Xiliang.
It is a unique entity within the entire Duchy of Ryan.
This is a planet that practices a high degree of autonomy; apart from military and diplomatic affairs, all other internal affairs are completely autonomous.
Before Xiliang joined the Duchy of Laien, Xiliang was an independent country practicing a feudal monarchy. Its founding emperor was surnamed "Qiu". In the history of Xiliang, there was also a non-royal emperor who greatly changed the appearance of Xiliang.
After joining the Duchy of Ryan, Xiliang nominally abolished the feudal monarchy, but the Qiu family continued to manage and rule Xiliang, allowing many traditional cultures to be preserved in Xiliang.
If you walk on the streets of Xiliang, you will feel as if you have traveled back to Bianliang, the ancient capital of China.
Centered on the towering city gate of the Qiu family in Xiliang City, the buildings on both sides are lined up one after another, including teahouses, taverns, inns, butcher shops, temples, government offices, and so on.
The West Market of Xiliang City is the most prosperous area. It can be described as the "commercial pedestrian street" of Xiliang City. There are shops specializing in silks and satins, jewelry and spices, incense and paper horses, as well as medical clinics, fortune telling, facial shaving and plastic surgery... all kinds of businesses are available.
Large stores usually hang signs and banners at their entrances to attract business, and the streets are bustling with pedestrians.
The streets and markets were filled with men, women, children, scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants, and people from all walks of life.
Outside Xiliang City, thatched cottages, old trees, flowing water, and small boats, along with livestock such as cattle, horses, and mules, create a pastoral scene.
It is puzzling that a planet with obvious characteristics of feudal traditional culture has not been assimilated by the surrounding advanced interstellar civilizations.
On the orbital space station of Xiliang Star, Zhang Fan found that the people around him, especially the women, looked at him as if he were a rare animal. The last time he had this feeling was when he submitted his points-based citizenship application at the Ryan border immigration office.
Haven't you ever seen a handsome guy?
Having lived with the female soldiers for a long time, Zhang Fan is now completely fearless. He stares back at whoever is looking at him, and he's not afraid of anyone!
After a while, Zhang Fan began to realize that something was wrong, especially when he entered the waiting room of the space shuttle connecting to Xiliang Star.
Although Zhang Fan didn't mind beautiful women staring at him, he couldn't possibly be surrounded by women all the time, could he?
Now he understood why the people around him had been looking at him strangely.
He was the only man in the waiting room of Xiliang Star!
Was it a coincidence? Was he the only male passenger on this flight?
But wait a minute, why are all the airport staff women? Even the airport security guards are women!
With these questions in mind, Zhang Fan boarded the space shuttle and landed on Xiliang Star.
After arriving at Xiliang Airport, Zhang Fan looked at the men and women coming and going around him, and his mood improved a little.
Thank goodness, there were still men, otherwise I would have really thought I had arrived in a land of women.
But there was something else that Zhang Fan found strange: all the men around him had long, flowing hair and wore makeup. If Kurosawa Taki, who was picking up soap in the island prison, were here, he would probably be considered a macho man.
Inevitably, Zhang Fan, this oddball, attracted a lot of attention from those around him.
Wow! I haven't seen such a beauty in ages!
"That stubble is so sexy!"
"Look at his pectoral muscles, they're huge!"
Listening to the whispers of the women around him and their lecherous eyes, Zhang Fan's eyelids twitched. His intuition told him that something was wrong here, something was wrong, he had to leave quickly!
As I exited the arrival gate, I saw a woman standing outside the railing, holding a sign with Zhang Fan's name on it.
The woman wore a badge with the character "秋" (Qiu) on her chest. In Xiliang, only members of the Qiu family wore badges with the character "秋".
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Zhang?" The figure, so out of place in the atmosphere of the airport, was easily recognizable, and the woman bowed first.
"Yes, I am Zhang Fan." Zhang Fan walked towards the woman. It was the first time someone had called him "Young Master," and he was a little uncomfortable with it.
"The Qiu family master sent me to fetch you, young master. Please come with me."
The woman led the way, with Zhang Fan following behind. As they exited the arrival hall, a carriage bearing the Qiu family crest was waiting there.
The woman helped Zhang Fan load his luggage onto the carriage. The two entered the carriage, the driver cracked the whip, and two tall horses pulled the carriage forward quickly.
Zhang Fan felt like a country bumpkin visiting the city, someone who had never seen the world before, because he discovered that the streets were full of horse-drawn carriages.
There are no trams, no skyscrapers, no streetlights, no power lines here; you won't see anything related to electrical civilization.
Zhang Fan turned his gaze from the car window to the woman opposite him.
The woman was dressed in ink-colored clothes, her jet-black hair was tied into a ponytail on her head and put on an exquisite white jade hair crown. She was holding a paper fan, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, giving people a heroic feeling. She looked exactly like a Hanfu scholar dressed as a man.
The woman had been looking out the window since she got on the bus, making her the first woman Zhang Fan had encountered since arriving in Xiliang who hadn't stared at him.
"May I ask your name?"
"My name is Yu Yingnan, and I am a steward of the Qiu family." The woman cupped her hands in greeting.
It seems this woman not only likes men's clothing, but even her name and mannerisms are masculine.
"Steward Yu, I have a few questions in my mind. May I ask for your guidance?"
"Please speak, sir."
Zhang Fan frowned. This housekeeper Yu was talking to him, but her gaze was still fixed on the window. Wasn't that very impolite?
I've always heard that the Qiu family is a scholarly family, so the steward shouldn't be so ill-mannered.
However, as a newcomer, he was unfamiliar with the local customs and traditions. Perhaps this was Xiliang's way of treating guests? So Zhang Fan was not displeased and calmly asked for advice.
"Since I entered Xiliang, everyone I've met on the road has pointed at me and stared at me sideways. Why is that?"
Butler Yu smiled upon hearing this, covered his face with his fan, and said with a laugh, "It's because of the strange clothes you are wearing, young master."
"Strange clothes?" Zhang Fan was stunned, then tugged at his own clothes and didn't think they were that strange.
Because I was traveling in Ruolan before, I was wearing a casual short-sleeved shirt and shorts. After arriving in Xiliang, I found that the climate here was similar to that in Ruolan, so I didn't change my clothes.
“Men in Xiliang aren’t as unrestrained as you, young master,” Steward Yu said, suppressing a laugh. “Women get styes, so naturally they’ll take a few more glances.”
"Unrestrained?" Zhang Fan was even more confused. It was the height of summer in Xiliang, and the weather was hot. He had only unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt, revealing a bit of his chest muscle, but that was far from unrestrained, was it?
On Ruolan Star, many men walk around with their shirts open, and no one seems to find it strange.
“Young Master Zhang may not know this,” Steward Yu explained. “In Xiliang, women are respected. The late emperor established the rule that women should be in charge of the household and appear in public, while men should manage the household affairs and stay at home to help their wives and teach their daughters.”
"Many of the chivalrous women who rob the rich to help the poor and roam freely in the martial world are actually women, drinking and eating heartily. Men should be careful when traveling the martial world, lest they be robbed of their money and virtue by those lustful women, losing both their wealth and their lover!"
"So a lone man like Young Master Zhang, who is also barely clothed, is quite...rare indeed!"
"..."
Zhang Fan stared wide-eyed.
Now when he looks at his clothes again, he feels completely different.
Looking at Butler Yu again, he now understood why the other man kept looking out the window and wouldn't even glance at him when he spoke.
It turns out that in other people's eyes, this man who shows off his chest and thighs is just a promiscuous slut!
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