Bailu Temple was actually a place where Prince Jing’s mansion secretly harbored death warriors – a sharp blade for Prince Jing’s future bid for the throne. Located on Fucheng Gate Street, with the Purple Forbidden City’s Xian’an Gate at the street’s end, it would be perfectly positioned to seize the imperial throne when the time came. With the temple’s facade as cover, the death warriors normally presented themselves as Taoist priests.

After Prince Jing went to his principality, they continued to remain in the capital and received an extremely secret mission: kill Prince Yu, then frame the White Lotus Sect.

Besides this, Eunuch Wei from Prince Jing’s mansion had given the death warriors a minor task: kill Wei Caiwei.

First, Wei Caiwei had publicly refuted him on Qionghua Island, preventing the search for beauties and causing Eunuch Wei to lose face completely.

Second, Wei Caiwei seemed to have gained the favor of the new palace favorite Noble Lady Shang. Since Prince Jing’s mansion and Wei Caiwei had already formed a grudge over the search incident, if Wei Caiwei later used Noble Lady Shang’s influence to oppose Prince Jing’s mansion, that would be troublesome. Better to eliminate this hidden threat quickly by framing the White Lotus Sect – killing two birds with one stone.

Third, Wei Caiwei’s former lover and protector Wang Daxia had already thrown himself into Lu Ying’s embrace – Eunuch Wei had seen this with his own eyes at the Lu mansion. So killing Wei Caiwei wouldn’t provoke Wang Daxia’s investigation and revenge.

Moreover, killing Wei Caiwei first could serve as practice for the death warriors.

Initially, the death warriors’ plan had proceeded smoothly. They had privately printed White Lotus Sect scriptures disguised with covers of “Complete Tang Poetry,” hidden them under the carriage seats, and successfully deceived Wei Caiwei into boarding the carriage, planning to transport her to the outskirts to kill her.

But they never expected Wei Caiwei to think of boring through the floor to release blood as a warning. The kidnapping failed, and the carriage driver’s face was exposed, leading to a city-wide manhunt.

After the carriage driver’s failed operation, his portrait was posted everywhere in the capital with rewards offered. He had been hiding in Bailu Temple for over a month, not daring to go out for fear of being discovered.

Having been cooped up in the temple for over a month, the carriage driver was going stir-crazy. It wasn’t until the recent dust storms that pedestrians wore eye gauze and face cloths when going out, concealing their true appearances so that people standing face to face couldn’t recognize each other.

The other death warriors from Bailu Temple had all gone out to track Prince Yu, planning the assassination, with no one supervising the carriage driver.

Feeling it should be safe now with no one watching him, the carriage driver seized the opportunity to go out. He hadn’t touched a woman in almost two months and wanted to find a prostitute to sleep with before returning to the temple. In this dust storm weather, he could simply wear eye gauze throughout – prostitutes only cared about money, not people, and had no interest in what their customers looked like.

As soon as he stepped out of his room, his eye gauze became dusty. Seeing a stall selling eye gauze at the temple entrance, the carriage driver went over to buy new ones.

He unexpectedly hit it off with the female stall owner.

After being abstinent for so long, even a sow would look pretty, let alone when the stall owner was exactly the carriage driver’s favorite type: big chest, sweet voice, and versed in romance.

So the carriage driver offered three taels of silver to entice the eye gauze vendor to sleep with him.

Based on his experience, three taels of silver for sleeping with a secret prostitute was already an astronomical price. The stall owner had no reason to refuse, especially since they had just flirted on the street and were clearly interested in each other.

The stinking Taoist wanted to use three taels of silver to sleep with me. Wang Daxia’s heart naturally rejected this, but this person looked too much like the wanted poster portrait, and he happened to be from Prince Jin’s mansion – this lead couldn’t be broken.

Flirting wasn’t impossible for Wang Daxia. To solve the case, sacrificing some appearance was no big deal – after all, his chest only contained two packets of hot chestnuts bought for ten coins.

He had natural talent and felt like a fish in water, being an expert flirt, but the stinking Taoist wanted to undress and “inspect the goods,” which was problematic.

Never mind undressing – just removing the eye gauze and face cloth to reveal his true appearance would let the stinking Taoist see his Adam’s apple and realize he was actually a man.

Following the stinking Taoist inside to “inspect goods” would expose his male identity. Not going in – would the stinking Taoist become suspicious? He had been so proactive while flirting, which would be contradictory.

What to do?

The stinking Taoist’s hand reached toward his chest again. Wang Daxia gently pushed it away and said coquettishly, “You rascal, too impatient! If this servant follows you into the temple and your fellow priests discover us, what then? This servant has a husband. Let’s leave the city another day, find an inn, and this servant will serve you properly, Master Taoist.”

How could he let the fat meat at his lips escape? The stinking Taoist said, “My fellow priests all happen to have business out today. I’m alone in the temple. They should return before curfew – enough time for us to finish our business.”

The stinking Taoist felt the big-chested young woman was sent by heaven. He didn’t need to go out looking for women – she had delivered herself to his door. This opportunity was rare.

Wang Daxia thought: They all went out? Out to do what? Bailu Temple is Prince Jing’s mansion’s private temple. Even Prince Jing has gone to Anlu in Hubei – what family are these Taoist priests performing ceremonies for?

Wang Daxia’s mind was full of doubts. The stinking Taoist urged her to go inside for inspection. Wang Daxia had a flash of inspiration and said, “But it’s getting dark. This servant must hurry to pack up and go home to cook dinner for my husband. If it’s late, at best I’ll get scolded, at worst beaten. This servant will come again tomorrow.”

The stinking Taoist blocked her path, “How can that work? You’ve already taken the money. Come inside quickly – I’ll be fast and won’t delay your cooking.”

“This servant lives far away and has a long walk ahead.” Wang Daxia returned the three taels of silver to the stinking Taoist, “Don’t worry, Master Taoist. Just for the sake of earning some pin money, this servant will definitely come tomorrow.”

The stinking Taoist still wouldn’t give up, “Where do you live? I have a carriage. After we finish, I’ll take you home – you won’t be late.”

Wang Daxia said, “We’re just casual lovers – don’t ask about origins. If my jealous husband discovers and comes shouting to Bailu Temple to kill the adulterer, the neighbors won’t look kindly on it, and it would sully the Master Taoist’s reputation unnecessarily.”

The stinking Taoist also worried that having an affair with a married woman and being pursued by her husband would expose his identity as a fugitive and implicate his fellow priests. No matter how lustful he was, he had to restrain himself. He stuffed a string of coins into Wang Daxia’s hands and said:

“Buy rouge and powder with this. Don’t come here tomorrow – my fellow priests should all be back. Walk west down this street to Santong Inn. You buy a pot of tea and sit there waiting for me. We’ll pretend not to know each other. I’ll get a room at the inn, and after I take the key, you follow me from a distance. After I enter the room, you knock and come in.”

Wang Daxia took the money and thrust out his chest, “Understood. Tomorrow I’ll make breakfast and send my husband off to work, then go to Santong Inn to meet Master Taoist.”

Wang Daxia glanced at the stinking Taoist’s purse, “Let’s speak plainly up front – Master Taoist, this servant wants both your person and your silver. Three taels per session, not a coin less. This servant isn’t some foolish girl who gets deceived in body and heart. Feelings can’t be eaten or worn. This servant only undresses when she sees silver.”

The stinking Taoist said, “Naturally. I also fear trouble – doing business is more reliable.”

After speaking, he reached out to grab Wang Daxia’s chest, wanting to take some advantage. With this grab and squeeze, the paper packets containing hot chestnuts would probably burst and spill chestnuts all over the ground from under his clothes.

Wang Daxia was agile and dodged sideways, whispering, “Haste makes waste. Tomorrow at Santong Inn, let Master Taoist eat his fill.”

Wang Daxia pushed his wheelbarrow away, deliberately swaying his wasp waist as he walked until his figure disappeared into the swirling dust storm. Only then did the stinking Taoist withdraw his gaze and return to Bailu Temple, no longer seeking other women, his heart set on tomorrow’s appointment with the big-chested young woman.

He wondered what kind of enchanting beauty lay beneath those alluring curves.

Wang Daxia pushed his wheelbarrow faster and faster until he reached the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s secret post, changed clothes, put on eye gauze, and returned to the Lu mansion. Without time to wash the dust from his head and face, he went to find Lu Ying to report the situation and arrange tomorrow’s plan.

When Wang Daxia arrived at the Lu mansion, Lu Ying, who had just returned from the office, was talking with Wei Caiwei. Wei Caiwei was describing what she had seen at Prince Yu’s mansion today – Princess Consort’s difficulties as a clever wife trying to cook without rice, and Li Jiubao’s situation. “…Minister Yan from the Ministry of Revenue has been withholding Prince Yu’s mansion’s stipend. Can this silver really not be recovered?”

Lu Ying came from a prominent family and worked in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so she naturally knew some inside information. “Yan Shifan is close to Prince Jing, so naturally he creates obstacles for Prince Yu. After Prince Yu married, established his household, and moved out of the Forbidden City, his annual stipend has either been delayed or deducted under various pretexts. The longest period was three consecutive years without a single payment.”

“At that time, the former Princess Consort of Prince Yu, the little commandery princess, and little commandery prince were all still alive. As a husband and father, Prince Yu naturally couldn’t bear to watch his wife and children suffer and live in poverty. So he scraped together fifteen hundred taels of silver to bribe Yan Shifan and said many humble, conciliatory words.”

“After Yan Shifan took the silver, he ordered the Ministry of Revenue to make up all three years of Prince Yu’s stipend in full, and proudly said, ‘Even the Son of Heaven’s son has to send me silver. Let’s see who dares not send me money in the future.'”

“What?” Wei Caiwei was truly eye-opened. “According to what you’re saying, Prince Yu must first gather money to bribe Yan Shifan before he can receive the stipend that rightfully belongs to him?”

Lu Ying said, “That’s how it used to be. Now that Prince Yu’s wife and children are all dead, Prince Yu has become disheartened, developed melancholia, and just gets by day to day, living off his savings, negative and world-weary, no longer motivated to gather money to bribe Yan Shifan. Therefore, in the two years since Princess Consort married in, the Ministry of Revenue hasn’t issued a single coin, withholding funds for a full two years – that’s why the prince’s mansion has declined to this state.”

Wei Caiwei immediately understood: Actually, if Prince Yu swallowed his pride and personally came forward with money to bribe Yan Shifan, this problem could be solved. The current Princess Consort of Prince Yu was like a widowed consort – Prince Yu ignored everything, had no feelings for his second wife, forcing the princess consort to pawn her jewelry to maintain appearances.

Wei Caiwei said, “It seems I can’t help with this matter. The one who tied the bell must untie it – only Prince Yu personally taking action can resolve this.”

Lu Ying said, “It’s just that the current Prince Yu won’t even deign to bow to His Majesty, much less bow to Yan Shifan. Anyway, the Ministry of Revenue can’t actually let a prince starve to death – it’s just that the people around the prince have to suffer some hardship and tighten their belts.”

So this problem was essentially unsolvable.

Wei Caiwei thought for a moment and asked, “If Princess Consort of Prince Yu gathered silver to bribe Yan Shifan, would Yan Shifan release the two years of withheld stipend?”

Lu Ying had just opened her mouth when Wang Daxia burst in with his dirty face, dusty hair, and two chestnut-bulged peaks on his chest, shouting:

“I waited by the tree stump and finally found the carriage driver from the wanted poster! A Taoist from Bailu Temple looks seventy percent like him. This person is also a lecher – he thought I was a loose woman and gave me three taels of silver to drag me into the temple to sleep with him. I made excuses to refuse and arranged to meet him tomorrow at Santong Inn to— Doctor Wei? What are you doing here?”

Wei Caiwei curiously stood up, walked to face Wang Daxia, and poked one of the peaks on his chest with her slender jade finger.

How is this twice as big as mine? What is this thing?

The oil paper wrapping finally couldn’t hold up. The chestnuts inside scattered with a clatter, hitting the floor and Wang Daxia’s feet like large and small pearls falling on a jade plate, rolling all over the ground.

Wei Caiwei and Lu Ying exchanged glances: He’s truly a genius who, lacking natural beauty, creates artificial beauty and still relies on selling his appearance to gather intelligence!

Wang Daxia hurriedly said, “It’s not what you think – let me explain!”

Author’s Note: Caiwei: Before success comes betrayal. While they’re still hot, pick up those chestnuts and eat them.