Inside the main hall of an upscale Huizhou-style residence built with large amounts of timber.
The local crime boss and several of his underlings knelt on the floor. Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang stood guard at the door with blades in hand. Liansheng sat in the corner, while Wang Yan sat beside the table with one leg crossed over the other.
"There are three major families in this county: the Liu Family, the Bai Family, and the Yang Family. Even the county magistrate has to consult them when something comes up. Sometimes we do work for them—luring people into gambling and opium dens, helping them bully men and women, seize land and property. The townsfolk are fools. They don't know a thing; they only think we're the bad guys, while treating those three great families as virtuous people. If you want to punish the wicked and eliminate evil, you'll have to deal with those three families first.
"Then there's another group in the county that works for the Liu Family, led by Liu Shanghe. Oh, I work for the Yang Family. There's also the Bai Family. They have their own guards and other hands, though they don't make a show of themselves in the county. Funny enough, the Bai Family is the kindest of the lot. I hear Old Master Bai believes in Buddhism, and in some Western God too."
Wang Yan raised an eyebrow. "Buddhism? And God?"
Why did that sound like the White Lotus Sect? It was a proper rebel organization, just like the Heaven and Earth Society, always stirring up rebellion. It had been rebelling since the Song Dynasty all the way through the Qing Dynasty. Its teachings blended Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, and now, in this century of great upheaval, it had connected with the West