Li Family’s Difficulties

"Pfft~"

Gu Sheng’s head surfaced again. This treasure map was nowhere near as troublesome as the skeleton before, and after paddling a couple of times, he returned to shore.

"What is this, too?"

Chu Xin looked at the piece of Black Iron Treasure Map in Gu Sheng’s hand with suspicion. "Gu Sheng, come clean. How did you know about these things? And how much else have you been hiding from me?"

"This is the legendary Emperor Yu’s Treasure Map. Back then, Emperor Yu left behind treasures in his vault that were enough to change the balance of power across the Nine Provinces.

"Unfortunately, the treasure map isn’t complete. We only have half of it here. The other half is in the Iron Vest Sect in Chu County. They’re extremely powerful—not people we can afford to provoke right now.

"Besides, that treasure vault is dangerous. Entering it without innate strength would be suicide. I don’t have the guts to randomly switch dungeon maps right now."

Gu Sheng proudly waved the treasure map in his hand, then lowered his face and leaned toward Chu Xin’s ear, teasingly saying, "But, young lady, I seem to recall hearing someone say just now that she wanted to know my secrets.

"But I swore that I could only share my secrets with the person closest to me… How about I make a sacrifice and let certain people… Heh heh~"

"Bah! You lecherous tiger think about nothing but dirty things all day!"

Chu Xin rolled her eyes at Gu Sheng and reached out to take the half of the Emperor Yu’s Treasure Map. "It’s not safe to leave this with you. I’ll keep it for you instead."

"This girl!"

Gu Sheng stared blankly at Chu Xin’s little face. By the time he came to his senses, the beautiful Chu Xin had put the item away and was starting a fire and cooking on the other side, leaving him with an extremely beautiful back.

"Stop spacing out, you lecherous tiger! Come help!"

Chu Xin turned to look at Gu Sheng, wrinkled her pretty nose in displeasure, and called out to him sweetly.

"Coming!"

Gu Sheng answered with a smile and walked toward Chu Xin, who was preparing a wild rabbit. He felt that days like these were really nice.

In Wu’an County’s Wan City, at Li Manor, the head of the family, Li Yuan, paced back and forth in his study. A letter lay spread across the desk. Every time Li Yuan passed it, he subconsciously glanced at it, and his expression grew uglier by the moment.

Li Yuan suddenly stopped and muttered in a low voice, "This is too much. This is too much. What does the Liu Family mean by this? Are they threatening me?"

"Yuan’er, what happened that made you call for me so urgently?"

With a slightly aged voice, Li Yuan’s father, Old Master Li, entered with the support of two servants.

"Father!"

Li Yuan hurried forward and took Old Master Li’s arm. After helping the old man sit in a reclining chair, he said to the two servants, "Go watch outside the door. No one is allowed in without my order."

"Yes!"

The two servants bowed slightly and, after receiving their orders, left the room and closed the door. They then stood guard roughly two zhang away from the entrance.

"What happened?"

When Old Master Li saw Li Yuan acting so cautiously, his expression turned solemn. Li Yuan had taken over the Li Family’s business five or six years ago, and he generally would not disturb him unless something serious had happened. For him to be this careful now meant that something major was probably about to happen.

"Father, look!"

Li Yuan walked to the desk, picked up the letter, came before Old Master Li, and handed it to him.

Old Master Li reached out and took the letter, then lowered his head and read it carefully. The more he read, the uglier his expression became.

"Bang!"

Old Master Li slapped the letter onto the desk.

"This is outrageous! The Liu Family has some nerve, actually saying they want the recipe for Li Family Wine. Does Liu Sanlong really think he’s some great person? Does he think that just because he’s made some connection with the Zhao Family, the Wu’an County Governor’s family, he can do whatever he wants?"

Old Master Li’s face flushed red with anger, and his breathing grew ragged. Seeing this, Li Yuan hurried behind his father and gently patted his back to help him catch his breath.

"Father, don’t be angry. Anger harms the body."

Li Yuan did not want anything to happen to Old Master Li, so he hurriedly tried to soothe the old man’s emotions.

"Cough, cough!"

Old Master Li suddenly coughed twice. "How can I not be angry? How did our Li Family rise from being mere wine sellers to becoming wealthy merchants? Wasn’t it because of Li Family Wine? That’s the root of our Li Family!

"What does Liu Sanlong mean by this? He wants us to hand over Li Family Wine so he can offer it to Zhao Yuanzuo, the Wu’an County Governor, as a birthday gift. The Liu Family isn’t lacking in good things, so why does he need to use our wine recipe for the birthday gift?

"This is bullying us too far—simply bullying us too far! Not one of the powerful families in Wan City is any good. We shouldn’t have left the fortress and come to Wan City in the first place."

"Father, don’t be angry."

Li Yuan did not dare respond. He merely felt somewhat speechless inside. Leaving the fortress back then had been the result of careful deliberation by everyone in the Li Family. The Nine Provinces were frequently thrown into turmoil, and the various fortresses outside the cities could not fully guarantee the people’s safety.

At the time, the Li Family had already begun to rise, and its business in Wan City was growing larger and larger. Quite a few people in the fortress had already grown jealous of the Li Family. If they had not left the fortress for Wan City, perhaps the Li Family would have been visited by those people long ago.

Unfortunately, after arriving in Wan City, quite a few forces, both overt and covert, had continued coming to test them. Many people and factions had set their sights on the Li Family’s medicinal wine. However, Wan City had its own rules. Green Lake Island dominated Yangzhou, and neither the Silver Dragon Army nor the local guards were pushovers. No one had yet dared to attack the Li Family inside the city.

Li Yuan’s business acumen was even sharper than Old Master Li’s, who had built everything from nothing. He had played an indispensable role in giving Li Family Wine its current reputation in Wan City.

Moreover, Li Yuan was shrewd and understood how to build a good reputation. He was charitable and often aided the people of Wan City as well as wandering martial artists passing through. In Wan City, he was a renowned "Timely Rain."

For these reasons, the Li Family had managed to put down roots in Wan City and enjoyed several peaceful years. They had never expected that someone would set their sights on them again now.

The Liu Family of Wan City was a local gentry clan that had risen through grain. They were suspected of having ties to gangs and bandits, and they also used money to clear the way, thriving in both the underworld and respectable society.

The Liu Family’s head, Liu Sanlong, most enjoyed doing business with others. This so-called "business" meant taking a hand in it. He would "invest" in other people’s businesses and then enjoy the dividends after they succeeded. Most of the businesses in Wan City had some connection to the Liu Family, to one extent or another.

Liu Sanlong was shrewd and had extensive connections. Ordinary merchants respected him somewhat, while merchants with real strength avoided him like the plague. His so-called "investments" were actually similar to getting something for nothing. If one was not careful, he would swindle the entire business away. As a result, his reputation in the business world was terrible.

However, this man was very good at conducting himself. Zhao Yuanzuo, the Wu’an County Governor, had a favored concubine whom he had offered up. He had even shamelessly acknowledged that concubine as his god-sister, thereby leaving a favorable impression of himself in Zhao Yuanzuo’s heart.

Relying on that relationship, along with his gang connections, he had swallowed up many merchants lacking sufficient strength through a combination of soft and hard tactics. This bastard was indeed skilled at handling people and understood how to spread his favors around. Many officials in Wan City had been fed to the brim by him, which made him even more reckless. And this time, he had set his sights on the Li Family.