Di Ming

Chapter 76

That night, the group checked into Ruoguifang, a luxurious inn on the banks of the Qinhuai River.

After dinner, Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei, along with Ning Qingchen and Hei Hu, checked into a suite by the window.

Ning Caiwei spent extra money to have the waiter fetch several large buckets of bathwater, sprinkle dried flower petals, and burn incense before taking her younger sister for a bath.

She takes a bath whenever she has the chance.

Galo, Ding Hongying, Cen Xiubing, and Jin Yunniang, four women, also came to take a bath together.

A group of women were laughing and joking in the room. Occasionally, someone would say something, and they would all burst into laughter with an ambiguous meaning.

"How did it get so big?"

"Hey, it seems like I'm getting older too."

"Hate."

"No... why are none of the five of us bound feet? Five pairs of big feet."

“When we entered the city today, didn’t you notice on the streets? Everyone looked at us with strange expressions, seeing our big feet. Some people even looked at Brother Zhihu with a lewd gaze.”

“I grew up on an island, practicing martial arts, fishing, sailing, and fighting. How could I have bound feet?”

"Me too. We Zhuang people also enjoy hunting and fishing. There are some people with bound feet, but not many."

“It’s not that I didn’t want to bind my feet, but my parents died early and no one took care of me. My brother and sister-in-law were afraid of giving me a dowry, and they hoped I wouldn’t get married, so they didn’t bind my feet.”

"Oh, you're really pitiful. What about Garo?"

“Me? I am… Jurchen, I am not Jurchen… I don’t have… this.”

"Haha! You Jurchen barbarian, you can't even speak Han language properly."

"Why doesn't Aunt bind her feet? Aunt looks like a daughter of a wealthy family. Although Aunt is only ten years old, it's too late to bind them now."

“My parents wouldn’t allow it. Even if I were five, let alone ten, I wouldn’t pester them. My sister wouldn’t either.”

"Then you're very lucky, Auntie. I don't think Uncle Tiger seems to mind at all. It seems he likes unbound feet, which is exactly what we all... uh, Auntie, don't misunderstand..."

"What did I misunderstand? He's only nine years old. I just don't understand, with those bound feet like that, wouldn't it stink if he took off his shoes and socks?"

"I do know that. Some of our Zhuang women have their feet bound into three-inch golden lotuses, which is indeed quite attractive, but it is said that the chieftains like that attractiveness."

"Oh, I've heard of that too. In wealthy families, the bound feet of young girls are soaked in fragrant herbs. It's very particular; they don't smell bad at all, but rather smell wonderful."

"Hahaha! Yunniang, where did you hear that? It smells delicious? I don't believe it. But I did hear that those men like to drink from their shoes, calling them shoe cups."

"Oh, it seems they drink from wine glasses placed inside embroidered shoes. They don't actually use the shoes to hold the wine, otherwise even if it doesn't leak, the shoes would get wet. Would they allow that?"

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, it's terrifying to think about. Tomorrow we'll be staying outside the city. Before we leave, we need to do some shopping, bringing back all the food and clothes we need."

“Sister Caiwei, I won’t stay with you outside the city. I’m going to find the Cen family’s business in Nanjing and ask them to send me back to Guangxi.”

"Sister Xiubing really needs to go back quickly, so that her parents won't worry. But after this parting, who knows when we'll see each other again."

"We will definitely meet again. I have a good friend from Sichuan named Qin Liangyu, who has always wanted to come to Nanjing. I've made an appointment with her to come to Nanjing again next time."

"Qin Liangyu? Is she very fond of martial arts, preferring martial arts to feminine attire?"

"Yes. Oh, how did Caiwei know? You know her too?"

"Uh... I'm just guessing. You like practicing martial arts, and you have the spirit of a heroine like your great-grandmother, Madam Wa. Then your friend Qin Liangyu must be just like you."

"Hehe, Sister Caiwei certainly knows how to talk."

...

A group of women were taking a bath in the room, and Zhu Yin certainly wouldn't stay there.

He also liked taking baths and felt uncomfortable if he didn't bathe for a day, so he went directly to the communal bathhouse in the inn.

The large inns in Nanjing all had communal bathhouses. However, there were no public bathhouses for female guests; only men's bathhouses were available.

Zhu Yin entered the bathroom, which was already steaming hot, and was filled with naked men.

Boys like Zhu Yin are rare.

There are many types of pools, the most expensive being the live water pool, where the hot water is constantly being replaced, like a hot spring, the water is flowing and very clean.

Moreover, each pool is over ten feet in size, and no more than four people can be in it at the same time. The pool water is also spiced.

Even Zhu Yin from later generations couldn't find fault with it.

This pool is, of course, a VIP luxury experience. The price is dozens of times higher than the regular pool, costing five taels of silver per person—it's shockingly expensive. The water in the other regular pools is quite different.

Zhu Yin bought this kind of "hot spring pool" with flowing water not because he liked to enjoy it, but because he liked cleanliness.

I haven't had a proper bath since I came to the Ming Dynasty, so I'm going to have a good bath tonight and get a back scrub.

Zhu Yin took off her clothes, revealing her fair and delicate body, then folded her clothes and placed them in the wardrobe next to her.

Zhu Yin originally thought that Ning Caiwei was too beautiful and had a unique temperament, which would attract a lot of covetousness in the Ming Dynasty and cause a lot of trouble.

But now it seems he was overthinking it.

Even if Ning Caiwei was beautiful, her unbound feet made her a flawed product of the mainstream aesthetics of the Ming Dynasty, unworthy of respect.

She's actually quite safe. She's overthinking it.

It's actually ourselves who are insecure!

This absurd discovery left Zhu Yin completely distraught.

Feeling those unfriendly gazes sweeping over his tender body, Zhu Yin instantly got goosebumps.

He immediately prepared to put on his clothes.

I'm not washing anymore!
Just as Zhu Yin was about to put on his clothes, a drunken man in the pool, his eyes lecherously fixed on him, suddenly began to sing:

"Godfather loves the cuisine from the South Courtyard; please come to my house and have a taste..."

"Haha." In the pool of running water, several plump men with flushed faces laughed together.

All of them stared at the boy's groin. One of them even whistled.

Zhu Yin felt nauseous and wanted to vomit, but his expression remained nonchalant, showing no signs of anger. Yet, his heart was freezing.

He knew he couldn't afford to turn against them now. These people, plump and fair-skinned, were in the most expensive swimming pool; they were undoubtedly wealthy and powerful.

Instead of losing his temper, he started getting dressed.

"Hey, hey, hey," a man stood up, sticking out his big belly and swaying disgusting things, "Little guy, come here."

"Come on, this pool is a hot spring with flowing water. It's the cleanest and most expensive. Come in and bathe. Don't go to the dirty pool next to it."

"You don't need to spend any money, come on. I'll show you something fun."

He didn't know that Zhu Yin was also a VIP, and thought that Zhu Yin was going to enter the cheap "stagnant pool".

Zhu Yin first put on his underwear, then suddenly smiled and said to the drunkard:
"You're clearly no ordinary person. May I ask your name?"

The man stepped out of the pool, laughing, and said, "Who am I? This guy in the pool is someone important. If you can curry favor with him, hehe..."

He was referring to the person who sang obscene songs before.

"Huh?" Zhu Yin looked at the middle-aged man staring straight at him in the pool. "And who is this gentleman?"

The man near him chuckled drunkenly, "Who is it? Master Zheng from Huizhou Prefecture, the grand owner of Jinyunfang, and the commander of Xin'an Guard..."

At this point, I went up to Zhu Yin.

"So it's Master Zheng, the owner of Jinyunfang, and the commander of a thousand households." As Zhu Yin spoke, he dodged and ran outside.

The man was already somewhat drunk, and when he failed to hold on, he fell to the ground.

Commander Zheng roared, "Useless thing! Even a child can fool you!"

One of the men beside him said, "Why don't you go to South Courtyard Alley to relax and calm down, sir?"

The Nanyuan Lane he mentioned was, of course, the area where brothels (male brothels) were concentrated.

In major cities, there are special alleys for high-ranking officials, such as Lian'er Hutong in Beijing and Nanyuan Lane in Nanjing, which are dedicated to entertaining important officials and are extremely popular.

The Elephant Clan's influence squeezed out other brothels, causing many to close down. The prostitutes repeatedly filed lawsuits against the authorities, demanding the closure of the Elephant Clan. Their reasoning was that it was immoral and contrary to the natural order.

Commander Zheng said, "None of the handsome officials in Nanyuan Lane can compare to this one."

"Go after him and find out whose family he is. Do you know what to do?"

"Yes! Don't worry, sir!"

P.S.: This chapter isn't angst or dark; it's written in a very realistic style, not just made up. There will be another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)