I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Boss Kiryu had a serious face.

He usually showed a smile to others, but rarely showed such an expression.

His impression is like a deep and broad lake - calm but yet oppressive.

Looking at Boss Kiryu who was gradually approaching, Mai Kinoshita took two steps back.

"Young Master, stop messing around and come back with me."

Facing this order from Boss Kiryu, Mai Kinoshita swallowed hard, mustered up her courage, and stepped firmly on her feet:
"Mr. Kiryu! Don't waste your efforts! I have made up my mind! Even if grandma comes in person, she can't persuade me!"

As she spoke, she spread her arms and struck a majestic-looking pose with a calm expression on her face.

"Go back with me."

"Yes."

The girl who was fearless in the face of danger a second ago silently lowered her arms, lowered her head and shoulders, and moved behind the old man with a frustrated look on her face.

Seeing that his young master finally gave in, Boss Kiryu nodded, and then returned to his usual smiling look.

"Ji Jun, I'm sorry for making you laugh. Young Master, let's go."

Having said that, Boss Kiryu turned around and left without any hesitation.

Without saying a word, Kinoshita Mai followed closely behind Boss Kiryu, just like a chicken that follows wherever the old hen goes.

Qingden blinked and stared blankly at the empty front.

From Kinoshita Mai's sudden appearance to her being taken away by Kiryu's boss who also suddenly appeared... the whole process took less than 2 minutes.

The unexpected and rapid changes in the situation made Qingdeng's brain unable to keep up...

……

……

That night--

"Moo moo moo~~"

A man and an ox were galloping on the street leading to Qianshiwu.

Qingdeng was doubly confused by the incoherent act the "old and young duo" performed today.

Based on the known information and combined with the analysis of the scenes he actually saw, the situation that Qingteng deduced is roughly as follows:
Kinoshita Mai was so eager to become a member of the Zhenfu Army that she even secretly sneaked into the Zhenfu Army's recruitment venue without telling Boss Kiryu, but she was discovered and captured in time by Boss Kiryu.

Boss Kiryu is opposed to Kinoshita Mai joining the army - this is quite understandable.

This octogenarian old man has always regarded Kinoshita Mai as his own.

He didn't want to see his cherished junior in danger, it was just a normal thing.

Besides, it was not up to him whether Kinoshita Mai could join the army or not.

The only person who can make a decision on this matter is naturally Kinoshita Mai's grandmother, Kinoshita Rin.

All along, Qingto had heard various stories about Kinoshita Rin from the mouths of Kiryu's boss and Kinoshita Mai countless times.

She is a self-made business genius, she is an unyielding fighter who is arrogant and despises the frost... In short, she is a strange woman who can conquer the sea and the sky.

Every Spring Festival, Kinoshita Rin would say that she would come to Edo to visit Kinoshita Mai, but every time she stopped due to busy schedules.

This also made Qingdeng never have the chance to meet her.

Even though the doves are released every year, she is still full of human touch.

As compensation, she would send new clothes to Kinoshita Mai.

She knew her granddaughter's preferences very well, and all the new clothes she sent were red, without exception.

Funny to say, Aoto has known Mai Kinoshita for nearly three years.

In the past three years, he had never seen this girl wearing anything other than red clothes and the cat monk's night clothes.

Until today, he saw Kinoshita Mai wearing a kendo uniform for the first time, but even the hakama of this kendo uniform was bright red.

I don’t know where she found the red hakama.

The hakama of kendo uniforms in this era generally only had two colors: blue and black.

For Qingteng, the question that bothers him the most right now is why Kinoshita Mai wants to join the Suppressing Army.

First of all, the option of "wanting to be with Qingdeng" was eliminated first.

It is true that Kinoshita Mai is very innocent... In modern terms, she is a girl with a bit of love brain.

But Qingdeng knew who she was - she was by no means the kind of girl who would change her life without authorization for superficial reasons such as "wanting to fall in love" or "not wanting to leave her lover".

To say that she wanted to pursue martial arts like Sanako... was definitely wrong.

She does not have a strong passion for martial arts.

It doesn't seem right to say that she wants to make contributions like Isamu Kondo and others...

She has never shown any desire for money or power.

No matter what, if you want to know the answer to this question, you can only ask the person involved.

So, as soon as today's recruitment ceremony ended, Qingdeng immediately climbed on Luo Luo's back and rushed to Qianshiwu without stopping.

The street scenes on both sides quickly reversed backwards.

Soon, the "employment agency" that Qingdeng had visited thousands of times gradually came into view.

There was light coming from the windows of the Thousand Houses.

Qingden jumped off the cow's back and tied the radish beside the shop door of Qianshiwu.

Before he entered the house, he heard a loud quarrel coming from inside:
"Mr. Kiryu! Please let me go!"

"...Young Master, it's really difficult for me to do this."

"I can protect myself!"

"Young Master, no matter what you say, I have only one answer - no."

"Ahhh! I hate you! Where has the considerate Mr. Kiryu gone?"

"Just think that the considerate Mr. Kiryu is dead."

Upon hearing this, Qingdeng immediately quickened his pace, ignored the "temporarily closed" sign hanging on the door, and hurriedly opened the door of the shop.

"Meow meow~~"

The big orange cat Duoduo sat on the porch and said "meow, meow, meow" to Qingden.

It must have smelled Qingdeng's scent, so it squatted here in advance to welcome Qingdeng.

"Meow meow."

Qingdeng said "meow" twice, and while responding to Duoduo's greetings, he raised his eyes and scanned the store.

Behind the counter, I saw an "old and young duo" sitting opposite each other.

Kinoshita Mai no longer wore the red hakama kendo uniform, but changed into the bright red women's kimono that Ayoto was most familiar with. She clenched her fists and raised them to her chest, looking excited.

Boss Kiryu crossed his arms and lowered the corners of his mouth with a helpless expression.

Qingdeng's sudden appearance interrupted the quarrel between the two.

"Huh? Qingden?" "Jijun, I knew you would come."

"Don't quarrel."

Qingden smiled bitterly and took off Vairochana and Dingguishen from his waist, holding them with his right hand, and naturally sat next to Kinoshita Mai.

"I heard you two arguing from a long distance away."

Kinoshita Wu flattened her red lips.

"We didn't quarrel! I was just arguing!"

Boss Kiryu let out a long sigh.

Qingdeng, who was afraid that the two of them would quarrel again, quickly said:
"A Wu, don't get excited."

As he spoke, he reached out and patted Kinoshita Mai's back like he was trying to comfort a frightened cat.

At the same time, he couldn't help but cast a surprised look at him.

Even though Kinoshita Mai had close contact with other girls in Aoto...especially when she had close contact with Sanako, she would often show a terrifying appearance of "eyes infected by darkness" and "murdering scary words", But most of the time, she is a sweet girl who speaks softly and has a gentle and kind personality.

This was the first time Qingden saw her talking to her beloved Mr. Kiryu with such excitement.

On the other hand, it was also the first time Aonto saw Boss Kiryu put on such a strong posture in front of Mai Kinoshita.

Even when he announced that he was going to marry three girls, including Kinoshita Mai, he didn't see Boss Kiryu being so rude.

Qingdeng's comfort and "caress" immediately had results.

Kinoshita Mai's breathing gradually became calmer.

The shoulders that were slightly tense due to indignation slowly relaxed.

When Kinoshita Mai remained silent, Boss Kiryu remained silent in tacit agreement.

The struggle between young and old has changed from a fierce "hot war" to a heavy "cold war".

One side was his mentor, and the other side was one of his lovers - Aoto was caught in the middle. He suddenly felt that the conflict between Kinoshita Mai and Kiryu's boss was more serious than he wanted.

In order to lift up the suffocating atmosphere, Qingdeng took a deep breath:

"Anyway... let me understand the situation first. Ah Wu, I'll get straight to the point. Tell me: why do you want to join the Zhenfu Army?"

As soon as Qingto finished speaking, Boss Kiryu sighed softly, with a strong look of helplessness on his fine-lined brows.

Apparently, Kinoshita Mai has told Boss Kiryu why she wants to join the army.

Based on the reaction of the bespectacled old man... the girl in red's reason for joining the army does not seem to be comforting.

Mai Kinoshita... This introverted girl who was shy, shy, and rarely spoke loudly, rarely shouted at an extremely loud volume:
"I want to eliminate the Fa Zhu Party!"

"what?"

Qingden, who has the talent "Perceiver of Wind +1", could not have misheard what Luo Muxia Wu said.

However, the other party's answer was so unexpected that he couldn't help but ask "what".

Kinoshita Mai cleared her throat, and then said word by word in a louder voice, a more sonorous tone, and a more detailed content:
"Qingdeng, more than ten days ago, when that so-and-so and I visited the Trial Guard Hall, you said it yourself: One of the tasks of the Suppression and Fu Army is to monitor and fight against the Party."

"That being the case, there's no reason for me not to get involved!"

"Qingdeng, before your recruitment ceremony even started, I made up my mind to follow you to Kyoto to fight against the Fa-Zhou Party!"

"It wasn't until today that I finally found a chance to sneak out, but unfortunately I was still discovered by Mr. Kiryu..."

Qingden blinked, the brief downtime was his surprise.

To eliminate the Fa Punishment Party... Kinoshita Mai's reason for joining the army really surprised him.

At this time, Boss Kiryu sighed again, and then lifted the silence state:
"Young Master, please listen to me patiently."

"If you want to follow my lord's footsteps and contribute your own efforts to the confrontation between Calabash House and the Fa Punishment Party, or if you want to help Mr. Ju, so that Jun Ju can live a life without being threatened by the Fa Punishment Party. There is no need to have such a peaceful life..."

Before Boss Kiryu finished speaking, he was interrupted by Mai Kinoshita:
"Huh? Mr. Kiryu, you seem to have made a mistake."

Boss Kiryu raised his eyebrows, raised his gaze, and asked Kinoshita Mai with his eyes: Am I making a mistake?What's the meaning?
Kinoshita Mai straightened her back and sat upright.

"Mr. Kiryu, you are overcomplicating the problem."

"There is no complicated reason why I hate the Fa Zun Party."

"They are a bunch of lunatics who throw bombs into crowded streets - isn't that reason enough to eliminate them?"

Speaking of this, Kinoshita Wu gritted her teeth, her eyes flashed with indignation, and she clenched her fist tightly.

"Of course, I don't deny that I have a selfish desire to help grandma and Qingdeng."

"However, even if the Falun Gong Party has no grievances against me, I will not let these bastards go!"

"God knows what shocking terrorist activities they will pull out in the future."

"I will not give up even if the party is not destroyed by the law!"

Kinoshita Mai's words unsurprisingly attracted the eyes of Boss Aoto and Kiryu full of complex emotions.

After a brief moment of surprise, Qingden changed his gaze to calm and looked straight into Kinoshita Mai's eyes.

Just looking into her eyes, you can clearly feel her strong will.

Her eyes conveyed a message to Qingdeng: what she said just now was not a joke, let alone a playful attitude.

Seeing this, Qingdeng raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a smile filled with emotion.

Because the girl in red always showed her innocent and silly side in front of him, he unconsciously forgot that whether in the previous life or in this life, Kinoshita Mai was the best among all the people he had ever met. , the most righteous person.

She is a chivalrous person who dreams of building a school that can teach people at the bottom to make a living. In order to raise funds to build the school, she even transforms into a phantom thief named "Cat Monk" and steals money from the unkind people!
Throwing bombs into a crowded street—the incident mentioned by Mai Kinoshita was probably the recent assassination of Aoto by Hiroshi Nitsuma.

Dozens of people were killed in the stampede caused by the explosion... These tragic casualties have left Edo people with lingering fears to this day.

In order to eliminate the evil-doing Fuzhu Party, he resolutely signed up to join the army... This is indeed Kinoshita Mai's style.

Kinoshita Mai's speech and ambition can be described as impassioned and upright.

However...it didn't impress Boss Kiryu.

On the contrary, it made Boss Kiryu's expression darker.

"...Young Master, if that's the case, I can't let you join the Suppressing Army."

"why?!"

Kinoshita Mai's eyes were filled with intense excitement, and her pretty face was full of confusion.

"Young Master, I have been dealing with the Fa Zhu Party before you were born. I know better than anyone how bloody and cruel the lunatics of the Fa Punish Party are. If you don't want to stop, then I won't let you join the Suppressing Army."

Kinoshita Mai lightly bit her teeth and said sternly without giving in:

"Mr. Kiryu! Don't treat me like a child who still needs your protection..."

"I just treat you as a child who still needs our protection!!!"

The sudden roar not only scared Kinoshita Mai, but also Qingto.

I saw the usually gentle boss Kiryu, with his eyes wide open, a ferocious expression, and veins pulsing in his forehead...

*******
*******
I didn't sleep well yesterday...the air conditioner was broken and kept spitting out water. As a result, I was not in a good writing state today, so the word count is a little shorter. I'm so sorry! (Crying leopard head.jpg)

Fortunately, it was repaired in time, and I should be able to sleep well tonight (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)