Qingge stood at a large table; the members of her expedition seated around it. Before her lay several pieces of parchment with notes scribbled all over them alongside a large map of the city. She shifted around in her clothes, trying to find a way to make them less distracting.
She had to concede that the several layers of silk and other expensive fabrics, interwoven with strands of silver and gold looked quite impressive but she would nonetheless never understand why the mortal nobility was willing to put themselves through this just to show off their wealth. Despite having been tailored specifically for her, the robes never felt as though they were sitting quite right and she suspected a that a single wrong move would tear them apart.
On top of that, the makeup was making her feel itches the likes of which she hadn’t had ever since she had completed the Body Reformation Realm. She could only hope these things would get better once she was used to them.
Looking around the room one last time before focusing on the people before her, she began speaking.
“Alright everyone, let’s begin. We’ve taken our time preparing but now it’s finally time to begin the investigation. I’ll start with what we already know: We are dealing with a criminal organization that is big enough to have made connections with a sect member. They deal in smuggling cultivation resources from the sect into the city.
Mei Feng was supposed to deliver his goods to the port district, but from our conversations with the Li Family, that doesn’t seem to actually mean a lot. The district is massive and is apparently a hotspot for criminal activity, smuggling, gambling and all things adjacent. Nonetheless, I want five of you to head there from now on. Look around, integrate yourself, see if you can pick up on useful information, rumors, anything. If necessary, hand out a bribe or pretend you are interested in buying some things. I’d go there myself, but with these clothes, I’d stick out like a sore thumb.”
Qingge and Yang were posing as the young lady and master of the fully imaginary Cui Family from one of the nearby cities, while the others were their entourage, made up of lower members of the family. As such, the two of them were by far the flashiest when it came to their outfits. Qingge envied being able to wear somewhat simple clothes, but putting herself in a lower position would have made any public interactions with her team extremely awkward.
“The Li family has informed us of the locations of the various black markets in the city, at least those that they are aware of. You will investigate these in teams of two or three and take note on who is selling cultivation goods.
Finally, there is the matter of the minister of finance who was spying on the conversation between prince Luo and Elder Wei. We don’t know whether he is directly affiliated with the organization or simply a curios noble, but the false information he picked up on will undoubtedly make rounds in the higher circles and reach our targets as well. We have already established that they are not particularly afraid of crossing the sect and they are demonstrably interested in cultivation resources so they will almost certainly take the bait. Three of you will monitor the library for anyone looking into old tombs and the likes. Our targets might not be the only interested party, but anyone we find is a potential lead.
Meanwhile, Yang and I will be discreetly integrating ourselves with the cities high society and see if we can find any useful information that way.”
Qingge ended her little speech and after discussing a few specifics and assigning the roles, everyone stood up and dispersed to prepare for their various tasks. Qingge strolled to her room to store away the documents and make some final adjustments to her clothes before heading out. They were residing in a large and luxurious manor owned by the Li Family that had previously not been in use. It was located conveniently close to the edge of the cities upper district that was closest to the port district, making it easy to access both the lower and higher parts of society.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Already waiting for her at the gate stood Yang, clothed in equally pompous garments as her own.
“Ready to meet your noble peers, Young Lady Cui?”, he asked with a smirk.
“Sure, esteemed ‘brother’.”
…
Qingge was not ready for this.
In order to start meeting the nobility, Yang and her had decided to visit a restaurant called the ‘Scarlet Rose Pavilion’ that they had been informed was frequented by the cities rich higher class. That idea, by all means of measure, had worked out perfectly. The two were currently seated at a table in the middle of a large room, decorated with vases, paintings and all the manners of meaningless adornment one would imagine in a place such as this.
All around them were pairs and small groups of people who unmistakably belonged here, with how their clothes and jewelry were showing of their wealth. They were feasting, drinking and holding shallow conversations and generally seemed to be having a great time. Yang and Qingge had already been approached several times and subjected to what she was sure these people considered normal small-talk.
And Qingge hated every second of it.
On the surface, the dinners they had had on their first visit to the palace had been rather similar in nature. The major difference was that back then, she hadn’t had to play a role. Sure, social conventions were strict and demanded to be followed, but in the end, Qingge was still Qingge, a cultivator from the Lunar Peaks Sect. Right now, she wasn’t. She was Mingzhu Cui, a young woman from the mortal nobility who was on a visit to Moonlake City on family business. She wasn’t a respected and feared outsider to the people here, she was one of them and playing that role was incredibly stressful.
Introducing herself with a family name, listing associates and showing of her wealth in subtle but unmistakable contests of power, showering the other party in meaningless flatteries and being showered in return, she couldn’t stand any of it. It seemed like an even shallower imitation of her least favorite parts of the way cultivators of the sect acted.
Thankfully, Yang had been doing most of the talking and he didn’t seem bothered by all of these things at all. Had Qingge not known him better, she would have been led to believe he actually felt at home in this environment.
It was easy to forget, with how he didn’t look a day older than thirty-five, even without the makeup he was currently wearing, that he was actually an old and powerful cultivator who had been in the sect for well over a hundred years. With that amount of life experience, it was no wonder a room full of mortal low nobility couldn’t shake him the least bit.
Qingge sighed internally as a waitress served them the fourth appetizer of the day, a miniscule portion of food on an oversized silver plate. At the rate these courses were delivered, they would be here all day. It was tempting to order some kind of alcoholic drink to make the time pass faster, especially since drinking was something only done on rare occasions in the sect, but she had to keep a clear head in case something important happened. She wasn’t here on a vacation after all.
Before she could take her mental complaining any further, a commotion at the entrance caught Qingge’s attention. A larger group of people had entered and several of the groups in the room alongside a whole host of staff members were scrambling to meet them at the entrance.
The attention seemed to mostly rest on a tall young man, maybe twenty-five, with a sharp face, long black hair and comparatively simple robes, though he was still adorned with more gold and silver than even the sect patriarch. Still, if Qingge’s instinct wasn’t off, he looked like a cultivator.
A questioning look towards Yang was answered with a slight nod.
Her lips formed the words “How strong” without actually making a noise and Yang answered by pointing at her and whispering the words “Body Cultivator”, using a sliver of Qi to make sure the words reached her and only her.
A young body cultivator then. That wasn’t surprising, few people dabbled in soul cultivation outside of the sects. And considering the general response to him, the man was well known and highly regarded around here. Probably an heir to some noble family of sorts. Qingge already wanted to return her attention to the pitiful amount of food in front of her, when she noticed that his gaze had stopped on her and Yang and he was approaching their table.