As soon as he finished expressing the basic condolences for Aoto’s burnt house, he excitedly and urgently asked about the details of the battle, asking how Aoto managed to reverse the disadvantage and counter the "anti-foreigner faction."
However, when Chiba Shigetarou’s questions subsided, Sazanoko softly reminded her brother in a cold tone:
"Brother, it’s getting late now; maybe it’s better to focus on the main topic first."
Upon hearing Sazanoko’s reminder, Chiba Shigetarou was momentarily stunned. Then he raised his hand, scratching his head, and laughed.
"You’re right; we should definitely discuss the main topic first."
Upon finishing his words, Chiba Shigetarou released his hand from his head and cleared his throat forcefully.
"Lord Zhouzhu, Mr. Isami, I’ll be brief."
"The reason why my sister and I made this sudden visit tonight is actually to share some good news with you."
"Oh? Good news? Please tell us." Seeing Chiba Shigetarou about to talk business, Zhouzhu straightened his back, and Kondo and others sat more uprightly as well.
"Lord Zhouzhu, Mr. Kondo, Yushima Tenmangu Temple has finally agreed – they’ve allowed our Little Chiba Sword Dojo and your Shiwei Hall to host a ’Red and White Battle’ during the Plum Blossom Festival at Yushima Tenmangu Temple!"
As soon as Chiba Shigetarou spoke, Zhouzhu, Kondo, and Chokata’s faces all revealed intense joy.
"Oh oh!" Chokata was the first to shout excitedly, "Yushima Tenmangu Temple finally agreed... that’s great..."
Chokata and the others showed their excitement — only Aoto looked bewildered.
Ha? What? Yushima Tenmangu Temple? Plum Blossom Festival? "Red and White Battle"? What the heck?
Aoto knew the meanings of these three terms individually, but when strung together, he couldn’t fathom their collective significance...
Japan is a country that loves to host festivals and has an extremely thriving "festival culture",
Various themed festival activities are dizzying, and throughout the year, practically every month witnesses festivals big or small.
In Heian Era Japan, there emerged a scholar with profound learning and prolific writings: Sugawara Michizane.
Due to some extremely complex reasons, after Sugawara Michizane’s death, the then still authoritative Emperor ordered the construction of "Tenmangu" to worship this great scholar. Subsequently, Michizane became a part of Shinto beliefs, gradually spreading across Japan, being worshiped as the God of Learning due to his accomplishments as an outstanding scholar and poet during his lifetime.
Shrines dedicated to Michizane, namely Tenmangu, gradually opened throughout the nation.
"Yushima Tenmangu Temple" is one of these branch shrines established in Edo.
Michizane loved plum blossoms during his lifetime, hence every Tenmangu shrine planted numerous plum trees.
Eventually, a festival specifically dedicated to Michizane emerged - this is the Plum Blossom Festival.
On February 25th every year, people would go in groups to nearby Tenmangu shrines to admire plum blossoms.
This Plum Blossom Festival is one of the favorite festivals of Japan’s literati and scholars.
Every Plum Blossom Festival, clusters of literati could be seen under certain plum blossom trees at the Tenmangu, composing poetry and singing songs.
Counting the days, this year’s Plum Blossom Festival is approaching, today is February 10th, and in just half a month, this year’s Plum Blossom Festival will commence.
As for the "Red and White Battle," also known as "Battle Game," it’s one of the most popular games among Ancient Japan’s samurai.
Samurais participating in this game are divided into two teams: Red Team and White Team, with no limit on the number of team members.
Red Team members have red bands tied around their heads, and White Team members have white bands, with each team member having a porcelain dish tied to their forehead, and each team has a person acting as the team’s "Grand General."
The game rules are quite simple: the two teams wield wooden swords or bamboo swords and engage in combat, and if the porcelain dish on the head is broken, it means "you died," and you must immediately exit the game. Whichever team’s "Grand General’s" dish gets broken first signifies that team has lost.
Simply put, it’s a "strategic war game" where one must ensure their Grand General doesn’t "die in battle" while finding a way to "kill" the opposing Grand General.
Due to its simple rules and enjoyable and exciting process, it competes in both personal martial power and strategy tactics, making the "Red and White Battle" quite popular and loved by samurai.
Aoto couldn’t figure out how – the elegant "Plum Blossom Festival" and the violent "Red and White Battle"... these two completely unrelated terms could be connected.
Sitting next to Aoto, Chokata noticed the look of bewilderment on Aoto’s face.
"Ah... almost forgot." Chokata raised his hand to toy with his ponytail, "We probably haven’t mentioned this matter to you yet, Mr. Tachibana..."
After speaking, Chokata stuck out his tongue to lick his slightly dry lips, then began explaining to Aoto bit by bit what exactly the "Red and White Battle" held at Yushima Tenmangu Temple was all about.
After listening to Chokata’s explanation, Aoto finally understood what was going on.
This all started with the Divine Master of Yushima Tenmangu Temple... that is, the head of the shrine.
The Divine Master of Yushima Tenmangu Temple was a person with a kind heart.
In recent years, the development of this country was unbearable...
All sorts of chaotic affairs cropped up one after another, yet not a single uplifting event occurred.
Gradually, the spirit of the common folk became somewhat dispirited.
The Divine Master felt deeply troubled by the state of the populace.
Thus, he resolved to do something practical for the people – he decided to make this year’s Plum Blossom Festival as lively as possible! Let the people better enjoy this festival, dispelling the gloom on their faces.
His mind was set, and his intentions were clear.
Regarding what kind of new activities to hold, the quick-witted and flexible Divine Master soon came up with an idea.
If talking about something most appealing to the uneducated populace... it would undoubtedly be samurai fighting.
Whenever samurai brawls appeared on the streets, there would definitely be no shortage of onlookers.
Then, why not invite two sword dojos to hold a "Red and White Battle" at Yushima Tenmangu Temple on the day of the Plum Blossom Festival!
The Divine Master happened to know two friends who ran sword dojos.
And these two friends were precisely the Hall Master of Little Chiba Sword Dojo: Chiba Dingji and the Hall Master of Shiwei Hall: Kondo Zhouzhu...
Yesterday was the Dragon Boat Festival, and since it was celebrated, today’s word count is a bit less...
The author will try to update more tomorrow (leopard head crying.jpg)

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