Chapter 19: Marrying A Wife As Unfortunate As Liu Bei

  Liu Zhuang's face suddenly turned pale, was his mother going to go back on her word? He knocked his head against the ground three more times, his voice trembling as he said: "But Mother promised to betroth Shao Yu to me, I can only rely on Mother, please Mother make a decision for me."

  Mrs. Cai cursed inwardly, this useless thing, everything has to rely on her, can't he think of a way to strive for it himself?

  Mrs. Cai was very familiar with Liu Zhuang, and like his elder brother Liu Qi, he was a weak-willed person who relied heavily on others. However, this matter had to be handled by him personally, while she could only make arrangements behind the scenes. First of all, she needed to stimulate Liu Zhuang's courage.

  Men! For women, they often don't care about anything else.

  "Xiang'er, I know you've liked Shao Yu since childhood, and she likes you too. I've seen all this, and to be honest, I also hope that people in love can end up together. But you must understand that the union between the Liu and Cai families is not just about emotions; it has a deeper meaning. That's why your father attaches great importance to it. Since he chose Xiang'er, he must have given it careful consideration. I find it hard to change your father's mind, really sorry!"

  Mrs. Cai unexpectedly said the two words "I'm sorry", which made Liu Zhuang desperate, his tears gushed out, and he knelt on the floor with his whole body trembling, his tears falling down one by one, he felt like he was going to die.

  Mrs. Cai gazed at him coldly, so spineless, actually crying for a woman, if he was a man, he should have taken her back.

  "Qiong'er, things haven't reached the worst point yet. Actually, you still have some hope."

  Liu Zhuo suddenly lifted his head, and his eyes burst with a radiant light, a kind of revitalized glow. He was so excited that his voice trembled, "Mother told me, is there still hope?"

  "There is hope, but it requires your courage and determination, are you willing to pay the price?"

  Liu Cong nodded and gritted his teeth: "For Shao Yu, I am willing to go through fire and water."

  "Good!"

  "Although I am a woman, I also understand that only by knowing each other can we win every battle. I asked your father and he hasn't told Xuan'er about the marriage between Liu and Cai yet. Do you two brothers know if he has been informed of this matter?"

  Liu Cong hastily shook his head, "The child absolutely didn't say it, and I also feel that he seems to be unaware of the meaning of that sword."

  "What about your older brother?"

  "Did he say anything?" asked Mrs. Cai.

  Liu Cong concentrated his mind for a moment and shook his head, "I think he won't say anything either, and he hasn't been in the mansion these days, he went to the Pang family to make up for lost time."

  Mrs. Cai smiled with narrowed eyes and whispered to Liu Zhuang, "Recently your father has been busy with official duties, so he handed this matter over to me. You need to find a way to get that Xuanlin sword in hand, then I'll pretend to misunderstand and directly go to the Cai family to propose marriage on your behalf. This way, even if your father gets angry, there's nothing he can do about it, and he can only accept the mistake."

  "But...it can't be obtained?" Liu Zhuang asked worriedly.

  "Useless thing, can't even get a sword, do you still want to marry Shaoyu? You said it yourself that you'd brave boiling water and burning fire, I didn't force you."

  Liu Zhuang finally made up his mind that as long as he could marry Shao Yu, he would rather bear the punishment from his father.

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  Cai Mao was indeed slower than Kuai Yue, until Liu Biao settled Liu Bei's army in the Eastern Barracks. Only then did Cai Mao come to his senses and realize that Liu Biao didn't actually trust Liu Bei and was on guard against him, which made Cai Mao feel at ease.

  For many months, Cai Mao followed Liu Biao to the south of Jingnan and Jiaozhou to fight against Zhang Teng, and only returned to Xiangyang yesterday. Liu Biao allowed him to rest at home for three days.

  Although he was resting at home, there were still a lot of things waiting for him to deal with in the government office. Cai Mao's position was as a military advisor, and his main responsibility was to handle major and minor matters within the army, from deploying troops and arranging battles, to managing military supplies and food, building warships, recruiting soldiers, etc.

  According to the procedure, some matters must be reviewed by him first and then submitted to Liu Biao for final decision. If he is on leave, many things will be delayed, so he simply takes all official business back home to deal with it.

  At noon, Cai Mao was busy reviewing documents in his study. During the Three Kingdoms period, official documents had begun to use hemp paper extensively, and Xiangyang was no exception. There was also an officially-run paper mill in Xiangyang that provided a large quantity of paper to the government every year.

  At this time, an urgent military report sent by Huang Zu of Jiangxia County caught Cai Mao's attention. The two generals Zhang Wu and Chen Sun stationed in Yangxin County were suspected of colluding with Jiangdong, which made Cai Mao break out in a cold sweat.

  Zhang Wu and Chen Sun have more than 3,000 troops under their command, and they are also local people of Jingzhou. If they really collude with Jiangdong, the consequences would be unthinkable. This matter must be reported to Liu Biao immediately.

  Cai Man rose and was about to go to the prefectural government office, when his wife, Pang Shi, appeared at the door, "Master, Little Sister has arrived, saying she has important matters to discuss with you."

  Cai Mao had an elder sister and a younger sister. His elder sister married Huang Chengyan of the Huang family, giving birth to a daughter named Huang Yueying, who is now 15 years old. His younger sister was Cai's wife, who married Liu Biao.

  It is said that Lady Cai has arrived, so Cai Mao temporarily gave up finding Liu Bei and came to the rear residence first. Lady Cai had been cooped up in her room for over a month and also wanted to go out for a walk, so she first came to her mother's home.

  In the warm room, Mrs. Cai was chatting with her niece Cai Shaoyu, and the topic naturally revolved around her marriage.

  "Auntie, I've seen Liu Jing before."

  "Madam Cai immediately anxiously asked: 'How did you see him, did he come looking for you?'"

  Mrs. Cai was worried that Liu Xuan would find out about the marriage alliance, and even more afraid that he would take the initiative to propose marrying a daughter of the Cai family, with her husband backing him up, which would make things troublesome.

  Cai Shaoyou shook her head, indignantly saying: "It was last time, about a month ago, I came to visit my aunt in the east wing and met him there. He looks so rough, Auntie, I'd rather die than marry him."

  Mrs. Cai let out a sigh of relief and smiled: "Since you don't want to marry him, Auntie won't make you sad, don't worry! With Auntie around, I guarantee that you'll marry the man you like, but who is this man? Is it your older brother or younger brother?"

  Cai Shaoyou's face turned bright red, she turned her back and said in a flustered tone: "Auntie is teasing me again, I don't have any lover that I like, none at all, Auntie shouldn't make random guesses."

  "I know, you must like Qi Gege."

  "It's not like that... I don't like anyone."

  Just then, a maid reported in the courtyard: "The old master and mistress have arrived!"

  Cai Shaoyou heard that her father had arrived and was so frightened that she hastily ran out of the back door in a flurry. A moment later, Cai Mao's voice came from outside the curtain, "Little sister, can your foolish elder brother come in?"

  "Come on in!"

  The curtain was lifted, and Cai Mao and his wife, Pang Shi, walked into the room. Cai Mao saw that his sister's face was rosy, so he smiled slightly and said, "It seems that you've been taking good care of yourself and have fully recovered."

  "Don't make fun of big brother, sit down! Big sister, you too."

  Although Lady Cai is the younger sister of Cai Mao, she is after all the mistress of Jingzhou, with a noble status. Cai Mao cannot put on an air of seniority in front of her and must show some respect to her.

  Cai Man's wife, Pang Shi, made an excuse to go and brew tea for them, leaving the room with only the two siblings remaining.

  "Today I came over, it is for the marriage between Liu and Cai families. Last night, Jing Sheng handed this matter to me, his intention was to let his nephew Liu Xuan marry Shaoyou, I want to ask brother's attitude first."

  After she finished speaking, she stared into Cai Mao's eyes. She had made up her mind that this matter must go according to her plan. Even if her brother agreed, it would not do. She absolutely would not permit Liu Xiu, the murderer of her child, to marry a daughter of the Cai family.

  Cai Mao sighed and said, "The marriage between Cai and Liu is related to the future of the Cai family, even the future of Jingzhou. To be honest, if Jing Sheng insists on using his nephew for this marriage, then it's meaningless. I can only decline."

  "But you refused Jing Sheng, so the marriage between Liu and Cai is impossible. Perhaps it will become a marriage between Liu and Qiao, or Liu and Pang, or even Liu and Huang, but not Liu and Cai. Has brother considered this consequence?"

  Mrs. Cai was implicitly reminding her brother not to offend Liu Biao, and refusing would be out of the question; he had to follow her train of thought.

  Cai Ma was momentarily speechless, his sister's words piercing his heart like a knife, instantly deflating him.

  After a while, he sighed and said, "I don't understand why Jing Sheng wants to use his nephew to form an alliance with the Cai family."

  "Are you really not understanding, or are you pretending not to understand?" Madam Cai sneered.

  Cai Man shook his head, "I really don't understand."

  "All right, I'll tell you. If Jing Sheng's wife wasn't me, but rather a woman surnamed Kuai or Pang, he would have definitely had his eldest son marry the daughter of the Cai family. Now that he has already married a Cai daughter-in-law, how can he marry another Cai daughter? Do you understand?"

  Cai Mao actually knew that Liu Biao was unwilling to let his son marry a daughter of the Cai family because he was worried that the Cai family would become too powerful, which would be detrimental to the balance of interests among the major powers in Jingzhou. However, this had to be said by someone who understood Liu Biao better, namely his sister, before he could accept it wholeheartedly.

  Cai Mao was extremely disheartened. He couldn't afford to offend Liu Biao, yet he didn't want to marry his daughter off to Liu Biao's nephew either. What could he do?

  Mrs. Cai glanced at her brother and saw that he was in a difficult situation, so she thought to herself, 'It seems I can make some demands now.'

  "If I can persuade Jing Sheng to agree to his son marrying Shaoyou, then I hope it's the second son Cong'er who marries Shaoyou. Can big brother agree?"

  Mrs. Cai knew that her brother actually wanted to marry off his daughter, Shaoyou, to the eldest son, Liu Qi, after all, the legitimate eldest son should be established first, so Shaoyou would become the mistress of Jingzhou in the future.

  But Lady Cai did not like Liu Qi, she preferred Liu Xuan, and had always wanted to establish Liu Xuan as the lord of Jing Province.

  But relying solely on her own power is still difficult to achieve. If the Cai family is willing to support her in establishing Liu Zhen as the heir, then she will have a much greater grasp on the situation.

  So, Madam Cai first tried to persuade Cai Mao to change his mind and support the marriage between the Cai family and Liu Zong.

  Once the marriage was settled, the Cai family had no choice but to support Liu Xun as the lord of Jing Province.

  This is Cai's wife's plan, her real goal is to make Liu Xuan the master of Jingzhou, and marriage is just a means, she wants to use this marriage crisis to force the Cai family to agree to marry Shaoyou to Liu Xuan.

  Cai Mao did not respond to Cai's words. As the military strategist of Jingzhou, he had his own views. He didn't like Liu Xuan, who was narrow-minded and selfish, far inferior to Liu Qi in terms of kindness and ability. Letting Liu Xuan be the master of Jingzhou would likely ruin the foundation of Jingzhou.

  Mrs. Cai understood her brother's mind and smiled faintly, "If a mediocre person is established as the master of Jingzhou, won't Jingzhou become the Cai family's Jingzhou?"

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