I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The sound of swords being drawn filled the air!

The generals steadied their weapons, assumed their stances, and looked directly toward the source of the sound—a dark alleyway that seemed to stretch endlessly—ready to fight at any moment!

"Fellow members of the Shinsengumi, please don't be nervous! I mean no harm; I just want to meet Mr. Tachibana!"

The middle-aged man's voice came again from the dark alley.

Immediately afterwards, Qingdeng and the others heard footsteps approaching from afar.

Qingdeng raised an eyebrow—he felt the voice was familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

After a moment's thought, a look of surprise appeared on his face—he remembered who the voice belonged to!

At the same moment he recalled it, a middle-aged man with his hands raised in a gesture of surrender walked out of the alley and appeared before everyone.

Looking at the other person, Qingdeng took the initiative to greet them:

"Mr. Ebina, it's been a long time."

Ebina – A key member of the Daishio Party who once fought alongside Aoto during the "Investigation of the Phantom Lake" operation four years ago: Ebina Yosō!

Four years had passed, and Haibin Ye Zong, who was already nearly fifty, looked even older, with a few fine wrinkles around his eyes.

"Mr. Ju, greetings. It's been many years, and you've become even more dashing and extraordinary."

As Ebina Ye Zong spoke, the corners of his mouth curved into a kind smile.

This situation left Hijikata Toshizo and the others looking at each other in bewilderment.

They did not know Ebina Ye Zong.

Judging from the current situation, the other party seems to be an acquaintance of Qingdeng, so they all lowered their "combat stance" but remained vigilant.

After banning the Gensuke-doku and bidding farewell to Ebina and others, Aoto never saw anyone from the Daishio Party again.

He also tried to gather intelligence related to the Great Salt Party on a regular basis, but to no avail.

The members of the Great Salt Party are all incredibly mysterious, even more so than those who are executed by law.

The usually rarely seen "salt party" members have suddenly jumped out at this time...

The last time they showed up was to work with Qingdeng to eliminate the illusion of precipitates.

This time... even a fool would know that they weren't just chatting or reminiscing with Qingdeng.

So Qingdeng skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point:

"What brings Ebina so suddenly to the scene?"

Seeing that Qingdeng was being straightforward, Hai Laoming Ye Zong stopped hiding anything.

He adopted a serious expression and said, enunciating each word clearly and solemnly:

"Mr. Ju, may I speak to you privately? We have something very important to tell you!"

"'Alone'? You mean you can only say these 'important things' to me?"

Ebina Ye Zong nodded vigorously:

"That's right!"

Qing Deng lowered his eyelids, narrowed his eyes, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

He didn't think about it for too long.

Just five seconds later, he turned his head to face the generals:

"You all stay here and wait for orders. I'll be right back."

Hijikata Toshizo immediately frowned:

"Ju, are you... really going?"

Although Hijikata Toshizo didn't say it explicitly, his eyes and expression conveyed his underlying meaning: Is it really okay to go to the unknown alone?

The others shared the same concerns.

Faced with the generals' concerns, Qingdeng smiled slightly:

"Don't worry, they're not suspicious. Even if they try something, they can't mess with me!"

After leaving those words, Qingdeng didn't linger and strode towards Haibina Yezong.

"Mr. Ju, please come with me."

Haibin Mingye Zong turned to the side, made a "please" gesture, and then led the way, taking three steps at a time, leading Qing Deng into the alley behind him.

The two walked straight ahead, heading directly to the deepest part of the alley.

This alley was longer and more complicated than Qingdeng had anticipated.

After many twists and turns, we still hadn't reached the end.

After walking a considerable distance and confirming that no one was around, Qingdeng continued walking while asking:

"Mr. Ebina, can you tell me now? What is the 'very important thing' you want to say to me?"

Ebina Ye Zong did not answer immediately, but hesitated for a moment.

After a moment, he said in a low voice, his face grim:

“Miyabe Teizō and other radicals are determined to burn down Kyoto and kidnap the Emperor; they have no intention of negotiating with Katsura Kogoro!”

"Tonight's meeting is just a smokescreen! It's just a way to stall Katsura Kogoro and keep him out of the way!"

"While Katsura Kogoro is tied up, the radicals have dispatched a hidden force to prepare to plunge Kyoto into a sea of ​​fire tonight, as originally planned, during the 'Yamahoko Patrol'!"

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Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

P.S.: While writing this book, I truly realized one thing: "Unity" is a profound subject! Whether it's the pro-shogunate faction or the pro-exploitation faction, they're constantly engaged in endless infighting, pulling each other down. They're not tired, but I'm exhausted from writing about it…

Chapter 815 Identity Exposed! The true identity of "Kyoto's Number One Beauty" is [5200].

With each word spoken by Ye Zong, Qing Deng's expression changed slightly.

If these words had come from someone else, Qingdeng might have been suspicious, or even taken them as a joke.

But the person who said these words happened to be a member of the Great Salt Party—which forced Qing Deng to be on high alert.

In terms of overall strength, the Great Salt Party is not particularly outstanding.

Although both were secret societies, they were far less effective than the punishment of being executed by law.

The reason why the Great Shio Party has been able to survive to this day despite the siege of the Shogunate and the Hoju Party is entirely due to its incredibly strong intelligence capabilities!

Although it is unclear how they did it, they did indeed rely on their unparalleled intelligence capabilities to cleverly conceal themselves, while at the same time, taking advantage of their intelligence to spare no effort in creating trouble for the shogunate and the Hoshoku Party.

Four years ago, when Qingdeng was investigating Huanfudian, it was thanks to the important intelligence provided by Ebina Yezong and others that the entire operation went much more smoothly.

After calming down a bit, Qing Deng asked in a deep voice:

"Mr. Ebina, how did you get involved with the Zunyao faction?"

"Where did you get this intelligence from?"

"What else do you know about the actions of the Zunrong faction tonight?"

He rattled off a barrage of questions like a machine gun.

Ebina Ye Zong sighed softly:

“We had no intention of opposing the pro-democracy faction.”

"In fact, we once considered forming an alliance with the pro-democracy faction."

"Both sides are hostile to the shogunate and take it upon themselves to 'overthrow the shogunate'—therefore, from this perspective, we are natural allies with the pro-imperial faction."

"However... the actions of the Zunyao faction in recent years have gone too far."

At this point, Hai Laoming Ye Zong clenched his fists.

"They treat human life as worthless and cruelly oppress the people to satisfy their own desires."

"For the sake of the so-called 'great cause of honor and pacification,' they disregard the lives of ordinary people."

"Such practices contradict our ideal of 'establishing a world of great harmony so that all people under heaven may rejoice.'"

"Therefore, starting from the middle of last year, we began to be wary of the pro-democracy faction and closely monitored their movements."

"In fact, it was only this evening that we learned of the conspiracy of the 'Revere the Exile Faction' to burn down Kyoto tonight and kidnap the Emperor' through special channels."

"To be honest, when I learned that the Zunyao faction was so audacious and crazy, I broke out in a cold sweat."

"How can our Great Salt Party tolerate the Zunpu faction committing such heinous and outrageous acts?"

"However... we are severely lacking in manpower."

"It is a pity that although our Great Salt Party is not lacking in people who are generous and tragic, we have always lacked martial arts masters with exceptional skills."

"The only combat-ready men we can immediately mobilize are myself and one other person."

"With such a lineup, it is simply beyond our capabilities to fight against the powerful Zunrang faction."

"Therefore, Mr. Tachibana, we wish to join forces with you to thwart the conspiracy of the Zunyao faction!"

At this point, Hai Laoming Ye Zong paused for a moment before continuing.

"Mr. Ju, I know you still have many questions to ask."

"As for the specific details of our cooperation, you can ask our 'Miss Violet' for more information after you meet her."

The sudden appearance of the unfamiliar name caused Qing Deng to look puzzled:

"'Miss Violet'?"

Ebina Ye Zong smiled slightly:

"You can think of her as the intelligence chief of our Great Salt Party."

"'Miss Violet' is her pseudonym."

"With her outstanding talent and ability, she rose rapidly after joining us, taking over intelligence at a young age and becoming one of the important pillars of our Great Salt Party."