I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The so-called "borrowing of knowledge" refers to the policy implemented by the shogunate and feudal lords to reduce the rice or gold stipends of their retainers in order to increase fiscal revenue.

It was nominally a requisition, but in reality it was outright robbery.

The money and provisions "borrowed" by the shogunate were like salt falling into water—a beautiful, glistening grain of salt falls into the water, and then… nothing happens. The salt grains vanish without a trace, never to be seen again.

Of course, there were instances where the shogunate and feudal lords honestly repaid their debts and grain. However, these occurrences were so rare as to be almost regrettable.

The samurai had nowhere to reason with this blatant act of robbery.

It is the duty of a samurai to be loyal to his lord. What's wrong with lending you some money and food?

It was even common for them to directly levy half of the money and grain. Because this happened so frequently, there was a special term for it: "half-knowing," which means levying half of the salary and grain.

They received the same meager wages that never changed; their wages were also frequently deducted by their lord; in order to maintain their family's honor, they had to put on a show of wealth, spending a lot of money to maintain their swords, buy formal attire, and hire servants... Such a fragile family economy meant that as long as there was a major disaster, a group of lower and middle-ranking samurai would go bankrupt.

In order to make a living, many impoverished warriors from fallen families had no choice but to take risks and embark on the path of crime, becoming "fresh blood" for the Yakuza group.

Compared to the Eta and commoners, the average martial arts skills and education level of the samurai were naturally much higher.

Therefore, those Yakuza groups that successfully absorbed a large number of down-on-their-luck samurai developed rapidly—the Shimizu Clan being a prominent example.

Therefore, we cannot simply regard such a behemoth as an ordinary gangster organization; it would be more accurate to view it as an "armed criminal group" with formidable fighting capabilities!

Of course, the "Shimizu Clan" has achieved its current status not entirely due to the superior qualities of its members.

Its powerful backers provided considerable assistance.

It would have been impossible for the Yakuza group to grow to such a scale without having several powerful backers in the government and among the people to protect them.

No one knows who or what forces the "Qingshui Clan" is backed by... People only know that no matter how heinous the "Qingshui Clan" commits, they always manage to land safely, leaving the government powerless to do anything about them!

The power and influence behind it are evident.

With their formidable organizational and combat capabilities and a powerful, unidentified backer, the "Shimizu Clan," wielding these two formidable weapons, struck fear into the hearts of the common people of Edo.

Let alone ordinary people with no one to rely on, even many ordinary samurai without status or background would choose to detour when they saw members of the "Shimizu Clan" on the street, trying to avoid having any connection with the "Shimizu Clan".

Even disregarding his personal feelings of "disliking organized crime," from the practical perspective that "getting involved with such a tyrannical group that has done all sorts of bad things and is utterly devoid of conscience is easy to get into trouble," Qing Deng did not want to have any interaction with the "Qingshui Clan."

Sasaki smiled indifferently at Qing Deng's cold attitude.

"Many of the stalls here are protected by our 'Shimizu Clan.' So I'm currently leading my men on a tour around this area. Mr. Tachibana, are you waiting for someone?"

"What do you think?" Qing Deng asked indifferently.

"Haha, predicting your future whereabouts... I don't have that kind of ability."

Sasaki's laughter greatly eased the stiff atmosphere created by Aoto's cold attitude.

"Since you have important matters to attend to, I will not disturb you any longer."

Perhaps he sensed from Qingdeng's indifference that Qingdeng had no intention of chatting with him at the moment... or perhaps he had work to do and therefore couldn't afford to waste time arguing with Qingdeng.

In short, after politely adding "Please excuse me for leaving," Sasaki bowed slightly and gave Aoto a graceful bow.

"Mr. Orange, I wish you a wonderful night."

After saying this, he turned around and led his subordinates, who were standing on his left and right sides, away without stopping for a moment.

Qing Deng silently stared at Sasaki's departing figure... until his figure completely blended into the crowd before slowly withdrawing his gaze.

—What exactly are the "Shimizu Clan" trying to do...?

The question, like bubbles rising in boiling water, made Qingdeng's brows furrow slightly involuntarily.

Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt that the people of the "Qingshui Clan" were being a little too enthusiastic towards him!

If the "Shimizu Clan" wanted to improve their relationship with him, who was currently rising rapidly in rank... then it seemed unnecessary for them to be so overly friendly towards him.

Qing Deng's intuition told him that the reason why the "Shimizu Clan" treated him so well was likely due to some deeper reason.

As for the reason... Qingdeng couldn't figure it out.

The intense questions swirling in his mind caused a faint "black mist" to veil Qing Deng's face.

However, a moment later, as if by some kind of magic, the "black mist" on Qing Deng's face vanished with a bang.

Just then, a melodious female voice, as sweet as a silver bell, rang out behind Qing Deng:

"Qing, Qingdeng! I'm sorry! I'm late!"

This time, the sound that rang out was no longer the one that would make Qing Deng's expression darken, but rather the one that would instantly soften the lines of his face.

"Good evening, Ah Wu, I just arrived too..."

As Qing Deng spoke, he turned around to face Kinoshita Mai, who had finally arrived.

Immediately afterwards, Qing Deng's expression froze, and the words he was about to say stopped abruptly.

The world has been divided—this is the scene Qingdeng is currently witnessing.

The light was concentrated on Kinoshita Mai, creating a stark contrast and an incongruous atmosphere between her delicate body and everything around her.

The interplay of darkness and light... the presence of darkness greatly accentuates the brilliance of light.

The stark contrast between light and dark caused the world in Qing Deng's eyes to split into two parts: "Kinoshita Mai" and "the place where Kinoshita Mai's figure cannot be seen".

Kinoshita Mai, who is extremely fond of red, wore a bright red yukata, just as Aoto had predicted.

A clean and brand-new cute yukata, embroidered with a large number of exquisite and intricate decorative patterns.

A wide, pale yellow belt that cinched below her southern hemisphere hugged her slender waist.

The hem of the yukata only reached the calves, revealing a pair of fair calves that looked incredibly smooth to the touch.

Following the graceful lines of her calves downwards, you see adorable little feet, bare of socks, wearing a pair of red-buttoned flat wooden clogs.

The characteristics of a yukata are that it is thin and lightweight... which means that a yukata is much more form-fitting than a regular kimono.

For women whose body shape is not much different from that of men, there is not much difference between wearing a yukata and a regular kimono.

But for a "big" girl like Kinoshita Mai, the difference between a yukata and a regular kimono is quite significant.

The thin fabric clung tightly to Kinoshita Mai's skin... The presence of two heavy objects was greatly highlighted.

These two large and heavy objects naturally draped themselves over the pale yellow belt that stretched down to the southern hemisphere, slung by gravity.

This gorgeous yukata and this exquisite pale yellow sash were things Qing Deng had never seen before.

If Qing Deng were to give a brief review of Kinoshita Mai's outfit, he couldn't think of any better adjective than "So cute, it suits Kinoshita Mai perfectly."

If it were just that the clothes were cute, it would not have been possible for Qing Deng's expression to undergo such a wonderful change at this moment.

The main reason why Aoto's current field of vision is directly divided into two parts is the makeup on Kinoshita Mai's face.

Her delicate eyebrows were outlined with an eyebrow pencil to create a soft, graceful curve.

The subtle peach-colored eyeshadow was captivating, making Kinoshita Mai's eyes appear even brighter.

A layer of light red lip gloss, shimmering with a crystal-clear sheen, is evenly applied to plump lips.

……

Kinoshita Mai, who usually goes makeup-free, was wearing makeup...

A strong sense of novelty rose in Qingdeng's heart.

Kinoshita Mai's makeup was neither too glamorous nor too understated.

Whether it's lip gloss or eyeshadow... these makeup touches perfectly preserve the original advantages of Kinoshita Mai's facial features. On this basis, the just-right application of powder and rouge adds a touch of alluring charm to Kinoshita Mai's every smile and gesture.

Qingdeng felt that his mood was getting strange... no, it had already become strange.

"...Tachibana-kun?"

Kinoshita Mai's voice seemed to be coming from a very distant place... This was an illusion caused by Aoto's dazed state.

As if manipulated by the voice, Qingdeng blinked hard a few times, as if waking from a dream.

The instant his consciousness returned, Qingdeng, with the speed and reflex of a conditioned reflex, solemnly addressed the beautiful woman before him:

"Ah Wu, your clothes and your makeup are so beautiful."

There was not a trace of hypocrisy or flattery; it was a heartfelt and unpretentious praise.

Upon hearing Qingdeng's brief yet heartfelt praise, a blush instantly spread across the girl's cheeks. Her eyebrows arched, and her bright, star-like eyes sparkled with joy and excitement.

"Thank you... This is Mr. Kiryu's makeup!"

"Does the Kiryu boss even do makeup for girls?"

"Yes! He said he used to study how to do girls' makeup in Kyoto!"

"How come Mr. Kiryu even knows this..."

Speaking of Kiryu… Aoto suddenly thought: This old comrade probably won’t be following them tonight, right?

Worried about the young master traveling alone with a young woman, he secretly followed them... To be honest, it seems Kiryu isn't incapable of doing something like that.

After all, Kiryu has a history of "always following closely behind Kinoshita Mai when she goes out as the cat-boy monk, secretly protecting her".

Thinking of this, Qingdeng subconsciously raised his head and looked around.

Seeing Qing Deng's actions, Kinoshita Mai guessed what Qing Deng was thinking and let out a cute little laugh.

"Aoto, don't worry, Mr. Kiryu isn't here. I specifically told him today not to secretly follow me tonight."

"Will Mr. Kiryu listen to your request?" Aoto asked.

“I will listen,” Kinoshita Mai said confidently. “I’m not going to do anything dangerous. I don’t think Mr. Kiryu would need to come and watch over me even on an occasion like this.”

Since Kinoshita Mai has said so... then Aoto will tentatively believe that Kiryu really did not follow them.

At this moment, Qingdeng suddenly noticed that the crowd around him seemed to be making some noise.

Looking around, they suddenly noticed several faces peering in their direction.

"Hey, look! That girl in red is so pretty..."

"Her makeup is really beautiful."

"Hiss... those things of hers look really heavy."

……

A variety of gazes, some surprised, some admiring, and some purely lustful, focused on Kinoshita Mai.

That's understandable.