Constable Wu was a martial artist, a tiger-slaying hero who had killed a tiger single-handedly back when he was a hunter at Wuli Village outside Chaoyang Gate. With his immense strength, he caught the attention of Prefect Wang Niqiu of Shuntian Prefecture, who hired him as constable to lead officers on street patrols and capture bandits. Thus, his devastating gut-kick was extremely powerful – the stinking Taoist writhed in agony, his soul seemingly leaving his body as he clutched his stomach and curled up on the ground. With just one move, Constable Wu had stripped the stinking Taoist of all ability to resist.

Constable Wu’s commotion brought guests from surrounding rooms out to watch the adultery bust. When it came to gossip and spectacle, the residents of the central district were no less enthusiastic than those of the northern district.

“Come quick and see – caught red-handed in adultery!”

“The woman’s quite attractive.”

“I saw her earlier, drinking tea and cracking melon seeds in the main hall, posing seductively, practically wanting to wave her two breasts in front of men. She’s clearly a slut.”

“I saw her too. No wonder she kept her face veil on the whole time – turns out she’s a married woman out for an affair, afraid of being recognized.”

“This woman’s easy to recognize. Look at her chest – like freshly steamed white buns, so large, with a willow-slim waist. You’d remember this figure at a glance.”

“Brother, impressive – identifying women by their chests.”

More and more spectators gathered, unafraid of being accidentally injured by the butcher’s knife in Constable Wu’s hand.

Wang Daxia cowered in the corner, covering her face with a handkerchief, trembling all over. Her two large bun-like breasts also quivered wildly as she shook. “Husband, you’ve misunderstood! We’re completely innocent, there’s no adultery! This customer wanted to buy face veils, and I came to deliver the goods. Look, there’s a stack of veils on the table.”

Constable Wu spat. “You stinking wench, running around putting cuckold’s horns on my head! Usually so lazy and greedy, despising poverty and loving wealth – isn’t the money I earn from butchering pigs enough to support you? You keep saying you sell face veils to supplement our household income. You could sell perfectly well in the lobby downstairs, so why run up to a customer’s bed to sell? Do you take me for a fool? If you’re selling on the bed, how could it still be about selling veils? I don’t need you to sell your body to support me!”

This scolding left Wang Jinlian unable to lift her head.

“I’ll settle accounts with you later, you cheap whore!” Constable Wu grabbed the adulterous stinking Taoist who was curled up on the ground like a cooked shrimp, examining his face carefully and listening to his voice.

It was him!

Constable Wu made a confirming gesture to Lu Ying, who was mixed in with the crowd of spectators, then raised his pot-sized fist and punched the stinking Taoist square in the face.

With that punch, the stinking Taoist’s face looked like a fruit shop had exploded – blood streaming, juices splattering everywhere.

Constable Wu beat him while cursing: “You dare sleep with my wife! Didn’t you ask around about Butcher Hu’s reputation? I can slaughter ten pigs a day – today you’re just one more!”

Business owners most feared fatal incidents. The innkeeper of Santong Inn hurried over to break up the fight. “Hero Hu, let’s talk this through properly. Don’t beat him anymore – if you kill him, who will dare stay in this room again? He slept with your wife, so he certainly can’t have done it for free. Customer, you’d better quickly pay some silver to Hero Hu – buy your life with money!”

The stinking Taoist spat out a mouthful of blood along with two teeth that Constable Wu had knocked loose. “I didn’t sleep with your wife! Spare my life, good sir!”

Wang Daxia also began crying pitifully. “Husband, my clothes are perfectly neat, I didn’t even remove my face veil. Which eye did the innkeeper use to see me sleeping with this customer? Everyone look at the bedding – it’s perfectly tidy and neat, clearly never slept in. I’m wrongly accused – I beg you all to uphold justice!”

Everyone’s gaze immediately shifted from the busty young woman’s chest to the bed. The quilt was folded with sharp corners, perfectly neat and tidy – indeed not like there had been any spring passion.

Constable Wu spat again. “You shameless adulteress! You haven’t slept together yet because I arrived early and caught you in the act! If I’d come a bit later, you two would already have stripped naked and been entwined on the bed!”

The spectators all agreed.

“With that waist and those big breasts, who could resist?”

“Caught red-handed in the room, still refusing to admit it.”

“Stubborn as a duck – won’t admit it even when dead.”

The innkeeper urged the stinking Taoist again: “Don’t die here! Hurry up and pay to settle this matter.”

Constable Wu grabbed the Taoist’s collar and dragged him toward the door. “I’m taking this pair of adulterers to see the magistrate.”

Hearing about seeing the magistrate, the stinking Taoist immediately snapped awake from his pain, immensely grateful that his face was covered in blood and beaten beyond recognition – the spectators couldn’t possibly recognize him as a wanted criminal. He quickly begged for mercy: “Hero Hu, we can negotiate whatever amount you want – let’s not get involved in lawsuits.”

Constable Wu released his grip and opened his mouth like a lion: “I want five hundred taels. This woman keeps putting cuckold’s horns on my head everywhere – I’m sick of her anyway. You give me five hundred taels of silver, and she’s yours.”

Even the spectators found this excessive, commenting:

“She’s not a virgin maiden – how could she be worth so much!”

“No matter how good shoes are, once worn they’re used shoes. These used shoes are too expensive.”

“You can’t have this kind of vixen woman! Buy her home and sooner or later she’ll seduce other men.”

This infuriated Wang Daxia. She stood up, hands on her hips in a shrewish pose, shaking her two large white bun-like breasts as she cursed:

“Open your dog eyes and look clearly! When I was popular on Nanjing’s Qinhuai River, monthly packages alone cost more than five hundred taels! It was only when I married into a merchant family and the main wife couldn’t tolerate me, selling me far away to the capital to be this pig butcher’s wife. You think I’m not worth five hundred taels of silver? Hmph! The silver I spent on my freedom back then would be enough to crush you poor ghosts to death!”

Wang Daxia cursed while pushing toward the crowd of spectators at the door, thrusting her wildly bouncing large breasts as weapons. “You stinking men, do you all want to cop a feel? Come, come, come – touch! Go ahead and touch! Ten taels of silver per touch, and you can’t leave without paying every cent!”

The spectators were stunned by Wang Daxia’s shamelessness – caught in adultery yet still so arrogant!

But it made sense – a famous courtesan from the southern pleasure quarters of Qinhuai River would naturally command a higher price.

With Constable Wu still holding his gleaming butcher’s knife, who dared touch Wang Daxia’s ten-tael-per-touch large buns? The spectators all backed away, afraid of accidentally touching and being scammed by Wang Daxia.

Clearly, Wang Daxia’s chest was more intimidating than Constable Wu’s butcher’s knife.

The only solution now was to pay to avoid disaster. The stinking Taoist said: “I don’t have that much silver with me, only a dozen or so loose taels for expenses. You wait here while I go back to get the money.”

Constable Wu naturally refused to let him go. “Bah! Don’t take me for a fool. If I let you go back, it’ll be like throwing a meat bun at a dog – gone forever! What if my wife slept with you for nothing?”

The stinking Taoist was on the verge of tears. “I didn’t sleep with your wife! Really didn’t!”

Constable Wu immediately raised his pot-sized fist again, waving it at the stinking Taoist’s face. “Money or your life – you choose. Catching adulterers requires catching them together – there are so many customers outside as witnesses. I’ll cut off the heads of these adulterers later and turn myself in at Shuntian Prefecture Court. At most I’ll get exile – I still come out ahead. Five hundred taels of silver – do you want it or not?”

Constable Wu was clearly engaging in forced buying and selling.

The stinking Taoist was so frightened he immediately changed his tune: “Fine, five hundred taels it is. I’ll write a note for Hero Hu. Take this note to collect the money – when they see my letter, they’ll definitely bring the silver to redeem me.”

Constable Wu grabbed the stinking Taoist with one hand and pressed him onto a stool. “Write quickly!”

The stinking Taoist took out a white handkerchief from his robes. The innkeeper quickly provided brush and ink. The Taoist wrote several lines on the handkerchief, demanding the temple bring money immediately to redeem him. Finally, he handed the handkerchief to Constable Wu. “Take the handkerchief to White Deer Temple on Fucheng Gate Street.”

Constable Wu took the handkerchief and yanked off the stinking Taoist’s money pouch, fishing out about two taels of silver. He waved both the silver and handkerchief in front of the spectators. “I need to watch these adulterers – I don’t have time to deliver messages. Who among you will run this errand? Here’s the running fee.”

The spectators thought: watching the excitement and getting paid too – why not? They all raised their hands: “Me! Me! I can run really fast!”

Lu Ying, disguised as a spectator, also raised her hand high. “Me! Let me deliver your message!”

Constable Wu pretended to randomly select Lu Ying from the crowd. “You then – go quickly and return quickly.”

Lu Ying took the silver and letter. “I’ll borrow a horse from the inn and be back right away.”

The carefully designed honey trap had two purposes. First, Wang Daxia would trick the stinking Taoist into removing his face veil, allowing Constable Wu to confirm whether the stinking Taoist was the cart driver who kidnapped Wei Caiwei.

The second purpose was that after confirming the kidnapper was indeed a White Deer Temple Taoist, they would use the pretext of delivering a ransom note to find a legitimate reason to enter White Deer Temple and probe those Taoists. This task was entrusted to Lu Ying, who had superior martial arts skills.

Just then, the kitchen brought up the prepared food and wine. “This… do you still want it?”

Constable Wu tossed a piece of silver to the server. “Of course we want it! Set it up!”

Constable Wu ate and drank heartily in the room. The stinking Taoist didn’t dare make a sound. Wang Daxia sidled up to him. “Master Taoist, from now on I’m depending on you.”

After speaking, Wang Daxia rubbed against him with her large buns.

With Constable Wu present, the stinking Taoist avoided her like a snake or scorpion, quickly turning his face away. “I’m not worthy of enjoying sister-in-law’s beauty. At most we can only have a fleeting romance. Please don’t come looking for me at the temple anymore, sister-in-law. You’re young and beautiful – you should find an honest man to marry while you’re still young.”

Wang Daxia covered her face with a handkerchief, on the verge of tears. “You… you have such a cruel heart.”

Constable Wu slammed his wine pot on the table. “Besides me, what man would dare marry you? Come over here and pour me wine!”

Wang Daxia obediently poured wine for Constable Wu. He drank while saying: “The men you’ve stolen away with number like a handful of millet. The women I’ve slept with number like a handful of salt. We’re even. Swear an oath that you’ll never go out stealing men again, and you’ll still be my wife. I’m about to have five hundred taels of silver – follow me and you’ll eat well and drink well. I definitely won’t mistreat you.”

Wang Daxia immediately went limp, collapsing onto Constable Wu’s lap and embracing his neck while sobbing. “Only you don’t despise my background in the pleasure quarters. From now on I’ll definitely follow you with complete devotion.”

The spectators looked on, exchanging glances: We came to watch adultery being caught, how did it suddenly become a couple reconciling? Truly scum matching with a slut.

One spectator said: “This is a honey trap, right? This couple lost nothing and gained five hundred taels of silver for free.”

“Right! It’s a honey trap! This adulterer didn’t even take off his pants before the butcher came to catch them – the timing was too convenient.”

“Exactly, a lone man and woman in a room together – even if you don’t admit it, you have to admit it. You have to go along with it even if you’re wronged.”

“Really got both the wife and the money – what a brilliant honey trap!”

Wang Daxia heard this and immediately jumped out of Constable Wu’s embrace, hands on hips, shaking her two buns as she went out to curse: “Who said honey trap? I’ll curse your damn honey trap! Have the guts to say it to my face!”

The spectators had come to watch the excitement, not to get involved in trouble. They all shut their mouths. Several men became dizzy from Wang Daxia’s bouncing and didn’t dare look.

While Wang Daxia was fighting the crowd with her tongue, Lu Ying rode to the entrance of White Deer Temple and knocked on the door.

Author’s Note: Daxia: No one understands honey traps better than me.