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Jing Yuan had a feeling of dread wash over him. Something was terribly wrong today. He could sense it. There was an unspeakable tension in the Seat of Divine Foresight.
The problem was that he had no idea what could be wrong. He had worked tirelessly to keep peace on the Luofu for the last several centuries. Their last war was already thirty decades behind them. What sort of problem was looming on the horizon that Jing Yuan was completely unaware of? And why did it feel like the rest of the Luofu knew what the problem was?
"Sir," Captain Li Jie said. His voice was solemn, an unusual seriousness from a man whom Jing Yuan knew as fairly jolly.
Jing Yuan braced himself. What possible bad news could one of his captains be giving him? Another war? New marching orders for a frontline assault? Devastation in the other Xianzhou ships? Or worse, something on the Luofu. An illness spreading among the masses? A riot?
"I need to take off tomorrow," Li Jie said.
Jing Yuan blinked. "Of course, Li Jie." That… was not the devastating news he was expecting. "Why do you sound so grave? Did something happen?"
"Tomorrow there will be a fight to the death," Li Jie said.
Alarm bells went off in Jing Yuan’s head. "A fight to the death?! For what reason?!"
How was Li Jie tied up in this mess? A fight to the death? An honor duel? But such things had been outlawed centuries ago, millennia ago actually, around the time the Xianzhou natives became immortal.
"My mother was recently mara-struck," Li Jie said. "She was escorted by the spiritfarers last month."
"My condolences," Jing Yuan said. He hadn't known about that. He didn't expect his men to tell him everything but he hoped that they knew they could take time off as needed. It was a bit strange that Li Jie was taking off now, but Jing Yuan would allow his men to grieve.
Cloud Knights in general were a little more in touch with death and the finality of it all.
None of this explained why there was a fight to the death tomorrow though.
"Thank you, sir," Li Jie said. "The thing you must know is that she left no record of who would inherit her kitchen knife set."
What?
Jing Yuan was now more confused. "A kitchen knife set?"
"It’s the best knife set ever made. She was always going on about how they haven't dulled in the centuries she's had them. About how they cut so smoothly, so clean, her knife work was beautiful as a result," Li Jie said.
Now… Jing Yuan didn't claim to be an expert of any sort. For starters, he was not exactly a cook for himself, but this seems overkill for a set of kitchen knives.
"Now, my sweet sister runs the family restaurant. But my asshole older brother has been trying to make a quick buck and sell those knives off. He'll make a fortune and he knows it," Li Jie said, clenching his fist. "And knowing she isn't much of a fighter, he has challenged her to a duel for them. She was going to let him have it; as fine of a knife set as they are, it's not worth her life, but I decided to fight in her place."
"A duel for a knife set?" Jing Yuan asked, bewildered.
"Ah, are they a set forged by Forge Master Yingxing?" Qingzu asked, approaching.
What.
Li Jie nodded. "Yes. My mother paid for one of his mass-produced sets. They were very popular with housewives back in the day."
Qingzu nodded, cupping her cheek. "And now there's a raging black market regarding them."
"There’s a black market?!" Jing Yuan yelped. For Yingxing’s kitchen knives?!
He knew Yingxing was unmatched, a peerless craftsman the Xianzhou hadn't seen in centuries. There was a reason why Jingliu invited him to the High Cloud Quintet so quickly. Jing Yuan was well aware that Yingxing’s weapons are now considered priceless treasures. He would never dare sell the Glaive that Yingxing gave him, but if he did, Jing Yuan could retire a hundred times over and buy his own little planet.
But Yingxing’s kitchen knives?! As in those little tiny orders that Yingxing used to grumble about, but helped keep his shop open in-between big commissions for weapons and aurumatons? Those kitchen knives?!
Those kitchen knives that Jing Yuan owned over five hundred sets of because Yingxing kept dumping his extra stock on Jing Yuan when they wouldn't sell?!
Those kitchen knives?!
"You didn't know?" Qingzu asked. "Those kitchen knives are such high quality, there are people willing to pay several hundred thousand for them. In fact, duels to the death over sets are becoming increasingly more common. The thefts of them have been even higher. There are rumors on the street that if you wish to be considered one of the Xianzhou’s top chefs, you must own a set."
Li Jie nods. "Which is why I must win for my sister's sake. Our family eatery is small, but it is well established and one that has lasted several millennia my great grandfather opened it."
Jing Yuan cradled his head in his hands. He had no idea. "I feel like you two have peeled back part of the curtain of the Xianzhou Luofu that I was unaware of."
"Have no fear, sir," Qingzu said. "I've been monitoring the situation. It isn't completely out of control but eventually, we will need to establish some sort of ruling on it."
That wasn't the point!
"If you don't mind, Li Jie, I would like to come to your duel tomorrow," Jing Yuan said. "So I can witness one of these duels in person." And check if they were really Yingxing’s knives.
"It'll be an honor, sir! Might keep my cheating bastard of an older brother in line," Li Jie said.
This whole situation sounded entirely surreal to Jing Yuan.
-.-.-
"You bastard! What is General Jing Yuan doing here?!" Li Ming shouted.
"He's here to keep an eye on the duel to make sure it’s fair," Li Jie said coldly.
Jing Yuan paid no attention to Li Jie's brother raging and shouting. There was no way that Li Jie would fail this duel. He was a trained Cloud Knight Captain and Li Ming is a common thug. Underhanded tricks would be the only way to win and with Jing Yuan’s presence, any dirty tricks up Li Ming's sleeve are sealed.
Instead, Jing Yuan turned his attention to Li Yan, Li Jie's sister, who was holding the famous kitchen knife set.
"May I?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," Li Yan said.
Jing Yuan picked up the knives and examined them.
"I understand you run the family restaurant, Miss Li Yan?" Jing Yuan said.
She nodded. "I do. It was supposed to go to Li Ming but he was such a disappointment to our mother that she refused to give it to him. He was always jealous of Li Jie's natural cooking skills and then was insulted when Li Jie picked joining the Cloud Knights instead. Then I was the only one left." She softly sighed. "I find this whole thing ridiculous. I much rather Li Jie take over."
"Well," Jing Yuan said. "It's rather ridiculous because these aren't a kitchen knife set by Yingxing."
"What?!" the three siblings shouted.
Jing Yuan summoned his glaive and pointed out Yingxing’s engraved signature on his hilt and the knives' rivets. "See the signature is vastly different." That was just the tip of the iceberg. Jing Yuan grew up watching Yingxing work, he knew this pattern strike was not one of Yingxing’s and while the quality of the metal was there, it was still a poor imitation.
"Impossible! Claiming these knives were made by Forge Master Yingxing was all that old lady talked about!" Li Ming said.
Jing Yuan shrugged. "That is just my personal opinion." 'As someone who is very familiar with Yingxing himself' went unsaid. "Did it come with a certificate of authenticity? I recall Yingxing making those as well."
"...If it did," Li Yan whispered, "None of us know where it is."
"Then this is pointless!" Li Ming said. He stormed off without another word.
Li Jie sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, sir. For dragging you out here for something so pointless."
Jing Yuan waved his hand dismissively. "It is nothing. I apologize for popping the bubble."
"No, it is a good thing," Li Yan said. "You’ve prevented an unnecessary fight. Though knowing Li Ming…"
"He will spread the word and the family eatery will take a hit," Li Jie said. "Our mother bragged about her knife set to all the regulars."
Jing Yuan nodded. He dismissed his glaive with a flick of a wrist and pulled out a case. "Then you should probably take this."
Li Yan took the case and opened it.
There was a kitchen knife set, made by Yingxing with the matching certificate of authenticity.
"Sir?!" Li Jie shouted. "We can't accept this?!"
"You can and you will," Jing Yuan said. He didn't need the money and even if he did, he still had another 510 sets in storage. "Please use it to continue on your family restaurant."
He smiled fondly, thinking of bittersweet memories. "Yingxing wouldn't want these collecting dust in my house."
Li Yan gently took the case. She bowed deeply. "Thank you, sir. Please, whenever you wish to eat our food, it is on the house."
"I will look forward to it," Jing Yuan said. "There is one thing you can help me with, Li Jie."
"Yes, sir!" Li Jie said.
"This suggests that there is a scam going around regarding fake kitchen knives made by Yingxing," Jing Yuan said.
"I will start an investigation immediately," Li Jie said.
Good. Yingxing was, still is, a good friend. Jing Yuan would not have his name tarnished like that.
-.-.-
Ping!
Blade pulled out his phone, expecting yet another message from Silver Wolf or Kafka.
It was Jing Yuan.
Jing Yuan: it turns out someone was ruining your, Yingxing’s, name with a scam of fake kitchen knives.
Blade raised an eyebrow.
Jing Yuan: I put a stop to it. But out of curiosity, I went to check your record books. Yes, I still have them. If you kept good records, which I recall you did, you made approximately 567 kitchen knife sets. And you gave me 510 of them. Which means, with this scam uncovered and everyone's knives re-evaluated, there are only 57 knives in circulation. Which means every set is currently valued at 1.2 billion credits. I could buy an uninhabited planet, have it terraformed and have a nice retirement planet.
Blade stared at the message.
Blade: I want my cut.
Jing Yuan: come visit and we'll talk about it. :)
Blade rolled his eyes and he stood up.
"Elio!"
"Here's the script! Have fun!"
His phone pinged once more.
Jing Yuan: Bring me cosmic fried rice!
This brat.