The grand opening of the Su Imperial Pavilion was the event of the decade. Located in the most expensive district of the capital, the shop didn't look like a merchant's stall; it looked like a temple of luxury.
Under Su Wan's direction, the shop was designed with modern minimalist aesthetics: white marble, glass-like polished silk, and strategically placed lanterns that made her crystal vials glow like diamonds.
"Madam, the crowd is blocks long," Yan reported, dressed in his new captain's uniform. He was no longer just a servant; he was the head of the Su family's private security. "But I've spotted several men from the 'Golden Leaf Merchant Guild.' They look... unhappy."
"Of course they are," Su Wan said, smoothing her dark violet robes. "I've just taken the Imperial contract. I've ended their hundred-year monopoly. They won't just stand by."
She stepped onto the balcony to address the crowd. The wealthy elite, the wives of generals, and even commoners who had saved for months were all staring up at the woman who had "come back from the dead."
"Today," Su Wan's voice rang out, "the Su family offers more than perfume. We offer health. We offer confidence. We offer the Fragrance of the Phoenix."
As the doors opened and the first customers rushed in, a man in expensive brocade stepped forward. It was Master Feng, the head of the Golden Leaf Guild.
"Wait!" he shouted, holding up a black, charred bottle. "I bought a sample of this 'miracle' from a street seller this morning. My daughter used it, and her skin has broken out in sores! The Su family is selling poison under the Emperor's name!"
The crowd gasped. The women who were about to buy paused, their hands hovering over the vials.
Su Ren and Su He, who were working the counters, turned pale. "Mother! We didn't—we would never—"
Su Wan didn't panic. She walked down the stairs, the crowd parting for her like the Red Sea. She reached Master Feng and took the black bottle from his hand. She didn't smell it; she looked at the glass.
"This is a very clever forgery," Su Wan said, her voice calm and cold. "But you made one mistake, Master Feng. You used common alcohol as a base. My fragrances are distilled with a water that cannot be found on this earth."
"Excuses!" Feng sneered. "My daughter is suffering! Guards, seize this woman!"
"Yan," Su Wan whispered.
Before Feng's men could move, Yan had his sword at Feng's throat.
"Master Feng," Su Wan said, stepping closer until she was inches from his face. "In my past life, I dealt with corporate sabotage much more sophisticated than this. If you want to play this game, let's play it to the end."
She took a vial of real fragrance from her belt. "If your daughter is truly suffering, this will heal her instantly. But if she is fine and this is a lie... then you have used the Emperor's name to commit slander. That carries a penalty of ten generations of exile."
She turned to the crowd. "Who here is a physician?"
An old man stepped forward. "I am, Matriarch."
"Go with Master Feng's men. Examine his daughter. If she is poisoned by a Su family product, I will burn this shop down myself. If she is perfectly healthy... Master Feng will sign over his guild's spice-trade routes to me as compensation for my lost time."
Master Feng's eyes filled with terror. He hadn't expected her to be so bold. He had assumed an "old woman" would crumble under a public accusation.
"I... I might have been mistaken about the source..." Feng stammered, trying to back away.
"The physician is already leaving," Su Wan said, her eyes flashing with a lethal, modern grit. "The gamble is already placed, Master Feng. In my world, we call this a 'Hostile Takeover.'"
By the end of the day, the physician returned. The daughter was perfectly fine—she had been paid by her father to hide in her room. Master Feng was arrested for slander against an Imperial Purveyor, and by sunset, the Golden Leaf Merchant Guild's spice routes belonged to Su Wan.
She sat in her office that night, looking at the maps of the spice routes. She had doubled her empire in six hours.
"Madam," Yan said, bringing her a cup of spring tea. "You've made a lot of enemies today."
"Good," Su Wan said, drinking the tea and feeling the energy of her Hidden Space pulse through her. "If everyone likes you, it means you aren't changing the world. And I'm just getting started on the world."
She looked at her jade bracelet. The mist in her hidden garden was getting thicker, and a new path had appeared near the stone shed.
What's next? she wondered. Mining? Textiles? Or perhaps it's time to deal with the 'Late Husband' who left me this mess?