Chapter 42: Bracelet (3)

Normally when somebody showed up to drink early in the day and was on a first name basis with the bartender, it was some kind of grizzled old man. Instead, Muchen turned to find that the interloper was a beautiful young woman. She was dressed in hunting leathers that did little to hide the rather impressive shape of her body, and with her hair swept back into a high ponytail she cut quite the heroic figure. She also stood nearly as tall as Muchen.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said to Muchen, not sounding particularly sorry, "but if you're not going to order then you should get out of the way so somebody else can get a drink."

Muchen grinned. "If it's a strong drink you're looking for, then I have what you need."

In response, her hand drifted towards the knife at her belt. Muchen readied himself to leap away, puzzled at the sudden air of potential violence. Fortunately, the bartender intervened before anything could happen.

"Relax, Zihan," she said, "he's trying to talk me into buying his booze."

Muchen coughed as he realized the bit of innuendo that he had wandered into unawares, then cleared his throat. "Exactly. Our lovely host was just telling me that she wasn't sure if her patrons could handle such a strong concoction."

Zihan grinned, all thoughts of violence forgotten. "Let me be the judge of that."

Muchen accepted another glass from the bartender and poured out a generous shot's worth of spirits. He slid it in front of her with a friendly warning. "Only the first drink is free."

She took the glass and tossed back its entire content with a practiced motion, then froze as the hard alcohol burned its way down her throat. She only held out for a few breaths before she broke down in a coughing fit.

"Not bad," she said, once she got her breathing under control. "Another!"

"Three taels," Muchen said, holding up three fingers.

Zihan only hesitated for a moment before reaching into her money pouch and tossing a few ingots on the bar. Muchen pocketed the silver and poured her another drink. This time she approached it with a bit more caution.

Muchen smiled at the bartender. Maybe some or even most of her customers wouldn't be willing to spend so much for a drink, but he'd just proved that it was at least possible to bring in three taels per shot. Considering that a jug held about twenty shots worth of booze, that left plenty of room for profit even at the high price he was demanding.

Only half of his mind was on the coming financial windfall, though. The other half was making connections. That name, Zihan. A young woman, certainly around the age to get married. Her enthusiastic entrance to the bar.

It seemed he had found his target. It wouldn't hurt to confirm it, though.

"Drinking to celebrate something?" he asked.

Zihan made a face that only had a little to do with the sip she had just taken from her cup. "Drinking to forget."

She didn't seem inclined to open up. Well, maybe her attitude would change after another few drinks. Muchen turned his attention back to the bartender. "I think I'm asking for a reasonable price."

"I suppose you are," she replied. "Come on, the silver is in the back."

Muchen followed as she led the way to the back room. Even if she had the silver out front, she wouldn't want to give away the wholesale price in front of a regular customer. The hallway was noticeably cleaner than the bar area, as was the small office that was their destination. Xiaodan fished out the key attached to the necklace she was wearing and used it to open a large safe set into the wall.

"How much of that stuff do you have for sale?" she asked.

"Three jugs, counting this one," Muchen said. "I can arrange to have more shipped here later, but it will take some time."

She clicked her tongue. "I'll take those three for now. We can talk about long term orders after I see how well it sells."

She pulled a handful of ingots from the safe, then used the scale on her desk to weigh out seventy-five taels. Muchen set the jug he was carrying down next to the silver before transfering the precious metal to his own pouch.

"The other two are in my wagon out front," he said.

She led the way back through the bar and out the front door. Along the way they passed by Zihan as she polished off the last of her second shot.

"Is she going to be all right?" Muchen asked. Sometimes you could get more information out of idle gossip than a concerted interrogation.

"She was recently betrothed," Xiaodan said.

Muchen enjoyed a breath of fresh air as they stepped outside. His cart was still where he'd left it. Xinyi was nowhere to be seen. Some scofflaws were no doubt about to have a bad day.

Muchen walked around to the rear of the cart and stuck his head under the cloth shielding the contents from view. A moment later, he emerged holding two fresh jugs of moonshine. He held them out to Zihan. She didn't display even a hint of effort at holding up the weight.

"Not her first pick for a husband?" Muchen asked. In the Qianzhan Empire, it was still common for parents to arrange marriages for their children. Usually a talented child would be given some say in their future husband or wife, but some elders could be unreasonably stubborn. For that matter, Zihan didn't seem like the type that was eager to compromise.

"She doesn't want to get married at all," Xiaodan said. "At least not yet."

Muchen hummed in acknowledgement as he followed Xiaodan back into the bar. She paused at the doorway, then sighed.

"The sad thing," Xiaodan added, " is that her father is just trying to arrange the best match he can. Zihan could do well with the Gao family, if she were willing to make the effort."

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"That is a shame," Muchen agreed. After a moment his conscience compelled him to add. "Keep an eye on how much of these spirits she drinks. With a drink this strong, it's easy to get more drunk than you intended."

Xiaodan laughed. "Don't worry, I know how to run my business. Come back in a week and I'll let you know if I want to make another order."

She turned to go inside, but Muchen called her back. "That hunt that you mentioned. Who do I talk to if I want to join?"

She gave him an appraising look. "Head over to the Gao family and talk to their steward."

Muchen thanked her for the advice and took careful note of the directions to the Gao family compound. He had a few days before he needed to visit, but he had every intention of participating in the hunt. Not to earn money, but to build social connections.

Betrothal gifts that helped to initiate a happy marriage would become family heirlooms. Especially with something as valuable as a useful spirit tool. The price of such a thing would be measured in spirit stones rather than silver, and even then it probably wouldn't be for sale.

The betrothal gifts for a failed engagement? The bride might hold on to them, or she might toss them back to the prospective groom. In either case, the gifted items would become part of a painful memory. Something they would be happy to sell, maybe even at a discount.

Muchen didn't want to go around breaking up happy couples for his own personal profit, but from what he had seen Zihan was anything but happy. If he could arrange a graceful way out of the marriage that preserved her future prospects, she might thank him for it. Even if she resented him sticking his nose in, at the very least she'd be better off than if she were stuck in a loveless marriage.

Muchen wanted to get hold of the Flowing Fortune bracelet any way that he could, but he'd be happier if he could do it without violating his conscience.

Muchen drove his cart to one of Jiaoqu Town's more reputable looking inns. He ended up paying about half again as much as he'd expected—in a place like this, you paid a premium for safety rather than comfort. He let himself into the room, set his bag of toiletries on the bed, and turned to find Xinyi leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed over her chest.

"Everything went well?" he asked.

"For me," Xinyi said, nodding. "How about you?"

"I learned a few things," Muchen said, before filling Xinyi in on the information he'd picked up at the bar and laying out his plan to make sure that the marriage never came to pass.

"If this Gao fellow were dead," Xinyi said, tapping a finger against her chin in thought, "then he and Zihan couldn't get married."

Muchen considered and rejected the idea of making an appeal to morality. "If Zihan's father is determined to tie their families together, then the death of one prospective groom won't be enough to derail his plans."

"Well, eventually they'd run out," Xinyi replied.

"If we can't come up with a better plan then we can try and grab the Flowing Fortune bracelet by piling up enough bodies to climb to our objective," Muchen said, "but I think we should start out trying to keep a low profile."

Xinyi shrugged. "You're sure you can't just buy it directly? That seems like more your style, and Zihan can't be too attached to the betrothal gifts."

"Maybe," Muchen said. Selling the gifts would be a great insult to the Gao family. Zihan's father would never approve. If she were angry enough, though, that lack of approval would hardly stop her from selling off the bracelet. "Once we try such a direct approach, though, it would be hard to do anything more subtle."

If he tried to buy the bracelet for a reasonable and then an exorbitant price, all would be well if they got the deal done. Even if he failed, he'd be able to walk away with no hard feelings. If, following his failure, a series of violent coincidences fell into place that made Zihan more eager to sell the necklace, it would raise suspicions.

In the end, he wanted the sale of the necklace to be Zihan's idea, at least on the surface. If he had to make the first move, he would put himself at a disadvantage.

"So what is this more subtle plan?" Xinyi asked. "All you've said is that going along on the hunt will offer an opportunity."

"That's the plan, so far," Muchen said. "Go on the hunt and keep an eye out for opportunities."

"That's it?" Xinyi asked.

"I'll just have to think on my feet," Muchen replied.

"I do want to see what's happened at the edges of the Qianzhan Continent," Xinyi said. "I suppose it won't hurt to travel with a group."

"Excellent," Muchen said. Despite his bravado, he'd been nervous at the prospect of a journey out into the untamed wilds. Having Xinyi along with him eased his mind. "Do you want to register for the hunt?"

"What do you mean?" Xinyi asked.

"If you want to fight and kill demonic beasts and keep the spoils," Muchen said, "the ticket costs more. If you're tagging along as part of my retinue, it's a lesser fee."

A hunting party wasn't made up of fighters alone. When a group was moving through the wilderness on a large scale, it needed some logistical support. Some basics would be provided by the Gao family, but anybody who wanted to live in any kind of comfort would bring along their own support contingent.

"As if I would pay to fight alongside such men," Xinyi said.

Muchen nodded. He'd see about getting her a spot as one of his supporters.

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