"Everyone be quiet, everyone be quiet! Elder Jing Yi is here! Hurry up and sit down! Sit down!"

As soon as Bo Jing finished speaking, the expressions of everyone in the meeting room immediately straightened.

The small sounds of conversation turned into the noisy sound of footsteps.

Hakui led everyone in the Beifan Institute to face the north and kneel down on the west side of the meeting room.

Houchuan led everyone from the Nanfan Institute to kneel and sit in the east of the meeting room.

Everyone sat down, and the discussion became audible.

This strange silence was broken after a while by a faint sound of the door being pulled open.

Crash...the paper sliding door located in the north corner of the meeting room was slowly opened.

Seeing the door open, Susui and Atsukawa, who were kneeling at the front of the crowd, quickly lowered their heads, bowed their waists, and put their hands on the tatami.

Qingdeng and others who were sitting behind the two people quickly followed behind them, bowing their heads and saluting to the north of the room where there was still only a ball of air.

Because his head was hanging down, Qingto could only see the dark green tatami.

Although the eyes cannot see, the ears can hear.

Qingdeng heard several footsteps extending toward the meeting room along the side door that was opened.

The footsteps stopped directly opposite them, and then turned into the sound of people lifting up the hem of their clothes and bending their knees to sit on the ground.

"Everyone, please straighten up."

A slightly hoarse voice clearly reached Qingdeng's ears.

Qingdeng slowly raised his gaze inch by inch.

On the north side of the hall, there were five more people at this time.

A middle-aged man with mixed black and white hair and a short beard on his chin sat in the center of the north side of the hall.

He crossed his legs casually, and his clothes were embroidered with the Ii family's crest: orange blossom.

Except for this middle-aged man, the other four people are relatively young, and the oldest one should not be more than 30 years old.

Three of the four people were kneeling on the left and right sides of the middle-aged man in the most standard posture with solemn expressions. The only exception was the man holding a sword that was red from the handle to the scabbard.

, with a black and white knife, kneeling on one knee behind the middle-aged man.

Wearing clothes embroidered with the Ii family crest, the four young men were respectfully accompanying him - the identity of this middle-aged man was self-evident.

——Is this Ii Naoki?

Qingto swept his eyes uncontrollably and looked at Ii Naobi.

Almost everyone present, who had never seen Ii Naobi before, could not help but cast curious glances at Ii Naobi, just like Qingto.

The first impression Ii Naoki brought to Qingto was - ordinary.

He has a neatly shaved head, his figure is neither fat nor thin, and his facial features are neither ugly nor handsome.

His face was not majestic, but there was a faint smile on his lips and eyes.

At first glance, he looks like an ordinary middle-aged man.

There is no aura of self-reliance, no elegant temperament, or the spirit of a warrior.

Aoto felt that if Ii Naoki put on civilian clothes and walked to the streets of Edo, he would be able to blend in perfectly with the crowd on the streets.

While Ayoto and others were still looking at Ii Naoki... Ii Naoki spoke——

"Presumably... you also know who I am, right? So I won't take the time to introduce myself."

Ii Naobi's tone was very slow, with a faint smile.

"This is the first time that most of you and I have met."

"How's it going? Is the famous Ii Naobi not as majestic as you think?"

Naoki Ii opened his hands in a posture like "a roc spreading its wings", as if he wanted people around him to see him more clearly.

"I often hear: There are always rumors outside that I am a very majestic-looking person who is not angry but proud of himself."

Naoki Ii smiled and raised his hand to touch the short beard on his chin.

"Half a year ago, I seriously considered whether I should cooperate with this rumor and make myself more dignified. If I can really succeed in making my face more dignified, it will be able to do many things.

It’s become a lot more convenient.”

"So I tried growing the beard on my chin a little longer."

"As a result, after I grew a long beard, my majesty did not increase, but my old age increased, which caused me to be laughed at by my wife."

Ii Naoki's funny words made many people in the hall laugh.

The corners of Qingdeng's mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

In the meeting hall, the slightly tense atmosphere that was originally tense due to the appearance of Naoki Ii instantly relaxed a lot.

"I don't like to talk about empty talk, and I don't have enough time, so I'll get straight to the point."

Naoki Ii cleared his throat gently, and the smile on his face became a little stronger.

"I have personally reviewed all the achievements you have made in recent times."

"The achievements of many of you make my eyes shine."

"There are even more achievements of some individuals...so dazzling that I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard about them."

Having said this, Naoki Ii raised his head and spoke louder:

"Who is Tachibana Aoden?"

As soon as Ii Naobi finished speaking, everyone in the audience tilted their heads and focused their attention on Qingto.

"Oh..." Naoki Ii looked at Tachibana Aoden, who stood out from the crowd even though he was kneeling on the ground because of his height, "You are Tachibana Aoden..."

Having said this, Ii Naobi sat up a little straighter, and then gestured in front of him: "Ju Qingden, come forward."

Hearing Ii Naobi ask him to come forward, Qingto quickly said "yes" loudly, then stood up and walked out of the queue, quickly ran to Ii Naobi and knelt down on the ground again.

"Tachibana-kun, I have wanted to see you for a long time." Ii Naobi smiled at Qingden, "You are much more handsome than I thought."

"When I first heard about your feat of 'defeating powerful enemies on a snowy night', I checked it several times with the person who came to report the news to me, and finally confirmed that I heard it correctly."

"Haha... I have never heard such good news that makes people feel proud."

"The shogunate will never treat anyone who has made outstanding achievements unjustly."

When saying this, Naobi Ii raised his head and quickly glanced at the other people in front of him, led by Hakui and Atsukawa.

"As long as you can make outstanding achievements, the reward you deserve will never be less."

After finishing speaking, Ii Naobi turned his head and glanced at a young man kneeling on his left.

After receiving the signal from Ii Naobi's eyes, the young man nodded slightly, and then took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his arms.

After unfolding the paper, the young man grabbed the left and right ends of the paper and read aloud the words written on the paper.

He first made a lot of complicated opening remarks using obscure sentences.

Then he began to report Qingdeng's specific contribution and what kind of contribution he made in that "snowy night battle".

At this moment, Qingdeng's eyes were vaguely filled with anticipation.

It turns out that Arima was right a few days ago, and Naoki Ii really wanted to personally give him a reward in this "eldest boss test".

Just listening to what the young man is currently reading, we can tell that the piece of paper in his hand is an official document used to announce what reward should be given to Qingdeng.

Because it is the most formal official document, Qingdeng is called Qingdeng by his most formal name: "Juyuan Shengqing" in this document.

Everyone in the hall now pricked up their ears and listened carefully.

They are all curious.

I am curious about what kind of reward the shogunate will give Ayoto.

After reading a bunch of lengthy content that no one would listen to seriously, the young man finally read to the end and read what everyone had been waiting for -

"...In view of Juyuan Shengqing's achievements, I will grant you 50 taels of gold and a sword!"

——A treasured sword?

Qingden's brows jumped sharply.

The rest of the people on the field also looked surprised.

At this time, Ii Naobi stood up.

He waved to the young man kneeling behind him on one knee.

The young man quickly presented the sword with a red and black handle and scabbard that he had been holding in his hand to Ii Naobi with both hands.

"Tachibana-kun, this sword was made by the famous craftsman: Shikisaki Kiki."

"The name calls: Ding Gui Shen!"

Having said that, Ii Naobi raised his hand and grabbed the hilt of Dingguishen's knife——
To be continued...