“Why do you wear your face like that?”

Nie Huaisang's hand comes up partway to Meng Yao's face before his fingers curl inwards. Meng Yao's eyes go wide and tremulous before the corners of his mouth curl into a small smile, like one of the soundless laughs shared between them in the midst of a banquet speech.

Jin Guangyao thinks that, in another life, he would have been an excellent merchant. He is not so foolish as to commit certain things to written record, but in his mind, there exists a ledger. Considerations behind every action, what he has risked, and what he has gained. People who are beholden to him, people who fear him, people who want what only he can provide. People who want him.