House Yao

House Yao (姚) is a lowborn house of Xuyan. Though a peasant house, they are incredibly wealthy and important business influence for trade within the entire continent by means of the Yao Shipping Company.

History
Not a great deal is known about House Yao before Yao Wuya's life. It's speculated that the house existed mostly as generational serfs to House Tan, working upon the Tan Cabbage Farms located just outside of the Imperial City.

Legacy
Much of House Yao's legacy was with Yao Wuya, with only his wealth and holdings remaining to the generations that followed. As such, Yao Wuya is very much considered to be akin to House Yao's patriarch founder, although the house did exist long before him.

Relations
House Yao's most notable relationships have been with House Cai. As compensation for her hours of tireless, thankless work, Yao Wuya allowed his personal secretary, Cai Mei, to receive a sizable share of all the earnings to his name for as long as she worked for him, which spanned most of his adult life until his death. As such, it is due to House Yao that House Cai was able to afford to climb socially from the outskirts of the courtiers to the Imperial circle.

House Yao also had a few interesting interactions with House Huo, once again due to Yao Wuya. Wuya purchased enough shares of the Paper Lantern's ownership to achieve exactly half ownership, becoming a co-owner of the popular teahouse. The Yao Shipping Company still retains this partial ownership to this day.