The red carpet running through the center of Supreme Harmony Plaza was fifty paces wide.
Liu Yan strutted down the scarlet runner like an imperial empress inspecting her court.
She wore an extravagant gown of shimmering crimson silk, embroidered with golden peonies and seed pearls. Her hair was piled high in elaborate coils, pinned with silver butterflies that trembled with every haughty step. Beside her, Zhao Kai staggered under the weight of a heavy rosewood chest, sweating profusely under his stiff, gold-threaded scholar robe.
Behind them, Young Master Wang Ba sat at the front table of the Wang Clan, puffing out his fat chest with immense pride.
“Look at that magnificent chest, gentlemen!” Wang Ba bragged loudly to the surrounding lords, waving his jeweled wine goblet. “My future concubine, Miss Liu Yan, obtained a peerless spiritual treasure from the outer astral trade lanes! It puts all provincial commoners and their cheap school tricks to shame!”
Minor Aristocrat Lord Sun and several merchant guild masters looked on with cynical curiosity. For weeks, rumors had circulated that the Wang Clan had allied with Envoy Varkos’s off-world agents to secure rare interstellar longevity herbs.
High up on the white jade terrace, Emperor Ji Wudao looked down with cold, calculating eyes.
