Chapter 28: Secrets (1)

Muchen slept in on the morning of the auction. He'd decided to take the day off from his tea business, as it was more important to get to the Thousand Treasures Hall a little early to get a good seat than to try to squeeze every wen out of every hour of the day. He still ended up awake at an ungodly hour according to the standards of his old life. Considering how he had been living, though, it felt downright decadent to get out of bed to find that the sun had already risen.

Muchen took his time washing his face and getting ready for the day, then gave his guest room a final once over. He intended to head out straight from the auction house, the better to settle his business with Heisan as quickly as possible. He'd loaded most of his things on his cart the previous night, but there were still a few odds and ends that he'd rather not leave behind.

He had finished packing and was just about ready to head to the main house to say his goodbyes when Liling's maid announced that she was waiting in the courtyard. Muchen was caught more wrong footed by the sudden display of good manners than he would have been had Liling simply barged into his room.

Maybe that was the point. He took a moment to center himself, dusted off his hands, and headed out to meet his guest.

Liling seemed chipper enough. At the very least, she didn't seem to be nursing a grudge over how their last conversation had ended.

"I've been thinking," she said. "Your tea business has potential. I'd like to buy it from you."

Muchen blinked. He'd loaded the materials for tea sales into his cart out of habit, but he didn't think he'd be able to do much by opening impromptu stalls as he traveled across the country. It had taken weeks of effort in the capital before he'd built up enough of a customer base to show a profit. It would only be harder to create a worthwhile market in the smaller cities of the Qianzhan Empire.

"I'd be happy to give it to you, if you like it," Muchen said. It would save him the trouble of carting the useless gear around the country, and he did want to stay on good terms with Liling.

"I want to go into business for myself, something separate from the family," Liling said. "To do that, I want to buy you out properly."

Muchen shrugged. "What did you have in mind?"

"Ten taels of silver," Liling said. "I get the equipment and the right to run the business. You keep a ten percent ownership stake."

"For ten taels, you might as well take it all," Muchen said. Ten percent of a modest business was a very modest sum of money. He doubted it would even be worth the trouble to come collect his share, let alone the burden on Liling of keeping an accurate set of books.

She was glaring at him again. "You keep ten percent."

Muchen held up his hands in surrender. "All right, all right."

"Good," Liling said, then cleared her throat. "Mother will be happy to hear that we've gone into business together."

Muchen raised an eyebrow, surprised at the effort she was putting in to maintain the ruse. "As you say."

The empty samovar and kettle were easy to pull down off the back of the cart. Similarly, the table and banner had both been made to be easy to unload. Muchen had to dig through the back of the wagon a bit to pull out the remainder of his tea mix. Unloading the boxes of mugs took a bit longer, but thanks to his cultivation level he wasn't even feeling a hint of aches or pain when he finished.

"That should be everything," he said. "To be honest, I don't feel like I'm contributing much for my ten percent of the business."

Ten taels of silver was more than he'd spent on all of his tea making materials put together. Sure, the samovar was an innovation, but Liling had already seen it in operation. If she'd replicated his business on her own after he'd left town, she could have had the whole thing up and running for less than ten taels. Not to mention that she'd own the whole thing.

"The business is based on your ideas," Liling said. "It's only fair you be rewarded."

"If you say so," Muchen replied. He wasn't too particular about his sense of fairness when the result was more money in his pocket. The next time he visited the capital, maybe he'd get Liling to round up his share of the profits and buy him a meal or something.

"You're leaving after the auction?" Liling asked.

Muchen nodded. "It's time for me to be on my way."

Liling looked around for a moment, then leaned close and lowered her voice. "For your cultivation?"

"That too," Muchen admitted.

She frowned at him. "I'm uneasy at the idea of you traveling around unsupervised."

Muchen laughed. "I'll be careful."

"You'd better!" she replied. "I expect to see you here again, safe and sound. And you'd better be back before my parents push a fiance on me."

"All right, all right," Muchen said.

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Liling folded her arms over her chest and stared at him for a moment. She looked like she was about to say something, but in the end she just let out a huff of frustration and walked away.

Muchen watched her go fondly. She could be impulsive at times, but she had a decent head on her shoulders. She had a bright future ahead of her, as long as she could sort out her marriage situation to her satisfaction. He was confident it would work out in the end.

His farewells to Uncle Haoyu and Aunt Baozhai were far less fraught. They also implored him to stay safe and visit again soon, though their instructions didn't quite have the same bite to them.

Muchen admired the mid morning hustle and bustle of the streets on his way to the Thousand Treasures Hall. Part of him had gotten comfortable with the rhythm of life in the capital. He would miss this when he set up shop out in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, there was a reason he was leaving. He had what people in the countryside would consider a veritable fortune in silver stored on his person, but compared to the titans in the capital his wealth was just pocket change. If he wanted to build himself into a strong independent force, he would need to start somewhere that would let him stay under the radar. With access to a cheap source of labor, his memories of bits and pieces of advanced technology, and time to develop... someday he'd return to the capital as a force to be reckoned with.

For now, it wasn't so bad to pass beneath the notice of the larger forces at work in the capital. The staff at the Thousand Treasures Hall still greeted him politely enough. Massive banners overhead announced that today was the day of the Long family auction, and the auction hall's decorations had been bumped up a level of ostentation, something that Muchen hadn't previously thought was possible.

A few of the more promising treasures from the auction were on display in the main hall. Muchen didn't bother taking a look and instead asked the attendant to lead him directly to the site of the auction itself. He wasn't here to sightsee.

For all of the time that Muchen had spent in the Thousand Treasures Hall, he'd never visited the auditorium where they held their largest auctions. He was taken aback at the size of the room. It was like a movie theater, or an opera house. There was a stage at the front of the room that looked big enough to put on a play. Rows of seating stretched the length of the room, rising as they moved toward the back. By Muchen's estimate there were over thirty rows of seats, and each row was at least a couple dozen seats wide.

When the Thousand Treasures Hall boasted that they had the facilities to host the largest auctions in the Qianzhan Empire, they had the strength to back up their claims. It was an ostentatious use of space, especially considering the value of land in the capital.

Muchen had arrived well before the auction's official opening, but he wasn't the first to arrive. Scattered knots of people had already laid claim to most of the first few rows. Muchen didn't bother competing with them for the very best seats. He was perfectly content to snag a place five rows back and towards the center. He'd have more or less a perfect view of the items up for auction, and there was no way the auctioneer would be able to miss his bid.

Being in the middle might get a little dangerous if a fight broke out, but the Thousand Treasures Hall employed a whole team of experts to make sure that that kind of thing didn't happen. For a big auction like this they would even invite representatives from the five major sects.

There might be a few cultivators out there who would be willing to ignore such things and cause a ruckus, but that sort of person wouldn't be attracted to an auction of mortal items like this one. Muchen took a seat and stretched out, taking a look at the crowd around him.

Unfortunately, he didn't spot anybody he recognized. He glanced up and off to the side. The real VIP guests were up there, in private boxes. Of course, the boxes were designed to permit a great view of the stage while shielding the occupants within from the gazes of the masses. Muchen couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.

Someday he'd be up there, enjoying creature comforts and relaxing away from the crowd. For today, he had to focus on the task at hand. After all, this was an important stepping stone on the road to future wealth and power.

A movie theater would have had some kind of light entertainment up to while away the time before the main event started. A lesser auction house might have employed a dance troupe or zither master to warm up the crowd, but the Thousand Treasures Hall was unfortunately above such things. There was still another hour to go before the auction officially began. Muchen wished he had had the nerve to bring in some light reading to pass the time. Instead, he had to occupy himself with people watching.

More people were trickling into the room every minute. The front half of the hall gradually filled up. The seats around Muchen were taken by groups of people who had ventured here together. Thankfully, the people on either side of him didn't seem to know each other, so Muchen didn't have to weather the indignity of a conversation carrying on across his body.

Muchen took a look around the room, doing his best to scope out the competition. Unfortunately, as far as he could tell the hall was filled with ordinary businessmen. Many of them were probably just here to see the show. If any nouveau riche had shown up with enough silver in his pocket to try buying out the whole place, Muchen couldn't spot him in the crowd. Of course, somebody like that would probably have a private box.

Lots seventy-five, seventy-seven, and especially eighty-one. Muchen recited the numbers to himself. After finding the Storm Dragon scripture he was pretty sure that lot eighty-one was not only the most important, but actually the only one that Heisan cared about. He was still going to do his best to take home all three. For one thing, he didn't want to give his temporary business partner any cause for complaint. For another, there could very well be a treasure or two hidden in the other lots, even if they weren't as important as what was sitting in lot eighty-one.

The buzz of conversation in the hall picked up over time. It was bordering on downright loud, now. Muchen craned his neck to see that the room was just about packed full. Surely the auction had to start soon.

A woman strutted into view on the main stage. The hall fell silent as soon as her figure came into view. Part of that could be attributed to, well, her figure, which was certainly worthy of taking the audience's breath away. It would be a mistake to think of the woman as just a flower vase, though. Her walk was more confident than coquettish, while her expression showed only calm confidence at being on stage in front of hundreds of people. Muchen suspected he was looking at a member of the Thousand Treasure Hall's upper management.

"Greetings," she said, her clear voice carrying easily to every corner of the auditorium. "I am Hong Canglan, the hall manager. It is my honor to welcome you to today's auction."

She paused for a moment to survey the room. There was a brief susurrus of whispers as she announced her name, but the conversation soon died out under the weight of her gaze.

"While it is a tragic story that has brought this auction to pass," she said, "as always there is a silver lining to every cloud."

In this case the silver lining was rather more literal than usual, at least as far as the Thousand Treasure Hall was concerned. The auction hall generally commanded a ten percent fee on every item sold. Even if the government had negotiated a discount, that would still mean a lot of silver flowing into the coffers of the Thousand Treasures Hall. Muchen couldn't help but wonder how much of it would end up in Canglan's pockets.

"You have seen the catalog, so you know what will be on offer," she said. "Of course, we can't just jump into the main event. The first lot up for auction will be lot number seventy."

She made a hand gesture, and another woman walked in from the wings. She was carrying a small display box. The lots in the seventies and eighties were all miscellaneous semi-precious items of one type or another. If the auction house went in numerical order, then everything he wanted to buy was going to go up for auction in the first half hour.

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