"Artisan Li, this is Madam Lin, the principal wife of Branch Master Mei of our Everflow Merchants' Association, and Young Miss Mei's birth mother."
Someone in the crowd introduced her to Li Chen through a private voice transmission.
"And the gentleman behind her is Steward Lin Hongting, who was ordered here to handle the subsequent handover."
Li Chen immediately stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting. "I am Li Chen of Guangyun. My respects, Madam Lin, Steward Lin."
The grief-stricken noblewoman stepped down and looked at Li Chen, her gaze as sharp as a knife. "You're Li Chen?"
Somewhat bewildered by her stare, Li Chen replied, "I am."
Madam Lin said nothing more and walked straight past him.
The young gentleman beside Madam Lin hurried after her with the others.
Her reaction was hardly unexpected. In the eyes of the Mei Family and the Everflow Merchants' Association, Mei Xuan had come to grief on Li Chen's Broad Cloud Peak, after all. It was also because of Li Chen that she had switched sides against the Centipede Daoist, only to be killed by him in the end.
It would have been strange if Madam Lin had thought well of him.
Lin Hongting, the Everflow Merchants' Association's special envoy, stepped forward to exchange greetings with Li Chen and the accompanying representatives of the Universal Profits Merchants' Association and the Sea Dragon Merchants' Association.
Lin Hongting was a middle-aged man with a broad face and a long beard. Dressed in an Azure Cloud Brocade Robe, he carried himself with scholarly refinement. Even before the representatives of the two rival merchants' associations, he remained mild and courteous, in stark contrast to Madam Lin.
He bowed slightly, an apologetic look on his face. "Artisan Li, Madam Lin longs desperately for her daughter and wishes