Chapter 958: Meat Dumplings Without Meat (1)

Inside Hebei Province, there were two more province-level administrative zones.

It was basically the same concept as what Qing’s hometown called a special municipality—separated out and specially administered, a Central Plain “heartland” set apart by both population and symbolic weight.

One was Northern Zhili—Beijing.

Of course the Son of Heaven’s city would be split off as its own province-level unit.

And the other was Southern Zhili—Tianjin.

Even among the vast North China Plain, it held the richest, most fertile farmland—exaggerate a little and you could say you just had to spill seeds and the crops would grow on their own.

On top of that, Tianjin was Beijing’s port.

At the point where a great river called the Hai River met the sea—the river ran straight through Beijing, passed through Tianjin, and flowed out into the ocean. Which meant that once you passed through Tianjin’s coastal waters, you could go directly into Beijing.

“Heaven” for Tian, “harbor” for Jin—wasn’t the name Tianjin itself practically saying the Son of Heaven’s port?

And in Tianjin’s... center—

No, not the center. More like the outskirts.

No, not even that. The far outskirts.

There stood an ancient, storied great manor.

And that was Qing’s destination.

Of course, it was her first time here, so she was about to ask for directions.

“Excuse me—could I ask you something?”

But—

Huh?

The reaction was... weird.

“Good grief.”

The passerby’s reaction felt oddly unresolved.

They scanned Qing up and down, and for some reason the expression was... subtly drooping brows, slightly pinched eyes, and a mouth that looked like it was deciding whether to sigh.

It was the kind of look that judged you without words. If you had to put it into language, it was basically: What a pathetic piece of work.

At least, that’s how Qing felt.

If the passerby had known, they would’ve felt wronged.

Because they weren’t thinking pathetic piece of work.

They were thinking pathetic bitch.

Ugh. Another pathetic bitch. Seriously—do you people never get tired?

“Go straight that way until you hit the big crossroads where the main road meets, then turn east. You’ll see it way off in the distance.”

“Huh? You didn’t even ask where I was going. I mean—did I ever even say where I was going?”

“Why would I need to hear it? You’re going to the Peng Family, aren’t you?”

“...What? Did I say that?”

“Tsk, tsk. If you’ve got nothing to do, go weave something and contribute to your household. Honestly.”

The passerby grumbled and walked off.

Qing had heard people from the Zhili regions were especially sharp-tempered, but this was unbelievably surly and unfriendly.

Qing stared blankly from behind her face veil at the departing back, and beside her, chik—Moyong Juhee slid her sword out just a little and spoke low.

“Miss. Should I kill them?”

“Hold it. Maybe something bad happened at home. Anyway, they still gave directions.”

“Tsk. Han people’s ‘public sentiment’ is always like this. The whole ethnicity’s just... not fully human. Arrogant, and always scheming to cheat someone.”

“Mr. Kim, stop with the hate speech. The kid’s listening—are you really going to keep doing that?”

“Big sister, I’m fine. Brother Heojung said it doesn’t matter because I’m a Jurchen.”

“Look at that. Jun’s personality is already about to snap in half. Jun—so it’s fine as long as it’s not you? You can just let other people get cursed?”

“Ah.”

Anyway.

Thus: Hebei, Southern Zhili, Tianjin.

And Tianjin was where the Hebei Peng Family, one of the oldest families in the Central Plain, was located.

According to them, their progenitor (as they claimed) was Pengzu, a “sage” from three thousand years ago—from the ancient mythic age that the Central Plain people insisted existed.

So by that logic, the Hebei Peng Family proudly boasted three thousand years of history.

For the record, Sage Pengzu’s original surname was Tian, and his given name was Geng—so Tian Geng.

How the hell is someone’s name Tian Geng?

Anyway. They said he entered the Way, changed his surname himself, and became the Peng surname’s progenitor.

And that “Way” was, of course, bedchamber arts.

Pengzu was also famous as the founder of the Central Plain’s bedchamber arts.

Tianjin was on the way south from Liaoning toward the Martial Alliance anyway, and Qing also had a promise with Peng Chor-yeo. On the way out, she’d been in a rush and couldn’t stop, and hadn’t she sworn she’d stop on the way back?

Seomun Cheong the man—keeps his promises.

Sure, I’ve already lost the symbol of manhood.

But I’m a man who carries manhood in his chest.

That is me.

As they followed the main road south, a huge plaza appeared—vendors forming a circle around a great crossroads.

The very crossroads the passerby had mentioned.

And when Qing turned sharply east—

The density of women skyrocketed.

Half were dressed in flamboyant, colorful silk.

Half were in torn, filthy beggar wraps thrown on roughly.

And every single one of them had their face covered with a veil.

“Whoa. Big sister? There are so many beggar big sisters. It’s like a beggar den. Wow, that person looks like they don’t even have money for clothes. Aren’t they cold?”

“Jun—”

Qing started to cover Moyong Jun’s eyes... then stopped.

Thinking about it, what’s the reason kids “shouldn’t” see sexy things?

Why shouldn’t they?

And their guardian was right here, so wasn’t it fine?

Lady Moyong also seemed to be watching with enthusiasm—

Ah. I see. Still grinding her teeth. So she does still have lingering resentment toward grown men.

“Jun, when it’s like this, look as much as you can. Ooh, that one’s really letting the breeze in. Aren’t they cold?”

The closer they got to the Hebei Peng Family, the more the streets became nothing but women—women—women.

Which meant all the shops and stalls on both sides were aimed at women, too: perfumes, jade-green soap, all kinds of ornaments, veils, clothing, jewelry, underlayers, and sweet snacks.

The women’s veils turned toward Qing, and she could practically feel the hostile stares—like they were all standing there with one leg cocked and a hand on a hip.

But only for a moment.

Their gaze slid to the only bare-faced person in the group—little Moyong Jun—and their momentum faded. They straightened up into demure postures.

Hmm. Jun really is kind of cute.

Though... being “demure” while your underboob or upperboob is hanging out doesn’t exactly count as demure, does it?

Either way, Qing’s eyes were living well on the road.

She didn’t say anything, but it was practically audible—Mr. Kim’s eyeballs spinning in their sockets.

How did I not predict this?

That Jade Qilin—the most handsome man under heaven—always marched around with a whole legion of female devotees in tow. So what would it look like right in front of his home base?

If women knew where he was, they’d follow him around. But if they didn’t know where he was?

Then they’d camp outside his house like stalkers squatting outside an idol agency.

Qing suddenly remembered the passerby’s surly attitude.

Yeah... someone might look at women occupying the street dressed like this and think they were pathetic.

If you’ve got nothing to do, go weave something and contribute to your household, huh?

If they’d woven cloth instead of wasting time following someone around, they could’ve churned out bolt after bolt of hemp or silk by now.

...Wait.

Thinking about it, I’m kind of pissed.

Did that guy just assume I was one of the Jade Qilin’s devotees?

Anyway, the farther they went, the thicker the scent in the air became—precious musks and dragon-saliva incense mixed with common folk scents like red sandalwood and ghost-purple grass, all smashed together.

Incense was only fragrant when it rose lightly.

But everyone was trying to “make theirs stand out,” burning it thick and vicious.

And for Qing—who had a superhuman nose to match her superhuman body (basically a dog in heat levels, honestly)—it was beyond disgusting. It made her stomach churn.

So after a while, sightseeing became secondary. She sped up—

And before she knew it, the great front gate bearing the Hebei Peng Family’s huge plaque was right in front of her.

Now the street was purely the era of women.

Not an iron curtain—a women’s curtain.

She pushed through it toward the gate, and hostile stares stabbed into her from everywhere.

The problem was, she was also getting stared down from the front.

Given the situation, even the Peng Family guards on duty atop the gate looked sick of it.

Their expressions were oppressive from the start—like they were practically saying, Try asking to be let in for some stupid reason. Go on. Try it.

Qing had seen Peng Daesan’s devotees throwing expensive handkerchiefs all over the ground just to get a scrap of attention.

So how bad must it have been here?

She could understand the mood.

As Qing approached, one guard drew a saber and leveled it at her.

“Stop. Don’t come any closer. The Peng Family is not receiving female guests at this time. There are no invitations scheduled either, so turn around and leave.”

“Ah, it’s just—”

“Also, we will not confirm whether the young lord is inside, and we will not answer questions about his whereabouts. Don’t ask pointless questions.”

“No, that’s not—”

“Also, the main family does not accept letters or gifts from outsiders. Take them and go back.”

“I’m—”

“And if you make baseless claims like you’re carrying the young master’s child, or that he promised you marriage, we will treat it as hostility toward the Peng Family. Lies don’t last.”

Qing gave a bitter smile.

Just from that, wasn’t it obvious how much the guards had been harassed by women?

So even though their attitude was rude for gate duty, she felt... kind of sorry for them.

“Uh. No. I just—here, I have a guest token—”

Ugh.

Before Qing could even finish, a deep sigh rose from the guard’s chest and cut her off mid-sentence.

What, seriously? Had there been women who tried forging guest tokens to get in?

This wasn’t some random rich house. This was the Hebei Peng Family—one of the Five Great Families—so famous everyone under heaven knew the name.

How were they planning to survive the aftermath?

But.

Strangely enough, when a woman expressed longing and tried some scheme to “win love,” people always wrapped it up as something beautiful.

They called it sly. Bold. Daring.

Like women could do anything as long as they claimed it was for love.

The Hebei Peng Family was the same.

Even if they wanted to punish these tricks, it wasn’t easy.

A woman who said she couldn’t contain her love and climbed the wall—what were you supposed to do?

Cut her down?

And then what would the world say?

But if someone claimed to have a guest token, what could you do?

There were even rumors that some idiot leaked the lowest Person-grade guest tokens, and that Hao Gate bastards were selling them.

So the Peng Family had changed the guest token design multiple times, but already-distributed genuine tokens didn’t magically change along with the design.

So... you still had to check.

The guard took the token and examined it.

And as expected—of course.

It wasn’t a guest token at all.

It was a wooden tag Qing had apparently never seen before, with only three characters carved into it:

Peng Daesan. Young Lord.

This wasn’t even forgery. This was barely an attempt.

“At the Peng Family, there is no guest token like this.”

“Huh? It’s not a guest token? But he said I could visit anytime.”

The guard hesitated.

Technically, if you couldn’t verify a token’s authenticity on the spot, you were supposed to take it to the family’s workshop for appraisal.

But that was only the rule.

People lived like people—how many workers followed every regulation like a blade?

Still, something bothered him.

It was the attitude.

Women who tried to force their way inside had a particular vibe. Even if they pretended calm, they were anxious—restless. At the same time they were either arrogantly demanding or grovelingly pitiful.

But—

“...You will wait in the outer courtyard until we confirm authenticity. Leaving now is not permitted. You three.”

At the guard’s order, the other three guards bared their eyes and ushered the group inside.

“Inside,” meaning they shoved them to the wall right after the gate and surrounded them.

Probably: Don’t think about going anywhere until verification is done.

Man. How many counterfeiters had there been for it to be like this?

Qing had nothing to hide, so she waited obediently.

Then, a short while later—

“We failed to recognize an honored guest and committed a grave offense!!! Please, forgive this rudeness!!!”

The gate guard came sprinting back, bowed violently—

So hard it was basically head-first into the ground.

It wasn’t “bowing.” It was smashing his head down while standing.

Because that “wooden tag” wasn’t a fake.

It was a direct-line-only, ultra-elite VIP token.

And even among those, it was the young lord’s.

Thus, Seomun Cheong entered the Hebei Peng Family.

*****

But—

“Huh? San isn’t here?”

“Right! ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) I keep telling you! Ugh—honestly, I never see him stay home. Other families’ sons glue themselves to their mothers—‘Is there anything you’d like to eat,’ ‘I picked this up on the way, try it,’ ‘Are you uncomfortable these days,’ they say there isn’t a filial son like them anywhere in the world—while this brat is so stiff, and I swear I never see him in the house, I really can’t live like this...”

San. Not here?

“Then—what about Chor-yeo?”

“Ryeo went out to the Martial Alliance. She’s the same—other families’ daughters cling right to their mothers—‘Let’s go eat something,’ ‘They say there’s something to see, let’s go see it together,’ ‘When daughters grow up they become their mother’s best friend,’ but I must have so much bad karma that my old age is this lonely, I live like this, I live like this...”

Chor-yeo. Not here either?

“So, baby—what do you like? Do you know embroidery? My kids are like this so I’m lonely all day, just embroidering and doing gold-thread work. Won’t you look at embroidery with me?”

You come to a friend’s house and your friend isn’t there.

And your friend’s mother has absolutely no intention of letting you go.

Qing broke into a cold sweat.