Chapter 21: Deal.

"Brother in law... no, Xiao Che, what are you doing here?" The voice said so, prompting me to turn around.

I think Xiao Che was this body's original name, but I'm not totally sure. The voice sounded familiar, though.

I did know this person, even if it was just an impression from that day, so I just greeted him with a smile, even if I didn't actually remember his name, so I asked with a polite smile on my face, "Hello, I think you're mistaking me for somebody else; who may you be?"

This wasn't a conversation I wanted to have; I hoped to cut them all off, but it seems like the past won't let me go. "Stop joking, Xiao Che; you know exactly who I am, and I wouldn't mistake you for anyone in the world!"

I sighed; there seemed to be no escape. I gave the girl who was guiding me around an apologetic smile and turned back to the younger, but bigger, boy. "Hey there, big guy, long time no see."

"Xiao Che, why did you leave my sister at the altar?" He asked, skipping any formality that the situation may have had, and he kept speaking, his voice rising in righteous fury, "Is she not to your liking? So you ran away to New Moon City and left everyone behind? Do you know how heartbroken your grandfather is? You soured the relationship between our two families! I considered you my brother!"

I just looked at him with a bit of pity in my eyes; he had lost his brother to another mother after all, but unfortunately for him, I was as much of a victim in this whole situation as he was.

"That day, I lost everything that ever meant anything to me." I said viciously, I lost my family, my real family on Earth, my girlfriend, my friends, my people, and my own body. I didn't care if he didn't know what I was talking about. I sighed to calm down and continued, "This was the best solution, for both me and your sister; she didn't love me nor did I love her; this is for the best, for both me and her."

"Then what about your grandfather? What about me and my father? We were all so sad about what happened; my father wanted your head!" He shouted back, losing his cool, which was already on the brink of disappearing from my lack of sympathy.

This was getting awkward. I didn't care in the least about any of these people; the blood relationships of Xiao Che didn't matter to me. I have no relationship with these people at all, except for briefly meeting them during the worst day of my life, which in itself felt like a blur.

Looking back enough, I had a blood relation to every human ever, every animal, and every plant too, looking even further back, but that didn't mean that I had to care about every single one of them.

There was too little space in my heart for that many people; I could barely take care of those that lived near my clinic. I was already doing enough.

"I fail to see how that is relevant; I was not going to marry you, nor my grandfather, nor your father; I was going to marry your sister, so it was only our own feelings that mattered, and there were none between us." I turned back to Lan Xueruo, who was exhibiting an awkward expression.

"Sorry for this; I wasn't expecting to meet an old acquaintance." I show her an apologetic smile and motion for her to return to our tour of the Profound Palace.

"You're running again, Xiao Che? You've found a woman you like, and now you forget about everyone else you've ever known?" The tall boy, whose name I failed to remember even if I tried, shouted as I tried to walk away.

I turned back to look at him, but I couldn't do anything for him, nor did I have any obligation to do anything for him; he wasn't injured, and I wasn't a psychologist, but I knew enough to know what not to do. I spoke with a soft tone to calm him down and stop him from making any rash decisions: "Listen, what happened that day is not your fault; I went to talk with your sister that day, remember?"

He nodded at my words, showing that he did indeed remember what happened; it showed that we were at least willing to listen to my words; if not anything else, I could give him some closure: "That day, your sister and I spoke heart to heart for the first time in our lives; we talked about what we wanted and what we didn't want; it was as much my decision as it was hers; who do you think helped me escape unnoticed from your own house?"

The big guy stopped in his tracks, seemingly trying to ponder my words for the first time: "Then why? Why didn't you love my sister? Is she not beautiful enough for you?"

Other than the fact that I didn't know her?

But I couldn't actually tell him that; it would be hard to explain how I didn't know the person that I allegedly had met many times during the years: "Sometimes things just don't work out; your sister is beautiful, but there are more important things than beauty in life; me and her just weren't compatible."

"So Senior Sister Xueruo has something that my sister didn't? Is that why you follow her?" He asked, his eyes in pain, but I couldn't see any anger anymore.

I was happy that he had at least understood what I was saying: "No, Lan Xueruo and I have a business relationship, nothing romantic at all."

"I see." He muttered, looking emptily between me and the girl.

"Listen, I have created a clinic down in the city; if you get injured or get ill, you can find me there; I'll treat you for free. How about it?" I continued, trying to finally pacify him.

"Since when are you a doctor?" He asked, looking at me weirdly.

I produced one of my new business cards from my inventory realm, making it look like a prestidigitation trick. I gave it to him and chuckled, "Since I learned how to, now be a good boy and return to your work, and remember to study hard to become a great man."

"Yes, big brother..." he muttered, seemingly saying those words took all of his remaining strength as he left swiftly right after.

I sighed and gave another apologetic smile to my guide, saying, "Sorry about that; I didn't expect to meet anyone I knew."

"Don't worry about it; it was interesting to learn something more about you as a person." She replied, a fresh smile on her face, as we returned to our tour, and she kept showing me around the Palace compound.

I raised an eyebrow and asked, intrigued, "Is that so? What did you learn about me?"

"You seem like a very profound person," she replied, and very kind as well. You could have cut the conversation at any moment, but you made sure to let that boy understand your motives for what you've done; very few men would leave a girl at the altar."

"Is that so?" I replied with a smile, taking her words as a compliment, "Well, I've never liked to be considered normal."

"That I've heard," she chuckled back, "the more I learn about you, the more I wish to understand your thought process. Trust me when I say that I've never met a man like you."

"Thank you." I replied pridefully, taking her words as a mark of honor.

She smiled at me and explained her words: "Indeed, your work at your clinic is commendable; any doctor of your skill wouldn't hesitate to become picky about their patients, going for better-paying clients and higher-profile cases."

"Money is not really my priority, but I do have a few good patrons; if I need specific materials, I usually ask them. All the money I make goes to food, clothes, and a few commodities, and the rest goes all into my research." I replied, setting my priorities straight with this potential business partner.

"Is that so?" she muttered, interest expressed in her eyes at full power. She lowered her voice so that nobody could hear her. "If you desire, the Empire could become a new patron for you."

I smiled, finally reaching the subject that I really wanted to get to—we're finally talking money. I showed her a deliberate smile and replied, "And what would the Empire want in exchange for this gracious offer, and what would the limits of your offer be?"

"The princess wants to have someone that she can trust by her side. We are ready to offer you the title of Imperial Doctor when she ascends to the throne, which comes with an appropriate salary. In exchange, we want priority on your work when the Imperial family needs assistance and occasional work as an advisor to the princess." She explained that her smile was the same business smile as mine, clearly practiced.

So, a salary in exchange for priority medical support and an advisor role?

"What would an advisor have to do? I'm not really suited for politics." I replied that I couldn't care less about politics; I had read too many books about the weird stuff that goes on in imperial courts, and I doubted courts filled with long-lived and powerful cultivators would be any better.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely, after all, or whichever way that saying went.

"I promise that it wouldn't be anything beyond your means," she replied, explaining in a tone that showed that this offer was clearly premeditated: there was no way a messenger could set up a deal like this without approval; it seemed like this princess had set her sights on me, for whatever reason; "it would mean advising the princess on matters regarding the state."

Such a role seems like a chore; I hadn't seen any kind of police around the city, nor in the other two cities I had been in; I hadn't seen any banks, nor any government agencies; the closest thing was the Profound Palace that was financed by the Imperial Family, but that wasn't doing anything to better the lives of the citizens.

This empire seemed like a mess; the higher your cultivation, the more power you had, and the law wasn't equal for everyone, not at all.

I had no idea how things worked in a place like this; I had no experience living in a place like this; my life was nice and worry-free as people didn't want to mess with a doctor whose services they might need; I hadn't even interacted with people here to have enough of an idea of how everything worked or the people's culture.

I pondered, putting a hand to my chin and stroking the beard that I didn't have, then finally shook my head and said, "I'm not interested in that; I'm neither a politician nor an economist; I can't help regarding those kinds of issues."

I wasn't qualified; the most I could do was idealize, explain what I thought was wrong with this place, and at most try to think of a way to make it somewhat better.

"That's exactly why the princess wants you as an advisor; you're different from other people; most wouldn't hesitate to jump at the chance for such a role, and the Empire needs new ideas and ideals." She continued as we walked, her steps calm and measured.

"Sounds like a good idea," I replied truthfully, but a major problem remained: "But how could I know whether I and the princess would get along? We might have vastly different ideas on how a country should be."

More than likely, my old world had many problems, but the places in which I've lived didn't have any problems with people killing each other on the streets every other day.

"So you do have ideas on how a country should be!" She chuckled, her eyes sparkling as she looked at me. "That's enough to be a good advisor. I insist that you accept our offer. I can assure you that it won't take time off of your research or your job as a doctor for the people, and our resources will help you on your future endeavors."

I looked at her and sighed, "When you put it that way, I will think about it, but I would prefer to have a face-to-face conversation with my future employer. I don't like not knowing who I work for. I hope you understand."

"That will be no problem at all, and look at that..." She chuckled and looked forward. "This is the banquet hall; I hope you will enjoy the Profound Palace's hospitality."

I hadn't even realized she had led me here; I wasn't really taking in my surroundings, but...

Did she predict the length of the conversation?

Reaching the destination only once the conversation was over, she was good; if the princess was half as capable as her messenger, then this might be a better collaboration than I imagined.