After leaving the All-Arms Hall, Ogata went back to the hotel where he and A-Machi were staying. As Ogata expected, the two of them were nowhere to be seen in the hotel.

Naturally, Ogata had no clue as to where the two of them were going now and when they would come back.

How should we spend this time alone without Atachi and the others?

Staying in a hotel and staring at the ceiling in a daze is something I will never do.

After much thought, I couldn't think of a place I really wanted to go to right now, so I walked out of the hotel in a big way.

Just go outside and take a walk.

He bought a few bunches of glutinous rice dumplings from a tea house near the hotel and ate them for lunch. He walked aimlessly on the streets of Osaka while leisurely nibbling the glutinous rice dumplings in his hands.

In Ogata's impression, since he left Edo last autumn, he had not walked alone in a bustling metropolis like this for a long time.

The long-lost "walk alone" gave Ogata a special sense of freshness in his heart, and his steps could not help but become a little brisker.

Ogata's walk has no destination. He can go wherever he wants.

Unknowingly, we entered a commercial street.

Osaka truly deserves to be the ‘commercial capital’ and the ‘largest economic city in the country’…

Ogata couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

The density of commercial streets in Osaka is far better than that of Kyoto and slightly better than that of Edo. No matter where you go, you will encounter commercial streets and vendors who are constantly shouting.

Ogata had just finished eating all the glutinous rice dumplings in his hand. He crossed his hands and put them into his wide haori sleeves. He walked slowly in the center of this commercial street and carefully looked at the people on this street.

Every shop.

This is a comprehensive commercial street with a variety of shops on both sides of the street, selling everything.

Porcelain, clothes, groceries, tatami...

Perhaps because this place is in the western suburbs of Osaka, the flow of people is not very large.

Just when Ogata reached almost the center of this commercial street, his feet suddenly stopped.

He looked at the shop on his left with bright eyes.

To his left is a rather impressive bookstore.

Bookstore...

Reading is one of Ogata's major hobbies.

I recall that at the beginning, he was reading in his study room. Because he was tired from reading, he squinted his eyes and fell asleep for a while. When he opened his eyes again, he had become Ogata Yoshi.

Since arriving in the Edo period, I rarely read anymore because I don't have time, and the books of this era are basically not to Ogata's taste.

Because he loved reading, one of Ogata's favorite places in his previous life was the bookstore.

I am idle now, and it is rare to come across a store that interests me, so Ogata took a big step into this bookstore without thinking too much.

As soon as I entered the bookstore, the strong smell of ink and paper hit my face.

Like a cat that smelled something fishy, ​​a dai (the merchant's clerk) hurried towards Ogata.

"Sir, what do you need?" The young man bowed to Ogata politely and asked.

"I just came here to see if there are any interesting books." Ogata said.

"In that case, please excuse me, sir." Teshiro maintained his bowing posture, stood aside, and made a "please" gesture to Ogata.

This magnificent bookstore has a large and dazzling collection of books.

But after Ogata took a cursory look, a hint of disappointment slowly emerged in his eyes. The books in this bookstore were just as he expected, and they were basically books that he was not very interested in.

Basically they are some history books, some Han classics, and some Chinese novels.

For example, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin were unquestionable best-sellers in the Edo period, and they remained on the best-seller list and never fell off.

Ogata moved inch by inch, scanning every book on the bookshelf bit by bit, looking for books that interested him.

Unknowingly, I had walked to the counter.

Behind the counter, an old man with thinning hair sat.

The old man was looking at a book in his hand with great interest. On the cover of the book in his hand, there were 4 Chinese characters "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" neatly arranged.

At this time, the old man found Ogata standing not far from him, looking for books.

"...My lord." The old man grinned, "What book do you want?"

"Ah, I'm just casually reading." Ogata said, "I'm just looking to see if there are any books I'm interested in."

"What a book you are interested in..." A meaningful smile appeared on the old man's face, "Then I wonder if you are not interested in this kind of book?"

After saying that, the old man reached under the counter and pulled out a book with a yellow cover.

Looking at the yellow-covered book in the old man's hand, Ogata couldn't help but stare, and exclaimed in a low voice: "Yellow paper?"

"That's right." The old man nodded with a kind face, "It's the yellow form paper."

Yellow paper is a book that can make countless men of this era smile "knowingly" after hearing it.

To put it simply, they are erotic literary works with illustrations from the Edo period. Because the covers are basically yellow, they are called "yellow paper".

Seeing the old man showing Ogata the yellow paper in his hand so carelessly, Ogata couldn't help but subconsciously check his surroundings.

After confirming that there was no one else around, Ogata lowered his voice and asked the old man:

"Boss, how dare you sell this kind of thing? I remember wasn't this kind of thing banned a long time ago?"

Since Matsudaira Sadanobu came to power, in order to reverse the decadent trend of advocating consumption and pleasure in society, and to make the declining samurai class more samurai-like, Matsudaira Sadanobu issued a series of rectification measures.

For example, mixed bathing between men and women is prohibited.

Another example is banning the sale of pornographic publications such as pornographic forms.

If there are merchants selling these things, they will be severely punished.

Before Matsudaira Sadanobu issued this ban, this kind of reading material could be sold openly on the bookshelf, and it was extremely popular.

In Ogata's eyes, the old man holding the yellow form high was like holding a bomb.

"Sir, judging from your accent, you are not a native of Osaka, right? You don't know much about Osaka!"

"In Osaka, this is the most important thing."

The old man made a money gesture towards Ogata.

"In the face of this, whether it's the general or the emperor, everyone has to step aside."

"As long as you have this, you will have a way. If you have a way, you can do anything."

"Don't worry, if I was worried about being caught for this, I wouldn't show this to you."

After finishing speaking, the old man stuffed the yellow form paper in his hand into Ogata's arms.

"Take it and have a look. If you are interested, I will sell it to you at a cheaper price."

A person who had just been reading The Romance of the Three Kingdoms in a serious manner suddenly took out a book of yellow paper and stuffed it in. For some reason, Ogata felt an indescribable and strange feeling.

He lowered his head and looked at the yellow form in his arms.

Ogata's brain loudly said to Ogata: No! What's so good about this kind of thing that corrupts people's will!

Obviously my brain has already said this.

But something weird happened!

Ogata found that he couldn't control his fingers.

His fingers turned over the yellow form paper in his hand uncontrollably.

After the yellow form paper was opened, he was surprised to find that not only his fingers were out of control, but his eyes were also out of control.

My eyes can't help but read the lines in this book.

I have never read this type of book since I traveled to the Edo period. Just take a look. Ogata felt that his fingers and eyes seemed to be saying this to him.

Ogata's reading speed is already very fast, and he can accurately remember the contents of books at a glance.

Yellow form paper is generally very thin, and the thickest is no thicker than a finger.

After a while, only two-thirds of the yellow paper in Ogata's hand was left.

In terms of content, the content of this yellow paper is very simple. It just talks about the detailed process of acquaintance, love and connection between a ronin and the daughter of a certain dojo master.

There are several illustrations in this book, but Ogata has never appreciated the art style of the Edo period, so for Ogata, these illustrations are worse than not having them at all, and they will "calm down" after reading them.

This is Ogata's first contact with literary works from the Edo period. He obviously only intended to take a casual look at them and try something new, but gradually... his whole body and mind became uncontrollably immersed in the plot of this book.

among.

at this time

"Mr. Sheng, long time no see."

"Oh! It's you! It's been so long!"
To be continued...