The Mo Family Courtyard.
Mo Qianhe was reading in his study. Whenever he had nothing else to do, he enjoyed books of strange tales and curious accounts. Most of what they contained was unreliable, but there were quite a few true and interesting stories, too.
His study held a number of unique surviving copies of ancient books, which had cost him a considerable amount of silver.
The steward, Chen Ping, stood at the study door, clutching an invitation. He stopped halfway through a step. He knew his master disliked being disturbed at times like this.
But after some thought, he went inside anyway and spoke softly.
"Master."
Seeing that it was his steward, Mo Qianhe looked up, an old book in his hand. He lifted his eyelids to glance at Chen Ping. "What is it?"
"The Green Snake Gang sent someone. Gang Leader Zhou has invited all the city's powers over tonight, saying he has important matters to discuss."
"At this hour?"
Mo Qianhe put down his book and glanced out the window. The moon had already climbed to the middle of the sky.
Chen Ping bent forward and said quietly, "The messenger is a hall master from the Green Snake Gang. He was quite polite. He said all the city's powers were invited to discuss something important."
Mo Qianhe tapped twice on the back of his chair and cursed.
"Has that fat bastard Zhou Xiong soaked his brains rotten in wine? Calling people together in the middle of the night?"
"Couldn't he pick a time during the day?"
Finally, he leaned back in his chair and considered it.
They had only just divided up most of the Three Lakes Gang's territory two days ago. Everyone had feasted until grease dripped from the corners of their mouths. What did they