Operation Red Book

The ladies, wearing gorgeous dresses and precious jewels, gathered in twos and threes.

Their narrow eyes looked around, feather fans covered their whispering lips, and in the end, only a barely perceptible smile could be seen.

The gentlemen stood in groups of four or five in the gaps where the ladies gathered, holding exquisite glass wine glasses in their hands, constantly bowing to the guests passing by and speaking compliments.

Mrs. Hudson wandered through almost all the gatherings of noble ladies, giggling together, drinking a sip of champagne and moving on to the next battlefield.

Joshua followed Moriarty and Count Waite, also holding a glass of champagne in his hand.

He hid behind them timidly, looking up from time to time to see the situation on the scene.

“Mr. Holmes.”

Joshua led Holmes, who was wandering at the door, to Moriarty.

"Where have you been? We have been waiting for you here for a long time."

Moriarty handed Holmes a glass of champagne and introduced him to Earl Waite and other knights.

"I have discovered something strange." Holmes lowered his voice and said in Moriarty's ear.

Just as he was about to say it, there was a sudden noise from the crowd. The ladies and gentlemen all looked towards the entrance of the hall.

The gentlemen stood on tiptoe to get a closer look, while the ladies had gleams in their eyes and smiled and whispered to the ladies beside them.

"Zhu, Mr. Zhu, and the... beautiful woman next to him." Joshua stuttered, pointing at the door.

Holmes looked towards the door following Joshua's finger, and saw Mr. Zhu, dressed in a dark green robe, holding a pipe in his hand and puffing out smoke with his slender eyes narrowed.

Next to him stood a woman dressed in Chinese Qing Dynasty clothing. The lady was as tall as his chin, holding a white handkerchief in her right hand and a round fan made of brown sandalwood in her left hand.

The fan was gently fanning against her chest. It was embroidered with an exquisite picture of flowers and birds, and the white camellias and the flowers on her head complemented each other.

The two of them bowed and knelt down to salute everyone in the hall, and everyone in the hall nodded in response, pretending to continue talking to the people around them, even though their eyes kept glancing towards the door, and a few of them looked at them with malicious intent.

"Oh, that's my Ivy!"

Mrs. Hudson clapped her hands excitedly and introduced enthusiastically to the ladies on both sides.

Holmes heard Mrs. Hudson's excited voice and recognized that the gentle and friendly oriental girl was Ivy who had disappeared that afternoon.

The corners of his eyes twitched, his whole face wrinkled into a ball, the corners of his mouth curved into a crooked shape, and he said an exaggerated "Bloody Hell".

"She was not like this before, so... so ladylike!" Holmes hurriedly clarified to Moriarty and Earl Waite.

Unfortunately, Moriarty only smiled, took a sip of champagne, and exclaimed: "Miss Ivy is a beauty."

Count Waite simply ignored his words, with a different kind of light flowing in his green eyes.

Like Joshua, he stopped and looked in Ivy's direction, but Joshua looked more stupid.

Mrs. Hudson enthusiastically walked up to Ivy and Mr. Zhu with a feather fan in her hand, spun Ivy around with a smile, and then led Ivy and Mr. Zhu to walk among the groups of noble ladies.

Mrs. Hudson introduced the names and family backgrounds of these ladies to the two of them, and the ladies did not hesitate to praise Ivy's clothes.

Mr. Zhu took the opportunity to show off Ivy's clothes to the ladies, praising the colors, fabrics, embroidery, matching, jewelry, hairstyles and other things that ladies like, and let the ladies touch them from time to time.

After one round, Ivy didn't know how many circles she had turned and how many times her clothes had been touched by the lady's hands.

Mrs. Hudson was tired, too, and drank glass after glass of champagne.

Mr. Zhu did not feel dry in the mouth. Although he had a thick stack of business cards in his hands, he still regretted that he did not praise Ivy's embroidered shoes and the mutton-fat white jade bracelet on her wrist to the ladies in front of him.

The three of them quickly followed Mrs. Hudson around and finally returned to Holmes and Moriarty.

"You, you look very beautiful today, Ivy-san."

Joshua stammered, he lowered his head and blushed, his eyes blinked rapidly, not daring to look up at her.

"I know." Still the arrogant response, "You combed your bangs up, how stupid."

Joshua pursed his lips, knowing that Ivy was still angry with him, and said nothing more.

"You look so beautiful today, Miss Ivy. And you, Mr. Zhu, you are wearing clothes too."

Moriarty smiled and handed Mr. Zhu a glass of champagne, making a joke.

Mr. Zhu rolled his eyes as he drank his champagne and put the other stack of business cards in Ivy's hand into his pocket.

"Miss Ivy is too young to drink alcohol. Count Waite brought you a glass of water."

Count Waite walked towards Ivy with a glass of ice water. He looked at the camellia on Ivy's head tenderly, his voice low and magnetic.

"Ms. Ivy, the camellia you are wearing is very fragrant and beautiful. Of course, you are even more beautiful."

"Thank you, Lord Earl."

Ivy took the glass handed to her by Count Waite with a smile, and her hand under the handkerchief slightly touched his cold fingers.

Ivy's rapidly beating heart almost made her lose control of the water cup in her hand. Her face flushed slightly, and the little man in her heart was jumping and shouting in her heart.

"She's really not like this usually!"

Holmes continued to pursue Moriarty and Count Waite.

But he always felt that there was an invisible wall between him and Count Waite. To be precise, it was between Count Waite and Ivy.

"Mrs. Emerson is here!"

At this time, a servant shouted loudly at the door.

A noble lady in a dark green empire dress appeared on the huge golden staircase. She was wearing dazzling jewelry, an exaggerated feather hat on her head, and a long white cloak trailing behind her.

Mrs. Emerson looked plump and had a polite smile on her face. To Ivy, she seemed very kind and gentle.

Behind her followed two men in their twenties and a noble boy of about sixteen or seventeen.

The two men look similar. One of them is wearing a thick black coat, has a full beard, and his eyes look majestic and heavy. The other man is wearing a red British military uniform, his face is weathered by wind and rain, he stands upright, but always makes people feel melancholy and tired.

The boy looked very lively and cheerful. His olive-colored hair and eyes attracted everyone's attention, but what was even more eye-catching was his charming and handsome face.

After Mrs. Emerson came down, the people in the hall dispersed to both sides, leaving a wide path in the middle.

The men bent down and lowered their heads, while the ladies half-crouched and lowered their heads, and Ivy was no exception.

Mrs. Emerson walked along the avenue with a smile on her face. When she saw Ivy standing beside her, her eyes lit up and her smile widened.

She walked over slowly, lifted Ivy up with both hands, gently touched the camellia on her head with her right hand, then touched Ivy's delicate and fair face, slid to her chin and lifted her face up.

She and Ivy looked at each other. Although there was a kind smile on her face, Ivy felt the deep sadness and sorrow in the lady's eyes.

"well……"

Mrs. Emerson nodded, looked back at Dorian, and turned back to the end of the avenue.