Chapter 492: Diverting the Trouble

Chapter 492: Diverting Trouble Eastward

“I am naturally well aware of what consequences offending House Lu would entail.”

Lu Yuzhang now bore no trace of his previous panic; his expression was calm and composed. He reached out to right the overturned tea set on the table, taking out a silk cloth to slowly wipe away the water stains.

“But Elder Quan, you should think carefully. Xiuyue just insisted repeatedly that this matter had nothing to do with Young Master Siyi. But if there truly wasn't the slightest connection, would Young Master Siyi have sent her to invite you to Fenghua?”

“Lu Yuzhang, before you try to splash dirty water, you'd best clear your head. Do you think the Lu family's young master would lack your bit of filthy money? Utterly ridiculous!” Lu Quan sneered with contempt.

“Whether it's true or false, Elder Quan, wouldn't you know if you asked Xiuyue right now? But I imagine you already have the answer in your heart. After all, while House Lu isn't short of money, the House Lu of today belongs to Lord Lu Ning, not to Lu Siyi.”

Lu Yuzhang spoke softly: “These years, because of Su Ce's existence, the Wo Sector Jinyiwei have been exceedingly generous with pensions for the disabled and benefits for dependents. The treatment is so good that even I, a fourth-rank consultant, couldn't help but covet it. Currently, there are fewer than five hundred Jinyiwei and their dependents living in Liaodong, but small amounts accumulate into a vast sum; the quantity of this money is far more enormous than you imagine.”

“So what? If Young Master Siyi truly participated in this, the Lord would naturally handle it. But in the meantime, your Lu family...”

Lu Quan whipped his head around, killing intent manifesting on his face, and said in a sinister voice: “You will absolutely die without a burial ground!”

Lu Yuzhang laughed in spite of himself: “As expected, a prime minister's gatekeeper can act like a seventh-rank official. Elder Quan opens his mouth and calls for a second-rate aristocratic clan to crumble and the whole family to be exterminated. Such resolve is truly admirable.”

“Do you think House Lu lacks this capability?”

“House Lu certainly does; I never doubted that. But Elder Quan, as the saying goes, even a dog will jump a wall when cornered. If the Lu family is truly driven to a dead end, we might just slit our wrists and smear filth all over House Lu. It might not hurt the body, but it ruins the face.”

Lu Yuzhang smiled: “Moreover, for a thing that might only possibly happen, is it really worth House Lu mobilizing the masses?”

“Li Jun has left the Wo Sector, yet his whereabouts remain unknown. Even if he is truly audacious enough to dare return to the imperial heartland, he might not come to Liaodong. Even if he comes to Liaodong, he might not discover these things.”

Lu Yuzhang said slowly: “My visit to you today, Elder Quan, is merely to add a layer of insurance for the Lu family and Young Master Lu.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Lu Quan snorted coldly: “Your Lu family killed so many Jinyiwei dependents; how could that tail possibly be wiped clean? A casual investigation would reveal everything instantly!”

“It doesn't matter if it's discovered. At that time, as long as you step forward, Elder Quan, in your capacity as House Lu's External Steward to negotiate, whether that Independent Martial Sequence wants money or lives, the Lu family can pay double. We only need to keep the few in the Lu family who hold office safe. For the sake of settling things quietly, the Lu family is prepared to pay a painful price.”

Lu Yuzhang paused, then added: “This is also Young Master Siyi's intention.”

“But this is not the intention of the Lord of House Lu!”

Lu Quan said coldly: “You know well enough how sensitive that person's identity and situation are right now; I needn't elaborate. Even putting that aside, a desperado who can kill a Sequence Three with his fists and has no family or career—who would want to get entangled in that trouble?”

“Sequence Three depends on which path they walk and how far they've gone. Ba Du was merely someone who barely stepped onto the threshold of Sequence Three relying on that Mechanism Heart. The Six Strategies Group sending him to the Wo Sector was clearly just perfunctory toward those old masters in the halls of power. And even so, Ba Du was stupid enough to engage in a head-on confrontation when he lacked heaven's timing, earth's advantage, and human harmony—that's why he was killed. But House Lu in Liaodong is the exact opposite; we possess all three advantages. If he dares show his face, we likely won't even need to deploy the clan's private troops; the garrison guards of the various cities alone could drown him.”

“One more thing, Elder Quan, I'm afraid you're mistaken. He isn't a solitary wretch with no home or career right now.”

Lu Yuzhang shifted his tone, narrowing his eyes with a smile: “After all, the Wo Sector Jinyiwei aren't all from Liaodong, are they?”

Lu Quan turned back to look at the other man's back sitting calmly in the chair, suddenly feeling a bone-chilling coldness.

He originally didn't understand why the dignified young master of House Lu would marry a woman merely from a second-rate aristocratic clan, and whose genetic potential wasn't particularly outstanding either.

But now it seemed Lu Siyi had long since been bound to the Lu family by interests; to separate would inevitably mean a miserable end of torn tendons and broken bones.

“The sister weak as chickens and dogs, the brother fierce as tigers and wolves.”

This phrase suddenly leaped into Lu Quan's mind.

“I am but a house slave of House Lu; I cannot help you.”

Lu Quan suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his heart. Though he was still refusing, his tone lacked its previous hardness: “However, I can choose not to tell the Lord. Let's just pretend I never came to Fenghua today.”

“But you know everything now. Regardless of whether you speak or not, do you think Young Master Lu will let you off?”

Lu Yuzhang stood up, looking at Lu Quan's dark and cold face: “You've stayed in House Lu for so many years; you should know how fierce the competition between aristocratic scions is. It's not just competing with the living. Even if there's only a single seedling, they must struggle against those not yet born.”

“If Young Master Lu is tainted with a stain, he faces the risk of being replaced at any moment. As long as the Governor is willing, he can at any time cultivate a new body using his own genes, select a slice of brain tissue from a Lu clansman recorded in the genealogy as upright in conduct from the ancestral temple, implant it, and in no long time, obtain an even more obedient heir. The Lu family estate would still have someone to inherit it.”

“Do you know what the first thing I did after advancing to Sequence Four was?” A look of incomparable satisfaction appeared on Lu Yuzhang's face: “I took all the brain tissue slices stored in the Lu family ancestral hall, pulled them out of the spirit tablets, and fed them to the dogs—not a single piece left!”

“Elder Quan, I know you are loyal to the Governor, but you should also consider yourself. If something happens to Young Master Lu, the first person who won't let you off is definitely him. Even if he doesn't have time to deal with you, if the new Young Master Lu learns how his predecessor died, do you think he would still choose to trust you? The helm of the Lu family will change sooner or later. You can throw away your life and future for a loyal heart now, but what about your children? They cannot escape the Lu family.”

Lu Yuzhang looked into Lu Quan's eyes, smiling: “But if you're willing to do us this small favor, even if nothing happens, Young Master Lu will remember this sentiment. When he ascends later, would there be any other candidate for the position of House Lu's Internal Steward? Even if something goes wrong in the end, this thing is enough for you to find a top-tier Agricultural Sequence enterprise and Daoist observatory to preserve your seed and consciousness, swap bodies, be reborn, flee to a distant land, and enjoy wealth and glory.”

A metal card was shoved into Lu Quan's hand; the cold, hard touch made the hair on his entire body stand on end instantly.

Lu Quan withdrew his gaze from the stare with Lu Yuzhang, looking down. The golden light leaking from between his fingers blinded him so he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

“I have official business to attend to shortly, so I won't disturb you further, Elder Quan. When everything returns to normal after a while, I'll invite you to the Lu family as a guest, and there will be heavy gifts to repay you then.”

Having said this, Lu Yuzhang no longer paid heed to Lu Quan, who was locked in intense inner conflict, and strode out of the private room.

However, he didn't leave the Jinma Daizhao directly, but took the sedan lift straight to the guest rooms on the top floor. In a place of such extravagant luxury as the Jinma Daizhao, Lu Yuzhang had a long-term exclusive room.

Treading on the soft carpet of the corridor, Lu Yuzhang rubbed his faintly throbbing brow with one hand, while the other slowly unfastened the jade-inlaid belt at his waist.

By the time he reached the door of his own room, the belt had already been wound around Lu Yuzhang's right hand.

A red light swept across his pupil; after identity verification, the door latch clicked open on its own.

The first thing that met his eye was not the dazzlingly luxurious decor, but a body kneeling prone on the ground, stark naked, snow-white.

“This servant Xiuyue greets the Master.”

A lovely face with flushed cheeks slowly lifted—it was precisely the Lu family maid who had given Lu Yuzhang no face at all in the tavern just now, speaking only cold words: Xiuyue!

*Crack!*

The descending belt lashed heavily onto Xiuyue's body; a scarlet welt instantly rose on her snow-white skin.

Xiuyue bit her lip, emitting a faint, indescribably alluring nasal sound, gazing at Lu Yuzhang's utterly cold expression with a face full of adoration.

The belt in Lu Yuzhang's hand swung ceaselessly; his lofty, condescending gaze held not a shred of pity, filled only with a godlike coldness and disdain.

Only when Xiuyue's body was thoroughly stained red with blood, curling up trembling in the pool of blood, did Lu Yuzhang finally exhale the stale breath suffocating his chest, fling away the belt in his hand—its jade pieces nearly shattered—and stride to the window.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window occupying the entire wall lay continuous green mountains, silent and taciturn in the darkness.

The Wo Sector Jinyiwei hadn't all died in those barren mountains and foul waters; a starving tiger had escaped. For Lu Yuzhang, this was entirely an unexpected trouble.

“Those old fossils in the New Donglin Party really should be buried. They raised a tiger to become a calamity for so many years, only remembering to act when the tail grew too large to lose. Even a lion hunting a rabbit uses full force to trap and kill a Martial Sequence Three Lord, yet they still tiptoed around, playing their behind-the-scenes games of only setting traps but sending no one. In the end, they actually let so many living mouths escape the Wo Sector—truly a bunch of worthless wastes occupying positions without doing any work!”

Cursive script writhing like dragons and snakes still circulated in the air above the hall; the escaping black and white cold light fell on the glass curtain wall, reflecting Lu Yuzhang's face, dark as if water would drip from it.

The mastermind behind Lu Chengjiang's embezzlement of the Wo Sector Jinyiwei pensions was actually him.

It was precisely because of this continuous stream of wealth that Lu Yuzhang could emerge within the Lu clan, successfully eliminate the other competitors, and become the sole heir of House Lu.

Now holding great power, Lu Yuzhang naturally no longer needed to rely on this financial path. Originally, he just had to wait for Su Ce to die, then dispose of all these Jinyiwei dependents branded with the Confucian Sequence seal, and the whole matter would naturally vanish like smoke.

But plans never catch up to changes. First, Lu Chengjiang exposed some clues in the Qianhusuo over what Lu Yuzhang considered utterly foolish infighting. Then, the Wo Sector Jinyiwei, who should have been wiped out to a man, actually had an Independent Martial Sequence Four escape alive.

A string of accidents completely disrupted Lu Yuzhang's plans, and furthermore suspended a sharp sword over his head that could fall at any moment.

Compared to the words he used to deceive Lu Quan, Lu Yuzhang felt in his heart that Li Jun would definitely come to Liaodong. When that happened, these Jinyiwei veterans who had vanished into thin air, along with the injured, retired, and their dependents, would inevitably trigger his investigation.

House Lu's reputation might carry weight in others' eyes, but against Li Jun, Lu Yuzhang had no absolute confidence in making him retreat knowing the difficulty.

Judging from internal Confucian Sequence bulletins, this Independent Martial Sequence was even harder to restrain and tame than the old Sect Martial Sequences.

He didn't just need to drag House Lu into the water; he needed to give Li Jun a reason he couldn't ignore, forcing him to fight House Lu to the death first.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuzhang called out.

“Servant.”

Xiuyue, lying in the blood far away, suddenly snapped open her tightly closed eyes, her pupils shining with brilliant light—where was the slightest trace of a dying, pitiful appearance? She crawled over on all fours, carefully kneeling one chi away from Lu Yuzhang, as if afraid the blood on her body would stain his clothes.

Lu Yuzhang was very satisfied with Xiuyue's performance.

He hadn't branded her with his own Confucian Sequence seal, because doing so would immediately be discovered by Lu Siyi, who was also Confucian Sequence Four. His method of controlling Xiuyue relied entirely on the application of "Yu" (Control), one of the "Six Arts," and his fathoming of the human heart.

Man is born wicked; some, for countless reasons, cannot commit evil, nor are they strong enough to, and so they must stealthily conceal their malice, preserving a façade of propriety.

No matter how they mask it, their hearts cradle a nature that craves the strong and scorns the weak; once this is stirred and magnified by the power of the Confucian order, they will make the other worship them, even to a devotion that rivals the seal of the Confucian canon.

Lu Yuzhang, through Xiuyue, managed to compel Lu Si Yi to seize the blood‑sweat funds of the Jin Yiwei, thus clutching the latter's secret in his grasp.

‘My good slave.’

Lu Yuzhang crouched, cupping Xiuyue's face, and whispered, 'Tell me, how shall I make Li Jun point his spear at Lu's house, to clash with them until they have no thought for me?'

Xiuyue gave no reply; all reason seemed to melt into a clinging gaze, fixed upon the splendid, handsome visage before her.

'Perhaps only the token you have told me may be used. Yet I need a person of weight to bear this message—will you?'

'A slave is willing.'

Xiuyue finally returned to herself, licking Lu Yuzhang's palm like a cat or dog, excitedly speaking.

'Very well.'

Slap!

A heavy slap fell upon Xiuyue's cheek; in her eyes glimmered a dark, perverse delight, and her body trembled.

'Then go, make Li Jun's wrath turn toward Lu's house.'

Lu Yuzhang rose, lowered his head to stare at the scarlet in his palm, tilted his head with a faint smile, muttering, 'Perhaps this is not a crisis of death, but an opportunity that demands fire‑in‑the‑hole.'