Chapter 123: Chapter 120: Bypassing Cyan Cloud Mountain, Arriving at Huangpu Guard

Let me analyze this text:

**Step 1: Contextual Analysis**

Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese cultivation/xianxia web novel with historical fantasy elements.

Language style: Casual, straightforward storytelling with dialogue and internal thoughts.

Tone: Warm, sometimes nostalgic, with elements of adventure and discovery.

Plot keywords: New Year celebration, journey, arrival at a major city, seeking a location.

Characters:

- Wu Liangchen (武良辰) - Male protagonist, appears to be the leader of the group

- Wu Mengchan (武梦婵) - Female, Wu Liangchen’s younger sister

- Yang Lian’Er (杨莲儿) - Female, traveling companion, seems to have traveled extensively before with "Aunt Fan"

- Bai Erya (白二丫) - Female, not present with the main group, but mentioned as someone Wu Liangchen thinks about

- Aunt Fan (樊姨) - Female, mentioned as having traveled with Yang Lian’Er previously but is no longer present

Now I’ll proceed with the translation following all the guidelines:

**Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing**

Starting the translation while being extremely careful about the glossary terms and applying all the polishing rules...

This takes place during New Year celebrations and follows the journey of Wu Liangchen and his companions as they finally reach Huangpu Guard (a major city). The text describes their travels, the city’s magnificence, and ends with them asking about the location of Jingxin Courtyard, only to discover it’s located in an area known for prostitution.

Let me ensure I’m handling specific points correctly:

- Ensuring all glossary terms are used precisely

- Translating dialogue naturally with proper punctuation

- Handling inner thoughts with single quotes

- Ensuring logical consistency with any meta-references to text

- Maintaining paragraph structure

**Step 3: Final Sanitization and Logic Pass**

Let me go through the final translation to check for any remaining Chinese characters, Pinyin, or logical inconsistencies.

By now, darkness had fallen. Although Yunmeng County had a warm climate, the mountains still held a chill during this time of year.

The crackling fire drove away the cold and cast a rosy glow on the two women’s faces.

Wu Liangchen raised his cup. "Come, today is New Year’s Eve. Let’s have a drink to honor our hard work this past year."

The two women raised their cups, and all three drained them in one go.

The liquor wasn’t particularly good—in fact, it was rather strong—but it seemed perfectly suited for the occasion.

Wu Mengchan was very happy.

Because this time last year, her brother had been gravely ill. It had been the most painful New Year of her life, one she still couldn’t bear to recall.

Now her brother was by her side—what more could she ask for?

Yang Lian’Er was happy too.

Over the years, she had traveled far and wide with Aunt Fan, growing accustomed to a life of constant movement. Now Aunt Fan was gone, but sitting here by the forest fire, watching Mengchan’s flushed cheeks and Wu Liangchen smiling as he sliced venison, she suddenly felt a sense of home.

Wu Liangchen, meanwhile, was feeling somewhat nostalgic.

’I wonder what Erya is doing right now...’

At that very moment, a thousand miles away in Dinghai City, Erya was hurrying her father along.

"Hurry up, hurry up! We’ll miss the right time otherwise."

The old man looked somewhat helpless, but still shakily set up the fireworks and asked, "Is this good? Can I light them now?"

"Wait a moment!" Bai Erya quickly lit incense for the heaven and earth tablets, then respectfully kowtowed three times before finally giving a wave of her hand.

The old man lit the fuse and hurriedly scurried away.

With several BOOM BOOM BOOM sounds, the firecrackers shot into the sky and exploded into blossoms of color.

Bai Erya quickly pressed her palms together and muttered some words under her breath.

After finishing, she rubbed her eyes, which had grown red from the smoke. "All right, time to cook the dumplings."

With that, she turned and headed for the kitchen.

Watching his daughter’s retreating figure, the old man let out a gentle sigh.

"Father, why are you just standing there? Come help with the fire!" Bai Erya’s voice called from the kitchen.

"Ah, coming, coming!"

Meanwhile, people were celebrating the New Year throughout Dinghai City and across all of Great Yan.

Although everyone had endured a difficult year, life had to go on, didn’t it?

On New Year’s Day, despite the sun already being high in the sky, Wu Mengchan and Yang Lian’Er still hadn’t awakened from their drunken slumber.

Wu Liangchen smiled at the sight, then packed up their belongings alone and prepared to set off again.

Finally, two days later, they successfully navigated around Cyan Cloud Mountain and entered Jing’an County.

Huangpu Guard was the administrative center of Jing’an County.

So after entering Jing’an County, their long journey finally had an end in sight.

Jing’an County’s situation was noticeably better than the counties they had passed through earlier.

The villages and towns along the way were quite prosperous. Though the common people couldn’t be called wealthy, they at least had enough to eat, and some of the more affluent families could even afford meat occasionally.

This simple lifestyle was already beyond the reach of countless people in today’s Great Yan.

The journey became increasingly easy as they proceeded, with official roads growing smoother and inns and post stations becoming more frequent.

Finally, on the sixth day of the new year, they reached Huangpu Guard.

They arrived just at dusk, and across a river stood an enormous city.

The city had no walls, built openly at the mouth where the river met the sea.

At this moment, the entire city sparkled with brilliant lights, resplendent like an eternal, miraculous flower, or a dazzling pearl shining with radiant light.

"It’s so beautiful!" Wu Mengchan sighed softly beside him.

Yang Lian’Er was equally amazed.

Though she had traveled north and south with Aunt Fan for years and visited many cities, she had never once been to Huangpu Guard.

In fact, she had never even been to Jing’an County.

It was as if something in Huangpu Guard had made Aunt Fan uncomfortable, causing her to avoid this city—reportedly the most prosperous in Great Yan—even when passing nearby.

Compared to the two women’s amazement, Wu Liangchen appeared much calmer.

After all, for someone who had seen cities of millions of people, Huangpu Guard merely looked nice.

"Let’s go, we’ll enter the city first!" Wu Liangchen said.

Then their group began driving their cart across the bridge toward Huangpu Guard.

Before they could even enter the city, they encountered a problem.

They were stuck in traffic.

Though the road was wide, there were simply too many vehicles coming and going. Add to that some unruly coachmen trying to cut in line, and the bridge entrance had become a complete mess.

People argued loudly, with no one willing to yield.

Wu Liangchen wasn’t in a rush. After traveling such a long way, waiting a little longer didn’t matter, so he quietly waited at a distance.

Soon he noticed an interesting phenomenon—though these coachmen argued until their faces turned red, they never resorted to violence.

At most, they would face each other and courteously inquire about each other’s female relatives.

Even when spittle flew onto their faces, they would only respond with louder voices and more spittle.

In northern Great Yan, knives would have been drawn by now.

But here, such situations didn’t exist.

Of course, this didn’t mean the people of Huangpu Guard were weak.

After all, they couldn’t have developed to this extent under Great Yan’s rule if they were weak—they would have been consumed long ago.

They simply seemed to dislike using violence to solve problems.

For instance, after all the shouting, the two arguing coachmen somehow reached a consensus, each taking a step back to clear the road.

Then the congested traffic gradually began to flow again.

Finally, Wu Liangchen drove the cart across the bridge, and before them stretched a wide road with street lamps along both sides.

They weren’t candle or oil lamps, but gas lamps.

After leisurely proceeding for some time, Wu Liangchen finally entered the bustling downtown area.

Here, restaurants lined the streets, with numerous taverns and teahouses. Shops selling goods from home and abroad had set up huge glass display windows along the streets, filled with a dazzling array of merchandise that overwhelmed the eye.

"What would you like to eat?" Wu Liangchen asked.

"Anything is fine," Wu Mengchan replied.

Yang Lian’Er, however, stared fixedly at the restaurants, breathing in the food aromas that filled the street with a look of longing on her face.

Wu Liangchen was amused, knowing that Yang Lian’Er’s greatest pleasure was sampling delicious food.

Now that she had arrived in such a prosperous place, she was naturally full of curiosity.

"Let’s go here!" Wu Liangchen pointed to a restaurant in the center of the main street.

The establishment was enormous and, more importantly, crowded with customers, creating a lively atmosphere.

When traveling, especially when eating in an unfamiliar city, it was best to choose crowded restaurants.

This didn’t guarantee exceptional food, but it did establish a certain baseline quality.

Indeed, this restaurant’s food was quite delicious, especially the stir-fried river prawns—crispy, fragrant, and remarkably good.

Huangpu Guard, like Dinghai City, was located at a river mouth, but their food cultures were completely different.

People here clearly emphasized the natural flavors of their ingredients.

Take the stir-fried river prawns as an example—the cooking method was simple, using minimal seasonings, but requiring precise control of the heat.

All in all, the three were very satisfied with their meal.

After settling the bill, Wu Liangchen asked the waiter, "Excuse me, where is Jingxin Courtyard?"

The waiter gave Yang Lian’Er and Wu Mengchan a strange look before smiling and saying, "Jingxin Courtyard? It’s in Flower Square, five streets from here."

Wu Liangchen frowned slightly, feeling something off about the waiter’s expression.

"And where is Flower Square?"

The waiter’s smile grew stranger as he cleared his throat and said, "Sir, may I have a word with you in private?"

Wu Liangchen followed him to one side, where the waiter lowered his voice and said, "Sir, from your accent, you don’t seem to be a local. You’ve just arrived from elsewhere, right?"

"Yes."

"That explains it. Flower Square is Huangpu Guard’s most famous place of pleasure. The entire district is filled with women selling their smiles at their doorways. That’s why I didn’t dare speak plainly earlier—your ladies were right there, and it would have been improper for them to hear."

Wu Liangchen’s interest was piqued. "So is Jingxin Courtyard also a brothel?"

"Of course not. It’s actually a legitimate nunnery, but because the women who go there to burn incense are prostitutes, respectable women don’t visit. Over time, Jingxin Courtyard has become synonymous with Flower Square."

"Though I’ve heard the abbess there is a compassionate old cultivator, very few people have actually seen her."