I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qingdeng frowned slightly, racking his brains.

Just then, as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind, he suddenly remembered what Kinoshita Rin had just said:

(I don't like deals that don't make money or that lose money and don't go my way.)

—"Not going as planned"...

Then, he recalled the earnest words that Mr. Kiryu had spoken to him earlier:

(My lord, although she is a merchant, she is not an ordinary one. If she were the kind of selfish person who only cares about making money and doesn't care about anything else, she wouldn't have become mortal enemies with the Fazhi Party. Therefore, if you only regard her as the kind of pure merchant who only cares about profit, you will suffer a great loss.)

Qingdeng felt like he had grasped something.

Soon, a "gentle breeze" dispelled the fog in his mind, and his mind suddenly became clear.

"...Ms. Kinoshita, how about this—if the Karasu-ya is willing to sponsor us, then the Hatazu Domain will become a bridgehead against the Fa-ju Party! We will spare no effort to strike at the Fa-ju Party!"

In that instant, Kinoshita Rin's facial expression finally changed.

She raised an eyebrow, her eyes lit up, and she made a sound of interest:

"Oh?"

Kiryu's expression also changed.

He raised his half-closed eyelids, lifted his gaze, and cast an admiring look at Qingdeng, as if to say, "This child is teachable."

Qing Deng said calmly and seriously:

"As far as I know, you are extremely hostile to the law and the suppression of factions, and you have an irreconcilable blood feud with each other."

"It's quite a coincidence that I also have a very deep conflict with the Party that punishes the law."

"Therefore, on the level of 'resisting the law and eliminating the party,' you and I share the same interests."

"To be honest, I know far from knowing this evil party."

"However, based on the intelligence I currently possess, and considering the various actions of the Fazhu Party, I dare to assert that they are definitely not bandits of a nomadic nature!"

"They definitely have a stable base of operations!"

"They might even have a very powerful military force!"

"The opponent is both powerful and cunning... Since the goal is to eliminate a powerful enemy, then 'making many allies' is a good choice, and the more allies the better."

“Ms. Kinoshita, what I’m about to say may be a bit harsh—if the Gourd House had the ability to eliminate the Law Enforcement Party on its own, then the latter wouldn’t have been able to roam freely for so long.”

"You are ultimately just a merchant group, unable to openly develop military power—but I can!"

Qing Deng suddenly raised his voice, his tone full of momentum, and his words were brimming with strong confidence.

"I am the lord of Qin Jin Domain, the governor of the capital region, and the leader of the Eighth Prince's Thousand Men's Hearts. I command two legions: the Shinsengumi and the Eighth Prince's Thousand Men's Hearts. My direct troops alone number 5000!"

"I have soldiers, but no money."

"You have money, but no soldiers."

"We are highly complementary!"

"Ms. Kinoshita, in order to eliminate the Fa-Zhu Party, please become my ally—not a business partner to 'make money together,' but a comrade-in-arms to 'join forces to fight against the Fa-Zhu Party'!"

After speaking, Qingdeng stared intently at the old woman in front of him, anxiously awaiting her reply.

If even these conditions are not met, then he is truly out of options!

Qingdeng: "..."

Kinoshita Rin: "..."

The old man and the young man just stared at each other, neither making a move nor speaking.

Fortunately, this strange situation did not last long.

A moment later, Kinoshita Rin slowly raised her head and shouted outside:

"Someone come here!"

In the blink of an eye, footsteps approached from afar:

"My lord, please give your orders."

"Call Jiaqing here, quickly."

"Yes!"

Kiryu's boss explained to Aoto:

"Jiaqing is the lord's strategist and right-hand man; his full name is Mitsugami Jiaqing."

"His position in the Gourd House was similar to that of a prime minister of a country, and he was known for his ruthless and decisive nature, hence the title 'Prime Minister of Killing'."

Not long after, a thin, middle-aged man with half-white hair and beard pushed open the door and entered, appearing before Qingdeng and the others.

"My lord, what are your orders?"

The middle-aged man... that is, the most superior and clear-headed, asked a rhetorical question directly.

Kinoshita Rin said calmly, without any emotion:

"From this day forward, Hulu House will enter into an alliance with Qin Jin Domain, and the two sides will form a military alliance."

The best-looking Qing raised an eyebrow:

"'Military alliance'? Please forgive me for asking, but how long will this alliance last? And what kind of assistance will we provide to the Qin Jin Domain during the period of this alliance?"

As expected of the "Prime Minister" of the Gourd House, he didn't waste a single word, and all the questions he raised went straight to the heart of the matter.

"No upper limit."

"……what?"

The most beautiful girl, Yoshiki, opened her eyes wide and asked in disbelief.

At the same time, Qing Deng and Kinoshita Mai also changed their expressions, both showing shocked looks as if they doubted that they had misheard.

Only Kiryu shrugged, with an expression that said, "I knew it."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Kinoshita Rin, remaining calm and composed, slowly said:

"There is no limit. Our aid to Qin Jinfan is limitless; whatever they want, we will give them! The alliance between the two sides will continue until the Fazhu Party is completely eradicated!"

*******

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Generally speaking, the basic principle of negotiation is "ask for the moon, then bargain."

However, if Leopard were to write out the details of the "sit-and-repay" process, a bunch of readers would start spamming "water water water" comments.

Therefore, Leopard skipped the process of "returning the money on the spot".

Qing Deng quickly laid out his bottom line in negotiations, which was rejected by Kinoshita Rin. Then Qing Deng "woke up" and swiftly finalized the cooperation—all in one fell swoop. I wrote it easily, and my readers enjoyed reading it too—a win-win situation!

Chapter 779 You brat, did you and Ah Wu get together?! [4600]

To be honest, even Qing Deng, who is well-informed and experienced, was stunned by the rapid changes in the situation from the very beginning.

If even Qing Deng is like this, then it goes without saying that it's Kinoshita Mai.

Her gaze was fixed, her lips parted into an "O" shape, and her expression was blank, as if she had been turned into a clay or wooden sculpture.

Once upon a time, Kiryu's boss told Aoto: Kinoshita Rin has an extremely strong sense of justice and takes "eliminating evil and protecting the innocent" as her mission.

She is completely different from those hypocrites who talk a good game and are full of morality, but are actually full of immoral and immoral thoughts.

She would truly go to any lengths to oppose you for the sake of justice in the world!

When Kiryu was introducing the heroes of the gourd house, she also mentioned indirectly that 20 years ago, in order to eliminate the bandits entrenched in the Iga Mountains, she resolutely dispatched an expedition led by Katakura Takanobu, who launched a swift and decisive attack and completely wiped out the gang.

Even though the other party hadn't provoked the Gourd House, and no matter how much they did wrong, it wouldn't have a negative impact on the Gourd House, she still chose to "meddle."

As for punishing a faction according to the law, that is an even better example.

Hulu House is a merchant group, while Fazhu Party is an extremist organization dedicated to overthrowing the Tokugawa shogunate.

One is a business group, and the other is a political association. They are not on the same page, and there is no strong conflict of interest between them.

However, because Kinoshita Rin detested the law against political factions and could not agree with their ideals, she did not hesitate to become their enemy!

In other words, it was actually the Gourd House that actively provoked and attacked the Fa-Zhu Party.

The leaders of the Fazhu Party might find this baffling: It's one thing for the Da Shi Party to attack us, but why are you, Hulu House, getting involved?

Therefore, from a certain perspective, the attack on Hulu House by the Fazhu Party can be considered a disguised form of "self-defense counterattack".

In terms of her eccentric personality of "liking to cause trouble for no reason" and "being keen on creating problems for herself," Kinoshita Rin is very similar to her great-uncle (Kinoshita Genichi).

So Qing Deng thought: Since Kinoshita Rin is a righteous person with lofty ideals and a strong sense of justice, let's change our perspective—instead of trying to persuade her with material things, let's move her with moral principles!

Aoto's ability to generate such inspiration was entirely due to the assistance of Kiryu's boss.

—Mr. Kiryu…you’ve been a huge help!

Aoto was filled with gratitude towards Mr. Kiryu.

Without a doubt, Kiryu's earlier statement to Aoto that "the lord is not a pure businessman" was a way of "passing him a cheat sheet."

He was implying to Qing Deng that if he only negotiated with Kinoshita Rin with the attitude of "doing business with a businessman" and only talked to her about "money", he would be completely defeated.

In terms of results, Qingdeng succeeded.

However, judging from the current situation... he seems to have been too successful!

As Qing Deng had planned, even if he succeeded in winning over Kinoshita Rin, they would still have to go through several more rounds of back and forth.

Only after repeated and multiple rounds of discussions on the specific details of the alliance could a final solution that satisfied everyone be barely agreed upon.

However... in reality, Kinoshita Rin didn't even bother to say a word or waste any time, and directly announced the formation of the alliance!

And it's such a grand and ambitious alliance!

There's no limit to the support; whatever Qin Jinfan wants, Hulu House will provide it...