I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Countless prostitutes perished in the flames.

As a result, the government did not learn its lesson at all... no, it should be said that they deliberately did not learn its lesson. When rebuilding Yoshiwara, they made it look like this, which would make firefighters furious on the spot.

In the eyes of high-ranking officials in the shogunate, preventing the courtesans from escaping was far more important than ensuring their personal safety...

Thinking of this, Qingdeng felt an overwhelming sense of heaviness welling up inside him.

—Damn it…they don’t even treat people like human beings…

……

……

After queuing for nearly 5 minutes, Aoto finally managed to enter Yoshiwara.

As soon as he passed through the gate, a rich fragrance of cosmetics wafted towards Qingdeng.

Looking around, the world is a sea of ​​pink.

"Lord Mengshi! I have been waiting for you for so long!"

"Hehehe~~ Chihaya, I've come to see you~~ Hehehehe~~"

"Boss! Do you have any girls with bigger breasts?!"

……

To deliberately create a romantic atmosphere, the lanterns hanging in the streets and alleys of Yoshiwara are all specially made large red lanterns.

Passing through the gate, the first thing you arrive at is the central avenue of Yoshiwara: Nakanocho.

The layout of Yoshiwara's buildings is a classic "square" structure.

Located in the very center of Yoshiwara, Nakanocho divides Yoshiwara into two neat and symmetrical halves.

The closer to Nakanocho, the more luxurious and upscale the brothels become.

Conversely, the further away a brothel is from Nakanocho, the cheaper and lower-end it is.

Qing Deng wasn't there to seek pleasure, so he didn't linger. He asked a Shirobei brothel officer who happened to be passing by for directions to the Senka-ya, and then headed straight towards it.

Along the way, Qingdeng suffered a lot of harassment from the Jiansefan.

Jian Shifan—simply put, is a "prisoner".

In front of almost every brothel, there is one or even several people soliciting customers.

These people responsible for soliciting customers were called "Kensefan".

Qing Deng politely declined the enthusiastic invitations from the monks and hurriedly found the exquisite plaque that read "Qianhuawu" (Thousand Flower House).

Just as Qingdeng darted through the shop door, he overheard a conversation between an older man and a younger man inside:

"Really...she hasn't come back yet..."

"Mother-in-law, give up! I don't think we can get that brat back! Sigh, damn it! All the money I spent raising her has been wasted!"

Qingdeng saw an old lady talking to a young man sitting behind the counter.

"...Goodbye."

The old lady left those words coldly and turned to leave.

Qingdeng didn't pay much attention to the old woman, giving her a cursory glance before passing by.

"Greetings."

Qingdeng adjusted his straw hat and greeted the counter staff in a nonchalant manner.

"Oh, sir!"

The counter staff's faces instantly filled with a formulaic, enthusiastic smile.

"Which lady are you looking for?"

"Is Baiju there? I'm looking for Baiju."

As soon as Qing Deng said this, the old woman behind him, who had already stepped out of the shop, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

The next moment, she slowly turned her head and cast a thoughtful look at Qingdeng.

"Uh...sir, you...you're looking for Bai Ju?"

The counter staff member twitched their lips awkwardly.

"Um...sir, I'm sorry, Bai Ju...she eloped with her lover..."

*******

*******

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Simplified Chinese website lacks historical documents from the Edo period, and the Shirobei Clubhouse happens to be a very obscure topic, so... you can hardly find any information about the Shirobei Clubhouse on Simplified Chinese website.

If you don't believe me, you can search "Shirobei Club" on Baidu—all the results will be about "Sōmu Shi"...

Therefore, I want to clarify that the Shirobei Clubhouse was a real government agency in history that was specifically responsible for supervising Yoshiwara, and it is not an original creation of the author.

Chapter 380 The Alliance Between "Niou" and "Yoshiwara no Toshi"! [5200]

"what?"

Qingdeng was stunned, and his voice cracked uncontrollably as he spoke.

"Bai Ju is gone? When did she leave?"

The clerk at the counter sighed heavily.

"Alas... sir, your timing is truly terrible..."

"The white chrysanthemum suddenly disappeared this evening."

"We noticed as early as half a month ago that she was getting close to a poor samurai named Irie Matahachiro."

"Ever since I met Irie, Shirakiku has become less attentive to her work."

"Not only did he act perfunctorily when serving customers, but he also often smiled foolishly at the air."

“We’ve seen this kind of thing many times—silly girls who fall in love are all like this.”

“We wanted to warn her not to do anything stupid, but before we could even go looking for her, we received the message more than an hour ago that we couldn’t find Baiju anywhere.”

"We suspect that she eloped with that Irie Matahachiro."

At this point, the counter staff member couldn't contain her emotions and clenched her teeth so hard they made a "crunching" sound.

"Damn it! That brat is such a heartless little beast!"

“When she was about to starve to death on the street, we took her in, provided her with food and drink, and taught her music, chess, calligraphy and painting, so that she could make a living in Yoshiwara, where competition was fierce and girls were eliminated every month.”

"Not only did she not repay us, but she even ran away on her own!"

"Absolutely outrageous!"

Despite the government's efforts to prevent the prostitutes from escaping by building walls and digging ditches, the harsh living conditions still forced the prostitutes to rush to escape—and quite a few succeeded.

Their escape methods included, but were not limited to: disguising themselves as men to slip out the door, hiding in chamber pots used for transporting excrement, and bribing the officials at Shirobei's brothel...

Since the birth of Yoshiwara, it has been common for courtesans to elope with their lovers.

People often think that prostitutes, who come into contact with so many men every day, should be numb to love and matters between men and women.

That's not actually the case.

Having endured so much hardship, any taste of sweetness feels incredibly comforting.

This explains why, throughout history and across cultures, there have been frequent cases of women eloping with their lovers.

Novelists and playwrights of the Edo period had a particular fondness for the "court ladies" theme, often creating love stories about "court ladies running away for love"—most of which were tragedies.

Qingdeng had no interest in listening to the counter staff complaining.

Although he knew the chances were slim, he still inquired anyway:

"Do you have any clues about where Bai Ju went?"

The counter staff gave a bitter smile.

"Sir, we also want to know where Bai Ju has gone. If we knew where she is now, we would have sent someone to bring her back long ago!"

……

……

Qingdeng walked out of the Thousand Flowers House with a solemn expression.

—Tsk…My luck is just too bad…

While rubbing his temples, Qingdeng sighed and expressed his frustration.

She was perfectly healthy, a living person, and of all times she disappeared—why did she have to vanish on this very day when he urgently needed to contact her?

If Bai Ju really did elope with her lover as the counter staff said, then so be it.

Qingdeng's biggest fear is... that Baiju will be silenced by that unpredictable gang of bandits...

After all, according to Hisaka, Yuuki Kamenosuke was particularly fond of Shirokiku, and would always make love to her whenever he came to Yoshiwara.

The possibility that the gang might have silenced all those connected to them to reduce the chances of their whereabouts being exposed cannot be ruled out...

Just as Qingdeng stood on the bustling street, racking his brains about what to do next—

"Hey, young man, young man!"

An aged female voice came from beside me.

"Ok?"

Because the sound was coming from a very low position, Qingdeng had to lower his chin several angles.

First, a pair of bright, expressive eyes entered Qingdeng's retina.

She was a very short old woman.

Qing Deng felt that she looked familiar. After blinking, he remembered where this sense of familiarity came from—it was the old woman he had passed by when he first entered the Thousand Flowers House.