***
"Waiter! Three bottles of Shihuangjiu here!"
"Ah. And some noodles and dumplings too!"
A tavern in the heart of Hangzhou, filled with boisterous noise.
I settled into a seat on the second floor of an inn located right in the center of such a tavern and quietly looked around.
As expected of an era where romance and barbarism coexisted, the place was swarming with people drinking from broad daylight.
Well. It wasn't hard to understand, since this was Hangzhou. Among them, only a handful would be making their living here.
They were people who had finally come to Hangzhou following merchant companies, escort agencies, and trade fleets, only now able to rest.
"Coming right up!"
The waiter responded with a cry perfectly befitting his station as he served the food and drink to match the order.
The drink most people were consuming was a turbid Huangjiu emitting a yellow glow.
'So it really is like that.'
This era of romance and barbarism was more historically grounded than I had thought.
Generally, when thinking of this era—that is, a world where the martial arts realm exists—there is a drink that comes to mind.
I was no different. And Jiannanchun was one of the most representative examples.
Think about it. Wasn't it something of a cliché to arrive at a tavern at the end of an exhausting Jianghu journey, shout "Waiter!", and naturally follow up with an order of "Jiannanchun!"?
However, to an expert, this was also absurd nonsense. Because those liquors represented by Jiannanchun were mostly premium spirits called Baijiu.
To put it extremely simply, if you distill Huangjiu, it becomes Baijiu. However, Baijiu yields drastically less than the base Huangjiu.
What is called yield—this Baijiu boasts a miraculous cost-performance ratio.
Therefore, one had to pay at least three to four times more for Baijiu than for Huangjiu.
And that was just for cheap Baijiu; for drinkable Baijiu, one would probably have to pay ten times more.
But this, too, only applied to ordinary Baijiu.
If it were Jiannanchun, the story changed greatly.
Even in this era, Jiannanchun was famous as a celebrated liquor. First of all, a premium was attached to its price.
A kind of resale markup—you could call it an open run in the martial arts world, or rather, an open qinggong—was steeply tacked onto Jiannanchun.
Moreover, Jiannanchun was produced in Sichuan Province, famous for its treacherous roads.
Transporting that expensive Jiannanchun from Sichuan to Hangzhou, for example? The transport costs alone would amount to more than a cartload of Huangjiu.
So in other regions, one couldn't even dream of Jiannanchun.
It was a romantic era where rather than buying it, one might pack a bundle, rush to Sichuan, and drink it there for better value.
A tycoon on the level of Seok Dowon might stack Jiannanchun at home and drink it.
But for just anyone to walk into any random inn and shout:
"Waiter! Jiannanchun!"
—that was not something one could utter lightly.
This was like walking into a shabby street cart in a neighborhood you were visiting for the first time.
And shouting: "Auntie! A thirty-year-old Ballantine's!"
—it was that kind of clueless act.
And so, the drink most people consumed was Huangjiu. In this era, the word "liquor" itself referred to this "Huangjiu."
Well, I had known it in my head, but wasn't this a rather strange place?
A neighborhood where people flew through the air and shot out strange energy.
That's why I had come out to the city center like this to observe people drinking.
Hoping to find something like, "Ah, it's different here!" Fortunately, it wasn't very different from what I knew.
'It's almost the same as the place I came from, then.'
After observing for a few days, a simple answer emerged. Fortunately, the liquor knowledge I had gained from where I came from would work here as well.
It was still a place I needed to experience more, but if I actually tried to live here, I might not be unable to survive.
With that thought, I rose from my seat. Even though a clear answer hadn't emerged.
My steps, laden with various thoughts, headed toward Shijiazhuang. Should I really live on like this?
Should I find a job? Should I wait to go back? With such thoughts.
With familiar scenery as a folding screen, a few stray thoughts passed before the main gate of Shijiazhuang soon appeared. Facing me were the gate guards of Shijiazhuang.
"Aren't you young master Yi? Have you been to the tavern again today?"
"Yes. Warrior Jang. You're on duty today as well. Thank you for your hard work."
"Haha. Don't mention it. It's what I always do. Have a good day, young master."
"Yes. Yes. Thank you."
Having spent over half a month here already, I had grown close to them long ago.
Passing them and a few more gates, a wall leading to the guest hall soon appeared.
Following this wall meant I was almost at the guest hall.
- Ting. Ting. Ti-ing.
As I was heading to my room along the wall. From beyond the wall, a faint sound could be heard.
The crisp sound of plucked strings. Before I knew it, drawn by the sound, I pressed myself close to the wall and peered inside.
Inside the wall was the figure of Mae Chohyeon, playing the zither as it rang out.
'Lady Mae?'
Mae Chohyeon, the mistress of the Yihao Guest Quarters and the foremost musician of the capital's leading pleasure house.
She sat on the wooden floor of the pavilion with her long hair draped down, diligently playing the zither.
Drawing closer, I could soon hear the lyrics as well.
[Left home young...... hometown dialect still the same...... smiling they ask, from where have you come, dear guest.]
Her voice, flowing like jade beads, met with the illusionary sound of the zither to create a beautiful melody.
It was enough to give the illusion that a celestial maiden had descended to play the zither.
Lost in that sight, I came to a stop right there.
- Tik.
Perhaps because I had stared too openly. Her gracefully flowing fingers slipped and missed the string.
And what met me was Mae Chohyeon's gaze.
When her plain, makeup-free face met my eyes, she immediately buried her face in her hair.
Realizing my mistake, I hurriedly entered through the guest hall door and offered an apology.
"I apologize, Lady Mae. I seem to have ended up here unknowingly, drawn by the beautiful melody."
As I stepped inside the guest hall with my apology.
"H-heok."
With that sound, her face flushed red.
"D-don't come in! R-right there! Please speak from right there!"
Mae Chohyeon covered her face as best she could with her hair and waved her hand.
'Ah.'
Only then did I realize this was a place where a woman stayed alone.
"I apologize once again for eavesdropping secretly. The melody was so beautiful that I couldn't help but..."
"I-it's fine."
"Thank you for understanding. Then I shall take my leave."
After apologizing again, I tried to turn away.
"Are you leaving already?"
"I thought you did not welcome me..."
"T-tea. I shall prepare tea."
As if denying my words, Mae Chohyeon quickly said she would prepare tea and ducked into the pavilion.
I sat in a chair placed beside where she had been sitting and waited for her.
After some time passed, Mae Chohyeon, now neatly dressed, came out carrying tea utensils and heated water.
Unlike earlier, her makeup was now heavier.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I apologize once again."
"A performance is originally meant to be heard by someone, so please do not mind."
"Thank you for saying so. By the way, this is the first time since the dinner at Seok Horu."
"I have seen you going outside, young master. They say you mainly go to the market..."
Mae Chohyeon spoke as if she knew my entire routine. For a moment, I wondered if she knew everything because she was in the room next door.
I knew nothing about her.
"Hangzhou still looks new. I'm trying to go around often to grow accustomed to it."
"You are much better to look at than when you stay only in your room."
"Haha. Is that so? You see me favorably. Though I am but an idler."
"An idler is an idler in his own way. An idler with hidden potential is called a sleeping dragon. Even Marquis of Huaiyin Han Xin was once called an idler."
Perhaps because we were both in professions dealing with people, the conversation flowed without a hitch.
Her manner of speaking was so good that, in the place I came from, she could have been hired as a bartender immediately.
"What was the piece you played earlier? The melody was sorrowful yet beautiful."
"It is a musical adaptation of He Zhizhang's Hui Xiang Ou Shu. It is the piece the Lord likes the most."
"Lord Seok?"
"Do you remember the lyrics?"
"I have no great knowledge of music, so I cannot remember them all."
When she heard that I didn't know the lyrics, Mae Chohyeon rose from her seat and moved.
She headed to where the zither that had been ringing earlier was. She sat before the zither once again.
- Ti-ing.
With that sound, she began to play the zither.
The melody I had heard earlier came through more clearly.
[Left home young; return in old age. Hometown dialect still the same, but hair has grayed at the temples. Children see me but cannot recognize me, smiling they ask. From where have you come, dear guest.]
"The lyrics touch upon Lord Seok's situation, do they not? One who wandered for a time but returned to his hometown and inherited the family. That is Lord Seok. I must return to Beijing in a short while. I was practicing to play it for the Lord before I depart."
Mae Chohyeon added these words, explaining why she played this piece. However, while listening, I couldn't offer any response.
Because to me, this piece resonated more with me than with Seok Dowon.
My forgotten circumstances suddenly came to mind. Thoughts of home rose up intensely.
They say there are people whose emotions well up when they hear a singer with a powerful voice.
Having become such a person myself, I felt a profound sensation that could not be fully explained in words.
As expected, she was deserving of the title of the capital's foremost musician.
"I heard that Hangzhou is not your hometown, young master Yi."
Had she read the dark expression on my face? A look full of worry hung on her face.
"Not just Hangzhou—I'm not from the Central Plains at all."
"Did I burden you with worry by playing this ill-timed piece, young master?"
"It was nothing, but hearing a sorrowful song made me think of home. It is not an unpleasant feeling. Please do not concern yourself."
"Is your hometown far?"
"A very far place."
"If you were to ask the Lord..."
I knew she spoke after thinking it through. However, it was a place even the Lord's grandfather couldn't take me to, so I simply shook my head.
"I suppose I can return someday. However, I worry what if I return with hair grayed at the temples. What if, when I return, they ask where I came from. Such worries trouble me."
"So my piece did trouble you after all."
"It is simply my situation."
A calm silence passed between us. And normally, breaking such silence first was the bartender's role.
But today. Mae Chohyeon rolled up her sleeves and stepped up first.
"By the way, young master Yi, I do not think you properly understood this piece."
"Does it have another meaning?"
"The speaker regrets returning to his hometown late. But he did not belittle life in a foreign land. Moreover, the phrase 'dialect still the same' also means he did not forget his hometown while away. Therefore, I often interpret it a bit differently. Arriving in old age from a foreign land means he adapted well to that place. The dialect remaining unchanged means he did not forget his roots. That is what I think."
She consoled me by offering a different interpretation of the piece. It was a wit befitting someone of her caliber.
"So Lady Mae is comforting me."
"It is merely the lacking interpretation of a humble girl."
How could I remain dejected after hearing such an interpretation, such comfort? What Mae Chohyeon was trying to tell me was to do my best living here without forgetting where I came from.
Those were words that fit my current situation perfectly. No, I already knew I had no other choice.
She had rescued me, lost in sentiment, with timely comfort.
"That is enough. It has been a great help. I must live on. And as time passes, the day to return may come. Today was already a day of many thoughts, but you have given me an answer."
"I am glad it helped. If the chance arises on your way back, please do stop by Beijing as well."
"I certainly shall."
I quickly snapped out of the brief sentimentality and prepared to live on once more.
Thanks to her, my resolve to do something here seemed to have hardened.
With a grateful heart, I filled her teacup and sent her a warm gaze.
She, too, looked back warmly for a moment. As our gazes intertwined and a comfortable silence enveloped us.
"Young Master Yi. Are you in your room?"
A voice that broke this moment was heard from afar.