"A deal?" asked the raven-haired beauty, surprised. "Are you serious?"
"Exceedingly so," replied Wuzhi, keeping his manners and smile.
The female merchant then stared at Wuzhi from top-to-bottom. Upon confirming that he had no weapons or other such effects on his person, she closed her eyes, seemingly in ponder.
A few moments later, she opened her eyes and wore a business smile on her face. "As a merchant, it is my maxim to hear every business deal that comes my way. However, I reserve the right to decline your offer, should I find it unprofitable."
Taking a few steps forward, she then seated herself on the sofa opposite Wuzhi and crossed her legs; exposing her lustrous, jade-like skin to the scholarly youth.
Wuzhi, however, placed no attention on her sensual body. His two eyes remained trained on the young woman's eyes and the invisible sword that she held between them.
With a calm voice, he asked. "May I ask Lady Merchant to lower her sword?"
The raven-haired beauty immediately replied. "I refuse; it is unprofitable, you see." Waving her free hand, she continued, "A weak, meek woman like me cannot hope to overpower a shady man like you; should you suddenly lunge towards me like a beast." Her voice held a tone of mocking.
Wuzhi did not feel offended by her words. "Lady Merchant's words make sense. Alright. You may keep your sword trained at me."
"Oh, I planned to do so even without your consent. Now, however, I can rest easy." She smiled kindly. Shaking her head, she then said. "Stop wasting my time and speak. I have had a long and rather tiring day today. I hope to go to bed as soon as possible."
Taking a deep breath, Wuzhi began speaking. "I wonder if Lady Merchant is interested in becoming the sole trading partner of the South Aislan Empire?"
Hearing his words, the raven-haired beauty tiredly sighed. She then proceeded to get up from her seat while saying, "If that is all that Sir Wuzhi has to say, then allow me to answer your question; no."
"I am not interested in becoming the South Aislan Empire, or at least whatever currently remains of it. Pardon me for being blunt, but I don't think any merchant company will be interested in betting on a losing horse."
"Again," she wore an apologetic smile, "please don't take any offence in my words. I am simply being true."
While the female merchant's interest in the conversation rapidly slipped away, Wuzhi wasn't too worried. He continued to remain seated and calmly spoke, "What if the Empire isn't the losing horse? What if we managed to reverse our fortunes?"
"Do you mean with the guns that I sold to you?" asked the raven-haired beauty, impatience and derision colouring her tone. "Perhaps, Sir Wuzhi is not familiar with the situation at hand. While the weapons that I sold to your empire today do indeed live up to their claims, unfortunately, you were simply too late to join the bandwagon."
"I sold to you, a few thousand guns and a few tens of thousands of ammunition rounds. It is a great number. Certainly enough to turn a few tides here and there. However, your empire is hopelessly outclassed by your enemies. Not only do the other factions participating in this war have much, much more such weapons in their hands but they are also the originators of this technology."
Flashing a kind smile, she said, "I'm sure that you are an intelligent person; learning as how you are the emperor's teacher, after all. Surely, you are aware of what my words mean."
Nodding his head with a smile, Wuzhi replied. "Lady Merchant means to say that the enemy forces have access to the manufacture designs of the weapons allowing them to produce as many guns and other armaments as needed. Not only that, their [Engineering Path] masters must be working day and night to improve these products, and come up with new designs."
"Correct." The female merchant clapped her hands. "Sir Wuzhi is indeed intelligent. Please forgive this lowly merchant for doubting you."
"Not at all," Wuzhi shook his head. "So, Lady Merchant believes that our empire is doomed for annihilation?"
The smile on the raven-haired beauty's face disappeared. Her tone grew sharper as she threateningly spoke. "Please do not put words into my mouth, Sir Wuzhi. I should rather hope for a good night's sleep."
"Hahaha, Lady Merchant fears too much. This Wuzhi does not have such powers as to forsake an honoured guest of the regent to a dismal fate."
He then returned to his previous topic and continued, "Lady Merchant's suspicions are indeed valid. Should things continue as they are, our empire cannot hope to emerge victorious in this war and reign as the continent's Hegemon."
"No, I'm afraid that should things progress in current fashion, our empire is doomed to fall to the tides of time."
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Wuzhi then suddenly raised his head to stare at the raven-haired beauty. A strange cadence added to his voice as he spoke. "However, suppose our empire doesn't lose? Let's say that by some miracle, not only do we manage to survive but also be victorious. Would Lady Merchant be interested in my deal then?"
Hearing his words, the female merchant scoffed. She then leaned forward, revealing more of her sensual body and half-exposed voluptuous chest, and hypothetically spoke. "Suppose that your words come true, and your empire does, in fact, manage to emerge victorious. Even in such a future, I would still refuse to do business with your empire."
"And before you ask why, I will tell you; it is because I dare not openly trade with a country whose public perception is that of 'mad terrorists.'"
While another native might have felt offended by her treasonous words, Wuzhi felt no such emotion. His life within the empire had been too short and too empty for him to develop any sense of belonging towards the empire.
Therefore, instead of arguing against the raven-haired beauty's words, the scholarly youth nodded instead. "Lady Merchant is indeed correct once again. Given our empire's public perception, I'm afraid that no force or company will be willing to trade with us."
"But," Wuzhi suddenly pulled something from within his overcoat, "what if I use this?"
The raven-haired beauty's eyes cautiously landed on the parchment revealed by Wuzhi. Her eyes, which scanned the bold-lettered title on the top, instantly narrowed.
"Black Moon Trading Company's 'Right to Trade'…" she muttered, feeling speechless. She then alternated her gaze between the piece of parchment and Wuzhi. Greed began filling her eyes.
Quickly, however, she suppressed her greed. She was obviously not foolish enough to try and murder the emperor's teacher -if that was true- and certainly wasn't foolish enough to try so within the emperor's palace.
Recovering her calm, she spoke. "This does indeed change some things."
Her words and thoughts were no longer as disdainful and lax as before. For anyone to possess this document, and especially one that was as open-ended as the one in Wuzhi's hands, meant that its owner was no small individual.
The shady man before her had gone from being a 'verbose fool' to 'an important personage' equal, if not, greater than the regent whom she dealt with this morning!
"Is Lady Merchant interested in my deal now?" asked Wuzhi, wearing his usual smile.
Not one to waste her time on useless probing and tiresome compliments, the raven-haired beauty directly nodded her head. "Sir Wuzhi's words hold much more weight now. Tell me, what does Sir Wuzhi seek from this deal?"
"Lady Merchant can rest assured," Wuzhi kindly replied. "This Wuzhi does not seek any monetary or material compensation from the lady. I only propose to exchange information between the two of us."
"Information?" the raven-haired beauty furrowed her brows. "What sort of information?"
Wuzhi immediately replied. "I couldn't help but notice today, that Lady Merchant's grasp over our empire's court and its personnel is very well-rounded. You managed to learn the truth behind General Arlo's failure and understood it better than the old general himself."
The wariness in the raven-haired beauty's eyes increased. With a cautious tone, she replied. "What can I say? I simply happen to have heard it from a few friends here and there."
Wuzhi clapped his hands at her reply. With a wide smile, he spoke. "Exactly! This Wuzhi also happens to seek such a 'friendship' with the Lady Merchant."
While Wuzhi's words sounded cryptic and obtuse, the raven-haired beauty was no fool. No, she was in fact very intelligent.
With a dark expression, she asked, "You want me to spy for you on the other factions and share with you their military secrets? Do you even understand the weight of the words that you speak?"
"I do," Wuzhi nodded his head. "And I do not wish to inconvenience Lady Merchant. Wuzhi simply asks for Lady Merchant to share with me what you already know, and the pieces that you will come to learn."
"In exchange, I will help to facilitate more arms deals with the empire and its related forces. Heaven knows that we are in desperate need of such arms if we seek to turn the tide; Lady Merchant does not seem averse to the gold and silver that you are gaining either."
"Ha!" The raven-haired beauty gave a short laugh. She then leisurely leaned on her sofa and said, "You do understand that should the details of our exchange ever come to light, you and I will not die an easy death."
"Well," Wuzhi smiled in reply, "I believe in Lady Merchant's ability to remain uncaught."
His words elicited a short burst of laughter from the merchant. She then extended her silken hand and spoke. "Alright. I consent to this deal. In exchange for whatever information and military secrets that I gain on the other factions and share with you, I will receive your help in facilitating more secret trades with your empire."
"Should these exchanges and trades improve the fortune of your dying empire, and I happen to see some hope in its future, I shall agree to become the empire's sole business partner and trading company, in exchange for the parchment in your hand."
"This deal of ours will be verbal in an effort to maintain its secrecy. I will not swear on the heavens, nor will I sign anything. Is that alright with you, Sir Wuzhi?" asked the raven-haired beauty, a conniving light flashing across her eyes.
"I believe in Lady Merchant's spirit as a great businessperson. Our deal is purely beneficial to you for little to no risk," replied Wuzhi.
"I wouldn't call selling state secrets, 'little to no risks,'" replied the female merchant.
"Ah, my apologies," said Wuzhi. "I meant, 'for moderate risk.'" He finished with a smile.
The two of them then finished their meeting, spoke their goodbyes, and parted. The raven-haired beauty saw Wuzhi's figure disappear into the shadows of the long corridor before she closed the doors to her bedchambers.
The instant she did so, she immediately deployed a [Path Technique] to scan her surroundings for any hidden persons, devices, or recording arrays. Upon confirming their absence, she then laid down multiple formations to guard her quarters and the bed.
After securing her safety, she then stripped the rest of her day clothes and wore something akin to pyjamas. Moving to the bed, she lay still on it and blankly stared at the shining ceiling.
"What a strange man," she remarked. "From start till end, I couldn't see through the shadow obscuring him at all."
---
Walking back to his assigned quarters through the darkened corridors, Wuzhi murmured to himself.
"What a strange woman," mysterious symbols and calculations filled his eyes. "From beginning to finish, I couldn't calculate her at all."
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"There is something off about him/her."
The pair of schemers, one a scholar and the other a merchant raised their guards against each other.