I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The business tycoons were simply trying to use the pretext of "having a meal together" to build a relationship and get closer to Qing Dengla.

Where we eat doesn't matter. Even if we change the venue to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, it doesn't matter. As long as we can eat and chat with Qingdeng, that's fine.

Moreover, going along with Qingdeng's wishes and giving him face would be more conducive to bringing them closer.

As a result, the business tycoons almost unhesitatingly agreed to Qing Deng's proposal.

Qing Deng arrived at Yoshikawa Ryotei on time and on his way to the reserved private room, he suddenly overheard Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro and Suzune arguing.

In an era when buildings and furniture were mostly made of paper and wood, sound insulation was practically nonexistent.

Unless someone speaks in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, you can always hear what's going on inside the room just by walking down the hallway.

After recognizing Lingyin's voice and confirming that Lingyin was in trouble, Qingdeng pushed open the door without saying a word.

Currently, throughout Edo, apart from the Ooku (inner palace), where men are strictly forbidden from entering, what other place is there that he cannot enter?

And so, this scene unfolded—

"What's wrong? Weren't you shouting loudly just now? Why are you acting like a shy girl now?"

Qingdeng looked around calmly; the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Whether it was Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro, Suzune, or Kichikuro, they were all blinking hard, repeatedly checking if they were seeing things or dreaming.

A black lacquered hat with gold leaf lining symbolizing his status, an extremely rare height of 1.75 meters, and three knives at his waist... At this point, there's no way they could mistake him for someone else.

"No way……"

Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro opened his mouth wide, his face filled with disbelief.

Aoto glanced sideways at Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro before turning to face Suzune and sneer:

"Miss Suzune, it's been a long time."

Lingyin's delicate body trembled a few times.

"Uh, ah! Juju, Lord Juju, greetings..."

Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro stared blankly at everything.

He probably never would have guessed that Qing Deng and Ling Yin actually had a relationship!

Aoto, who had dined at Yoshikawa Ryotei many times for social reasons, met Rin, a virtuoso musician, by chance.

Although they could not be called friends, they were by no means strangers.

In fact, not only were Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro and Kichikuro shocked, but even Suzune herself was stunned.

Admittedly, she and Qingdeng knew each other... but their relationship wasn't very deep; at most, they were just nodding acquaintances.

The difference in their social status was too great.

One was a powerful minister, and the other was a musician who made a living by performing.

Their only interaction was that he had eaten at Yoshikawa Ryotei a few times, and she had played the koto for him a few times.

She just invoked Qing Deng's banner merely to borrow his power and intimidate Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro.

Originally, she had already given up hope when Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro scoffed at her "using her connections to bully others" and mocked her wantonly.

But to everyone's surprise... Qing Deng actually showed up!

And judging from the current situation... he's willing to stand up for her!

Thinking of this, Lingyin felt her heart race and a surge of indescribable emotions welled up inside her.

After giving a brief greeting to Suzune, Aoto turned his gaze back to Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro.

"You were the one who called my name just now, weren't you?"

Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro's body trembled violently a few times, and he stood up in a flustered manner—because he stood up too hastily, he accidentally kicked over the table in front of him and almost lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"I am Hayakawa-ya Shotaro's seventh son, and Inoue Hidetada's grandson, Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro!"

He stammered as he announced his home address, his arms hanging naturally at his sides, his shoulders slumped, all traces of his earlier arrogance gone. He looked exactly like a student who had done something wrong and was obediently waiting for the teacher's punishment.

Qing Deng replied expressionlessly:

“Ju Qing Deng”.

Compared to Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro's long list of titles, Aoto's self-introduction was concise—after all, he didn't need those messy titles.

I can't speak for other places, but at least in Edo, Aoto didn't need any fancy self-introductions.

The three characters “橘青登” are the most intimidating and prestigious introduction.

“Shotaro Hayakawaya… Oh, I remember now, no wonder that name sounded familiar. I had dinner with your father just last month.”

As soon as Qing Deng uttered these words, several drops of cold sweat instantly seeped out from Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro's forehead.

He had heard about this from his father.

At that moment, his father said to his sons, including Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro, with a look of relief: "Great! We've finally made contact with 'Niou'."

The wealthy merchants of Edo were deeply anxious about the increasingly turbulent national situation.

Although the Kanto region is currently relatively peaceful, the capital region is already shrouded in the clouds of war.

In Kyoto alone, there are at least three political forces openly vying for power—and these are three of the most powerful and influential feudal lords.

The Choshu Domain, which controlled the imperial court; the Aizu Domain, which was ordered by the shogunate to protect Kyoto; and the Satsuma Domain, which was waiting for an opportunity to act.

The elite troops and generals of the Three Kingdoms gathered in the capital, ready to "jointly participate in this grand undertaking".

Perhaps next month, or even tomorrow, news of "the three kingdoms tearing each other apart, mobilizing their armies, and attacking each other" will reach Edo.

Apart from a few unscrupulous individuals who are capable of profiting from war, the vast majority of merchants... or rather, the vast majority of normal people, dislike war the most.

"War" is a monster that is extremely prone to going berserk.

Getting it out of the cage would be easy; it could probably be done with just a word.

But controlling its behavior, or putting it back in its cage... that's beyond human capability.

If war were to break out in the capital region, and if the flames of war were to spread to the Kanto region, then the family's decades, or even centuries, of accumulation could very well be reduced to ashes!

In recent months, wealthy businessmen have been actively seeking connections with political strongmen and looking for reliable backers in order to protect themselves.

Aoto, who is currently favored by Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin, naturally became a coveted prize in their eyes.

Countless people are scrambling to get in touch with Qingdeng and build a relationship with him.

Even just a little bit would be fine.

If I could gain even a little bit of the King of Benevolence's power, I might be able to protect my entire family's life and property someday in the future!

"Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro, I heard everything you just said in the corridor."

"To brazenly demand that a musician sit next to you... What? Can't you even tell the difference between a musician and a courtesan?"

Qing Deng's voice remained calm throughout.

He neither spoke loudly nor used harsh or sarcastic language.

Even so, Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro still felt immense pressure! It was as if two mountains were pressing down on his shoulders!

"Yes! It was me... Ah, ah! No, no, no! It was me, I was rude! Please, please, for my father's sake, forgive me..."

A stuttering manner of speaking, with fragmented sentences.

Knowing he had made a terrible mistake, Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro lowered his head to the limit, his chin pressed against his collarbone, his gaze fixed on the tatami mat in front of his toes, and he didn't even dare to look at Aoto's shadow.

"For your father's sake?"

Qing Deng smiled slightly.

"Are you sure? Are you really going to waste the friendship between me and your family that your father worked so hard to build up for something like this?"

In an instant, Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro's body trembled like a sieve.

At that moment, a deep, middle-aged male voice came from the direction of the corridor.

"Huh? Lord Tachibana, what are you doing here?"

An elderly man, sprightly and dressed in fine clothes, hurried into the room.

Hayakawa-ya Danshichiro subconsciously raised his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound—but what he saw shocked him greatly, and his already pale face became even paler.

Suzune and Kichikuro, who worked at the Yoshikawa ryotei, were worldly people. Therefore, they immediately recognized the old man's identity—and for a moment, their faces were filled with intense shock.

This old man was none other than Echigoya Bunzaburo, a legendary figure in the Edo business world.

Echigoya was arguably the most common and ubiquitous house name in Edo, with only Omiya being comparable to it.

Influenced by its geographical environment and local customs, the Echigo region is known for its merchants.

Large numbers of people from Echigo traveled south to Edo to do business.

Merchants in the Edo period often used their birthplace as their shop name, so shops opened by people from Echigo were basically called Echigo-ya.

Therefore, in the Edo period, it was common to see this interesting phenomenon: although they had the same shop name, the shop owners were not related and their businesses were quite different.

Echigoya Bunzaburo was a liquor merchant who specialized in selling liquor ingredients. He was very powerful and his business covered a wide range.

They sold both the Shangshangshui produced in the Gyeonggi region to the Kanto region and the shochu produced in the Kanto region to the Gyeonggi region.

Legend has it that for every 10 bottles of sake consumed by people in Edo, at least one bottle had passed through the hands of Echigoya Bunzaburo.

With his extensive experience, excellent reputation, and good character, Echigoya Bunzaburo has always held a pivotal position in the Edo business world.

Several years ago, with the joint recommendation of many of his peers, he successfully became the head of the Kabu-Naka-ma, a liquor company in Edo.

In the early Edo period, the freedom to do business led many merchants to flock to Edo. As the days went by, their numbers continued to increase, which intensified competition and led to fierce business battles.

Therefore, in order to avoid an increase in foreign merchants, Edo merchants arbitrarily organized a trade guild called "Ku-Naka-ma" to monopolize business rights.

The Japanese word "中間" means "partner," and each participating merchant is called "一株" (ichi-ju). This is why in modern Japanese, stocks are called "株式" (kakushiki) and "co-corporated companies" are called "株式会社" (kakushiki-kaisha).

The members of Zhuzhongjian banded together to issue business licenses, restrict the appearance of businesses outside the organization, negotiate prices with each other, and report members who violated the rules.

Seeing this behavior of the merchants, the Edo Shogunate worried that the merchant organizations would dominate market prices and undermine the Shogunate's rule, so it banned the Kabu-Naka-ma organizations several times.

However, Zhu Zhongjian made a significant contribution to stabilizing the market.

Therefore, when the eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune carried out the Kyōhō Reforms, he adopted the policy of organizing the Tōnaka-ma into a single entity and recognized the establishment of the Tōnaka-ma.

The Zhuzhongjian was, to some extent, equivalent to a modern chamber of commerce, facilitating the exchange of goods and services among its members, protecting their interests to the greatest extent possible, and greatly suppressing the emergence of unscrupulous merchants.