After Being Mistakenly Taken for a Fellow Traveler by Emperor Long Aotian - Chapter 51

The emperor’s carriage followed behind. Although it was just a small black-covered carriage, it exuded an imposing grandeur as it traveled down the deserted street, appearing as if it were driving through flying sand and rolling stones.

Zhou Xun’s carriage headed west. He lifted the curtain and looked at the unfamiliar yet bustling streets outside the window, feeling somewhat puzzled.

In the distance, a lively area appeared before his eyes.

From several streets away, Zhou Xun could hear the sounds of music and instruments. It was already dawn, but the stories of this street seemed far from over. He could see paper lanterns hanging from tree branches in the distance. If Hongmeifang(Red Plum Pavilion) was a sleeping jungle, then this place was a dazzling and vibrant wonderland.

Zhou Xun was not familiar with the capital. When he entered the city two years ago, he had stayed in the northern part of the city. The north was home to most of the city’s high-ranking officials and aristocrats, and the literary garden frequented by scholars was also located there. As for later… he had stayed in the imperial palace the entire time. Thus, Zhou Xun was not familiar with areas outside the north.

Regarding the southern part of the city, Zhou Xun only knew that it bordered a river, which connected to a canal. As a result, many merchants and out-of-town businessmen doing business in the capital resided there. With a high population turnover, commerce naturally thrived, making the area a mix of various people. The south was not only home to numerous restaurants, shops, and auction houses, but further west, there seemed to be…

“Better places.” Zhou Xun remembered hearing a few candidates in the literary garden winking and saying this.

However, his mind had never been on such things, so he didn’t know what this “better place” was.

Looking at the street before him, a brief sense of strangeness flashed in Zhou Xun’s mind. The capital was the most prosperous city in Da Jing. Decades ago, merchants from beyond the frontier, passing through the capital, had called it the “City That Never Sleeps.” The city’s advanced handicraft industry had created a bustling commercial district, and the capital was not short of all-night markets—sometimes the hustle and bustle would last until the hour of the tiger. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising for such a lively place to exist at night, but…

Why were there so many young men on this street?

They crowded together, heads raised, seemingly anxiously waiting for something. As Zhou Xun’s carriage approached, the crowd grew thicker, blocking the previously spacious intersection completely. Due to the angle, Zhou Xun couldn’t see what was happening on the street they were watching, nor did he know what was going on there.

The street they blocked seemed to be the most magnificent in the area. From a distance, the street was lined with small wooden buildings, with people drinking upstairs, cups in hand, looking outside.

Zhou Xun didn’t understand the southern part of the city. Although he didn’t know what was happening here, due to the strangeness and the blocked road, he decided it was better to avoid trouble. He put down the window and said to the driver in front, “Since this road is blocked, let’s take another direction.”

The driver’s voice came from outside the carriage, “Young Master Zhou, it’s hard to… Ah!”

“Squeak—!!”

The moving carriage suddenly jolted and tilted to one side, and the horse pulling the carriage let out a neigh!

Zhou Xun almost fell out. He clung tightly to the railing inside the carriage, twisting his ankle in the process. The guards quickly helped him out of the carriage, and Zhou Xun, holding onto the guard’s arm, asked the driver, “Just now…”

“We hit a bump in the road, and the wheel suddenly broke!”

The originally perfectly fitted wooden wheel had its pin broken by the impact, causing it to wobble on the axle and rendering the carriage unable to move. The driver was even more terrified than Zhou Xun. He anxiously inspected the carriage, and Zhou Xun heard him shouting, “The pin is broken. I can’t find a replacement immediately. I’m afraid…”

Zhou Xun crouched down to look at the wheel, feeling the pain in his ankle as he did so. “Afraid of what?”

Before he could finish his sentence, the crowd started to stir.

“The heavenly maiden is here!”

“The flower carriage has arrived! The heavenly maiden is here!”

Excited shouts rose like a tide, surging from the street Zhou Xun couldn’t see, sweeping across the main road and other streets.

The decorated street was the tide, and the crowd’s movement was the tide. People surged towards the direction of the “heavenly maiden,” sweeping everything along. Zhou Xun, half-crouched and gritting his teeth in pain from his ankle, was hit from behind.

He was shoved, his shoulder knocking to the side.

“Young Master Zhou!!”

The guard’s shout was drowned in the crowd, as was Zhou Xun. He was swept away by the crowd.

People pushed and shouted to see the “heavenly maiden,” and with his injured ankle, Zhou Xun couldn’t move nimbly. In the crowd, he dared not stop or squat—if he accidentally fell, the frenzied crowd would trample him instantly.

His ankle throbbed with pain, possibly from being stepped on. Zhou Xun frowned in pain, trying to maintain his balance, but the crowd kept pushing him. He desperately wanted to look back to find the carriage and the guards, but he was pushed further away until the carriage vanished from his sight.

——What kind of hell is this place?!

“Excuse me… excuse me… No!”

Before he knew it, he had been swept into that street by the sea of people. Everyone was eagerly craning their necks, waiting for the flower carriage coming from the brightly lit other side. His ankle seemed swollen, and Zhou Xun, squeezed by the crowd, found it hard to breathe. He stood on his tiptoes to get some fresh air, and at that moment, the distant street scene came into view.

This was an extremely grand and luxurious street.

On both sides of the street were wooden buildings, adorned with lanterns and decorated with long silk ribbons tied to the railings. Hundreds of deep red and light red ribbons swayed in the summer breeze under the pale yellow moon.

The exquisitely crafted flower carriage emerged from that moonlit scene.

On either side of the flower carriage were about a dozen young girls, looking around eleven or twelve years old, either playing musical instruments or dancing as they walked. Leading them were two women scattering pale white petals, and sitting on the flower carriage was a woman dressed in an intricate white gown.

The woman, adorned with jewels, had golden-threaded chrysanthemums embroidered on her white clothes, her appearance cold and ethereal. She sat high up, with all the men’s eyes fixed on her face.

“This is the newly selected heavenly maiden of Yanyun Pavilion this year,” Zhou Xun heard a man beside him muttering, “The most beautiful courtesan on Flower Street… the most beautiful woman…”

He felt the shoulder next to him trembling and thought it was someone equally moved by excitement. Just as he was about to turn and speak to that person, he unexpectedly saw an extremely unfamiliar, extraordinarily handsome young man with a fair face.

This young man… was indeed strikingly good-looking!

But to Zhou Xun’s surprise, the expression on the young man’s face was not one of excitement. He stared blankly and fixedly at the women and men in the ornate buildings, seemingly only then realizing where he had inadvertently ended up.

And then…

He quickly and forcefully raised his arm, as if in extreme embarrassment, and covered his face!

The man beside Zhou Xun did not mistake the young man’s identity. Although the male brothels were on another street, the young man’s demeanor clearly marked him as a scholar completely out of place here. As the flower carriage carrying the heavenly maiden approached, the young man, his face flushed with a mix of anger, embarrassment, and shame, began to forcefully push his way out of the crowd.

“Who’s pushing around there?!”

“Heavenly Maiden Qingruo is truly a beauty. If only I could spend a night with her, I…”

Zhou Xun pushed against the crowd with all his might, ignoring the pain in his ankle and feeling deeply embarrassed. This typically gentlemanly scholar suddenly displayed an extraordinary burst of strength, even disregarding the pain in his ankle.

When he finally managed to squeeze out of the throng, his outer blue gauze robe had been pulled off, and he had lost his hair crown and hairband. But at this moment, Zhou Xun had no time to think about such external things. He leaned against a wooden building, panting heavily, unsure if he was embarrassed, angry, or scared, or perhaps a mix of all three.

“Damn… damn it…” He opened his mouth but, red-faced, couldn’t decide whether to say “damn it” or “damn it.”

Zhou Xun felt extremely humiliated. From childhood, he had only studied the classics with a clear mind and pure heart. As a teenager, he aspired to be a gentleman, always holding himself to high standards. Even when other boys were infatuated, he was immersed in thoughts of leaving the Zhou family, imagining only a respectful relationship with his future wife. As for places like this… this den of debauchery…

He had never seen it, never thought of it, never… been here!

And now, inexplicably, he had ended up here… He should have realized where this was! But it was hard to imagine such a place!

He was angry at his own ignorance, angry at finding himself in the wrong place, and ashamed to be here. Despite being almost twenty, standing here, he felt utterly uncomfortable, his demeanor now showing the embarrassed anger of a young boy. It was as if…

As if he had sneaked into a brothel and been caught by his teacher!

There was no one around, yet Zhou Xun felt so embarrassed he didn’t know what to do, his whole body burning. After a long while, he finally calmed his breathing. The flower carriage continued to move slowly, and there weren’t many people around him. He glanced at the crowd on the street, planning to find a way out.

Just as he was about to leave, his ankle hurt, causing him to stumble and fall.

Zhou Xun: …

This fall left him disheveled. He looked painfully at his ankle, which had swollen considerably.

Zhou Xun: …

Misfortunes never come singly. Could anything be worse than this?

Hongmeifang (红梅坊) can be translated as “Red Plum Pavilion” or “Red Plum Courtyard.” It is a place, potentially a district or establishment known for its particular features or activities, possibly associated with elegance, beauty, or social gatherings, as implied by the name “Red Plum.”