Within the red-light district, the night sky lit up with lanterns that hung off the side of the most expensive brothel within the Tianchi kingdom.
"More wine, bring more wine!." A man who looked similar to the first prince exclaimed.
The man was sitting in a private room surrounded by courtesans and had his face covered with remnants of lipstick. "And then I said so what if the minister is your father don't you know I am a prince of this kingdom."
"Master Zumo is so domineering." the courtesans said in unison.
The first prince seemed like the picture-perfect image of a prince having long flowing hair that usually tied into a bun on top of head and eyebrows that were sharp he was also a hard worker within the public eye, the man here had short hair and eyebrows that were relaxed. It seemed as though he didn't have a care in the world.
The seemingly fun atmosphere was disturbed when someone barged into the prince's room.
"Zumo Tian, how many times have I told you to quit with these frivolous activities." a young man around 19 with hair that had a silver tone said with a look of disgust in his eyes.
"Hahaha, you even dare to address the prince by his name, have you no fear, being the son of the prime minister doesn't pardon you from crimes little Chen." the prince responded in a relaxed tone indicating his drunkenness.
"BEGONE!" the man referred to as little Chen dismissed the courtesans that were attending to the prince in an instant.
"Have some decorum little Chen, don't you know how to treat a lady?" the prince said as he lazily put his robe back on.
"Please, spare me the small talk, how can you be so carefree at a time like this, and what's more you're spending time at such a filthy establishment."
The prince was washing his face off with some water in a basin that the brothels staff had brought him, after ridding himself of the lipstick stains on his face he responded.
"Ah, ah, ah, watch what you say here Luo Chen , the backing of this place does not lie within the confines of this kingdom, nor any other kingdom."
Little Chen bit his tongue and didn't rebuke the prince instead he changed the topic.
"The time draws closer, we do not have the luxury of fooling around, your sister has outbid you."
The prince smiled as he slowly tossed the grapes at the bedside into his mouth.
"It's ok I never wanted that guide to begin with, I just wanted bao'er to expend more of her private funds."
Luo Chen was perplexed but did not say anything, the prince grinned at him.
"You're confused little Chen, why would I waste my time competing for something I never wanted in the first place, the reason is quite simple."
The prince switched from his relaxed tone to a completely serious one.
"Deception, this entire time I've talked like I was drunk, merely speaking like a willful child and that was enough to trick you."
Luo Chen didn't respond, he knew the prince was correct and waited for further elaboration.
"Just like I have deceived you with the notion that I was drunk, I will deceive my sister into thinking she has battled with me and emerged victorious when all she was doing was fighting against a mere ghost."
"And what will that accomplish." Luo Chen asked with a calm gaze.
"A competitor is most vulnerable when they have just claimed that title, victor, a victor may think themselves invincible. A moment of intense arrogance that is when you strike."
Little Chen had a complicated expression on his face when he was about to say something but stopped.
"Regardless, the king's health is in decline, shouldn't you try to gain his favor."
The prince stood up from the bed and headed in the direction of the exit.
"Little Chen you are still too young, aren't there powers that are greater than my father's at play here." he pushed the doors open.
"If anything it is their favor that I should seek."
….
The day had come for Zhishi Wu to face the challenge the council had posed to him on the first day of his temporary merchantship.
"Hear hear, fresh fruits and vegetables straight from the ammanians, an exotic assortment!"
His eye fell to the source of this voice a vendor who was standing on the side of the street. "How do they transport food without it spoiling? There is no semblance of electricity here." he thought to himself as he continued following secretary Lan to the place where his first challenge was.
"And here we are." Secretary Lan stopped in front of a little shop that had a sign with bold letters on top of the door.
Tianchi Tea
He looked upon the sign and came to a quick realization but didn't say anything. He walked into the shop just to see that it was completely barren, the beautiful furniture, the graceful decorations and even the lovely aroma, by all accounts it should have been full so why was it empty. The only person there was a child who seemed to be around 19 sleeping with his head on the wooden counter.
"This is a joke?" he turned his head and looked towards secretary Lan with a hopeful gaze, she just replied with a full smile and a expression that said "you shouldn't have flaunted so much to the council."
"How is it possible that this place is in such a good location yet such lacking in business, I dare say there isn't a better place this could be located."
Secretary Lan walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder in a consoling tone "see that's why you're here, to fix the problem with this establishment."
She walked up to the boy sleeping on the counter and slapped him on the head to wake him up, as he was getting up she began to give an explanation.
"The council has decided to give you a time period of one month to remedy the state of this shop, right now we barely get the occasional customer, the monthly income is close to 20 silvers, our estimates indicate that if this place was to get better we could 100 silvers per month instead of 20 a five times increase. To accomplish this they have granted you a credit of 500 silvers"
The boy had woken up, his hair was rough with a light shade of brown and he seemed to be about the same height as Zhishi Wu, he was actually pretty handsome compared to the other commoners Zhishi Wu had seen but not as handsome as someone like Bilal .
"Hello new manager, you may refer to me as Zu or shopkeeper Zu or whatever you please." he bowed his head slightly and greeted Zhishi Wu.
He turned his head towards secretary Lan and also greeted her with a huge smile on his face "I also greet the beautiful miss Lan."
He promptly received a slap on the face as a greeting from secretary Lan.
"Ever her slaps feel like heaven." he thought to himself and stood at attention pretending like nothing had happen just now.
"..." Zhishi Wu looked upon the scene in confusion and decided not to say anything, he was left speechless.
"Anyway, this pervert here is responsible for brewing the tea, you may command him as you see fit other than that you are responsible for all happenings within the shop including the recruitment of new employees, budgeting and whatever else comes to mind."
Zhishi Wu took a moment to understand the situation at hand, it currently looked like he had to increase this business's profit five-fold and he was given 500 silver coins as a means to accomplish this.
"Zu, I have a few questions for you." Zhishi Wu was getting straight to business.
"I am at your service manager."
"To start with what type of people is this shop intended to serve for example the age range that would partake in this. Secondly is there any competitors in the general vicinity who provide the same service and lastly a list of employees, also just to be sure serve me a regular cup of tea."
Zu got to work making the tea, secretary Lan had been sitting in the back, her job here was just to monitor Zhishi Wu and report his performance to the council.
"To start with manager, this district has a large number of people aged between 14 and 30 and they are the people we are trying to serve, as for competition it's not really present in the area which is even more confusing. And in terms of employees I'm the only one here."
Zu responded to all of the questions and prevented Zhishi Wu with a cup of tea.
He lifted the cup and put it to his mouth, in his previous life he loved tea of all kinds and was looking forward to it, he took the first sip and his reaction was a little unexpected.
"Bitter!" he said out loud unknowingly.
He had physically recoiled from the cup of tea. This new life that he had been given along with this new identity was not one used to bitter tea intended for old men with beards.
"I think I found the problem here." Zhishi Wu facepalmed and looked at secretary Lan.
"Who thought it was a good idea to open a tea shop here?" he asked.
"This was actually sanctioned by Bilal, apparently in his country tea is loved by people of all ages."
Zhishi Wu should have guessed it was the eccentric guy he had met that came up with this kind of idea.
"I guess it's time to introduce this world to the idea of milk tea." Zhishi Wu had formulated a plan within his mind and was ready to execute it.
….
In a mountain peak within the far north. A being obscured in clouds that seemed almost solid spoke with an ethereal tone.
"The age of the Moshi Tian is coming to an end, his line of karma have faded and the succession for Tianchi draws closer. As agreed upon by the union of 10,000 swords cultivators are not allowed to interfere in the affair of mortals."
Another figure wearing a robe that enveloped its entirety making it impossible to determine its Identity bowed slightly to the cloud that held the voice.
"Indeed wise one, what would you have me do?" the mysterious figure inquired.
"As an apprentice enforcer from the mainland it is your duty to protect the mortals from cultivators, thus it is your responsibility to ensure there is no cultivation forces of any kind that impact the succession of the king, however be careful to not impact it yourself."
The figure was about to speak "bu-"
"No exceptions, it may pain you to see mortals fight among themselves and cause bloodshed, but you as a cultivator may not interfere within their affairs, I have spoken." the voice obscured by clouds asserted.
The figure placed its hand over its chest and spoke "forgive my rudeness, but allow me to take care of these pests."
The figure merely focused its attention for a moment before the group of various cultivators in the area dropped dead.
"Fools, they dare to spy on an enforcer of the mainland and can't even handle a trace of my divine sense." the figure spoke in a disappointed tone.
Following this the figure returned to its bowing position and spoke "It is by your decree wise one. As long as I am alive no cultivator shall lay eyes on the Tianchi kingdom." following this the figure vanished almost instantly.
The being hidden within the cloud spoke in a perplexed tone "Indeed even my eyes are not qualified to peer into the fate of that child."