"Of course!" Chiba Shigetarou answered without hesitation, "Father, Sazanoko is already 22 this year."
"Go ask around all of Edo — how many daughters of the samurai family are unmarried and without an engagent at 22?"
"If we wait a few more years and Sazanoko gets older, it will be difficult to find her a good family."
"Now is the ti to be concerned about Sazanoko’s future!"
Chiba Dingji smiled helplessly, "I don’t oppose you helping Sazanoko find a suitable and outstanding man."
"But don’t just find anyone recklessly for Sazanoko."
"How long have you known Mr. Tachibana? Have you thoroughly investigated his character? You want your sister to change her na to ’Tachibana Sonoko’ without even a detailed investigation on his character?"
"Father, you heard wrong. I didn’t say that Sazanoko should marry Mr. Tachibana right now." Chiba Shigetarou corrected, "What I just said was ’Mr. Tachibana is worth paying attention to.’"
"Of course, I know not to let soone who is all show and no substance beco my brother-in-law."
"I’ve made up my mind: from tomorrow, I will focus on investigating Mr. Tachibana’s character."
"As far as I know, Mr. Tachibana’s character shouldn’t be too bad."
Chiba Shigetarou smiled slightly.
"Today, in front of everyone, he directly demanded Brother Tadomaru retract his disrespectful remarks about Shiwei Hall."
"A person who dares to uphold the dignity of his dojo is soone whose character is worth expecting."
"...I admit Mr. Tachibana is indeed a very capable person." Chiba Dingji said slowly, "If his character is also good, then I would be happy to have such an outstanding talent as a son-in-law."
"But—"
Chiba Dingji changed his tone.
"No matter how excellent or suitable Mr. Tachibana is as my son-in-law, Sazanoko has to like Mr. Tachibana... At the very least, she should not be opposed to spending the rest of her life with him."
"If Sazanoko doesn’t like Mr. Tachibana, no matter how outstanding he is, I won’t agree to let Sazanoko marry him."
"The sa goes for other n; if Sazanoko has no intention of building a family with them, then it will have to be let go."
"I would rather let Sazanoko continue to be a ’solitary person’ than to have her marry soone she doesn’t like."
"Father, I understand everything you’re saying..." Chiba Shigetarou sighed deeply with a troubled expression, "Of course, I wouldn’t force her to marry soone against her will."
"Sigh..." Chiba Shigetarou raised his hand to scratch his head, "I just hope that Mr. Tachibana’s character is as excellent as his capabilities, and that he can seize the opportunity to win Sazanoko’s heart..."
"Do you really think so highly of Mr. Tachibana, so much so that you hope your sister’s na could change to ’Tachibana Sonoko’?" Chiba Dingji raised an eyebrow.
"Mr. Tachibana is the most outstanding among the several young n I currently admire." Chiba Shigetarou laughed, "And I get along quite well with him, so it’s natural for to value him the most."
"Shigetarou, you just said that starting tomorrow, you will focus on investigating Mr. Tachibana’s character... How do you plan to investigate?"
"Hmm hmm." Chiba Shigetarou let out a aningful laugh, "I have my ways."
...
...
Edo, Little Ishikawa Hoshimura Willow Street, on a road returning to Shiwei Hall—
"Drink more... drink more...!"
"Look, look, Master, he’s drunk after just a little bit of alcohol... hahaha..."
"You have no right to mock Master for getting drunk." Aoto retorted to Chokata, who was slumped on his back, his face so flushed it seed like it was bleeding.
It was probably a little past 10 o’clock in the evening now.
The lively celebration banquet had ended, the al had dispersed, and everyone was heading ho.
Zhouzhu, Kondo, and Chokata had all drunk quite a lot of alcohol.
Both the Kondo father and son were so drunk they could barely walk, while Chokata was the most drunk, unable to even stand up.
Saito and Abi hadn’t drunk any alcohol, and Aoto remained sober enough, so Aoto and the others had to find a way to "carry" Chokata and the others back to Shiwei Hall.
Abi supported Zhouzhu, Saito supported Kondo, while Aoto carried Chokata, who had gone limp from intoxication.
Fortunately, the three of them had decent drunken behavior. Zhouzhu and Chokata occasionally rambled nonsense, and Kondo remained silent throughout the process, so it wasn’t too difficult to "carry" them back to Shiwei Hall.
"Honestly..." Abi, who had Zhouzhu’s arm resting on her neck, snorted coldly, "Getting that drunk, it’s really too much!"
Just as Abi finished her sentence, Aoto turned his head with a smile and defended Zhouzhu and the others:
"Mistress, they were just too happy, so they drank a bit more than usual."
Tonight, Zhouzhu, Kondo, Chokata... to be more precise, almost all the long-ti mbers of Shiwei Hall were extrely happy and quite boisterous at the celebration banquet.
Aoto could fully understand their joy.
Aoto had only just joined Shiwei Hall for less than two months, so he hadn’t personally experienced the repeated defeats Shiwei Hall had faced in contests against Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo in the past.
Compared to Aoto, Kondo, Chokata, and the other veterans of Shiwei Hall must have felt much more emotional and exhilarated by today’s great victory.
So, it’s not hard to understand why they were so lively, joyful, and drank so much at tonight’s celebration banquet.
Hearing Aoto say this, Abi lowered her head and glanced at Kondo, who, though now passed out, still had a happy smile on his face.
"...Hmph."
Abi snorted lightly through her nose and stopped speaking, focusing on supporting Zhouzhu.
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