Chapter 360 The Four Heavenly Kings: Jitaro [5300 words]
With Gua Shengxiu's guidance, Ogata's journey to Sakuramon House instantly became smoother.
It's impossible for every fan of Yunya House not to know Hide Kuao as "Yoshiwara Doshin".
Therefore, no one who saw the world dared to disturb Ogata who was following Gua Sheng.
Just like in the modern earth, no merchant would foolishly ask a person who is following a policeman "Do you want to buy something from our house?"
Without the annoying interruptions from the world-watching fans, Ogata felt as if he had jumped out of a sticky quagmire.
While Gua Sheng was leading the way for Ogata and Atachi, he spoke to the two people behind him from time to time:
"Speaking of which - I haven't asked you two for your names yet. I'm Kusen Hide from the Shirobei Club."
"I am Izumo Ronin, Majima Goro."
"I'm...Ayuki." When Shiranui moved his base near Edo, Omachi didn't want to tell his real name in Edo, so he casually gave it a pseudonym.
After giving a brief self-introduction, Guasheng began to chat casually with the two of them:
"People who come to Yoshihara basically come to have fun."
"You have to spend money to have fun."
"And it's a very large amount of money."
"'Ten thousand taels a day' is not an exaggeration in Yoshiwara. I have seen many people who can spend hundreds or thousands of taels a night in Yoshiwara."
"Because many people who come to Yoshihara basically carry a lot of money with them, so they attract a lot of thieves and robbers."
"Yoshiwara is one of the places with the largest number of thieves and robbers in the entire Edo."
"As a result, our Shirobei Club has to send a large number of manpower to patrol the streets of Yoshiwara all the time."
Having said this, Gua Sheng turned his head and cast a serious look at Ogata.
"When you go to Yoshiwara for fun in the future, remember to watch your wallet. Try not to go to crowded places."
"Thank you for your suggestion." Ogata laughed dumbly, "But I probably won't come to Yoshiwara again."
"In addition to watching your own money, you also need to remember to stay away from strangers who come inexplicably."
When Gua Sheng said this, he turned his attention to Ating.
"Although Yoshiwara is bright and bright both day and night, this place is actually one of the darkest places in Edo."
When he said these words, an imperceptible dim color flashed in Guasheng's eyes.
"There are countless 'underground activities' of invisible people in Yoshihara."
"One of the main tasks of our Shirobei Club is to fight against these 'underground activities'."
"The most harmful 'underground business' is human traffickers."
"They used sweet words to deceive those girls who were in their prime, and abducted those girls into various tourist houses."
"Once you are sold into a tourist house, it will be difficult to deal with it."
"Because we can very well find out whether you were abducted and trafficked into the Yumeya House. Or you were acting there. You clearly entered the Yumeya House voluntarily but lied about being abducted in order to leave Yoshiwara."
"In short, women should be more careful than men after entering Yoshiwara."
"Whether you are in Yoshiwara or outside Yoshiwara, you must be extra careful about those human traffickers."
"Many human traffickers operate outside Yoshiwara, abduct girls outside Yoshiwara, and then sell the girls into Yoshiwara."
Similar words were said by Ogata and Omachi from the uncle at the "Onagari Hand Collection Point".
Both the uncle and Guasheng emphasized the danger of human traffickers. It can be seen that human traffickers are really rampant in Yoshiwara.
Even though they had no friendship, Gua Sheng still spent so much time telling Ogata and A-machi about various precautions in Yoshiwara, which made both of them feel a little fond of this enthusiastic girl.
"Thank you for the reminder!" Ating smiled, "But I don't think any human trafficker would like an ugly girl like me, right?"
After saying that, A-Machi showed a weird smile and raised his finger to point at the extremely bad makeup on her face that couldn't bear to be looked at.
"Don't be careless, Miss Ayuki."
Melons give birth to the righteous path.
"As far as I know, in recent times, Yoshiwara's customers are particularly attracted to people with plump breasts."
Speaking of this, Gua Sheng's eyes moved to Omachi's bulging chest that stretched out her kimono.
I don't know if it was Ogata's illusion, but he always felt that when Gua Sheng moved his eyes to Amachi's chest, the corners of his mouth seemed to twitch, and his eyes seemed to become a little weird.
"Those with large breasts have become one of the main targets of human traffickers in recent times."
Guasheng continued.
"Even if you have an average face, as long as you have plump breasts, you will still be abducted by human traffickers into the house of tourist girls."
"What's more, Miss A-Xing, please don't call yourself an ugly girl. It's too arrogant to belittle yourself."
"Although your makeup... is so thick that people can't see what you really look like, but I can feel that you have a very good foundation."
"I have been working in Yoshiwara for a long time, and I see so many beautiful girls every day, so I still have some eyes for distinguishing beauty from ugliness."
"So I can feel it - your foundation must be very good."
"Your skin is fair enough and you have a good figure."
"After dressing up properly, she will definitely be the kind of beauty who has the potential to become the top star of a certain tourist house."
Ating seemed to be very pleased with this kind of disguised praise of Guasheng.
Amachi looked happy and poked Ogata next to him with his elbow.
"Did you hear that? Miss Gua Sheng said that I am qualified enough to be the top tourist girl."
"And he's the kind of person who's qualified to compete for the position of oiran." Gua Sheng added with a smile.
Hearing what Gua Sheng said, A Ding became even happier.
However, Atachi still played with his hair and said in a helpless tone:
"It's a pity that I haven't studied much. I can't even recognize Chinese characters. There's no way I can be an oiran."
"If you want to be an oiran, it's not enough to be well-educated." Gua Sheng said lightly, "Only the kind of woman who is beautiful, well-educated, good at playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and good at talking... In short, she must be that kind of almost perfect woman.
Only then can you have the title of oiran."
"Now in the whole Yoshiwara, the only courtesan left is the Fubell Taifu of Umeya."
"Huh?" A-Machi raised his eyebrows in confusion, "From what you said just now, it turns out that there can be more than one oiran in Yoshiwara?"
"Of course there can be more than one oiran." Gua Sheng said in a helpless tone, "It's just because it's so difficult to be an oiran. Most of the time there is only one oiran, so it gives people the impression that there is only one oiran in Yoshihara.
illusion."
"There can be many oirans."
"A few years ago, there were three oirans in Yoshiwara at the same time."
"It's just that I hadn't started working at the Shirobei Club at that time, so I didn't see the scene of the three courtesan competing for beauty."
Speaking of this, Guasheng paused as if he remembered something.
After a long pause, she scratched her hair, and then said to Amachi in a slightly apologetic tone:
"Although I just said that your qualifications are enough to be the number one in a certain tourist house in Yoshiwara."
"But unless you are really desperate in the future, don't come to Yoshiwara to be a wandering girl."
"It's easy to get in Yoshihara, but it's hard to get out."
"Even an courtesan who stands at the top of the list of prostitutes would find it difficult to die peacefully in Yoshihara."
"Of the three courtesans I just mentioned, only one died a good death."
"The only courtesan who died well was successfully redeemed by a rich man who liked her before she got sick, and then married the rich man."
"Being redeemed and being able to be married like an ordinary girl is already the best ending that wandering girls can't even imagine."
"One of the other two people got sick and died in the second year after becoming an oiran."
"The other one, for some unknown reason, failed to control her figure, and her figure was out of shape. No customers ordered her anymore, and she was abandoned by her original employer on the banks of the Rashomon River."
"Um..." Ogata asked, "What is 'Rashomon Bank'?"
"...Did you see that?"
Guasheng stopped and pursed his lips toward the west.
Ogata and Atachi looked in the direction where Kuazo's mouth was pointing.
I saw a dark area to the west of Yoshihara.
Obviously that area is also within the tall wooden wall and is part of Yoshihara, but that area is incompatible with other areas.
All other areas were brightly lit, like daylight.
Only that area was dark, with only a few scattered lights.
"That place is the 'Rashomon River Bank'."
Guasheng said in a calm tone.
"The elderly, the sick...in short, the wandering girls who no longer have any customers calling their names, will most likely be abandoned on the banks of the Rashomon River."
"You can see many of the top signs of a certain former tourist house on the 'Rashomon River Bank'."
"No one from the wandering girl's house will take care of the wandering girls who were abandoned on the banks of the Rashomon River."
"They can only rely on themselves to attract customers."
"In order to make a living, they basically accept all customers. And they also use very rough methods to attract customers."
"People walking on the 'Rashomon River Bank' will be grabbed by their hands or clothes and forced to enter the room. This force of pulling people into the room is like the legendary 'Rashomon', so people often call it
That area is called 'Rashomon Bank'."
"Of course - there is another very important reason why it is called the 'Rashomon Bank'. It is because the desolate scenery of that area and the changes in the fate of the wandering girls living in this area are enough to make people think
To Rashomon."
After listening to Gua Sheng's words quietly, Ogata and Atachi couldn't help but feel depressed.
Gua Sheng also realized that what he just said seemed to ruin the atmosphere of the conversation, so he turned around and bowed to Ogata and apologized: "I'm sorry, what I just said seemed to be too heavy..."
"It's okay." Amachi Qiang smiled, "There is no need to apologize to us. Instead, I want you to thank you for telling us so many things related to Yoshiwara. Thanks to you, we know a lot of things we didn't know before."
"I think it is necessary for your Shirobei club to publicize the hardships of being a yōjo so that every girl who plans to enter Yoshiwara as a yūjō will think carefully about it."
"Of course we have to publicize the difficulties of being a wandering girl." Gua Sheng said with a wry smile, "Whenever a girl plans to come to Yoshiwara to become a traveling girl, we will earnestly advise them to think carefully and tell them what will happen after becoming a traveling girl.
face the consequences."
"It's a pity that many girls still choose to enter Yoshiwara without hesitation even after learning about the difficulties faced by yūyo."
"As for the reason...sigh..."
Guasheng did not continue speaking, only let out a long sigh.
Although Guaou didn't continue talking, Ogata and Amachi both knew why so many girls still entered Yoshiwara without hesitation even if they learned about Yume's difficulties.
There is no other reason - for money.
Even in peacetime, there must still be a large number of people who are so poor that they have no other choice.
Those girls who resolutely decide to become a wandering girl even though they know that there will definitely be no good outcome after becoming a wandering girl, must have been trapped in a situation where there is no other way to survive except to become a wandering girl.
After Guasheng let out another long sigh, he said:
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's keep walking. Turn around the intersection in front and you will see Sakuramon House."
…
…
Because they had just talked about an uncomfortable topic, the atmosphere between the three of them became very heavy.
None of the three of them spoke again for the rest of the way.
Sakuramonya is indeed one of the few "grand houses" in Yoshiwara. In terms of the grandeur of the house, it outshines other wandering girls' houses around it.
After explaining their purpose to the Miseban who was guarding the door of the Sakuramon House, the Miseban immediately showed his understanding.
"Oh! The steamed buns from Saiwu! You guys are faster than expected! I haven't seen you before. Where is Toujiro?"
"Toujiro's waist was injured," Ogata said, "so we delivered the steamed buns on his behalf."
"That's it...then you can tell Toujiro, 'Take good care of yourself' for our owner of Sakuramonya!"
"Yes, I will."
After accepting the steamed buns, the kenseban gave Ogata a receipt proving that they had received the steamed buns.
It's said to be a written receipt, but it's actually just a small piece of white paper with words such as "Sakuramon House has received 30 steamed buns" written on it.
Before coming to deliver the steamed buns, Tojiro told Ogata that Sakuramonya had already paid for it in advance, so Ogata only needed to deliver the steamed buns, and then bring this receipt and the furoshiki belt to the person who was responsible for wrapping the box containing the steamed buns.
Just come back.
After putting the writings and furoshiki away in his arms, Omachi asked Ogata:
"Mashima, what should we do next?"
Because Guaou was present, Atachi did not call her the usual name for Ogata, but Ogata's pseudonym.
"What else can we do?" Ogata shrugged, "Of course, after sending the note and Furoshiki back to the tea house, go back to the hotel directly."
Ogata originally wanted to try to gather some useful information in Yoshiwara.
Unexpectedly, what I heard was all unpalatable stuff, and there was no useful information at all.
In addition, it was not too early now, so Ogata also lost interest in staying in Yoshiwara.
"Are you leaving?" Gua Sheng said, "Then I'll take you to the door. I'll also go back to the club to take a rest. I haven't rested yet tonight, so it's time to take a break."
After thanking Guasheng, the three of them set off again.
Under Guasheng's guidance, the three people turned back onto the avenue that was located in the middle of Yoshihara and connected to the gate.
According to Guano's introduction - this avenue located in the middle of Yoshihara, dividing Yoshihara into two, is named "Nakano-machi".
As the three of them were heading towards the gate along Nakano-machi, a series of commotions suddenly sounded from behind them.
"What's going on?" Gua Sheng frowned and looked behind him.
Also looking back behind him was Ogata.
I saw that the crowd behind me suddenly became noisy for some reason, and everyone's face was filled with excitement.
Gua Sheng, who was also confused, bowed lightly to Ogata and Atachi.
"Sorry, I'll excuse you for a moment. I'm going to see what's going on."
After saying that, Guasheng held the wooden knife on his waist and ran towards the commotion-making crowd behind him.
After a while, Guasheng came back.
"What happened?" Ating asked.
"A rare thing happened." Gua Sheng smiled bitterly, "A rich guy ordered the Wind Chime Taifu."
“So ‘Oran Road’ is about to begin.”
"Because they can finally meet the legendary oiran, these people are very excited."
Hearing Gua Sheng's words, Ogata and Atachi were both stunned.
After recovering from his daze, Atachi turned his head and smiled slyly, while jokingly saying to Ogata beside him:
"Who just told me that oirans are hard to see? Aren't we going to see them now?"
Regarding Omachi's joke, Ogata responded with a tone of helplessness and a hint of joking:
"This only shows that we are quite lucky..."
"Yes." Gua Sheng on the side answered, "You are indeed very lucky."
"Not everyone has the financial resources to order a courtesan."
"How about it? Are you interested in going to see the oiran?"
…
…
at the same time--
Yoshihara, somewhere in a remote shadow area outside the gate.
In this remote shadowed area, two people stood.
Two young men wearing ordinary kimonos, with only wakizashi on their waists.
One of the two young men looked at the Yoshiwara Gate in front of him, stretched hard, and then spoke in a lazy tone that only he and the other young man beside him could hear clearly.
He said in a low tone:
"We finally arrived in Yoshiwara... It's all because Enma-sama suddenly held a meeting tonight and wasted a lot of time, so I couldn't come to Yoshiwara so late today."
"It was just a meeting, but the meeting was still a boring meeting to warn us to be careful in Edo."
"I keep talking about it, but the content is still the same. It's about being careful in your words and deeds in Edo and not to conflict with officials... I'm tired of hearing these words."
As soon as the young man finished complaining, another young man standing next to him immediately said in a respectful tone:
"Jutaro-sama, let's enter Yoshiwara quickly. Because of Fuma-sama, we have to arrive at Yoshiwara later than usual today, so let's hurry up."
"That's right." The young man called Ji Tailang stretched his body again, "Let's go."
After saying that, Ji Tairou took a step forward.
But as soon as he took a step forward, he paused.
"By the way, Eitaro." Gokutaro turned his head, looked at the young man next to him who had just reminded him to hurry up, and then whispered in a volume that only he and the young man could hear clearly, "later.
After entering Yoshiwara, be careful to change your words."
"I am not the 'Four Heavenly Kings' Gokutaro in Shiranui."
"It's just Jiichiro, a prostitute who comes to Yoshihara to have fun."
"Yes." The young man next to Ji Taro, Eitaro, responded respectfully, "I will pay attention to it."
"Let's go." Gokutaro straightened his kimono, "Enter Yoshiwara!"