I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"That's right, it's Izumi no Kami Kanesada! Although he's only the eleventh Izumi no Kami Kanesada, he's just as sharp as a blade of mud!"

As he spoke, he grabbed the Izumi no Kami Kanesada with both hands, then turned and handed it to Hijikata Toshizo.

"Hijikata-kun, from this day forward, this Izumi no Kami Kaneki is yours!"

The other party was taken aback:

"Ju, what's wrong?"

"Hmm? Here are eight katanas, one naginata, one spear, and one wakizashi—isn't it obvious what I want?"

Upon hearing this, the "No way?" conjecture that had been lingering in everyone's minds finally turned into certainty.

"Mr. Ju, what's wrong with you...?"

Harada Sanosuke swallowed hard.

Are you going to give us these weapons?

Qingdeng nodded.

“You are no longer nobodys who are ignored, but important members of the Shinsengumi.”

"In that case, we naturally need excellent weapons that are worthy of your new identities and can also be used in the fierce battles to come!"

"Consider these weapons my promotion gift to you."

After hearing Qingdeng's words, everyone's gaze returned to the weapons in front of them.

No professional appraisal skills are needed anymore... Just by looking at the exquisite blade fittings and gorgeous patterns, you can easily tell that these weapons are definitely not cheap, mass-produced goods!

The commander murmured:

"They don't look cheap... Tachibana-kun, you must have spent a lot of money to buy these weapons, right?"

Qing Deng Wan Er:

"Don't worry about the money, I have a way to buy knives."

“Rintaro once served at the Kōbū-shō, and he was also Mr. Otani’s nephew, so he had connections in this area and knew many swordsmiths and sword dealers.”

“Through his connections, I was able to buy the knife at a price lower than the market price.”

"With my current financial resources, purchasing these weapons is more than enough."

With the added advantages of the talents "Emperor's Art" and "Trickster +1", no one could find any clues in Qing Deng's expression or words.

In fact, Qing Deng's words were half true and half false.

Thanks to Katsura Rintaro's help, he was able to purchase weapons at a price lower than the market price.

But to say it's more than enough... well, that's not quite right.

To purchase all these weapons, Qingdeng spent a total of 3000 taels of his private savings, leaving him with nothing.

That's a huge sum of money.

Let me put it this way—generally speaking, as long as you spend 2 taels of gold, you can spend the night with the highest-ranking courtesan in Yoshiwara, namely the courtesan.

3000 taels of gold... that's enough to make the courtesan want to vomit just from smelling your scent.

From his time as the captain of the Hokuban-sho-cho-cho, to his role as the captain of the 3rd Division of the Fire Thieves, a side servant and the head of the Imperial Guard, and now as the Governor of the Capital Region... Aoto has never accepted bribes from anyone along the way.

The official positions he held were all the kind where, if he wanted, he could easily earn ten or even dozens of times his original salary with just a flick of his finger.

However, Qingdeng's simple sense of justice did not allow him to do evil.

All his money was earned through his own legitimate income.

No matter how developed the commodity economy was during the Edo period, it was still just so-so; there weren't many places where one could spend a lot of money.

The only place where one can spend thousands of dollars a day... is probably Yoshiwara—would Aoto dare to go to Yoshiwara?

If Qingdeng dares to go to Yoshiwara, he's finished!

His ambition to "sleep together under the same quilt" is like a sandcastle, which could collapse at any moment.

Apart from the chief, the other two remain unchanged, unable to accept the bizarre family of "one husband and three wives".

Under such circumstances, if Aoto dared to go to Yoshiwara...

If they were to persuade him with kind words, the gentle Souji and the easily swayed Kinoshita Mai might still have a chance to win him back.

But the strong-willed Sanako would definitely break off all ties with Aoto on the spot! She would never have anything to do with Aoto again for the rest of her life!

Sanako definitely has that kind of courage and decisiveness.

In order not to lose Sanako, Aoto would obediently walk around the high walls of Yoshiwara whenever he saw them.

However, he did maintain contact with the old lady Guasheng Xiu, whom he had met during his investigation of Huanfudian. The two of them often corresponded with each other.

I never go to places like Yoshiwara that are notorious for their extravagant spending, nor do I buy luxury goods.

Food, clothing, shelter and transportation didn't cost much—especially "sleep," as Qingdeng had been living in the Shiwei Hall without paying rent.

With a family stipend and salary of several thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), a huge reward for severely damaging the anti-foreign group and wiping out the Qingshui clan, and a simple lifestyle, Qingdeng accumulated wealth in these three years that was insignificant to a wealthy merchant but quite considerable to an ordinary person, amounting to approximately 3500 taels of gold.

After purchasing weapons for the commander and others, Qingdeng's savings were reduced by more than half. Such a large loss could hardly be described as "more than enough".

However, the money wasn't wasted.

The weapons he bought were all good guns and fine swords that were worth the price!

At this moment, Toudou Heisuke, the youngest and most respectful of Aoto, timidly whispered:

"Mr. Ju, how could we possibly accept such a valuable gift...?"

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng immediately adopted a less than pleasant tone, feigning annoyance as he quickly said:

"The goods have already been purchased. If you don't accept them, are you just going to let them gather dust in the warehouse?"

The group looked at each other, bewildered.

If it's just some cheap, worthless item, then so be it.

However, the fact that these valuable items, averaging over a hundred taels of gold, ultimately made everyone hesitate.

Just when the situation reached a stalemate... that girl truly lived up to her reputation as Qingdeng's "little cotton-padded jacket," always making things so easy for him.

With a loud "smack," Souji clapped his hands forcefully, drawing everyone's attention:

“Tachibana-kun is right! These weapons were specially prepared for us by him.”

Who are we?

"We're Tachibana-kun's best friends, brothers, right?"

"Since we're partners who share weal and woe, there's no need to be so modest; that would only make us seem distant!"

"If we don't accept Mr. Tachibana's kindness, it would be impolite of us."

As soon as the commander finished speaking, everyone looked at each other again—this time, they were no longer at a loss.

"..."

Hijikata Toshizo pursed his lips and remained silent.

A moment later, he stretched out his hands and took the Izumi no Kami Kanesada that Aoto handed over.

His eyes gleamed as he gazed at the katana in the tea scabbard in his hand.

It's clear he really likes this knife.

"...Tachibana, thank you."

After saying this, Hijikata Toshizo bowed deeply and solemnly greeted Aoto.

"You're welcome."

Qingdeng smiled and returned the greeting.

With Hijikata Toshizo taking the lead, the rest of them completely abandoned their reserve.

"Alright, line up! I'm going to distribute the weapons to you one by one!"

Among the group, only Harada Sanosuke, Sanako, and Kinoshita Mai are skilled with rather unique weapons.

One of them wielded a long spear, another a naginata, and the third a martial artist.

Therefore, the long spear, the naginata, and the wakizashi in the cloth bag were prepared specifically for the three of them.

The spear is named "Narakukan".

It is a sickle spear with sickle blades on both sides of the spearhead, one side longer and the other shorter, with a total length of 2.3 meters.

The term "Naraku" is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word "naraka" from Buddhist scriptures, which describes the Avici Hell where one can never escape its clutches.

Piercing through Naraku—just hearing the name, you can feel the extraordinary nature of this spear.

The naginata is named "Moon in the Pond".

It's a beautiful name, and its form certainly lives up to that name.

It is 2.2 meters long and has a light blue handle.

The handle is coated with a light white paint to prevent slipping.

The slender, willow-leaf-shaped blade, gleaming with a cold light, silently proclaimed to the outside world: it was not just a flashy but impractical piece of junk!

The wakizashi's name was "Echizen Yasutsugu".

Kinoshita Mai doesn't know swordsmanship; she's a female ninja who specializes in movement techniques and hand-to-hand combat.

Therefore, instead of giving her a katana, it would be better to give her a small wakizashi that can be used for self-defense and will not hinder her movement when worn on her person.

As for the remaining eight katanas, they were given to the swordsmen led by Souji.

Although they come from different schools, they are all top-notch knives.

Kondo Isami – Kenjiro, the resident of Seki, Noshu.

Hijikata Toshizo – Izumi no Kami Kanesada.

Yamanami Keisuke – A resident of Yunshu.

Nagakura Shinpachi - Banshu's resident Shige Yamashita.

Saito Hajime – Settsu Province resident: Ikeda Onijimaru Kunishige.