The pleasure district they kept saying they wanted to return to wasn't all that far away.
The rear palace alone was the size of an entire town, but the royal capital surrounded it completely.
The pleasure district lay on the opposite side of the palace — cross the tall walls and deep moat, and it was within walking distance.
(And yet taking a carriage was such a luxury.)
The burly man sitting beside him —
Li Pai —
held the reins and hummed a tune.
He had presented
the wooden tablet, confirming his story was true.
If it meant meeting the courtesan he'd been dreaming of, then this was nothing.
But even among courtesans, you couldn't lump them all together.
Some sold their bodies; others sold their art.
The more popular they were, the fewer clients they accepted — that was how they maintained their exclusivity.
For a single cup of tea, you had to pay any amount of silver, and as for
spending the night —
that was entirely out of the question.
Such an
exalted
figure became a kind of idol, the very embodiment of the citizens' admiration.
Among the town girls, some were so enamored they'd knock on the gates of the pleasure quarter — even though only a precious few ever made it.
The Ryokuseikan
was among the oldest establishments in the royal capital's pleasure district,
housing women from mid-rank to the
highest tier.
Courtesans
They had them all lined up.
Among the very highest tier,
Maomao
there were the ones she called "young ladies."
From the clattering carriage, familiar scenery came into view.
The skewered food shop she had been wanting to visit was scattering its savory aroma through the streets.
Willows swayed along the waterways,
firewood
sellers called out their wares.
Passing through an opulent gate, a world of garish colors spread out before them.
Since it was still daytime, there were few passersby, but idle courtesans waved from the second-floor railings.
The carriage came to a stop before a pavilion boasting the grandest gate of all.
Maomao lightly hopped down from the carriage and hurried over to the old woman standing at the entrance.
"It's been a while, Granny."
pipe
she said to the thin woman with a pipe clenched between her teeth. The courtesan once said to possess tears of pearl had, by now, dried up every last tear and become like a withered tree. She had refused every redemption offer, stayed on even after her contract expired, and become the fearsome madam everyone now feared. Time was cruel.
"What do you mean 'long time no see'? You stupid
fool
!"
A jolt shot through her solar plexus.
It was strange how even the acid reflux making her mouth turn sour felt nostalgic.
How many times in the past had she vomited back up toxins that exceeded what she could tolerate?
Being the soft touch that he was, Li Bai had no idea what was going on, but patted Maomao on the back anyway.
What was that about? She and that old crone had been having a whole conversation just through their faces.
She kicked dirt over the soiled ground with her toe.
Li Bai beside her looked at Maomao with concern.
"Hmm, so this is the VIP?"
She sized Li Bai up as though appraising him.
She left the carriage in the care of the shop's
men
to handle.
"Good build. Handsome features too. Word is he's a rising star."
"Granny, do you really have to say that right in front of me?"
The shrewd old woman, feigning ignorance, called over
the bald man
sweeping the entrance.
"Send for
Hakurei.
She should be on tea-grinding duty today."
"Hakurei..."
Li Bai swallowed hard.
She was a well-known courtesan, famous for her dancing.
For the sake of Li Bai's honor, let it be said—this was not mere desire for a common pleasure girl, but a feeling of earnest admiration.
An idol above the
clouds—to meet one face to face,
even to share tea in the same room, was itself a privilege.
(Miss Hakurei, huh? Maybe there really is a chance.)
"Li Bai."
Maomao poked the tall man standing dazed beside her.
"Do you have any confidence in your biceps?"
"Not sure what you mean, but I'd like to think I've trained my body well enough?"
"Is that so? Then please do your best."
The big man tilted his head in confusion and was led away by the young girl.
Maomao was grateful that he had come all this way for her. She naturally wanted to return the favor in kind.
If he could see just one night's dream, it would become a lifelong memory.
"Maomao."
The owner of that raspy voice wore a terrifying grin.
"
Ten months
and you don't even send word before vanishing on me."
"What was I supposed to do? I was working in the rear palace."
She had written the general explanation on a wooden tablet.
"You're the type to refuse at first, and still I went to all this trouble for you."
"I know, I know."
Reaching into
his robe, he produced a pouch.
It was half of everything she had earned working in the rear palace.
"This isn't nearly enough."
"I'm not expecting you to hand over Miss Byakuren or anything."
If it had been a high-ranking courtesan, one night of pleasant dreams should have more than covered it.
Even for Li Bai, catching a glimpse of even one of the three young ladies would have been enough to satisfy him.
"Would you settle for a cup of tea at the very least?"
"Don't be a fool. With that kind of strength, there's no way Byakuren wouldn't make a move."
(Just as I thought.)
They say the highest-ranking courtesans don't sell their bodies, but that doesn't mean they never fall in love.
Well, that's how it goes.
"That's force majeure..."
"Not a chance. I'll be sure to add it to your tab."
"I can't pay that."
(Even with what I have left, it still wouldn't be enough. No matter how I figure it.)
Maomao fell into deep thought.
It was clearly nothing but a shakedown.
"Oh, it's nothing. Worst case, you just pay with your body. You'd simply be transferred from"
"your current position to the brothel—"
"no different, really. Even a damaged piece like you has its collectors."
For years now, the old woman had been pushing Maomao to become a courtesan. Having devoted her entire life to the pleasure district, she didn't think the profession was unhappy at all.
"I still have a year left on my contract, you know."
"Then start sending me plenty of high-class customers. Not old geezers—I mean ones like that last fellow, someone you can milk steadily over a long stretch."
(Well, as expected, I'm going to get squeezed.)
The greedy old woman had nothing on her mind but schemes.
Since selling girls off was quite profitable, she would now have to send along sacrificial lambs on a regular basis.
(Can a eunuch even be a customer?)
Jinshi
's face came to mind, but that was out of the question.
The courtesans might actually fall for him, and the shop could go under—so that was a no-go.
That said,
Gaoshun
and that quack doctor—I'd feel bad about them. I couldn't bring myself to hand them over to be bled dry by that scheming old woman.
The lack of opportunities to meet people was truly inconvenient.
"Maomao,
your old man
should be at home right now, so hurry up and go see him."
"Yeah, got it."
There was no solution at the moment, no matter how hard she thought about it.
Maomao took the side road out of Rokushōkan.
Once she crossed one street over, the pleasure district became noticeably desolate.
Rows of crude shacks lined the street, along with beggars waiting for coins to collect in their broken bowls, and women with visible signs of syphilis—
night women
could be found here too.
One of those rundown shacks was Maomao's home.
Inside the tiny house, with its two-mat earthen floor, someone sat hunched over like a grinding bowl.
He was a man with deeply creased wrinkles and soft features, looking almost like an old woman.
"I'm home. Dad."
"Oh, you're late."
They exchanged their usual greetings, and he prepared tea with his usual staggering steps as if nothing were wrong.
He brewed tea in a worn-out cup, and she drank it.
She spoke in bits and pieces about everything that had happened, and her father merely nodded along.
Porridge bulked up with herbs and potatoes
for supper
was had, and then she went straight to sleep. She'd take a bath tomorrow—maybe at Rokushōkan.
On the earthen floor,
straw mat
was laid out for the simple bedding, and she curled up on it.
Her father piled extra robes on top of her,
Stove
She kept grinding the mortar so the fire in the stove wouldn't go out.
"The rear palace, huh. What twisted fate."
Her father's muttered words faded away into the depths of her drowsiness.