How did Jin Ying transform herself into a noble county lady in An Da Khan’s court? And how was she exposed by Ding Wu?
This story begins with the Brocade Guard’s simultaneous raids on two White Lotus Sect hideouts in a single night.
After Sect Master Zhao Quan escaped through the underground tunnel, the White Lotus fishermen who came to meet him put shoes on their hands and used both hands and feet to crawl to the riverside fishing boat, deliberately leaving two sets of footprints to lead Lu Ying and the others to chase after the boat.
In reality, the sect master never boarded the boat. He immediately changed into civilian clothes prepared for escape, wearing a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat, with a night watchman’s wooden clapper hanging from his body, disguising himself as a night watchman. He headed east, walking from Jishui Pond to a civilian residence under the Desheng Bridge at Shichahai.
Since the Brocade Guard and the Northern City Military Commission had deployed most of their forces around Jishui Pond to close the net, there were few soldiers patrolling Shichahai. Sect Master Zhao Quan, disguised as a night watchman, encountered no soldiers blocking his path along the way.
Zhao Quan didn’t knock on the front door but went to the back door, counting the blue bricks on the courtyard wall one by one until he found a hidden movable brick. He pressed the mechanism, and a small door appeared in the wall, just wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. Zhao Quan removed his bamboo hat and slipped through like a loach.
This courtyard was the former residence of Jin Ying, the courtesan of the Red Sleeves Pavilion.
Jin Ying and her fiancé cousin awakened in the middle of the night to receive Zhao Quan.
Jin Ying was the daughter of Zheheng Aha, chief of the Qilagu tribe, and one of his consorts, Lady Zhuoluos. “Zhuoluos” meant “forest people”—they had once been royalty of the grasslands and had even married daughters of Genghis Khan, possessing noble bloodlines.
Her fiancé was the son of the chief of the Ordos tribe. Both tribes submitted to An Da Khan.
The Central Plains allowed only one primary wife, but grassland tribal chiefs could marry several wives of equal status. The tribes intermarried with each other, so Jin Ying and Duosi were cousins according to Central Plains kinship systems, betrothed since childhood.
Jin Ying grew up in the Qilagu tribe. Her mother, Lady Zhuoluos, died early, but she had Central Plains tutors from childhood. She had a strong interest in the outside world and was unwilling to marry some man and become one of his wives like her sisters. She yearned to see the world beyond the grasslands. It so happened that another consort of her father—a daughter of An Da Khan—believed in the White Lotus Sect and brought her to listen to the sect master preach and perform magic, encouraging her to “join the sect to avoid calamity.”
The White Lotus Sect had risen during the Southern Song Dynasty, persisting through the Yuan and Ming dynasties with continuous followers. Though their main temples were repeatedly destroyed, they always revived like grass in spring, quickly recovering large numbers of believers because they had self-created scriptures and a complete theoretical system for deceiving the masses, making them extremely effective at bewitching people’s hearts.
Among their teachings, preaching about calamities was the White Lotus Sect’s most important method. “Jie” referred to great disasters and catastrophes—apocalyptic tribulations from heaven. “Nan” referred to warfare, famine, fires, plagues, and even women’s difficult childbirth. The only way to deal with these calamities was to join the White Lotus Sect and dedicate oneself and one’s wealth to it—this was called “joining the sect to avoid calamity.”
If believers survived great disasters, it was attributed to the merit of joining the White Lotus Sect. For example, Jin Ying’s adoptive mother, the princess, had survived a difficult childbirth. She believed the White Lotus Sect had saved her life and her child’s, so she became even more devout and introduced her favorite stepdaughter Jin Ying to the sect.
If believers died from illness or violence, it was said they weren’t devout enough and had failed to avoid calamity.
In short, whenever good things happened, it was all due to the White Lotus Sect—the so-called “joining the sect to avoid calamity.” If bad things occurred, it was all the believers’ own fault for not being devout enough, having nothing to do with the White Lotus Sect.
Jin Ying held a noble position and was beautiful. Sect Master Zhao Quan intended to use her to expand the White Lotus Sect’s influence beyond the borders, so he deliberately claimed she had a connection with the sect, saying she carried the bloodline of the Supreme Mother, and appointed her as the White Lotus Sect’s Saint.
The White Lotus Sect had its own spiritual worldview divided into three levels. The first level was the Supreme Mother, namely Goddess Nüwa. Their precious scrolls recorded: “Ancient Buddha appeared to pacify heaven and earth, Supreme Mother established the primordial heaven.” Nüwa created humans and was the lord of creation.
The second level consisted of the Dipankara Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, and Maitreya Buddha—three messengers sent by the Supreme Mother (Nüwa) to the human world to save humanity. White Lotus Sect Master Zhao Quan claimed to be the reincarnation of Dipankara Buddha.
The third level included Buddhist, Taoist, and even Confucian figures like Confucius, as well as characters from dramas and novels like Sun Wukong—all were third-level deities.
Anyone with even a slight understanding of Buddhism, Taoism, or Confucianism could see how absurd and laughable the White Lotus Sect’s core three-level divine hierarchy was—it couldn’t withstand the slightest scrutiny.
However, for the world’s lowest class, most numerous, illiterate common people, the White Lotus Sect’s doctrines were easy to understand and matched their imagination and understanding of the spiritual world. Therefore, no matter how the imperial court suppressed and persecuted them, there were always followers, endlessly regenerating.
Jin Ying, having received a good education from childhood, naturally didn’t believe nonsense about Nüwa’s bloodline or joining the sect to escape calamity, nor was she interested in the position of White Lotus Saint. However, she couldn’t resist the temptation of having a legitimate reason to see the outside world.
As a grassland woman, women’s status was similar to that of cattle and sheep—they were tribal property. As the White Lotus Saint, Jin Ying could serve both the White Lotus Sect and An Da Khan, traveling thousands of miles to carry out intelligence-gathering missions in the Ming Dynasty, thus delaying her wedding to avoid marrying and bearing children early like her sisters.
At fourteen, Jin Ying came to the Red Sleeves Pavilion in the capital, stunning everyone with a whirling dance and becoming the courtesan, beginning her career as a female spy. Her wedding was postponed again and again until her Ordos fiancé could bear it no longer and repeatedly went to the White Lotus Sect’s main temple in Fengcheng to demand his fiancée’s return.
The Ordos tribe was powerful, their lineage tracing back to Genghis Khan’s Golden Family era. After Genghis Khan’s death, his relics were placed in eight white tents—the pronunciation of “white tents” was “Ordos.” The Ordos family had guarded these spirit tents for generations, famous as Genghis Khan’s tomb guardians.
An Da Khan was a descendant of the Golden Family, so the Ordos tribe’s support was crucial. To appease this tribe, An Da Khan also demanded that Zhao Quan quickly recall his granddaughter Jin Ying.
Under pressure from both sides, Zhao Quan had no choice but to send a message by carrier pigeon to the **Palace—that is, the Red Sleeves Pavilion’s madam—instructing her to use the pretext of selling Jin Ying’s first night to let Jin Ying redeem herself, withdraw from the White Lotus Sect, and hurry back to marry.
Jin Ying and the madam were both acting out the drama of a vicious procuress forcing a courtesan to sell her body, but the naive Wang Daxia didn’t know this! Jin Ying’s words about yearning for someone to save her from the dusty life and gain freedom were just playacting, but Wang Daxia believed them. He sold his deceased mother’s dowry fields and borrowed money to redeem Jin Ying.
The Ordos fiancé, worried that the sect master might find excuses to delay again, simply traveled thousands of miles to the capital together with the sect master to personally take his fiancée away, not wanting any more complications—though the grasslands didn’t value women’s chastity as much as the Central Plains did, the fiancé didn’t want Jin Ying working in a brothel, even as a singing girl who didn’t sell her body!
So the fiancé actually arrived in the capital around the same time as the sect master. The fiancé went to Shichahai to find his fiancée Jin Ying and repay the redemption money to the Wang family. The sect master went to the Wanhuo Trading Company on Toutiao Alley, planning to take the firearms that had recently been moved bit by bit from the Royal Gunpowder Factory and return with them.
They agreed to travel together back to Fengcheng after completing their respective business, but unexpectedly, the sect master’s side was targeted by the Brocade Guard. Like catching a turtle in a jar, only the sect master alone escaped.
The sect master sought refuge with Jin Ying and the others, immediately preparing the ceremonial robes, farewell letter, and poison that had long been ready, having a messenger deliver them to the Red Sleeves Pavilion at Jishui Pond, ordering the **Palace to commit suicide. This served two purposes: first, to cut off the arm to save the body and preserve the White Lotus Sect; second, to protect Jin Ying’s special identity as a county lady in the Khan’s court.
When the deafening explosion sounded at Jishui Pond, all those in the know were silenced, and the sect master knew their group was safe.
The next day, wanted posters for the sect master were pasted throughout the city, but Sect Master Zhao Quan disguised himself as a woman, pretending to be a rough servant woman, and left the city with Jin Ying and the others—the fiancé had entered the city disguised as a Western Regions merchant caravan, and they had a complete set of genuine travel documents, so their departure faced no obstacles.
Just as the sect master successfully left the city, the Brocade Guard was still searching for him like finding a needle in a haystack within the capital. Little did they know the biggest fish had already escaped.
When the caravan reached Fengcheng, the sect master returned to the White Lotus Sect’s main temple to continue as sect master, while issuing a death warrant for Wu Dianyong, the traitorous leader who had betrayed the White Lotus Sect. He offered a substantial reward: whoever killed Wu Dianyong would receive a thousand taels of silver and be granted the position of leader.
After about a month, someone finally took up the death warrant and brought the living Wu Dianyong to the White Lotus Sect’s main temple.
It was the familiar face of Ding Wu.
Although news of Ding Rukui’s death from illness in prison, Ding Wu being suspected of White Lotus connections, falling into a desperate situation with everyone turning against him, and mysteriously disappearing just before being sent back home had all reached the White Lotus Sect in Fengcheng, the sect master was initially half-doubtful about the defecting Ding Wu.
It wasn’t until Wu Dianyong cursed Ding Wu for being faithless, treating him as a fool, using his escape routes to reach Fengcheng, yet harboring the vicious intention of burning bridges and selling out friends for glory, that the sect master believed Ding Wu.
Because the defecting Ding Wu had relied on Wu Dianyong’s bottom-line skills and endured countless hardships to reach Fengcheng. Like Sun Wukong’s journey to obtain scriptures—without eighty-one trials, his “sincerity” in defecting would be insufficient.
Moreover, Ding Wu was the son of former War Minister Ding Rukui. Such a person betraying the Ming Dynasty and joining the White Lotus Sect demonstrated the sect’s power of conversion. Therefore, the sect master killed Wu Dianyong, using his head to honor the spirits of the **Palace and other believers, appointed Ding Wu as the new leader, and brought him to the Khan’s court to claim merit and rewards from An Da Khan.
Ding Wu’s defection was undoubtedly a severe slap in the face to the Ming Dynasty. An Da Khan warmly welcomed Ding Wu, granting him official position, a mansion, and servants.
Ding Wu kowtowed in gratitude for the rewards, but after leaving, he saw Jin Ying entering An Da Khan’s great tent!
Seeing Ding Wu’s surprised expression, Sect Master Zhao Quan proudly told him about Jin Ying’s background and her past as a White Lotus Saint: “…The Saint withdrew to return to secular life and prepare for marriage. Then immediately you, this new leader, arrived. Our White Lotus Sect has abundant talent, endlessly flourishing.”
Ding Wu was greatly shocked and immediately wrote a secret letter, having the Brocade Guard’s sleeper agent in Fengcheng deliver it to the capital immediately.
Upon seeing Ding Wu’s secret letter, Wang Daxia felt as if someone had slapped him hard across the face from afar. At first, he instinctively denied it: “Impossible! Could they just look similar? Or are they twins? Yes, that’s how novels write it—they must be twins separated in childhood.”
But Lu Bing’s response brought Wang Daxia back to harsh reality: “Her name is Jin Ying, actually meaning Golden Eagle. Eagles are tools used by grassland hunters for hunting. They’re trained from the moment they hatch from their shells, in a process called ‘taming eagles.’ A well-trained eagle, when released to hunt, will return to perch on its master’s shoulder after completing the hunt—absolutely loyal.”
“Jin Ying was the Saint who helped the White Lotus **Palace gather intelligence. As the courtesan of Red Sleeves Pavilion, who knows how much intelligence she extracted from the Ming Dynasty over the years. It’s just that because of her special status as a county lady, she sold her charm but not her body. Her so-called borrowing money from you for redemption and leading a virtuous life was merely an excuse because her wedding was approaching and she had to return to fulfill her marriage contract.”
“She was an eagle hunting for intelligence, yet you borrowed money to redeem her. If you hadn’t joined the Brocade Guard and we didn’t understand you, we might very well have suspected you of collaborating with foreign enemies and secretly joining the White Lotus Sect.”
Both treason and White Lotus membership were crimes severe enough to result in the extermination of his entire family. Wang Daxia unknowingly had walked through the gates of hell. While feeling fortunate, a sense of being deceived and humiliated poured cold water over his head—he had nearly brought destruction upon himself.
Seeing his state, Lu Bing refrained from further criticism and said: “I believe in you. You originally intended to do good and save someone from the dusty life—who could have known you’d encounter a snake like the farmer in the fable? Fortunately, this snake didn’t have time to bite before we drove it away. Remember this lesson: doing good deeds and accumulating virtue is admirable, but in the future, you must investigate the other party’s background thoroughly. I’ll cover for you in this matter, but there cannot be a second time. This must be your first and last time making such a mistake.”
Author’s Note: An Da Khan (borrowing a line from Journey to the West: “Old Monkey Sun calls you—do you dare answer?”) rounds off to just “An Da”—doesn’t this make it easy to remember? An Da Khan is simply a tribal confederation leader (Khan) named An Da.
Also, in the previous chapter, “Chen Mama” appeared. My long-time readers all know what this means—the Ming Dynasty called menstrual cloths “Chen Mama.” However, I didn’t consider new readers and failed to annotate this in the text, which was my oversight. So I’ve added explanations in both this chapter and the previous one to help everyone understand the plot.
Ming Dynasty writer Feng Menglong’s “Double Heroes Record – Message Through Barbarian Ship”: “[Young actor] There are also two scarves. [Female voice] They’re gone too, used as Chen Mama.”
“Awakening Marriage Destinies” Chapter 65: “Opening the third drawer… there were also two or three ‘Guangdong things,’ two pieces of ‘Chen Mama,’ and a white silk wrapped package.”
After Jin Ying’s infiltration, Ding Wu infiltrates—everyone is infiltrating each other.