I'm really not an old sword

Today, as soon as Lin Qingsu arrived at the pub, she heard a middle-aged man put down his glass and sigh.

"Tell me, you were fine when you came here, but why can't you go back after selling things?"

There was no shortage of such sentimental people in the tavern. Lin Qingsu glanced at them and stopped paying attention. After ordering a glass of wine and grilled fish, she sat in the corner.

The man was a businessman and had been coming to the tavern for several days.

Merchants these days are nothing more than traveling merchants making a profit from the price difference in different places. He took the road from Oeyama to Heian-kyo, from north to south and then from south to north, making a desperate business of making a profit from the price difference in different places. On the way to Heian-kyo these few days, he was attacked by monsters and most of his family warriors died. After finally arriving in Heian-kyo, he just wanted to go home, but no one dared to pick him up because he passed through Oeyama.

The monsters on the mountain would come down from time to time to abduct humans, and no passing caravans were spared.

As time went by, naturally no warrior dared to take on this escort business. A caravan without an escort would be in danger of encountering monsters, let alone bandits. Naturally, the merchants were unable to leave Heian-kyo for a long time.

"You're lucky to be here. How dare you leave Dajiang Mountain at this time? You should have given up your life when you came here!"

"If we want to make money in our line of work, we have to gamble our lives," the businessman sighed. "To put it bluntly, in this world, since we're not lucky enough to be born into a good family, then if we want to live a good life, we have to risk our lives, right?"

"Then why don't you dare to gamble now?"

"This isn't a gamble now, it's a sure death." The businessman smiled bitterly. "Tell me, why did that heroine disappear?"

"Ever since Lord Abe disappeared, the world has become increasingly chaotic, with monsters everywhere. We finally found a female warrior with great martial arts skills willing to protect our caravan passing through Mount Oe, so how could she suddenly disappear?"

"Have you met her?"

A fellow drinker asked curiously, "Isn't that made up?"

Lin Qingsu couldn't help but look up.

He had heard rumors about the 'female hero' from time to time since he came to Heian-kyō.

Rumor has it that the woman is young and beautiful, with superb swordsmanship. She will protect the safety of the caravans passing through Dajiang Mountain, and she will not ask for an exorbitant price, but will charge a reasonable price for the escort.

Lin Qingsu never took it seriously.

There are many rumors about Heian-kyō, but no one has ever seen the woman in person. She has never appeared in Heian-kyō. It was just that the rumor spread gradually after being told by some passing caravans, but there is no clear answer as to which caravan said it or asked about it.

Heian-kyō is not short of such unfounded rumors.

Especially now that the trend of Heian Yibian literature is popular, a made-up story is circulated from time to time, and no one can tell whether it is true or false.

"Of course I've seen it!"

The depressed businessman perked up a little and straightened his chest.

"When I came to Heian-kyō from the north a year ago, I was able to survive because of her help."

"It was much more dangerous than the previous few days."

"At that time, I hadn't heard about Lord Abe's disappearance yet, so I was thinking of taking a shortcut. As a result, I was captured by a group of monsters that night."

"We all thought we were doomed, but then a strangely dressed, cherry-haired female swordsman suddenly rushed out and killed most of the monsters with just a few sword strikes. Tsk, none of those monsters were a match for her. It was a one-sided massacre. Later, a little girl with yellow hair and long horns came out and fought with her to stop her. Tsk, you wouldn't believe it, I heard the monsters calling that little girl 'Ibaraki Demon King'."

"You're just making this up. How could Ibaraki Demon King be a little girl?"

The merchant didn't care. He said excitedly, "You can't imagine the scene back then. Tsk, dark clouds covered the sky, the mountain wind howled, I thought it was the end of the world, but the demon king just couldn't defeat the female swordsman. In the end, the two ended in a draw. The demon king Ibaraki fled with his men, and the female swordsman was also seriously injured. She kept spitting blood. I was scared to death, but she said it was normal practice."

"I'm not stupid. How can it be normal for her to vomit so much blood? I had to persuade her to stay with me and let my wife and daughter take care of her for a few days..."

"Since you know so much, then tell me the name of the female swordsman?" The drinking buddy laughed. It was obvious that he did not believe what the merchant said.

"Okita Souji."

The businessman had just opened his mouth when a voice suddenly rang out. He was then stunned and looked up.

Lin Qingsu stood up, looked him straight in the eye, and asked, "Is her name Okita Souji?"

The businessman wanted to ask him, "Who are you?", but after opening his mouth and looking into his eyes, he subconsciously nodded, "Yes."

......

"My Lord! Good news! Good news!"

Fujiwara Michinaga frowned and looked up.

The servant rushed in with a look of joy on his face.

"What's the matter?"

"The black-haired swordsman, the one that Master Gen recommended to you, has arrived!"

Fujiwara no Michinaga stood up suddenly.

After being led to the main hall by the servants, Fujiwara no Michinaga met Lin Qingsu.

Just as Minamoto no Raikou said, he has an elegant temperament but does not look weak like a scholar. Instead, he looks like a sword drawn from its sheath, sharp and imposing, and his appearance is also extremely handsome.

The only downside is that he has short hair.

"Fujiwara Michinaga."

"Lin Qingsu."

After just exchanging names that they already knew, the two of them sat down.

Lin Qingsu said directly: "I came here this time to ask you to help me find someone."

"who?"

"Okita Souji."

Fujiwara no Michigami asked in surprise, "The young female swordsman who slew the demon on Mount Oe a year ago? Do you know her?"

"She is my teacher." Lin Qingsu said.

Michinaga Fujiwara was stunned. He had been prepared for Lin Qingsu to hide something from him, but he didn't expect that he would actually say that a woman about his age was his rat. However, looking at him, Michinaga Fujiwara found that he didn't seem to be lying.

Fujiwara no Michinaga frowned slightly and said, "I will certainly do my best to help you with what you have said."

"However, my current information about her dates back to half a year ago. Back then, I heard about her deeds and invited her several times to come here to showcase her talents, but she declined every time. And then, half a year ago, she suddenly disappeared. According to witnesses, she was knocked off a cliff by the Ghost King of Mount Dajiang."

"After that, I sent many assassins to look for him, but we couldn't find him alive or dead."

"Just do your best."

"Of course." Fujiwara no Michigami nodded. "I will continue to send people to search for him, and at the same time, let officials from all over the country pay attention. I will inform you as soon as there is any news."

Lin Qingsu said "thank you" and looked at him.

Fujiwara Michinaga knew it was his turn to speak, so he smiled and said, "You must be curious about why I'm trying so hard to find you, right?"

"some."

Although Minamoto no Raikou may have attributed all the credit for Sensō-ji Temple to himself, Fujiwara no Michinaga must have been aware that it was Minamoto no Raikou who took action at that time.

Although his strength is good, he cannot compare with Minamoto no Raikou. Now, at most, he can only fight with the four heavenly kings under her.

As Fujiwara no Michinaga was Minamoto no Yorimitsu's superior, he must have had many powerful people under him. It is hard to understand why he would go to such great lengths for himself.

"Before Abe Haruaki disappeared, he left me a letter."

"It contains various prophecies concerning the future."

"That female swordsman, your master, the Sensoji Incident, and so on were all successfully confirmed in the letter... Of course, what concerns me most is his prophecy about Xianguang."

Lin Qingsu's heart moved.

Kenmitsu, whose full name is Fujiwara no Kenmitsu, is the son of Fujiwara no Michitaka, the elder brother of Fujiwara no Michinaga. He is Fujiwara no Michinaga's nephew and also the right minister of the current court. Fujiwara no Michinaga is not the regent now but the left minister.

He was also Fujiwara no Michinaga's political enemy.

However, the protagonists of the legend about two people who were more powerful than the emperor at that time were not the two of them but two Onmyojis.

Abe Seimei and Ashiya Michimitsu.

Abe Haruaki assisted Fujiwara no Michinaga, and Ashiya Michiman assisted Fujiwara no Akimitsu. This was a duel between the two great Onmyoji.

"Before, Seimei and Raikou were by my side. Even though that guy was annoying, I didn't care."

"But since Qingming left, that boy offered a seductive woman to his harem."

"I don't know what tricks that seductive woman used to bewitch that fellow, Ichijo, so that he obeyed Xianguang's orders and even transferred Raikou away." Fujiwara no Michinaga sighed. "If Raikou were here, how could those demons from Mount Oe have caused such a chaos?"

Lin Qingsu looked strange.

I asked him what I could do for him, but he suddenly started talking about Emperor Ichijo's harem.

Lin Qingsu suddenly had a bad feeling.

Seeing that Fujiwara Michigami was looking at her, Lin Qingsu knew it was her turn to speak, so she couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "You want me to deal with that woman?"

Fujiwara no Michigami smiled and nodded: "That's right."

"I intend to invite you to the palace to accompany my daughter. When the time is right, you can use your own judgment to deal with that evil woman."

Lin Qingsu's headache became more and more severe.

There is no doubt that the guy who disappeared must have written in the letter to Fujiwara no Michinaga that he could solve it.

But how could he deal with the Emperor's harem?

At best, the woman who enchanted Emperor Ichijo was a demon, a demon that all the Onmyoji of Heian-kyō were helpless to deal with. At worst, it wasn't the demon's fault, but rather that Emperor Ichijo was pretending to be captivated by the demon in order to ally with Fujiwara no Akimitsu against Fujiwara no Michinaga. Could he just rush in and kill her?

Don't want to live anymore?

What to do if we can’t kill?

Do you think he is Lao Ai? With a flick of the whip, the concubine surrenders?

That's not right. It seems that by relying on the law that can influence emotions, he can indeed...

"If you don't want to, my previous promise still stands. I will offer you a large sum of money and a mansion in the inner city. If you wish, I can personally preside over your marriage to Miss Fujiharako..."

"When will you enter the palace?" Lin Qingsu asked.

Chapter 9: Entering the Palace and the Demon Concubine

There were no eunuchs in the Heian period.

There's not even 'Deep Palace'.

To be precise, the place where the emperor's concubines lived was actually no different from that of the daughters of nobles, except that the place was larger and the guards were stricter. During the shogunate era, the emperor's life was even worse. There were even rumors that the palace ladies had to sell their bodies to subsidize the palace expenses.

On the contrary, it was not until the Edo Shogunate and the emergence of the Ooku that Japan had a real harem, and all men except the male owner were prohibited from entering.

However, Ooku was the harem of the Shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, not the emperor's harem.

As for the current Heian period.

Although the emperor's majesty still exists, strictly speaking, the people who hold real power in the Heian period are the Fujiwara clan.

To be more precise, it was Fujiwara no Michinaga.

Even though Fujiwara no Michinaga had once made the former Empress Fujiwara no Sadako, the eldest daughter of his elder brother Fujiwara no Michitaka, and forced her to become the "Empress" in name only, while the sister of the Left Minister Fujiwara no Akimitsu was still alive, and made his eleven-year-old daughter Fujiwara no Akiko the Empress, which created a joke of having two Empresses.

She couldn't just stuff a man into her harem.

But speaking is an art.

Fujiwara no Michinaga first announced to the public that his daughter Fujiwara no Akiko was being harassed by the "Wenche Demon Concubine" and sought a talented person to exorcise the demon for the harem.

They also secretly publicized Lin Qingsu's deeds of "first killing the cow ghost of Sensoji Temple, and then destroying the spider monster of Xiongshan." Within a day, the whole city knew about it. Even many people who had never met him said that he was more powerful than Abe Haruaki.

Lin Qingsu seriously suspected that the person who flattered him and belittled Abe Haruaki was also instructed by Fujiwara no Michinaga.

A few days later, Fujiwara no Michinaga happily announced that he had just found the swordsman, Lin Qingsu from the Tang Dynasty (Western Land), who had actually stayed in his house for almost a week and had dealt with the "Gyu-Oni of Senso-ji Temple" and the "Giant Spider of Kumayama" one after another.

Finally, after some time, news came from the palace that our beloved Empress of the Great Heian period, Empress Fujiwara no Akiko, was being haunted by the ghost of the 'Wunche Demon Concubine' and was in constant fear and deteriorating health.

He and the Emperor invited countless famous doctors and Yin-Yang masters, but to no avail. Fujiwara no Michinaga, who loved his daughter dearly, was extremely anxious and had no choice but to ask Lin Qingsu, who had killed two great demons in a row, to enter the palace to serve his daughter and protect the safety of his 'beloved daughter' who he sent to the palace when she was just over ten years old.

During this period, he asked his Yin-Yang masters to create some monsters in the palace to scare the guards at the palace gate, the concubines and female officials in the palace, as well as his beloved son-in-law, Emperor Ichijo.

In this way, Fujiwara no Michinaga, who originally could have simply stuffed men into the harem and Emperor Ichijo could do nothing about it, was now coaxed, threatened, and deceived by him, leaving Emperor Ichijo and Fujiwara no Akimichi without even a chance to lose their temper.

Emperor Ichijo also has to thank his father-in-law, the Taoist priest.

……

Lin Qingsu's life during this period was a bit monotonous.

Fujiwara no Michinaga was well-fed and well-fed, and he didn't have to do anything except deal with a dozen stories of pretense and embarrassment from some samurai and onmyoji who disobeyed him.

Then, with the vigorous propaganda of that bastard Fujiwara no Michinaga, things went at lightning speed in a direction that Lin Qingsu did not want.