Chapter 556 The rebellious Shinsengumi!

Qingden lied that Elodie and others were his friends, and because they were also going to Kyoto, he gave them a ride.

In order to ensure the personal safety of the Angouleme family, Qingdeng also placed them all in the Chinese army where he was, ensuring that their presence was always under his nose.

To be fair, Qingdeng's behavior can be regarded as seeking public benefit for personal gain.

However, it does not harm the collective interests, it is just an innocuous trivial matter, so no one dares to say anything.

Snap, snap, snap, snap...

At this time, crisp footsteps came from the direction of the corridor from far to near.

In an instant, Anthony and Leroy seemed to have a stress reaction and quickly grabbed the hats and face towels they had just taken off.

Only Qingden and Elodie looked normal, and the latter even looked happy - because they were so familiar with this series of footsteps.

"Mr. Anthony, Miss Leroy, don't be nervous."

Qingdeng smiled.

"The person who came here is an acquaintance of ours. I asked her to come."

As soon as he finished speaking, the soft voice of a girl in red sounded outside the door:

"Qingdeng, it's me! Can I come in?"

"Well, come in."

The next breath, Kinoshita Mai impatiently pushed the door open and entered.

When the paper sliding door that blocked her view was pushed aside, she first glanced at Qingdeng on the main seat, and then quickly swept her eyes, as if she was looking for something.

Soon, she found her target - the blonde girl who was looking at her with bright eyes.

"Elodie!"

"Miss Dance!"

Kinoshita Mai ran towards the opponent in three steps and two steps at a time.

Elodie also stood up and leaned over.

The two girls hugged each other tightly.

Looking at this quintessential picture of "beautiful girl sticking up", Qingdeng's lips unconsciously smiled - this was not because he had any strange hobbies, but simply because he was seeing his lover and

After the apprentice showed a happy smile, he also became happy.

One side is a socially-phobic person who is clumsy-tongued and not good at speaking.

The other side is a lonely girl who has left her hometown and lives in a foreign country.

Both parties regard each other as their most important friends.

Among the current Shinsengumi, apart from Ainoto, only Mai Kinoshita knows the true identities of the three people who "hitched a ride".

The reason why Qingto suddenly called Kinoshita Mai here was partly so that the two best friends could meet and talk.

In order to cover up others' eyes and ears, Elodie and others must try to avoid contact with others, so the two women will not communicate during the day.

The other reason is more serious.

Although I really want Kinoshita Mai and Elodie to get along with each other for a while longer, important things are at stake.

"Mr. Anthony, Miss Elodie, Miss Leroy, I'm sorry, can you please go down and rest temporarily? I have something very important to discuss with Ah Wu now."

Elodie is an obedient, sensible, mature and good child, so naturally she will not act willful in such situations.

She nodded lightly, and immediately put on her hat and face towel again together with Anthony and Leroy, and filed out.

When the footsteps of the Angoulême family completely disappeared at the end of the corridor outside the room, Kinoshita Mai asked:

"Qingdeng, what do you want to discuss with me?"

She paused for a moment, then as if she thought of something, she crossed her hands and waved hastily, and said urgently with red cheeks:

"I, I, let me declare in advance! I walked all day today and haven't even taken a shower yet. I really am not in the mood to do that, that kind of thing!"

"Who said I would do that kind of thing with you?"

After saying this angrily, Qingden waved to Kinoshita Wu.

She immediately walked to him obediently.

"Ah Wu, let me tell you the truth. The main reason I called you here tonight is to talk about your ninth division."

Kinoshita Mai looked puzzled:

"My ninth division?"

Qingdeng nodded and continued:

"Have you noticed that the members of your ninth division are all ordinary-looking people with ordinary bodies, and you can't find them if you throw them into a busy city?"

Kinoshita Mai blinked a few times.

"Huh? From what you said...it seems to be true..."

"I did this on purpose. I specially put the least conspicuous people into your team."

"Huh? Why is this happening?"

Qingdeng straightened his back, sat upright, and put on a serious tone:

"Ah Wu, if you want to win the war, you must focus on two aspects."

He held out two fingers.

"One is logistics, and the other is intelligence."

"As long as you can have supplies in one step and know your enemy and yourself, you can still be in an invincible position even if you cannot defeat the opponent."

"My Shinsengumi must have a new, independent, and more efficient intelligence collection agency."

"Therefore, I plan to build your ninth division into a ninja unit dedicated to intelligence collection."

"This important task belongs to you."

"After all, you are a true female ninja."

Kinoshita Wu opened her eyes wide and moved her red lips:

"Intelligence collection... Ninja troops..."

After a moment, she came back to her senses and said nervously:

"Like, like, like, how can a person like me have the ability to shoulder such a huge task!"

"If you ask me to do rough and tiring work, I won't hesitate."

"But this kind of work requires management and thinking... Qingdeng, you'd better entrust this important task to others!"

Qingden Wan'er:

"A Wu, give yourself more confidence."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hands, grabbed Kinoshita Mai's two round shoulders, turned her in a half circle so that her back was facing his chest, and then took the girl into his arms.

"Don't you always tell me: You don't want to go on like this anymore?"

"You really want to get rid of your bad habit of not being good at communicating with others, and you don't even dare to look at strangers, don't you?"

"And now is the best opportunity for you to start changing yourself."

"The first step is always difficult, but as long as you take the first step, the rest of the steps will be much easier."

"If you have the talent, believe in yourself."

Qingdeng's encouragement had an immediate effect - but not much.

Kinoshita Mai played with her fingers, looked away, and murmured:

"That's true, but...but...but..."

Looking at the girl in red who was still hesitating, Qingdeng smiled helplessly, and then changed the topic:

"There is no need to worry about the Ninja Army for the time being."

"Before that, I have to give you an equally important confidential task."

"This task must be very handy for you, who used your identity as the 'Cat Monk' to frighten all the villains in Edo."

After hearing this, Kinoshita Mai raised her head and put her head on Qingdeng's chest, and the two looked at each other.

What mission? She confirmed it to Qingdeng with her eyes.

Qingdeng said seriously:

"Monitor Qinghe Hachiro and report his daily activities to me in detail."

…

…

3 days later——

After passing through Shinagawa-juku, Kawasaki-juku, Kanagawa-juku, Hodogaya-juku, Totsuka-juku, Fujisawa-juku, Hiratsuka-juku, Oiso-juku, and Oda-Harajuku, all the Shinsengumi soldiers arrived at dusk on the third day.

, arrived at the 10th accommodation on Tokaido: Hakone-juku.

When talking about Hakone, we have to mention the famous mountain located here: Mount Hakone.

There is a familiar saying among Japanese people: "The mountains of Hakone are dangerous to the world."

The "danger" here not only refers to the high altitude of Mount Hakone (1,438 meters), but also refers to the fact that it is dangerous - dangerous in the true sense.
To be continued...