After exiting the Frontier Army General's residence, Fang Jie trudged through the deep snow towards the direction of the Golden Fortune Workshop. The snow was so thick that the sound of his footsteps crunching on it was exceptionally crisp.
"Fang Jie! I heard you went out to kill bandits today?"
Auntie He, who was not far away pouring out dirty laundry water, asked with a cheerful smile.
This was a woman who staunchly claimed to have been a delicate beauty as lovely as a flower a decade ago. Perhaps life truly was a slab of fatback; after just ten years of feeding on it, a flower had transformed into a barrel-waisted, pockmarked auntie. But without a doubt, this did nothing to hinder Auntie He's continued pride to this day.
"Yes, indeed. Auntie He, you've gotten even more handsome lately. The newlywed bride from the old Chen family a few days ago didn't look half as pleasing to the eye as you."
"Oh my... you little rascal, only noticing now that this old lady is as lovely as a flower? Back in the day when I roamed the rivers and lakes, the line of men chasing after me could have stretched from Fangu City all the way to the imperial capital!"
"Auntie He, you've truly hit the nail on the head this time. Every time I see you, I feel a sense of visual and mental delight. It's like sitting on lush green grass on a warm spring day, admiring a blooming flower—utterly enjoyable."
Auntie He's round face actually flushed red. She couldn't help but ask coyly, "Then tell me, what flower does this old lady resemble?"
Fang Jie pondered carefully for a moment, then said sincerely, "A morning glory."
"Why's that?"
Auntie He was taken aback, quite puzzled.
Fang Jie glanced at Auntie He's ample bosom and round face, then offered sincere praise: "The higher up it goes, the bigger it blooms."
"FANG JUEXIAO!"
A roar of fury exploded in the small alley. Immediately after, a certain individual scrambled out like a panicked stray dog, his speed astonishingly fast. Right behind him, a huge wooden basin flew out of the alley, landing with a crash on the ground and shattering into pieces.
Fang Jie felt the wind rush past his ears, thinking smugly to himself that his lightness skill must have improved quite a bit these past few days.
He hadn't run even thirty steps when he heard Auntie He's voice, loud enough to shake the whole of Fangu City, shouting from behind: "Fang Juexiao! This old lady has arranged a blind date for you the day after tomorrow! It's the daughter of old Wu from the east side of town! If you dare be late, I'll smash the signboard of your Golden Fortune Workshop!"
Fang Jie immediately halted, turned back to look at Auntie He, and asked, "Smash the Golden Fortune Workshop... don't you want your share of the profits anymore?"
Auntie He planted her hands on her hips and roared like a tigress: "Just tell this old lady, are you going or not?!"
Before Fang Jie could even answer, doors and windows along the street began opening one after another. Young maidens stood by their windows urgently calling out:
"Fang Juexiao, if you dare go on that blind date, I'll jump down!"
"Fang Juexiao, if you dare go find another girl, I'll become a nun right now!"
"Fang Juexiao! You heartless cad!"
A matron bellowed furiously: "Fang Juexiao! If you dare wrong my daughter, I'll chop off your family jewels and feed them to the dogs!"
A young married woman shed tears of regret, wishing she hadn't married so early.
Only Widow Sun, who had been widowed for five years at the age of twenty-six, leaned seductively against her doorframe, cracking melon seeds, and said charmingly, "Little Fang Jie, even after you take a wife, you must come visit often."
Fang Jie didn't dare linger a moment longer. Pushing off with his foot, he shot forward like a cannonball. As he sprinted past Widow Sun's doorway, he suddenly braked hard, then swiftly reached out and gave her ample bosom a firm squeeze: "You're always the one adding fuel to the fire, making me take the blame. If I'd actually had you, fine, but I only peeked at you bathing once! Are you going to hold that against me for life...?"
After one squeeze, the sensation was superb. Fang Jie couldn't resist giving another, even managing to accurately locate a certain protruding point through her thick winter clothes: "Consider this interest!"
Having succeeded, Fang Jie immediately resumed his mad dash, leaving behind a Widow Sun with a flushed face and a scattering of dropped melon seeds.
Thinking that the little scoundrel had actually gotten his hands on her this time, Widow Sun couldn't help but feel angry: "Fang Juexiao, if you've got the guts, try touching me again next time!"
While running, Fang Jie shouted back over his shoulder: "I won't fall for the same trick twice! Looks quite perky... just how many layers of cotton did you pad in there?!"
Widow Sun's face flushed with embarrassment. Covering it, she retreated into her house, not daring to look back.
Back in her room, Widow Sun unfastened her top and pulled out a large, soft wad of padding from inside her undergarment, tossing it casually onto the floor. She muttered angrily to herself, "If this old lady didn't pad it a bit higher, would you even have anything to grab?"
But the thought of Fang Jie, through such thick padding, accurately touching that certain point made her face burn hotly.
"D*mn it... this old lady actually got flirted with by a half-grown kid."
At this thought, Widow Sun suddenly stood up with a resolute expression.
Getting a taste of my tofu isn't that easy! Let this old lady get a chance, and I'll drain your 'tofu brains' in one go! Standing in the room, Widow Sun resembled a warrior, morale soaring high. Meanwhile, the young wives and maidens standing at their windows, watching Fang Jie sprint away, gazed with infatuated, dazed eyes. Someone couldn't help but sigh dreamily at his retreating figure: "Even the way he runs is so handsome..."
Thud!
At the street corner, a certain someone's foot slipped, and he fell flat on his face—a magnificent display of 'handsomeness.'
...
Fangu was the northwesternmost frontier city of the Great Sui Empire. This small town, measuring only three-and-a-half li in circumference, was the empire's furthest outpost on its northwestern border. Less than sixty li west of the city gate lay a not particularly tall or imposing mountain range, stretching north to south in an unbroken line. As the frontier soldiers in Fangu City put it, those hills looked like countless breasts.
In fact, this mountain range was called the Wolf's Milk Mountains. Legend had it that the royal family of the Mengyuan Empire, which held absolute dominance over the vast grasslands beyond, were descendants of the Gray Wolf, and their ancestors were born within these mountains.
But what filled the people of the Mengyuan Empire with grief and helplessness was that since the rise of the empire called Great Sui to the southeast, these mountains no longer belonged entirely to them. Of course, they didn't entirely belong to Great Sui either.
One hundred and twenty years ago, after Emperor Gao Zu Yang Jian of Great Sui founded the dynasty, the Sui army, like the rising morning sun, continuously expanded its territory. Over thirty years, fighting hundreds of large and small battles, they never lost a single one.
It wasn't until the Sui army pushed west to the Wolf's Milk Mountains that the most powerful empire in the West, Mengyuan, could no longer tolerate the aggressive pressure from this newly emerged state. Four hundred thousand iron cavalry rode out of the grasslands, crossed the Wolf's Milk Mountains, and attacked the Sui forces. But what was truly rather speechless was that the famed invincible elite grassland cavalry gained not the slightest advantage in the decisive battle against the Great Sui's one hundred twenty thousand elite garrison troops.
Although the Sui army lacked warhorses, their battle-hardened elite infantry formations were as solid and immovable as the Yanshan Mountains to the south. The four hundred thousand Mengyuan cavalry suffered one hundred ten thousand casualties, while the Great Sui's elite soldiers also lost a full forty thousand. Unwilling to accept defeat, the Mengyuan Empire mobilized heavy reinforcements. The Tian Kehan (Heavenly Khagan) Meng Kuo himself led two hundred thousand Golden Tent cavalry in support. By chance, he encountered the founding Emperor of Great Sui, Yang Jian, who had also personally led his army to the front.
One hundred thousand elite soldiers from Great Sui's Left Martial Guard, Right Martial Guard, Left Rapid Guard, and Left Imperial Guard clashed with the Mengyuan Empire's two hundred thousand Golden Tent cavalry. Relying on various battle formations composed of hard lances, long spears, and giant shields, Yang Jian achieved three consecutive victories, forcibly driving Meng Kuo back to the western side of the Wolf's Milk Mountains. This battle was regarded by the Mengyuan royal family as a profound humiliation.
Thereafter, both sides fought fiercely for six years. The Mengyuan Empire couldn't regain face, and the nascent Great Sui lacked the strength to invade the grasslands. Finally, they signed a treaty at the foot of the Wolf's Milk Mountains, establishing the Wolf's Milk Mountains as the boundary: lands west of the mountains belonged to the Mengyuan Empire, and territories east of the mountains were Great Sui's domain.
Thus came into being the frontier city of Fangu on this side of the Wolf's Milk Mountains, and the stone city named Nirvana on the other side.
Nearly a century had passed since this treaty, and peace had largely been maintained between the two sides. However, whether in Great Sui or Mengyuan, successive emperors harbored ambitions of truly defeating the other to achieve everlasting glory.
Great Sui, located in the Central Plains, focused on agriculture and animal husbandry. It lacked various pelts, jade, cattle, sheep, and, most critically, warhorses needed for deep incursions into the grasslands. Conversely, the Mengyuan Empire lacked ironware, salt, brocade, tea, and the fine wines of the Central Plains. Their infantry was too weak to be of any use against the multitude of fortified cities in the Central Plains.
The frontier troops in Fangu on this side of the Wolf's Milk Mountains, and the wolf cavalry in Nirvana City on the other side, all dreamed of one day capturing the other's towns and taking a proper dump on the heads of their soldiers. But three years ago, after a meeting between the sixth emperor of Great Sui, Yang Yi, and the thirtieth-generation Khan of the Mengyuan Empire, Meng Ge, Fangu City acquired another identity.
A market.
Great Sui merchants could transport goods in high demand on the grasslands to Fangu City to exchange for the herdsmen's cattle, sheep, pelts, and jade. The market was open on six days each month: the 1st, 8th, 11th, 18th, 21st, and 28th. To obtain essential salt, tea, brocade, and cloth, herdsmen had to queue up outside the city gates early, regardless of winter cold or summer heat.
In the eyes of these herdsmen, the Great Sui frontier troops in Fangu City were truly detestable. Yet none dared to cause trouble, because Frontier Army Commandant Li Xiaozong was an extremely just and strict man. Any herdsman causing trouble would be lightly punished with thirty lashes or, for severe cases, directly beheaded, their head hung on a flagpole as a warning. So the herdsmen both hated and feared him.
Not only that, if Central Plains merchants were caught by Li Xiaozong engaging in deceit, fraud, or coercive buying and selling against the herdsmen, they would suffer the same severe punishment. The rules remained simple: depending on the severity, light cases got thirty lashes, severe cases got beheading, with the head displayed on a flagpole. So the herdsmen also respected and liked him.
It should be noted that not a single person who received the thirty lashes survived past five days.
It should further be noted that the whips used for punishment were bound with copper coins. A single lash would leave flesh torn and bloodied. So the only difference between thirty lashes and beheading was that the former might leave the victim with a barely recognizable, relatively whole corpse.
But Frontier Army Commandant Li Xiaozong had also said: Bullying the grassland folk wasn't the point; breaking Fangu City's rules was the problem. If they scared the grassland people away from coming, over a hundred thousand taels of shiny white silver would be lost each year—an absolutely intolerable outcome.
...
The eighth day of the second lunar month was a market day. The herdsmen dutifully paid their entrance tax at the city gate, then hurried to the market to exchange for the goods they needed. By noon, Fangu City grew even livelier. Herdsmen with spare money and Central Plains merchants who had made a profit would flock to the taverns, brothels, and gambling houses for pleasure and fun. So on market days, the brothel girls most hated it when their monthly inconvenience arrived, costing them the extra silver from their patrons' pockets.
The herdsmen highly esteemed the brocades and tea of the Central Plains, but they esteemed even more the fair skin and delicate beauty of Central Plains women. Although the grasslands were not without beauties, most women, weathered by wind and sun and busy herding, had dark skin and waists as thick as barrels. Compared to the lightly powdered women in the brothels, they were like heaven and earth.
These herdsmen were bold and generous, rarely leaving Fangu City with leftover money. They only needed to take their goods back; the Great Sui's wuzhu coins held no meaning for them. So the brothel girls actually preferred the grassland herdsmen; the Central Plains merchants were often stingy and miserly in comparison.
In truth, many herdsmen came to Fangu City primarily not to trade goods, but to seek entertainment and excitement in the city's three famous establishments.
The so-called 'Three Pavilions' were: the Guest's Triumph Residence, the Red Sleeve Tavern, and the Golden Fortune Workshop.
One a tavern, one a brothel, and one a gambling house.