Half an hour earlier.
The Red Sleeve Brothel occupied lakeside space by the Pool of Accumulated Water, at the northern end of the third alley beyond Headline Alley. It enclosed waterfront areas to construct numerous flower pavilions, each housing a courtesan of highest repute. Eighteen such pavilions stood connected by wooden bridges, yet spaced sufficiently apart to ensure sounds from one couldn't reach another.
These eighteen floating pavilions were the brothel's signature feature.
For patrons wishing discretion, they could forgo the bridges and instead take curtained boats directly from shore to their chosen courtesan's pavilion. This clandestine approach, reminiscent of secret liaisons, offered its own peculiar charm.
Though exorbitantly priced, the eighteen pavilions were rarely vacant, hosting nightly revelries.
Merchants felt no need for such secrecy—public extravagance served to flaunt their wealth. Thus the pavilions primarily catered to high-ranking officials avoiding public scrutiny or scions of strict aristocratic households. Their visits weren't solely for carnal pleasures; often they convened here to discuss factional struggles and political exchanges.
This formed an unspoken understanding among men: dining and drinking were mere preludes. True camaraderie was forged through sharing beds—and sometimes courtesans.
After all, with few opportunities to bond through military service, shared debauchery proved swifter and more practical for building connections. All fellowship blossomed upon these women.
What these officials never anticipated was that this seemingly safest haven was in fact the most perilous.
At the pavilions' center stood a two-story building housing Wen Si Niang, the madam. Eighteen bridges radiated outward like veins, through which she greedily sucked not only the girls' youth and bitter tears, but also intelligence.
Late into the stormy night, as patrons and courtesans slept soundly, Wen Si Niang's residence remained brightly lit behind heavy window drapes.
The still-alluring madam held a secret missive in her right hand and a vial of pills in her left. After reading, she burned the letter to ashes over a candle flame. "Since joining the White Lotus Sect," she murmured, "I knew this day would come. I only regret dying with ambitions unfulfilled and the Ming dynasty still standing."
A messenger presented a bundle. "The sect leader says your identity as Branch Leader is exposed. The entire Pool of Accumulated Water is surrounded by imperial troops. Escape with him is impossible now. He asks you to precede him to the World of Eternal Bliss. One day, he shall reunite with you there for eternal companionship."
"The sect leader ordered me to deliver this, vowing that when the White Lotus establishes its kingdom and he ascends the throne, you will be posthumously honored as empress. As the sect's most crucial Branch Leader, you remain his most beloved woman."
With trembling hands, Wen Si Niang unwrapped the bundle to reveal a deep blue Pheasant Robe. Unfolded, it displayed 148 pairs of embroidered pheasants.
This was the formal attire of a Ming empress—the most severe transgression imaginable.
She donned the robe and twirled before her mirror, her eyes sparkling with girlish delight.
"The sect leader prepared this for your future enthronement," the messenger explained. "Unfortunately, the nine-dragon-nine-phoenix crown remains unfinished. He promises to inter it in your cenotaph upon completion.""This is enough." Wen Si Niang traced the golden-threaded divine birds embroidered on the Pheasant Robe. "Had the sect leader not rescued me, recruited me into the White Lotus Sect, and provided capital to open the Red Sleeve Brothel, I would still be a government slave exiled to the northwestern frontier—washing mountains of foul-smelling clothes for Ming soldiers by day, enduring the humiliation of being toyed with by brutish soldiers by night. I am willing to do anything for the sect leader. Why fear death?"
The messenger said, "This subordinate has completed the mission and will take the first step, awaiting the Branch Leader in the Pure Land."
With these words, the messenger drew a blade across his own throat. Blood sprayed from his neck as he collapsed, convulsing briefly before dying.
Wen Si Niang watched calmly until the messenger breathed his last, then pulled a cord hidden within the bed curtains. The cord ran beneath the floorboards, connecting to bells in the bedrooms of her eight subordinates.
Ding-ling!
A clear chime echoed from under the floor. The subordinates roused abruptly—three brothel attendants, two courtesans (one of whom was the newly elected Top Courtesan who had performed the Zhezhi Dance with Wei Caiwei on the decorated pleasure boat at the Pool of Accumulated Water), and three musicians. All eight were followers of the White Lotus Sect.
Wen Si Niang removed the Pheasant Robe and went downstairs. She emptied an entire bottle of white pills into a wine pot, shook it, and poured the contents into eight cups, waiting silently for her subordinates.
When all had gathered, they asked, "Why has the Branch Leader summoned us so late?"
"An urgent matter requires everyone's discussion." Wen Si Niang said, "You seem drowsy. Have a drink and some refreshments to clear your minds."
When the Branch Leader offered wine, the followers dared not refuse. They raised their cups in unison and began eating the pastries on the table.
The Top Courtesan wanted to eat something before drinking. As she picked up a water chestnut cake, a crimson drop suddenly appeared on its pale surface. Thinking her eyes deceived her, she touched it with her finger—warm, sticky, with a sweet metallic scent. It was blood.
Why would blood appear out of nowhere? While pondering, another warm drop fell on her jade-like arm.
The Top Courtesan looked up at the ceiling. Another drop fell, this time directly into her beautiful eye.
It was the blood of the self-executed messenger upstairs, seeping through the floorboards.
Covering her eye, she blinked as tears naturally flushed out the blood. When she finally reopened her eyes, she saw her seven companions—some collapsed on the floor, others slumped over tables—all bleeding from their orifices, already dead.
"Don't scream. Those who fear death cannot enter the Pure Land." The Branch Leader pressed a blade against the Top Courtesan's neck. "The sect leader ordered me to send you off personally."
The Top Courtesan retreated stiffly, moving like a wooden puppet. "You raised me, Branch Leader. I see you as my own mother. Since childhood, I've never disobeyed. I was willing to sell my skills, my smiles, even my body for you. But I don't want to die yet. I beg you to spare me—I won't breathe a word of this to anyone."A flicker of reluctance and struggle appeared in dian's eyes, "But you know the Junjun's identity and residence. If the Ming court learns of the Junjun's existence, they will surely place her under house arrest as a hostage to threaten the Great Khan. Therefore, the sect leader cannot allow the Junjun to fall into danger. The Junjun is the Great Khan's granddaughter—she must not come to harm. Otherwise, the White Lotus Sect will lose the Great Khan's support."
Hearing this, the Courtesan realized dian would not spare her. Driven by the instinct to survive, she bolted for the door. However, dian's blade was faster than her legs. With a single swing, the beauty's head fell to the ground.
dian gazed at the head rolling across the floor, closed his eyes, then reopened them, shaking his head with a sigh. "What a mess, blood everywhere. So troublesome."
He kicked the head under the luohan bed to hide it and dragged the headless corpse inside as well. A trail of blood streaked the floor. dian brought out a red carpet to cover the bloodstains and scattered an entire bottle of Western perfume throughout the room to mask the scent of blood.
Next, dian arranged the other seven who had died from poisoning into seated positions on chairs, tying ropes around their necks and waists to fasten them to the chairbacks. Each was positioned with their back to the main door, using headscarves or their own hair to conceal the ropes, creating the illusion of a group engaged in late-night discussions.
dian peered through the glass windows and door cracks into the building, still sensing some flaws in the setup. He extinguished all the lanterns, leaving only a dim oil lamp burning in the center of the table.
Now, the dead could feign life. The Embroidered Uniform Guard would only believe they were on the verge of victory, poised to wipe out the White Lotus Sect at the Red Sleeve Brothel in one fell swoop.
After completing these preparations, dian retrieved several standardized spherical bombs produced by the Wang Gong Factory from a hidden compartment on the second floor. He placed the bombs at the four corners of the room and beneath the table, gathering all the fuses at his own seat.
dian removed his outer robe, donning the Pheasant Robe—reserved exclusively for empresses—against his skin, then covered it with another robe to conceal the gleaming 148 pairs of pheasant motifs. He took the central seat facing the main door, sipping grape wine from a luminous cup and nibbling on pastries, using himself as bait while quietly awaiting the Embroidered Uniform Guard's entry into the trap.
This was Sect Leader Zhao Quan's final directive: they could not allow the Embroidered Uniform Guard to eliminate two Branch Leaders overnight. Otherwise, the followers of the White Lotus Sect would grow fearful and lose faith in both the sect leader and the sect itself.
Branch Leaders could die—they could simply select two new ones.
But the Embroidered Uniform Guard must pay a heavy price. Ideally, for every White Lotus Sect member lost, a guard would fall as well.
Only in this way could the followers' confidence be restored.
This was also why dian, despite having the chance to escape—even if it meant taking poison if intercepted by the guards along the way—chose to remain steadfast at the Red Sleeve Brothel.
Sect Leader Zhao Quan lived up to his reputation; his considerations were indeed thorough.
Meanwhile, after Lu Ying received the carrier pigeon from her father revealing that dian was the madam of the Red Sleeve Brothel, she immediately ordered all forces to surround the brothel by both land and water.
Ambushes were set up on the surface of the Pool of Accumulated Water and along the roadside. It was well known that the brothel's madam, Wen Si Niang, resided in the central building of the Eighteen Lake Towers.
Lu Ying peered through a Western telescope and could faintly make out a glimmer of light through the building's glass windows.
Wang Daxia, also observing, remarked, "This is the place. We'll dismantle the strategist's lair and take down dian in one sweep."Lu Ying said, "Sect Leader Zhao Quan is likely here. The Four Great Disciples are unaware of each other, so it's best to capture the sect leader alive. Only by apprehending him can we uproot the White Lotus Sect completely."
Wang Daxia said, "This building has two floors, with the underground level being the lake water, making underground passages impossible. Therefore, Zhao Quan must be on these two floors. My brothers skilled in climbing and I will use grappling hooks to scale to the rooftop, then attack through the windows. Commander Lu will lead the team to the first floor, and we'll strike from both above and below."
Lu Ying neither agreed nor disagreed, nodding and saying, "Proceed as you suggest."
Wang Daxia and the others changed into black night-clothes, threw grappling hooks to entangle the second-floor balcony railing, and then climbed up the ropes. Their movements were masked by the thunder and rain.
Once Wang Daxia and his team had all reached the second floor, Lu Ying led her team to surround the first floor, raising a battering ram to charge inside forcefully.
Just as Lu Ying was about to give the order to attack from both levels simultaneously, suddenly, deafening gunshots erupted from the shore of the Pool of Accumulated Water.
Lu Ying turned to look and saw a golden light charging straight toward them. A flash of lightning lit up the sky as bright as day, revealing her father Lu Bing riding an Akhal-Teke horse. In his hand, Lu Bing held a newly produced flintlock from Wang Gong Factory. This type of gun didn't require a lit match cord; instead, a spring inside the gun ignited the flint, making it waterproof and usable on a rainy night.
The earlier gunshot had been fired by Lu Bing as a warning.
Amid the thunder and lightning, Lu Bing saw his daughter and roared loudly, "Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"
The summer thunder rumbled loudly, and the heavy rain pounded the ground. Lu Ying couldn't hear what her father was shouting, but connected by their bond as father and daughter, they understood each other instinctively. Watching her father's lip movements, Lu Ying guessed his meaning and echoed, "Retreat! Retreat now!Hearing the commotion outside, the prince could no longer wait for the prey to fall into the trap and immediately lit the fuse.
On the second-floor balcony, Wang Daxia heard this and urgently called to his brothers, "There's no time to climb down! Everyone, jump into the lake!"
On the first floor, Lu Ying and her team ran toward the shore, while on the second floor, Wang Daxia and his team leaped into the water.
Just as Wang Daxia hit the water, several loud booms erupted, and the entire two-story lakeside building collapsed. Red sparks and black smoke shot upward, striking the rainy night sky.
Author's note: Brother Bing is awesome
OpenNovel