I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

On the contrary, they are now extremely uneasy! They are sweating profusely!

If Qing Deng scolds or beats them severely, they feel more at ease.

Once he's vented his anger, he might not pursue the matter of tonight's incident.

However, Qingdeng simply walked away...

Seven Guns couldn't fathom what he was thinking, nor did they know what his next plan was.

This calm before the storm... is actually the most terrifying thing! It sends chills down your spine!

……

……

Wakamatsu Castle, the bedroom of Date Yoshikuni, lord of the Sendai Domain—

"……what?"

After listening to the report, Date Keibang was dumbfounded.

His originally tiny eyes widened to the size of pigeon eggs, and his jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

He moved his gaze stiffly, scanning the seven knelt figures in front of him one by one.

In a short while—

"You bunch of idiots!!"

Date Keikun suddenly sprang up, drawing his wakizashi from his waist, sword still sheathed, and charged forward, striking the backs of the people kneeling before him.

"Idiot! Moron! Brainless! Useless piece of trash who's good for nothing but causing trouble!"

With each swing of his sword, he would unleash a torrent of profanities, using every swear word in Japanese and Sendai slang.

Seven guns gritted their teeth and endured the bitterness.

The servants inside all lowered their heads, looking down at their noses and pretending to be blind or deaf.

Just by looking at his fat and bloated physique, you can tell that Date Keikun is not good at sports.

Therefore, after a short while, he was panting heavily and could no longer fight.

However, he was still not satisfied and kicked all seven of them to the ground.

Do you even know how big a mess you've made?!

"You guys never seem to do anything good, but you're always quick to cause trouble!"

"Even killing you all wouldn't be enough to vent my anger!"

Just as Qing Deng had predicted, Date Yoshikuni had quite a few ulterior motives regarding this "Olympic Conference".

Although he had no intention of confronting Qingdeng, he also did not want to be ordered around by Qingdeng for no reason.

Sendai Domain is the largest domain in Oshu. Even if it wants to submit to others, it must first get the other party to offer a sufficiently high price.

The Sendai Domain could side with the "Tachibana clan," but it had to have enough influence—this was Date Yoshikuni's goal.

He was prepared to negotiate with Qingdeng.

Whether it's organizing a lavish travel procession or deliberately arriving in Wakamatsu City at the appointed time, it's all about building momentum for the upcoming negotiations.

However... he never expected that on his first day in Wakamatsu City, these seven idiots would ruin his plans!

The trouble they caused tonight has essentially given Qing Deng a handle to use against them.

Aoto could later use the pretext of "great disrespect" to put pressure on the Sendai Domain.

Date Keikun had no way to resist this and had nowhere to reason with him—after all, what Qing Deng said was true, occupying the moral high ground, leaving no room for rebuttal.

Before negotiations even began, the other side had already gained overwhelming leverage... In this situation, let alone negotiating with Seido, it's questionable whether the Sendai Domain can even maintain its current status!

The start was unsuccessful... no, it didn't even qualify as a "start," yet it suffered such a huge setback.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and the more frustrated he felt.

Honestly, he really wanted to pull out his knife and chop those seven idiots in front of him to pieces.

Just as he said, even killing them all wouldn't be enough to quell his anger!

Of course, he was just saying that out of anger; he couldn't possibly have actually killed those seven people.

Regardless of the fact that these seven men were the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou," his important subordinates, and that they all came from prominent families, their illustrious background alone meant that Date Keikun could not dispose of them at will.

Left with no other choice, Ita Keibang could only take deep breaths to ease the tightness in his chest.

After calming down a bit, he gritted his teeth and said to the Seven Guns:

"Go change your clothes quickly! We'll go apologize to General Tachibana later!"

……

……

Wakamatsu Castle, Aoto's Bedroom—

Ching Teng had anticipated Ida Kōbō's sudden visit.

He leaned against the armrest beside him, looking at Date Keikun and the others in front of him without any joy or sorrow.

Ida Keibang sat upright with utmost respect.

Seven guns knelt in a row behind him.

All seven people had changed into neat white clothes—this attire was meant to express their remorse.

"General Tachibana! I am so sorry!"

Date Keibang braced himself with his fists on the ground, leaning slightly forward, his expression grave.

"It's all my fault for failing to manage my subordinates properly! This led to a conflict with Your Highness!"

"I feel deeply remorseful and ashamed!"

"I know that words cannot undo my mistake."

"I am willing to take full responsibility and do my best to correct the mistakes!"

After saying that, he lowered his head deeply.

The seven gunmen behind him also lowered their heads even further.

Qingdeng did not speak immediately.

He simply watched Date Keibang and the others in silence.

Qingdeng remained silent, and the latter dared not speak without permission, so they could only wait silently.

A deathly silence enveloped the room and its surroundings... and the atmosphere grew heavy.

The longer it went on, the more anxious Ida Keibang and the others became. Every second felt like an eternity, and all they could hear was the frantic pounding of their own hearts.

It wasn't until three minutes later that Qing Deng finally broke the silence:

"...I am very disappointed by what happened tonight."

"What disappoints me is not your denigration of the Shinsengumi, nor your offense to me, but your low character."

"Your behavior of rushing up to cause trouble at the slightest disagreement is completely unbecoming of a samurai."

"Luckily, I was the one who got into trouble."

"If it were anyone else, I'm afraid they would have been bullied by you."

"To bully the weak by relying on one's martial prowess... Such behavior is truly despicable."

After hearing Qing Deng's words, Date Qingbang and the others all felt the temperature around them drop several degrees...

A few beads of cold sweat appeared on Ida Keibang's forehead as he stammered:

"General Tachibana, they drank too much tonight. Please, for their sake, let them off the hook..."

He was trying to say something to salvage the situation.

But before he could finish speaking, Qingdeng suddenly interrupted him:

"Lord Mutsu, how about this?"

[Note: Date Yoshikuni was appointed Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade, Left Imperial Guard Commander, and concurrently served as Governor of Mutsu.]

"Your subordinate boasted tonight: 'What are the captains of the Shinsengumi? As long as we, the Seven Spears of Senshu, make our move, we will beat them to a pulp.'"

At this point, Qing Deng deliberately glanced at Date Renshichiro—who immediately trembled violently several times.

"In that case, let's have a match."

"...Huh?"

Ida Keibang subconsciously raised his head and looked at Qing Deng with a surprised expression.

Qingdeng continued speaking to himself:

"Let your 'Seven Spears of Immortal Continent' have a good match with my captains in tomorrow's 'Oyu Trial'."

"The competition format is very simple: match-up and competition."

"After the battle, neither the victor nor the vanquished can return to the field."

"As long as you win one game—just one—the matter of tonight will be wiped clean, and I will not mention it again."

"So, what do you think?"

Ida Keibang blinked hard, then pursed his lips, looking deep in thought.

Although it happened suddenly, he had to admit that Qing Deng's proposal was quite tempting!

He was worried about how to quell Qing Deng's anger when Qing Deng proposed a reasonable solution that could be accepted by both parties.

He didn't think Qing Deng would play him.

Since his emergence, Qing Deng has never gone back on his word, thus enjoying a very good political reputation.

As long as we win one battle... just one battle! Tonight's troubles can end peacefully!

No matter how you look at it, it's a brilliant suggestion, and there's no reason to refuse.

In fact, the reason he brought the "Seven Spears of Immortal State" to the "Oyu Conference" was to take advantage of the "Oyu Trial".