Onmyoji, a nobleman in Heian-kyo

Page 1576

Su Chang knew her, but they had only chatted a few times, and Su Chang had treated her to snacks several times.

In return, Shuzhu chanted sutras for her, and found that the sound of the chanting had an unexpected hypnotic effect. She fell asleep without realizing it. Shuzhu didn't mind and even smiled and told her that she could come to her again if she couldn't sleep one day.

Now, Su Chang never expected that without her taking the initiative to seek him out, the other party would encounter such a troublesome problem first.

It seems she has to do something.

Hmm, it looks like it's not used anymore—

"I'm willing to do anything for you!"

The man, with a sallow complexion and slightly swollen face, kowtowed again with a loud thud.

“Um…” The girl, a yokai named Suzaku, looked troubled.

"Who wouldn't be willing to go through fire and water for such a beautiful girl?"

A helpless voice broke into the conversation between the man and woman.

Upon hearing the stranger's voice, the man instinctively looked up, then immediately revealed an expression of fear and trepidation.

"...Yu...Lord Yu!"

"You should get up first."

A man, referred to as "Master Yu" and of similar age to the kneeling man, pulled the man up without minding the dirt.

"Yes, it is!"

Tsk tsk.

A clicking of the tongue rang in Su Chang's ears.

Su Chang looked to the side and saw her cousin Su Jing, a woman of average looks but with an exceptionally sharp tongue.

"I know you're probably thinking something like 'a toad trying to eat swan meat.'"

"No, I was just wondering if men really care so much about a woman's appearance?" Su Jing said calmly.

Su Chang thought for a moment and said, "That's not necessarily true. Women who are reasonably good-looking but have a very virtuous personality are still very popular. Don't you think the girls in our manor are all a bit..."

“Arrogance is something you show to those weaker than yourself,” Su Jing said bluntly.

It was quite remarkable that men and women had similar social status in the manor.

Indeed, some women possess abilities that are no less than those of men, and on the other hand, women are in charge of power!

Her cousin, Suyi, managed affairs in place of the manor's owner and her husband. Then, the owner's other wives and concubines were also responsible for various important matters. Due to their status, they were naturally not allowed to have contact with men, which forced them to recruit some capable women.

It is precisely under these circumstances that gender equality has gradually become possible.

"Also, stop subtly mocking me for not being virtuous, or I really won't be able to resist a fight with you!" Su Jing said bluntly.

Su Chang shook her head: "No fighting. I'm going to find Shuzhu; she's troubled right now..."

"Wait a minute, let this nun see what that good-for-nothing man is really like."

"Why would you do that? Shuzhu usually chants sutras and strikes the wooden fish. This man probably just chatted with Shuzhu a few times and thought she was easy to bully, so he shamelessly wanted to be with her."

"Your... intuition is still so accurate." Su Jing was silent for a few seconds, and after thinking about it carefully, she realized that it might indeed be the case.

Looking at the nun's expression, she noticed that she seemed to have breathed a huge sigh of relief.

It seems that it doesn't matter whether or not we see the true face of that good-for-nothing man.

Men are truly terrifying; they aren't even afraid of monsters, as long as the monster is female and beautiful. They aren't afraid of encountering a bone woman in human skin.

"How are the prayer beads?"

As Sujing sighed, Sushang found the prayer beads.

When Suzhu saw Sushang, she was overjoyed, as if she had seen a savior: "It's Lady Sushang! It's so good that you've come."

"Enough with the talk, let's get away from this troublesome place first."

"Ah, no... I just made an appointment with Lady Horie to discuss Buddhism with her."

“Then I’ll go with you too. I know her very well,” Su Chang said quickly.

She was well aware that her husband was also engaged to this princess, and the princess had gotten along very well with her when she visited.

489. As long as it's cute... / Facing difficulties head-on / Kyoto reinforcements

"Toad wants to eat!"

The cold, disdainful words were spoken as a dejected man left.

Finally relieved that a minor disturbance had been resolved, Ishigami Yu silently looked at Su Jing who was approaching.

"Please... don't say things like that."

"And you, why are you being so polite? It would be fine if it were a normal person, but that toad is different; he's incredibly audacious!"

"..."

Well, I can't argue with that.

Yu Ishigami silently agreed.

In these past few days, he has witnessed many men who harbor wicked intentions toward female monsters.

And the vast majority of these men were lower-class villagers from the lowest rungs of society.

In this place where the male-to-female ratio is roughly 3:1, the majority of people are single.

Because any normal woman would try her best to marry a man who can give her a future, rather than a man with no future in sight.

This applies both in modern times and in ancient times.

Therefore, the lowest-ranking peasants were almost deprived of their right to reproduce.

As far as Ishigami Yu knows, these people are not in good condition right now, and of course, the manor is not going to provide wives.

In the current environment, the normal procedure is that men and women of equal status take a liking to each other, report to the official in charge of their respective estates, and then go through various procedures to become a legally recognized couple.

Compared to the arbitrary allocation system in many places, this is already a breakthrough development.

In practical terms, it's "free love".

Of course, for this reason, girls have a certain right to choose a partner and can find a man they like within a certain age limit.

These men are either strong and hardworking, have an advantage in appearance, or have a special skill that allows them to have better career prospects.

To put it more bluntly, a man who has no redeeming qualities is destined to be without a wife.

Although it was cruel, at least there were still quite a few companions.

"I'm so envious, I also want to be single..."

Yu Ishigami said silently to himself.

Since his older brother got married, he has been facing pressure to get married.

Several times, his father, who had a rather irritable temper, was about to roll up his sleeves and hit him.

He would be happy to not get married if he could just take a beating.

Unfortunately, this hope is impossible.

Marriage is not just a matter for the individual, but also for the entire family.

On a larger scale, it also involves relatives and people from the same clan.

After all, this is a difficult era. Regardless of whether there is an apocalypse, it is difficult for people to live peacefully in ordinary times, so "banding together" is a very normal thing.

How to form a group?

That would naturally be through marriage.

Therefore, those who choose not to get married are indeed going against common sense and harming everyone's common interests.

Putting those thoughts aside, Ishigami Yu began to focus his attention on the matter of humans and yokai.

These days, he's noticed a lot more men with ulterior motives.

Upon closer observation, he also realized that these people might be from the modern era, just like him.

Because normal people in this era would keep a certain distance from monsters, at the very least they wouldn't want to form a marriage alliance with these monsters... while modern people's thoughts are indeed a bit different.

Like some comments online—"What does it matter if it's a guy as long as he's cute?", "I really want to marry a female non-human," "Kemono-girls are the best"...

These statements likely reflect some of the speaker's true thoughts.

Fortunately, there was no one in this manor who openly opposed the union of humans and monsters.

That's why it's not surprising that people with modern ideas want to try something new.

But it's not that easy.

According to Yu Ishigami, the female demon already had complaints, and he had vaguely heard her say things like "How disgusting" several times.

"Heh, if this continues, it will cause conflict between the local villagers and the outsiders."

"Everyone... is very dissatisfied—"