I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent.

Even those who dislike or hate Qingdeng have to admit that Qingdeng has a good reputation, a stellar resume, and almost no blemishes.

Since entering officialdom, he has been fighting against all kinds of evil forces and doing practical things for ordinary people.

His "honors" are indeed highly valuable.

Although it was a chaotic world where order had collapsed, the word "honor" still held a very important place in the spiritual world of the samurai.

Qingdeng vouched for it with his own "honor"... which is quite a heavy statement.

Therefore, after Qing Deng's impassioned speech, no one raised any further questions.

After looking at each other for a while, they all turned to look at their leader.

"..."

A tense atmosphere instantly arose.

The person who created this atmosphere was none other than Takeshi Hanpeita, who had remained silent for a long time.

He frowned, his face expressionless, making it impossible to discern his thoughts from his demeanor.

"...Lord Niou, it seems you really admire that Iwasaki Yataro."

"In ancient times, King Zhao of Yan spent a thousand gold pieces to buy horse bones; today, Ju Qingdeng spends a hundred thousand gold pieces."

"Now I'm actually starting to get a little curious about that Iwasaki Yataro."

"What kind of person could make you go to such lengths?"

Qingdeng shrugged:

"Well... it's hard for me to explain in just a few words. Anyway—Iwasaki Yataro is definitely worth me going to such lengths for him."

"..."

Takeshi Hanpeita fell silent again.

As the silence continued to build... finally, after about 15 seconds, Takeshi Hanpeita let out a soft sigh.

"……All right."

"Since you've staked your honor on this, it would be immoral of me to be so hesitant and indecisive under these circumstances."

As he spoke, Wu Shi Banping straightened his back and said solemnly and deliberately:

"Lord Renwang, I will resolve your worries as quickly as possible! Please await good news!"

A subtle commotion arose throughout the arena.

Some people remained calm.

Some people have doubts.

Some people were indignant.

Despite their bizarre expressions, Qing Deng no longer cared.

After a slight smile, Qing Deng bowed lightly to Wu Shi Hanheita in front of him:

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you!"

……

……

Click click click click click...

Upon hearing the clicking sound of the small door beside him opening, Iwasaki Yataro hurriedly turned his head to look.

Whenever someone came out, Iwasaki Yataro would look up as quickly as possible to confirm whether it was Aoto.

Although every time he looks up so far, he is still happy to do it.

Fortunately, he was not disappointed this time.

"Lord Niou!"

Yataro Iwasaki rushed towards Aoto with a hurried expression.

Before the other party could speak, Qingdeng offered a calm smile:

"Everything's taken care of. Now we just have to wait for news."

Yataro Iwasaki was stunned for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, a complex mix of emotions—surprise, joy, gratitude—emerged on his cheeks.

"Lord Ren-ou, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qingdeng gestured for silence and then interrupted him:

"This is not a good place to talk."

Qing Deng raised his hand and pointed to the gate of the Tosa Domain behind him.

"Let's go back to the station first, and talk as we walk."

Having said that, he took the lead and strode away.

Yataro Iwasaki hurriedly followed.

……

……

In no time—

Kyoto, a certain street—

"what?!"

Yataro Iwasaki's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in disbelief.

Many people on the surrounding streets were attracted by his voice and turned their heads one by one to look at him and Qingdeng.

Realizing he had lost his composure, Iwasaki Yataro immediately tightened his lips and tongue, daring not to say another word.

Only after the people looking in their direction realized there was nothing amusing to see and turned their gazes away did he anxiously and quickly say to Qingdeng:

"Lord Renwang, you...you...you really promised a reward of 10 taels of gold?"

Qingdeng nodded slightly.

Iwasaki Yataro gasped:

"This, this, this, this... Lord Ren-o, how can you spend money so recklessly!"

"10 taels of gold! Even if you possess a mountain of treasures like the 'Silver Mirror,' this isn't a number you can easily scrape together!"

"Even if a fee is to be paid, it doesn't have to be such a large amount!"

Yataro Iwasaki looked anxious and disappointed.

Qing Deng watched his reaction with a smile.

"Iwasaki-kun, calm down."

"I'm not a stupid person with too much money, I wouldn't waste money."

"Since we don't need to pay immediately, we'll naturally promise as much as possible to increase the chances of success in the negotiations."

“If it weren’t for the fact that ‘100,000’ sounds better, I would have even shouted ‘1 million’ directly.”

Iwasaki Yataro's emotions did not calm down after Aoto's casual remark, "Calm down."

“But…didn’t you make an agreement with Takeshi Hanpeita that you would hand over the 3 taels of gold to him in full within three years at the latest? In the end, you still have to give him that money.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Qing Deng suddenly revealed a blatant, cold laugh:

"Three years... Hmph! It's questionable whether the Tosa Loyalist Party will still exist after three years."

Yataro Iwasaki was stunned for a moment after hearing this.

Then, as if realizing something terrible, his face turned pale and he stammered:

"Could it be... Lord Niou, that you... you intend to wipe out the Tosa Loyalist Party in order to pay off your debts?"

"certainly not."

Qingdeng scolded him irritably.

"I would never do something so heartless and unethical."

He considered his words for a moment, then continued the conversation:

"After entering the Tosa Domain's residence, I witnessed firsthand the spirit of the Tosa loyalists."

In short—they are nothing to fear.

"Although they kept talking about 'expelling the barbarians' and each of them put on a passionate appearance of 'being irreconcilably opposed to the barbarians,' their actions and words inadvertently revealed their true thoughts."

"Their highest ideal was not 'governing the country and bringing peace to the world' at all, but 'to prove themselves in front of the sergeant' and 'to earn military merits and become the new sergeant'."

"In other words, the Tosa Loyalist Party was nothing more than a vulgar interest group."

"An organization like this has its limits."

"Moreover, there is no way out by trying to expel the barbarians."

"If one is unwilling to jump out of the well, unwilling to open one's eyes to see the world... if one continues to hold such a closed mindset, it is only a matter of time before one is destroyed."

“In fact, even saying ‘3 years’ is a conservative estimate.”

At this point, Qing Deng stopped in his tracks, turned his upper body, and looked in the direction of the Tosa Domain residence.

"The current situation is so complicated."

"No one knows what kind of dramatic changes will occur in the future."

"They might not even last six months."

"My promise is that I will deliver 100,000 taels of gold to the Tosa loyalist party within three years without any error."

"If the Tosa Loyalist Party disappears, then naturally I won't have to pay anymore, right?"

After speaking, Qing Deng looked away and looked at Iwasaki Yataro.