Long ago, Lu Hongli had heard that there were four great joys in life.
A long-awaited rain after a drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the wedding night, and passing the imperial examination with flying colors.
After today, he thought that apart from passing the imperial examination, he had experienced all three great joys.
And he has an even more joyous occasion today than passing the imperial examination.
He's going to take over the Hongyun Gang.
The Hongyun Gang used to be the Liao family's clan gang. The Liao family had been pirates for generations, but it wasn't this large before.
His life was saved by Liao Yuan.
When Liao Yuan was starving and on the verge of death, he gave Liao Yuan a bowl of rice porridge. After he recovered, he recognized Liao Yuan as his sworn brother and decided to follow him for the rest of his life.
So he did whatever Liao Yuan asked him to do in the past, and never considered vying for power or profit.
Of course, Liao Yuan was a very loyal person and never treated him unfairly, promoting him to be the second-in-command.
He was very grateful, and even understood and supported Liao Yuan's decision to hand over the Hongyun Gang to Qiu Sanniang instead of him before his death.
Qiu San Niang, however, disappointed him.
He was so infatuated with that pretty boy that he forgot his promise to observe mourning and even conspired with others to drug him, causing him to suffer from festering sores.
Qian San is right. Women can't live without men. Qiu San Niang has taken a liking to an outsider, so naturally she'll side with him.
But the Hongyuan Gang doesn't belong to her alone, and he can't just stand by and watch her change the gang's surname.
Only if he becomes the gang leader can the Hongyuan Gang be preserved.
So he devised a plan and imprisoned Qiu Sanniang.
At first, he only wanted to switch their positions, but then he thought that after she was freed, she might turn against him, and the Hongyun Gang might end up splitting in two.
The best solution is for him to marry her.
Let her be a virtuous wife, just like Liao Yuan was when he was alive.
With that, the Hongyun Gang would have no more worries.
He knew it was somewhat immoral, but they were pirates after all, and they had done illegal things like burning, killing, and looting, so what did it matter if they violated a little morality?
He and Liao Yuan are not blood brothers.
Even among brothers, there was a custom in ancient times where the younger brother would marry after the elder brother's death.
It is only natural for him to marry San Niang.
Thinking about what he was about to announce and their wedding night, he couldn't stop smiling.
Even if Third Sister is not willing to marry him now, once she becomes his woman, her heart will eventually be with him.
The path from the house to the hall was short, but to prolong this happy moment, Lu Hongli had someone walk around the island.
When we returned to the auditorium, the setting sun was shining down, filling the entire hall with golden light.
Bathed in golden light, he and his bride bowed to heaven and earth, to the sea god, and to each other as the master of ceremonies chanted.
He didn't notice that there was only one maidservant helping the bride to the wedding ceremony.
After the wedding ceremony, he didn't rush to send the bride to the bridal chamber. Instead, he took her hand, stood on the platform, looked at the banquet below and in the distance, cleared his throat, and said loudly:
"Thank you all for coming to my and San Niang's wedding banquet. Today is a day of double happiness for me. In addition to the wedding, I have another piece of good news to announce..."
"Wait a minute!"
A clear female voice interrupted him.
Everyone, including Lu Hongli, looked in the direction of the sound and saw a dashing figure walking from the very end of the banquet hall.
"Second Master had better make it clear that the Third Sister you married is not me, the gang leader, or people might misunderstand."
The guests and their followers at the banquet were stunned.
"It wasn't the First and Second Leaders who got married?"
"We have two Third Sisters in our gang? Who's the other one? I've never heard of her before."
"The invitation from the Hongyun Gang lists Lu Hongli and Qiu Sanniang, right? What's going on?"
"..."
Lu Hongli's face turned deathly pale.
He ripped off the bride's red veil and was shocked to find that she was the maid he had arranged for Qiu San Niang to accompany her in her dowry.
He was momentarily flustered, not knowing how Qiu Sanniang had regained her mobility and escaped.
But when he realized that the people maintaining order at the scene were all his men, he quickly calmed down.
He smiled slightly at Qiu San Niang: "San Niang, you're being naughty again, playing hide-and-seek with me on such a joyous occasion."
Qiu San Niang also smiled.
"It's getting late, let's hurry and get the bride and groom to their bridal chamber."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Hongli felt a sudden soreness in the back of his neck.
He turned his head away and saw that the maidservant was holding the bride with one arm and grabbing his collar with the other.
He didn't have time to react before he passed out.
After the bride and groom were led off the stage by Xiao Qingyin, Qiu Sanniang clapped her hands and said, "Everyone, eat and drink well, let's drink until we're drunk!"
The guests: "..."
I feel like I understand something, but I also feel like I don't.
Seeing Lu Hongli being knocked unconscious and taken away, Qian San, who was sitting in the front row of the banquet, realized that his gang members who were guarding the sidelines wanted to rush in but were restrained. He knew something was wrong, so he shrank back and left his seat, trying to sneak away from the banquet.
I had only taken a few steps when someone grabbed my arm.
"Third Master, you want to go to the purification room, right? I'll take you there."
A tall, burly gang member grabbed his arm and said.
Qian San tried to shout.
But then he felt something sharp pressing against his waist.
He immediately shut his mouth and obediently followed the gang members out of the banquet.
He and Lu Hongli were both taken to the same place.
The disciplinary hall within the gang.
This is where gang members who violate gang rules are punished on a regular basis.
Some people are weeping bitterly here, some are being beaten, and some are losing their heads.
Qian San felt that he was very likely to be the last one.
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