Huan, after finishing her shopping, headed towards a specific building at the eastern part of the city.
It was a gray pavilion which served as the only entrance to a huge walled area, housing several buildings and open areas. That place was named Sword and Arrow Pavilion, but was better known under a variety of nicknames: Training Grounds of City Guards, The Swords for Rent and Head Collection Office.
It was a place with multiple purposes, from accepting young hopefuls to be trained in the arts of combat, to a mercenary office accepting all sorts of jobs, to a place where bounty hunters could bring proof of their kills in order to get rewards.
It was a strange place, where coarse soldiers and refined nobles would interact on a daily basis, a sort of neutral ground. It was also a place where some street rats managed to actually struggle upwards, obtaining training and work.
Huan entered the pavilion, which was a big and rowdy place, with several desks spread around where customers could make their requests. She headed towards one of the tables, which was manned by a pretty young woman wearing white clothing.
“Greetings, young lady. How may I help you?” She said with that very specific smile and tone of voice that seemed to be required for all similar service workers.
“I wish to hire a bodyguard.” Huan spoke with the most arrogant tone of voice she could muster.
“You have come to the right place, miss...” The woman waited.
“I am called Li Huan.”
“Miss Li. We have all kinds of bodyguards, and I can certainly suggest one who would meet your specifications. Do you have any specific requests?”
“Just one. I want the best, I don't care how expensive it is. And quality is far better than quantity.” Huan spoke, crossing her arms and tapping a finger in impatience.
“Understood, Miss Li. Just one last question then: How long will the bodyguard contract last for?” She was already looking through the papers underneath the counter.
“Three days should be enough.” Huan said.
“In that case, please take a look at this profile to see if he suits his needs.” The woman spoke, putting a paper on the table.
Huan looked down to take a look... And froze when she realized that she still didn't know how to read. Inwardly panicking, she still managed to contain herself enough to think of something.
“Tch.” She made a sound of disdain “Just give me the highlights, I don't have time to waste.”
“Understood.” The woman said, still with the same tone as before “His name is Fang Xuanji. Sixth Level Qi Condensation Cultivator. His job performance has been evaluated as the maximum, five stars. The fee for hiring him as a bodyguard for three days is Thirty Medium Quality Spirit Stones. We will also need ten gold coins for the hiring fees.”
Huan closed her eyes and considered for a few moments “That is acceptable.” She then quickly reached into her purse and took out the required money, handing it off to the worker.
“He will be called shortly. Do you wish to specify a place for him to meet with you?” The woman asked.
Again, Huan was brought up short, but quickly thought of something “Yes. He can meet me at the Dream-Colored Pavilion.” She couldn't hold back a smile upon saying that.
“Understood. Please take this identification amulet to confirm your identity later on.” She gave Huan a round golden amulet attached to a string.
She placed it on her wrist and left to go where she had said.
+0+
The Dream-Colored Pavilion was a very different place from where she had just been. The ambiance was more similar to that of a high-class restaurant, with very opulent decorations and furniture, except it all tended to the more colorful side, most of which being soft colors. The clientele was almost entirely female.
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That was because that pavilion was a place to go in order to eat sweets. Some of the best sweet-makers in the region worked there day after day, crafting customized pastries and other sweetmeats, which were both tailored to the tastes of the client, but also to their aesthetic preferences.
Huan had eaten sweets before, the cheap ones sold in street stalls, mostly thanks to some generous vendors. So, she had very high expectations for what she would get in that place.
They were completely crushed. Huan essentially descended into a nirvana of taste, which was a much bigger shock than the high-class food she had eaten earlier. She was quite frankly unable to tell how long she spent in that state, but she only came out of it after hearing a voice speaking right next to her.
“Greetings.”
Huan swallowed the food inside her mouth and turned to look to the talker. Just one glance was enough to show that he was definitely a cultivator. However, he was different from the vendor she had seen earlier in terms of one particular attribute: His age.
While the previous man seemed to be middle-aged, Fang Xuanji appeared to be no more than fifteen years old. He was more a boy than a man, but Huan definitely wasn't going to underestimate him because of that, specially considering that she felt a greater sense of danger from him than from that other cultivator.
“You must be Fang Xuanji.” She spoke to him.
“And you must be Miss Li Huan.” He replied, his voice calm and unhurried “I am here as requested.”
She was about to tell him to watch over her while she ate when she caught a glance of the sun clock nearby. She was almost late!
Getting up and raising a hand to ask for the bill, Huan spoke a few words to Xuanji:
“I need to go to an inn where I can host an event. Take me to the most convenient high-class one.”
+0+
As it turned out, the most convenient high-class inn was a place called Red White Lodging. It wasn't the best inn in the city, but it was certainly in the top ten, maybe even the top five.
When they talked with the attendant on call, she quickly realized that their matter was beyond her capacity to decide, so she quickly called the manager to deal with this new very rich client. The manager was a beautiful red-haired woman with a mature charm, who appeared to be around thirty years old. She was called Xiao Yin.
“Please, could you explain to me what are your requirements for our service?” She asked in a polite, businesslike manner.
“I want to hold a small but very elite gathering. The space needs to be appropriate for the standards of the top players in the city. And since they are probably very busy, I intend to have it simply be a meal followed by some quick preliminary negotiations, so an hour should be enough.” Huan explained.
“The most troublesome matter is that I intend to hold this gathering tonight. Specifically, at the third hour after dusk. I am willing to pay extra to compensate this establishment for the trouble of having to prepare on such short notice.” She finished.
Miss Yin was clearly very skilled at the business, since she didn't even blink at Huan's unusual request, instead getting right down to trying to negotiate prices. The rich girl simply asked her to state how much it would cost, so they could finish the deal fast.
Huan had never heard of the saying “if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it”, but she was showing the very essence of the saying with her clear disregard for the matter of negotiations.
Of course, this caused the manager to revise her opinion about this girl's financial means upwards (and it was already pretty high), so she quickly thought about those very expensive products and resources that even an inn like theirs couldn't have access to all the time, and wondered how many of them she could gather in such a short time.
“150 gold coins should suffice to cover all expenses.” She stated.
“In that case, I'll pay two hundred. The fifty coins are the promised extra.” Huan replied, reaching inside her purse for the money.
Obviously, she knew that the “extra” should already be included on the one fifty, but paying extra money without even thinking about it was part of the image she was trying to project. Well, there was also the fact that doing such things made her feel so giddy inside it was difficult to suppress the urge to smile.
Miss Yin again didn't show any outward reaction, even as Huan started pulling the money out of the purse. And thankfully enough, the convenience of the purse extended to being able to bring out those small stacks of coins tied together with strings, so it didn't take that long for the money to be in front of the manager.
“I should be back here around the second hour of dusk.” She said, before simply getting up from her provided chair and strolling out of the building, followed closely by Xuanji.
Checking the time based on the sun, Huan was satisfied, there was still enough time to do what she needed.
The next step on her plan was perhaps the most crucial one, and it was the reason why she had rushed things so much. Because that part of the plan had a very strict timing, and could not be easily replaced.
She had prepared for a meeting with the most influential people in the city, so now she had to actually invite them to it. And that day happened to be a perfect chance to do it, since they were all guaranteed to be gathered on a single place.
The Mountains and Rivers Auction House, which would be having its annual Grand Auction later that day.
And honestly speaking, that was as far as she had actually planned things out. Huan would need to bring those people to meet with her, but she still hadn't decided what exactly she intended to accomplish by doing that. She was going to have to think about it some more on the way.
Still, Huan smiled as she comforted herself with the thought that she had so much money that there was no way she was going to end up on the losing side, regardless of what her plans ended up being.
Xuanji noticed her smile, but didn't ask about it. He was a very professional worker, after all.