Cai Wei excitedly nodded and followed Brother Parrot towards the Lü Family’s residence. After a few steps, she felt something was off. She was about to steal, but her long pink robe was too bright and might be easily spotted. Also, it wasn’t convenient for climbing walls and sneaking through holes.
When she passed by a small alley, she consciously ducked into it and entered the Space to retrieve a loose, deep grey Daoist robe from Cihai Zhenren’s bedroom. She took off her pink satin robe and swapped into this robe.
The Daoist robe was loose and its color was dull, it was comfortable to run in and wouldn’t be easily noticed in the dark. After getting ready, she bowed to the sky with reverence, mumbling: "Dear Immortal, please don’t blame me, I’m not wearing your clothes to steal, but to rob the rich and help the poor, to benefit all living things under heaven. Please don’t be angry with me..."
Once she finished mumbling, she exited the Space and chased after Brother Parrot, rushing towards the Lü Family’s grand house.
It was already the 28th, the moonless night was pitch black. This was supposedly the perfect night for murder and robbery.
Upon arriving outside the Lü Family’s grand house, Cai Wei noticed the walls around the courtyard were very tall, almost two meters. If she hadn’t been practicing her light skill lately, she feared she would have expended a lot of effort just to climb over the wall!
After climbing into the courtyard, she realized the Lü Family was really grand. There were numerous, luxurious houses within the compound, lavishly arranged with wonderful aesthetics. Some ornamental trees for the winter were planted in pots, testing their survival capabilities under harsh winter. On these ornamental trees hung small, exquisite red lanterns, lighting up the courtyard brightly. A few housekeepers were on patrol under the light, hopping from the cold and cursing the dreadful weather in between.
"Damn it, it’s so cold! It’s going to freeze me to death!"
"Isn’t it just so? In this kind of weather, one should stay at home, sitting on the warm kang and enjoying a bit of distilled wine, wouldn’t that be wonderful?"
"Dream on, it’d be even better if you had a woman to warm your bed, wouldn’t it?"
"Hehe, that would definitely be nice, especially if she’s fair and sultry..."
The housekeepers, who were shivering from the cold, immediately perked up at the mention of women and started discussing the structure of a woman’s body.
Hidden in the shadows, Cai Wei listened to their crude talk and waited for her chance to enter the hall. Growing impatient, she quickly came up with a plan and softly called out to Brother Parrot, whispering a few instructions to it.
Thus, the housekeepers who were enthusiastically discussing about women suddenly noticed an injured, colorful parrot. The parrot was flying low, dragging one wing, fluttering only when it was about to hit the ground. Its cries were weak and intermittent, clearly nursing some serious injuries.
"Hey, a parrot! Quick, capture it!"
One of the housekeepers was the first to spot the parrot and immediately abandoned his companions to give chase.
Another did not want to be left behind, as he ran, he said, "What use do you have for a parrot, you’re a bachelor. You won’t be able to look after it, just give it to me. I’ll take it home for my son to play with."
"Who says I have no use for it! I’ll take it home to the widow who lives next door. Maybe it’ll put her in good spirits and I’ll get to sleep with her for a few days..."
Parrots are rare in the north and only the wealthy can afford them. One can be priced anywhere from two to five taels of silver; they’re very precious. The other housekeepers also wanted to capture the parrot; even if they had no one to gift it to, they could sell it and make a big profit!
The group of housekeepers in the courtyard, lured by the injured and colorful parrot, ran into the backyard with lots of noisy excitement.