Beneath the city gate tower of Cape Gate, Patrol Guard Lantz stood beside the gate, watching the gradually darkening sky and estimating how much longer he would have to wait before his shift ended.
Anyone could tell from his name that Lantz had some connection to the Lan Family, one of the five great merchant associations. In fact, that was indeed the case. His uncle was a servant of one of the Lan Family's elders. That elder liked to smoke a water pipe and, after growing old, spent his days bedridden. His uncle had served him so well that, while the elder was muddleheaded, he got him to agree to give his family the Lan surname. From then on, Lantz changed his surname to Lan.
In Profound Candle Prefecture, surnames could not be chosen casually. Or rather, there was no problem with taking an ordinary surname, but if people discovered that a peasant like you dared to share a surname with a great merchant association, they would think you were trying to curry favor. They might even come to your door and curse you: "You think you're worthy of the Ting, Jing, or Lan surname?" After all, in this era, a surname clearly reflected the power of one's family.
If you said your surname was Ting and went to buy a flatbread, cut in line, and announced that you would not pay, the shopkeeper might even be willing to add an egg for you. The person whose place you had taken could only seethe in silence.
That was how overbearing it was.
However, this was limited to small surnames that had not yet spread and flourished. The two great Dongyang surnames, Luo and Quan, were not subject to so many rules. Of course, even if your surname was Luo or