Jiangyin Prefecture, the Jade Shop.
At the end of a corridor supported by stone pillars, the aged aroma of Pu'er tea filled the air.
Cai Shoujing, the Great Lineage Master of the Jade Shop and one of the Nine Lords of the Upper Nine Professions, looked at his prim and proper granddaughter while clicking away at the sandalwood abacus in his hands.
"You damn girl," he began, "if your brother hadn't told me, I would've never known you were out gallivanting a while back. Not only did you run off to some backwater county, but you even got involved with Duan Chenzhou's disciple..."
Cai Shoujing wore a silk robe over his portly belly. His white hair fell over his shoulders, and all ten of his short, stubby fingers were adorned with jadeite and precious gems. He was short, resembling a boorish, rural landlord, and every inch of him screamed of shrewdness.
