The Tang State's imperial capital was a vast city, so vast that millions of people crowded into it, and it was also the most prosperous city in this part of the Mortal World.
The imperial capital was divided into fifty-six wards, each separated from the others by high walls. Only in the two enormous markets to the east and west could one see the city's bustling side.
The eastern market thronged with people, with Sugar Figure makers, acrobats, toy sellers, and all manner of hawking cries and noisy haggling.
Naturally, Hu Tutu was the happiest of all. The little girl plunged into the crowd, squealing and shouting, enjoying a bustle she had never experienced before.
Even Ouyang had never seen such a large city. Back in Maple Leaf City at the age of five, he had been wholly occupied with staying alive and had had no time to appreciate what the Mortal World of this world actually looked like.
Now that he could stroll through here at leisure, he truly felt as though a lifetime had passed.
"Hee hee hee, senior brother, what's that?" Sitting on Ouyang's shoulders with a Sugar Figure in one hand and a stick of candied hawthorn in the other, Hu Tutu looked curiously at a grain shop as she asked.
"That's a shop selling grain," Ouyang answered after a glance.
"What do they do over there?"
"That's a restaurant, a place to eat."
"Over there, over there! What about there?"
"That's a place selling cloth and making clothes."
"Oh, over there, over there! Those pretty young ladies are waving at me!" Waggling her Sugar Figure, Hu Tutu grinned and waved at the women posing coquettishly on the second floor.
Ouyang glanced up at the three large characters spelling out Happy Red Courtyard and said somewhat