1 year and 8 months later——
In the second year of Wenjiu (1862), December 1——
The sky in early winter is blue and clear, and the sunshine is soft.
Due to the cold weather, the streets and alleys of Edo were covered with white snow between the tiles.
Pedestrians on the road were already wearing thick winter coats, looking bloated and funny.
With the arrival of cold winter and the decrease in water volume, the number of canoes and small boats on the Sumida River, Kanda River and other rivers has significantly decreased.
However, as the Spring Festival is approaching, many families now have exquisite door pine trees placed outside their doors.
Classic New Year products such as tangerines, mirror cakes, and red envelopes have already appeared on the shelves of various stores.
Starting from the Konamegawa River in the west and ending at Naito Shinjuku in the east, the huge Edo is full of strong "New Year flavor".
The cries of sellers echoed in the streets and alleys.
The woman carrying a vegetable basket cast a scrutinizing gaze at the dazzling array of products on the shelves.
Young people with nothing to do gathered together, looking here and there, and lurking wherever there was excitement.
The children ran away laughing and playing.
At schools, dojos and other places where young warriors often gather, people from time to time hear "What are the people of Changzhou trying to do? Are they trying to 'hijack the emperor to order the princes'?!", "We must do it as soon as possible."
Stop the chaos in Kyoto!", "Kawagami Hikosai, Okada Izo, Tanaka Shinbei...these people who are causing chaos in Kyoto are really unreasonable! Do they think they can change the world with just a sword?
?!" and other impassioned speeches.
Bustling and moving.
Although there are "Western barbarians" outside and "rebellious parties" inside, the country's situation is becoming more and more chaotic day by day, with "rice riots", "human-killing actions", "the Aizu clan who have just assumed the "Kyoto Guardianship""
The feudal lord Matsudaira Yōho cannot suppress the chaos in Kyoto", "Satsuma Domain, Choshu Domain and Aizu Domain will declare war on each other at any time", and news such as "War is about to break out in the Gyeonggi region" are constantly circulating.
But...perhaps it is due to the regional characteristics of "you can get drunk today," and "Edo people don't save overnight money." Neither the Western countries that are constantly advancing overseas nor the numerous chaos in the Gyeonggi region have failed.
It affected the food, drink, housing, transportation and timely entertainment of Edo people.
They are still like stepping onto the spring stage, happily welcoming the arrival of the New Year.
The largest city in Japan is still full of entertainment, luxury and extravagance...
…
…
Edo, Asakusa Imperial Gate Uchihirokoji, Yoshikawa Ryotei——
The mellow aroma of wine, the rich aroma of vegetables, and the alluring aroma of powder and powder constantly wafted out from the restaurant, filling up half the street.
The history of ryotei, like that of izakaya, also begins in the Edo period.
The so-called "ryotei" can be understood as a high-end restaurant, which mostly serves relatively wealthy and upper-class people in society. General Japanese restaurants cannot be casually labeled as "ryotei".
At this moment, in a private room of Yoshikawa Ryotei, a middle-aged man over fifty years old was toasting the young man in front of him with a flattering smile on his face.
"Mr. Hayakawaya, why don't you come here today? The shop is really full of glory!"
Flattery that is both cliché and disgusting.
The young man who was called "Hayakawa-ya" was obviously used to the flattery of others.
Faced with the flattery of the middle-aged man, he was completely unmoved. He stretched out the wine glass in his hand with no expression on his face, filled it with wine, and drank it down in one gulp.
There is the word "house" in the last name - a very typical businessman's name.
"Kikkuro, is Suzune here?"
Hayakawaya said impatiently.
Yoshikuro said quickly, half panicked and half nervous:
"Coming, coming! She's coming soon!"
As soon as he finished speaking, soft footsteps came from the direction of the corridor from far to near.
Immediately afterwards, two maids kneeling outside the private room door pushed open the paper sliding door with exquisite pictures, and a young girl with a shamisen in her arms entered the room slowly.
The girl has a pair of clear and handsome willow eyebrows, smooth and slender eyelashes, a straight nose, full red lips, and eyes shining with intellectual brilliance - she is a very beautiful beauty.
In addition, she is also extremely well-dressed, elegant and impeccable in everything she wears.
She wore a goose-yellow lining underneath, a light blue feathered outer coat, and a delicate milky white belt wrapped around her soft slender waist.
A pair of flawless white footbags plump the insteps of her feet, wrapping her beautiful slender feet all the way to her ankles.
Her light and graceful gait, obviously trained, has an elegant, concise and pleasing charm.
Seeing the arrival of this woman, Hayakawa's eyes suddenly lit up, he immediately put down the wine glass in his hand, clasped his hands and laughed:
"Oh! Ringtone, you're finally here!"
Suzune bowed gracefully and bowed to Hayakawa in front of her in a standard manner that could not be faulted.
"Mr. Hayakawaya, Gui'an, you..."
Before she could finish her words, she was rudely interrupted by the other party:
"Okay! Stop talking about those boring nonsense! Come on! Come to me!"
As Hayakawa talked, he slapped the tatami beside him vigorously.
From the moment Suzune entered the room, his eyes never left her neck, waist, chest, ankles, etc., looking disgusting and salivating.
As soon as Hayakawaya's request came out, Suzune's expression suddenly froze.
Having worked at Yoshikawa Ryotei for many years, she is very skilled in how to deal with customers' difficulties.
She quickly reacted and replied in a nonchalant manner:
"Mr. Hayakawaya, my daughter is a musician who performs tricks, not a wandering girl who performs tricks."
Jikuro also said with a smile on his face:
"Mr. Hayakawaya, I'm very sorry, but the musicians in our store do not provide this kind of service..."
After all, a restaurant is a high-end place, and cannot be compared with those low-end pubs and restaurants on roadside alleys. It is impossible to provide the kind of service that "plays the piano for you during the day and studies how to make sounds with the human body with you at night."
The musicians, karaoke, and maiko of Yoshikawa Ryotei are all very serious craftsmen who only sell their skills but not their bodies.
However, Hayakawaya didn't buy the argument between the two.
"What are you talking about?"
He suddenly slapped the tatami beside him, and the loud noise startled Suzune and Kichikuro.
"Young girl who makes a joke? She doesn't provide this kind of service? What a mess!"
"Did I ask her to take off her clothes immediately? Did I order her to sleep with me at night?"
"I just asked her to sit next to me. I wanted to get closer to her and talk to her more about myself!"
"I came here just to chat with Ling Yin! Otherwise, no one would come to a shabby shop like yours!"
Their own shop was slandered, and their own personalities were also belittled... Suzune and Kichikuro's expressions became extremely ugly.
But they didn't dare to explode, so they could only swallow their anger and grievances back into their stomachs.
Hayakawaya is one of the most famous restaurants in Edo.
Zha Cha - that is, the group of giant businessmen who monopolized the Lumi trade of Hatamoto, imperial family and other samurai, and were as rich as the enemy.
This young man who is making trouble unreasonably - Hayakawaya Danshichiro - is the current head of Hayakawaya: the seventh son of Hayakawaya Shotaro.
According to the regulations of the Edo shogunate, there is no "separate inheritance" of family property from the daimyo of one of the separatist parties to the peasants who only have a few pieces of thin land.
All property must be passed on to the eldest son. If the eldest son is gone, it will be passed to the second son. If the second son is gone, it will be passed to the third son. If there are no legitimate sons, it will be passed to the eldest son, and so on.
After the family property is inherited, the other sons either stay at home and grow old, or they find another way out.
This is why cultural celebrities and martial arts celebrities in the Edo period were often the second or third sons of the family - because the eldest sons were busy inheriting the family business and could not make a penny, and they did not want to be the losers in the family. The second and third sons can only pursue other careers and develop in other fields.
Hayakawa Danshichiro knew that as his father's seventh son, he had basically no chance of inheriting the family business, so he had been very self-aware since he was a child - he became a famous dandy in Edo...
He is proficient in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, spending money like water, being lustful and romantic, using power to bully others... He has not fallen into any of the bad habits common among playboys.
To be continued...