“This is impossible!” Pang Tong said to himself. If the bride was Liu Mang’s sister, the four thousand gold he used as a gift would be wasted. Pang Tong took that money out to make connections with the Kuai Family. It did not matter whose marriage it was but it would allow him to obtain a favorable impression from the Kuai Family members such as Kuai Yue. Now all of his plans were falling apart.
Liu Mang had appeared despite Pang Tong’s best efforts. Even then, Pang Tong had not believed that Liu Mang was able to beat his four thousand gold gift. At the very least, Pang Tong believed that he could prevent Liu Mang from obtaining provisions even if he himself were not able to obtain the Kuai Family’s support. However, if Liu Mang’s words were true, then Pang Tong’s actions would be in vain. Regardless of how important the gift is, it would not be a match for someone’s sister. Once a sister is married away, they become families. How could an outsider be compared to family? Pang Tong’s four thousand gold would become plain dowry that adds to Liu Mang’s strength.
“Brother! Don’t you think this woman looks familiar?” Someone else exclaimed while Pang Tong was thinking.
“You have seen this woman before! I never expected Kuai Ran to be so romantic! He unexpectedly took a woman from the brothel back home with him!” Another voice commented. Their words were not loud but Pang Tong heard them.
“Women from the brothel?” Pang Tong started to scheme again. He remembered the information he had obtained previously. Kuai Ran really did frequent the brothel and even had someone he fancied. Pang Tong was able to confirm that this woman was the person he fancied based on the words of the gossipers.
Pang Tong laughed and then nodded kindly towards the two Huang brothers behind him, confusing them. After all, the Huang brothers and Pang Tong lived in two different worlds. They had no connection at all.
“Your Highness truly have good fortune. You are already able to obtain a sister as soon as you set foot in Jingzhou!” Pang Tong said loudly as he stood up.
“Shiyuan! Sit down!” Pang Degong admonished his nephew. No matter what happened here, this was the Kuai Family’s affair. Pang Tong was not showing any respect to the Kuai Family and could even make the Kuai Family lose face. In the end, Pang Tong himself would suffer.
Normally, Pang Tong would sit. However, he had no choice but to push on as he had to stop the Kuai Family from forming an alliance with Liu Mang. That alliance would be a disaster for Liu Bei.
“Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan?” Liu Mang narrowed his eyes when he heard Pang Tong’s words.
“What do you mean by obtaining a sister?” The crowd asked.
“As everyone here knows, His Highness is a person of high nobility. He was conferred the title King of Shu by His Majesty the Emperor. However, I have never heard of His Highness having a sister before!” Pang Tong said oppressively.
“As I have explained before, this is my sister-in-law!” Liu Mang refuted.
“Haha! This sister is probably not even related to you in any way!” Pang Tong said with disdain.
“The King of Shu have three wives! The first one is Lady Lu! There have been no information that she has a sister! The second one is Lady Yuan! She has a brother but her brother had already perished! The third wife also has no sister!” Pang Tong knew that the third wife was Qiao Yu but he could not say it as he would also offend Sun Ce. If he were to expose that Sun Ce’s wife got stolen, Sun Ce would lose face.
Liu Mang clapped his hands in response. “Military Advisor Pang! You are truly skilled! The people of Yuzhou truly loves to scout out other people’s lives!” Liu Mang called him Military Advisor Pang and mentioned Yuzhou to remind others that Pang Tong was not affiliated with Jingzhou and was Liu Bei’s subordinate. He also pointed out that the Military Advisor of Yuzhou loved probing people’s private lives. While there is a mutual understanding that everyone spied on each other, it was a different story if you declared engaging in this activity publicly.
“I am sure it is not comparable to going to the brothel and then suddenly coming out with a little sister!” Pang Tong would naturally ignore Liu Mang’s counterattack.
“Brothel?” The others questioned as they looked at each other. This was important information. Everybody knew the status of the brothel in Jingzhou. It is one of the biggest places in Jingzhou.
“Kuai Ran is affectionate and want to take this woman from the brothel as a concubine. Why is she suddenly the King of Shu’s sister?” Pang Tong struck back with words.
The Kuai Family marrying a prostitute? This was big news! Although plenty of people go there and the owner of the establishment is revered, it was still a scandalous place.
It won’t be so bad if they were to take the prostitute as a mistress secretly. However, the Kuai Family is having such a grand wedding. They would definitely be mocked at for this.
“Haha! Brother Kuai is such a fancy person. When will you bring me with you?” Huang She laughed happily. Although they were harmonious to each other on the surface, everybody knew that the Huang Family hated the Cai Family and Kuai Family. If the Kuai Family was going to become a joke, Huang She would be happy.
“Miss Yan Ran. You must act like a proper wife after marrying into the Kuai Family!” Pang Tong said viciously, devaluing Yan Ran. Yan Ran’s body shook from shame and anger.
“Miss Yan Ran? That Yan Ran from the brothel?” One of Pang Tong’s subordinates shouted.
“Did you know? Yan Ran was worth a hundred gold last time. It is no wonder Kuai Ran was so enchanted by her. If I had enough money that time, I would have already taken her with me!” Another person shouted with the intention to shame the Kuai Family.
“That’s right! I heard Yan Ran was present at the sweet feast and was bought! I thought it was a rich merchant but it looks like that person is Kuai Ran!”
“That can’t be right! The Kuai Family is such an influential family. How could they marry a prostitute?” Some people spoke in disbelief.
“That’s right. There is no need to keep guessing. My sister is indeed Miss Yan Ran!” Liu Mang did not bother concealing this fact. Yan Ran shivered in fear as she held onto Liu Mang’s hand as a support.
Liu Mang patted her hand to comfort her. He then praised Pang Tong. “Very good! Very good!”
“As the King of Shu, I have the authority to grant titles!” Liu Mang said as he looked at the others present. He truly had this ability as one of the Kings of the Han Dynasty.
“Men. Bring me a pen and parchment!” Liu Mang shouted and Chen Kang immediately brought over the writing utensils.
Although Liu Mang’s handwriting was terrible, he could still write1. The person who stood beside Liu Mang saw what was written and took a deep breath.
“In Jingzhou, there is a beautiful woman named Yan Ran. She joined the brothel because she was poor but she was only there as an exhibition and cannot be touched, remaining unsullied.”
“Only as an exhibition?” One person could not help but read out, causing the others to start shouting.
The scholars praised Liu Mang’s literacy talent. Just by calling her unsullied, he changed her status as a simple prostitute. The nobles were also shocked by Liu Mang’s actions of giving a prostitute identification. Even nobles that spoke highly2 of prostitutes also understood that they were vulgar so they were all shocked that Liu Mang provided her with an identity without caring that he would be ridiculed in the future.
Liu Mang then gave a speech about flowers3 before saying that Yan Ran entering the brothel was not her fault or the brothel’s fault. Instead, it was everyone’s fault including his own and also the fault of the turbulent era. He then claims that such things would not have happened in a peaceful era. Finally, he conferred Yan Ran the name Princess Yan Lian and immediately asked for a seal to make it official.
After stamping the seal down, everything became official. Yan Ran was now Princess Yan Lian and would be recognized by all as Liu Mang’s sister.
“Hmph! What do you mean unsullied? A prostitute is a prostitute!” Pang Tong continued to ramble impatiently. He initially thought that Liu Mang would not admit her as his sister to save face but then this happened.
“Brother Kuai Yue!” Cai Mao called out. He usually said Yidu but now changed the way he addressed Kuai Yue because he could no longer recognize him. On the other hand, Kuai Yue continued to stare at his son, hoping for an explanation.
Kuai Ran panicked from his father’s stern gaze as his father was always strict with him and Kuai Ran feared his anger. Liu Mang noticed this. As Kuai Ran did not step forward to receive the bride, Liu Mang placed the bride’s hand on Kuai Ran’s hand, linking the pair.
“Brother Liu!” Kuai Ran hoarsely called out as Liu Mang encouraged him. Marrying Yan Ran had always been his wish. Unfortunately, his father and the Kuai Family’s education denied him that. If the person that appeared in front of him that day was not Liu Mang, Yan Ran would have already been taken away by others. Kuai Ran would definitely regret not saying anything. Everybody would be young and frivolous for some time in their lives. If they were to act like the elderly in their twenties, would be no point of living.
Kuai Ran took a deep breath and took a cup of tea. He then knelt down in front of his father and said, “Father, please bless our marriage.”
“Hm?” Kuai Yue’s frown grew deeper as he looked at his son. Although he was disqualified as a brother, he was still a qualified father. His strict education and love for his son was genuine. Even after everything Liu Mang did, the final decision was still Kuai Yue’s. If Kuai Yue did not agree to this marriage, everything Liu Mang did would be wasted.
“Brother! Head of the Family! There cannot be a clan without a family!” Kuai Liang said to his brother. “When I left the Kuai Family, you could afford to ignore me! However, can you afford to ignore Ran’er?”
“Hm?” Kuai Yue frowned. He was still troubled about the fact that Yan Lian was a prostitute.
“Brother. I cannot denounce you if you want to stop this wedding. However, Ran’er will hate you forever! Ran’er will leave you and at that time, you won’t have anything left! You care about the Kuai Family position so much but you won’t have any family members with you!
“I…” Kuai Yue wavered for a moment. Everything he did was for the Kuai Family. The people belonging to the Kuai Family were him, his brother and his son. Kuai Yue had already caused his brother to leave. If his son decided to hate him for life as well, there would be no family.
Kuai Yue took a deep breath and finally replied “Ran’er, Zirou, I am sorry. I cannot agree to this wedding.”4
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Whatever literacy talent Liu Mang may have, I definitely don’t have it. So all of his wordings are shortened and simplified for its meaning to transmit directly.
They actually used different words to describe prostitutes. Just like how they call a brothel a “happy place”. It is like the difference between the word whore, prostitute, call girl, escort and many others. That is… there are no difference and they are all equally demeaning. So I did what every lazy person would do. I standardized everything to save myself the headache.
For the love of all existence. Please spare me from this. “予谓菊，花之隐逸者也；牡丹，花之富贵者也；莲，花之君子者也。噫！菊之爱，陶后鲜有闻；莲之爱，同予者何人? 牡丹之爱，宜乎众矣。” Basically he is talking about different flowers and what they symbolize or something along that line.
Since you are obviously going to lamely backtrack anyway, please apologize to me as well.
