Red Dead Redemption: The Great Philanthropist of the West

Palace of Pleasure

Watching Dutch and Micah leave happily, Zhang Wei held the two photos in his hand and chuckled softly. Why choose the Pleasure Palace of all places for a conversation? Don't they know this is a key target the boss instructed them to keep an eye on?

Dutch thought their conversation was very private, unaware that several pairs of eyes were watching him the whole time. They overheard most of his conversation with Joe and the others, though not much useful information. After all, it was their first meeting, and Dutch didn't trust them much, so he wouldn't give them many instructions. He simply told them to lie low for now and wait to be used later, and generously gave them some money for entertainment.

.......

Meanwhile, Dutch was sipping his drink and scheming against his own people.

The diligent Arthur transformed from a friend of the Greys into a guest of the Braithwaite family. At Hosea's invitation, he arrived at the drawing room of the Braithwaite mansion.

By this time, Hosea and "Old Witch" Catherine had become quite familiar with each other, and the group chatted and laughed as they played a card game called Kribbitch in the living room. This was a popular card game in the American South during the 19th century, and because it was easy to learn and fun to play, it was very popular on plantations at the time.

Sean, on the other hand, acted as if he were invisible, doing things like pouring coffee for them.

When the Bray family's butler led Arthur in, Hosea greeted him first and warmly introduced Arthur's identity to the group.

However, like Tavish, Catherine didn't really care who the visitor was; she just wanted to know if the visitor could do the job she assigned well.

"Tell me, is this... um... Mr. Callahan as physically strong but mentally weak as he seems?"

Mr. Callahan's lips twitched, forcibly suppressing the urge to lash out and his instinct to stink.

"Well, although he does look very tall... opinions vary on his intelligence."

Some say he's as stupid as he looks... but in my opinion, I don't think he's that stupid.

Seeing Arthur's expression, Hosea stepped in to defuse the situation, though it was hardly any different from not defusing it at all.

Arthur could only stare at the ceiling speechlessly, nodding casually in agreement, trying his best to ignore their conversation, otherwise he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold back.

After some verbal sparring, Hosea and Catherine agreed on the price, and Hosea sent Sean and Arthur out to carry out their 'smoke and fire' plan. He stayed behind to play cards with Catherine, hoping to get more information about the 'gold'.

.......

"Why didn't you say anything just now? That's not like you at all."

In a carriage loaded with bootleggings, Arthur was a little puzzled by Sean's behavior earlier.

"Just some cover-up tricks, oh ho, Arthur, you don't think I'm as stupid as you, do you?"

"Those rich people are really despicable. They always have that ugly, arrogant look on their faces. They even took all my things when they came in. Shit, I mean, I completely agree with punishing these capitalists. I hate rich people."

After leaving the manor, Sean seemed to revert to his talkative mode, rambling on and on to Arthur.

"OK, ...what do we need to do now?"

Arthur quickly stopped the Irish lad, otherwise he could have talked until dawn.

"Go burn tobacco, the Gray family's tobacco field."

"They used the bootlegging they made, and she said it was 'appropriate' to do it this way. ...shit! Right now, all I can think about is how to 'appropriately' kick her and her arrogant son in the face. Let them know what 'appropriate' really means."

"It seems like it would be quite appropriate for Hosea to invite you over for tea and a chat." Arthur was amused by Sean's playful tone, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

But it didn't last long; he seemed to remember something and sighed.

“Hosea and Dutch know what they’re doing. First they destroyed the bootlegging, then they caused trouble in the tavern, then they stole horses, and now they’re going to start a ‘smokestorm’.”

“We’ve got enough trouble already. I heard the Gray family has doubled their guards. If this keeps up, I’m worried we won’t be able to keep things under control.”

Unlike Arthur's deep concern, Sean was completely unconcerned, even excited, and full of anticipation for the upcoming mission. Typical young man, fearless and full of energy.

With Sean's skillful maneuvering, the two successfully infiltrated the Caliga plantation and dealt with their fellow countrymen. They then infiltrated the unloading warehouse, waiting for nightfall.

........

As the entire Grey family's tobacco fields were engulfed in flames, the fire illuminated the entire Rhodes sky. The Grey family guards were only just beginning to react when chaos erupted. Some were busy fetching water to fight the fire, while others searched for the arsonists.

However, many of these guards had only been hired in the last few days and were not yet familiar with the job. They were easily outmaneuvered by Sean and Arthur, then left with a flourish, even taking a cartload of wages with them – roughly 300 US dollars.

The Braithwaite family, of course, saw the flames that filled the sky and knew their plan had succeeded. They readily paid Hosea $300 and sent him away.

Back at camp, Sean, upon learning of the other side's situation, curled his lip and complained to Arthur:

"What stingy capitalists! They give us less money than we could easily take. How petty!"

“Making money is just a side benefit. Our goal has always been to stir up conflict between the two families and exacerbate their dispute so that Dutch can plot his way out of that gold.”

Hosea explained to Sean after hearing his complaints, and also spoke to Arthur in turn. He knew Arthur had always disagreed with the plan and had even had a fight with Dutch a few days ago. However, he didn't take it too seriously, assuming it was just their usual squabble and would be fine on its own in a few days, like many times before.

Meanwhile, Hosea was unaware that after he left, the 'old witch' Catherine spoke to her eldest son, Bartholomew Braithwaite:

"You sent someone to tell all the things those Yankees did to those brain-dead idiots in the Gray family, so they'd understand how stupid they were. And you gave them back their deputy sheriff position, thinking they'd been working for them all along. It's laughable."

"I just want to see how they will treat these Yankees after losing so much tobacco, and whether they will still like using them."

Thinking about her bootlegging and the stolen stallions, and looking at the Grey family's huge loss of tobacco fields, Catherine felt much better, and it was as if she had finally gotten her revenge.

But that wasn't enough. She wanted these northern bumpkins to pay a heavy price so that no one could offend the Braithwaite family and leave unscathed.