I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Mr. Hijikata...!"

Then a similar scene unfolded... Moved, A-Xiang threw herself into Hijikata's arms, and Hijikata hugged her back...

Ah Xiang's bodyguard, quite astutely, turned away...

After cuddling with A-Xiang for a while, Tsuchifang said to her, "It's getting late, you should go home now, I'll come find you later," and then saw A-Xiang off.

Watching Ah Xiang leave, Qing Deng's mouth... had now turned into an "O" shape.

He hadn't even had time to express his astonishment at what he had just witnessed—

"Mr. Hijikata...?!"

Another female voice rang out...

The woman who appeared this time was wearing a kendo uniform and a karakatsuki (wakizashi) at her waist—she looked like a daughter of a samurai family.

"Huh? Aya?" Hijikata once again showed a "surprised" expression.

After Aya suddenly appeared, the scene that Qingdeng had already seen twice reappeared...

Aya said to Tufang: I heard you were arrested and taken to jail, so I came here specifically to see you.

Then Hijikata said he was fine and would explain in detail what happened later.

And then... Hijikata once again reached into his robes.

"Oh, right, right. Since you're here, I'll give you this little gift."

"I came across this peach blossom by chance on the roadside when I was returning to Edo from Tama."

"This peach blossom left a very deep impression on me at the time."

"Of all the peach trees, only this one is in full bloom and most vibrant."

"This peach blossom reminds me of you."

"You are just like this peach blossom, delicate and lovely, making people want to cherish you."

Having said that, Hijikata, for the third time, tucked the "most beautiful peach blossom" he had mentioned behind the girl's ear...

Chapter 111 About Qing Deng's encounter with the strange man in black at night [7200]

"Mr. Hijikata...!"

The girl in the kendo uniform, who had just been full of heroic spirit and exuded an aura of "women not inferior to men," suddenly became quite girlish the moment Hijikata pinned a peach blossom behind her ear.

She blushed and became the third girl to fall into Hijikata's arms that night.

Hijikata held her tightly with a tender expression—just as he had held the previous two girls.

Standing by the window, Qingdeng was completely dumbfounded...

"...How many partners does Hijikata have?" he couldn't help but ask Okita next to him.

After a moment of silence, Okita answered:

"...I don't know. I'm not sure how many girls Mr. Hijikata has had ambiguous relationships with."

"Every now and then, I'll meet a new person I've never seen before—like this girl in a kendo uniform who's hugging Mr. Hijikata right now, she's the first time I've ever met her."

"He has such complicated relationships with so many women... Isn't he afraid that one day these girls will find out what he's been doing?"

The person who asked this question was not Qing Deng.

It was Saito.

Saito, who usually has a blank expression, showed a rare look of astonishment and took the initiative to ask questions.

“Yes,” Okita replied. “There was one such incident before.”

"Two girls, both of whom had special relationships with Mr. Hijikata, visited Mr. Hijikata's house at the same time one morning."

"Hijikata-kun wasn't torn to pieces on the spot?" Looking at Hijikata's intact body outside the window, Aoto blinked hard, his face filled with astonishment.

"The two girls had a huge argument with Mr. Hijikata on the spot. It is said that they cried and shouted, 'Do you want this woman or me?'"

"The situation looks like it's completely out of control."

"But then, Mr. Hijikata somehow managed to reconcile with the two girls."

"Not only did I reconcile with them, but I also resumed our previous ambiguous relationship."

"Ah, these two girls are the two girls that Mr. Hijikata called A-Jing and A-Xiang."

Qingdeng: "..."

Qingdeng, who is usually quite eloquent, was at a loss for words at this moment...

Whether in his past life or the present, this was the first time Qing Deng had ever seen a "sea king" who could straddle countless boats and still ensure that none of them would capsize.

Does this kind of thing really exist in reality? Someone who can have ambiguous relationships with several girls at the same time and still manage to avoid being killed by them?

From a certain perspective, this can be considered a talent.

Moreover, it's the kind of talent that ordinary people can't learn even if they wanted to—at least Qing Deng felt he couldn't learn this kind of talent.

Qing Deng couldn't imagine what it would be like to be a "playboy" like Hijikata, someone who wouldn't be torn to pieces by girls.

At that moment, Hijikata finally released the girl in the kendo uniform from his arms.

After saying goodbye to the girl in the kendo uniform, Hijikata did not immediately prepare to go back to his house as he had the previous two times.

Instead, he deliberately lingered outside the entrance hall for a while longer.

After waiting a while longer and confirming that no one else would come, he crossed his arms and tucked them into his sleeves before returning inside.

As soon as he returned to the room, he saw Aoto, Okita, and Saito still leaning against the window.

“Mr. Hijikata…” Okita said helplessly, “Where did you pick up that girl in the kendo uniform just now?”

“She has the air of a samurai woman. Could she be…” Okita hesitated, “…the daughter of some samurai?”

"Flirting...that sounds awful. We're mutually attracted." Hijikata shrugged. "The girl's name is Aya."

"She is indeed the daughter of a samurai; she is the second daughter of a certain hatamoto (prince) in Hako-cho."

"Hatamoto?!" Okita's eyes widened. "Mr. Hijikata, you've hooked up with Hatamoto's second daughter?"

Aoto and Saito's eyes widened in surprise.

Samurai who were directly subordinate to a daimyo of a domain were called "domain samurai".

Samurai directly under the Shogun, the Shogun's retainers, were divided into two ranks: Hatamoto and Gokenin.

The difference between these two levels lies in whether or not one possesses "Imperial Eyesight".

Hatamoto samurai were ranked above Gokenin samurai and possessed "Gome-me," which meant they had the right to directly meet the Shogun.

The samurai, being servants, had no direct access to the shogun.

The men who served in the Edo Magistrate's Office were mostly lower-ranking servants, while those who were capable were mostly hatamoto (chieftains).

Aoto was a lower-ranking servant, while Arima was a hatamoto (a high-ranking official).

Generally speaking, samurai and commoners do not intermarry.

It is highly unlikely that any samurai family would lower its status by allowing its children to marry commoners.

No commoner would dare to become in-laws with a samurai, even if doing so would bring their family great fortune.

Hijikata, a man from a peasant background, actually got involved with a daughter of a samurai family... and a hatamoto no less...

Even the lowest-ranking hatamoto, whose family stipend was so meager that they couldn't even afford to eat, were still gokenin (official retainers of the shogun) and had the authority to "see the emperor's eyes." They were not people that commoners could aspire to.

Aoto didn't know whether to call Hijikata brave or reckless...

"Mr. Hijikata, what are you doing?" After a while, Okita finally came to his senses. "Have you forgotten the time you tried to seduce the daughter of an Owari Domain samurai and the sister of a gokenin, and almost got killed by that samurai and gokenin?"

So this wasn't the first time he'd tried to seduce a woman from a martial arts family?!

Qingdeng, who had been showing a look of astonishment since the beginning, was now starting to feel a little numb...

"Don't worry, nothing will happen." Hijikata stretched lazily and said lightly, "I've learned my lesson from last time, I know what I'm doing."

Hijikata seemed neither ashamed nor embarrassed that he had allowed Aoto and Saito, whom he had only met that day, to witness his affair with multiple women.

He seemed to be...accustomed to it, and after stretching vigorously, he smiled at Qingdeng:

"Ju, how are you? Have you rested enough? Are you ready for a proper sparring session?"

Regardless of how many girls Hijikata had ambiguous relationships with, that was Hijikata's private matter, and Aoto had no right to interfere in his private affairs.

Moreover, he's not very familiar with Hijikata yet; he only met him this morning. So, Qing Deng has even less right to interfere in his private affairs.

All Qingdeng could do for Tufang, who was casting a wide net, was to pray that he would have good fortune...

Having just watched a spectacular show, Qingdeng no longer feels so full.

After touching his belly, which was no longer so full, Qing Deng nodded to Hijikata.

“Ah, before we go to the dojo…” Hijikata reached into his robes, “let’s take these flowers out for now…”

Hijikata pulled a large handful of peach blossoms from his arms; upon careful counting, he felt there were at least 20 blossoms...

……

……

Hijikata and Aoto arrived at the Shieikan dojo one after the other.

Having nothing else to do, Okita followed along, intending to be a spectator and pass the time.

After a simple warm-up, Tu Xiangqing got into a fighting stance.

"Come on!" Hijikata smiled and beckoned to Aoto.

Having also finished warming up, Qing Deng let out a long breath and then threw a punch at Hijikata's chest, launching the first attack.

Hijikata pushed with both palms, deflecting Qingdeng's punch while simultaneously retaliating with a counter-attack.

Just now, during dinner, Hijikata's request to Aoto was to "use the same move he used to subdue him today once more."

Since Hijikata made such a request, Aoto did not refuse.

After dodging another right hook from Hijikata, Aoto seized the opportunity to grab Hijikata's right arm and then used the grappling technique he had used that morning to twist Hijikata's right arm behind his back, rendering Hijikata unable to retaliate.