The negation is here to make clear this is a rhetorical question.
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With Combien de fois me suis-je disputé avec ce vieil homme…, you are asking for the count which isn’t really the point
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With Combien de fois ne me suis-je pas disputé avec ce vieil homme…, you are just stating you argued a large number of times without actually asking anything.
This is exactly the reason why I added pas in my reply to another question of yours here.
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