13 - Chapter 11
Sa Bina and Sun Li returned back to the estate. It had been a productive few days. Over dinner, in what Sa Bina would have to think of as her dining room, the two discussed what still needed to be done.
“So I think most of the things have been done.” said Sun Li, “As for what's left, you still need to get a couple of carriages, with horses. Also whatever you want to do regarding business. However, I don't think you need me any more. You can contact me through the sect if you need anything.”
“Yes, thank you for all your help.” replied Sa Bina. She was torn about the prospect of Sun Li leaving. She would be alone and free to manage things, but it was nice having someone to guide her, someone not an employee. She always liked exploring new places, but in her previous life that had been with her husband. She would need to create a new group of friends to explore this world with. She wondered how the nobles would act both with commoners and with her.
As it had been a tiring day, after dinner they both retired to rest. Thankfully at least some sets of clothing had been delivered earlier, so she had more than one set to change into. Sa Bina relaxed in the bath while her handmaid lay out her night clothes. She almost fell asleep in the bath and had to force herself to leave the bath to get into bed.
As Sa Bina slept, Sa Bina dreamt of floating through the clouds, in her dream the clouds were drawn to her, and slowly entered her body, making her feel light and warm. She was sure, in her dream, that she had dreamt the same dream before. She enjoyed the sensation of the clouds filling her with warmth.
She awoke the next morning feeling refreshed, with no memory of her, by now recurring, dreams. She took her time getting ready, and went down to breakfast, wearing a light pink gown that Dian Fu thought looked particularly fetching on her.
A part of her was glad to see Sun Li was still there. The two enjoyed a nice breakfast.
“As I am going to get those carriages this morning, should we travel together?” asked Sa Bina, “Or are you in rush to get away.”
“No, we can travel together,” replied Sun Li, “Besides, how would you travel around without a carriage?”
So after breakfast, Sun Li and Sa Bina, accompanied by Han Ji, and three guards left the estate. When Sa Bina asked why three guards, instead of the usual two, she was reminded that she needed a coachman. The third guard would act as her coachman, until she hired someone for the role. Sa Bina decided that would be another task for Be Net, her new butler.
Her new secretary, Lou Sie, was spending the day getting caught up with the details of the estate. From the new outing, she would accompany Sa Bina.
They made small talk on the way to the carriage yard. Han Ji went to buy some horses, as Sa Bina knew nothing about them, she left it in his very capable hands.
The carriage yard reminded her of a second hand car showroom, with a number of carriages parked in a yard surrounding the business. They ranged from what could charitably be called a cart, basically a box on wheels, with a small bench for the driver and a place to hitch the horses, to high end carriages covered in golden trim.
As they approached the small shop/office, a man, the typical epitome of a greasy used car salesman, approached the door. Seeing a cultivator and a girl in noble attire, he bowed low.
“Greetings, how may we serve today?” he asked.
“I am in the market for 2 carriages of similar quality to this one,” said Sa Bina, pointing to the carriage they had just left. “Also thinking about it, we may need a few carts for the estate, but I will send the estate manager to deal with that.”
The man’s eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to sell multiple carriages. Sa Bina really wanted to roll her eyes at his behaviour. He spent time showing them to some of the more ostentatious carriages, and it took Sun Li telling him off to show the more practical carriages favoured by the sect, over the ones traditionally favoured by the nobles.
Finally, Sa Bina selected 3 that she may have been interested in purchasing. That's when the haggling began. They had already discussed pricing for carriages on their way over, and a brand new carriage, in a reasonably plain design should have sold for around 250 to 300 gold. The more showy carriages could be a lot more depending on how they were decorated.
“So you're telling me that these three carriages are more expensive than a brand new one?”asked, a by now thoroughly exasperated, Sa Bina.
“Yes my lady,” replied the oily salesman, “ You would have to wait some time for the new ones, these are ready to take today.
“Ok,” mused Sa Bina out loud, “I think we should wait for new ones. What do you think of Sun Li?”
“Yes I think we should go and order new ones, that way you can pick the design you like.” replied Sun Li.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Now now, no need to make a hasty decision my lady. “ said a now very nervous salesman.”I am sure I can do a good deal for you.”
Sa Bina, about to walk out, paused and looked up. “What kind of deal, it would have to be an amazing deal for me not to order new ones.”
After some more haggling, once where Sa Bina almost reached the sect carriage, they finally agreed on the price of 100 gold per carriage. Sa Bina had decided to only buy two for today. By the time the paperwork was done Han Ji had returned with the horses. It turned out the horses were not much cheaper than the carriages.
Sa Bina gave 20 tier 1 spirit stones to each Han Ji and the salesman. Thankfully the price included all the gear to hitch the horses to the carriages.
They got both carriages hitched up, and one of the soldiers returned with it to the estate. The other was prepared for Sa Bina.
Sa Bina and Sun Li parted ways, with Sun Li promising to come by in a few days to see how she was settling in.
Sa Bina and Han Ji mounted her newly purchased carriage, and decided to take it out for a little tour around the city.
Sa Bina, just wanted to see more of the city while she decided what she wanted to do. While she had managed to get a good deal of wealth from the sect, if she truly wanted to be independent, then she would need to ensure that her income was higher than her expenditure, or more accurately she needed to have an income. Having been independent in her last life, she didn't want that to change in this one.
Sa Bina decided to ask Han Ji to give her an overview of how the city was laid out. “The city was designed with a central keep or inner city, that is predominantly the area of the royals and other nobility. The businesses are owned and run by the noble houses. The area predominantly had the service industries, selling goods, providing entertainment etc.” said Han ji, “The industrial areas are based in the outer city. The area is divided into 4 quadrants. The northern quarter is predominantly taken up by the churches, and by the clothing industry. The southern quarter is predominantly taken up by the smithing guilds, not just iron and steel, but also the jewellers. The eastern quarter is predominantly the artificers and the western quarter is mainly the food producers. The farms are outside the walls and cover a significant area.”
“What about slums or destitute,” asked Sa Bina.
“There are poor and destitute in the outer city, but they are not in any particular area. There are no slums as such, just wealthier and poorer neighbourhoods.” replied Han Ji. “The slums wouldn't survive a beast wave, it would be pointless and just make the beasts stronger.
As Sa Bina thought through structure, she decided to return to the Qi Seal maker. It didnt take long for them to arrive.
Sa Bina entered quietly and waited. She was noticed by the same female attendant that had served her last time. The attendant motioned her towards the office, and they both entered quietly.
“How can I help my lady?” asked the attendant.
“How is the work on the other version of my coat of arms progressing?” asked Sa Bina, “I need to add heraldry to the uniform of my soldiers, my staff and my carriages. Also I want to use it in case I open a business.”
“That shouldn't be an issue my lady, we have already started.” replied the attendant, “where can we send them as they are ready each night?”
“Send it to the old diplomatic estate.” replied Sa Bina. “They can ask for Be Net, my butler. Also, I am in need of an artificer to design a mechanical device to my specifications. I don't want someone who will just steal my ideas. Would you happen to know anyone who could do that?”
“Let me think on it, my lady.” replied the attendant.
Sa Bina left the artificers and spent more time wandering around the town just trying to get a feel for it.
She returned back to the estate in the afternoon and took the time to look around at her new property. The total area of the 2 estates combined was around 24 qings, or approximately around 390 acres, a substantial plot by any stretch of the imagination. If the plot had been a square it would have been 1200m per side. There was plenty of land to develop on, there was also a fast moving stream running through the property, as well as some woodlands and plenty of sculpted gardens.
She asked to see some of the gardeners and asked if the estate had its own vegetable and herb gardens. The answer was yes, but only a small plot that was started by the long term staff. The gardener was worried that Sa Bina would be upset at the loss of the sculpted gardens, and was subsequently surprised when Sa Bina asked him to increase the area that was used for vegetables, and to also to create a herb garden that could produce seasonal herbs all year around.
She was starting to get ideas of what she wanted to do, she just needed to see how to make it work. Also she needed to see if her ideas for gadgets would be something that would work, or with having such a high number of body cultivators, was manual the way to go.
Even in the noble areas, there didn't seem to be nice cafes or bakeries catering to the young crowd. It could be a role that she could fill with her business ideas, then drive traffic by introducing her future classmates. The ideas of how it would work were slowly percolating away at the back of her mind.
She would spend the next day actually visiting what was available. Tailoring seemed to be pretty saturated, so she would leave that be, but she could certainly do something in food and drink. She would also have to see what the rules were around drinking, and what kind of alcoholic beverages were available. She needed to find a niche that could generate revenue, or find a niche, then offer a smaller number of items to a wider audience to generate demand. It would all depend on what she found the next day. The idea of creating something not seen before in this city, or possibly this country truly excited her.
She mused on her idea all through dinner. She even asked the cook to come and speak to her, pestering the cook with questions on the kind of foods that were made and available, the types of ingredients, the likes and dislikes of the populus at large.
The cook, on being summoned, feared that she had done something wrong, but on realising that not only way her new employer interested in cooking, but seemed to understand a great deal about the subject, opened up and they sat having a conversation late into the evening.
Sa Bina went off to prepare for bed, her mind buzzing with a multitude of ideas.