"Mashima-kun, Miss Ayuki, if you two plan to join in the excitement of the oiran's tour, I can take you there now."
Guasheng added with a wry smile.
"The 'Oiran Road' is about to start. I definitely can't go back to the club to rest now."
"Once the 'Oiran Road' begins, our Shirobei Club will have to send a large number of personnel to maintain security on site."
"So I don't have time to rest now, I have to rush to the scene of 'Oiran Road'."
"If you two plan to watch 'Oiran Daozhong', I can take you there smoothly."
"How about it? Are you interested in seeing it?"
If you say that Ogata doesn't want to take a look at the legendary "Oiran Road" - that is definitely a lie.
Ogata has always heard about the grand scene of "Oiran Road".
Watching various wonders and strange sights that I have never seen before in my life - this is one of Ogata's few hobbies.
Therefore, Ogata was very interested in taking a look at how grand the legendary "Oiran Road" was.
And A-Machi also happened to have the same desire to join in the fun.
So the two hit it off immediately and decided to watch the scene of the oiran's tour.
"You all want to go see it?" Gua Sheng nodded, "Okay, come with me."
The three people turned and walked towards the rear of Nakano-machi, which bisected Yoshihara in the middle.
As he followed Kuanao towards the back of Nakano-machi, Atachi asked Kuaishou in front of him:
"Actually, why does the oiran lead such a large group of people around Yoshiwara? Where is she going?"
"Huh?" Guasheng, who was walking in front, turned around and said, "Miss Axing, don't you know?"
"I don't know." A-Machi shook his head honestly, "I am a foreigner and I don't know much about Yoshiwara."
"I only know that 'Oiran Road' means the oiran leading a large group of people around Yoshiwara. As for why the oiran leads so many people around Yoshiwara, and where the oiran and the others are going, I don't know.
.”
"That's it..." After muttering like this, Guasheng fell silent.
It seems that he is conceiving and organizing his words.
After a short while, Gua Sheng said:
"If you want to have a romantic relationship with an oiran, you have to go through a very complicated process first."
"In other words, you have to go through many tests first."
"If you want to have a romantic relationship with an oiran, you must first go to Yoshihara's 'Yangwu'."
"Yangwu...you can understand it as a special tea house."
"A special kind of oiran who acts as an intermediary between guests and oiran."
"Hold a banquet in the Yangwu, and ask the people from the Yangwu to help you introduce the oiran."
"The journey where the oiran leads a large group of servants from the wandering girl's house to the Yang's house is called the 'Oiran's Road', also known as the 'Oiran's Tour'."
"After arriving at the Yangwu and meeting the named guests, the oiran will begin to observe the guests."
"If you don't like the guest, the oiran can just leave without saying a word."
"And the money spent by the guest on the banquet was wasted."
"Of course - very few courtesans do this. If you do this too much and leave without saying a word, it will be fatal to your popularity."
"After an oiran meets a guest, she can't immediately start having sex."
"When meeting for the first time, the guest can only chat and drink with the oiran, but can't do anything else."
"It was like this the second time we met."
"The guest cannot enter the oiran's boudoir until the third meeting."
"So generally speaking, you have to meet the oiran three times before you can truly fall in love with the oiran."
"The oiran leads a large group of people from the Younv's House to the Yang's House, and the expenses incurred on the journey from the Yang's House to the Younv's House are all borne by the guest who named the oiran."
"The expenses for the banquet will all be borne by the guest who named the oiran."
"so--"
Having said this, Guasheng shrugged.
"Just imagine how rich a person must be to be called an oiran."
After listening to Guasheng’s introduction, A-Machi twitched the corner of his mouth and murmured:
"Is it so troublesome to meet the oiran..."
"It's so troublesome and expensive." Gua Sheng said sternly, "Therefore, in the entire Edo, probably only the wealthy businessmen and the samurai with a salary of several thousand years and tens of thousands of koku are qualified to call the oiran."
"Precisely because there are not many people who are qualified to name Oiran, you don't always have the opportunity to see 'Oiran Dochu'. Is this your first time coming to Yoshiwara?"
"Yes." Ogata nodded, "This is the first time."
"Then you are really lucky. This is the first time you come to Yoshiwara, and you can see the 'Oiran Dochu'. Many people have come to Yoshiwara many times, but never have the opportunity to see it. Ah, here we are."
Ogata and Atachi followed Kuao to the very back of Nakano Town.
This place is crowded.
After receiving the news, people who came specially to watch the "Oiran Road" crowded on both sides of the road, leaving the middle of the street empty so that the Oiran and her entourage could pass through smoothly.
Ogata looked around and saw many people wearing dark blue feathers specially designed for the Shirobei Club standing on guard at various places along the avenue.
"Let's stand here." Gua Sheng casually squeezed into a small crowd on the west side street, "It's neither too close to the center of the street nor too far from the center of the street. It's a perfect viewing spot."
Ogata and Omachi stood at the spot chosen by Kuasao, waiting for the start of the "Oran Road" while casually chatting with Kuasao.
While Gua Sheng was chatting with Ogata and Atachi, he did not move his eyes and scanned around, alerting the surroundings.
Ogata thought it might take a long time for the oiran to arrive.
But I didn’t expect that after only about 5 minutes, the “Oiran Road” started.
Ogata and the others were facing the middle of the street, standing on the west side of the street.
So from the end of the street on their left, there were slowly rising noises from far to near.
Ogata turned his head and looked towards the end of the street on the left - he saw a dozen people wearing various masks jumping around and doing funny dances.
Looking at this group of people who looked like circus clowns, Ogata couldn't help but ask Gua Sheng, who was standing in front of him:
"What are these people here for?"
"They are the jugglers who are responsible for the warm-up," said Gua Sheng, "who are responsible for activating the atmosphere and creating momentum."
It has to be said that these artists responsible for enlivening the atmosphere have indeed played a lot of roles.
The atmosphere in the street, which was originally devoid of any unnecessary sounds except for the small chatter, suddenly became lively.
Behind these jugglers were several harp players who played the shamisen. In modern terms, these harp players were responsible for providing background music to these jugglers.
After this group of artists responsible for activating the atmosphere passed in front of Ogata, the next thing that appeared in Ogata's field of vision were several powerful and strong men.
These strong men all had serious eyes and held a long stick in their hands.
Even without Guasheng's introduction, Ogata knew that these strong men should be serving as bodyguards.
Following closely behind these bodyguards was a middle-aged woman.
This middle-aged woman was holding a large cylindrical lantern in her hand, with two large Chinese characters written on it - wind chime.
"Wind Chime is the name of the only oiran we have in Yoshiwara."
Gua Sheng introduced everything in detail to Ogata and Atachi behind him.
"Because of the extraordinary status of the oiran, we all add the honorific title 'tafu' after the oiran's name.
"Look, Mr. Feng Chime is here. That's Mr. Feng Chime."
Guasheng raised his hand and pointed to the end of the street on the left.
"Those two little girls, called 'bald', are the maids responsible for serving the oiran. They are also the candidates for the oiran. They are the best girls selected from a hundred to be trained as the future oiran."
"The woman behind the two bald men is Mrs. Feng Chime."
"The beautiful women behind Mr. Feng Chime are the 'new creations of Furisode'. You can also understand them as candidates for the oiran, but they are older than Bald."
"The older women behind Furisode Shinzo are the 'Bantou Shinzo', who are responsible for taking care of the oiran's daily life."
While Ogata listened carefully to Guaou's explanation, he turned his attention to the dozen girls walking slowly in the middle of the street.
Even without Gua Sheng's explanation, Ogata could tell at a glance who the Wind Chime Taifu was.
Because it's so obvious.
The momentum of the Feng Chime Taifu's patrol can be described as "calling in front and supporting behind".
First there were two little girls in front of them, probably only about 10 years old.
The two little girls had their hair pulled into Shimada buns and were dressed in gorgeous costumes.
Both Koi Yu Furisode Shinzo, who is a candidate for the oiran, and the oiran himself, all have thick white makeup on their faces.
The reason why white makeup is so popular is because there were no various lighting effects like modern ones during ancient performances, and in many cases there was only dim candlelight lighting.
If you perform in a dark environment without any makeup, your face will look sallow, and it will also be difficult for people to see your facial features.
So Bai Tu Zhuang, who paints his face white, came into being.
After painting your face white, your visual appearance and performance in a dark environment will be greatly improved.
It happens to be evening now.
In this slightly dim environment, the white makeup on the faces of these girls does not look scary, but feels just right, and can well outline the beautiful facial features of these girls.
The woman walking behind the two bald men is the only oiran in Yoshiwara now - Fuchi Taifu.
After focusing on Fuchi Taifu, the first impression that Fuzu Taifu brought to Ogata was - heavy.
It's not that Fuchi Taifu has a plump figure and looks very heavy. Although there is not much exposed skin, Ogata can still see through Fuzu Taifu's fat and thin cheeks that she must be a person with a very slender figure.
The reason why the first word that came to Ogata's mind after seeing Fubell Taifu was "heavy" is because what Fubell Taifu was wearing, on his head, and on his feet all looked quite heavy.
As candidates for the oiran, Bald and Furisode Shinzao were all dressed in gorgeous clothes.
But compared with those worn by the oiran, the costumes they wore really pale into insignificance.
If you told Ogata that the clothes on Fuchi Taifu were heavier than the armor, Ogata wouldn't be surprised at all.
Because the clothes worn by Feng Ling Taifu are many and thick, layered one on top of another, their thickness can even compete with cotton quilts.
In addition to the body, Fu Chime Taifu's head also looks quite heavy.
The hairstyle Fu Chime Taifu currently wears is a bun with a lot of accessories that Ogata can't name.
According to Ogata's visual inspection, the number of these accessories should be more than 10 pieces.
There are so many accessories, which seem heavy.
In addition to these accessories on his head, the wooden clogs on Mr. Wind Chime's feet also look very heavy.
Mrs. Feng Chime's white and tender feet without socks are stepping on a pair of three-toothed wooden clogs of astonishing height.
According to Ogata's visual inspection, the height of this pair of clogs should be about 30 centimeters.
According to Ogata's visual inspection, Fubell Taifu's height is probably over 1.6 meters and less than 1.65 meters. Among women of this era, he is considered a very tall person.
With a height of 1.6 meters, coupled with the 30 centimeter-high wooden clogs, Taifu Fuzu's height is almost 2 meters, and he can look down on Ogata, who is only 1.7 meters tall.
Because the pair of wooden clogs on Fubell Taifu's feet were so conspicuous, A-machi, who was standing next to Ogata, couldn't help but said in a surprised tone:
"What's with those clogs?"
"The name of that pair of clogs is 'Three-piece Shoe.'" Gua Sheng said lightly, "They are the clogs used exclusively by courtesans."
"It looks so heavy..." Amachi muttered, "And what the hell is the oiran's move like? It's so grinding..."
Wind Chime Taifu doesn't walk like a normal person.
Instead, when walking, step your feet out to the outside of the body first, draw a semicircle, and then land in front of the body.
Just walking forward slowly and leisurely.
"This footwork is called the 'Foreign Eight-Character Step'." Gua Sheng continued, "It is a very elegant footwork. It usually takes 2 or 3 years of practice to master the 'Foreign Eight-Character Step'."
"...Is this footwork very elegant?" Azing looked suspiciously up and down at Fuchi Taifu, who was slowly walking forward with very grinding steps, trying to find "elegance" in Fuchi Taifu.
Although he didn't have a deep understanding of Yoshiwara and the culture of the oiran, Ogata had heard about the special pair of clogs used by the oiran.
According to what Ogata had heard, each of the special pair of clogs used by the oiran weighed about 5 kilograms.
That is to say, the oiran must wear a pair of shoes weighing more than 10 kilograms to walk to the Yangwu, and then have to walk from the Yangwu back to the maid's house.
——It’s really hard work...
Ogata couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Because Gaihachimonji's footwork was really difficult, it took a while before Fuzuki Taifu finally reached Ogata's field of vision.
After Fuchi Taifu came to Ogata, Ogata was finally able to look at Fuzu Taifu's appearance more carefully and more conveniently.
If Ogata had to use some words to describe the appearance of Fuchi Taifu... Fuzu Taifu is like a bonfire burning in the dark night.
And the bald, furisode, and fantouxinzaos around her were like moths flying around the campfire.
As that conspicuous fire, Feng Chime Taifu naturally attracted the attention of everyone around him.
Even Ogata, who comes from modern times and holds modern aesthetics, still thinks Fuchi Taifu is beautiful.
The beauty of Fengchi Taifu is not only the beauty of appearance, but also the beauty of temperament.
Wind Chime Taifu exudes a special aura.
Intelligence is mixed with a bit of grace and elegance.
This special aura emanates from Mr. Feng Ling's eyebrows and from the slightly raised corners of his mouth that look like a smile but not a smile.
The appearance of the Wind Chime Taifu can be regarded as the highlight of this "Oiran Road".
After the Wind Chime Taifu appeared, all kinds of screams came one after another from the crowd of onlookers on both sides of the street.
After Fuchi Taifu walked to the front of Ogata's field of vision, the men around Ogata instantly became excited.
"What a beauty!"
"It's finally here!"
"Feng Chime Taifu! You are so beautiful!"
"Wind Chime Taifu! This way! Please look at me!"
…
Shouting similar to this kept ringing around Ogata, making Ogata's eardrums hurt.
Ogata even saw a man not far away with a fanatical look on his face who was about to rush into Fuzu Taifu's team, but he was stopped in time by an officer from the Shirobei Club next to him.
Ogata couldn't help but sigh - no matter what era we are in, there are ardent fans of such stars.
Ogata was playing around, but he didn't expect that there was a fan of Fuchi Taifu behind him.
The fanatic fan didn't shout out the rest of the words, but kept shouting "Wind Chime Taifu".
And the fanatical behavior of this fanatic fan still has some effect.
Fuzu Taifu, who happened to be in front of Ogata, was attracted by the enthusiastic behavior of this fanatical fan and squinted his eyes to the right.
He glanced at the fanatical fan with a slanted gaze and then looked back.
When he looked back, Fu Chime Taifu's eyes naturally glanced at Ogata.
After glancing at Ogata by the way, Fuchi Taifu completely retracted his gaze and continued to walk forward without squinting.
Although it was only a glance, it was enough to drive these ardent fans crazy.
"Wind Chime Taifu is looking at me!"
"What nonsense are you talking about! What Mr. Feng Chime was looking at just now was clearly me!"
…
"Na."
While these fanatic fans around Ogata were noisy, Atachi poked Ogata next to him with his elbow, and then asked Ogata in a joking but serious tone:
"Aren't you going to yell along with these people?"
Ogata, who was leisurely inserting his hands into Haori's sleeves, smiled and shrugged after hearing Amachi's question:
"If the person who is walking slowly in the middle of the street with a foreign step is you, I might yell like a madman, Mr. Wind Chime will not make me lose my temper like this."
After saying that, Ogata took his hands out of his sleeves.
"Let's go, A-Xing. Let's go back."
The grand Oiran Daozhong has witnessed it with his own eyes.
Ogata has also witnessed the oiran's majestic appearance.
There is no reason to stay in Yoshiwara anymore, Ogata already wants to finish watching and leave Yoshiwara.
However, as soon as Ogata said "Let's go back", a loud shout suddenly rang out from the street opposite.
"As expected of an oiran! She is so beautiful!!"
Because the shout was so loud that it directly overwhelmed the shouts of everyone around him, causing everyone around him, including Mr. Feng Chime, to focus on the person who made the shout.
The person who shouted this was a young man with a wakizashi stuck in his waist.
Mr. Feng Chime turned around, blinked his eyes with long eyelashes, and gave the young man with a loud voice a calm look.
The emotion contained in those eyes is difficult to grasp.
After taking one look at this young man, he looked away.
When the young man saw that he had successfully attracted the attention of the wind chime master, he smiled proudly.
Ogata, Atachi, and Guaou also cast their sights on this young man after he shouted.
After his eyes fell on the young man across the street, Guasheng's face immediately sank:
"It's him..."
"What?" Ogata asked, "Miss Guasheng, do you know that person?"
"Yes, I know you." Gua Sheng said in a deep voice, "This person has been a frequent visitor to Yoshihara for a while. Every night he takes the follower behind him to Yoshihara to have fun."
"He was quite rude and always hit or scolded the prostitutes. Many prostitutes were injured by him."
"This guy can be considered one of the celebrities in our Shirobei Club."
"You have such a bad personality..." Just after Ogata sighed, he suddenly felt his right sleeve being pulled several times.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Ogata turned his head and looked at the person who pulled his sleeve: Amachi.
After turning his gaze to Amachi, Ogata suddenly discovered that Amachi, who was just normal just now, now looked very ugly, as if he had seen something quite terrifying.
"...Come with me for a moment." A-Machi said.
"Okay." Ogata nodded directly without any hesitation.
After telling Gua Sheng that they wanted to leave for a while, Ogata and Atachi left the crowd of people watching the Oiran Road and came to a deserted and remote corner.
Looking at A-Machi's ugly expression, Ogata's face couldn't help but become serious, and he asked again in a serious tone: "What's going on?"
"...I know the person who yelled just now..." Atachi whispered at a volume that only she and Ogata could hear.
"Huh?" After Ogata made a confused "huh" sound, he suddenly realized something.
Ogata lowered his voice, using the volume that only the two of them could hear clearly, just like what Omachi used just now, and asked in a low voice:
"That person...could he be someone from Shiranui?"
"Well..." Amachi nodded vigorously a few times, and then said word for word, "That man is not a little person, he is one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Shiranui - Ji Tairou."
A-Machi originally thought that Ogata would show a strong expression of shock after hearing the news from him.
But unexpectedly, Ogata's reaction was much duller than she expected.
Ogata's face returned to calm after a flash of surprise.
After the expression on his face calmed down, he grinned and said:
"It seems...our trip to Yoshiwara was well worth it."
After saying that, Ogata turned back to the crowd of onlookers.
And Amachi also followed Ogata back to Gua Sheng's side.
After returning to Ogata, Ogata took half a step to his side, blocking Atachi behind him.
Since Ogata is much taller than A-Machi, as long as Ogata blocks A-Machi behind him, it will be impossible for people across the street to see A-Machi.
After returning to Atachi, Ogata asked Guaou:
"Miss Guasheng, does the person who just made such a noisy yell really come to Yoshiwara every night?"
Although he didn’t understand why Ogata asked this for no reason, Gua Sheng still answered honestly:
"That's right. That guy comes to Yoshiwara every night to have fun, and he doesn't leave Yoshiwara until dawn every time."
"I have never seen a night when this guy didn't come to Yoshiwara. It's been nearly two months."
"That's it...thank you for letting me know."
"Why are you asking?"
"It's nothing, I'm just curious. I didn't expect there to be such energetic people in this world."
After casually dismissing the melon, Ogata raised his eyes and looked at Gokutaro across the street.
It seems that Ji Tairou only came to see the oiran.
After giving Fu Chi Taifu a few undisguised last glances with interest, Ji Tairou arrogantly led a follower behind him, strode away from the crowd of onlookers, and headed towards
He strode towards a majestic tourist house in the distance.
Ogata looked at Kitaro's departing back with a meaningful look.
The person who also watched Ji Tairou leave was Gua Sheng.
Guasheng looked at Ji Tairou with a very calm look.
However, when Ji Tairou turned around and left the crowd of onlookers, Gua Sheng's eyes flashed with a trace of resentment.
But these traces of resentment were fleeting.
In just an instant, these traces of resentment dissipated, and the emotions contained in Guasheng's eyes returned to calm.
…
…
"As expected of an oiran." Gokutaro strode toward his favorite maid's house and said to Eitaro behind him, "I really want to sleep with such a beautiful woman!"
"It's a pity that the oiran is too expensive, so I can't get one."
"I really hope I can get a lucrative mission and make a lot of money from him."
"Ah, why not wait for enough money to be raised? Just sneak into Mr. Feng Chime's room in the middle of the night and force himself on Mr. Feng Chime."
Hearing these words from Gokutaro, Eitaro who was following him immediately seemed to have heard some terrible news, and his face suddenly turned pale.
"Jokutaro-sama." Eitaro said in a deep voice while sweating coldly, "Please don't do this."
"Lord Jitaro, you should also know this, right? Mr. Fengchi Taifu..."
Before Eitaro finished speaking, Jitarō waved his hand.
"I know I know."
"Of course I know I can't mess around with Mr. Feng Chime."
"Even Lord Enma doesn't have the guts to do anything to Mr. Wind Chime."
"So I was just joking. I haven't lived long enough to risk my life for a mere wind chime master."
After saying that, Gokutaro stopped, turned his head, and looked at the small figure of Fu Chi Taifu behind him who was almost disappearing.
"How on earth did this woman get involved with that guy..."
After saying that, Ji Tairou shuddered as if he had recalled something, and then beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
***
***
What I posted in the easter egg chapter of this chapter is an old historical photo: a certain oiran and the two bald men who were responsible for serving the oiran.
You can see through this picture how scary the shoes on the oiran's feet are.