Mei Hua burst out laughing at his audacity. Bad luck or no, if he got exclusive access to a mountain path, people would do business with him. Currently, everyone had to go all the way south and take a ship to get around the mountains. (No one bothered going north due to the constant, unforgiving winters.) While it was great for the countries with ports, it was a huge hassle for the ones without.

Seeing her laughing, Wu TengFei gave her a nervous glance.

“Young Miss… do you think the Fairy Emperor will grant my request?”

“Hm…” Mei Hua, leaned back thoughtfully and tilted her head away from him. Ye had been listening curiously while perching on her shoulder. Barely moving her lips, she whispered to her fairy friend, “What do you think?”

Just as quietly, Ye replied. “He’s not lying. And coming here based off the word of hired help… he must be really desperate. His situation might actually be worse than what he’s claiming.”

She gave a slight nod in response before turning back to face the young boy, “I don’t know. I had many years in service to the Fairy Emperor, so that’s why he let me bring people over.”

“..oh.” Wu TengFei continence immediately fell.

“Plus you must pay the fee.”

“Fee?”

“Yes, even if he were to agree, there is always a fee. If you want something from the Fairy Emperor, you must give him something in return. For me, I was required to entertain him every day.”

“Entertain?”

“Yes, I sang and played the pipa flute.”

“I don’t know how to play any instrument and I’m not good at singing either…”

“Uh, I doubt he’ll ask you to do the same thing I did.” She rubbed her chin. “Though what you could give him in exchange for exclusive access, I’m not sure. What would a Fairy need from a Merchant after all?”

“Is there no hope then?”

Mei Hua pursed her lips, looking to the sky, deep in thought. After several minutes she spoke.

“The first thing would be getting him to listen. I’m not sure how much influence I have, but I can try persuading the Fairy Emperor to at least hear you out, so…” With a knowing glace at Ye, the tiny fairy leapt off her shoulder and into the forest, presumably to talk the Emperor into coming to negotiate.

“Young Miss!” Wu TengFei crescent shaped eyes teared up and he tried bowing to the ground again in gratefulness. Mei Hua caught him before he could and firmly kept him seated.

“Anyway, even if I do ask him, you must make an exception clause in your deal.”

“Exception?”

“Yes, what you’re talking about is business. Which is fine. But there are times when people need to get across for other reasons. There was a whole village started on this mountain because people were running away from persecution.” She poked him in the chest to emphasis her point. “The kindness I’m showing you, that I showed for the woman who worked for you, and even that the Fairy Emperor showed to me, you can’t make a deal that takes that away. Understand?”

Wu TengFei hastily nodded. “Of course, of course! Young Miss, I don’t want to hurt anyone!”

“Well… if that’s the case, I don’t see a problem. Let me see if I can——oh!” She’d stood up and turned around, only to noticed someone standing under a tree nearby. “Jin? When did you get here?”

Wu TengFei turned to see who Mei Hua was talking to and immediately felt a shiver of fear run down his spine.

Mei Hua had been odd, but friendly. She was big for a girl, in both height and body shape (having an unusual amount of muscle). Her speech and mannerism were rough and could barely be classified as feminine. He had no idea what to call her mixture of traditional clothing and animal skins. But her pale oval face, large kind eyes, and gentle smile put a person at ease.

Jin was the opposite. He was very tall, probably the tallest man Wu TengFei had ever encountered. His tanned facial features were sharp; with high arched brows and cheekbones. Despite having down-turned eyes, his stare was neither carefree nor lackadaisical. Two strange cold, piercing blue-gold eyes focused in on him.

When Jin stared at Wu TengFei, it was as though he was looking at a bug. A bug he was considering squishing. Wu TengFei had never experience such an feeling of hostility before, and it took every ounce of courage in him not to immediately run away.

Jin then turned his attention to Mei Hua, much to Wu TengFei’s relief, and replied, “Ye came to me, saying there was someone requesting the Fairy Emperor’s help.”

Mei Hua looked at Ye, who was on Jin’s shoulder, in consternation. “Ye, what’d you get Jin for? I need the Fairy Emperor, not Jin!”

“I’ve been given authority to make decisions on the Emperor’s behalf.” Jin cut in, saving Ye from having to think up a response.

“Since when?”

“Since just now.”

She squinted her eyes at Jin in disbelief.

“It’s true MeiMei!” Ye spoke up. “Jin and the Emperor, their words are one!”

Jin flashed Ye a quick look of admiration. That had been a glorious verbal slight-of-hand. Ye gave Jin a sly wink, showing he’d seen and received the unspoken compliment.

“Oh fine. If you’re lying, the Fairy Emperor can deal with you both.” She muttered and then turned to Wu TengFei. “My apologies, Wu TengFei. My friend here is Huang Jin, and he speaks for the Fairy Emperor. Apparently. And the fairy is Ye.”

Wu TengFei bobbed his head and bowed deeply to Jin. He wasn’t sure about the fairy mentioned, so he skipped over it. “This lowly servant greets Imperial Chancellor Huang Jin.”

Both Mei Hua and Jin thought together: Eh? Chancellor? Where did this kid get such strange labels for people?

“The courtesy is appreciated, but please raise your head. And you may refer to me as Lord.” Jin pompously commanded the younger man (while ignoring Mei Hua’s rolling eyes). Wu TengFei immediately stood straight, though he didn’t dare meet Jin’s eyes directly.

“Y-yes, Lord Huang Jin!”

Jin approved of Wu TengFei’s reverential behavior. It was the least this piddling human could do to get in his good graces. Especially after he’d touch his MeiMei!

“Tell me what it is you want.”

Jin listened to the story he’d heard already, nodding in a bored way as he did.

He’d been watching Wu TengFei and Mei Hua interact almost from the beginning. He’d come running in a panic when he sensed Mei Hua had gone to the border of the forest, near the outermost edge of his territory.

He’d almost lost his mind when he saw his MeiMei sitting next to some strange human man. If Ye had not been there, stealthy motioning him to remain silent, he might have attacked Wu TengFei on the spot for such insolence. With a prodigious amount of self-restraint, he’d spied on them instead. Every time his MeiMei touched Wu TengFei, Jin’s eye had twitched in rage.

Ye had constantly remind him in the past that only insecure, weak men were jealous. And when he’d hopped over to “get the Emperor”, Ye had sternly told Jin that Wu TengFei was young and helpless, and that would not be attractive to MeiMei in the least. So there was no reason to be petty.

As Jin listened to Wu TengFei’s request, he thought deeply about what he should do. Even if Ye had said the boy was not a threat, the fact that there’d been any kind of skinship with MeiMei did not sit well with him. Well, he was a petty man to begin with, so that was nothing new.

On the other hand, being jealous had never gotten him anything he really wanted either. He’d lost more being petty than gained, so caving into his natural tendencies right then seemed like a bad idea.

His glaring was causing Wu TengFei to quake constantly in fear and to stutter. It was no wonder Jin was the Representative of the Fairy Emperor. The tall man very much embodied the tyrannical attitude that was commonly associated with the Fairy Emperor.

Mei Hua scooted over to Jin and stealthily smacked him on the back of the head. When he glanced at her in hurt surprise, she mouthed “Be nice” and nodded towards Wu TengFei.

Jin sulked slightly at this and lessened the pressure he was putting on the groveling man in front of him. As he listened to Wu TengFei drone on and on about his sorry excuse for a life, Jin’s mind wandered again.

If he agreed, would MeiMei like him? Would her affection for him grow? Would she… be happy? Despite all his problems, he desperately wanted MeiMei to be happy. Preferably with him specifically, but happy none-the-less.

His eyes narrowed slightly having made up his mind. Just as did, Wu TengFei had finished his blabbering.

“If you want exclusive access to the mountain, outside the exception you mentioned, you must give m—the Emperor, something in return. You realize that, correct?”

Wu TengFei nodded, gulping and wondering what this intimidating man would suggest.

“MeiMei,” Jin turned to her, his face appeasing. “What would be fair?”

“Eh? Me? Why me? I don’t know what the Emperor wants!” She was shaking her head emphatically.

He grabbed her hand, using his thumbs to stroke the top of her hands gently. “You don’t need to know what the Emperor wants, because he put me in charge. And I want you to decide.”

“Well…”

Wu TengFei had been watching this intimate exchange and understood immediately: The Lord valued the Young Miss’ opinion most. Win the Young Miss, then you win the Lord!

“…There are a lot of interesting things that humans make that we can’t get here on the mountain. So… it’d be nice if we could use Wu TengFei’s connections to buy things, either by having him go to a town to get them, or buy them off him when he passes over.”

The teenager brightened. That wasn’t a “fee”, that was just extra business!

But Jin tsked tsked and shook his head. “MeiMei, that can’t be counted as a fee! You’d only be helping him out.”

Ah… Wu TengFei face fell.

“How about this!” Jin grinned. “We can ask for any item at no charge to us, every time he or his folk travel over.”

“Eh!? But— But-” The younger man paled. Such an open ended deal like that… what if he was suppose to ship something custom-made and they demanded it as a fee? He’d be ruined!

“You dare object?” Jin gave him a deadly glare, causing Wu TengFei to cower.

Mei Hua smacked him on the arm openly this time. “Stop bullying him, he’s just a child!”

“Who wants to do business on m— the Emperor’s mountain! Child or adult, the Emperor doesn’t discriminate and neither do I.”

Mei Hua sighed and then continued, “Look, what if we ask for cash instead?”

Jin gave her a blank stare: “What do I need cash for?”

“I thought you were letting me decide?”

“Er! Right! Of course I was!”

“We can use the cash and turn around and buy things from him. He promises not to make a profit off any sales to us. As to the amount…” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “It will be per person, and the cash amount will be the same cost of buying a full set of clothes. Nice clothes, like what Mr. Wu wears, mind you. What do you think Wu TengFei?”

“I… I might not have the cash at the beginning.”

“Then let’s give you two trips for free, and then you begin paying us on the third trip. How does that sound?”

Wu TengFei brow broke out in a light sweat as he thought hard while under the pressure of Lord Jin. As a member of a Merchant family, he wasn’t fool enough to agree without thinking it through. Even with someone as scary as Lord Jin watching him.

But, really, what she was proposing wasn’t unfair. If he had to pay to cloth fifty men, but was shipping enough to cloth over hundred men, he was still making a good profit margin. And since only he could have access to the mountain path, it would likely be much higher than that. And forgoing a profit on any items they requested was nothing.

He bravely looked up at Lord Jin and asked, “If I agree, I will get exclusive and safe travel over the mountain?”

“You never said anything about wanting it to be safe.” Jin commented, looking at Wu TengFei as if he were stupid. “Safety is extra.”

Wu TengFei looked helplessly at Mei Hua, who in turn scowled at Jin.

“What? You can’t expect me to just GIVE him safe travel for nothing!” Jin exclaimed at her reaction.

“Naturally he wants it to be safe if he’s bringing items to sell! What would be the point otherwise!?” She was freely hitting him now, not restraining in the slightest.

“Gah, woman!” Jin dodged, not wanting to fight back but also not wanting to get hit. “Exclusive access is not the same thing as safe access! That’s two separate things! He’s got to pay a separate fee for that!”

The teenager watched as the two fought, one swinging and kicking, the other dodging. He was astonished by how he could barely follow their movements. They were clearly not ordinary human beings!

“What if I give you a discount!!!” Wu TengFei yelled over their fighting.

They both stopped.

“Discount?”

“Yes, a discount! Half off the original price of anything you buy! As long as it’s not a custom or special order item, you can buy anything from my caravan. If I don’t have it, I’ll search for it, and you’ll still get half off.”

Jin looked doubtful but Mei Hua cheered up.

“Oh, I like that!” She chirped and then gave a hard stare at Jin. He leaned away from her, and then nodded begrudgingly.

“Your Excellencies!” Wu TengFei grovelled on the ground. “Thank you! I, Wu TengFei, will honor our deal! Rest assured!”

Jin straightened his hair and clothes, having gotten ruffled at his continuous dodging. Trying to regain some of his former composure, he commanded the young man darkly:

“Know this, Merchant, by making this deal with me, you make it with the Emperor of this Mountain. The Emperor sees into you, into the hearts of all men. If you lie, if you try to cheat us, it’s the same as cheating the Emperor. And not only will breaking our deal mean you lose exclusive access, it gives the Emperor the right to take your life. Understand?”

Wu TengFei put his forehead to the ground.

“Yes, Lord Jin! This servant understands!”

“Very well then.” Jin flicked his hand and a piece of Jadeite appeared in front of him. He grabbed it before it fell to the ground, pressing it between his fingers until it glowed, while walking over to the kneeling young man.

Jin dropped it in front of him, instructing cooly, “Whenever you enter the forest, you must be the first to step foot inside and carry this with you when you do. The Emperor will know it’s you and let you in. As long as you do that, you will always get to the other side unharmed.”

“What if he gets sick and can’t come?” Mei Hua pointed out sensibly.

Jin grumbled “Always with the sickness…” before continuing: “Fine. If you need a replacement, give this to them. Tell them to speak my name and why they’ve come and enter first before everyone else. I will treat them as your representative, and they’ll gain safe passage. If they don’t speak my name or tell me why they’re there, even with this I will assume they are trespassers and kick them out. That should be easy enough to understand, yes?”

He asked this question more to Mei Hua than to the kneeling boy. Both MeiMei and Wu TengFei nodded.

“Then we’ve come to an agreement. The rest is up you, Merchant.”

Wu TengFei was still bowed with forehead to the ground. After a minute of silence, he finally glanced at what had been dropped: a thick piece of square blue jade with rounded corners. Elegantly carved into it was a majestic deer standing next to a flowering tree. It glowed slightly blue, casting a shimmering light on the grass.

He blinked several times before touching it. Blue jade was incredibly rare, and he’d never heard of any that glowed. Between that and what it granted, this one piece of jade could probably buy an entire city. As he held it, his hands shook.

And all they’d asked for was money enough to cloth a person! And half off goods! If they had blue jade like this, they could have anything they wanted! Anything! Why hadn’t he asked for exclusive purchasing rights from them? He’d have made an even bigger fortune!

He shot up from his kneeling position to say as much, only to find himself alone.

Confused, he turned around in a full circle. But he really was alone, with only the weight of the jade in his hand as proof that he’d talked to anyone at all.