The capital.
Jinyin Lane.
Jinyin Money House.
Beneath the gold and silver character signboard, between two gleaming golden lions, Mo Zi once again profoundly and helplessly experienced her own poverty. However, it seemed she wasn’t the only one having this realization.
“What’s the deal with this Jinyin Main Branch? The entrance inside and out looks like it’s been gilded—are they afraid people won’t know it’s a money house?” Compared to Mo Zi’s internal grumbling, Qiu Sanniang said whatever was on her mind. The series of rhetorical questions were actually just expressions of envy and jealousy. This person’s love of money probably wasn’t much less than that of the Jinyin Money House’s owner.
“Indeed, the Jinyin Money House in our Luo City isn’t so… dazzling.” Mo Zi felt the sun was too strong, and with the golden light reflecting onto her body, she started feeling hot before long. “Miss, didn’t you come to the capital before?”
“I came once five years ago. The Jinyin Money House didn’t exist then.” Speaking of this made Qiu Sanniang even more annoyed. “I don’t know where it sprang from, but it grew like bamboo shoots after rain. Now which prefecture in Great Zhou doesn’t have one?”
“But their reputation is genuinely good. The drafts issued by Jinyin all have their own numbers. Even if you lose one, as long as it’s not under a false name, you can still claim the money with your household registration book.” Moreover, the managers were flexible in their dealings and very capable of accommodating different customer requests—this was something Mo Zi had experienced herself.
“Three guests, it’s hot outside. We’re serving cool sour plum soup and snacks. Please come inside first.” A short-clothed assistant who looked quite sharp came out with a face full of smiles to greet them.
“If their reputation wasn’t good, I wouldn’t dare deposit my silver here.” Qiu Sanniang wore a sapphire blue brocade robe, her black hair bound high and secured with a gemstone clasp, presenting the appearance of an elegant young gentleman.
However, this handsome gentleman was beautiful in an extremely feminine way. Mo Zi didn’t know what others thought, but she felt that Qiu Sanniang, who refused to apply darkening powder to her face and only deliberately drew her eyebrows thicker, had stunningly beautiful features with a fair complexion.
Xiao Yi, who was also cross-dressed as a man, usually had long limbs that didn’t resemble a delicate woman. With her dark hair in a long bundle like a wandering swordsman, dressed in a black fitted jacket with a wide belt at her waist, her slender figure and cold, detached gaze, plus a long sword resting in her hand, she actually looked quite dashing.
In contrast, Mo Zi herself had an oily yellow errand-runner’s appearance, her eyes darting around, looking like someone who spent all day mixing in the marketplace.
The three followed the assistant into the front hall, where a clerk came up to them. After learning that Qiu Sanniang had come to open an account and deposit silver, and seeing her imposing manner and demeanor, he assumed she was a major client and wanted to lead her to a private room.
“Master, I’ll wait in the hall below.” Mo Zi didn’t want to go in and watch people count bank notes, especially when not a single cent of it was hers—particularly when at least half of it was money she had earned for Qiu Sanniang.
No, no, everyone shouldn’t think of her as so petty. Actually, she had some other business.
Qiu Sanniang thought for a moment and said, “Alright.”
Mo Zi knew Qiu Sanniang asked very detailed questions when depositing money and wouldn’t be done in less than an hour. So after seeing her and Xiao Yi enter the private room, she didn’t really wait in the hall below. Instead, she walked into the main hall’s large counter area and found the high shelf for storage items, standing on tiptoe to knock on the shelf board.
The shelf board snapped upward with a clap, revealing a stern, unsmiling face that was forcibly squeezing out a smile. “Young sir, depositing an item or retrieving one?”
Mo Zi was first made uncomfortable by that awkward face, then thinking that the person was also upholding the principle of customer first—naturally not a smiling face but still having to smile for customers—which was truly not easy, she quickly straightened her expression.
“I’ve come to inquire. A month and a half ago, I entrusted an item at your Luo City branch to be sent to the capital’s main branch. I wonder if it arrived safely?” As she spoke, she took out a square-folded paper, stood on tiptoe again, and struggled to pass it through the window. “This is the receipt your establishment issued.”
The clerk took a quick glance, and when he spoke again, his tone became extremely respectful. “Young sir, did you bring your household registration book?”
Mo Zi always carried the little book with her—obtained after being tricked out of her freedom, of course she had to cherish it especially. However, why did this person suddenly become so polite?
She also passed in her household registration book, emphasizing, “The entrusted item has nothing to do with my master’s household. It’s my personal request. Don’t make a mistake, clerk.”
Jinyin Money House accepted deposits and stored items under false identities, but retrieval required the token or secret phrase established at the time of agreement. However, Mo Zi was very careful. Tokens and secret phrases could both be lost, but household registration books bore the official seal and the original was stored in the document archive, so using an “officially recognized” identity to store items made it hard to be cheated.
“This humble one understands.” The clerk could tell from the household registration book that Mo Zi was female, but he showed not the slightest sign of surprise. He returned the book and receipt to Mo Zi. “Please wait a moment, guest.”
“I’m just—” just checking if it arrived or not.
Click—the high shelf’s lower board cut off half of Mo Zi’s words.
What did this mean? Had the item she entrusted been lost? Or was the money house trying to embezzle it? She had declared a value of two hundred thousand taels, and Jinyin Money House had promised to compensate at the declared price if it was lost. When she had shown the item to the people at the Luo City branch, even the head manager had personally come out to verify its authenticity. He had written the receipt in his own hand—there was no way to renege on it.
Mo Zi stood there staring at her shoe tips, thinking wildly by herself, until she was almost certain that someone at Jinyin Money House had become greedy at the sight of the treasure and, seeing she was a maid from a wealthy household, planned to use their power to bully others, using their size to overwhelm the small. Thinking about it, if the other party really swallowed the item without a word, what could she do even if she had used her real name? The starting point was very careful, but when it came down to it, she discovered it was all useless effort. That item was almost like stolen goods, and the item’s owner was still a descendant of a Great Zhou traitor. She couldn’t possibly go to the authorities to sue Jinyin Money House—if she did, she would first turn herself into an accomplice of the traitor.
Speaking of which, let’s reveal the name of this item—the Water Purification Pearl.
What kind of thing had she done? Mo Zi sighed. She had originally wanted to carry it on her person, but was afraid Qiu Sanniang would discover it, and also afraid of losing it. Plus she was in a hurry, so she used Jinyin Money House’s fastest item transfer service. She had decided to return the pearl to Yuan Cheng, thinking this valuable item could help him save himself—of course the faster it arrived the better. According to the establishment’s guarantee, items valued at over one hundred thousand taels could reach the capital in ten days to half a month. If the person got beheaded before the pearl arrived, what would be the point of her “presenting pearls to the gentleman”?
“This guest?” An old man dressed in a coin-patterned robe saw Mo Zi angrily scraping the floor and hesitated, not daring to approach.
Mo Zi thought Jinyin Money House was a big-mouthed lion. Being at her most sensitive moment, when she heard someone call out, her gaze immediately swept over. She saw an old man three zhang away, looking at her with an anxious expression.
“Are you calling me?” Mo Zi glanced around and saw no one else, slightly restraining her expression.
“Is the guest the one who just inquired about the entrusted item?” The old man was quite cautious.
“That’s right.” Oh, there’s a follow-up?
“Please come with me.” The old man turned and led the way.
Mo Zi thought to herself that she hadn’t come alone anyway. If worst came to worst, even at the risk of being discovered by Qiu Sanniang, she could call to Xiao Yi for help. She herself was a bold person, so without hesitation she followed along.
Through the main hall, into a corridor. Past the corridor, into another hall. Walking to this point, Mo Zi felt that following someone from one hall to another hall seemed familiar, and immediately remembered the first time she met Yuan Cheng. Winding through seven turns and eight bends, progressing from one chamber to the next—such places never seemed to lead to pleasant experiences.
This hall was magnificently dazzling. The tables and chairs were made of the finest cliff pine from Qiu Mountain—though not sold by weight, a single original log could fetch over a hundred taels. Two symmetrically placed redwood pillars—what others used to make furniture, this establishment used to support the roof. On the pillars was written a couplet in flourishing calligraphy that gleamed with golden light.
Gold one tael, silver one tael—two taels is not much; Gold thousand mountains, silver thousand mountains—ten thousand mountains is too little.
Horizontal inscription: The Young Master’s Love of Gold.
After silently reading it, Mo Zi burst out laughing. “This couplet—”
“Written by my master. What does the guest think?” The old man suddenly turned back, smiling very kindly.
“Quite… good, quite good.” If it weren’t for the very expensive facade decorations, just looking at the couplet alone, she would think the owner of Jinyin Money House was a miser.
“I also think it’s quite good.” With a hearty laugh, someone lifted the ramie silk door curtain and walked out from behind.
Mo Zi looked and saw—goodness! Red brocade base color, gold ingot bright pattern, ornaments of gold and silver hanging at the waist, hair braided with red and blue gems and bound high in a topknot, inserted with a pure gold fireball hairpin. Rings on both index fingers—one of milky white jade, one of Persian cat’s eye.
The Tang Dynasty was the most diverse period in history for clothing styles. However, after Great Zhou’s Wu Zetian, women’s clothing became more traditional, and men’s clothing even more monotonous. It could be said that she had never seen a man dressed more magnificently than the one before her eyes.
But she didn’t feel at all that those gold, silver, and precious stones were overdone. The comparison of a good saddle matching a good horse might not be quite appropriate, but this man was too good-looking. Phoenix eyes, sculpted nose, vermillion lips. Skin like ice and snow, completely flawless. If not for a pair of sword-like brows and an Adam’s apple, dressed in women’s clothing he could match Qiu Sanniang’s stunning beauty. When a man had such an incomparably handsome face, all ornaments became mere green-leaf accompaniments, no longer able to emit their own luster.
Though he was a rarely seen beauty, Mo Zi only paused briefly before moving on. In this era, there were also nobles who favored the love of men. However, those beautiful boys often met tragic ends. Therefore, being too beautiful as a man was really not something worth celebrating.
“Are you the owner of Jinyin Money House?” The stunning countenance faded from Mo Zi’s eyes as she asked indifferently.
A flash of surprise appeared and dispersed in the phoenix eyes. The magnificently dressed man smiled and said, “The young lady’s eyes are not only beautiful, but also very good at recognizing people.”
“It’s rather that the great master’s judgment isn’t very good. My eyes are not beautiful.” Dressed like that, who else could she take him for? Surely not the money house owner’s male favorite?
“Oh? Then I can only say, every flower appeals to different eyes.” People should be modest—he obediently cooperated.
“Mo Zi is currently presenting as male. Great master may address me as Brother Mo.” Being called “young lady” while dressed as a man made her uncomfortable.
“Brother Mo, is it? My name is Jin Yin. Jin as in gold and silver, Yin as in gold and silver.” The handsome man also introduced himself.
“Jin Yin of Jinyin Money House?” Mo Zi couldn’t help but be stunned again. What kind of name was this? Also too—straightforward.
“Precisely.” Jin Yin seemed accustomed to people’s reactions upon hearing his name. “And it’s my real name. Also, I don’t like being called ‘great master.’ Just call me Young Master Jin.”
Young—Master—Jin?
So this was what “The Young Master’s Love of Gold” meant!