"Mashima-kun, Ms. Sachi, if you two want to join in the fun of the Oiran parade, I can take you there now."
Uesheng added with a wry smile.
"'Oiran Dochu' is about to start. I definitely can't go back to the club to rest now."
"Once the 'Oiran Dochu' begins, our Shirobei Club will have to dispatch a large number of personnel to maintain law and order at the scene."
"So I don't have time to rest now. I have to rush to the scene of 'Oiran Road'."
"If you two want to watch 'Oiran Dochu', I can take you there smoothly."
"How about it? Are you interested in going to see it?"
If Ogata said that he didn't want to take a look at the legendary "Oiran Michichu" - that would definitely be a lie.
Ogata had always heard of the grand scene of "Oiran Dochu".
Watching all kinds of wonders and strange sights that he had never seen before in his life - this was one of Ogata's few hobbies.
Therefore, Ogata was very interested in taking a look at the grand scene of the legendary "Oiran Dochu".
And Ating just happened to have the same desire to join in the fun.
So the two of them hit it off and decided to go and see the scene of the oiran on parade.
"You all want to go see it?" Guasheng nodded, "Okay, then follow me."
The three of them turned and headed toward the back of Naka-no-Machi, which divided Yoshiwara in half.
As he followed Uekus to the back of Nakano-machi, Atachi asked Uekus who was walking in front of him:
"Why would the courtesan bring such a large group of people around Yoshiwara? Where is she going?"
"Hmm?" Guasheng, who was walking in front, turned around and said, "Miss Xing, don't you know?"
"I don't know." Atachi shook his head honestly, "I'm a foreigner, and I don't know much about Yoshiwara."
"I only know that 'Oiran Dochu' means that the oiran is walking around Yoshiwara with a large group of people. As for why the oiran is walking around Yoshiwara with so many people, and where the oiran is going, I don't know."
"Is that so..." After mumbling this, Guasheng fell silent.
It seems that he is thinking about and organizing the words.
After a while, Gua Sheng continued:
"If you want to have sex with an oiran, you have to go through a very complicated process first."
"Or you have to go through many tests first."
"If you want to have sex with an oiran, you must first go to the 'Yakiya' in Yoshiwara."
"Yangwu...you can think of it as a special teahouse."
"A special teahouse that acts as an intermediary between guests and the oiran."
"Hold a banquet in Yangwu, and then ask the people in Yangwu to introduce you to the oiran."
"The journey from the courtesan's house to the Yang house, where the courtesan led a large group of people, was called 'the courtesan's way', also known as 'the courtesan's tour'."
"After arriving at Yang's house and meeting the designated guest, the oiran will begin to observe the guest."
"If the oiran doesn't like the customer, she can just leave without saying a word."
"And the money spent by the guests on the banquet was wasted."
"Of course - there are very few courtesans who would do this. If they leave without saying anything too often, it would be fatal to their popularity."
"After an Oiran meets a client, she cannot immediately engage in sexual activities."
"When they meet for the first time, the client can only chat and drink with the oiran, and can't do anything else."
"It was the same when we met the second time."
"Only after the third meeting can the guest enter the Oiran's boudoir."
"So generally speaking, you have to meet the oiran three times before you can truly embrace her."
"The oiran led a large group of people from the brothel to the Yangwu, and all the expenses on the way from the Yangwu to the brothel were paid by the customer who named the oiran."
"The cost of the banquet will also be borne by the guest who requested the courtesan."
"so--"
At this point, Guasheng shrugged.
"Just imagine how rich a person must be to be qualified to name an oiran."
After listening to Guasheng's introduction, Ating twitched his lips and murmured:
"So meeting the Oiran is so troublesome..."
"It is so troublesome and expensive." Uesugi said seriously, "So in the whole of Edo, probably only those wealthy merchants and samurai with annual salaries of several thousand or tens of thousands of koku are qualified to order the names of oiran."
"Because there aren't many people who are qualified to name an oiran, you don't always have the chance to see 'Oiran Daochu'. Is this your first time in Yoshiwara?"
"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "It's the first time."
"You are really lucky. You can see 'Oiran Michichu' on your first visit to Yoshiwara. Many people have come to Yoshiwara many times but never had the chance to see it. Ah, here we are."
Ogata and Atachi followed Ueo to the far back of Nakano-machi.
The place is crowded with people.
People who heard the news and came specially to watch the "Oiran Dochu" crowded on both sides of the road, leaving the center of the street empty so that the Oiran and her entourage could pass smoothly through the center of the street.
Ogata looked around and saw many people wearing the dark blue haori used exclusively by the Shirobei Club standing on guard at various locations on the avenue.
"Let's stand here." Guasheng casually squeezed into a sparsely populated crowd on the west side street. "It's not 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 Atachi stood at the location chosen by Ueo, waiting for the "Oiran Dochu" to begin while chatting casually with Ueo.
While Uesugi was chatting with Ogata and Atachi, he kept his eyes moving around, keeping an eye on his surroundings.
Ogata thought he might have to wait a long time for the oiran to arrive.
But I didn't expect that after only about 5 minutes, the "Oiran Road" began.
Ogata and the others were standing on the west side of the street, facing the center of the street.
So from the end of the street on their left, some noise slowly emerged from far away and gradually got closer.
Ogata turned his head and looked towards the end of the street on his left - he saw a dozen people wearing masks of various colors jumping and dancing funny dances there.
Looking at this group of people who looked like circus clowns, Ogata couldn't help but ask Uekusa who was standing in front of him:
"What are these people here for?"
"They are jugglers who are responsible for warming up the crowd," Guasheng said. "They are responsible for livening up the atmosphere and creating momentum."
It has to be said that these artists who were responsible for livening up the atmosphere did play a significant role.
The atmosphere on the street, which originally had no other sounds except for the occasional chatter, suddenly became lively.
Behind these jugglers were several shamisen players. In modern terms, these shamisen players were responsible for providing background music for the jugglers.
After this group of artists responsible for livening up the atmosphere passed in front of Ogata, several sturdy and powerful men appeared in Ogata's field of vision.
These strong men all had serious looks and held long sticks in their hands.
Even without Uesugi's introduction, Ogata knew that these strong men were probably serving as bodyguards or something like that.
Following closely behind these bodyguards was a middle-aged woman.
The middle-aged woman was holding a large cylindrical lantern in her hand, with two big Chinese characters written on it - Wind Chime.
"Furin is the flower name of the only oiran in Yoshiwara."
Ueyu introduced everything in detail to Ogata and Atachi who were standing behind him.
"Because the oiran's status is so high, we always add the honorific title 'Taifu' after the oiran's flower name."
"Look, here comes Fuujiya, that's Fuujiya."
Guasheng raised his hand and pointed to the end of the street on the left.
"Those two little girls are called 'bald'. They are maids who are responsible for serving the oiran. They are also candidates for the oiran. They are excellent girls who are selected from hundreds of thousands and trained as future oiran."
"The woman behind the two bald men is Furin Taifu."
"The beautiful women behind Furin-taifu are 'Furisode Shinzo'. You can also understand them as candidates for the oiran, but they are older than Tu."
"The older women behind the Furisode Shinzo are the 'Banto Shinzo', who are responsible for taking care of the oiran's daily life."
While Ogata was listening carefully to Uesugi's explanation, he cast his eyes towards the dozen or so girls who were walking slowly in the middle of the street.
Even without Ueoka's explanation, Ogata could tell at a glance who Furin Taifu was.
Because it's just too obvious.
The momentum of Fuu Ling Taifu's parade can be described as "surrounded by people".
In front were two pretty little girls, probably only about 10 years old.
The two little girls had their hair tied up in a Shimada bun and were dressed in gorgeous clothes.
Whether it was the otaku and furisode Shinzo who were oiran candidates, or the oiran herself, their faces were all covered in thick white makeup.
The reason why white makeup became popular is that in ancient performances there were no various lighting effects like those of modern times, and most of the time there was only dim candlelight.
If you perform in a dim environment without any makeup, your face will look sallow and it will be difficult to see your facial features.
So the practice of painting one's face white came into being.
After painting your face white, the visual perception and performance effect in dim environments will be greatly improved.
It is evening now.
In this slightly dim environment, the white makeup on these girls' faces does not look creepy, but rather just right, able to well outline the girls' beautiful facial features.
The woman walking behind the two bald men is the only oiran in Yoshiwara - Furin Taifu.
After focusing his eyes on Furin no Taifu, the first impression Furin no Taifu gave Ogata was - heavy.
It's not that Furindafu is plump, she looks very heavy. Although there is not much exposed skin, Ogata can still tell from the fatness of Furindafu's cheeks that she should be a very slender person.
The reason why the first word that came to Ogata's mind after seeing Furin no Taifu was "heavy" was because what Furin no Taifu wore, wore on her head, and stepped on her feet all looked quite heavy.
The oiran candidates, Tu and Furisode Shinzo, were both wearing gorgeous clothes.
But compared with what the oiran wears, the clothes they wear are really nothing.
If you told Ogata that the clothes Furin-taifu was wearing were heavier than her armor, he wouldn't be surprised at all.
Because the clothes that Fuujiya wore were so many and thick, layered over one another, their thickness was comparable to a quilt.
In addition to the body, Fuujitatsu's head also looks quite heavy.
Furin Taifu's current hairstyle is a bun, with a lot of accessories stuck in her hair that Ogata can't name.
According to Ogata's visual estimation, the number of these accessories should be more than 10.
So many accessories seem heavy.
In addition to the ornaments on her head, the wooden clogs on Fuujiya's feet also look very heavy.
Fuu Ling Taifu's white and tender feet without socks were wearing a pair of three-tooth wooden clogs of astonishing height.
According to Ogata's visual estimation, the height of this pair of wooden clogs should be about 30 centimeters.
According to Ogata's visual estimation, Furin Taifu was probably over 1.6 meters and under 1.65 meters, which was considered very tall for women of that era.
With a height of 1.6 meters and a pair of 30-centimeter-high wooden clogs, Furin-Tayu'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 Furin-tayu's feet were so conspicuous, Atachi, who was standing next to Ogata, couldn't help but speak out in a surprised tone:
"What's up with those clogs?"
"That pair of clogs is called 'Sanmei Shita-dashi'." Uekusa said calmly, "They are clogs specially made for courtesans."
"It looks so heavy..." Ating muttered, "And what the hell is this Oiran's footwork? So awkward..."
Fuujitatefu doesn't walk like a normal person.
Instead, when walking, step your foot outwards to the outside of your body, draw a semicircle, and then land in front of your body.
Just walk forward slowly and leisurely.
"This step is called the 'outward eight-character step'," Guasheng continued, "It is a very elegant step. Generally, it takes two or three years of practice to be able to perform the 'outward eight-character step' well."
"…Is this step elegant?" Atachi looked up and down at Furin-Tayu who was walking slowly forward with a very slow step with a suspicious look, trying to find "elegance" in Furin-Tayu.
Although he didn't have a deep understanding of Yoshiwara and the culture of the oiran, Ogata had heard of the special wooden clogs used by the oiran .
According to what Ogata had heard, each pair of wooden clogs specially made for the oiran weighed about 5 kilograms.
That is, the oiran had to wear a pair of shoes weighing more than 10 kilograms to walk to the Yangwu, and then walk from the Yangwu back to the yujou.
——It’s really hard…
Ogata couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Because the Outer Gaiting Step was really slow, it took a long time for Fuujitsu no Taifu to finally come to Ogata's sight.
After Furin no Taifu came to Ogata, Ogata was finally able to see Furin no Taifu's face more carefully and conveniently.
If Ogata had to come up with some words to describe Furin-Tayu's appearance... Furin-Tayu is like a bonfire burning in the dark night.
The bald men, furisode newcomers, and bantou newcomers around her were like moths flying around a bonfire.
As the conspicuous fire, Fuujiya naturally attracted the attention of everyone around her.
Even Ogata, who comes from the modern era and holds modern aesthetic standards, thinks Furin-tayu is beautiful.
The beauty of Furin Taifu is not only in appearance, but also in temperament.
Fuujita emanates a special aura.
Intellectuality is mixed with a bit of elegance and luxury.
This special aura emanates from Fuu Ling Taifu's eyebrows and from the corners of his mouth that are slightly raised as if he is smiling.
The appearance of Furin Taifu was the climax of this "Oiran Road".
After Fuujitateyu appeared on the stage, various screams rang out one after another from the crowd on both sides of the street.
When Fuujitatei walked into Ogata's field of vision, the men around Ogata instantly became excited.
“How beautiful!”
“It’s finally here!”
"Fuu Ling Taifu! You are so beautiful!"
“Fuu Ling Taifu! Over here! Please look at me!”
…
Similar shouts kept ringing around Ogata, making his eardrums hurt.
Ogata even saw a man with a fanatical look on his face not far away who was about to charge into Furin-Tayu'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 which era, there are always such fanatical fans of stars.
Ogata never expected that there was a crazy fan of Furin Taifu right behind him.
“Wind Chime Taifu! Wind Chime Taifu! Wind Chime Taifu!”
The fanatical fan didn't shout out any other words, but just kept shouting "Fuu Ling Taifu".
And the fanatical behavior of this fanatic fan did have some effect.
Furin Taifu, who happened to be walking in front of Ogata, was attracted by the fanatical behavior of this crazy fan and tilted his eyes to the right.
He glanced at the fanatical fan with a sidelong glance, then retracted his gaze.
When he withdrew his gaze, Fuuji's eyes naturally swept over Ogata.
After glancing at Ogata, Fuujira Taifu completely withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward without looking to the side.
Even though it was just a quick glance, it was enough to drive these fanatical fans crazy.
"Fuu Ling Taifu is looking at me!"
"What nonsense are you talking about! Fuu Ling Taifu was clearly looking at me just now!"
…
“Hey.”
As the fanatics around Ogata were making a lot of noise, A-Machi poked Ogata next to him with his elbow and asked him in a joking but serious tone:
"Aren't you yelling along with these people?"
Ogata, who was leisurely putting his hands into the sleeves of his haori, smiled and shrugged when he heard Omachi's question:
"If it was you who was walking slowly in the middle of the street with your feet outward, I would probably scream like a madman, but Furin Taifu wouldn't let me lose my composure like that."
After saying that, Ogata pulled his hands out of his sleeves.
"Come on, Sachi. Let's go back."
The grand Oiran Dochu had witnessed it with her own eyes.
Ogata had also witnessed the face of the oiran.
There was no reason to stay in Yoshiwara any longer, and Ogata wanted to finish watching and leave Yoshiwara.
However, just as Ogata said "Let's go back", a loud shout suddenly came from the opposite street.
"As expected of an oiran! She's just so beautiful!!"
Because the shout was so loud, it drowned out the shouts of everyone around, causing everyone around - including Fuu Ling Taifu - to focus their attention on the person who made the shout.
The person who shouted this was a young man with a wakizashi on his waist.
Fuu Ling Taifu turned around, blinked her long eyelashes, and gave a calming look to the young man with a loud voice.
The emotions contained in those eyes are hard to grasp.
After taking a look at the young man, he looked away.
When the young man saw that he had successfully attracted Fuujiya's attention, he smiled proudly.
Ogata, Atachi, and Ueo also turned their attention to this young man after he shouted.
When his sight fell on the young man across the street, Guasheng's face immediately darkened:
“It’s him…”
"Why?" Ogata asked, "Miss Ueyu, do you know that person?"
"Yes, I know him." Guess said in a deep voice, "This guy has been a frequent visitor to Yoshiwara recently. He brings his follower to Yoshiwara every night to have fun."
"He was quite rude and would always beat or scold the prostitutes. Many of them were injured by him."
"This guy is considered one of the celebrities in our Shirobei Club."
"Such a bad personality..." Just after Ogata uttered this sigh, he suddenly felt someone pulling his right sleeve a few times.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Ogata turned his head and looked at the person who pulled his sleeve: A-Ming.
After shifting his gaze to Atachi, Ogata was shocked to find that Atachi, who had been very normal just now, now had a very ugly expression, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying.
"...Come with me." said Ating.
"Okay." Ogata nodded without any hesitation.
After telling Uesugi that they would be leaving for a while, Ogata and Atachi left the crowd watching the oiran and came to a deserted, remote corner.
Seeing Atachi's ugly expression, Ogata's expression also became serious, and he asked again in a serious tone: "What happened?"
"…I know the person who just shouted…" Atachi whispered in a voice that only she and Ogata could hear.
"Hmm?" Ogata uttered a puzzled "hmm" and suddenly realized something.
Ogata lowered his voice, using the same volume that Atachi had used just now so that only the two of them could hear him.
"That person...could it be someone from Shiranui?"
"Hmm..." Atachi nodded vigorously a few times, and then said word by word, "That man is not a small figure. He is one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Shiranui - Gokutaro."
A-Machi originally thought that after hearing this news from him, Ogata would definitely look extremely shocked.
But unexpectedly, Ogata's reaction was much calmer than she had imagined.
After a few moments of surprise, Ogata's face returned to calm.
After his expression calmed down, he smiled and said:
"It seems... our trip to Yoshiwara was worthwhile."
After saying this, Ogata turned around and returned to the crowd of onlookers.
And Atachi followed Ogata back to Ueyu's side.
After returning to Ogata's side, Ogata took half a step to the side and blocked Atachi behind him.
Because Ogata was much more muscular than Atachi, as long as Ogata blocked Atachi behind him, people across the street would not be able to see Atachi.
After returning to Atachi's side, Ogata asked Ueyu:
"Ms. Ueyoshi, does the person who just made such an annoying noise really come to Yoshiwara every night?"
Although he didn't understand why Ogata asked this question out of nowhere, Uesugi still answered honestly:
"That's right. That guy comes to Yoshiwara every night to have fun, and he never leaves Yoshiwara until dawn."
"I have never seen this guy not come to Yoshiwara on a single night. This has been going on for nearly two months."
"I see...thank you for letting me know."
"Why are you asking that?"
"Nothing, I'm just curious. I didn't expect there are people with such vigor in this world."
After casually brushing off the issue of Uzushio, Ogata looked up at Gokutaro who was across the street.
It seemed that Gokutaro was only here to see the oiran.
After taking a few last, undisguised looks at Furin-taifu who had just passed him with an interested look, Gokutaro led a follower behind him and strode away from the crowd of onlookers towards a certain grand brothel in the distance.
Ogata looked at Gokutaro's departing back with a meaningful look.
Another person who also watched Gokutaro leave was Uesugi.
Uesugi looked at Gokutaro very calmly.
However, when Gokutaro turned and left the crowd, a hint of resentment flashed in Uesugi's eyes.
But these traces of resentment were fleeting.
In just a moment, those traces of resentment dissipated, and the emotions in Guasheng's eyes returned to calm.
…
…
"As expected of an oiran," Gokutaro said to Keitaro behind him as he strode toward his favorite brothel, "I really want to sleep with such a beautiful woman!"
"It's a pity that the Oiran is too expensive and we can't hire her."
"I really hope to get a lucrative mission and make a lot of money."
"Ah, why not just not wait until you have enough money? Just sneak into Fuu Ling Taifu's room in the middle of the night and rape her."
After hearing Gokutaro's words, Keitaro, who was following behind him, immediately turned pale as if he had heard some horrifying news.
"Master Gokutaro," Keitaro said in a deep voice, sweating coldly, "Please don't do this."
"Master Gokutaro, you should know this too, right? Furin-no-Taiko..."
Before Keitaro could finish his words, Gokutaro waved his hand.
"I know. I know."
"Of course I know I can't mess with Fuujiya."
"Even Enma-sama doesn't have the guts to mess with Fuujiya-taifu."
"So I was just joking. I haven't lived enough, so I won't sacrifice my life for a mere Furin-taifu."
After saying that, Gokutaro stopped, turned his head, and looked at the figure of Fuujiya who was so small that it was almost disappearing behind him.
"How on earth did this woman get involved with that guy..."
After saying that, Gokutaro shuddered as if he remembered something, and then beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.