Chapter Thirty-Five: Peach Blossom and Plum Replacement

  The crowd was in an uproar, and the bride was escorted into the back hall by her maid. Mei Huan-yu was immediately pulled over by the crowd to drink and toast, and the atmosphere of the banquet suddenly became even more lively. The crowd poured all their resentment towards Mei Huan-yu's monopolization of the beauty queen into cup after cup of fine wine, downing it in one gulp. It is said that afterwards, when the bill was tallied, sixty jars of fine wine had been drunk by the crowd, leaving the owner of De Sheng Tower, who had seen and experienced much, staring in amazement, his mind wandering to the thought that if this Lei San Miss, Mei's daughter-in-law, were willing to come to the wine tower and preside over it, they would surely make a fortune. He immediately realized that this idea was too presumptuous towards Magistrate Mei, and hastily apologized in his heart.

  Everyone was in an uproar, and a fake army welcoming guest rushed in to report: "Captain, Mr. Yamamoto Kamejiro has arrived with several battalion commanders to congratulate you."

  Mei Huan-yu immediately led the crowd to welcome, and saw Yamamoto Kitaro smiling and bringing several Japanese military officers with several guards carrying colorful gifts.

  "Mei Jun, today is your big happy day. On behalf of the Imperial Japanese Army, I congratulate you on marrying a new wife. You are an excellent representative of our friendly relations. I specially present to you lacquerware, ceramics and famous swords from the Great Empire of Japan. May Mei Jun couple live together until their hair turns white."

  Mei Huan-yu was overjoyed and hastily ordered the servants to arrange the gifts in the main hall for the guests to admire, and also opened a refined room for Yamamoto Kitaro and other military officers to dine. Of course, all these were prepared in advance, so there was no need to rush around.

  Yamamoto Kitaro looked at the guests in front of him with satisfaction, seeing the envy and jealousy in their eyes. This gaze was all too familiar; as long as these greedy and vain people existed, this country would surely be firmly occupied by the Great Japanese Empire, and eventually assimilated. When that time came, these trash would naturally have a place to go, and giving them some sweet treats would be like feeding a dog.

  Everyone respectfully welcomed Yamamoto Kitaro to the elegant seat, and then everyone's eyes were fixed on the congratulatory gifts brought over. They were too exquisite. Were these the legendary Oriental treasures? If one or two of them were placed in their own home, it would be a great honor. Mei Huanyu naturally knew everyone's thoughts clearly, but as long as he firmly grasped the Japanese people, he didn't care about others.

  In the hall, Mei Huan-yu was entertaining Mountain Yamamoto and other Japanese officers who had come to congratulate him. Although he welcomed the arrival of the Japanese with a smile, he was actually quite wary in his heart. It was said that the Japanese had a low tolerance for alcohol and would get drunk after just a few cups of sake, becoming loud and rowdy, and often doing something outrageous after drinking. On this joyous day, Mei Huan-yu hoped that nothing untoward would happen. As he thought about this, he couldn't help but glance at them with a mixture of disdain and wariness in his eyes, silently praying to his ancestors: "Ancestors, please bless me, Mei Huan-yu, to successfully complete the wedding ceremony today, and later we'll have all the pork head and fine wine we want." Putting aside Mei's attempt to bribe his ancestors for now, the Japanese officers were clinking cups together, humming some unknown Japanese tune, creating a relaxed atmosphere at the banquet. The scene had a poetic and picturesque quality to it, but unfortunately, the faces of these devils were quite ugly. Although they were high-ranking military officers, their behavior was not worthy of respect - each one had removed his uniform, wrapped a cloth around his head, inserted chopsticks into his hair, and was singing and dancing as if celebrating something.

  Yamamoto Kitaro had to turn a blind eye to these subordinates, after all, in order not to let Tokugawa fall into a situation where the doors were closed at night and the roads were deserted, they could only be locked up in the military camp, and it was not easy to go out. This kind of easy thing is not easy to encounter, so the warriors of the Great Japanese Empire are lonely in a foreign land, which is not surprising. Therefore, as long as they don't make too much trouble, he didn't plan to manage them.

  In the blink of an eye, a jar of good wine was drunk clean by several Japanese people, their eyes all red, speaking nonsense. One devil spoke to the interpreter Jia Cheng in a low voice, Jia Cheng looked at Mei Huan Yu helplessly: "The master said, let's take a look at the beautiful bride, you go and invite her out, let the bride accompany the master for a drink." After finishing, he secretly squeezed his eyes.

  Mei Huan Yu was greatly shocked, this is going to be a problem, looking at the Japanese people in front of him, he didn't dare imagine what would happen next. Otherwise, why did Jia Cheng keep winking at him? After all, he had always been filial to him, and this should be a reminder to pay attention.

  Mei Huan-yu pulled over a clever fellow, turned his head and said to him: "Go tell the lady, just say that the lord wants her to hurry up and come over to accompany the lord for a drink. Let her tidy up and hurry over." After saying this, he whispered a sentence: "Tell her the original words."

  That fellow winked and nodded, then ran out. Mei Huan-yu prayed that his words would be understood by his new wife, or else she would run away early to avoid a big mess, which would be hard to clean up. After all, the Japanese had come to give him face, if he didn't treat them well, who knows what would happen?

  Before long, a woman with a tinkling ring came over to the elegant seat accompanied by her maid. Mei Huan-yu was taken aback - she had really come. He hastily stood up and smiled, gesturing to the people present: "This is my humble wife, Third Miss of the Lei family." As he spoke, he pulled the woman's hand forward in greeting: "These are warriors from the Great Japanese Empire; they have come today to congratulate us on our wedding. Today you must keep the noble guests company and drink a few cups with them." With that, he raised his cup: "Come, let this cup be a toast to the long prosperity of the Great Japanese Empire!"

  The words interrupted the Japanese who were staring at the bride with a dazed expression, but the interpreter, Jia Cheng, translated them and everyone reluctantly raised their glasses to drink. They really cared about the fate of Great Japan after all; if the military fortunes didn't last long, they would be the ones to die.

  "This is the second cup, wishing the great Emperor of Japan good fortune like the East Sea and longevity compared to Mount Nan." Everyone had no choice but to finish another cup.

  "This is the third cup..." Before he could finish, a Japanese officer interrupted him, "Hachiko, why are you always the one giving toasts? Your bride hasn't said a word." The Japanese officer was worried that his capacity for liquor wasn't up to par and that after another cup he would be drunk. He hadn't even hugged this beautiful bride of his yet, so he hastily interrupted Mei Huan-yu's toast, lest he say something that couldn't be taken back. There were many people from the Japanese imperial family present, all of whom had to be toasted individually.

  Mei Huan-yu saw that his plan had failed, and with a flicker of his eyes, he said to the woman: "Then you can pour a few cups of wine for these gentlemen." At this time, he had already discovered that the one who looked like Lei San's wife was not his own wife, but just wore makeup and felt a bit similar. After a while, he had already figured it out. With this worry put aside, he immediately became more clever and resourceful.

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