After leaving the weapons store, the conspicuous pair wandered down the neatly paved street towards the shop closest to it, more as it was on route than for any reason of want or curiosity. Conspicuous? Who else would walk so brazenly in amongst the genteel crowds all adorned in silk treasures and rare gems, wearing just neatly sewn hemp clothing, simple jade and carved wooden talismans? Even the servants of the wealthy were better dressed... or at least more expensively!
However, although they seemed out of place, perhaps it was the auras they seemed to exude, they were left alone and not bothered for the most part. For the most part, which madam and master had not witnessed or heard of what the results of crossing crouching tigers and hidden dragons within their midst? What white lotus or good-for-nothing? Believing a stupid maid or ragged soldier could not hurt you just because of their lack of wit or wealth? Such was a joke! In addition, this was a world with Cultivators! When it came to such people, the eyes could lie and ignorance could lead to death! There was a legend that a great Immortal used to descend from the mountain peak that no others dared step foot on and dress as a beggar and sit on the streets once every hundred years. If that beggar was gifted generously by a benefactor, that benefactor's luck might turn great for his lifetime, but if the beggar was abused... of course rumours were rumours, but not worth risking one's seven generations for!
So if a tall, black eyed youth in deep blue colours decorated with simple patterns and a petite boy with an array of wooden charms at his waist walked around these streets as if they had as much right as the wealthy elite, so be it! Just ignore them and hope no trouble will come and disturb the peace!
Of course, not everyone received the memo.
"The proprietor would be wise to ensure that they have the money for it!"
The shop closest to the weapon's store was actually a jewellery store. Once they had entered, Jin Li had sneered, losing interest immediately, but his small alchemist had paused once they entered and he had thought that the youth had found something of interest. Actually, this wasn't so; Leon was simply dazzled by the gold, silver and gemstones upon display. Amulets and necklaces, brooches and hair pins, rings, bracelets, crowns and earrings... and unbeknownst to him, these were just the lower market range. The more expensive and exquisite pieces were hidden away for only the most noble and wealthy of clientele.
Once the initial blinding sparkle eased and Leon's awareness returned to his body, he knew instinctively that even if there was something in this pavilion that he would have liked to buy, his and Jin Li's purse combined would not be able to afford it. They would not even be able to pay for the most measly 'cheap' thing in here. Actually, this sort of window shopping, look but don't bother thinking you can purchase a single thing, was not something that could sustain a person's interest for long. Either they might become infuriated, blinded by self-loathing that their wallets contained more moths than money or they would skitter away in a panic that such prices even exist! Fair enough, these reactions were extreme versions, but Leon's was definitely more towards the latter and he was ready to call this trip to an end.
So as he wasn't actually about to purchase anything, the thrown out sentence could not be for him? He glanced back at Jin Li who's face was one of indifference. His eyes did not take in the treasures at all. Who cared what obscene price tag was placed upon each piece, he'd seen more interesting things. The vaults of his birth home had more abundant treasures, having been brought into the family with his grandmother's dowry. Though she had long since past, his father and mother kept those treasures safe or else they would have fallen into his uncle's concubines hands until not a piece was left. It was his grandmother's wishes that they be divided into the dowries of female descendants of the main line, but she bore no daughters and his mother also bore only sons. And as for Uncle... least said.
The speaker was a young woman with long indigo hair that had been half swept and pinned into an elaborate style then decorated with rose jade blossoms. Her eyes were a startling sky blue, something that Leon was unused to seeing in the months of viewing gems of black, burnt umber or other dark shades. She waved a lace fan lightly before the lower half of her face as if warding off a summer breeze, an impossible feat in Winter. Her line of sight was seemingly upon a head piece made of delicate silver chains and turquoise beads, the teardrop sapphire centre piece of which ought to lay demurely between a woman's shaped brows. However, Leon could see that her attention was not on the head piece, but actually on another young woman, who had been examining a ring.
"Ho, it is interesting that a boudoir bound lady of the Ibis clan," said that young woman without her sight wavering from the ring, "is so well informed of the financial status of the Heron Clan." Her eyes flickered towards the middle-aged man currently holding the wooden box containing the ring. "What sort of capacity does this interspacial ring have?"
This statement caught Leon's attention, for he had never heard of interspacial jewellery. Was it something like the small embroidered bag hanging from his hip or the larger chest container that Sun owned? He glanced up at Jin Li, who as if reading his thoughts, nodded slightly.
"It is not that I have doubts of the Heron Clan, of course," the indigo haired woman snorted, "everyone is well aware of the prestige of the Heron Clan. What is there to doubt? Though an interspacial ring is indeed a rarity, one could not doubt the Heron's Clan's ability to afford it."
"Then what is the point of your previous remark but to cast doubt?" The other girl asked as if curious. Her hair was bundled up in an equally elaborate display, but her's was an unusual lilac in colour and was decorated in complimentary purple jade, but her pin was far simpler in style.
Jin Li yawned as the girls banter continued and leaned down towards his small alchemist and whispered; "You seem to be enjoying this show."
Leon shook his head as the young woman voiced that she was only warning the proprietor to take care, after all, who knew what sort of rogues might try and take advantage of them should they not be aware of just whom they are serving. He glanced up at Jin Li with a thought; "Sh-should we g-get something t-to eat b-b-before g-going back?" He was rewarded by a smile of approval and the pair made their way towards the exit.
"A shu daughter is not a Di daughter after all," the woman from the Ibis clan was continuing to say behind them. "From status to allowance, otherwise masters might be accused of favouring shu children over Di children and therefore concubines over wives!"
"This shu and d-Di thing," Leon murmured to Jin Li as they stepped out of the shop. "Is it really such a b-b-big d-deal?"
Jin Li stroked a finger across his lover's naive face. "It is and it isn't," he replied with a lazy drawl. He'd only ever respected those who had ability regardless of their birth status. In his opinion, birth status was as much luck than anything else and didn't always guarantee privilege. However, if one decided to use their or others statuses as an excuse, then Jin Li had no time for that person at all. "Such doesn't effect you, so don't bother to think about it."
Leon thought about it and decided to nod in agreement. Maimai was Concubine-born and Sun born of the legal wife, but both were still his friends. He, himself, had been brought up by his grandfather and had no status per say, yet Jin Li, this man who was born of privilege in the higher realm, didn't treat him less because of it. And that was all that mattered really.
Not long after they left the jewellery shop, the girl from the Ibis clan followed suit with a look of irritation in her eyes, though the rest of her scowl was hidden well behind the lace fan covering her lower face. Speckles of snow began to descend from the heavens and melt upon her pale pink quilted coat, annoying her more. However, before more than a spot or two could mark it, an umbrella appeared above her head, held not by her servant girls but by a young man with a concerned expression. If Jin Li and Leon had still been around, they might have even recognised him... well Leon anyway.
"What has upset little sister so?" He said, warmly.
"Second brother," the girl pouted, her eyes full of wounds, while her heart was full of schemes.
Author’s note; di children are born of the legal wife, shu children born of concubines x
Of the two restaurants in this affluent street, neither stood out above the other in terms of decor, price nor fawning ability of the waiters. In addition, they were opposite each other, so there was no real thought to the decision to enter the one on the same side of the street that Jin Li and Leon happened to be walking down. They were rather rapidly shown to some seats upon the ground floor before their waiter ran off to attend a group of arrogant young men whose wealth was much more apparent and on display.
Fortunately, there was a clear menu and only certain dishes would damage Leon's purse. Jin Li liked food and had little care of money, but on seeing the 'Swan swims over a fish filled lake' seemed actually just to be a pot roasted chicken sitting in soup made of fish and shrimp, he lost interest in the elaborately named dishes. And so Leon gained the freedom to chose a few dishes to share between them without worrying about the silver he'd have to pay out later. He did make sure that three of the five dishes were meat and the soup also was meat based.
As they were waiting for their dishes, Leon attempted to sate his curiosity; he couldn't help thinking about that ring. "What is a intersp-spacial ring? Is it l-like a b-bag?"
"Yes and no," Jin Li replied. His sharp vision had caught side of the small silver ring with scroll like detailing, but the distance had been too great to be able to judge the quality of it. Considering that it had not originally been on display and had actually been brought out on request, he assumed that it couldn't be that bad. "Interspacial bags and chests use a material called Void stone in their creation. As it sounds, it's a type of rock. Crafters use it when making the bags and chests."
Void stone was deep grey in colour and without much sheen. The surface of the stone was almost as soft as gold and just as the latter could be melted, shaped and moulded into thin bars or even thinner threads. In the case of the interspacial bag, Leon would learn later as his curiosity would not be stated by Jin Li today, the thin threads would be sewn inside the bag in certain patterns known to enchanters and powered by tiny mage stones. This would warp the space inside the bag, make it several times larger than it should be.
"As I understand it," Jin Li continued, after thinking more on his meagre knowledge about the subject, "void stone naturally warps the space around it. Makes mining it a pain."
Jin Li was a martial arts fanatic, his knowledge built after the foundation of other important subjects heavily leaned towards martial arts. What was not martial arts, he was not really interested in so didn't go out of his way to learn. But Jin Li knew somewhat about void stone and its uses as his eldest brother had managed to obtain a mine through some means or other. The mine did not seem to have many decent clusters of the rock left, though Jin Sha had always claimed there was enough to create a modest profit. As it happened, two rival Cultivators happened to cross paths violently in the nearby area, killing a few of the minors due to cave ins caused by their disruptions. During the clean up after the fight, a fresh source of the stone was uncovered and this vein was abundant. It also hid even purer treasures in its depths.
"Rings and bracelets are not made of the stone," Jin Li told him. "To make these, one needs Void Gems. These are harder to find, because they can only be found inside very few Void stones."
Oh and how Jin Sha had bragged however subtly about the void gems discovered in his cheap mine. Even forgetting the ones used to create a ring for the Emperor's birthday and a bracelet for their mother, these could ensure the Jin's family wealth continued for several generations. So long as they were able to protect them and the mine, that was, but doubts of inability never once formed in Jin Li's mind. His family would not be worthy of the surname Jin if they were incapable.
"Void Gems carry with them small pocket dimensions many times larger than an interspacial bag and things contained within them are as unaffected by time as when using an inter-dimensional container. Still can't put a live thing inside though."
Leon had once been interesting in purchasing an inter-dimensional bag, that held timeless space within, but had decided it was a pipe dream. A single bag could cost several gold pieces and that was a low quality one with not a great deal of space inside. Thinking of this, he could just imagine how costly that tiny ring could potentially be. The gold required must be more than an entire village would be able to gather in two hundred years! If not reaching into jade coin figures! He was not wrong, but would have been closer if he tripled his estimates.
He sighed and put away his interest for a few moments as their dishes were placed before them with clean chopsticks.
Glaring at the tools of torture, he picked them up only to find that a piece of soy-braised carrot had been placed before his lips. "Well, open your mouth," Jin Li ordered him, causing him to blush profusely. He did indeed open his mouth to protest, but couldn't as the vegetable was pushed inside. Having no choice but to chew, he bowed his head, listening to the sound of those chopsticks clicking over the meat dishes, at a rapid pace.
Leon slowly managed to use his own chopsticks to save himself some face, but it was ripped away a few times with Jin Li's insistence that he feed his small alchemist, otherwise the meat he'd ensured had formed upon the youth's body would surely be lost. Jin Li didn't want to the person in his embrace to be an uncomfortable sack of bones. Not attractive at all!
After finishing the soup and rinsing their mouths a little with refreshing tea (this was naturally supplied by Leon, the restaurant was only asked for hot water), the pair asked for the bill. Leon felt his heart ache a little when handing over the silver, even after bracing himself and they left the place soon after.
The sky had darkened, becoming a tarnished silver-grey and although the snow had not amounted to much, a cold wind brushed past them and swept the remnant white dusting of it along the ground. Fortunately, the soup had been a warming sort and left a glow in both their bellies, so once the winds died down, Leon did not feel too abused by the turn in the weather. And besides, with Jin Li walking so close beside him, sharing his natural warmth, how could he feel cold for long?
In their personal bubble, they walked down the street in the direction of the Ramas palace, while others slowly abandoned their own shopping trips wanting to escape the dropping temperatures within their carriages and eventually their own homes.
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