Deep within Cai Tan Lou, in a dim, deserted pavilion corridor where no one ever ventured.

A woman dressed in a green silk gown and an ochre pleated skirt hurried along this place—so at odds with the flower house’s usual atmosphere of draped gauze and opulent extravagance. By the light of the lamps, she caught a glimpse of the woman’s features—those rosy lips and snow-white teeth, willow brows and phoenix eyes—surely none other than Qiu Huan!

Reaching the end of the corridor, Qiu Huan knocked on the door of the last room in a peculiar rhythm, then waited quietly. Soon enough, the door slid open from the inside, and she stepped in, sidestepping gracefully.

The room was also bathed in dim light. In the corner stood numerous boxes, some even left unlidded. Scattered around the boxes were various women’s ornaments and trinkets, but nothing particularly exquisite—more like a cluttered storage room.

The man who had opened the door immediately dropped to one knee upon Qiu Huan’s entrance and bowed respectfully, saying, “Hui Yuan of Tong Tower pays respects to Lady Bai Xiao.” Qiu Huan stepped aside, reached out to help Hui Yuan up, then took a step back to size him up from head to toe, her mind filled with a flicker of doubt that she made no attempt to conceal.

Hui Yuan had a delicate, boyish face; he looked no older than twenty, dressed in a plain brown-and-blue robe that seemed rather ill-fitting, barely half a finger taller than Qiu Huan.

“Forgive my tardy welcome, Your Ladyship,” Hui Yuan said humbly, bowing his head, appearing meek and compliant. Yet the fact that he knew full well who she was—and still remained calmly in Cai Tan Lou without so much as flinching—was in itself a subtle challenge, a tacit message: “I don’t take you seriously.”

Sadly, Qiu Huan knew all too well that she possessed nothing but a title, so she chose to pretend not to notice. “It’s my fault for dropping by unannounced; don’t blame you.”

With a hidden mechanism concealed in the shadows, Hui Yuan pushed open a secret door and led Qiu Huan down a flight of steps into an underground chamber. The room was extremely small, yet in its center stood a massive writing desk piled high with neatly arranged documents—clear evidence that Hui Yuan had just been attending to business. But despite the paperwork, the lighting in the chamber was as dim as it had been in the pavilion corridor, almost too dark to make out the words on the papers. And with the desk occupying most of the space, the room felt oppressively cramped and oddly unsettling.

Qiu Huan and Hui Yuan sat down opposite each other. Normally, Hui Yuan was responsible for training new recruits, while Qiu Huan knew very little about that aspect of the job—she had only visited once, thirteen years ago, when she accompanied her father.

Her adoptive father often brought her along whenever he went somewhere, and five years ago, during a recruitment screening, Qiu Huan’s adoptive father—who was still Bai Xiao at the time—watched casually as several hundred orphans, each having trained for five years, stood before him, waiting for a single word that would decide their fate. To a young girl like her, the scene was simply too… perhaps cruel. Ever since she took over the organization, she’d always felt somewhat resistant toward Hui Yuan’s subordinates and never dealt directly with them.

Hui Yuan, of course, was perfectly content to keep things simple; as for Qiu Huan’s sudden visit today, he hadn’t even heard about it until they entered Gu Yuan. He had no idea why she’d come.

“May I ask what brings Lady Bai Xiao here today?”

“Well, let’s cut to the chase,” Qiu Huan replied. Though Hui Yuan wore ordinary civilian clothes, his demeanor was noble and his manner impeccably poised, leaving Qiu Huan thoroughly uncomfortable. She coughed awkwardly and vowed inwardly that next time she’d definitely leave such matters to Yuan Mo. “As you know, right now I’m merely the titular Bai Xiao; in Tong Tower, the only faction truly loyal to me is the Peregrine Falcon. I can’t afford to let Tong Tower’s power remain so fragmented.” Qiu Huan stared straight into Hui Yuan’s eyes, giving him no time to think, and immediately dropped a bombshell: “If you’re willing to help me, once I’ve established myself firmly, I’ll hand over the Vulture’s influence to you.”

In Tong Tower, everyone referred to one another by code names—except for the leader, the Lady Bai Xiao. There were six factions: the Peregrine Falcon, responsible for assassinations; the Golden Eagle, handling intelligence; the Radiant Pavilion, managing finances; the Grey Hawk, training new recruits; the Vulture, overseeing territorial administration; and the Shrike, the covert operations unit. Among these six, the Peregrine Falcon was the strongest, but the Vulture wielded the greatest influence. The Grey Hawk and the Radiant Pavilion ranked far lower.

By the way, the current Lady Bai Xiao is naturally Qiu Huan, while the Peregrine Falcon and the Golden Eagle are held by Yuan Mo and Ming Zhen, respectively. Yuan Mo also serves as Qiu Huan’s proxy.

Hui Yuan and Qiu Huan had never really interacted before; he’d only ever known her through records. So, exercising caution, he didn’t respond directly but instead deflected the question: “Well, Lady Bai Xiao, that’s quite an odd thing to say. Since you’re the head of Tong Tower, surely everyone under your command answers to you.”

Hui Yuan’s words sounded like a show of loyalty, but in reality they implied, “We answer to the Lady Bai Xiao, not to you—you’re just using the title as a figurehead.” Even more subtly, he was urging Qiu Huan to consider whether she truly had what it takes to be the real leader, lest she start acting like she owns the place and expects everyone to obey her at once.

As for why Hui Yuan was being so blunt with Qiu Huan, it stemmed from the murky circumstances surrounding Qiu Huan’s rise to power. Tong Tower has always been a ruthless jungle, where the strongest martial artist in the organization holds the reins. The previous Lady Bai Xiao was inherently brutal and bloodthirsty, and as she grew older, her mental clarity deteriorated steadily. A few years ago, the day-to-day affairs of the tower gradually fell into the hands of the Peregrine Falcon—Qiu Huan’s bodyguard, Yuan Mo—and the Golden Eagle—her sole apprentice, Ming Zhen. Everyone knew, though, that the Peregrine Falcon was born with damaged meridians and extremely weak internal energy, relying solely on her peerless swordsmanship, whereas the Golden Eagle was a rare martial prodigy who, at a young age, could already hold her own against the then-Lady Bai Xiao in over a hundred bouts without losing—a fact that led many to assume the Golden Eagle would eventually succeed her. But then, three years ago, the previous Lady Bai Xiao suddenly died. Although the tower officially claimed she had suffered a fatal accident caused by improper cultivation, the faction leaders secretly suspected she’d been assassinated. Still, Tong Tower operates on the principle of “the winner takes all,” and since the killer wasn’t one of their enemies, the incident was swept under the rug. Little did anyone expect that, after the turmoil caused by the sudden death of the Lady Bai Xiao, both the Peregrine Falcon and the Golden Eagle would rally behind the powerless Qiu Huan and support her as the new Lady Bai Xiao—even going so far as to bring in the long-absent covert operations unit. And so, Qiu Huan ended up taking over Tong Tower.

End of Chapter 9: The Master of Tong Tower