“Make way! Make way!” A group of people moved their carriages aside to make way for the newcomer.
“Who could it be coming at this point in time?” There were a lot of common people outside the Kuai residence. While they usually had no relation to the nobles that live in the inner city, they ended up exposing themselves to such a world when Kuai Liang moved out. These people would not give up the chance to see such a world. As a result, the road was blocked because of the celebration.
Most nobles only came in two carriages. The influential ones like the Cai Family came in three carriages. However, this newcomer came in ten carriages.
“Look! Someone is coming out!”
“Who is this black fatty?” The crowd asked when they saw the person. Although the sky was dark, the Kuai residence was still bright enough for the crowd to see the people around them.
“You don’t know this man? He is from a very distinguished family!”
“A distinguished family? Is he Master Yidu? That can’t be right! Master Yidu has already gone in!” Kuai Yue had already entered quietly. Although everyone knew that the two brothers had a big argument, it was not appropriate to make air such scandals in public. That was why Kuai Yue went in quietly, as though it was his own home.
“Who said it is a distinguished person from Jingzhou?”
“Then who? Why would they come to Jingzhou?”
“You wouldn’t know this! That person is a distinguished person from Yuzhou! He is one of the Left General Liu Bei’s subordinates. He came here to negotiate with Liu Biao! Besides that, he also originated from Jingzhou!”
“Is that true?”
“Yes! This person is Pang Degong’s nephew, Pang Tong!”
“Do you know what is this person’s nickname?”
“What is it?”
“Haha! This person used to be called Fatty Pang!” The man spoke ill unintentionally. As Pang Tong was smart, people was jealous of him and gave him a nickname based on his appearance.
“What about now?”
“Now he is called Jingzhou’s Famous Fried Chicken!” The man laughed. This came as a result of Liu Mang’s fire attack.
The people continued to laugh for a while until they saw Pang Tong’s gift. It was so huge that they were shocked into silence.
“Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan has come in place of the Left General Liu Bei. He presents a pair of East Pearls, a pair of jades and…” The servant’s eyes then grew wide and stopped speaking.
“Say it! We want to hear!” The commoners shouted. It is only by hearing it would they be able to turn this to idle gossip.
“Sir. Are you sure about this amount?” The servant asked carefully.
“Do you think there is a mistake?” Pang Tong asked back indifferently.
“It is the figure…” The servant asked again. He did not dare to simply announce the figure as he would be the one to suffer if there were any mistakes.
“Just say it. It is simply our humble gift for Master Zirou.”
“Ah!” The servant grunted in reply as he wiped away his sweat nervously. Since it was already confirmed by Pang Tong, he would read out the figure.
“Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan has come representing the Left General Liu Bei. He presents a pair of East Pearls, a pair of jades and four thousand gold!” The servant finally repeated.
The others present took a deep breath. This was more than the cumulative value of all the gifts presented by the nobles earlier. It was enough to feed a large army for an entire year.
“How could the Pang Family have this much money?” One person asked in doubt. Although the Pang Family was big, this amount was unrealistic. It is not like the Kuai Family only had one male or will marry only once.
“It must not be the Pang Family’s money!” The Pang Family may have established the Lumen Academy but it was the students and even Liu Biao himself that donated enough money for the Lumen Academy buildings.
“Did you not hear what the man said? He is a representing the Left General Liu Bei! Only a Lord could have that much wealth!” Another person commented after he arrived at the answer.
“Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan?” The people in the backyard frowned when they heard the announcement at the entrance.
Four thousand gold! This was more than all of their gifts combined. Where are they going to show their face now?
“Pang Degong. You have a good nephew!” Cai Mao was the first to open his mouth. Although he praised Pang Degong on the surface, he was actually mocking Pang Degong for losing out to his nephew.
“Lord Pang. You are so wealthy!” Huang She also mocked. His words became sarcastic as Pang Degong was originally a selfless person who did not care about money. It was one of the reasons people respect him and that Liu Biao have not yet chased away Pang Degong for having so much influence.
Huang She knew to ally himself with the Pang Family when it comes to dealing with the Pang Family as the Pang Family was as influential than both of theirs combined. They always felt uncomfortable because they always needed to show respect to Pang Degong. Besides, the Lumen Academy was so enormous that Jingzhou itself would be paralyzed the day the Lumen Academy collapses. The two of them did not dare to deal with Pang Degong normally but it was still acceptable for them to be sarcastic towards Pang Degong.
“Lord Pang. Your nephew…” Kuai Yue did not speak badly of Pang Degong and instead looked at him suspiciously as Pang Tong was Pang Degong’s nephew. Although the gift had shamed everyone, that money would fall into the Kuai Family’s possession.
“What’s wrong? Are you not accepting it? Zirou may not agree even if you don’t want to accept it.” Pang Degong replied calmly even though he was mocked by Cai Mao and Huang She. He was even able to make fun of Kuai Ran in the process.
“Shiyuan is already grown up. This time he is not representing the Pang Family or the Lumen Academy. Instead, he is representing his Lord, the Left General Liu Bei!” Pang Degong spoke with full of emotion as the younger generation had already grown up and started to take charge. He was also gratified that Pang Tong was able to have such an accomplishment as Pang Tong was of the Pang Family.
“Is that so?” The young Huang She asked without understanding anything. However, the aged Kuai Yue and Cai Mao understood Pang Degong’s implication.
Had Pang Tong been representing the Lumen Academy, Kuai Yue and Cai Mao would not think too much. This is because even though Pang Degong was impartial and would not mix up family matters with the Lumen Academy, the students would all willingly helped the Pang Family on their own.
However, Pang Tong did not represent both groups and came separately. Kuai Yue and Cai Mao looked at each other and silently confirmed each other’s thoughts. Something may have changed in the Pang Family.
Pang Degong noticed that the two had understood his implication by the looks in their eyes but chose to ignore it.
“Please, come in!” Chen Kang stepped forward to greet Pang Tong as a branch family of the Pang Family. Liu Mang had Chen Kang step forward to invite Pang Tong in as it would be rude to keep a person waiting at the entrance especially after they had given you so much money.
“Uncle Chen!” Pang Tong greeted. His preparations was nothing to scoff at. He was able to call Chen Kang ‘uncle’ like Liu Mang. Although it made them feel close, it helped show that Pang Tong was humble. Even if Chen Kang had been serving Kuai Liang for a long time, he was still just a servant. As a result, Pang Tong’s actions shocked everybody as it was a common problem for nobles to consider a person’s family status. For example, Huang She treated Chen Kang with indifference.
Pang Tong was then led to the backyard by Chen Kang. If he had followed Pang Degong, he would not end up here as the backyard was the highest seat reserved for the representative of each group. For example, Huang Kai and Huang Chen could not sit there as Huang She was the one representing the Huang Family. Pang Shanmin could only sit there because Pang Degong was not feeling well. As Pang Tong was representing Liu Bei, he had the position of the governor of a province. Naturally, he was allowed to have a seat of honor.
“Uncle Kuai, Uncle Cai, Brother Huang.” Pang Tong greeted when he saw the figures.
“I don’t dare accept you calling me uncle!” Cai Mao mocked, feeling very uncomfortable at being called uncle. After all, even though Yuzhou was not as big as Jingzhou, Pang Tong who was of the younger generation shared the same rank as him.
“Uncle Cai must be joking. Uncle Cai has always been my role model for being able to govern the region and command the troops!” Pang Tong said as he lowered himself.
“Shiyuan. Go and sit beside your uncle!” Kuai Yue nodded at Pang Tong. Kuai Yue appeared here as a family member. Even if he had an argument with the Kuai Liang, he was the elder brother. He also had the surname Kuai.
“Uncle, brother!” Pang Tong immediately called out to the two. He had an apologetic expression because he did not call them earlier.
“Shiyuan!” Pang Shanmin quickly greeted back with full of joy. As the older brother, he felt happy that his younger brother had such achievements. He did not care at all that Pang Tong did not greet him and his father first as they were family.
On the other hand, Pang Degong sighed as he looked at his nephew. To him, it was acceptable to greet Cai Mao and Kuai Yue first if it was official business. However, if he were to greet them as uncle, it becomes more personal and intimate. In that case, how could Kuai Yue and Cai Mao be more intimate to Pang Tong compared to Pang Degong and Pang Shiyuan?
Pang Degong had mixed feelings about Pang Tong’s manipulative heart. Pang Tong was the child his little brother had left behind. He had the intention of raising the boy. Although he was happy that Pang Tong was talented, he had failed in paying attention to Pang Tong’s mental state.
“Sit.” Pang Degong said to his nephew without showing his inner turmoil.
Pang Tong nodded and sat.
“Eh? Brother Kuai. Where is your nephew?” Cai Mao suddenly asked Kuai Yue. The two usually talked to each other about work. As the feast had not yet started, it was a good time to talk about more private matters. Since the two of them were quite old adult men, the conversation naturally end up being about love life or their sons.
Since it was not appropriate to talk about love at that point in time, it became a talk about their sons. Cai Mao had a son but he was just born and there was nothing to talk about. Naturally, the topic turned to Kuai Ran. As Cai Mao only recently had a son, he wanted to learn from Kuai Yue’s experience. Yet, Kuai Ran was not here.
“This unfilial son!” Kuai Yue’s expression immediately turned cold. Kuai Ran went to the brothel. The housekeeper was not able to hide this fact forever. Kuai Ran left the brothel with six women and someone named Wang. He did not return home.
Kuai Yue was very strict with Kuai Ran. That was why he kept Kuai Ran poor. It was his way of fostering a struggling spirit in his son. It is why Kuai Ran remained too poor to buy Yan Ran. Other nobles that wanted to curry favor with Kuai Yue were also unable to help Kuai Ran. Only an idiot like Liu Mang who decided to offend Kuai Yue would do such a thing since Kuai Yue was avoiding him anyway.
Kuai Yue was already angry that Kuai Ran went to the brothel but now, Kuai Ran even skipped out on his uncle’s wedding. That was why he called his son unfilial.
Seeing Kuai Yue’s response, Cai Mao took the hint and avoided the subject and searched for a different subject.
While Cai Mao and Kuai Yue conversed, Pang Tong went and made contact with the other nobles. It was a very opportune moment for him as all of the nobles were gathered together. He would be able to meet whoever he wanted and they would not be able to reject him. As he was also eloquent, it would be easy to make these nobles think of Yuzhou favorably.
Pang Tong conducted himself well. His gift to the Kuai Family made them treat him well. He had also set aside one thousand gold from the money meant for buying provisions as a gift to the other nobles. This gave others a good impression of him.
Pang Tong was now very eager to give away money. The more money he gave away, the more nobles would voice their support for Yuzhou. With their support, the day Jingzhou delivers provisions to Yuzhou would also not be far.
After everybody waited for some time, a familiar figure appeared while clapping. The clapping immediately calmed the noise down.
This person was Kuai Yue’s little brother, Kuai Liang Kuai Zirou1.
