I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"What a fine sword..." Inugaya smacked his lips a few times, carefully examined the blade of the Demon-Slaying Blade, then sheathed it and handed it back to Qingdeng. "If you were to sell this sword, it wouldn't be impossible to get 300 taels of gold..."

Qingdeng laughed and said, "I would never sell such a good knife, which is so expensive that even money can't always buy it, unless absolutely necessary."

After saying that, Qingdeng lowered his head and looked at the Ghost-Stabilizing Divine Weapon in his hand.

His current sword, a family heirloom passed down through generations in the Ju family, was severely damaged in that "snowy night battle," with more than a dozen chips.

Qing Deng was a samurai with an official position, and it was absolutely unacceptable for him to take the thieves' property for himself.

If the authorities discover that you have done such a thing, the consequences will be unimaginable. If the amount of money you have embezzled is too large, it is not impossible that they will ask you to commit seppuku as an apology.

Unable to take away the weapons left behind by the "Expel the Barbarians" thugs, Qing Deng could only retrieve his family heirloom sword after the battle.

When Aoto first moved into Shieikan, he borrowed some money from Kondo and took his badly damaged family heirloom sword to a swordsmith shop for repair. It took about 10 days to complete the repairs.

Of course, the "sword repair money" borrowed from Kondo has been fully repaid after receiving the gift money from the French Legation.

Qing Deng weighed the Ding Guishen in his hand—this Ding Guishen had a large curve and was longer than a typical katana, so in terms of shape it was more like a tachi.

This kind of long sword is actually very suitable for tall people like Qing Deng. People of his height can naturally wield this kind of long sword more easily than those who are short.

Qing Deng was naturally very happy to receive a precious sword that was of a significantly higher quality than the one he was currently using. As he looked down at the sword in his hand, a faint smile appeared on his face.

High-quality swords are always in high demand but short supply.

Having a sharper and more durable sword by one's side will directly and linearly enhance one's strength.

Before Qingdeng could even fully savor the joy of acquiring his new sword, suddenly—

“橘君！”

"Lord Envoy?" Qing Deng stopped in his tracks and looked at Bo Jing, who was walking quickly towards him from behind.

“…Tachibana-kun.” Usui walked quickly to Qing Deng’s side with a complicated expression, and lowered his voice, “Come with me now.”

"What's wrong?" Qingdeng asked, startled. "Did something happen?"

"Don't ask so many questions yet, just hurry up and come over here."

Qing Deng was puzzled, but Bo Jing looked serious, so he didn't dare to be negligent.

He nodded, said something to Arima and the others around him, and followed behind Usui, quickly moving through the Hokuban-sho (Northern District) compound towards an unknown location.

After ascending to the second floor of the North Zone Office with Bo Jing, Qing Deng, unable to contain his curiosity, once again asked Bo Jing, who was walking ahead of him:

"Lord Usui, where exactly are we going?"

Bo Jing pursed his lips.

Then he said softly:

"Lord Ii... he wants to see you alone."

"……What?"

……

……

Bojing led Qingdeng to a secluded room on the second floor of the Beifan Office.

Bo Jing personally pulled open the slightly worn paper sliding door, and inside the room, a familiar face that they had only just parted ways with came into Qing Deng's view.

Ii Naosuke sat cross-legged in the center of the room, with his four attendants standing neatly on his left and right sides.

“My lord,” Bo Jing bowed, “I have brought Ju Qing Deng with me.”

"Yes." Ii Naosuke nodded. "Thank you for your hard work. You may leave for now."

Bojing: "Yes."

Whoosh... After bowing to Ii Naosuke again, Usui respectfully withdrew from the room and closed the door.

“Tachibana-kun,” Ii Naosuke said with a smile to Aoto, who was left in the room, in a humorous tone, “we meet again.”

He raised his hand and gestured in front of him.

"Come on, Mr. Tachibana, please make yourself at home."

Why did Ii-sama, whom I had only parted ways with not long ago, suddenly summon me for a private meeting?

With this question in mind, Qing Deng knelt down at the spot that Ii Naosuke had just pointed to, and then placed the Tsunejin in his hand to his right.

At this moment, Ii Naosuke sat cross-legged with a faint smile on his face, looking quite relaxed.

"Hahahaha." Looking at Aoto, who was sitting properly, Ii Naosuke joked, "Tachibana-kun, you don't need to be so reserved. You can relax a bit."

"I just wanted to have a simple chat with you, so you don't have to sit so formally."

"Chatting?" Qing Deng couldn't help but ask in a soft voice.

“Well… since there are no outsiders here, I’ll just tell you the truth.” Ii Naosuke’s smile slowly took on a more meaningful tone. “The reason I decided to personally attend and preside over today’s assessment meeting is actually to see for myself what you look like.”

"Didn't I mention this to you at the assessment meeting? I've wanted to meet you for a long time."

"But I was just too busy throughout February and couldn't find the time."

"It wasn't until today that I finally managed to free up some free time."

"Since I happen to have some free time today, I might as well take this opportunity to attend this assessment meeting. It will not only allow me to see you, but also make up for the reward that should have been given to you long ago."

"Ah, speaking of this, let me tell you a little secret: the reward we're going to give you was actually decided more than half a month ago."

“But I specifically requested that these rewards be presented to you in front of the other officials of the ‘Three Rounds’ at today’s assessment meeting.”

"It would be a waste not to take this opportunity to boost the morale of the 'Three Rounds' team, since someone has made such a remarkable contribution."

"Seeing you receive such a fine sword in such a glorious manner must inspire the fighting spirit of many people."

The feeling that Ii Naosuke gave Aoto was slightly different from the feeling he had given Aoto at the assessment meeting.

At this point, Ii Naosuke... became even more "ordinary".

His smile widened, and he spoke a little more ramblingly, looking more like an ordinary old man next door.

After rambling on about some mundane family matters, Ii Naosuke abruptly changed the subject—

"Oh no, no. It seems I've accidentally started rambling on about too many irrelevant trifles."

Ii Naosuke leaned to the side, resting his head on the armrest next to him.

"Haha... Once you're too relaxed, you tend to fall back into your old habit of nagging..."

Let's get back to the main topic.

Ii Naosuke cleared his throat.

"Mr. Ju, could you tell me in detail... about the whole process of how you encountered and defeated that group of 'anti-foreign' thugs that night?"

Qingdeng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that moment.

Regarding what happened that night... As early as when Qing Deng requested the Edo Magistrate's Office to send someone to Kanagawa to meet them, who dared not leave the post station again, he had already written in detail about his entire experience that night in that letter of request for help.

Upon returning to Edo, Aoto immediately submitted a more detailed report.

Everything I could say and everything I knew was written in the report.

As a senior official, it was impossible for Ii Naosuke not to have seen these reports.

Why bother calling him over to ask again when you could have just read his report?

As if sensing Aoto's question, Ii Naosuke smiled:

"Although I have carefully read the document you submitted detailing how you defeated the enemy with a smaller force, I still want to hear with my own ears how you came up with that strategy that night."

Although he still didn't quite understand Ii Naosuke's somewhat strange behavior, since this middle-aged man who currently held immense power had spoken, Aoto dared not disobey.

Qing Deng calmly and methodically recounted the entire detailed process of the "chaotic battle on a snowy night," a story he had told countless times to countless people.

Because he had explained it so many times that Qingdeng was very familiar with it, he finished explaining everything he could in less than 10 minutes.

"Hmm..." As soon as Qing Deng finished speaking, Ii Naosuke let out a low murmur.

After a moment of silence, he fell silent.

After a long while, his voice finally broke the silence:

"I knew it... No matter how many times I hear it, it still feels incredible..."

After saying that, Ii Naosuke stretched.

"Mr. Orange, thank you for coming all this way. You may leave now."

Qingdeng's eyes widened.

You're just letting me leave like that?!

Qingdeng was completely dumbfounded.

I was completely baffled.

Suddenly, I called him over.

Then, after he recounted the entire "snowy night battle" in detail, which he had already written in his report, they suddenly let him go...

What exactly did this person want from me? This question kept swirling in Qingdeng's mind.

Despite his confusion, Qingdeng didn't remain stunned for too long.

Since Elder Ii had already told him to step down, Qing Deng had no choice but to comply.

Qingdeng bowed and answered "Yes," then grabbed his spirit-stabilizing device and left the room, slightly dazed.

After watching Qing Deng's departing figure, Ii Naosuke smiled slightly.

Then... he reached into his robes and pulled out a small booklet, no bigger than a palm and half a finger thick.

When Ii Naosuke took out the book, one of his attendants, as if by conditioned reflex, immediately untied a small brush with ink-soaked tip and a small bamboo tube filled with water from his belt.

Ii Naosuke took the writing brush from the attendant, dipped the tip into the bamboo tube to moisten the dried ink, then opened the booklet to a blank page. With a flourish, he wrote three Chinese characters in a flowing, elegant style.

Oranges are green.

Ii Naosuke gently blew on the name he had just written in the booklet, and after the ink dried, he slammed the booklet shut and put it back in his pocket.

"...My lord." The attendant who had just handed Ii Naosuke a pen and water hesitated, "Are you... planning to recommend Tachibana Aoto to the Shogun?"

Naosuke Ii smiled calmly.