Chapter 116 - 98: Accelerating the Li Family’s Demise

Chapter 116: Chapter 98: Accelerating the Li Family’s Demise

"Just the usual platitudes."

"He blames us for acting on our own without asking for instructions."

"Says the matter with the Li Family could have been negotiated privately."

"Handled slowly and carefully, not so aggressively."

"Causing such a city-wide scandal has put him on the back foot."

He paused, then looked at Lu Jing’an.

"You’ll call him back personally later. Be respectful. Admit fault where you need to."

The corner of Lu Jing’an’s mouth twitched into a slightly mocking smile:

"Secretary Hu is just worried that now that the lid’s been blown off..."

"...there are too many people who want a piece of the Li Family’s pie, and he’ll end up with a smaller slice."

Lu Huaiqian tacitly agreed. He took a drag from his cigarette, slowly exhaling a plume of smoke.

"That’s only natural. Sharing the profits is never as satisfying as taking it all for yourself."

"So, Secretary Hu has decided against giving us the chief position of the merged department?" Lu Jing’an asked directly.

"He didn’t say it outright, but he implied as much."

Lu Huaiqian flicked the ash from his cigarette.

"The new chief will most likely be that Special Commissioner Zhou."

"Secretary Hu sent him here to counterbalance us and eventually take over."

"It was a move he had planned from the very beginning."

Hearing this, Lu Jing’an let out a low chuckle.

"As expected. No one gets to that position without making a single wasted move."

"Compared to a local family like ours..."

"...Secretary Hu would naturally trust his own protégé from the Provincial City more."

Seeing his son’s calm demeanor, Lu Huaiqian felt a little more at ease.

"It’s good that you understand."

"From the start, we knew this would be difficult to achieve."

"Our goal was simply to use this momentum to establish ourselves and to drag the Hu Family into it."

"Though we haven’t achieved total victory in the current situation..."

"...by using the prestige from eradicating the Water Demon, your name, Lu Jing’an, now resounds throughout the three counties."

"And we have the Water Patrol Bureau firmly in our grasp."

"This is our foundation."

"As for the empty title of chief, there’s no need to force it."

"Especially now that we know the Bai Family is backing the Li Family."

"Taking a step back now isn’t a sign of fear."

"It’s to avoid their spearhead and not become a target for everyone."

The father and son conferred in low voices for another moment.

Only then did Lu Jing’an walk to the telephone, crank the handle, and connect to the direct line to the Provincial City.

A moment later, Secretary Hu’s voice came from the other end of the line—gentle, yet not without an air of authority.

Unexpectedly, he wasn’t harsh or severe.

Instead, he began by cordially praising Lu Jing’an for taking charge in a crisis, acting decisively, and eliminating the Canglan River’s Water Demon scourge in one fell swoop.

He said he had personally drafted a commendation for him, and that the official award would be issued soon.

His words were full of encouragement, praising Lu Jing’an.

"So young and promising, with extraordinary courage. Your future is surely limitless."

Then, in the tone of a senior guiding a junior...

...he tactfully criticized the public exposure of the Li Family as being too hasty.

It lacked thoroughness and could easily alert the enemy.

His tone was so earnest, it was as if he were genuinely concerned for Lu Jing’an.

Lu Jing’an held the receiver, his tone deferential.

He took all the blame, saying that he...

...was young and hot-headed, and upon seeing the irrefutable evidence...

...and thinking of the victims, he was overcome with righteous indignation.

He hadn’t thought things through and had ruined the Secretary’s grand plan, for which he was deeply sorry.

He repeatedly promised it would not happen again.

Secretary Hu seemed quite satisfied with his attitude.

He offered a few more words of comfort and didn’t press the matter.

Finally, he even laughed and extended an invitation.

Telling Lu Jing’an, "When you have the time, you must come visit me at my home in the Provincial City."

The call ended in a seemingly harmonious, even slightly intimate, atmosphere.

There was much praise and only light criticism.

A great show of force, followed by a gentle letdown.

Hanging up, the receiver made a soft CLICK as it settled into its cradle.

But the faint, mocking smile on Lu Jing’an’s lips deepened.

’This sort of placating tactic is nothing more than sweetening the pot first.’

’So you won’t complain when he comes to pluck the peach.’

’You might even feel guilty about it.’

The position of chief of the New City Public Security Bureau...

...was now, for all intents and purposes, completely out of the Lu Family’s reach.

At almost the exact moment Lu Jing’an put down the phone...

「Xiao County, Li Family Manor.」

Li Chongshan also received a secret report detailing the full events of the press conference at the docks.

When he heard phrases like "publicly exposed," "witnesses and material evidence all present," and "public outrage boiling over"...

His body, which had been barely sitting upright, swayed violently.

He had to reach out and grab the armrest of his Grandmaster’s Chair to keep from falling over.

’Publicly!’

’The Lu Family actually chose the most thorough, most uncompromising method: public exposure!’

’This isn’t just about cutting flesh and letting blood; this is about tying the Li Family directly to a pyre.’

’And lighting it with the flame called "public fury."’

’Letting all the vultures, enemies, and opportunists...’

’...pounce on us and tear us apart with righteous justification!’

The slow bleed he had anticipated—a chance to survive by sacrificing interests, like a lizard shedding its tail—

...had instantly turned into a public execution, a feeding frenzy for the masses!

When his confidant didn’t return, Li Chongshan had already suspected he had fallen into the Lu Family’s hands.

His original plan was to pay a huge price.

To ransom back his man and that damning whip.

Even if the Lu Family extorted a heavy price, and they suffered a great loss to their Primordial Qi...

...as long as their foundation remained, there was always a chance.

But he never, ever expected the Lu Family to play so unconventionally.

To choose a path that seemed to hurt others without benefiting themselves.

’By making this public, how much could the Lu Family themselves possibly gain?’

’The majority of the spoils will probably be snatched up by the other powers who caught wind of this...’

’...or even carved up by the men sent by Secretary Hu from the Provincial City!’

"How could they... How could they dare!"

Li Chongshan felt a metallic tang rise in his throat, and his vision began to blacken.

He was accustomed to a world where everything was measured, exchanged, and compromised based on profit.

This ruthless, rule-breaking blow from the Lu Family, which was almost mutually destructive...

...had rendered all his calculations useless and filled him with a bone-chilling cold and bewilderment.

"I have to save myself... I absolutely cannot just sit here and wait for death!"

He forcibly suppressed the surging of his qi and blood; a desperate and crazed light erupted in his murky eyes.

"A slow bleed might have left room to maneuver, to find a chance of survival or even leverage a comeback."

"But this... this is meant to drive my Li Family to immediate extinction!"

"I have to think of a way, I must think of a way..."

His gaunt fingers dug deeply into the rosewood armrests.

His mind raced at an unprecedented speed, searching for any possible opportunity to break the deadlock.

Meanwhile, in the Liu Family’s ancestral home in Lou Mountain County, Liu Zhenyue, who had just had the tea set replaced for the third time...

...received a more detailed report at almost the same time.

"CRASH!"

Another jarring, shattering crash.

A fine Dragon Spring celadon teacup was once again reduced to dust.

"Damn it! Li Chongshan! You imbecile! You lunatic!"

Liu Zhenyue’s roar nearly blew the roof off.

His anger wasn’t because the Li Family had brought the flames of war to Lou Mountain County.

Nor was it about the deaths and injuries of the dockworkers and commoners—the lives of those mud-legs.

In his eyes, they were no different from weeds.

He was furious that the Li Family had dared to use his Liu Family as a pawn, as a blade in their hand!

Such a massive scheme, and they had kept his Liu Family completely in the dark.

They might even have been plotting to scheme against and annex the Liu Family after everything was done!

How could a Noble Family with a hundred-year history allow itself to be used and disrespected so cheaply?

"Good. Very good!"

Liu Zhenyue’s face was ashen, his eyes glinting with a frigid light.

"You want to drag my Liu Family down with you? In your dreams! Get me the Provincial Special Commissioner’s office on the phone! Now!"

"Draft a petition, in the joint name of the Lou Mountain County Commerce Association and gentry."

"I want to accuse the Xiaoshan Li Family of colluding with demons, slaughtering civilians, causing chaos in the region—their crimes are unforgivable!"