Seeing Xiang Shiyi at a disadvantage, Hu Tao rushed anxiously to get on the platform. Unexpectedly, bowls, cups, and plates came flying through the air, carrying sharp gusts of wind. At first, she paid no attention and casually blocked them, only to find blood flowing profusely, the pain unbearable. Only then did she discover that all these small objects were aimed directly at her.
“Which blind rat dares to ambush this old lady?!” Hu Tao didn’t dare be careless anymore. With a flying kick, she struck a teacup lid. Though she kicked it away, her pants leg immediately tore a large gash.
Who would admit to being a rat?
Mo Zi stared toward Hu Tao’s direction and whispered to Zan Jin again. At this moment, the Leopard Gang men behind her belonging to different stewards were preparing to start fighting.
Xu Jiu above was having a tug-of-war with Xiang Shiyi while shouting loudly, “Brothers below the platform, no one is permitted to move! The gang leader position goes to the capable—there’s no need for our own people to shed blood!”
This was heroic bearing. Mo Zi silently praised him.
She saw Xu Jiu suddenly leap up, his form like lightning. Before Xiang Shiyi lost her balance and fell off the platform, he caught her back, incidentally also catching the gang leader’s seal. Of course, his intention might have been exactly the opposite.
Xiang Shiyi’s beautiful eyes widened. Once she steadied herself, she punched at him, urgent, shocked, and embarrassed.
Having obtained the seal, Xu Jiu naturally didn’t argue with her. He spun in a circle while nimbly holding Xiang Shiyi by the collar, then with both palms pushed, sending her back to her seat.
The moment Xiang Shiyi’s bottom touched the seat, her eyes turned red. Pointing at Xu Jiu and saying he was bullying her, she burst into loud wailing.
This temperament that changed like the wind bringing rain was commonplace to the Leopard Gang members, but left Mo Zi and others dumbstruck. Zan Jin even forgot his task.
“What’s wrong with this woman?” After Zan Jin recovered, he immediately exclaimed. Seeing Hu Tao had already stepped onto the high platform, he cried out softly and was just about to shoot out the chopsticks gripped in his hand—
“That’s enough.” Mo Zi ordered instead. It had only been to buy time for Xu Jiu anyway.
Qian Liang and Bai Liang stared at Zan Jin, excitedly whispering to each other. These two brothers were a pair of martial arts fanatics.
After Hu Tao mounted the platform, she first comforted Xiang Shiyi with a few words, then turned to point at Xu Jiu. “Xu Jiu, since you say the gang leader position goes to the capable, then I must compete for it.”
Old Gang Leader Hu had already been helped back to his seat. Hearing his daughter’s words, he nearly fainted from anger. “Tao girl, what nonsense are you spouting? You’re a widow—without the brothers’ help, even surviving would be difficult. Huo Ba’s mourning period isn’t even over, yet you’ve already abandoned his memorial tablet. Are you trying to create trouble out of nothing? Quickly step down!”
Hu Tao ignored her father but picked up on his words. “Xu Jiu, your Eighth Brother’s corpse isn’t even cold yet, and you can’t restrain yourself anymore? Today all the hall masters are below, along with many brothers from the gang. I’m going to expose your true face!”
Xu Jiu’s expression didn’t change. The seal in his hand suddenly flew out steadily, landing before the Dragon God statue. Amid everyone’s shock, he said, “Eighth Sister-in-law, why don’t you tell us what my true face is? If I truly did something that angers both heaven and man, anyone can take this gang leader’s seal. I’ll leave the Leopard Gang from this day forth. But if you’re making false accusations, you must apologize to me publicly and promise not to cause more trouble. Then I won’t hold grudges and will still respect you as my sister-in-law.”
Calls of approval came from all directions.
Hu Tao’s face turned red with rage. She spat. “Stop pretending to be a good person. My husband died so suspiciously—it was clearly you who killed him for the gang leader position.”
Mo Zi’s heart felt guilty. She secretly glanced at Yuan Cheng several tables away, only to see him chatting with two officials in similar official robes at a neighboring table. He wasn’t paying any attention to the platform at all. She thought, this person who often walks dark roads—even ghosts flee from him. Immediately, she cast aside her guilt and sat up straight.
“Eighth Sister-in-law, where do these words come from? Eighth Brother was blinded by lust and actually spoke foul words to a noble young lady, even making frivolous advances. He was killed on the spot by her brother. When I received the news, I galloped there on fast horse but only arrived in time to beg that great personage to leave Eighth Brother’s corpse intact. This matter—Eighth Brother’s confidants all witnessed it with their own eyes. How is it my doing?” Xu Jiu’s face showed painful grief. “I had long advised Eighth Brother to restrain his temperament somewhat. When did he ever listen to me? Among the elders present, who hasn’t also advised him?”
Huo Ba’s lustfulness was a secret known throughout the rivers and lakes. He had eight or nine concubines at home. If not for Hu Tao’s skillful management of concubines, it would have long been chaos.
If you said Hu Tao truly wanted to seek justice for her husband, Mo Zi didn’t believe it at all. It appeared Hu Tao herself was a very formidable woman. Her father was also the gang leader—she had probably coveted this position for a long time. However, if Huo Ba could have become gang leader, she would be the gang leader’s wife, which would also be quite good. But with Huo Ba dead, she couldn’t tolerate having nothing.
“Fine then, tell me—which family’s young lady was it exactly?” Hu Tao demanded. No matter how she interrogated them, the people who had gone out with Huo Ba that day refused to say.
Mo Zi was first stunned, then understood. Of course—since it involved a princess’s reputation, they would naturally seal it tightly.
“This concerns a noble person’s dignity—forgive me for not disclosing it. However, several people who were there that day are sitting below. You can certainly ask them whether Eighth Brother provoked someone he shouldn’t have?” Xu Jiu swept his gaze across those below the platform.
Several people repeatedly confirmed it was so.
Hu Tao spat again. “Clearly you’ve bought off this group of profit-seeking traitors. Let me ask you again—if you truly treated Eighth Brother well, on such a joyous day as today, why did you invite the person who injured your Eighth Brother that day to come?”
Mo Zi reflexively shrank her neck, somewhat self-deceptively thinking that Huo Ba’s poor martial skills had gotten him injured countless times—it didn’t necessarily refer to her.
Who knew that two men would run right up to her, pointing at her and Zan Jin and shouting loudly, “It’s these two! That day at Wu You Pavilion they injured Eighth Master.”
Damn it! She knew it!
Xu Jiu’s expression stiffened. He said in a deep voice, “That day it was also Eighth Brother who was in the wrong. He used my name to invite people to a banquet, yet drugged the wine.”
“So what?” Hu Tao smiled triumphantly. Just now Xu Jiu refused to say exactly whom Huo Ba had offended, and now he was speaking up for those who had injured Huo Ba. The advantage was gradually shifting to her side. “Gang rule number one: brothers’ grievances must be avenged. Even if Huo Ba did wrong and got beaten by someone, yet you invite that person to attend the gang’s ceremony—isn’t this colluding with them?”
Upon hearing this, Mo Zi thought, hmm? That makes sense! But if Hu Tao could think of this, why couldn’t Xu Jiu, yet he still invited her to come?
“Sister-in-law Huo Ba, that’s not right.”
As Mo Zi prepared to play ostrich, a woman’s voice came from behind her. She recognized it as Wu You and quickly looked back.
Wu You wore a smile like a lotus flower. Her red-lacquered nails on jade-smooth hands gently stroked hair blown by the wind, her posture graceful and elegant, her charm rippling in layers, her voice as moving as flying snow and spring rain.
“Eighth Master used the Leopard Gang’s prestige to threaten my Wu You Pavilion’s managing mother to lie and administer aphrodisiacs. I’ve already sent this mother back home and apologized to Brother Mo. Clearly Eighth Master was in the wrong first. Why must Sister-in-law Eighth twist logic?”
“A shameless commodity who only knows how to sell seduction to men—who let you come in and pollute my Leopard Gang? This isn’t a place where you can spread your legs and do whatever you want. Go back to wherever you came from!” When Hu Tao showed a contemptuous expression, she was ugly to the extreme.
Wu You’s eyes turned ice cold. She had run Wu You Pavilion for over ten years and had probably been cursed by wives for over ten years. But being cursed to her face like this—she had no memory of it. The four young ladies beside her were furious, standing up in unison, opening their mouths to curse back, but Wu You stopped them.
Seeing this, Hu Tao thought Wu You was afraid of her and became even more triumphant. “Women from brothels should just stay in brothels properly. Men give you face, and you actually think you have dignity. Crowding among a pile of men, happy just smelling the scent, aren’t you? In broad daylight, you dare to sell—”
“According to Sister-in-law Huo Ba’s words, it seems you’re the one who wants to smell the scent more. Not just smell it today, but every day. Otherwise, why are you fighting to become the leader of a group of men?” Forget it—since she was here, she might as well help.
Mo Zi shifted to a more comfortable sitting position, tilted her face slightly upward, looking toward Hu Tao. If she couldn’t hide, she could at least curse. Moreover, Wu You had already stood up for her—how could she herself shrink back?
Among Xu Jiu’s subordinates were many clever people who immediately led a wave of mocking laughter.
Hu Tao was furious, shouting loudly about farting.
Mo Zi smiled slightly. “Sister-in-law Huo Ba should wait to fart. In front of Grandfather Dragon God, it’s truly unseemly, especially with so many guests present.”
Hu Tao choked with rage, grinding her teeth.
“Whether running a pleasure house or being in a boat gang, everyone is a woman, and none of us have it easy. If women look down on women, why should men respect women? Let’s discuss matters as they are, no need to drag in irrelevant things. Eighth Master Huo Ba took a fancy to an innocent woman. Because I helped that woman and ruined his plans, he deliberately set a trap to harm me. If not for my brother having some martial skills, I probably wouldn’t even know how I died. Could it be that Huo Ba’s life is a life, but ours aren’t lives?” Seeing Hu Tao roll her eyes but refusing to let her speak, Mo Zi continued, “Now let’s talk about these Leopard Gang rules. That day, when Ninth Master Xu Jiu saw Huo Ba had fainted, he immediately wanted to trouble my brother. Afterward, I negotiated with him. When we couldn’t reach an agreement, he fought until my brother had internal injuries. As far as I know, Eighth Master Huo Ba wasn’t really injured at all. When my brother was gravely injured in bed, he ran off to molest a noble young lady, leading to his death. In terms of sentiment, Ninth Master Xu Jiu has already avenged his brother. In terms of principle, Ninth Master Xu Jiu distinguishes right from wrong—an upright, good hero. Does your Leopard Gang, besides this rule of avenging brothers without distinguishing right from wrong, not have a rule about standing together through thick and thin? Not have a rule about loyalty reaching the clouds? Not have a rule about chivalrous bones and tender heart? I came today, letting bygones be bygones, all for Ninth Master Xu Jiu’s loyalty, righteousness, and chivalrous bones. Otherwise, even with eight sedan chairs, you couldn’t invite me here.”
“Well said!” A righteous call of approval.
Hearing this approval, Wu You unconsciously trembled all over.
Mo Zi saw another large group of people arrive at the entrance. The leader, a middle-aged man of thirty-five or thirty-six, had broad shoulders, a solid build, wore a dark blue robe with silver silk belt, a square kerchief wrapped around his hair, a beautiful beard, and unmistakable gleams of light in his smiling eyes.
“What excellent ‘standing together through thick and thin, loyalty reaching the clouds, chivalrous bones and tender heart.’ As I see it, the first rule can be abolished. Xu Jiu, if you follow the latter three rules, the five major boat gangs becoming six major boat gangs is just around the corner.” So the leaders of the five major boat gangs had arrived, and with this person saying this, he had already acknowledged Xu Jiu’s gang leader position.
Beside him, an equally smiling middle-aged scholar said loudly, “Ninth Brother, have I come at just the right time?”
Leng Liu hadn’t fallen out with Xu Jiu—he had gone to bring backing for Xu Jiu.
Mo Zi felt quite fortunate, thinking she could muddle through today just like this.