Meanwhile, Jian Nanfeng stared at the departing messenger with bitterness in his eyes; he didn't even untie him before leaving! Was he truly the city lord's son? Sometimes he wondered if Gumei was his father's secret love child left to the Xiaos to raise. (Remember, in Chapter 1, everyone suspected Gumei wasn't the Xiaos biological child.).
Old Xiao, full of benevolence, took it upon himself to free Nanfeng from the straw mat. The city lord was too harsh with his son; old Xiao could not imagine treating Gumei the way the city lord treated Nanfeng. His wife would have his head before that happened. He helped Nanfeng up, only for Gumei to whip a chair out of nowhere while beckoning to Nanfeng.
After Nanfeng saw the mischievous glint in Gumei's eyes, he suddenly felt apprehensive towards the future. Heaven knows what this guy will make him do! "Come now; don't look so worried. I, your father, will not make things difficult for you for now. Gumei drawled at the end of his speech and pointed to his shoulders, which earned a sigh of relief from Nanfeng. The poor boy was worried Gumei would make him do something obnoxious, like go beat his fellow noble children; unfortunately, he didn't notice the latter called himself his father, thereby reducing the fun for the latter. Nanfeng grinned as he placed his palms on Gumei's shoulders. This sh*thead wanted a massage, yeah? He would give him a massage! He pressed a point on Gumei's shoulders, and what followed was a high-pitched scream, followed by a few punches here, a few kicks there, and the sound of laughter.
Meanwhile, a black mushroom cloud hung over Li Xin's head as he looked at the delicacies in front of him. Although food didn't cost as much as in Chang'an, it was still very expensive. None of the noble families honored his invitation, and because he was dirt poor, he had his uncle preserve all that was prepared the previous day for today.
The previous day was probably the worst day in Li Xin's formerly privileged life. Yes, ever since he was chased out of the capital, every day has been the worst day of his life; even lowly noble families dared to look down on him! But Li Xin conveniently forgot he was never a social flower and no one knew him, so how could he command respect? He ignored the food and concentrated on the information Eunuch Hua brought back.
There were eleven noble families in Nanhai, and more than half had connections with the royal capital's Loulan clan. The rest, except one, were connected to the Fang families as they were merchant families involved in procuring military provisions. How the wall flower Li Xin knew this was a story for another day. Because the royal capital could not sink their talons into Guangzhou, they settled for the closest merhant city, Nanhai.
Having grasped the general situation, Li Xin decided to focus on this one family called the Shangguan family. Like most of the noble families, it was a family with deep roots in Nanhai; however, it was not a founding family. This family owned a high-end restaurant that Eunuch Hua happened to notice. The other families seemed to use the place as their meeting point, but the Shangguan family appeared to distance themselves from the other families. Li Xin turned the page, but that was all written in the booklet.
Li Xin dropped the booklet and massaged his temples. It was clear the noble families did not put him in their eyes, and from what Eunuch Hua told him about the neutral Shangguan family, they did not care about him at all. Lord Qing Jun needed to consolidate his authority in Chang'an so he wouldn't have time to contact his supporters in Nanhai. This meant that the Lord was not privy to his presence in Nanhai, and the noble families may even think he was a phony. Thinking like this eased some of Li Xin's worry, but he was still on guard. He had to take action before Lord Qing Jun did.
Li Xin's mind went back to the challenge he witnessed in Guangzhou. Jian Nanfeng was a worthy target to entice, but it wasn't realistic. He didn't have any relationship with the latter, and from the latter's temperament, he probably would not honor his invitation. Li Xin once again fell into the depths of worry. He knew he hadn't tried hard enough, but his wings were already clipped. He entered Nanhai in a shameful manner while fleeing for his life, and the noble families thought he was a fake; everything seemed to be against him.
Li Xin clenched his fists so hard that his fingers dug into his palms and drew blood. He would subdue these noble families one by one, and then he would seize the untapped resources of Guangzhou. He had no other choice; his mufei was still in the royal capital (mufei means concubine mother). While the Empress and Noble Consort may not pay attention to her, Lord Qing Jun would definitely use her to draw him out. He had to strengthen himself quickly and take his mother out of the imperial palace.