generation, to the current power and status, as well as the general information of the current main family members of Utsunomiya, it can be said to be extremely detailed.

At this time, Conan also received a message from Rina Hanano on his mobile phone.

The message begins with an apology from Rina Hanano.

And explain that he was on a field mission before.

Then, there is a whole compressed file package.

Conan didn't click it immediately. He first thanked Hanano Rina for her help, and then sent it to Haibara Ai along with several pictures he took with his glasses today.

Please ask her to use the computer to check and compare the information to confirm whether the person in the picture is the contestant originally selected by the Ooka Foundation.

If it was a substitution, whose identities were replaced?

When she received the message, Haibara Ai had just finished working overtime secretly in the underground laboratory.

Looking at the message Conan sent without any hesitation, Huiyuan Ai snorted coldly:

"He must have gotten into some trouble again."

After saying that, he replied perfunctorily, "I know."

Then she began to warn Conan not to involve her sister Xiaolan in his troubles.

After sending the message, Haibara Ai took a look at the test report that was still steaming in her hand, and put it in a safe with an eighteen-digit password and locked it.

Then he sat in front of the computer with a cold face and opened the file compression package.

At around eleven o'clock in the evening, Conan and the others finished the first round of case discussion and went back to their rooms to wash up before going to bed.

In several rooms upstairs and downstairs, tonight's formal activities were just about to begin.

In the living room with only a small night light on, Amuro Toru stared at Asaka and Kiku Masamune across from him and asked in a low voice:

"What are you looking for me for at this time?"

"Vermouth has just sent back important new information."

Amuro Toru is all ears:

"What is it?"

Chaoxiang didn't keep the secret any longer and quietly dropped the first bombshell:

"The attack and assassination that Utsunomiya Hiroshi and his nephew encountered at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine was related to the Hojo family."

"Which Hojo family? I remember that there are two Hojo families among the existing aristocratic families."

One is the Kamakura Hojo family, and the other is the Momoyama Hojo family. The two families originated in different eras, and their current status among the aristocratic chaebols is also completely different.

One is thriving, the other is declining, there is a world of difference between them.

Asaka was slightly surprised that Bourbon had such complete information on the aristocratic chaebols, and replied:

"The chairman of the Public Security Commission, the Hojo family of Hojo Renmune."