On the third floor of the Mirage Tower, in a banquet hall rich with traditional Japanese tatami mats, a grand feast was being prepared.
The layout of the banquet was classic, resembling a pair of couplets. The two rows of low tables for guests ford the vertical couplet, while the horizontal couplet at the end was the seat for the host of the banquet.
Regardless, the scale was quite large. If soone unaware stumbled into this place, they might mistake it for a gathering of gang leaders or sothing, certainly not thinking it was, in fact, a welcoming banquet held by an Oiran.
After all, with a scale of several hundred guest seats, even the most skilled Oiran couldn't possibly cope with and please so many guests simultaneously.
However, if there was a regular of the Flower Street present, they would probably first look disdainfully at the foreigners and then confidently introduce the proceedings.
For as the highest level of courtesans, Oirans were almost exclusively artists and not for sale. Even if they decided to retire and seek a partner, they couldn't just pull soone randomly off the street.
In fact, the reception by an Oiran follows a very strict set of process standards.
Firstly, the Oiran does not wait for guests at the store. Guests must spend a fortune through a specialized "Yang House" to invite the Oiran for a eting.
This Mirage Tower is the highest-level Yang House in all of Yoshiwara. Although this banquet is Ibuki Taiyu's welcoming feast, guests attending this event have paid a considerable amount for a ticket just to gain the qualification to participate.
Secondly, when the Oiran arrives, she sits at the top seat, and guests can only sit at the lower seats.
Thus, the main seat is actually Ibuki Taiyu's place, and the other guests can only sit in those vertical-couplet-like guest seats. Even the arrangent of guest seats is ticulous—the higher the status and the more expensive the ticket the guest paid for, the closer they can sit to the main seat.
Next, buying a ticket doesn't an you can easily win the Oiran's favor. In fact, the Oiran's welcoming banquet generally consists of three etings.
The first encounter is called "the First eting", during which the Oiran will not eat, drink, or speak to the guests; she will sit quietly like a doll amid the gathering, assessing whether the various guests are qualified to et her a second ti.
Therefore, during the first eting, guests often show off their wealth and talents like peacocks, striving to win a smile from the beauty.
The second eting is called "the Second eting." The Oiran still won't communicate with the guests, who must again pay an exorbitant ticket fee and perform their skills to earn a third eting with the Oiran.
And at the third eting, the results are announced. The Oiran will prepare chopsticks engraved with the guest's na, finally qualifying them to enjoy a night of passion with the beauty.
Of course, after the pleasure, there is still a need to pay, and this ti the ticket must be more generous than the previous two, to show sincerity.
Moreover, after the fun, guests cannot simply run away. They are expected to take responsibility and practice "fidelity" to the Oiran, though only within Flower Street.
Once a guest shares a bed with an Oiran, they cannot seek other courtesans. If it's discovered they've found a "mistress," at best, they'll have to pay to resolve it, and at worst, they'll be severely beaten or even permanently banished from Yoshiwara.
Yet the Oiran is not bound to such fidelity for her guests. She can have multiple guests, and should their schedules unfortunately conflict, she often sends an "apprentice" to entertain. However, guests may only converse with the "apprentice," and no substantive relationship can occur, while the ticket price remains at the Oiran level.
In short, it seems only a fool, rich and naive, would beco such a guest.
But in fact, such fools not only exist, but there are quite a few.
After all, human nature is always petty; things easily obtained aren't cherished by most, while the fruit arduously plucked is deed especially sweet.
This Oiran's reception banquet presumably capitalizes on this psychology.
Furthermore, guests who can afford this type of extravagant banquet are unlikely to be driven solely by physical desire; they seek reputation or prestige, the achievent and fa of triumphing over competitors of similar or higher status in the Oiran banquet and ultimately winning the beauty.
Ultimately, these Oiran banquet rules are just a gimmick.
Surely, no one genuinely believes a re Oiran could easily manipulate these already significant individuals.
Most of the ti, it's the Oiran who practice "fidelity," while the prominent guests continue to enjoy themselves. And the so-called rule that Oirans don't need "fidelity" is just a setup to inflate their status; the other guests also practicing "fidelity" might very well have been prearranged.
Of course, this applies under normal circumstances, and exceptions always co along, as in the present situation.
Ibuki Taiyu is not rely a simple Oiran; she possesses the power of the Peak Witch, a beautiful yet dangerous Fierce Tiger, not a re bird for anyone's amusent.
Hence, the rules of this Taiyu's reception banquet were earnest. To put it bluntly, it was truly Ibuki Taiyu's "Bride Selection Banquet."
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