Bai Changkong arrived home and headed straight to the backyard.
The northern wall of Lantian Garden had been smashed to bits last night by Lu Qian and his men.
Bai Lang had urgently patched together a flimsy wooden fence using planks.
Bai Changkong looked at the drafty wooden wall, then at the Lantian Garden, which was almost reduced to ashes.
No matter how deep his energy cultivation was, he was so furious that he nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood.
Gritting his teeth, ignoring the heartache for this garden he had personally designed—every mountain, every stone, every flower and grass—he rushed to the collapsed little building that had revealed a cave beneath a fake mountain.
Bai Lang and nine other second-generation Bai family members, including Bai Qiong who looked pale and sickly due to injury to his energy, stood on the small hill.
Upon seeing Bai Changkong, the group hurriedly saluted him.
Bai Changkong waved his hand and silently jumped down the pit, falling fifteen zhang.
Ahead was a wide corridor.
Walking along the corridor for a hundred zhang led to a square-shaped large room.
The ceiling, floor, and walls were all decorated with precious rosewood.
The coffered ceiling was intricately carved, the four pillars at the corners were majestic, and the walls bore finely chiseled landscape patterns—exquisite beyond description, the craftsmanship reaching perfection.
This mansion covered about one mu of land.
The amount of rosewood used was enormous.
The cost to build this room alone was over three million guan.
And yet, Bai Changkong was a man known for “clean sleeves and a straightforward heart”…
He entered the room alone, his face gloomy, and looked toward an altar placed discreetly against the back wall.
The altar was also carved from rosewood and held a gilded statue about a zhang tall.
The statue was extremely strange: it depicted a fierce man with three heads and six arms, wearing a lotus flame crown.
His six arms were entwined with fiery ribbons, but otherwise utterly naked.
One foot was planted firmly like a golden rooster standing on one leg, while the other was raised.
Sitting on that raised leg was a beautiful young maiden, entwined with the man’s form in an unspeakable pose.
It was a rather unseemly statue.
Bai Changkong knelt before the altar and respectfully kowtowed three times to the statue, then pressed his palms together in reverence and murmured some words.
In a corner of the rosewood room, a wooden door perfectly sealed into the wall slowly opened.
Out walked an absolutely stunning maiden, over eight feet tall, towering even above Bai Changkong.
Her figure was exquisite and fiery, draped in sheer silk, trailing a faint fragrant breeze as she sauntered out casually.
“Last night, there was all that drumming and gong banging—what's going on?”
The maiden casually lifted her smooth, bare foot and kicked Bai Changkong square in the face.
Bai Changkong snorted coldly, his right hand slashing like a blade.
A faint dark golden glow flickered, and with a "shlash," he struck the sole of the maiden's foot with a palm.
With a loud “bang,” Bai Changkong didn’t move an inch.
But the maiden staggered back several steps, a look of surprise flashing across her beautiful face.
“Well, well… didn’t expect that. You look like an old geezer, but you’re fiercer in your bones than those burly men… What exactly happened last night? My several maids died so mysteriously.”
Bai Changkong rose up, took nine thin incense sticks from the sachet on the altar, lit them by the ever-burning lamp, and reverently placed them into the incense burner before the statue.
“You need to move somewhere else,” Bai Changkong frowned. “Gaoding has been unstable these days.”
“The Nine Yin Sect stirred up trouble—that's nothing. They were caught by the Shou Gong Jian, so trouble was inevitable.”
“But in the Four Extremities Ward, several hundred fanatical warriors suddenly rose up, indiscriminately killing without choice or purpose.”
Shaking his head, Bai Changkong turned and spoke solemnly to the maiden, “Something’s not right. Peace hasn’t lasted two years, yet someone wants chaos. Last night, even my Lantian Garden was burned. I don’t know how many eyes are watching me now. You’ve left traces…"
The maiden leaned forward and lightly tapped Bai Changkong’s nose with her slender, snow-white, tender fingers. “Oh, if I left traces, just say I’m your old flame…”
Bai Changkong glared at her. “Then do you still want to enter the palace?”
The maiden blinked in surprise, rolled her eyes, then giggled. “Oh, almost forgot! Of course I want to enter the palace and find the emperor.”
She tossed him a flirtatious glance and smiled lazily. “Otherwise, maybe I purposely left traces so I don’t have to go into the palace and can just settle down with you?”
“Serving a foolish emperor isn’t fun anyway. You old man have a fierce spirit hidden deep inside—just now that palm strike was powerful. How about your sons all calling me ‘mother’ from now on?”
The maiden’s laughter sent shivers through her body, her seductive eyes casting one wink after another at Bai Changkong.
He ignored her, folding his arms behind his back, frowning as he looked around at the luxurious rosewood decor.
After a moment, he sighed deeply.
“This house can’t withstand scrutiny. In the hands of someone with ill intentions, it’s trouble.”
“All this rosewood must be dismantled and transported away—fast.”
“This underground space is huge; we need someone to take the fall.”
“The previous owner who sold me this place is too close to me, can’t do anything to him… then the one before him? Guess we’ll have to wipe out that whole family.”
The maiden's pupils narrowed.
She put her hands on her hips and sneered coldly at Bai Changkong.
“You scholars, one and all, truly ruthless and shameless. Didn’t you build this rosewood manor to flatter my master? What does that have to do with the previous owner?”
Bai Changkong glanced at her and said indifferently, “Save your ‘flirty’ tricks for the emperor. We need to clean up the beginning and end here quickly. I’ll arrange for you to leave soon, and you…”
Before he could finish, Bai Lang burst in, glanced up greedily at the maiden’s stunning figure, then hurriedly said, “Father, palace people just came in outside… they… they…”
Bai Lang’s expression was something else.
It was indescribably intense.
Bai Changkong swayed slightly, giving Bai Lang a deep look.
His oldest son had been personally trained by him since childhood.
In terms of character and skill, he was far stronger than his eight younger brothers.
Among the prestigious clans and newly risen noble families of Gaoding, Bai Lang was a top-tier figure for his age.
Ordinary matters wouldn’t make him so flustered.
What the hell was going on now?
Hurrying out of the rosewood manor, the tall and beautiful maiden sneered and softly hummed as she circled the great room twice.
“Ugh, that old bastard—if it weren’t soon after the Lunar New Year, when the palace is recruiting new talents who can praise him, I’d have made his household disorderly… Ha, he’s already a ‘courteous visitor’ of our sect, yet he still pretends to be a decent man.”
She threw a coquettish glance at the fierce statue on the altar.
“Ancestors above, tell me, am I right? Hehe, we can’t be counted as good people!”
Suddenly, the maiden covered her mouth and sneezed.
Wriggling her waist, she casually slapped the spittle and mucus onto the foot of that statue.
Bai Changkong leapt into the air, straight up to the small hilltop.
Instinctively, he looked north and saw Lu Qian.
Early in the morning, Lu Qian squatted on the steps outside the Survey Office’s main gate, holding a large wooden bowl and gulping down hot meat porridge.
Da Huang sat beside Lu Qian, licking the empty bowl.
A plump rabbit cat narrowed its eyes, crouched at Lu Qian’s feet.
Seeing Bai Changkong suddenly appear atop the Lantian Garden hill opposite, its fur bristled, and it let out a hiss.
Bai Changkong stared at Lu Qian with a dark gaze.
Lu Qian stood and raised his bowl toward Bai Changkong in greeting. “Master Bai, want some porridge? We’re neighbors now. If you need anything, just say the word!”
Bai Changkong smiled, nodded, then turned and left.
He moved swiftly.
Descending the hill like the wind, he flickered a few times and arrived in the front yard.
As he walked, he urgently asked, “Last night’s fire—does it have anything to do with that little dog? Investigate carefully. Seeing that mutt’s expression made me uneasy. Find out exactly how the fire started.”
Outside the Bai family gate, a dozen eunuchs lined up blocking the flustered Bai family steward and several servants with cheerful smiles.
Two little eunuchs were busy at the left door frame of Bai family’s main gate.
One held the ladder steady, while the other stood atop it, hammering a small gilded plaque about the size of a palm onto the door frame with a bright, ringing “ding ding.”
The plaque was exquisitely made, with two small characters spelled out in tiny jade pieces in the center: “Reserve Talents”!
Those who understood the royal etiquette of the Great Yin Dynasty and court rituals knew exactly what this meant.
When a family’s door is affixed with this “Reserve Talents” plaque, it meant that an unmarried girl from that household had been officially selected as a woman of the emperor and would soon be sent to the palace.
If luck was bad, these girls might spend three to five years in the palace before leaving as ordinary palace maids, free to marry or become nuns—no one cared.
If luck was somewhat better, those favored by the emperor yet unable to bear him a son or daughter would be resigned to spending their lives in the cold palace.
If fortune truly smiled and a girl gained the emperor’s favor, was granted a palace title, and bore imperial sons or princesses, then congratulations—she and her relatives would live a life of eternal glory and wealth.
If the Bai family’s girl was made a consort, Bai Changkong could at least expect a noble rank of ‘Bo’ for himself!
But the deadly problem was this—over three generations, the Bai family had only one unmarried young lady: Bai Lu!
When Bai Changkong and his sons rushed out, the little eunuch responsible for hammering the plaque proudly looked back and smiled.
“Director, how’s this plaque? Straight and solid, right?”
The young eunuch in purple robes chuckled happily, like a hen freshly hatched from eggs.
He clapped loudly and laughed, “Straight and solid… Ah, honorable guests and lords passing by, come congratulate Lord Bai Changkong! His daughter, Bai Lu, is virtuous and pure, talented and morally sound; her good name has even reached the Empress Dowager’s ears!”
“After the Lantern Festival, they’re recruiting new talents for the emperor’s side.”
“The Empress Dowager personally named Bai Lu for inclusion in the Reserve Talents list. Who knows? Bai Lu just might become a noble consort, or even Empress! Mother of the world, how glorious that would be!”
Bai Changkong and his sons were drenched in sweat as they burst out.
Hearing the little eunuch’s words, each of them felt like dying inside!
(End of chapter)