Hung Long Tom was to be favored by the gods but soon dark clouds commenced to scurry across the sky and there came a downpour of misery. For the Mandarin had decided that Lotus Blossom was old enough to marry. It is always good to get a girl safely off one's hands. He went about plans for the nuptials without consulting his daughter in any manner whatsoever. It was no concern of hers whom she was to marry. Such matters were best dealt with by her father. Her brain capacity was too limited to be capable of a worthy choosing.
And it so happened in one of the Northern Provinces above the Mongolian border there was a Mandarin even wealthier and more renowned than the father of Lotus Blossom. His estates were limitless. He had money invested in business enterprises in the four corners of the world. He too was a collector of gems though he was also a collector of women. Numerous were the concubines in his establishment. But for his legal wife he was indulgent
enough to choose the graceful Lotus
