“You made it just in time,” the guard sneered at the couple. They had rolled up to the gate of the large manor. “The illustrious Okakura family only makes so much of the stuff and only allows so much of it to be sold.”

The man looked like a typical guard. Light armor was worn in the colors of the family house, a purple that reminded Jin of eggplant and black. Then he got thinking of a delicious eggplant dish he heard of from another land. There was a tale about something to do with a rat and the rat was named after the dish? He wasn’t sure about the details but he remembered it sounded delicious. The only difference between this man and the couple of others was that he didn’t wear a helmet. That clearly meant he was in charge.

“Yes but, we made it in time, no?” Mei interrupted the insufferable guard and stood on the driver’s bench. “Besides, we were invited by the family to come,” she said as she pulled a scroll from a sleeve and unrolled it before she handed it over to the guard.

It was an invitation they received from the family’s patriarch himself. They had received the notice just before they went to that sumo stable in the capital and figured they’d be pushing it close, but they had time. Honestly, they would have been sooner if it hadn’t been for the terrible road and the fight. A fact that Mei brought up whenever Jin said anything about them being late.

Jin currently sat and smiled widely at the guard after his wife had taken control of the situation. He blinked and watched the man walk around the take the letter from her and read it.

“Uh, well…. This is right from….” The guard started before he looked up at Mei. Mei just gave a devious grin to the man as he rushed aside and handed the paper back.

“Get out of the way and open the gates!” The guard captain commanded as he waved his arms to the other two men with him.

They stumbled over themselves when they saw the fervor and reaction from their captain as they rushed to open the manor’s outer gates.

Soon enough Jin called and worked the yoke. "Let’s go Ping!” And soon enough the carriage rumbled along through the gates as the three oxen pulled.

Mei stood for longer than she needed to, even turned to stare at the captain when they rolled past. The man tried to ignore her and direct his people.

Jin looked up at Mei and frowned a little before he shook his head and laughed softly. “Mei, sit down my love, you’re going to fall,” he said.

She looked down at him and rolled her eyes. “I think I’ll be alright,” she said, but she sat, anyway.

Jin reached over and patted her leg once she settled back in, and they both looked over the vast lands the family had. There were wide open fields of the black soy beans the family grew. Closer, more directly around the large manor, was a field that gave off a different aura than the outer fields. The closer field was what Jin and Mei currently stared at hungrily.

“You feel that, don’t you?” Mei asked her husband without looking at him.

Jin just nodded his head stupidly, not quite able to comprehend the feeling of power that came from the field.

“That field has been heavily cultivated,” Mei told him. “That field is where we want our sauce from,” she told him seriously.

The oxen carried them and the carriage down the well-groomed dirt road through decorative gardens. A few people tended the grass and plants and flowers. Once they passed the gardens, the oxen carried them around a fountain that flowed water freely. It was a large three-tiered fountain where the bottom was large enough it almost looked like it could be a public bath.

When the couple reached the front of the manor, they hopped down from the driver’s bench and a valet assured Jin he would take care of the man’s baby. He was dressed nicely in the house colors in dress robes, his long hair slicked back in a long ponytail. He bowed and when the couple started to walk away, there was a man who waited for them.

This man was dressed nicer. No robes, but he wore pressed slacks and a jacket along with a bow tie under his neck. He greeted them with a bow and a smile. “Welcome to the estates. You’ve made quite the name for yourselves, Chens,” he said.

Jin smiled and nodded his head. He was always the one to take someone at face value, hoping for the better of people. Mei, however, narrowed her eyes and said the word before the man could.

“… but,” she said, and frowned.

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The man smiled and nodded towards her. “But,” he started and then stood upright. “Our patriarch already promised out too many bottles of the soy sauce. Production was lower than we expected.” He stood there and said this as if it was not only perfectly acceptable, but business as usual to promise away product and then deny when the buyers showed up.

Jin just stood there slack jawed, unsure what to say, and when he finally tried to say something, he stammered. He was trying to bring up how he got a letter from the head of the family himself. The man’s own hand signed the paper, and it was sealed with his seal. Mei lifted her hand as though to stop him.

“This is unacceptable. We’ve ridden hard from the capital and pushed our oxen as hard as we dared. One of them may even be injured.” She motioned back in the direction the valet drove the cart off.

The attendant nodded his head. “No worries ma’am, your oxen will receive the best care and we will make sure they are in tip-top shape when it is time for you to go,” he said with a small bow towards Mei.

“Well, I suppose that’s the least you lot could do,” Mei spat and shook her head at the man.

He ignored the quip and just gave them a smile that Jin noticed didn’t really reach the man’s eyes.

“So what does this mean for us, then?” Jin asked and put a hand on his wife’s back, trying to calm her.

The attendant seemed thankful for not have to deal with Mei when Jin spoke up and gave what looked like might have been his first genuine smile. “It’s simple. While we cannot allow to buy straight from us, we are allowing you entry into the auction we’re holding tomorrow. You and a few other people who we…” he paused a moment. “Over promised product to.”

Jin gave a small smile to his wife, but her frown just deepened to the man. “So, we get to overpay for the soy sauce?”

The attendant looked back at her and gave another small bow in apology. “Perhaps, but one will never know how an auction will go. Whatever the price, I assure you it’ll be worth it. We aren’t putting the normal stock at auction, but from the family’s private stock. It’s… Well, it’s much more potent. The flavor is much deeper, the aura it took from the world, stronger.”

“At least we made so much from the job at the Hajima stable?” Jin offered and looked at Mei.

Finally, hearing the news of how it was supposedly a better product, she finally relented and exhaled a loud breath. “Fine. When is the auction?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. Until then, our glorious patriarch has offered you the chance to open your roaming restaurant just inside the front gate. We are expecting tourists and others to roam and view the grounds. There is even a small group of cultivators from the Moon Lotus Pavilion to come and cultivate on our lands. It may be a good chance for you to make some money and some new contacts?” The attendant offered and smiled once more. It was another of those fake smiles. Jin and Mei both got the distinct feeling that he didn’t care for the fairer of the couple.

Jin and Mei both froze and held their breath with the news. It was true they had long been trying to contact the hedonists that made up the Moon Lotus Pavilion. They were not an evil sect, but they had beliefs that many considered odd in the world of cultivation. They believed their path in the universe was through excess. The parties they held were legendary for debauchery, as they believed that was their path in the universe and the path to power to immortality.

The attendant’s grin only grew when he saw their responses. “Excellent. I assume you accept?”

Mei was the first to recover, and she gave a slow nod.

Jin a moment later said, “We need uh, we need…”

The attendant cut him off. “Whatever you need supply wise you can talk to our house chef. He should be able to get you in contact and good deals with the local merchants for whatever it is you may need to impress the sect.”

“Good! Good! Thank you so much. This is an unexpected change, but maybe it will be for the better?” Jin said before he asked the second part to his wife.

Mei was feeling the same as her husband, but more reserved about it. It was an amazing opportunity and one that could quite frankly make them money for the foreseeable future if they could impress. Still, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop and tragedy to somehow happen. Mei gave a nod and then looked to her husband, who was beaming at the attendant.

“Give us a few moments to gather a list, and then where can we find the chef?” Mei finally spoke and asked the man. Jin was excited, and she didn’t want to bring down his high with the possibilities.

The attendant simply nodded and then pointed his hand off in the direction that the valet took their carriage. “If you follow the path half a mile, you’ll find where your oxen are being tended to, and the carriage is waiting for you. Once you get your list, give it to the barn attendant. They will make sure the chef gets your list,” he told them.

Jin and Mei both nodded their heads before Jin piped up. “What if I wanted to speak with the chef about ingredients? See if there was anything he’d recommend or see if certain special things were available?”

The attendant sighed and lowered his head before he rubbed his eyes. “If there is anything like that, let the barn person know and we will plan for you to speak with the kitchen staff. I can’t promise it’ll be the chef. He is busy, but it will be someone. Alright?”

Jin gave a little nervous laugh and bowed lightly. They both could tell their warm welcome had cooled, and Jin figured it was time to leave this man alone and deal with his other affairs. It was then that Mei turned and saw another carriage coming down the entrance path. This one was large and regal and was led by two horses. The man that drove the carriage appeared to be well groomed and wore dress robes. Mei couldn’t feel anything spiritual about them, but they seemed to be made of fine silks in reds.

“Now, my next guest is already here. Please move along and get your list together,” the attendant motioned toward their cart once more.

Mei and Jin both gave soft bows and said their thanks before they walked away. “They better be taking good care of the oxen,” Mei mumbled along the way.