The courtyard was a scene of chaos. Su Ren and Su He, the "pillars" of the Su family, were currently groveling in the dirt.
"Please, Lord Wei! We just need another week!" Su Ren wailed, his forehead pressed against the cobbles. "Our mother has gone mad, she's hoarding the family jade! Take her! Take the children! Just give us time!"
Standing over them was a man who looked like he was carved from obsidian. Lord Wei, the head of the Black Tiger Pavilion, didn't look like a typical thug. He wore high-collared black silk embroidered with silver thread, and a heavy blade hung at his hip. His eyes were cold, bored, and lethal.
"I don't deal in children or senile women," Wei's voice was a low, dangerous rumble. "I deal in gold. And if the gold isn't in my hand by the time the sun touches the wall, this manor becomes a pyre."
"Then you'd better start looking for a bucket of water, Lord Wei."
The voice didn't come from the ground. It came from the top of the porch steps.
Lord Wei looked up. His eyes narrowed.
The woman standing there was clearly old, her hair a shock of silver pinned back with a single, cracked jade comb. But she wasn't cowering. She stood with her back straight as a spear, her hands tucked into the wide sleeves of a faded red robe. Beside her, a small boy held a tray covered with a muslin cloth.
"Mother! Get down here and apologize!" Su He screamed from the dirt. "Lord Wei, please ignore her, she's lost her mind!"
"Silence," Lord Wei commanded, his gaze never leaving Su Wan. "You are the Matriarch?"
"I am Su Wan," she replied, stepping down the stairs with a grace that shouldn't belong to a dying woman. "And I hear you're looking for three hundred gold pieces. A pittance, really."
The Black Tiger guards laughed. "A pittance? Your sons were just begging for their lives over a single copper!"
Su Wan ignored them. She walked right up to Lord Wei. She was much shorter than him, but she didn't flinch even when his guards shifted their swords.
"I don't have your gold today," she said plainly.
"Then you've chosen death," Wei replied, his hand moving toward the hilt of his blade.
"I've chosen a partnership," Su Wan corrected. She gestured to the tray Xiao Chen was holding. "You don't want this house, Lord Wei. It's rotting. You want the 'Dragon's Breath' map that rumors say is hidden here. But the map is useless without the key. And the key isn't an object. It's a formula."
Lord Wei's hand paused. The boredom in his eyes vanished, replaced by a sharp, predatory interest. "Go on."
Su Wan took a small, ceramic vial from the tray. She uncorked it.
Instantly, the air in the dusty, sewage-smelling courtyard changed. It was as if a thousand spring flowers had suddenly bloomed in the middle of a winter storm. It was deep, spicy, and carried a hint of cold mountain air a scent so complex and expensive it felt like a physical weight.
The guards gasped. Even the greedy sons froze, their noses twitching.
"This is Celestial Marrow," Su Wan lied effortlessly, using her chemistry knowledge to give her creation a legendary name. "It is the scent the Empress has been searching for to cure her insomnia. I used the last of the Su family's hidden Xun-Lu roots to distill it. One vial is worth fifty gold pieces in the capital. I can give you ten vials by next month."
Lord Wei took the vial. He didn't smell it like a commoner; he held it to the light, watching the way the liquid clung to the glass. He was a man of the underworld, but he knew the value of luxury. Luxury was power.
"You made this?" he asked, his voice dropping an octave. "In that shack?"
"I am a Matriarch of the Su family," Su Wan said, her eyes flashing. "We have secrets you couldn't dream of. Now, here is my offer. You cancel the debt of three hundred gold. In exchange, I give you the exclusive right to sell this fragrance to the Imperial Court. You'll make three thousand gold in a year. Or, you can kill us all, find no map, and leave with nothing but a pile of ash."
The courtyard was deathly silent. Su Ren looked at his mother as if she had grown a second head.
Lord Wei looked at the vial, then at the woman who had just threatened him with "nothing." A slow, dark smile spread across his face. It wasn't a kind smile.
"You have a sharp tongue for someone with one foot in the grave, Matriarch." He tucked the vial into his belt. "Fine. I will give you one month. But if the ten vials aren't ready, I won't just burn the house. I'll ensure you and your sons are kept alive while I peel the skin from your grandchildren."
Xiao Chen whimpered, but Su Wan gripped his shoulder.
"A month is all I need," she said.
Lord Wei turned on his heel, his cloak snapping in the wind. "We leave! But keep a watch on this house. If a single bottle of that scent leaves these walls without my mark, kill everyone."
As the Black Tigers retreated, Su Wan felt her knees finally give out. She sank onto the porch step, her heart racing.
"Mother!" Su Ren scrambled up, his face red with fury. "What was that? Where is the rest of the root? If it's that valuable, give it to me! I can sell it"
Su Wan didn't even look at him. She simply raised her hand.
"Ling'er, bring me my cane," Su Wan said coldly. "And Su Ren? If you ever try to sell your daughter again, I won't wait for Lord Wei. I'll use that 'formula' to brew a poison that will make your hair fall out before your skin rots off. Do you want to test my chemistry?"
Su Ren choked on his words and backed away.
Su Wan looked at the sky. She had bought thirty days. She had no money, a dying body, and a house full of traitors.
Three hundred million dollars, she thought. I'm going to make every cent of it back in gold.