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J \ Taking a Concubine by Force Ruan paced the floor in his study and thought things over for a long time. Then, he suddenly raised his thick eyebrows and rolled his eyeballs as if he had found a n answer. He half smiled to himself and then burst out laughing loudly, heaving his fat body so much that he fell into his chair. He murmured to himself, nodding his head as he did so, 'It is easy to deal with these bookworms. It is easy . . .' Just a t tha t momen t hi s servan t entere d t o announc e th e arriva l o f Yan g Longyou. He instructed the servant to sweep away the pieces of the gazette which he had just torn and went out to greet Yang. Bowing and saluting Yang came in and said sheepishly, 'Yesterday, Ma personally recommended you to Prince Fu, but the Prince prevaricated and said he needed to consult the Cabinet Ministers Shi, Gao and Jiang personally this morning befor e he could make his decision. This morning old Jiang presented a huge pile of petitions from variou s officials opposin g your reinstatement, s o the Princ e was obliged t o disallow Ma's suggestion.' Ruan waved his hand and said, 'No more balderdash from you! I shan't forget this!' At th e tim e Captain Zhu' s arrival was announced. A s Yang knew that the y needed to speak in privacy and it would be inconvenient for him to stay, he took his leave and went to the Home of Enchanting Fragrance. It will be recalled that Governor Tian Yang had wanted to forcibly tak e th e Perfumed Lad y as his concubine. This matter caused a great rupture between th e young girl and her foster mother . Since Hou's departure, the Perfumed Lady had decided to give up her livelihood The Peach Blossom Fan in a house of ill repute. Spending her days alone in the Home, she was not eve n prepared t o keep the company o f male visitors in poetry, calligraphy, music or a game of chess. Several time s Purit y pressed her, bu t sh e raised a pandemoniu m and threatened to go into a nunnery. There was nothing Purity could do but dismiss her servants, economize on her expenses, shut the doors and draw the bolts. Thus, Purity waited and searched for a suitable man to marry the Perfumed Lady . If she could obtain a good price, she would purchase one or two better girls and start her occupation afresh . Unfortunately, fro m th e Tent h Moo n o f las t yea r unti l now , non e o f th e attempts at matchmaking had been successful. As Purity was a registered brothe l keeper and thus came under the control of the Sub-Magistrate in her district, she was not permitted t o live outside the Old Quarters. She wa s unabl e t o remov e th e signboar d bearin g th e word s 'Hom e o f Enchanting Fragrance', nor was she willing to carry on her old trade. It was therefore inevitable tha t som e people woul d com e an d caus e trouble . Fortunately, Purit y was ordinaril y a big-hearte d perso n an d ha d a wid e circl e o f acquaintances . Furthermore, she had the support of a number of influential officials suc h as Yang Longyou, so nothing very much happened. Bu t in this period of time, there ha d been many occasions which caused her much irritation. So this time, when Yang acted a s th e matchmake r an d propose d tha t th e Perfume d Lad y b e give n t o Governor Tia n Yan g a s a concubin e fo r a thousan d tael s o f silver , Purit y wa s overjoyed. I n her view, that was a chance in a million, so she put pressure on th e Perfumed Lad y to consent. This morning Yang sent a message. It said that the fifteenth da y of the Fift h Moon ha d bee n selecte d a s an auspiciou s day, and irrespectiv e o f the Perfume d Lady's willingness or refusal, a sedan chair from the Governor's yamen would arrive to take her...

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