I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"I was a swordsman in ancient Japan ()"

"Mashima-kun, Miss Ayuki, if the two of you plan to join in the excitement of the oiran's tour, I can take you there now."

Gua Sheng added with a wry smile.

"'Oiran Road' is about to start, and I definitely can't go back to the club to rest now."

"Once the 'Oiran Road' starts, our Shirobei Club will have to send a large number of personnel to maintain law and order on the spot."

"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 Road', I can take you there smoothly."

"How? Are you interested in seeing it?"

If it is said that Ogata does not want to take a look at the legendary "Oiran Road" - it must be a lie.

Ogata has always heard about the grand scene of "Oiran Road".

Seeing all kinds of wonders and wonders that I have never seen in my previous life-this is one of the few hobbies of Ogata.

Therefore, Ogata was very interested to take a look at how grand the legendary "Oiran Road" is.

And Ah-Ming also happens to have the same willingness to join in the fun.

So the two hit it off and decided to take a look at the scene where the oiran was on tour.

"You all want to see it?" Gua Sheng nodded, "Okay, come with me."

The three of them turned and walked towards the back of Nakano-machi, which divided Yoshiwara in two.

While following Guasheng towards the back of Nakazhicho, Amachi asked Guasheng who was walking in front of him:

"Actually, why does Hua Kui bring such a large group of people around Yoshihara? Where is she going?"

"Huh?" Gua Sheng, who was walking in front, turned his head, "Miss A Xing, don't you know?"

"I don't know." Atachi shook his head honestly, "I'm a foreigner, so I don't know much about Yoshiwara."

"I only know that the 'Oiran Road' is the oiran leading a group of people walking around Yoshiwara. As for why the oiran brought so many people around Yoshiwara, and where the oiran is going, I don't know. .”

"That's it..." After muttering like this, Gua Sheng fell silent.

It seems to be conceiving and organizing the wording.

After a short while, Gua Sheng spoke eloquently:

"If you want to have a kiss with the oiran, you have to go through a very complicated process."

"Or you have to go through many tests first."

"If you want to have a kiss with the oiran, you have to go to Yoshihara's 'Yang House' first."

"Yang House... you can understand it as a special tea house."

"A special oiran responsible for acting as an intermediary between guests and oirans."

"Have a banquet in Yang's House, and ask the people from Yang's House to help you introduce the oiran."

"Oiran leads a large group of people from the Younv's house to Yang's house, which is called "Oiran Daozhong", also known as "Oiran Tour".

"When you come to Yang's House and meet the named guests, the oiran will start to observe the guests."

"If you don't like the guest, the oiran can leave without saying a word."

"And the money for the guest's banquet is worthless."

"Of course—it's rare for an oiran to do this. If you do too much of this kind of thing of leaving without saying a word, the damage to your popularity will be fatal."

"After the oiran meets the guests, he can't immediately start having sex."

"When meeting for the first time, guests can only chat and drink with the oiran, and can't do anything."

"It's the same for the second meeting."

"Guests cannot enter the oiran's boudoir until after the third meeting."

"So generally speaking, you have to meet the oiran three times before you can truly embrace the oiran."

"The oiran led a large group of people from Younv's house to Yang's house, and the expenses on the way from Yang's house to Younv's house were all borne by the guest who named the oiran."

"The cost of the banquet,

It is also all in charge of the guest who named the oiran. "

"so--"

Speaking of this, Gua Sheng shrugged.

"Just imagine how rich a person is to be qualified to be named as an oiran."

After listening to Guasheng's introduction, A-Ming twitched the corners of his mouth and murmured:

"Is it so troublesome to meet the oiran..."

"It's so troublesome and expensive." Gua Sheng said seriously, "Therefore, in the entire Edo, probably only those wealthy merchants and warriors with annual salary of several thousand or tens of thousands of stones are eligible to be named oiran."

"It is also because there are not many people who are qualified to name oirans, so it is not always possible to see 'Oiran Road'. Is it the first time for you two to come to Yoshiwara?"

"Yeah." Ogata nodded, "It's the first time."

"Then you are really lucky. When you come to Yoshiwara for the first time, you can see the 'Oiran Road'. Many people have come to Yoshiwara many times, but they have never had the opportunity to see it. Ah, here we are."

Ogata and A-machi followed Guasheng to the very back of Naka-machi.

The place is crowded with people.

People who had heard the news and came to watch "Oiran Road" crowded on both sides of the road, leaving an empty street so that Oiran and her entourage could pass through the street smoothly.

Ogata looked around and saw many people wearing dark blue haori for the Shirobei Clubhouse, standing on guard at various places on the avenue.

"Let's just stand here." Gua Sheng casually squeezed into a small crowd on the west side street. "It's neither too close nor too far from the center of the street. It's an excellent place to watch."

Ogata and A-Ming stood at the spot chosen by Guasheng, waiting for the start of "Oiran Road", while casually chatting with Guasheng.

While Guasheng was chatting with Ogata and A-Ming, he kept his eyes on the ground and looked 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, "Oiran Road" began.

Ogata and the others faced the center of the street and stood on the side of the street on the west side.

So from the end of the street on their left, there were some noises coming from far and near.

Ogata turned his head and looked towards the end of the street on the left - he saw a dozen people with various masks jumping up and down and dancing funny dances there.

Looking at this group of people who looked like clowns in a circus, Ogata couldn't help asking Guasheng who was standing in front of him:

"What are these people here for?"

"They are jugglers in charge of the heat." Gua Sheng said, "Specially in charge of enlivening the atmosphere and creating momentum."

It has to be said that these artists who were in charge of activating the atmosphere did play a lot of roles.

The atmosphere of the street, where there were no other unnecessary sounds except for the small chatter, became lively in an instant.

Behind these jugglers, there are several luthiers playing shamisen. In modern terms, these luthiers are responsible for providing background music for these jugglers.

After this group of entertainers responsible for the active atmosphere passed through Ogata's eyes, several powerful and powerful men appeared within Ogata's field of vision.

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 acting as bodyguards or something.

Behind these bodyguards was a middle-aged woman.

The middle-aged woman was holding a large cylindrical lantern with two large Chinese characters written on it - wind chimes.

"Fengling is the flower name of the only oiran in Yoshihara."

Gua Sheng introduced Ogata and Acho behind him in detail.

"Because the oiran has a supreme status, we will add the honorific title of 'Tai Fu' after the oiran's flower name.

"Look, Taifu Fengchime is here, that is Taifu Fengchime."

Gua Sheng raised his hand and pointed to the end of the street on the left.

"Those two little girls, called 'Bald', are maidservants who are responsible for serving the oiran. They are also candidates for the oiran, and they are excellent girls who are selected as the future oiran."

"The woman behind the two bald men is Mrs. Fengling."

"The beautiful women behind Mrs. Fengling are 'Furisode Shinzao'. You can also be understood as candidates for the oiran, but they are older than Bald."

"The older women behind Furisode Shinzo are 'Bantou Shinzo', who are responsible for taking care of the daily life of the oiran."

While listening carefully to Guasheng's explanation, Ogata turned his attention to the dozen or so girls who were walking slowly in the middle of the street.

Even without Guasheng's explanation, Ogata can tell at a glance who is Taifu Fengling.

Because it's so obvious.

The grandeur of Taifu Fengling's tour can be described as "hugging in front and embracing in back".

In front of them are two little girls who are carved in pink and jade and are only about 10 years old.

The two little girls had their hair tied up in a Shimada bun and were dressed in gorgeous gowns.

Whether it was Oiran and Furisode Shinzo, who were candidates for the oiran, or the oiran himself, there was a thick layer of white makeup on their faces.

The reason why white-painted makeup became popular is that 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 dim environment without any makeup on, it will make your face look sallow and make it difficult to see your facial features.

So white makeup, which paints one's face white, came into being.

After painting one's face white, the visual perception and performance effect in a dark environment will be greatly improved.

It happens to be night now.

In this slightly dim environment, the white makeup on the faces of these girls does not look creepy, but it feels just right, which can well outline the beautiful facial features of these girls.

The woman walking behind those 2 bald women is the only oiran in Yoshiwara- Taifu Fengling.

After focusing on Taifu Fengling, the first impression that Taifu Fengling gave Ogata was—heaviness.

It's not that Taifu Fengling is plump and looks very heavy. Although there wasn't much exposed skin, Ogata could still tell from Mrs. Fengling's fat and thin cheeks that she should be a slender person.

The reason why the first word that comes to Ogata's mind after seeing Taifu Fengchi is "heavy" is because the clothes Taifu Fengchi wears on his body, on his head, and on his feet all look quite heavy.

Oiran and Furisode Shinzo, who are candidates for the oiran, are all dressed in gorgeous clothes.

But the costumes on them are really nothing compared to those worn by the oiran.

If you tell Ogata that the clothes on Taifu Fengchi are heavier than the armor, Ogata will not be surprised at all.

Because the clothes Taifu Fengling wears are many and thick, layered on top of each other, the thickness can be compared with the cotton quilt.

Besides the body, Taifu Fengchi's head also looks quite heavy.

Mrs. Fengling's current hairstyle is a bun, and there are a lot of accessories that Ogata can't name in his hair.

According to Ogata's visual inspection, the number of these ornaments should be more than 10.

With so many accessories, it feels heavy to look at.

In addition to these ornaments on the head, the clogs on Taifu Fengling's feet also looked very heavy.

Mrs. Fengling stepped on a pair of amazingly high three-tooth clogs on her white and tender feet without socks.

According to Ogata's visual inspection, the height of these clogs should be about 30 centimeters.

According to Ogata's visual estimation, Taifu Fengling's height is probably more than 1.6 meters and less than 1.65 meters. Among women in this era, he is considered to be a very tall person.

With a height of 1.6 meters and this pair of clogs with a height of 30 centimeters, Taifu Fengling's height is almost 2 meters, and he can look down on Ogata who is only 1.7 meters tall.

Because the pair of clogs on Taifu Fuling's feet were so conspicuous, A-machi standing beside Ogata couldn't help but said in a surprised tone:

"What happened to those clogs?"

"The pair of clogs are called 'Three Pied Clogs'." Gua Sheng said indifferently, "It can be regarded as clogs exclusively for oirans."

"It looks heavy..." Ah-Ming murmured, "And what is the Oiran's footwork? It's so annoying..."

Taifu Fengchi does not walk like a normal person.

Instead, when walking, step your feet out to the outside of your body first, draw a semicircle and then land in front of your body.

In this way, he walked slowly forward.

"This gait is called 'Foreign Bazi gait'." Gua Sheng then introduced, "It is a very elegant gait. It usually takes 2 or 3 years of practice to master the 'Foreign Bazi gait'."

"...Is this gait very elegant?" A-Ming looked suspiciously up and down at Taifu Fengchi who was walking forward slowly with very rough gait, trying to find "elegance" from Taifu Fengling.

Although I don't have a deep understanding of the culture of Yoshiwara and the oiran, Ogata has heard of the special pair of clogs for the oiran.

According to what Ogata once heard, each of the oiran's special pair of clogs weighs about 5 catties.

That is to say, the oiran has to wear a pair of shoes weighing more than 10 catties to go to Yangwu, and then has to walk from Yangwu back to Younvwu.

——It’s really hard work...

Ogata couldn't help but sighed in his heart.

Because the footwork of the outer eight-character step is really grinding, it took a while for Taifu Fengling to finally walk in front of Ogata's vision.

Before and after Taifu Fengling came to Ogata, Ogata was finally able to observe Taifu Fengling's face more carefully and conveniently.

If Ogata was forced to say some words to describe Taifu Fengchi's appearance... Taifu Fengchi was like a bonfire burning in the dark.

And the bald, furisode and fantou new people around her are like moths flying around the bonfire.

As the conspicuous fire, Taifu Fengling naturally attracted the attention of everyone around him.

Even Ogata, who comes from modern times and holds the aesthetics of modern people, thinks that Taifu Fuchi is beautiful.

The beauty of Taifu Fengling is not only the beauty of appearance, but also the beauty of temperament.

Taifu Fengchi exudes a special aura.

Intellect is mixed with a bit of grace and luxury.

This special aura emanates from Taifu Fengling's eyebrows and eyes, and from Taifu Fengling's slightly raised mouth that seems to be a smile that is not a smile.

The appearance of Taifu Fengchi can be regarded as the climax of this "Oiran Road".

After Taifu Fengchi appeared on the stage, all kinds of screams sounded one after another from the crowd of onlookers on both sides of the street.

After Taifu Fengchi walked in front of Ogata's field of vision, the men around Ogata became excited instantly.

"so beautiful!"

"It's finally here!"

"Master Fengchi! You are so beautiful!"

"Master Wind Chime! Over here! Please look at me!"

...

Shouts similar to this kept ringing around Ogata, causing Ogata's eardrums to ache.

Ogata even saw a man with fanaticism on his face not far away trying to charge into Tai Fu's team, but was stopped in time by an official from the Shirobei Club next to him.

Ogata had to sigh with emotion - no matter what era it is, there are fanatical fans of this kind of star.

Ogata Wanwan didn't expect that there was a fanatic fan of Taifu Fengchi behind him.

"Wind Chime Taifu! Wind Chime Taifu! Wind Chime Taifu!"

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 played a little role.

Taifu Fuchi, who happened to be walking in front of Ogata, was attracted by this enthusiastic fan's fanatical behavior, and tilted his eyes to the right.

With a slanted gaze to the right, he glanced at the fanatical fan, and then took it back.

When he retracted his gaze, Taifu Fengling's gaze naturally fell on Ogata.

After glancing at Ogata by the way, Taifu Fengling completely retracted his gaze, and continued to walk forward without looking sideways.

Although it was just a glance, it was enough to drive these ardent fans crazy.

"Master Wind Chime is looking at me!"

"What nonsense are you talking about! Taifu Fengling just saw me!"

...

"Nah."

While the fanatics around Ogata were making noise, A-Machi poked Ogata beside him with his elbow, and then asked Ogata in a serious tone in a joking way:

"Aren't you yelling along with these people?"

Ogata, who was leisurely putting his hands into both sleeves of Haori, smiled and shrugged when he heard this question from A-Machi:

"If you were the one who was walking slowly in the middle of the street with eight-character steps, I might have yelled like a madman. Taifu Fengling wouldn't make me lose my composure."

After saying that, Ogata pulled his hands out of his sleeves.

"Let's go, Xing. Let's go back."

The grand oiran road has witnessed it with his own eyes.

Oigata has also witnessed the majesty of the oiran.

There is no reason to stay in Yoshihara anymore, Ogata already wants to finish watching and leave Yoshihara.

However, as soon as Ogata said "Let's go back", a loud shout suddenly sounded from the opposite street.

"As expected of an oiran! She looks beautiful!!"

Because the shout was so loud that it directly overwhelmed the shouts of all the people around, making the people around - including Mrs. Wind Chime, unable to help but focus on the person who uttered the shout.

The person who uttered this shout was a young man with Hawazaki stuck in his waist.

Mrs. Wind Chime turned her face, blinked her eyes with long eyelashes, and gave this young man with a loud voice a calm glance.

The emotions in those eye waves are hard to fathom.

After glancing at the young man, he withdrew his gaze.

And the young man showed a smug smile after seeing that he had successfully attracted Taifu Fengling's attention.

Ogata, Atachi, and Guasheng also cast their eyes on this young man after he yelled.

Gua Sheng's face darkened immediately after his eyes fell on the young man across the street:

"It's him..."

"What?" Ogata asked, "Miss Guasheng, do you know that person?"

"Well, I know you." Gua Sheng said in a deep voice, "This man has been a frequent visitor to our Yoshihara during this time. Every night, he brings the follower behind him to Yoshihara to have fun."

"He's quite rude, always hitting or scolding girls, and many girls have been hurt by him."

"This guy can be regarded as one of the celebrities in our Shirobei clubhouse."

"You have such a bad personality..." Ogata just felt this emotion when he suddenly felt his right sleeve being pulled a few times.

"Huh? What's the matter?" Ogata turned his head and looked at the person who pulled his sleeve: A-Machi.

After shifting his gaze to A-Ming, Ogata suddenly found out——A-Ming, who was normal just now, now has a very ugly expression, as if he saw something rather terrifying.

"...Come with me for a while." A Ding said.

"Okay." Ogata nodded without any hesitation.

After telling Guasheng that the two of them wanted to leave for a while, Ogata and Atachi left from the crowd watching Oiran Road, and came to an empty and remote corner.

Seeing Ah-Ming's ugly face, Ogata's face couldn't help becoming serious, and asked again in a serious tone: "What's the matter?"

"...I know the person who yelled just now..." Machi said in a low voice that only she and Ogata could hear clearly.

"Huh?" After Ogata let out a puzzled "Huh", he suddenly realized something.

Ogata lowered his voice, and asked in a low voice, using the volume that only the two of them could hear clearly like the one used by A-Machi just now:

"That person...couldn't be someone from Shiranui?"

"Hmm..." Ah-Ming nodded vigorously a few times, and then said wordlessly, "That man is not a small person, he is one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Shiranui-Gekutaro."

A-Machi originally thought that after hearing the news of him, Ogata would definitely show a strong expression of shock or something.

But Unexpectedly, Xufang's reaction was much calmer than she imagined.

After a flash of astonishment flashed across Ogata's face, he returned to calm.

After the expression on his face calmed down, he grinned with a smile and said:

"It seems... our visit to Yoshihara this time is worthwhile."

After finishing speaking, Ogata turned and returned to the crowd of onlookers.

And Ah Ding followed Ogata back to Gua Sheng's side.

After returning to Ogata's side, Ogata took half a step to the side, blocking A-Ming behind him.

Because Ogata's figure is much bigger than that of Ah-cho, as long as Ogata blocks Ah-cho from the back, it is impossible for people across the street to see Ah-cho.

After returning to Ah-machi's side, Ogata asked Guasheng:

"Miss Guasheng, does the person who yelled so loudly just now come to Yoshihara every night?"

Although he didn't understand why Ogata asked this for no reason, Guasheng still answered honestly:

"That's right. That guy comes to Yoshihara to have fun every night, and every time he plays until dawn before leaving Yoshihara."

"I have never seen this guy not come to Yoshiwara for a night, and it has been going on for nearly 2 months."

"That's it... Thank you for letting me know."

"What are you asking this for?"

"It's nothing, I'm just curious. I didn't expect there to be such a vigorous person in this world."

After casually dismissing Guasheng, Ogata raised his eyes and looked at Kyutaro across the street.

It seems that Ji Taro only came to see the oiran.

After undisguisedly sizing up Fuchi Taifu who had passed by him for the last few times with interested eyes, Ji Taro arrogantly led a follower behind him, and strode away from the crowd of onlookers, toward A certain majestic playgirl's house in the distance strode forward.

Ogata just looked at Kyutaro's leaving back with meaningful eyes.

The person who also watched Jitaro leave was - Guasheng.

Gua Sheng watched Ji Taro's eyes very calmly.

But when Ji Taro turned and left from the crowd of onlookers, Guasheng's eyes flashed a few traces of resentment.

But these traces of resentment were fleeting.

In just an instant, the traces of resentment dissipated, and the emotions in Gua Sheng's eyes returned to calm.

...

...

"As expected of an oiran." Ji Taro said to Hui Taro behind him while striding towards his favorite girl's house, "I really want to sleep with such a beautiful woman!"

"It's a pity that the oiran is too expensive to invite."

"I really hope that I can come to a lucrative task and earn him a good fortune."

"Ah, why don't you wait for the money to be raised, just sneak into Mrs. Wind Chime's room in the middle of the night, and force Mrs. Wind Chime."

Hearing Ji Taro's words, Keitaro who was following behind him immediately turned pale as if he had heard some terrible news.

"Master Ji Taro." Keitaro said in a deep voice while dripping cold sweat, "Please don't do this."

"Master Jitaro, you should know about it too, right? Taifu Fuling..."

Keitaro waved his hand before Keitaro finished speaking.

"I know I know."

"Of course I know not to mess around with Mrs. Wind Chime."

"Even Lord Balrog doesn't have the guts to mess around with Taifu Fengchi."

"So I was just joking just now. I haven't lived enough, so I won't take my life for a mere wind chime master."

After finishing speaking, Kyutaro stopped, turned his head, and looked at the figure of Taifu Fuchi who was so small that he was about to disappear behind him.

"This woman... how did she get involved with that guy..."

After all, Ji Taro seemed to recall something, his body shivered, and then cold sweat emerged from his forehead.

***

***

What I posted in the easter egg chapter of this chapter are historical old photos: a certain oiran and the two bald men who are responsible for serving this oiran.

You can see through this picture how scary the pair of shoes on Oiran's feet are.