I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Are you alright wearing so little?"

When Aoto first met Uryuu Hide, he noticed that the old woman's clothing was extremely thin; she was only wearing an ordinary women's kimono.

Although the kimono's fabric is stuffed with cotton, such a thin layer of cotton is hardly enough to keep up with the current temperature.

Guasheng Xiu smiled at Qingdeng's well-intentioned reminder.

"Thank you for your concern. But there's no need to worry about my temperature."

As Guasheng said this in a half-joking tone, he reached out and gently tucked the collar of Guasheng's shirt.

“I’m the kind of person who’s naturally not afraid of the cold. For me, this outfit is enough to keep me warm.”

At this point, she suddenly changed the subject.

"Hanada-kun, you don't need to be so respectful to me. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

"You don't need to call me 'Miss Uryuu,' just call me 'Grandma Uryuu' like everyone else does. I prefer that title; it sounds nice and is friendly."

Qingdeng has always held a "whatever" attitude towards "addresses".

Since Uryuu Hideaki made this request, he was happy to comply.

……

After a hurried journey, the two finally arrived at their destination: a shrine located in the southwest corner of Yoshiwara.

Since becoming a member of the new Oniwaban (a special branch of the Imperial Guard), and frequently visiting the Tsukimiya Shrine, the shrine has become one of the buildings that Aoto is most familiar with.

"Grandma Guasheng, where is this place?"

Qing Deng cast puzzled glances around.

"This is the old brothel!"

Guasheng Xiu explained calmly.

"There are four shrines in Yoshiwara: the 'Kurosuke Inari Shrine' in the northeast, the 'Akaishi Inari Shrine' in the southeast, the 'Kaien Inari Shrine' in the northwest, and the one we're standing on right now, the 'Kagami Inari Shrine'!"

"Because the courtesans who were not redeemed were not allowed to step out of Yoshiwara, they would visit and pray at these four shrines on a daily basis."

“These four shrines were both places of entertainment where they found solace and their burial grounds.”

“All the women who died tragically and whose bodies were not claimed by anyone were buried in the open space near these four shrines.”

As fate would have it—just as this topic came up, Guasheng Xiu happened to bring Qingdeng to the old mansion where the mulberry trees were hidden.

Looking around, Qingdeng saw hundreds of Zutapo standing tall in front of him.

訓塔婆: A transliteration of the Sanskrit word, directly borrowed by Japan. Originally meaning a mausoleum or stupa, in Japan it evolved into a long, narrow wooden plaque, serving as a memorial tablet for blessings from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. It contains the name of a Buddhist scripture or Dharma assembly, the name of the person to be liberated, and information about the donor.

Looking at the clusters of "Zutapo Forest", Qingdeng couldn't help but be stunned.

"Grandma Guasheng, is this... a place where Baiju often comes?"

Guasheng Xiu nodded slightly.

"Bai Ju's good friend... a young girl who didn't even have a real name, only the flower name 'Hongmei', passed away here due to an accident more than half a month ago."

"After the incident, Bai Ju would come here to remember her dear friend whenever she had free time."

She has no real name, only a nickname—clearly, she is a courtesan.

Many of these prostitutes were previously homeless orphans, or girls sold because their families were too poor for their parents to support more children.

To ensure the quality of the girls in their establishments, Omi and some Nakami would take in orphans and girls who were sold by their families and train them from a young age to become professional prostitutes who specialize in "pleasing men".

Some owners of brothels are too lazy to name their children, so they simply give them a nickname instead of their real name.

Guasheng Xiu led Qing Deng to a corner of the cemetery.

"This is Hongmei's grave."

Qingdeng followed Guasheng's gaze and looked over.

On the half-person-high stupa, there were no Buddhist scriptures or names of ceremonies, only the name of the deceased: Hongmei, and the name of the donor: Baiju.

"Baiju doesn't have a real name either."

Guasheng Xiu added.

"Accident……"

Qingdeng murmured, then subconsciously asked.

"What accident caused her death? Was she ill?"

If we were to ask what the most common cause of death for courtesans was, it would undoubtedly be illness.

Japan currently lacks advanced hygiene concepts and convenient tools like condoms, making it highly susceptible to diseases for both prostitutes and their clients.

At present, antibiotics such as penicillin have not yet been invented. Once you get syphilis, gonorrhea or other venereal diseases, you can basically only wait to die.

No, that's not true.

Guasheng Xiu shook his head.

"She was in love with her lover."

"Ah, in my heart..."

Qingdeng was speechless.

The word "shinju" in Japanese has two meanings. First, it refers to lovers committing suicide together; second, it refers to the collective suicide of two or more people.

Because of the low social status of courtesans, people were influenced by this social trend and married them... In particular, the act of respectable men marrying courtesans was considered an intolerable taboo by the general public.

At most, one could take a courtesan as a concubine, but it was absolutely forbidden to marry her as a wife, otherwise one would surely suffer ridicule and scorn from those around them.

Worldly prejudices and the pain of unrequited love cause endless stories to unfold in the hearts of courtesans and their lovers.

The cemetery is very large; no matter which direction you look, you can't see the end of it.

In search of the white chrysanthemum, Qing Deng, led by Gu Shengxiu, visited every corner of the cemetery.

On the way, Guasheng Xiu sighed heavily, then slowly said to Qingdeng:

"Sigh... this story begins with something that happened to another girl about six months ago..."

"Six months ago, Fuuka, the most popular courtesan at Misuzuya, fell in love with a ronin from the Sendai Domain."

"Although they loved each other, they could not be together because of the vast difference in their social status."

Unable to bear the pain of parting... they finally made a promise to meet again under the ever-burning lanterns of Akihayama.

Akihayama Tokihō—a famous landmark of Yoshiwara. Follow the road that runs through the center of Yoshiwara... that is, walk to the end of Nakanocho, and you will see this huge lantern that is dedicated to Akiha Gongen.

"In the hearts of courtesans and lovers—this is not such a strange thing."

"However... Misuzuya is one of the top daimiyo in Yoshiwara, and Kazaka is the most popular hostess at the store, with an extremely high reputation."

"Her relationship with her lover has attracted the attention of many novelists."

"Novelists gathered like cats drawn by the smell of fish, selectively deleting and exaggerating the facts, transforming the romance and the wanderer's heart into an extremely poignant love story."

"What? That ronin is a tall, handsome man...?"

"What? That ronin is the holder of the Hokushin Itto-ryu license, and he once helped Fuuka fight off some unscrupulous johns..."

"What? Fuka is a stunning beauty whose looks rival those of Chiba Sanako, the 'most beautiful woman of Edo'..."

"That's all bullshit, not a single one of them is true."

"Although it is full of errors, the common people just love this kind of tragedy: 'a handsome man with great talent falls in love with a stunningly beautiful woman, but they can't be together for various reasons'."

"After hearing stories that were so different from reality, many prostitutes were inspired to follow suit."

"In the six months since Fuka's death, there have been frequent incidents imitating Fuka's death under the light of Tokiyama Akihayama—Koumei is one of the imitators."

At this point, Uryuu Hideyuki sighed again.

Qingdeng listened quietly until the end.

This must be what's called the "Werther effect"... Qing Deng thought to himself.

The Werther effect, also known as the suicide imitation phenomenon.

In 1774, the great German writer Goethe published a novel called *The Sorrows of Young Werther*, which tells the story of a young man who commits suicide after a failed romance. The novel caused a sensation upon publication, not only making Goethe famous throughout Europe but also sparking a wave of imitations of Werther's suicides across the continent, hence the term "Werther effect."

From a moral standpoint, such an act of two people committing suicide together is certainly unacceptable.

However, when discussing the pros and cons of a matter, one cannot ignore the broader context.

Qing Deng was not a scholar specializing in Yoshiwara culture. His understanding of the tragic lives of the Yoshiwara courtesans was limited to hearsay.

However, in less than an hour since he first stepped into Yoshiwara tonight, Aoto has already noticed the hardships faced by the courtesans through various details.

For prostitutes who are tormented by the pain of reality and on the verge of collapse, committing suicide with the man they love might actually be a way to redeem themselves.

Qingdeng knew he was not capable of judging the right or wrong of these poor girls like Fenghua and Hongmei, so he remained silent.

……

About three minutes later, Qing Deng and Gu Shengxiu had walked through every corner of the cemetery.

Qingdeng didn't know what Baiju looked like, so he could only recognize her by Gushengxiu.

Although a few men and women were occasionally seen coming to pay their respects, according to Gu Shengxiu, none of them were Bai Ju.

"Baiju is very short, about the same height as me," said Gusheng Xiu.

She's about the same height as Granny Guasheng... so her physical features are quite distinctive. Qingdeng thought to himself.

Whether it was due to old age and the atrophy of her bones and muscles, or because she was always short, Guasheng Xiu's height was barely over 1.4 meters...

With a height of just over 1.4 meters and a slender figure that has hardly any flesh on his bones from head to toe, the combination of these two factors makes Uryuu Hide stand on the tall Qingdeng with a kind of beauty that makes you think, "Look! It's a giant and a dwarf!"

"It seems that Bai Ju is not here."

Qingdeng Road.

Guasheng Xiu nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, that's right... Let's go, let's go to the next place."

……

……