Liu Bei: My younger brother is a deity.

Zhang Fei led Liu Bei and Liu Quan through the front courtyard, around the screen wall, and into the east courtyard.

The liveliness here is different from that in the front yard.

The front yard is full of elders, so you have to be respectful in your speech and actions.

This side, however, was a world of teenagers, chattering and laughing, making a ruckus.

There were several tables in the courtyard, all of them were square low tables, about 20 centimeters high, and 2 meters long and wide, with thick straw mats on all four sides.

Liu Bei immediately recognized the pattern on the straw mat—it was a product from Liu's workshop, a mat woven in Lousang Village, which is now sold to every household in Zhuo County.

Seeing his own mat laid out at the Zhang family's birthday banquet, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Zhang Fei led Liu Bei and Liu Quan to a quiet table where there were few people.

He lifted the hem of his robe, about to sit down.

He turned his head and saw a person, and was immediately stunned.

Liu Quan, being perceptive, immediately noticed Zhang Fei's unusual behavior and turned his gaze to look at him.

At the east end of the table, a young boy was kneeling.

The boy was about fourteen or fifteen years old. He wore a light blue straight-hemmed robe, a red silk sash around his waist, and a small crown on his head. He was dressed neatly and cleanly.

But Liu Quan's eyesight was so sharp that he saw through the flaw in just one glance.

The collar was slightly open, revealing a section of fair, smooth neck without an Adam's apple.

There was a small needle mark on her earlobe; even though she wasn't wearing any earrings, the mark was still there.

Those hands were slender, fair, and delicate, with inconspicuous knuckles; they were clearly the hands of a woman.

A woman dressed as a man?

Who is this person?

The girl was quite generous, kneeling casually on the mat with one leg crossed, thankfully her clothes concealed her "secrets".

In any case, she had absolutely no ladylike reserve.

She was holding a bowl of wine, sipping it casually, but her bright eyes were darting between Liu Bei and Liu Quan.

Two boys, both around eight or nine years old, were kneeling beside the girl. They were fair-skinned, well-dressed, and bore a resemblance to the girl.

The two of them sat upright, but their expressions were somewhat apprehensive. They would steal glances at the girl next to them from time to time, their eyes full of caution.

Zhang Fei finally came to his senses.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and was about to call out, "Big Sister—"

"Um?"

The girl gave a soft hum.

Zhang Fei had only uttered half a sound of the word "sister" when he swallowed it back and quickly corrected himself.

"Big brother, what are you doing here?"

[PS: In the Han Dynasty, the term "姐" was generally used instead of "姐". The eldest sister was not called "大姐" but "伯姊" or "长姊". The author uses "姐" here for convenience.]

The girl put down her wine bowl, looked at him with a half-smile, and said slowly, "Why can't I be here? I'm a child too."

As she said this, there was a hint of mischief in her tone, and her eyes curved into crescent moons.

Zhang Fei opened his mouth, as if to say, "How can a woman sit at the same table as a man?"

Although the separation of men and women is not as strictly enforced as it was during the Ming and Qing dynasties, basic taboos still exist, one of which is that men and women do not sit together.

In fact, the concept of "etiquette" was invented not only for its norms and sense of ritual, but also to avoid awkward situations.

For example, the rule that men and women should not sit together is an example of this.

Banquets inevitably involve drinking, and when people are in high spirits, they may become unruly. This unruly behavior can easily lead to improper sitting posture, which can easily result in accidental exposure.

After all, the "hakama" that people wore daily at that time was actually open-crotch pants, and both men and women wore this thing.

Men exposing their "penis" to each other is usually just a laughing matter, but it would be awkward if men and women exposed themselves to each other.

In fact, trousers with a crotch already existed during this period. Their design was similar to modern trousers, and they were mostly worn by soldiers and the poor. They were called "big trousers" or "trousers" and were convenient for riding horses, fighting, and working.

During the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han, in order to control the harem, General Huo Guang ordered palace maids to wear "poor pants" with a crotch, which were tied at the front and back with straps to prevent them from having affairs with others.

After that, trousers with a crotch gradually became popular in the palace.

However, when Emperor Ling ascended the throne, well, that is, the current emperor, this tradition was changed back.

Because he was extremely lewd, he would take any beautiful woman he fancied in the harem and have sex with her.

For convenience, the palace women were made to wear open-crotch pants again.

In fact, since Shusun Tong established the norms of etiquette, this era has been complete in terms of all kinds of etiquette.

However, the powerful and wealthy during the Han and Tang dynasties did not actually abide by the so-called "rites," especially regarding the separation of men and women. The higher up they went, the more casual they became, while the lower class did not care at all. Only the middle class followed the rules.

for example:

During the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, the emperor once visited the Shanglin Garden.

During this trip, there were few attendants; only Minister Zhi Du followed behind the emperor.

While they were enjoying themselves, Emperor Jing suddenly ordered Zhi Du to summon his beloved concubine, Jia Ji.

What was Jacqueline doing at this moment?

I'm pooping in the toilet.

Zhi Du naturally felt it was rather inconvenient to call Jia Ji, who was "relieving herself" at the time, and refused.

But Emperor Jing of Han was very unhappy.

Later generations commented: "For an imperial princess to be residing in such a filthy place, to send a courtier to personally inspect her, is this not frivolous and disrespectful?"

See? Even the emperor didn't care about the separation between men and women.

Not to mention the Tang Dynasty, did emperors ever steal their brothers' women? Did they ever steal their sons' women?

All of the above is nothing!

I, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, took my own father's woman as a concubine.

As for keeping mistresses and lovers, the number is countless.

After the Song Dynasty, especially after the Southern Song Dynasty, due to the popularity of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, the separation between men and women became stricter.

It gradually became distorted during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Closer to home.

As for Liu Bei, when he heard Zhang Fei call that "young man" "elder brother," he assumed that the young man was indeed Zhang Fei's elder brother.

He straightened his clothes, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully: "I am Liu Bei, from Lousang Village, Zhuo County. This is my cousin, Liu Quan. Greetings, Elder Brother Zhang."

A hint of a smile flashed in the girl's eyes when she saw Liu Bei bowing solemnly.

He followed the man's example, clasping his hands in return and saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

After the girl finished bowing, her gaze fell on Liu's entire body.

Once you see it, you don't move it.

Just now, Liu Quan was standing behind Liu Bei, half of his body was blocked, and she could only see a handsome profile.

At this moment, Liu Quan stepped forward, and she finally saw the boy's full appearance, exclaiming in her heart, "Incredible!"

Ah Fei's friend is really good-looking.

Although she was dressed in ordinary blue cloth and had no other decorations, her unparalleled charm was impossible to conceal.

The more the girl looked at it, the more pleasing it seemed to her, and her eyebrows unconsciously curved upwards.

At the same time, Liu Quan was also looking at her.

But what was on his mind was a completely different idea.

His gaze swept down the girl's face, past her neck, shoulders, and waist, unhurriedly, as if he were looking at an object or assessing the quality of a horse.

The girl was quite beautiful, but that wasn't what Liu Quan cared about.

He thought that although the woman was not old, her figure was already taking shape, and she had a good body, which was perfect for childbearing.

He touched his chest; those one hundred high-quality human genes were his obsession.

In this era, it was impossible to create a breeding tank; they could only reproduce using the bodies of human women.

The woman in front of me is quite suitable.