Chapter 196: Shang Family General Office
The next morning, Lu Yun came alone to North City. It was still early, with few pedestrians in North City, and most shops had just removed their door panels and had not yet opened for business.
Lu Yun walked along the street lined with shops and arrived in front of a grand and imposing building located in the central position of North City. He saw that its base was a two-level white marble platform, upon which stood dozens of thick vermilion Yongding columns supporting a flat platform. On the flat platform rose three tall buildings: the central one five stories high, and the flanking buildings three stories each, all with vermilion walls and dark tiles, magnificently splendid. Between the buildings, flying bridges and railings connected them openly and covertly. Even in North City, where tall buildings and luxurious mansions abounded, it still stood out from the crowd and lorded over the others.
In Lu Yun’s view, the splendor and grandeur of this building could already rival that of the Imperial Palace. Yet it adhered strictly to regulations everywhere, leaving no room for criticism. His gaze scanned the building up and down before finally settling on the plaque at the main entrance with its blue background and black characters—’Shang Family General Office’.
This was precisely the Merchant Family’s headquarters in the Capital City, its wealth unmatched under heaven and its power immense, manifested to the fullest in this building.
Lu Yun shook his head with a light sigh, then ascended the smooth stone steps. He saw that the two vermilion-lacquered doors were already open, with a pair of majestic stone lions at the doorway, each flanked by four tall and burly guards.
Lu Yun glanced at the eight guards and felt another surge of surprise—they were all uniformly Black Rank experts. Among the seven clans, probably only the Xiahou Clan and Pei Clan, with their abundance of experts, could afford the luxury of using nothing but Black Rank experts to guard the door.
Outside the eight Black Rank guards were several sharp and clever doorkeepers standing respectfully with heads bowed. Seeing this young Young Master ascending the steps, one doorkeeper stepped forward, saluted him, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Good morning, Young Master. What business brings you here?”
“I’ve come uninvited to request a meeting with Young Lady Shang,” Lu Yun said with a smile, cupping his hands. Then he drew a name card from his sleeve.
Hearing this fellow demand to see their own Young Lady right away, the doorkeeper’s eyes flashed with a trace of barely perceptible contempt. He’d seen far too many such reckless disciples. Still, he politely took the name card, planning to brush him off courteously without rudeness and keep him outside the door.
But when he saw the name on the dark blue name card, along with the silver clan emblem in the upper right corner, all his prepared dismissive words stuck in his throat. “Oh, so it’s the renowned Young Master Lu!”
“That’s me.” Lu Yun nodded, thinking with a bitter smile, ‘Am I already that renowned? I hope it’s not a bad reputation.’
“Sorry, it’s still too early—our Young Lady hasn’t arrived yet.” After the polite exchange, the doorkeeper said to Lu Yun with an apologetic expression, “Why don’t you come back later, Young Master?”
“No problem, I’ll just wait here,” Lu Yun replied with a smiling shake of his head, perfectly composed.
“It’s chilly with the autumn wind outside.” The doorkeeper hurriedly stepped aside. “Please come inside for tea while you wait, Young Master.”
“Thank you.” Lu Yun nodded and followed the doorkeeper into the grand hall of the Shang Family General Office. He saw that the hall was extremely spacious, decorated with utmost luxury—anyone unaccustomed to the world would be dazzled silly by the golden splendor upon entering.
Though this was the general office for all the Merchant Family’s business, the first-floor hall housed no offices; it was purely to display the Merchant Family’s vast wealth. In one corner of the hall, several small compartments were partitioned off with rosewood shelves, each furnished with a low table bearing tea and snacks, fruit, and lit with fine sandalwood incense—clearly for waiting visitors.
The doorkeeper led him to sit in one compartment, and a pretty and charming maidservant served him fragrant tea.
“Please make yourself comfortable, Young Master. The moment our Young Lady arrives, this one will immediately report it.” The doorkeeper instructed Lu Yun and then bowed and withdrew.
Lu Yun’s gaze followed his retreating figure through the rosewood shelves. He clearly saw him head straight up the stairs—obviously to report the news.
‘So-called Young Lady not being here is probably just an excuse.’ Lu Yun had already looked into it before coming: the Merchant Family did have many luxurious residences inside and outside Luojing, but Young Lady Shang preferred living in the general office. Otherwise, why would Lu Yun bother coming here so early in the morning?
But since they insisted on the pretense, he could only play along as if unaware.
Listening to the melodious zither music drifting from somewhere, Lu Yun took a light sip of fragrant tea and examined the small compartment. He saw books, bamboo slips, vases, curios, and the like artfully arranged on the rosewood shelves. Vases held fresh flowers in vibrant bloom, and the curios gleamed with the unique patina of age in the morning light—clearly all fine antique things.
Lu Yun casually drew out a bamboo slip and was delighted to discover it was Han Dynasty Dong Zhongshu’s《 Chun Qiu Fan Lu》. He’d only seen modern printed editions of this book, never read the original Han text. Lu Yun couldn’t help but sigh again: even a waiting area for visitors was so perfectly appointed. The Merchant Family’s extravagance was truly in their bones. Moreover, this wasn’t just about money—it required considerable taste and cultivation.
After a brief sigh, Lu Yun began reading the book scroll with relish. But after less than the time for a cup of tea, someone else was led in to sit. Lu Yun frowned slightly and glanced around, noticing that the previously empty compartments now each held three or four visitors. Judging by their attire, most were merchants, a few were aristocrat disciples like him—no ordinary commoners.
Still, merchants sat with merchants, aristocrats with aristocrats. Even here in the domain of the world’s greatest merchants, they dared not break the rule of ‘scholars and commoners not sharing a table’.
In this era, aristocrats habitually regarded commoner sons as no better than servants or weeds, never associating with them. Even if a commoner rose to prominence as a noble in-law or high minister, if they overreached to visit an aristocrat family without knowing their place, they wouldn’t be received with courtesy—might even face insult. Were this not the Merchant Family’s turf, commoners would have to keep their distance wherever aristocrats appeared.
The one invited to sit with Lu Yun was naturally an aristocrat too. This person even carried his own cushion, placing it on the compartment’s mat before sitting upright. When the maidservant served him tea, he didn’t touch it and said to Lu Yun, who was holding his tea, “You’re too undisciplined. We aristocrats—how can we drink water from commoners?”
He said this right in front of the doorkeeper and maidservant. Lu Yun felt his face flush waves of embarrassment, but the man spoke as if it were perfectly natural: “You’re still young, but you should conduct yourself with dignity—don’t lose face.” Pausing, he asked Lu Yun, “By the way, which family are you from?”
“Lu Family.” Lu Yun shifted his gaze to the book scroll, not wanting to deal with this inexplicable arrogant fool.
“Lu Family, huh…” The man perked up at that, introducing himself casually: “I’m from the Xie Clan, Xie Yu. My second uncle is the manager of the Finance Department in the clan. If not for his orders, I wouldn’t come to a dump like this.” This Xie Yu seemed unable to speak without disparaging commoners.
Lu Yun had thought someone so arrogant must at least be a direct lineage disciple of a noble clan, but hearing his name and introduction, he realized it was an extremely remote collateral lineage. For even a collateral to be this insufferably arrogant was truly something else.
“Winter’s almost here, right? I’m here to procure a batch of cold-weather items for the clan.” Xie Yu didn’t notice Lu Yun’s annoyance and continued babbling on: “Sigh, errands like this—why send people like us? Just have the underlings run it. Who knows what Uncle was thinking.” Then he asked Lu Yun, “What about you? What are you here for?”
