The Red Lantern House was never quiet for long. Word of Lan Hua's contracts had spread, carrying whispers into tea houses and court halls. Nobles who once visited for entertainment now lingered to ask questions about "matches," their curiosity half-hidden beneath polite laughter.
Lan Hua listened, observed, and then struck.
---
She called the courtesans together one afternoon, her crimson robe sweeping across the polished floor. A new scroll lay on the low table before her, its edges dusted with gold powder.
"This," she said calmly, "is the next step."
Ping'er, Rui Yun, and Mei Xiu leaned forward eagerly, already loyal to her vision. The others watched more warily, Yue Niang among them, her smile brittle.
Lan Hua unrolled the scroll. Elegant columns detailed names, sums, and privileges.
"I am creating VIP matchmaking services," Lan Hua declared. "For nobles who wish not just a match, but discretion. For those who want alliances beyond gossip and chaos. They will pay triple the usual fee, but in return, they receive priority."
Gasps rippled through the room.
"Triple?" one courtesan whispered.
"No noble will agree to that!" another scoffed.
Lan Hua's eyes glinted. "They will. Because with this, they purchase not only matches but prestige. They will be named as part of the 'Peony Circle'—a private list of patrons whose alliances I oversee personally. A list that gives them power no other noble can access."
The words landed like pebbles in a pond, sending ripples through the women. Even Yue Niang's mockery faltered, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
---
The first test came quickly.
Lord Zhao, a wealthy merchant newly ennobled, arrived at the Red Lantern House with his young wife. The man's silks were gaudy, his manners unrefined, but his purse was heavy.
"I hear," Lord Zhao said loudly, "that your Peony Matchmaker guarantees success."
Lan Hua bowed gracefully. "Success is not enough for men like you, my lord. What you seek is legacy."
He blinked, momentarily disarmed.
She unrolled the golden-edged scroll and set it before him. "The Peony Circle," she said smoothly. "A circle only for those who value discretion, security, and priority. Your daughter will not be paired with anyone of lesser status. Your son will not be mocked as nouveau riche. Triple the fee secures your family's place among the elite."
The wife's eyes gleamed. "Triple?" she whispered, awed rather than scandalized.
Lord Zhao puffed up, eager to prove he could afford it. "Done."
He pressed his seal into the wax with a flourish, leaving behind a pouch so heavy the table creaked.
---
By nightfall, the entire house buzzed.
"Triple fee?"
"Did he truly pay it?"
"And willingly!"
Even Madam, counting silver in her office, was left speechless for a moment. Then she laughed, low and rich, fanning herself rapidly. "That girl… she turns fools into gold."
She allowed herself a rare smile. Perhaps danger was worth the profit after all.
---
Lan Hua returned to her chamber to find her trial group waiting for her, eyes wide with excitement.
"Sister Lan Hua," Ping'er whispered, clutching her hands, "you made him pay triple. And he thanked you for it!"
Rui Yun smirked. "The man is a fool, but you… you made him proud of it."
Mei Xiu's voice trembled. "If nobles begin to fight for places in this Peony Circle… won't we be untouchable?"
Lan Hua's smile was calm, her gaze sharp. "Exactly."
She wrote the words on her parchment: Exclusivity creates demand.
In her old world, it had been branded as VIP membership. Here, it was a gilded scroll, a secret list, a circle of prestige. Different packaging—same psychology.
She dipped her brush again, writing one more line beneath it: And prestige buys loyalty faster than silver ever could.
---
Not everyone was pleased.
Yue Niang slammed her fan shut, her face flushed with anger as gossip reached her ears. "So now nobles speak not of beauty, but of scrolls? Of contracts? Of circles?"
Her attendants tried to soothe her, but she struck their hands away.
"She is not even the most beautiful," Yue Niang hissed. "And yet she bends nobles with her words. What is she turning into?"
One of the younger courtesans whispered, "A strategist…"
Yue Niang's eyes burned with fury.
---
That evening, Lan Hua sat at her desk, sealing Lord Zhao's contract with crimson wax. She leaned back, her lips curving in quiet triumph.
Marriage is no different from mergers, she reminded herself. And mergers are built not on beauty, but on leverage.
Already, she could feel the gaze of the city shifting. Nobles intrigued, Madam impressed, rivals furious.
The game board was expanding.
And somewhere in the palace, in the shadows of power, someone would hear of the Peony Circle soon enough.
Lan Hua's brush paused midair, as if she sensed it already. She smiled faintly, whispering to herself:
"Let them come."
---