After Liu Acheng settled his marriage arrangements, he acted as though nothing had happened.
This was no pretense. He had been fully prepared from the outset and regarded marriage as a means of pooling resources. In a sense, he simply considered himself married to Shen Jin.
As for love... in all conscience, there really were no Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai in this day and age. Having met his future wife once beneath a corridor and exchanged a smile with her already put him at the very pinnacle of romantic stories among the gentry of the time.
As for his willingness to keep the Manor as her dowry, this was no display of respect for women ahead of its time. Quite the opposite: it was an exceptionally nasty, calculating means of checks and balances ahead of its time, aimed specifically at his fellow Liu clansmen.
The Manor is for you to use, and its money is for supporting you, but the title belongs to the Shen Family Daughter.
I remain a penniless pauper with nothing to my name, not even a fortified manor.
Should any of you someday want to set up on your own and take this Manor with you... sorry, but it isn't the property of our Liu Clan of Pengcheng.
Of course, the Manor was not even in his hands yet. This was pure invention of a tale of woe.
Returning to the present, early the next morning, a classic scene played out at the Shen Clan's Manor. Shen Jin, who had been drunk the previous night, "unexpectedly" recognized Wang Guanli and questioned him in surprise... Liu Acheng seized the opportunity to step forward and reproach Shen Jin for venting his resentment on an innocent man that day, leaving Wang Guanli under tremendous pressure these past two