Shu State City was massive, with a sprawling grid of streets. It was long and narrow from east to west, and slightly shorter from north to south.
Duke Dingyuan's Xiao Mansion was located north of Ba Mountain Street, which ran along the city's central axis. It was near South Street, situated at the intersection of the two roads.
It faced south and occupied a vast area of land.
Chen Yi and the others left the mansion, made two turns onto Ba Mountain Street, and headed south.
The whole time, he kept parting the carriage's brocade curtains, curiously observing the outside world.
The road was paved with smooth bluestone slabs, with very few potholes, let alone any dust or debris. Clearly, someone was in charge of keeping it clean.
On both sides were wooden buildings of uniform height, painted a deep purplish-red. Each entrance had a plaque with names like "Wangyue Restaurant," "Jiangnan Cloth Shop - Shu Brocade," or "Wu Mountain Inn."
Although it was morning, there were already many pedestrians on the street.
Most were dressed in fine linen, and there were also many Jianghu People carrying weapons.
During the ride, Chen Yi also spotted several foreigners dressed in colorful silks. Just as Xiaodie had described, most of them wore various gems around their necks and had their heads wrapped in turbans or their faces covered with veils.
"Those are the Poshisu People. They're very bad," Xiaodie said indignantly, peeking at the foreigners through the curtain.
"Some of the masters in the mansion said before that these Poshisu People often disguise themselves as horse bandits to rob merchant caravans on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road. A few years ago, the Second Miss even led troops to wipe them out."
Chen Yi glanced at the slightly dark-skinned, curly-haired Poshisu People, then nodded and turned his attention to others, especially the weapon-wielding Jianghu People.
But after watching for a long time, he couldn't make anything of them.
Most of these Jianghu wanderers were dressed plainly—in shabby, ragged clothes, with disheveled hair and dirty faces. You couldn't tell what they were capable of just from their appearance. They were nothing like Eldest Miss Xiao's Guard, Shen Huatang, who practically radiated a sharp aura.
Just then, Xiaodie glanced at Xiao Wuge and leaned in to whisper, "Master, c-can you please not go to the South City?"
Chen Yi chuckled. He could feel her warm breath on his face and smell her faint fragrance as he reassured her, "Don't worry, I'm just going to take a look. I won't do anything."
If it weren't for the potential drama there, he wouldn't have chosen the South City Yanhua Lane for his first trip out.
"Even if I were going to do something, I'd have to go at night, right?"
Xiaodie looked down and thought for a moment before asking in confusion, "Master, what's the difference if you go during the day?"
Chen Yi glanced sideways at the curiosity on her face. 'So this girl only knows what she's heard through rumors; she has no idea what really goes on.'
Seeing him just smile without answering, Xiaodie realized she must have asked a stupid question. "I-it's just that the other maids in the mansion said it's not a good place. I-I'm worried that if people find out, they'll gossip about you, Master."
Chen Yi smiled and patted the bun on her head. "Let them talk. It's not like you can stop them."
Xiaodie's pretty face flushed red. "Master, hitting my head will make me dumber."
"It's true," Xiao Wuge said, nodding seriously as if he had overheard their conversation.
"Brother Heir gets his head hit by his father all the time. That's why he turned out this way."
Chen Yi chuckled. 'This kid is another curious cat and a problem child.'
"You two..."
As the three of them chatted idly, the carriage made its way to the South City and stopped in front of a quiet tavern.
Wang Lixing knocked on the carriage. "Young Master, we've arrived in the South City."
Originally, Wang Lixing wasn't among the guards assigned to Xiao Wuge, but when the Marquis's Mansion heard they were going out, they dispatched two additional guards.
Besides Wang Lixing, an Eighth Grade Realm expert, there was also an older, middle-aged man driving the carriage named Liu Si'er.
The Personal Guards from the Marquis's Mansion all called him "Brother Si."
Chen Yi was the first to jump down from the carriage. After helping Xiao Wuge and Xiaodie down, he glanced around. Not knowing where this Li Hong Courtyard was, he made an excuse and entered the tavern next to them.
A moment later, he walked out calmly, gestured to the east, and then led the way with his hands clasped behind his back.
Xiaodie hurried after him.
The guards, however, clustered around Xiao Wuge. Clearly, in their eyes, the Young Master's safety was far more important than Chen Yi's.
Liu Si'er, however, remained on the carriage. He waited until Chen Yi's group was some distance away before he entered the tavern.
He glanced around and saw that the customers were just ordinary people who had come for breakfast after a night of carousing. He walked straight to the counter and asked:
"What did that young master who was just here ask you about?"
The shopkeeper behind the counter heard him and, while still flicking beads on his abacus, slowly said, "Five copper coins."
Liu Si'er's eyes narrowed slightly before he tossed down five copper coins.
The shopkeeper took the money, finished his calculations on the abacus, and answered, "He asked for the location of the Li Hong Courtyard."
Liu Si'er noted the name, returned to his carriage, and privately pondered Chen Yi's purpose for going to such a place.
A strange expression crossed his face. 'He can't possibly be so pent-up that he's going to a brothel to let off steam, right?'
'I'd never heard that this illegitimate son of the Chen Family had a habit of frequenting brothels.'
'And in broad daylight, with the Young Master in tow, no less. Isn't he afraid the Second Miss will hang him up and whip him when she gets back?'
'I wonder if this piece of information is even worth reporting...'
「Meanwhile.」
After finding the Li Hong Courtyard, Chen Yi led the group on a stroll around the area, as if they were just casually sightseeing.
He had to admit, the scent of powder and rouge in Yanhua Lane was indeed heavy.
The alley, which stretched for nearly a mile, was packed with at least fifty or sixty brothels of all sizes, every entrance adorned with red lanterns.
Some of the more distinctive ones even had colorful bodices hanging outside, which almost looked like face veils if you didn't look closely.
Xiaodie glanced once, then immediately blushed and lowered her head, not daring to look again.
Xiao Wuge, on the other hand, was completely unabashed. He looked left and right before suddenly asking, "Brother-in-law, what are we doing here? It smells awful."
PFFT.
Hearing his words, one of the guards couldn't hold back a snort of laughter, which set off the other guards as well.
Even Wang Lixing's face turned bright red as he struggled to suppress his laughter, clearly thrown off by the "it smells awful" comment.
Chen Yi turned back and blinked. "I'm showing you the world."
Of course, he was there to see the world for himself, too.
Setting aside the intimate items like bodices, the words "Poshisu," "Western Continent Buddha Country," and "Wo People" written by the entrances were enough to broaden his horizons.
Shu State was truly worthy of being a major southern city of the Great Wei Dynasty. They really did do business with people from all over.
Xiao Wuge was still confused. "It just looks like a bunch of colorful clothes. Nothing special."
"You're a kid. Stop asking so many questions."
The words had barely left his mouth when a group of more than ten people came walking down the alley. Leading them was a stout, heavyset woman dressed extravagantly in silks and satins.
And the women following her were no pushovers either, each with a fierce look on her face.
Chen Yi quietly signaled for the others to step back, then had Xiaodie take out some sunflower seeds. He passed them around and whispered:
"Looks like we've got a show. Be quiet."
Before Xiao Wuge, Xiaodie, and the others could understand what was happening, the woman strode directly to the entrance of the Li Hong Courtyard, waved her hand, and shouted, "Smash it!"
The tough-looking women behind her immediately rushed forward, tearing down the clothes hanging by the door, smashing the plaque, and cursing nonstop.
A woman in a bright red dress and heavy makeup ran out of the establishment, shouting as she came, "Hey, hey! What-what are you doing?"
"Get Liu Man out here!"
"That's right! Get Liu the Scholar out here! I want to see which little vixen seduced him into staying out all night!"
Soon, while Xiao Wuge was still staring in confusion, a disheveled middle-aged man was shoved out of the building.
Though the scholar was thin and frail-looking, his movements were extraordinary. He dodged left and right, evading the woman's pouncing grasp.
"Wife, wife! Let's talk this out! Don't hit me, don't hit me..."
But the Poshisu woman behind him, wearing only a bodice, wasn't so agile. She was dragged out by the other women, who beat and cursed her until she was trembling with fear.
At this scene, not only was Chen Yi happily munching on his sunflower seeds, but even Wang Lixing and the others were staring wide-eyed, grinning with amusement.
Only Xiaodie was scared, cowering behind Chen Yi and not daring to watch.
As for Xiao Wuge, he had absolutely no idea what was going on and simply watched the fight with curiosity.
"Brother-in-law, should we go?"
Chen Yi glanced at him, and just then, a prompt appeared before his eyes:
[You have comprehended the profound mysteries of a body technique from Liu the Scholar's evasive movements. Reward: Yellow-rank Body Technique—Wandering Dragon and Phoenix, Opportunity +4.]
[Evaluation: You were there, you heard the sounds, you saw the scene—observing the myriad forms of human life, witnessing the faces of the living.]
Chen Yi glanced at the prompt, his face impassive. "Let's go!"
'Wandering Dragon and Phoenix?'
'If I used this body technique against my wife, Xiao Jinghong, I probably wouldn't even be able to dodge a single slap.'