Chapter 71: Narrow Road of Enemies

  Liu Jue smiled wryly, these five hundred slaves have been spread throughout the two cities of Xiangyang, and it's likely that Gan Ning has spread the word. This guy may have good intentions, but he's put himself in a precarious position, and Liu Jue doesn't want others to know about this matter, thinking that he's seeking fame and fortune.

  "Thank you, miss! Liu Xuan will take a shot first!"

  Liu Jiong drained the cup of wine in one gulp, at this moment he suddenly had a feeling that this little girl's smile seemed very familiar, where had he seen it before? But for a while, he couldn't think of it.

  Tao Zhuang just took a light sip of the fruit juice, put down his ear cup, and smiled: "I heard that the young master is going to marry the daughter of the Cai family. The talented young man and beautiful woman are a perfect match. Congratulations to the young master."

  Liu Xuan didn't want to mention this in front of outsiders, but he also didn't want to explain, so he just smiled faintly and said, "Thank you, miss!"

  Liu Xuan reached out to grab the wine jug, but Tao Zhan's hand was a step faster and had already picked it up. She grasped his sleeve, her slender fingers holding the jug to fill Liu Xuan's cup with wine.

  Liu Jiong saw Tao Zhan's hand, smooth and delicate, white as jade, small finger slightly raised, a jade-like hand soft as boneless, his heart suddenly moved, this hand, isn't it... Tao Zhan's hand?

  He recalled that two days ago when he saw Tao Qian, his hand still felt like a woman's, exactly the same as this hand in front of him. He was suspicious and looked at the other person's face again. Although their appearance was completely different, that smile, wasn't it so familiar? Wasn't this Tao Qian's smile?

  Liu Jue suddenly remembered another thing, that when Tao Qian had just learned of Gan Ning's breach of promise, the angry shout was actually a woman's voice. At the time he was distracted and didn't think much of it, but now that he thought about it, this was indeed a strange matter.

  "You..."

  Liu Xuan stood up, his eyes piercingly staring at Tao Zhan, "Who are you?"

  "Didn't I just say so? I am Tao Jiu Niang, isn't it strange for you to ask, sir?" Tao Zhan wasn't surprised at all and continued smiling at him.

  "You were deceiving me two days ago, you are clearly Tao Zhan!" Liu Jing stared at her, saying word by word.

  "Hah!" Tao Zhu covered her mouth and laughed. She couldn't hold it in anymore, laughing so hard that she was shaking like a flower branch.

  "What's so funny? Am I wrong?" Liu Xuan said angrily.

  "Ah! You rascal, your eyes are still quite sharp, you actually saw through me, you're the third one."

  "Hmph!" Liu Xuan let out a heavy hum, thinking that he had been calling his senior for half a day, only to find out it was just a young woman disguising herself. His face felt somewhat unbecoming, and in his heart, he was slightly enraged with shame.

  Liu Xuan turned around and left, Tao Zhan had expected him to leave in a huff. Before he took two steps, she fluttered up like a butterfly and blocked his path.

  Tao Zhuang bowed deeply to him and said in a soft voice, "Jiuniang didn't intentionally deceive you, young master. I apologize for her mischievous behavior, please forgive her."

  Liu Jing saw that she was sincere in her apology, and his anger subsided slightly. He said calmly, "This isn't a big deal, I won't take it to heart. However, I really should be going back now."

  "Are you sure the young master didn't get angry and leave because of this matter?" Tao Zhu asked with a serious face.

  "Of course not!"

  Liu Xuan shook his head, "Although I was a bit dissatisfied just now, since you've apologized, I won't hold it against you. My tolerance is not that narrow."

  "So, the young master only had a cup of wine and didn't even eat a bite of food before leaving like this. Isn't that a bit against the etiquette for treating guests? Or perhaps it's because the young master is of high status and doesn't want to dine with me, a merchant's daughter."

  Tao Zhuang's bright eyes gazed at Liu Xuan, waiting for his response.

  Liu Cong was still thinking of leaving because he was angry in his heart, but Tao Zhan's cleverness left him speechless for a moment before he said: "Miss, your words are too severe, I am not a person who is arrogant and self-righteous."

  "If you're not a noble person, why don't you drink a few more cups? Are you dissatisfied with the wine here?" Tao Xuan asked with a smile.

  At this time, Liu Jing thought of the furniture and household items she had given him, as well as that lamp he liked very much, but hadn't thanked her for yet. Thinking of this, his anger suddenly dissipated.

  Liu Jiong rubbed his nose and smiled, "Actually, I mainly think the dish is a bit too bland, not to my taste, and there's not enough of it, can't eat my fill..."

  Tao Zhuang couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter, his eyes gleaming with amusement as he shot him a white look, "Then why didn't you say so earlier, causing me to waste my thoughts?"

  Tao Zhuang immediately called the wine keeper and instructed him: "Bring another five catties of roasted venison, a whole roasted lamb, and a red stewed big carp, bring one more..."

  "That's enough! That's enough!" Liu Xuan hastily called out to her.

  "Alright, hurry up and go do it, bring it back to me right away!"

  The bartender responded with a sound and rushed away. The two sat down again, and Liu Xuan's earlier unpleasantness also melted away.

  He took another close look at Tao Zhu's face and secretly admired, this little girl's disguise technique was really amazing! Made up as a middle-aged man, there wasn't a single flaw.

  Tao Zhuang was stared at by his piercing eyes, and her pretty face turned slightly red. She pouted and said: "Does Master Jing also like to stare at the faces of Cai family's daughters like this?"

  Liu Xuan then realized his mistake and hastily apologized: "I was just curious about the young lady's disguise, I didn't mean anything else."

  Tao Zhuang picked up the wine jug again and poured him a full cup, chuckling: "I don't care if you have any other intentions, but being rude requires punishment. I'll punish you with three cups of wine, will you comply or not?"

  "Alright! I'm drunk, girl take me home."

  "I can certainly send you back, but aren't you afraid that the precious steed will belong to me from now on?"

  Liu Jiong chuckled and waved his hand, "If you like that horse, I'll give it to you."

  "Are you really willing to send me?"

  Tao Zhuang gazed at Liu Xuan with a pair of clever eyes, and a hint of mischievous smile flowed out from her eyes. "Aren't you afraid that I'll pass it on to the Sun siblings? They've asked me multiple times."

  "This..." Liu Jiong scratched his head, he suddenly discovered that this little girl was quite formidable and some things couldn't be said casually.

  Tao Zhu smiled and said, "A gentleman does not take away what others love. Although I am not a gentleman, some gentlemen are not as good as me, this little woman. Of course, I won't want your horse, but you must drink three cups of penalty wine."

  "Alright! I admit defeat."

  Liu Jiong raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp, Tao Xian saw that he was refreshing and delighted in her heart. She poured him two more cups of wine and also poured herself a small half cup of wine. She picked up the cup and smiled: "The young master is a generous person, I will toast you again with another cup, thank you for giving me face."

  At this time two waiters brought over a whole roasted sheep. Liu Xuan was hungry, picked up the knife for cutting meat and ate without any politeness.

  Taoye raised his wine cup, sipped the wine slowly, and gazed at Liu Xuan with a pair of eyes as clear as still water. However, in his heart, he was thinking about the marriage between Liu Xuan and Cai Shaoyue. It was said that this daughter of the Cai family was notoriously arrogant and overbearing. This young master Xuan marrying her was obviously for the benefit of the alliance between the two families, but it would clearly ruin the happiness of their marriage. What a pity!

  "What's on your mind, miss? You seem to have something on your mind." Liu Xuan put down the knife, picked up a towel and wiped the greasy hands and mouth, and took a glance at Tao Zhan.

  Her slender, curved eyebrows rose like a crescent moon as she smiled leisurely and said, "I was thinking, what impression did I leave you with today? Cunning, dishonest, or some other disheartening words?"

  "It's not that serious."

  "Intelligent and clever, elegant in appearance and wise at heart, this is the impression you give me, completely unlike a merchant's daughter."

  "What does Master Liu think a merchant's daughter should be like?" Tao Zhu looked at Liu Xuan with a serious expression.

  Liu Xuan also realized his mistake and shouldn't have said that, as it implied discrimination. He hastily explained: "I was only referring to ordinary common street vendors, like the Tao family who are wealthy enough to rival a country, in Jingzhou and Eastern Wu they are honored guests, it's hard to put your family on the same level as ordinary merchants, please don't misunderstand."

  Taoran shook his head, "Perhaps the Tao family is different from those street vendors, but we are still merchants, just bigger ones. We also make a profit from buying and selling. I am very clear about the status of merchants, Young Master Jing doesn't need to explain it deliberately."

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Tao Zhan's beautiful face revealed a subtle, fragrant smile like a flower bud. "Gongzi is the nephew of the provincial governor, with noble imperial blood, yet he condescends to dine with me, a merchant's daughter. I'm already deeply grateful and have no resentment towards Gongzi whatsoever."

  Liu Xuan was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "Why must you deceive yourself like this? You clearly know that I was just speaking casually, yet you insist on belittling yourself and putting a hat of prejudice against merchants on my head. Does it show that you have self-respect? If I, Liu Xuan, were prejudiced against merchants, would I have come to the banquet? Would I have deliberately made friends with your Tao family? Miss Tao, you underestimate me, Liu Xuan."

  Tao Zhuang's beautiful eyes, shining with a radiant light, gazed deeply at Liu Xuan. This gaze did not contain any adoration, but rather observation, using her unique sensitivity as a young girl to capture every expression of Liu Xuan's, and the sincerity in each of his words.

  She thought to herself: 'I'm not so easily deceived, you think a few sweet words can win my trust? It's not that easy.'

  But from Liu Xuan's words, she indeed felt a kind of sincerity and not hypocrisy. 'Could it be... he really didn't discriminate against my merchant status?'

  Her eyes sparkled as she smiled and said, "Let's not talk about this for now. It doesn't matter much anyway. Let's talk about something more interesting... like your engagement to the Cai family."

  Liu Jun furrowed his brow, just about to speak, when he heard footsteps coming from outside the screen, followed by a young man's voice, whose tone was extremely unpleasant. "This has always been my seat, why did you give it to someone else?"

  "I don't dare, I don't dare! I thought you weren't coming today, so..." This was the shopkeeper's pleading voice.

  "Get everyone inside out of here!" The newcomer's tone was unusually harsh.

  Liu Jiong recognized the voice and found it was actually Liu Cong. Before he could get up, the shopkeeper hastily walked in with a bitter face and said: "Young master, sorry about this, you'd better change seats!"

  Tao Zhuang's face sank, today was her treat, yet they were being asked to leave, making her lose face. She was about to scold them when Liu Xuan raised his hand and stopped her.

  "Let me!"

  Liu Xuan didn't get up either, and smiled faintly at the outside: "Brother Cong, are you going to drive me away?"