Verdigris House

Verdigris House
Location Information
Overseer	The Madam
Province	Central Province
City	Royal Capital
Series Information
First Appearance	Chapter 11 (manga)

The Verdigris House (緑青館, Rokushoukan, Lǜqīngguǎn) is a high-class brothel in the red-light district of Li's capital. Managed by the Madam, it is the home of the famous Three Princesses and the birthplace of Maomao.

Overview

Like other brothels in the red light district, the Verdigris House is rank-based where courtesans start at the lowest rank. The better their ability to entertain customers, the more their rank rises; the three highest-ranked courtesans become the Three Princesses. Courtesans may be redeemed by customers who favor them. The Verdigris House has managing staff, menservants, courtesans, and "kamuro" (child attendants of courtesans) who assist the courtesans.

Personnel

• The Madam
• Ukyou (head manservant)
• The Three Princesses: Pairin, Meimei and Joka
• Zulin (apprentice courtesan)
• Zulin's older sister (courtesan)
• Fengxian (formerly)
• Luomen (pharmacist)
• Maomao (occasionally)
• Sazen (apprentice pharmacist)
• Kokuyou (occasionally)

Management

Although owned by the Owner (Okan-san), the Verdigris House is largely controlled by the Madam, a former high-ranked courtesan who manages the brothel with the maximum possible stinginess. The brothel is also managed by the capable head manservant, Ukyou.

Three Princesses

The Three Princesses consisting of Joka, Pairin and Meimei.

The Three Princesses are the three top-ranked courtesans of the Verdigris House who are well-known throughout the capital of Li including the Imperial Palace due to being considered the most beautiful and talented of the courtesans, much of the reason for the Verdigris House's fame. They are also all very endowed with their outfits showing as much cleavage as possible.

It is said that a year's worth of salary is required to spend a single night with a Princess.

• Pairin is the eldest Verdigris House princess.
• Meimei is the second-oldest Verdigris House princess.
• Joka is the youngest Verdigris House princess.

Once a Princess retires, the Madam trains another courtesan to take her place.

By Light Novel Volume 13, Meimei's contract was bought out by the Go Sage. With her departure, Zulin's older sister became the third best-selling courtesan of the Verdigris House.

Pharmacy

As a side business, the Verdigris House rents space for a pharmacy. It was previously run by Luomen, but since his return to the palace Maomao has taken it over, with Sazen and Kokuyou as employees. Its pharmacists treat the personnel of the brothel, and the surrounding brothels that can pay. In particular, STDs such as syphilis pose a threat to courtesans. Courtesans also take contraceptives and abortifacients to avoid pregnancies. However, despite serving a vital role to the Verdigris House, rent disputes between Madam and Maomao have gained a reputation among the courtesans as a spectator sport.

Entertainment

Courtesans entertain customers through a variety of fine arts or games such as dancing, poetry, Go and Shogi. They will also serve tea to customers and, in some cases, provide night services. Most courtesans specialize in one or two specific areas:

• Pairin: Dancing and night services
• Meimei: Board games (Go and Shogi) and poetry
• Joka: Poetry and music (Erhu)
• Fengxian: Board games (Go and Shogi)

Ranking and Pricing

Like other brothels, the Verdigris House operates with a rank-based system; the better a courtesan is at her craft, the higher-ranked she will become. Verdigris House holds middle and high-class courtesans.

The price of a visit varies based on the type of service and length of time. Merely having a cup of tea with a courtesan is far cheaper than a night of service and staying an extended amount of time is more expensive. However, the rank of the courtesan is the highest factor; a low-ranked courtesan can be visited at a reasonable frequency and price while the highest-ranked take very few visits each month and are nearly exclusively visited by wealthy officials, artisans or merchants. However, favors can be pulled in order to bypass payment; for example, Maomao was able to secure Lihaku a visit with Pairin in exchange for helping her visit the Verdigris House.

The madam also has strict rules about how much hospitality is to be extended to visitors even on business. For example, Gaoshun is a highly regarded guest to be served with the finest glass china, while Lakan is to not be offered anything more than stale water in a chipped teacup.

Architecture

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Main building

The architecture is not fully detailed, but the main building has a grand entrance that can be entered from a prominent location off the main street of the red-light district. It is not clear if the baths and apothecary rooms are in the main building.

Annex

The annex was an outbuilding that customers were not allowed to visit and appeared to be much smaller than the main buidling.

Lifestyle

Courtesans may join the brothel as young adults, or they may start out as "kamuro", young girls who assist and are trained to become courtesans. Because training and amenities take up time and money, courtesans owe the brothel a certain amount of money that is to be paid off through their service towards the brothel. At the Verdigris House, the youngest possible age to become a courtesan is 15. Apprentices receive an initial training, then may receive further training based on their looks and potential. Those without potential start taking customers after their debut. Courtesans typically retire before they lose their youth and beauty before or around the age of 30; however, there are notable exceptions: Pairin is well into her 30s and has not lost her beauty. Courtesans who are unable to work are usually chased out.

Meals at the Verdigris House usually consist of a single bowl of soup and sometimes a side dish.

Purchase

Courtesans may be redeemed by interested customers. The price of redeeming a courtesan is determined based on how much the courtesan still owes the brothel and how much money the courtesan could have made if they stayed at the brothel; it is because of the latter rule that a high-ranked courtesan is so expensive to redeem. The Verdigris House also takes into account the money required for the traditional farewell party that they use to send off courtesans.

However, a courtesan's price can be lowered by the "quality" of the courtesan; for example, if a courtesan is perceived to have mental issues such as sleepwalking, their price will be considerably lowered or they will not be sold at all. Furthermore, a courtesan's price will be lowered by the loss of virginity since an untouched courtesan is most desirable for buyers. Most significantly, if they become pregnant and/or have a child, they will essentially become worthless, even if they are extremely high-ranked.

Trivia

• One reason why Maomao doesn't want to be a courtesan herself is because she knows she doesn't have the same "assets" as the Three Princesses do.
• While considered a reputable high class brothel, Maomao's conception and birth had damaged its reputation for a time. This was because her mother intentionally became pregnant with her in the middle of a massive bidding war to buy her out. Since her mother was a consort whose value came not only from intellectual skills but from her chastity, her birth brought her mother's "value" to zero while making the Verdigris House look untrustworthy.