The Chapter of Bo Yinggui Autumn - "Malicious" Tampering

"Zuo Zhi, you won't accompany me to drink today, really..."

"Just looking at your appearance, I can tell that you have other purposes." Harada was glad that he rejected Shinpachi's invitation, he didn't want to drink unhappy wine.

"By the way, speaking of it, I have another interesting thing to tell you! Today in Shimabara, I saw a figure that looked very much like Ling Azusa! Haha, do you think I really drank too much? I even went to I found it, although she was a little panicked, but she did look different, probably because I was frightened. Do you think I should find another chance to apologize?" Shinpachi said as a joke.

"I can't see it, you can still think of apologizing to other girls. It's a little bit better~"

"Tch, why are you calling me so stupid! Although I am not as good as you in attracting women, I am not bad! However, I really doubt myself, why my eyes are so bad. Is it because I miss Lingzi so much? Will you admit the wrong person? Hey... Heroes love beauties, there is no way..." Shinpachi is still thinking about this, and he really feels that the chances of seeing Lingzi are getting less and less.

"Lianzi is a beauty, where is the hero?" Harada joked.

"Ha! Zuozhi!!!"

The two quarreled for a while, and Shinpachi went back to sleep.Although Harada returned to the room, he was always worried about what Shinpachi said.Have you seen anyone similar to Ayasu in Shimabara?According to their acquaintance, if Xinba can recognize someone wrong, they must be very similar.He decided not to think about anything related to Lingzi, otherwise he would not be able to sleep all night.

Soon this matter was forgotten by him. The recent successive patrols made Harada very tired. That night, he looked everywhere for someone to drink with him, but Shinpachi and Heisuke were held up by other things Saito and Okita didn't want to go either, and Lingzi really wasn't in the village.In desperation, he took the steps to Shimabara even alone.

Shimabara is still lively at night, but he hasn't come for a while.Harada walked on the road, looking for a store he was interested in entering. "Hey... I'm not interested, what's the matter with me... Forget it, just find one." Speaking of which, he never minded coming here for a drink before, but now he always seems to avoid suspicion intentionally or unintentionally, lest he be caught. People misunderstand the purpose of his coming here.

Before he could choose a place, there was a commotion behind him.He looked back to see what happened, but he didn't want to get involved in the commotion. He was already past the age of Hirasuke who was curious about everything and was impulsive when things happened.However, he found a woman who caught his eye.He remembered what Shinpachi had said to him a few days ago.

With the mentality of giving it a try, he grabbed the woman who was about to run past him just now. It seemed that she was being chased by a group of men in the distance, and it was definitely right to save her.The woman's reaction was beyond his expectation, at least she would resist, right?But she was visibly stunned.Just as Harada was about to speak, something that surprised him even more happened. The woman turned her head to look at the crowd who was about to chase her, and in turn grabbed his hand, "This way!"

"No way, not only the body shape is very similar, but also the voice is exactly the same?" Harada thought so, and was taken into the alley by a woman who was very similar to Lingzi, and she seemed to want to avoid those people. "Who are you?" Harada asked her as soon as she stopped.

"What?" She looked even more surprised, and then turned a little angry: "I thought you came to save me because you recognized me!"

"You mean..." Harada stared at her in disbelief.

"That's right, I'm Lingzi... I don't know if I should be happy or sad that I wasn't recognized." She pouted.Harada was very familiar with this pretended angry look, and now he was convinced that it was really Lingzi.

"What are you doing here? Why are you wearing a geisha costume? And why are you wearing makeup? Why are you being chased by those people?" He asked a lot of doubts in one breath.

"Oh, oh, there are too many questions... Now is not the time to talk about these things!"

The sound of those people approaching just now came from nearby them, and Lingzi took off her coat, let her hair loose, and said to Harada, "Hold me."

Before Harada could realize what she meant, Lingzi's face had already moved closer, and she kissed him accurately on the lips without hesitation.Without needing extra instructions, Harada raised his arms instinctively and hugged her.The two kissed quietly in the dark alley. Although those who were chasing Lingzi also came to the entrance of the alley, they left knowingly after seeing this scene.Soon the surroundings became quiet again.But the kiss didn't stop right away, they seemed to have forgotten why they were so close.It wasn't until Lingzi felt a little itchy on her arm that she regained her senses and let go of the arm that automatically wrapped around Harada's shoulder at some point.Harada also quickly left her side and took a step back.

There was no time for them to recollect what it meant just now. The moment Lingzi checked her arm, she screamed in shock, as if she was about to lose her soul. She pointed to something on her left arm with her right finger, and her left arm was not at all. If he dared to move, his face turned to the right side as much as possible, and his expression was horrifying.

"What's wrong?" Harada asked anxiously, not knowing what she was doing, she looked very scared.

"Ah!" She seemed to realize how to deal with it, and began to shake her arm vigorously, crying, "Help me, Zuo Zhi! There are bugs on my arm, on my arm! It's scary!!!"

Harada calmly grabbed her arm that was flying wildly in the air, and found that there was indeed a little spider lying on its stomach tenaciously.He blew lightly, and the little bug flew out. "Okay, okay, it's safe~" He raised his head to comfort Lingzi, but found that her face was covered with tears.

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..." she was still immersed in fear.

Seeing her like this, Harada felt very novel. "Natsume Lingzi, who is not afraid of anything, is afraid of bugs? Haha..." He laughed.

"Don't tell anyone!" Lingzi realized that she had been laughed at, and with tears still on her face, she put on an angry expression and raised her hand to cover Harada's mouth.

"Okay, I can't keep it a secret!" It seemed that she was really scared, and she had never seen her cry before, except for a few tears shed last time when she hurt.Thinking about it this way, I really learned a lot about Ling Azusa's unknown side. "How about taking you to eat some delicious Yayajing?" He said as he patted her head in a gentle tone like coaxing a child.

Only then did Lingzi smile through her tears, "Okay! But wait for me, you turn around first, I'll change clothes!"

"Ah... good." Harada blushed and turned his back, while watching for her if anyone else was coming.After a while, she came out from behind, the makeup on her face disappeared, and she changed back to her original appearance, and she changed into her usual men's clothing, and her hair was also arranged.Before she knew it, her hair had grown back to its original length.

"Where's the clothes you were wearing just now? Besides, I didn't see you carrying clothes with you..." Harada's previous doubts hadn't been resolved yet, and now he had new doubts.

"Let's go buy some delicious food first, and then go back to the village. I'll explain to you slowly. Don't worry, I've made a decision and I'll tell you everything. At that time, it's up to you to decide whether you can still trust me." Sooner or later, you can't hide it. If it's Harada, maybe it's okay to say it. Even if he can't accept it, it doesn't matter, she will respect his decision.After all, she was the one who concealed it first.

The garrison was so quiet that one could feel at ease, and Lingzi followed her back to Harada's room. "Ask any questions you have, and I will tell you the truth."

"Why are you in Shimabara like that tonight? Besides, I heard that other people have met someone who looks like you before, so it must be you. Does it mean that you are not only there today?" Once Lingzi asked him to ask casually, he became more careful, for fear of asking some answers he didn't want to hear.

"Indeed, I'm not just in Shimabara just today. You've noticed, too. I seldom see me in the village recently. At that time, I was basically in Shimabara... As for what I'm doing there, you may also guess Come out... That's why I wear makeup. At least I can't be recognized by others."

"Why do you want to be a geisha? Didn't you work so hard to get out of Yagi's house to join our ronshigumi?" Even if Ling Azusa is an unpredictable girl, she shouldn't do such a thing without any reason.Even though she was the only woman in the group, they never did anything excessive to her, let alone demanded excessive things from her. It can be said that they took good care of her. What reason made her go to become a geisha? "Is it because the training in the group is too hard? Sure enough, this place is not suitable for you, and now you can't go back to Yagi's house, so you have to bite the bullet and go there to find a new way out?"

"No. You also know what happened in Osaka. Serizawa forcibly collected funds for the activities of the Ronshi group everywhere. Obviously everyone knew what he did was wrong, but no one could stop it. Because he had no confidence, because he was needed. But , I can't allow someone to trample on everyone's spiritual pillar like this. A samurai shouldn't be like that. So, I'll do it for me to raise funds. I've said that before, maybe everyone just thinks it's a lie, listen Let it go. But I mean it."

Harada suddenly realized that he was so slow: "I'm sorry, I'm too small-minded, and I never thought that you would do these things for the team. But, this is too wronged you! We..."

"No, this is what I can do. You also know that my swordsmanship is much worse than yours, and I am always lazy and don't train, so I go on patrol. If something really happens, I will only give it to you. Just to add to the confusion. But after going to Shimabara with everyone last time, I realized that I might be useful. Now, do you remember the last time I asked you to take me to Shimabara?"

"Well, it was the day before Lieutenant General Aizu came, right?"

"Yes, that time I actually went to Sister Nanquan to discuss this matter. It's just that I might not be able to find her by myself. You are very familiar with them, so I borrowed your strength. Didn't I dance there before? Do you call it a weird dance? Sister Nanquan said that it is very popular with geisha there. So, since then, I have been a teacher of geisha, giving them new music and dance. Although it was very difficult at first I was worried about whether it would be worried by customers, but it turns out that the effect is very good, especially the advanced-minded customers like it very much. This is also in line with my judgment, so I became their teacher for Shimabara Queen. I also took this opportunity to save Some money. That’s why I’m rarely in the camp these days.”

"No wonder you are always so tired... Thank you for your hard work." His distress was beyond words.

"However, the money earned in this way is still too little. It is not enough for the purpose I want to achieve. So I consulted Nanquan sister's opinion. With her help, I started to be a geisha. I only need to receive a few distinguished guests. Risk It’s also small, and it makes money quickly. Now, my goal is almost achieved.”

"Is it just for us to raise funds? The Aizu clan already has a little subsidy for us now, you don't need to torture yourself like this anymore!"

"No, that can be delayed for a while. The appearance of Rakshasa disrupted my plan. You also know that Rakshasa's weakness is silver, so all the money I save now is used to buy all kinds of silverware. Now We have found an iron shop, and they agreed to plate silver on everyone's swords after melting the silver."

"Have you already achieved this level... We men are really not as good as you." Harada smiled wryly.

"You don't have to worry about one thing. Every time I appear on the stage and give lessons to geisha, I disguise myself. No one knows my real appearance except Nanquan. But I really didn't expect that you just rely on my appearance You can recognize me... When you grabbed me just now, I forgot that I was not my own face, so I pulled you away directly, thinking that I was finally saved. From now on, I have to connect my body and It's all about disguising the voice..."

"It's just a coincidence that I..."

"Then what do you mean, in fact, you don't want to save me, you just want to save other girls?" She became jealous for no reason.

"That's not what I meant..." Harada denied reflexively.But soon he realized that Lingzi was trying to force the reason: "Can't you save other girls?"

Now it's her turn to panic: "It's not... After all, Zuo Zhi, you are very gentle with all girls. It is also your style to act bravely, let alone a weak girl."

"I remember that you don't like others to say that you are a weak woman." He became serious, and there were not many opportunities to tease Lingzi.

"Of course I'm not a weak woman anymore, I just mean that in your opinion, it was a weak woman who needed help."

"Then, why are you being chased by those people?" The topic finally returned to the normal direction.

"Recently there are a lot of things going on in the garrison, and I don't have much interest in staying there, so I plan to leave early. When I came out to find a place to change clothes, I ran into those people. I was bullying the geisha again just because I was a guest. You also know that I can't bear to watch this kind of thing, so I made a little more trouble, came forward to attract their attention, and then you will know..."

"Hey... If you didn't meet me, what would you do if you were caught..." He was afraid.

"If I hadn't been wearing a geisha costume, I wouldn't have lost to them. Some people are not even as good as homeless rogues. Also, even if I escaped, I could run faster if I was wearing civilian clothes."

"No, don't encounter this kind of thing in the future. So, don't go again, okay?"

She was almost moved by his gentle tone, but her determination was still firm. "Don't worry, I will be careful in the future. In fact, this is just an emergency. It has been safe before! Zuo Zhi, you know, I will not give up. This is the only thing I can do for Hijikata-san... ..."

When Hijikata's name was mentioned together, Harada lost the confidence to persuade her.That's right, she did all this to share the deputy chief's worries. "In the future, if you want to appear as a geisha again, call me. I will protect you."

"You just need to do your job well. You are so tired every day, how can you distract me from protecting me? Then it loses the meaning of what I did originally. What happened to Raksha these days has disturbed everyone It's very restless... This kind of thing will be inevitable in the future. But wait a little longer, I must change this situation!"

Harada was a little unclear about her words, so at this time, some previous images suddenly flashed in his head. She said some mysterious words a few times, which sounded like a prophecy, but it happened to come true.Moreover, she seems to know many things that they don't know.Every time she gave the explanation seems to be very vague.Since she asked to ask today, let's ask together. "Ling Azusa, there is another question. Why do you know so many things? For example, Rakshasa's weakness, and the matter of the former director general."

"Ah... Finally got to the point..." Lingzi took a deep breath.Now is the watershed that decides whether she can stay here.If even Harada couldn't pass this level, let alone other people. "What I'm going to tell you next may make you think I'm talking nonsense, but I swear it's all true. If you don't understand anything, you can interrupt me at any time."

Harada nodded, couldn't help but be infected by her seriousness, and sat up straight.After hearing Lingzi's words, he really started to lose his mind, and could only listen to those unbelievable things in a daze.