Though Great Xia could not be counted among the foremost dynasties of the Central Continent, it was still a powerful force in its own right.
The capital was bustling with prosperity.
After entering the capital, Li Xuanxiao parted ways with the caravan.
He came alone to a teahouse.
He ordered a pot of tea and several small pastries.
There, he drank tea and ate snacks, playing the part of an unremarkable passerby.
Teahouses were where rumors and gossip flourished most, and many of those rumors left traces to follow.
Li Xuanxiao cracked melon seeds and pricked up his ears.
Tea Drinker A: "Have you heard? There's an old teacher with a terrible temper at a private school in Guiyi Ward."
Tea Drinker B immediately said, "I know about that!"
Tea Drinker A: "That old teacher is an old man in his sixties.
"He beats and curses his students at the drop of a hat. Once, when he was viciously beating a sissy among his students—
"The sissy cried so pitifully that the old teacher got more and more excited as he beat him..."
Li Xuanxiao raised an eyebrow slightly, guessing where the story was going.
Then he beat the student to death. What a tragedy.
He could not help shaking his head.
Tea Drinker A continued, "The two of them locked horns. One beat while the other cried; one questioned him in grievance, while the other kept beating him..."
Tea Drinker B: "Later, the two got together, unafraid of society's prejudice."
Li Xuanxiao: (´⊙ω⊙`)
Li Xuanxiao was utterly baffled.
City folk... they really played in style!!
"Hey, how do two men have children together?"
Tea Drinker A asked.
"..."
To avoid drawing attention, Li Xuanxiao changed teahouses every two days or so.
In the blink of an eye, several days