“Brother Kuai. Me and my housekeeper came out for food. Other than those women there, we have not touched Yan Ran.” Liu Mang said to Kuai Ran. Kuai Ran’s luck was good. When Yan Ran appeared, she went to Liu Mang instead of Jia Xu. Had she gone to Jia Xu, she would have already lost her virginity.
Kuai Ran only gave Liu Mang a reply after he confirmed that fact from Yan Ran herself.
“Manager Liu. Tell us how much is the price of these four women and also the cost of the food.”
The two remaining women turned pale after hearing Liu Mang’s words. The old woman saw their expressions and decided to help them. She was the one that took care of them outside business hours and have naturally formed a relationship
“Sir. You have already bought these four women. Why not take these two as well?”
“Anan? Have you forgotten your identity?” The manager frowned and chastised the old woman. A brothel placed importance in a customer’s demands. An old woman that raised the women have no place influencing a customer’s request.
“I don’t dare!” The old woman quickly replied and knelt down.
“Mama!” The two women quickly knelt together with the old woman. “This is our fault. We should not have been so greedy!” The two women wanted to be bought by Liu Mang. They wanted to be offered shelter like the other four instead of being toyed with by other customers until they meet miserable ends. The old woman understood their plight as she had experienced something like this before which was why she ended up speaking too much
Liu Mang was neither a good person nor a bad person so he did not agree or reject immediately. When he turned to look at these two women, he could see their depression. He could also see Yan Ran wanting to speak out for them but couldn’t because of the manager. In the end, he turned towards Kuai Ran and asked for the man’s opinion, “Lord Kuai Ran. What do you think?”
“Huh?” Kuai Ran was confused. He could not understand Liu Mang’s intentions.
“There is no harm in it if you can get Lord Kuai Ran to agree.” Liu Mang said to the others.
“Brother Wang. What are you talking about?” Kuai Ran asked.
“I, Wang Shu, may not have learned much from Lumeng Academy but I still managed to learn about feelings. Since Brother Kuai and Yan Ran are in love with each other, I will definitely support you. So, I will gift Yan Ran to Brother Kuai. If Brother Kuai wants the other two women as well, I am also willing to buy and gift them to you.”
While Kuai Ran and Yan Ran did not know how to respond to the sudden favor, the two women quickly begged Kuai Ran to take them in. Yan Ran also soon joined them, requesting for Kuai Ran to accept these two women as well.
Kuai Ran did not immediately agree to this. He calmed himself down and asked Liu Mang calmly. “What do you really want?” Naturally, Kuai Ran understood that there is no such thing as free lunches. He knew that Liu Mang definitely had a request if he was willing to buy women from a brothel just to give them away as presents.
“Haha. Brother Kuai, there is no need to think so much. I am actually quite close with your uncle, Kuai Liang Zirou. Even if I do not have any purpose right now, I would still gift Yan Ran to you.” Liu Mang could not reply in a direct manner or it would become purely business instead of forming good relationship.
“My uncle Kuai Liang?” Kuai Ran spoke skeptically. He could not believe it because Kuai Liang was a very honest person. He was not like Kuai Yue who was so sly that Kuai Ran himself has a lot of enemies. There were very few people that could be considered a ‘friend’ to the family. Yet, Kuai Ran could not recognize Liu Mang at all.
“Brother Kuai. There is no need to be too suspicious. We were intending to pay Zirou a visit anyway. You can accompany us later if you cannot believe us!” Liu Mang replied with a smile. Kuai Liang was one of the only people in Jingzhou who had favorable opinion of him. He would definitely not make Liu Mang wait.
“In that case, please buy me those women as well.” Kuai Ran looked at Liu Mang’s smile and believed that Liu Mang was not lying. He was going to visit Kuai Liang later anyway. It must also be said that Kuai Ran was too fond of Yan Ran to notice the discrepancy in Liu Mang’s words.
“Manager. You heard him. Tell me how much it costs, I won’t bargain!”
The six women and the food costs Liu Mang over a thousand gold in total. Even Lu Su was worth about a thousand gold when he got captured.
“Alright. I will waive off the price for the meal! Altogether, it would be seven hundred gold!” The manager laughed and gave a discount. This amount was already more than what he earned during the first half of that month.
“Hm. Give us some more food. Brother Kuai hasn’t eaten yet!” Liu Mang waved as Jia Xu went and settle the payment.
“That’s right. We are going to have a sweet feast1 later. Would you like to participate as well?” The manager of the brothel asked enthusiastically. His attitude towards Liu Mang improved as Liu Mang was rich and generous.
“A sweet feast?” Liu Mang did not know what that was as this was his first time in a brothel. He wondered if it was some kind of banquet.
“For our sweet feast, we will bring in delicacies from Wuxi.”
“Wuxi?” Liu Mang understood that Wuxi referred to Yunnan. It was where all the barbarians were. However, he was not sure whether there was anything delicious to eat there.
“Young Master. This sweet feast is referring to beautiful women.” Jia Xu explained. Although he has never been to the brothel in Jingzhou, he understood what sweet feast is referring to.
Liu Mang shook his head after hearing that. It may have been a pleasant surprise if he came here for pleasure but Liu Mang only wanted to make friends with Kuai Ran. Jia Xu who understood Liu Mang’s thoughts then politely told the manager of the brothel to leave.
“Understood.” The manager nodded and left. Although he felt regret, he also understood that Liu Mang was not interested.
The food and drinks Liu Mang ordered quickly arrived. Although it was a brothel, the food was quite tasty. He and Kuai Ran ended up drinking together harmoniously.
Although Liu Mang did not want to participate in the sweet feast, the world refused to let him stay idle. Someone barged into his room again although more politely this time. He was the Huang Family’s servant. He came telling Liu Mang that the Huang Brothers wanted to settle things with him and Kuai Ran at the sweet feast.
“We can determine who is better at the sweet feast?” Liu Mang was puzzled. Kuai Ran then explained that scholars would also be present during the sweet feast and that the Huang brothers intends to shame them in front of a crowd.
“Lord Kuai Ran. You won’t say you are afraid right? Or perhaps you do not have enough money. Do you need me to lend you some?” The servant asked with a laugh. Of course, Kuai Ran was not able to borrow money from the servant of someone else’s family. To do so would make him lose face.
“You!” Kuai Ran stood up in anger. Even servants dared to try and humiliate him.
“Of course we are going! Why shouldn’t we?” Liu Mang stopped Kuai Ran. When a noble son gets ridiculed by a servant, naturally they must retaliate. However, retaliating with violence would only make things worse.
“Brother Wang?” Kuai Ran looked at Liu Mang with guilt. He initially thought that Liu Mang would simply leave after eating but was now still trying to help him. Liu Mang had already spent at least three hundred and fifty gold on Yan Ran and two other women for him. Being his uncle’s friend is not enough a reason for Liu Mang to do that. Now Liu Mang was prepared to offend the Huang Family even more for him.
“Brother Kuai. There is no need to feel guilty. These two are powerful individuals in Jingzhou. I would have offended them sooner or later even if you were not around.” Liu Mang replied. He was already hostile with the Huang Family anyway.
Liu Mang’s words made Kuai Ran feel even guiltier so he proposed a toast as a show of respect.
“When does the sweet feast start?” Liu Mang asked. If he had time, he would prefer to visit Kuai Liang first.
“It starts at night.” The nearby prostitute replied.
“At night?” Liu Mang repeated. In that case, he could only go and see Kuai Liang the next day. However, being able to meet Kuai Ran was an unexpected boon.
“Good! When that time comes, I will put those Huang brothers in a sorry state!” Liu Mang said to Kuai Ran as the both of them raised their cups towards each other.
The sweet feast at brothels would be crowded. The brothel in Jingzhou was one of the largest spots in Jingzhou and the women were all exotic. It was not a place for swearing but a place for admiration which is why a lot of scholars, beauty and rich people. That was the way stories could be spread far and wide.
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Having never been to a brothel myself, I have no idea what the right word is for 众香宴. Google was very helpful with finding restaurants. So again, I use the ever unreliable direct translation. Basically, a sweet feast is where you feast on women(?). Also the appearance of this word can only mean one thing. Fml. (oT-T)尸
