The biggest difference between large call girls houses and small call girls houses is the different services they can provide.
The services that those small-scale call girls' houses can provide are quite simple. After the guests have selected the women they like, there is not much else they can do except chatting with the women and studying the biological differences between men and women.
This is not the case with large brothels.
Some large-scale brothels often employ a group of artists and helpers in their respective shops.
As the name suggests, an artist is someone who performs a talent show, such as playing the shamisen, pipa, or other musical instruments, or performing a few songs or dances.
Bangjian - the person responsible for telling jokes, performing skits and livening up the atmosphere.
In large-scale prostitute houses, they would invite entertainers and helpers to liven up the atmosphere before starting the real business with the prostitutes.
Just by looking at the exterior, one can tell that Nanakusa-ya is definitely one of the largest prostitute houses in Shinmachi. It is perfectly normal for them to employ geishas in their shop.
But what Sotadaemon just said, "Let Ogata and A-machi serve as Hatsumitsu's guards and assistants", is a bit abnormal...
Before Ogata could ask Soudaemon what he just said, Soudaemon began to explain himself:
"Hatsumitsu is an outstanding artist that we recruited from Nanakusa-ya last year."
"She has a beautiful appearance, outstanding temperament, and her shamisen playing skills are also very high. As soon as she came to our Nanakusa-ya, she became the top geisha of our Nanakusa-ya."
"Every day, countless people want to ask Hatsumitsu to perform a song. Although she is an entertainer, her popularity and popularity are no different from that of an oiran."
"There are actually some techniques to make prostitutes and entertainers famous."
"One of the tricks is to give them enough space."
"To put it simply... just like wrapping a gift to make it look better, 'wrapping' the person you want to make famous to make them look better is one of the secrets to making them famous and raising their value."
"So after Hatsumitsu became popular, I arranged a beautiful assistant named 'Atong' for her. She was responsible for holding the shamisen for her when she was not performing."
"After Atong came to help Chuguang, Chuguang's popularity immediately soared."
"Humph, those who love to be pretentious are just so vulgar."
Sotadaemon sneered at this.
"As long as you make an ordinary product look high-end, countless people with lots of money will be foolishly tempted into buying it."
"If you want to take an ordinary wooden chopstick and inlay some silver at the end, and then do some specious advertising, then even if you mark the price of the chopstick at 1 tael, people will flock to buy it."
"Oh, sorry, I seem to have strayed from the topic."
"After giving Hatsumitsu an assistant who was specifically responsible for holding the shamisen, Hatsumitsu's popularity immediately soared."
"But whether it's a prostitute or an artist, once they become popular, they're likely to get into all kinds of trouble."
"Just four months after Hatsumitsu came to our Nanakusa House, an accident happened."
"While Chuguang was performing for the guests, a madman who was extremely obsessed with Chuguang suddenly rushed up and hugged Chuguang."
"Although Chu Guang was not seriously injured in that incident, he was still very frightened."
"Hatsumi is now our most important and beloved one in Nanakusa House. So after that incident, in order to protect Hatsumi and to further 'package' her, I assigned her two highly skilled guards."
"At the same time, a rule was also established - from now on, whenever Chu Guang performs for the guests at a banquet, the guards have the right to sit behind Chu Guang and protect him."
"In fact, this rule is quite overbearing, but Chu Guang's popularity is too high. Even with this overbearing rule, more people are willing to invite Chu Guang to perform."
"As I wished, these two guards of Chu Guang have become a new 'package' to increase her value."
"Hatsumitsu's work area is not limited to our Nanakusa-ya. As long as she can afford it, she can also perform in other yujo houses, teahouses, and pubs."
"For example, tonight - tonight the son of a wealthy merchant is hosting a banquet at the Sudaya in Shinmachi, and he has spent a large sum of money to invite our Chuguang to perform at the banquet."
"Tonight's guests are not ordinary guests. They must not be neglected."
"But unfortunately, something unexpected happened at Chuguang's place last night."
"One of Hatsumi's guards, Ikeda Araimon, and Hatsumi's assistant, Tong, started flirting with each other at some point."
"Just last night, the two of them eloped secretly."
“This is a big problem.”
"As I just said, equipping Chu Guang with an assistant and two guards is her current 'packaging'."
"I have always advertised that our Hatsumitsu is different from ordinary geishas. She is a 'high-end' one with an assistant who helps her hold the shamisen and two personal bodyguards."
“So if we can’t fill the vacancies of assistants and guards before serving the distinguished guests tonight, it will have a bad impact on Chu Guang.”
"It's like you advertised that this person can perform Iai Slash with a 5-foot-long sword, but when he shows up, he only uses a 3-foot-long ordinary sword. It will make the customers feel like they've been cheated."
"It's easier said than done to fill the vacancies of guards and assistants."
"If we just want to survive tonight, we can temporarily not hire someone with great skills as our guard, but he must be a trustworthy person."
"The assistant must be a beautiful young girl."
"Only by assigning a beautiful woman to Chu Guang as his assistant can we best 'package' Chu Guang and raise his value."
"Hatsumitsu's former assistant, 'Atong', was a beautiful girl who was qualified to be the top girl in any brothel."
"Although we have many beautiful girls in Nanakusa-ya, they are all prostitutes. They are very busy every night. Besides, it is inappropriate to let prostitutes serve as assistants to geishas."
"Whether it's a guard or an assistant, even for me, it would be extremely difficult to find a suitable candidate to fill this vacancy in less than half a day."
"Just when I was getting anxious, you guys came."
"And among you, there are exactly two types of people that I urgently need right now—people who are pretty enough, and people who can serve as guards."
"You are like timely rain to me now."
Sodaemon's explanation finally came to an end.
After understanding the whole story, Ogata nodded: "I see..."
"You are all friends of Fengjun." Sotadaemon added, "So I have confidence in your character."
"And to be honest - I have no other choice but to ask you for help now."
Sodaemon's expression turned bitter at this moment.
"Besides you, I won't be able to find any other pretty girls or warriors willing to take over the guard duties before dark."
- In simple terms - you are now in a hurry to find someone to replace the vacancies of guards and assistants, so you are trying your best to save the situation...
In his mind, Ogata summarized what Sodaemon had just said in one sentence.
"...Is it enough to just replace him for one night?" Ogata asked Sodaemon.
"Yes." Sotada nodded, "As long as we can survive tonight, everything will be fine after that."
"Tonight, Hatsumi only needs to perform at the banquet of the distinguished guest in Xutian House. There is no need to perform in multiple places."
"In order to maintain the price and dignity of Chuguang, I only allow Chuguang to perform in one place every night."
"Will that Hatsumitsu leave immediately after the performance?" Ogata asked.
"Yes." Sotadaemon nodded again, "Hatsumi will play three songs at the banquet tonight. After she finishes playing, she will leave. Once you escort Hatsumi back, your work will be done."
"...I have an ugly scar on my face." Ogata continued, "So I don't like to take off my hat and face scarf. Can I not take them off when I take over the guard position?"
"Hmm?" Sotadaemon raised an eyebrow, "You can't take off your face scarf and hat?"
"Yes. Because I don't want anyone to see the scar on my face."
At this moment, Sotadaemon's expression suddenly became strange.
He looked at Fuma, then at Ogata.
He opened his mouth, but stopped himself from speaking.
Finally, Sotadaemon shut , thought for a moment, and nodded:
"...Okay. If you insist on wearing a hat and a veil, that's fine. After all, the position you need to take over is just a guard."
Ogata pondered.
After hesitating for a moment, he turned to A-Ming and asked:
"…A-Ming, are you willing to be that Hatsumi's temporary assistant tonight?"
"I can do that." Atachi answered without hesitation, "It's not time-consuming or laborious anyway. I just help people hold the shamisen."
"...Okay then." Ogata nodded, then turned his gaze back to Sotadaemon, "Then my wife and I will help you with this tonight. I hope you can fulfill your promise later and tell us where Master Yoji lives."
"Brother." Fuma raised an eyebrow, "Are you and Komachi really going to be the guards and assistants of that Hatsumitsu?"
"We help others, and then they help us. It's mutually beneficial. This is reasonable." Ogata smiled and said, "Anyway, the favor they ask us to do is not a very troublesome one."
"Thank you very much." At this time, Sotadaemon bowed to Ogata and said, "I promise you - after the incident, I will tell you where Yoji lives immediately. I will never break my promise."
After saying that, Sotadaemon opened the cabinet next to him, took out two things that looked like badges from the cabinet, and handed them to Ogata and Atachi.
"Take these two things."
"Today at 6:00 p.m., you will come to this Nanakusa House again and show this sign to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper will lead you to the room of Hatsumi."
"After that, all you have to do is follow Hatsumitsu to the Xutian House to perform."
…
…
After promising Sodaemon that they would help him, Ogata and the others left Nanakusa.
It was still morning, and there was still half a day left until the 6pm meeting agreed with Sodaemon.
In order to pass the time, Fengma went alone to find his old subordinate Senbei to reminisce about the past.
Ogata, A-machi, and A-tsuku went out to the streets just like they did yesterday and wandered around Osaka.
Since leaving Ezo and returning to mainland Japan, Ogata has basically not had any rest. Every day he is either on the road or preparing to travel. Therefore, Ogata is also happy to relax his long-tensed nerves by strolling around the unfamiliar city of Osaka.
I wandered around aimlessly, admiring the scenery of Osaka, which is different from Kyoto and Edo in many ways.
Half a day - it passed in a flash.
Ogata and Atachi returned to the door of Nanakusa-ya at 6:00 pm, exactly as agreed with Sodaemon.
As for Azuki, she was a little tired after accompanying Ogata and Amachi around Osaka for almost the entire day. When Ogata and the others were about to return to Nanakusa-ya, she parted ways with them and went back to the hotel where they were staying to rest alone.
After returning to Nanakusa-ya, the gatekeeper showed the sign that Soedaemon had given to the two of them as he had said this morning. The gatekeeper immediately took the two of them into Nanakusa-ya, went straight to the second floor of Nanakusa-ya, and led them into a room on the second floor.
It was a very simple room.
There was almost no furniture in the room, just a few cushions.
In this extremely simple room, there was only a big man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, sitting in the middle of the room holding a katana and a wakizashi.
When the big man saw Ogata and Atachi, he immediately stood up and greeted them enthusiastically.
"Oh! I guess you two are the couple that the boss told me about this afternoon who will temporarily replace Ikeda and Atong!"
"Nice to meet you! I'm Shibata Matachika! I'm the only guard left for Miss Hatsumitsu after that kid Ikeda eloped with Atong! Please give me your guidance!"
According to the big man's self-introduction, he should be one of Chu Guang's original two guards... or the only one left.
After another guard, Ikeda, and Hatsumitsu's assistant, Atong, eloped, he is now the only one left to accompany Hatsumitsu.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Majima Goro."
"I'm Majima-cho. Please give me your guidance."
Ogata had a good first impression of Shibata. He always liked such enthusiastic and cheerful people.
Among all the people in Huluwu, the person who has the best relationship with Ogata and is also his favorite person is Makimura - the main reason is that Makimura happens to be the kind of enthusiastic and cheerful person that Ogata likes very much.
After introducing themselves to each other, Ogata began to carefully look at the room under his feet: "...Shibata-kun, is this...Miss Hatsumitsu's room?"
Ogata remembered that this morning, Sodaemon had clearly told him that after showing the sign to the gatekeeper, the gatekeeper would take them to Hatsumitsu's room.
This room with nothing but cushions... To be honest, it's hard for Ogata to believe that this is the room of a popular star.
As soon as Ogata finished asking this question, Shibata nodded vigorously: "This is indeed Miss Hatsumitsu's room, but it is not the room she lives in, but the room she uses to practice the piano."
"She usually practices in this room. Since it's just a room for practicing, it's decorated quite simply."
Ogata: “So that’s how it is…”
"Please take a seat first." Shibata gestured to the two of them, "Ms. Hatsumitsu is putting on makeup now. She will be here in a while. Please take a seat and rest for a while."
Ogata and Atachi each took a cushion and sat down.
The three of them remained silent, which was quite awkward. So, in order to avoid making the atmosphere awkward, A-Machi asked Shibata as soon as she sat on the cushion:
"By the way - Shibata-kun, is Miss Hatsumitsu's name her flower name or her real name?"
"Hmm... I don't know about that either." Shibata smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Ms. Hatsumitsu never told me whether her name was her real name or her nickname."
"But I guess this name is probably a flower name."
"Hatsumitsu doesn't sound like a real name. It's quite common for artists to give themselves flower names."
After Ating started the conversation, the three of them started chatting one after another in the room which was neither too big nor too small.
Shibata did not ask Ogata why he always wore a hat and a face towel - probably because Sodaemon had already told Shibata today why Ogata wore a hat and a face towel.
We chatted idly here and there, and time flowed like a river without stopping.
The sky was just gray a moment ago, but it turned completely black in the blink of an eye.
Just when Ogata was feeling a little impatient thinking "Why hasn't Miss Hatsumitsu come yet?", he finally heard the sound of the room door being opened.
Along with the sound of the door opening, there was a very pleasant female voice.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
Ogata quickly turned his head to look.
The person who opened the door was a very beautiful girl.
She was wearing a light blue kimono, a pair of thin white gloves, light makeup, and her hair was combed into a neat Shimada bun. She looked very young, no more than 17 or 18 years old, with fair skin, big and bright eyes, and holding a very exquisite shamisen.
When the girl appeared, Shibata, who was sitting opposite Ogata, stood up quickly.
"Ms. Chuguang! Good evening!"
Hearing Shibata's voice, Ogata quickly looked at the beautiful woman again.
——Is she...that Chu Guang?
While looking at Hatsumitsu with a sizing gaze, Ogata's movements were not slow at all - he quickly stood up and saluted Hatsumitsu, then said loudly:
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Hatsumitsu. My name is Majima Goro."
"I'm Majima-cho." Atachi followed Ogata and bowed to Hatsumitsu.
"Nice to meet you." Chu Guang politely returned the greeting to Ogata and the others. "I've heard Sotadaemon introduce you two. Thank you very much for your timely assistance. It really helped us a lot."
If we talk about how stunning Chu Guang’s appearance is… No, she is not. Although she is very beautiful, she is not stunning.
But she has a very good temperament. Every move she makes exudes a very elegant temperament. Her temperament can quickly make people think of the idiom "well-educated and well-mannered".
From the way she spoke and her impeccable etiquette, it was not difficult to see that she had extremely good upbringing.
After seeing this girl in person, Ogata finally understood why she could become the top artist of Nanakusa-ya and be sought after by so many people. With both beauty and temperament, it would be very easy to make such a woman famous.
Hatsumitsu did not ask Ogata why he wore a bamboo hat and a face scarf, probably because Sodaemon had already told her the reason.
"I'll be thanking you both for your help tonight." After saying this, Hatsumitsu smiled, held the shamisen in his arms, and bowed to Ogata and Atachi again without any arrogance or servility.
…
…
"Hey, look, it's Chu Guang."
"It's really beautiful..."
"It's a pity that she doesn't become a prostitute..."
"If only she could be a little bigger..."
"Huh? Why did Chu Guang's assistant change?"
"Yeah...it seems like one of the guards has been replaced...tsk, this new assistant of Chu Guang is really a big bear."
…
After following Hatsumi out of Nanakusa House, Ogata instantly felt countless different kinds of gazes focused on them.
What followed were all kinds of words, some normal and some obscene.
Ogata knew that Hatsukiri was very popular, but he didn't expect her popularity to be so high. Just as she left Nanakusa's house, a large number of people immediately gathered around her, looking at her as if she were a rare animal.
I have to say - Ating is quite into the role.
At this time, Atachi was walking behind Hatsumitsu, always keeping a distance of about one step from Hatsumitsu, holding Hatsumitsu's exquisite shamisen in her arms.
At this moment, A-Machi has perfectly integrated into the role of Hatsumitsu's assistant.
A-Ming, who is as good-looking as Chu-Guang but not as elegant as Chu-Guang in temperament, also attracted a lot of attention from the audience.
As for Ogata, he followed behind Hatsumitsu along with Shibata.
Shibata's movements were quite professional - he kept scanning the surroundings with a vigilant gaze, his left hand was always on the scabbard of the katana at his left waist, and his right hand was slightly raised, maintaining the most convenient posture for drawing the sword.
Because Shibata and Ogata were guarding behind Hatsumitsu, even though many people gathered around him, no one dared to approach Hatsumitsu.
Ogata and his group were like a small boat cutting through the waves. The "waves" they were cutting through were the "human waves" made up of the spectators. They walked slowly and bit by bit towards their destination for the night - Sudaya.
Like Yoshiwara, Shinmachi has not all shops run by prostitutes, but also some normal shops.
Xudaya is the largest teahouse in Shinmachi, similar to the high-end restaurants in modern times, and is a favorite place for countless wealthy people in Osaka.
Just now, when chatting with Shibata in Hatsumitsu's practice room, Ogata learned from Shibata some basic information about the guest who invited Hatsumitsu tonight.
Shibata didn't know much about tonight's guest. He only knew that he was a big businessman with a samurai status. He held a banquet at Sudaya tonight, and it seemed that he was just having an ordinary meal with friends. He spent a large sum of 80 taels to invite Hatsumitsu to perform at their banquet.
Although in the Edo period, the shogunate adopted an extremely strict status hierarchy, defining the four classes of "samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants", and defining merchants as a class with a social status only one level higher than that of the Eta, the free movement of different classes was not allowed.
However, as the power of merchants gradually grew, in order to escape their low political position, merchants gradually discovered many methods like "bugs" to transform themselves from lowly merchants into samurai.
One of the commonly used methods was to recruit a warrior as a son-in-law.
The principle is to take advantage of the institutional flaws of the shogunate.
The Edo Shogunate had a strange system: as long as a samurai was recruited as a son-in-law, the family's place of origin could be changed to the samurai's place of origin, and the whole family could use the samurai's surname and family crest.
For example: Ogata married into the family of a merchant named Sangoro and became Sangoro's son-in-law. From then on, Sangoro could be renamed "Ogata Sangoro", and the family would become the Ogata family. They could use the Ogata gentian pattern as the new family crest, and the whole family would be transformed from a merchant family into a samurai family, and could use their surnames and carry swords.
Many of them were samurai who did not want to endure hardships and wanted to become the son-in-law of a wealthy merchant so that they could enjoy wealth and glory from then on. Therefore, countless merchants became samurai overnight by using this method.
As an economic metropolis where wealthy businessmen gather, Osaka is not short of businessmen who have obtained samurai status through various means.
From Nanakusa-ya to Sudaya, the two places are not far away.
Although there were countless people on the road who came to watch the famous Hatsumi, they did not block the way, and Ogata and his companions arrived at Sudaya smoothly.
Just as they arrived at the gate of Xutian's house, a dwarf with a shifty look in his eyes, who had been standing by the gate looking around, came running towards Ogata and the others with a look of excitement on his face.
"Miss Chu Guang, welcome." Although the dwarf was a little ugly, he was eloquent and well-mannered. "Please follow me. My young master has been waiting for you for a long time."
"Thank you for your help." Chu Guang bowed slightly to the dwarf.
The dwarf led Ogata and the others straight to the top floor of Xudaya.
Xudaya is indeed a famous teahouse in Osaka. Not only is it huge in size, but the quality of its waiters is also extraordinary.
When following the dwarf to the top floor of Xutian's house, Ogata noticed that every person dressed as a waiter in Xutian's house, whether male or female, had young and regular facial features.
Because the Xutian house was very large, Ogata and his companions had to walk quite a distance before they reached their destination - the door of a room on the top floor with an extremely beautiful painting on the door alone.
"Master!" the dwarf shouted into the room, "Miss Chuguang is here!"
As soon as the dwarf finished speaking, an extremely excited voice rang out in the room: "Oh! It's finally here! Let Miss Chuguang in!"
--Um?
At this moment, Ogata's expression changed.
Ating also had a slightly changed expression.
At the same time, they both said the same thing in their hearts: That voice just now... sounds so familiar...
While Ogata was wondering when he had heard this voice, the dwarf had already opened the door of the room. Hatsumitsu had walked into the room first, and Ogata and Atachi, who served as Hatsumitsu's temporary guard and temporary assistant respectively, had to follow him in.
As soon as he entered the room, Xu Fang was stunned.
No.
It should be said that Ogata, Atachi, and someone in the room were all stunned at the same time.
This was a very spacious room, with 13 people having a banquet in it.
Twelve of them sat on the east and west sides of the room, facing each other.
There was only one young man in extremely gorgeous clothes sitting at the head seat at the banquet table. It was this man who was stunned at the same time as Ogata and Atachi.
And this person was none other than Miura, the one who had approached Atachi yesterday.
…
…
At this moment——
Xutian House, a luxurious house not far from Ogata and his friends——
This is the most luxurious and highest-class room in the entire Xutian House.
Not only is it extremely spacious, but the interior is also extremely luxurious. The tatami is a high-end product produced in Kyoto, and the walls are painted with famous paintings by famous artists.
In the room, a middle-aged man was sitting upright on a cushion. He had a scar on his face that ran from the left corner of his forehead to the left corner of his mouth, and another scar that ran from the left ear to the right cheek. The two scars formed a cross.
With a flattering smile on his face, he said respectfully to a young man sitting opposite him who was sipping tea:
"Sir, this is the Longjing tea I recently purchased from Tangtu West Lake. How does it taste?"
"Hmm... I don't know much about tea, but I think it tastes okay."
The young man sitting opposite the middle-aged man has a sturdy figure of nearly 1.9 meters, with long hair casually tied up and hanging behind his head.
At his side was a very majestic large sword.
"By the way - Yukimura, I haven't seen you for a while. I see that your business has grown so big." The young man said slowly, "You even bought such a luxurious teahouse. I heard that you also got involved in the silk business a while ago."
"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it." The middle-aged man called Yukimura continued to smile, "I was just lucky enough to buy some silk shops from a friend named Miura at a low price a while ago."