Bamboo Mound

"Yi'an Inn".

He entered the inn and spent ten taels of silver to book the best room, where he would stay for the next two weeks.

Following the innkeeper to his room, he found that the room, which cost nearly one or two taels of silver a day, was worth the price. The room was on the top floor of the inn and was fully equipped with all kinds of daily necessities. From the window, he could see the entire intersection without any obstruction.

After a quick wash, he went to the window to observe the activity on the street.

The sun had already set, and the streets were gradually filled only with drunken patrons. Most of the vendors had packed up their stalls and were heading home with their unsold goods.

Ning Chang watched the peaceful scenery for a while before losing interest and falling asleep in bed.

..........

Nothing happened all night.

Over the next few days, Ning Chang wandered around the city alone, and it took him five days to explore the vast Changge City.

The city lord's mansion is located in the very center of the city, surrounded by relatively powerful families, and further out are the residences of commoners, but these only occupy a small portion of the city.

The largest area is the outermost commercial district, where all economic activity within the city takes place. It has everything from inns and restaurants to street vendors and grocery stores.

The customs in the city are relatively open, at least that's what he thinks.

On his first day wandering around the city, he noticed:

Because he was wearing the Qingyun Sect disciple's robes, everyone on the street treated him with utmost respect, and no one dared to look him in the eye.

This made him feel very awkward. He came down the mountain to have fun, and if he was always treated like this, he might as well not have come at all!

So he spent two taels of silver to buy a set of ordinary cloth clothes to wear.

Of course, Ning Chang simply didn't want to calculate the cost in coins every time she bought something.

So for any price under a thousand copper coins, he would simply throw out a tael of silver without asking the shopkeeper for change.

After putting on his new clothes, Ning Changzai was just a handsome traveler in this city, not a high and mighty cultivator.

But a new problem immediately arose.

There are many performance venues in the city, most of which are legitimate shops. You can often see groups of two or three female singers, who may be off duty, strolling around on the street.

These girls were all dressed in their finest attire, their figures as delicate as willows swaying in the breeze.

As they walked down the street, whenever they saw a handsome man alone, they would tease each other, causing bursts of silvery laughter to be heard from time to time.

Ning Chang is a perfect target for jokes.

For the first two days after he changed into his usual clothes, countless girls stood on the roadside every day, smiling and greeting each other.

He knew these girls were just having fun, but Ning had always hated these kinds of troublesome things, and he already had experience dealing with them.

He pretended not to hear them at all, assuming they were calling out to other passersby, and walked over expressionlessly.

That wasn't so bad. What really bothered Ning Chang was when some of the bolder women would block his way, forcing him to spend some time saying a few words in accordance with their wishes before he could find a chance to slip away.

But his misfortune didn't begin until the third day!

Starting from the third day, more and more girls began to block the road. From their conversations, Ning Chang came to a conclusion.

That is, he himself became their target: "Mr. Ice Jade"!

Ning Chang only learned of this nickname because a seemingly dull girl accidentally let it slip.

The singers had a special way of communicating with each other.

In the past two days, many women have said that they have spotted a fair-skinned and handsome man in the city, who seems to ignore almost everyone.

So they named Ning Chang "Mr. Ice Jade" and made a bet that whoever could win over this "Mr." first would be the most beautiful person in Changge City!

Ning Chang spent nearly three days dealing with them, and almost had his whereabouts discovered, which made him reluctant to go out.

But he thought, this isn't a solution, it's not his fault that he's fair-skinned!

He had no choice but to buy a new set of cloth clothes, use a brush to dot his face with a few lines, protect them with his spiritual power so they wouldn't get smudged, and then apply some fake beard before he was able to escape the encirclement.

That day, Ning was strolling down the street when she overheard an argument.

He followed the sound to the entrance of a restaurant and saw two people arguing.

One of them was dressed in fine clothes and looked arrogant; the other was dressed as a waiter and looked helpless.

Ning Chang asked the people around her curiously what had happened.

It turned out that the man in fine clothes was the eldest son of the Xu family.

For some reason, he suddenly became enraged in the restaurant, behaving recklessly, not only breaking the restaurant's property but also verbally abusing the staff.

This was just before the waiter chased after the young master Xu to the door, where they were arguing.

No matter what the waiter said, Young Master Xu simply crossed his arms and looked at him arrogantly without making a move.

Ning Chang's expression instantly turned strange upon hearing that the young master's surname was Xu. He had heard of a Cai family in Changge City at the first restaurant he entered in the city, and now a Xu family had appeared...

He asked a man dressed as a merchant beside him, "Is there another family with the surname Kun in Changge City?"

The man sized Ning Chang up and down. "You're here from somewhere else, right? It's normal that you don't know."

"There are three major families in Changge City, who practically control the entire city. The city lord appointed by the emperor is just a figurehead."

"Apart from these three families, no one else is allowed to call themselves a family in Changge City. As for these three families, they are the Cai family, the Xu family, and the Kun family."

Ning Chang looked like he couldn't hold back his composure when he heard the surnames of the three major families.

He never expected to see Brother Chicken again in another world.

He composed himself and said, "That's right, I am a traveler from afar. This is my first time arriving in Changge City. Could you tell me more about the three major families of Changge City?"

After saying that, he calmly stuffed three taels of silver into his hand.

The merchant's face lit up with joy, and he patted his chest, saying, "Then you've come to the right person! There's nothing in this city that I don't know!"

Then he pulled Ning Chang out of the crowd and walked to a corner. "There were originally no three major families in Changge City. There was only the Kun family, and they were just a wealthy family, no different from us."

It wasn't until thirty years ago, when the previous city lord came to Changge City to take up his post, that the Cai and Xu families arrived in Changge City one after another and settled down here.

Less than three years later, the three major families joined forces to completely control the city lord's mansion.

He didn't lower his voice when he spoke, and Ning Chang interrupted him, asking, "Aren't you afraid of the three major families if you speak so loudly?"

The merchant paused for a moment, then explained, "There's no need to worry about that. The three major families don't prohibit the spread of this matter. In other words, as long as you don't oppose them, they won't care what you say."