“Senior Brother,” Liu Mang said,” so how did you react?”
“Well, I was fine with it,” I said,” He is my elder, so how can I refuse him…But Wu Xieren…”
“What about her?” he questioned with a curious glint in his eyes.
“She said that she wouldn’t ever marry someone as ugly and burly as me,” I said as I drank a sip of wine,” and how she hates my tiger back and bear waist…”
Though I like that analogy…I have the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear! If I am a big guy, I am glad to be the biggest around! And I have yet to see anyone with a larger build...
“What?” Liu Mang said,” How could she be so rude?”
“Well…she said she wanted some gentle scholar, with a slender build and a charming face,” I said as I looked at him wryly” She even made you an example of her ideal man…”
We both took a sip of wine, mine being a lot bigger.
“Damn…” he muttered,” Well, she simply isn’t worthy of you then! You want to give face to the Grand Elder, but how did she react? She insulted you and spat in the face of both you and the Grand Elder!”
“Heh…” I chuckled,” Oh well! I took her words as a compliment!”
“Now, Senior Brother,” he said,” why don’t I introduce you to some Liu clan girl? Just give a description and I’ll find one for you!”
Damn! You don’t even mind me mingling with your clan to lessen my sadness. Respect my guy.
“Well I want a tall girl, and she definitely must be a martial artist of some kind,” I said,” I will be honest and tell you I like muscles in girls…”
Liu Mang let out a chuckle as he looked at me with a smile,” But of course! We are all martial artists!”
“Good that you understand me…” I said,” Now, I hope she can be pretty, with well defined facial features…hmm…I realized I don’t have much of a preference in regards to her personality…”
Could be because my experience with women is quite... nonexistent to say the least.
“Hmm…” Liu Mang hummed as he stroked his chin,” Well, my father took in a foreigner concubine many years ago and she gave birth to a girl around your age, if not slightly younger. She is quite the talent in martial arts…”
“I see,” I said,” well, I hope you can introduce us! It is good to have good relations formally, as it is your Liu clan that protects the northern border of the central plains!”
“And your Wu clan that protects the southern one!” he replied, as he both lifted our wine cups for a cheer.
After drinking a bit, I remembered something.
“Brother Liu,” I said,” I never understood why you called me senior brother…you are the older one here.”
“Why…” he hummed,” Well, you did beat me in the martial arts competition three years ago, and my wife to be is your younger sister, so I somewhat felt like it would be appropriate…”
“Well, just call me Elder Brother then!” I said,” Senior Brother feels too formal!”
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He smiled as he looked at me with some emotion and spoke,” Alright Elder Brother!”
“Good! Now let me show you something,” I said.
The first day I came here, I was confused, but then I realized that with my status as a young master, I have some good privileges. Thus, I prepared a little thing for such occasions…
And so I called for a servant to give me a jar of the potion I made.
And as it finally arrived at the table, Liu Mang looked slightly surprised.
“What is that?” he said, slightly confused.
“It is the good stuff,” I said as I opened it.
A strong, and quite penetrating smell came from the now open jar, and its source was a clear liquid.
“Try it,” I said as I filled his cup.
“Um, very well!” he said as he drank it.
What followed was a fit of coughing, as his eyes grew moist and his face reddened slightly.
“What…what is this?” he said in surprise.
“This, my good brother,” I said,” is what I call Fire Wine! It’s strong, and that’s what matters.”
While I could call it a number of different things, I often called it fire wine in my imperial world, for the mere ease of naming.
I can't really explain Rakija to people who speak a non Slavic language now can I?
“Do you have more of it?” he asked.
“But of course!” I said,” Why do you ask?”
“My father would love this!” he said,” In fact, I bet he would betroth that girl to you for several jars!”
What? Does he not care about her to that extent?
Quite a sad thing for the girl…but it is a feudal time! My father wouldn’t care about me if I wasn’t talented…probably.
But if I wasn’t so strong I would probably be unable to kill that bastard Zhang Chun! I would be living as a puppet. Or die as a failed reformer…or get arrested and spend my whole life locked in a small dark room, as my enemies claim I have some serious illness…
Many are terrible fates for a puppet...many indeed.
“Oh? Could you tell me more about the girl?”
He gave a slight hum as he stroked his chin in thought, before he nodded.
“I can give you some basic information…but I can’t say it will be much…”
“I see…even a bit is enough! Your words caught my interest!”
“Alright,” he nodded as he spoke,” Her name is Liu Fengxian, and her mother is a foreigner…I am pretty sure she is a daughter of some chieftain, but I am unsure.”
“I see!”
“Well, about her physical appearance, she is tall, with well defined features…but I haven’t seen her for several years so I don’t know if she changed…” he said,” I mean, even you grew a beard while we haven’t seen each other! And it’s quite thick, I barely recognized you!”
“Oh?” I said while stroking my beard,” Is that so?”
He faked a cough as he continued,” Well anyway, the girl always seemed a bit weird, and her eyes…”
“What about her eyes?” I asked.
This was making me genuinely interested.
“Her eyes were…kind of inhuman. They were bright green, and somewhat beastlike!”
Fucking hell! I will marry her!
The eyes are the most beautiful part of a person! If she has unique eyes, then that’s a bonus!
“Do elaborate,” I said to him while my gaze turned serious.
“Well…her eyes are like emeralds in color, and somewhat…I guess feline in appearance?”
“I see…”
Nice!
Very nice!
Though this reminds me of a book I read, where it said that foreigners are emerald eyed and golden haired like the monkeys they descended from…it was funny. Especially when my bloodline is foreign...at least in the imperial world.
“Very well,” I said to him,” does she know some specific skills, or?”
He stroked his chin as he spoke,” Well, from what I can remember, she was talented with the sword, the bow, and had good talent in horse riding. I don’t know much if she is skilled in embroidery and such…”
“I see…”
This seems very nice…I must say.
Though I have yet to meet her, so I can’t really expect much, lest I get too high of expectations.
I mean, if I get high expectations I am likely to get disappointed as always!
But it would be nice to have some experience with girls that I don’t need to be overly careful about…I think at least. Does my status as the second young master signify I have to be careful? Perhaps.
“Sir!” a servant interrupted my thoughts.
“What is it?” I said with a cold gaze, causing him to sweat,” You work for my Wu clan, don’t you?”
How dare a servant interrupt my meeting? If you don't have a good reason I'll have you killed!
“Sir I apologize for the interruption!” he said as he knelt,” It’s just some lady told me to ask you to come out of the building!”
“Oh?” I said,” Who would interrupt me at this time?”
“Sir, the lady said she was Wu Xieren!”
What? Why was she looking for me?
“Alright!” I said,” Lead the way!”
As I stood up I turned back,” Brother Liu, I’ll see you in a bit!”
“Alright,” he said, as I left the building.
So let’s see, Wu Xiaren, what do you want?