The Ember of East

The Wheatwind Inn's waiter had seen the little girl with the bamboo basket for three straight days. Each day, she'd sit by the door, staring down the street. When the wind blew, she'd cough softly, delicate as the skinny kitten in her basket. "What're you staring at out there all day?" he finally asked. "I'm waiting for someone," she chirped, grinning. "Don't you know when they'll come?" "I do... and I don't." She rested her chin in her hand. Just then, a commotion erupted at the crossroads. She looked out and smiled radiantly. "There he is!" Before the words fell, she flitted out like a butterfly. The waiter craned his neck to see: just a clumsy-looking swordsman had stumbled into the Unbound Cavern's territory. "Waiting for that guy... might as well wait for me," the waiter muttered, clicking his tongue.

Wen Wuque was roused by the low murmur of sutras. Pain surged from her internal organs before the fragments of memory could surface. She gritted her teeth, knowing the agony of recollection would be harder to bear. The betrayal in Weiyang City, Wen Wuhen's mocking laughter, the searing pain of shattered meridians, the blood spraying from her mother's body as she shielded her daughter from attackers...She could barely recall how she'd escaped Weiyang City. Her mind was blank, save for one clear command: Survive. Do not fail your mother. She forced her eyes open. A crumbling hut. A white-haired old woman on her knees, begging every god she knew to save her daughter. The words were humble, desperate, and for a moment, Wuque could almost pretend they came from her own mother, speaking all the love she'd never had time to say. Tears soaked the thin pillow. Hearing her stir, the old woman lunged toward the bed, her knees too numb from kneeling to support her weight. She collapsed to the floor, crawling the rest of the way to Wen Wuque's side. "Yingying, my Yingying! The Buddha has answered, they've returned you to me!" Wen Wuque knew the finality of death: what is lost is lost forever. No one is "returned". But in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be Yingying. So she sank into the woman's embrace, two broken pieces of jade fitting perfectly together in the dim light.

The world did not know that the Ember of East, the Lord of Weiyang City, had never been taught the ways of commerce by the city. Even her name, Wuque, meaning "flawless", was not bestowed by the former lord, Wen Tao, but chosen by herself. She was not Wen Tao's legitimate daughter, but the illegitimate child of his sister, Wen Ning, and a Lone Cloud disciple. Wen Tao regarded this as a grave disgrace, hastily marrying Wen Ning to a loyal servant of the Wen family. The servant, having gained a Wen daughter, rose to power in Weiyang City, but with success came betrayal. He abused the child who was not his own, beating her without mercy. With a cruel stepfather and frail mother, her fate seemed sealed: gamble on a good marriage like all Wen daughters. But this child had defiance in her bones. The more they scorned her, the higher she'd climb. Defying her mother's warnings, she bound her hair, disguised herself as a man, and plunged into the depths of Weiyang City. Through humiliation and scheming, she clawed her way to Wen Tao's side. Witnessing the law of the jungle, she learned that to stand above others, one must be willing to devour ravenously and ruthlessly. The fastest, most relentless eater would rule. She lived by this creed, seizing the entire fortune of her marital family and returning with her husband's head. Weiyang City trembled. The forgotten bastard became Master Wuque, mentioned in the same breath as Wen Wuhen and other heirs. If others were ruthless, she was colder. Rumors spread that Master Wuque was capricious: laughing with you today, claiming your head and wealth tomorrow. Some even whispered she was not one person but two, and the legend of the Black and White Gods of Wealth began then. In her years of amassing fortune, countless died directly or indirectly by her hand. She feared nothing, so long as she won. No one could oust her from the game. Thus, she survived Wen Tao's deadly trials for the heirs and became the new Lord of Weiyang City. But she forgot that if one takes all the chips, the table itself loses purpose. And Wen Wuhen, now penniless, was the one to flip it over. The day Weiyang City ran red with blood, Wen Wuque was prepared, but not enough. Over a dozen of Wen Wuhen's relatives in her custody lay dead, while he held her mother hostage. "You're still a bastard from outside," Wen Wuhen laughed. "No Weiyang blood. Without the courage to sever your own arm, how can you rule?" She could not match his brutality. Gazing at her mother's silver hair, she recalled the vow she'd made on the day she left home. "I will climb to the top so no one ever bullies you again." Her hands fell. The gold coins meant to buy her life clattered to the floor. She closed her eyes, awaiting death, only to hear the most terrifying sound: The ripping of fabric and flesh. Her mother, suddenly finding strength, hurled herself onto the blade. Why did the world always twist good intentions into tragedy?

In Weiyang City, it is said: The weaknesses of humanity, vulnerability, fear and greed, are a merchant's treasury. Thus, the more turbulent the times, the greater the opportunity. As rumors of "The Military Inspector Shall Be Emperor" spread, it was only a matter of time before Zhao Kuangyin seized Kaifeng. The city's residents, traumatized by repeated upheavals, panicked at the news of a new ruler. But Wen Wuque deduced that Zhao Kuangyin was unlikely to massacre the city to assert power. She hatched a plan: bribe the Unbound Cavern to spread rumors of an impending massacre, then buy up citizens' assets at rock-bottom prices as they fled, only to resell them at a premium when order returned. She believed this windfall would let her repay Granny Turtle, who'd saved her, and perhaps even reclaim her place in Weiyang City. What she didn't know was that Granny Turtle, terrified of another massacre, would become a pawn in her own scheme. As Granny Turtle frantically sold her possessions, her disjointed words revealed the truth: her daughter had died in the last massacre. Unable to bear the loss of her children, she had grown delusional, treating every young girl as her "Yingying", until she'd found Wen Wuque, bloodied and broken, resembling her daughter in her final moments. As Granny Turtle sobbed uncontrollably, Wen Wuque could only pacify her by fleeing the city with her. That day, Kaifeng snowed. Standing among the filthy, desperate refugees fighting over scraps, Wen Wuque finally saw the bloody reality behind the term "merchant's treasury". She recalled a distant memory: riding in a golden wagon outside Weiyang City, she'd tossed a lost jade pendant into the crowd. Like feeding fish, it had sparked a brutal scramble among ragged beggars, which she and her servants had laughed at, calling them "vicious hounds." Only when the granaries are full do people observe morality. But in hunger, who is not a vicious hound? She realized her life of profit-driven commerce had been a litany of sins. Wen Wuque wasted away. Returning to Weiyang City would only lead to more bloodshed, she felt her old ambition draining away. Dragging her injured body, she accompanied Granny Turtle daily to sell trinkets on the street, resigning herself to a quiet end. But gradually, she saw a different kind of commerce in the hawkers around her. They toiled both for their own gain and to meet others' needs. Merchants could bridge gaps, bringing goods to those who lacked them, smoothing supply and demand. Perhaps they aided people more than exploited them. She'd always thought profit required creating problems, but the world was full of genuine needs waiting to be solved. Her vitality returned, and she even saved a scarred stray cat. Once obsessed with conquest, she now found joy in kindness. Granny Turtle, delighted by her smiles, knitted a cap with cat ears and attached braids, so "Yingying" could sell her wares without drawing stares for her golden hair. The Ember of East became a beloved peddler in Forsaken Quarter, poor, but content. This life could be enough, Wen Wuque sometimes thought. But chaos endures, and human greed never sleeps. When the Tang Dynasty's coin confiscation policies began, even a simple, peaceful life became a luxury. The world should not be like this, Wen Wuque thought. One clear night, resting on Granny Turtle's lap, she announced she must leave. "I'm going to make the biggest deal of my life."