Chapter 117 - 99: Taking Stock of the Gains

Chapter 117: Chapter 99: Taking Stock of the Gains

Liu Zhenyue’s thinking was simple now.

Since the Li Family had been the first to cross the line, they couldn’t blame him for flipping the table.

The Li Family was finished anyway; he might as well be the one to light the first fire.

That very day, Liu Zhenyue had a telegram drafted and sent directly to the Provincial City.

"They have harmed the people and shaken the foundations of the state. Their crimes are evident and well-documented. I implore the higher authorities to investigate thoroughly and punish them severely!"

Those final words sealed the coffin on the Li Family.

Lu Jing’an had already made everything public.

A cover-up was now out of the question.

In the Provincial Secretary General’s office, Secretary Hu wore a neatly pressed silk long-gown.

He held the Liu Family’s telegram and muttered to himself, "The Li Family’s tree is doomed to fall. The only question now is who can pick the most fruit from it."

He turned to his secretary, who stood waiting with hands clasped, and gave an order in a tone that was placid yet permitted no argument:

"Form a special investigation team. You will lead it personally. Set out for Xiao County tomorrow.

You can make a big show of it. If we’re going to give an account, let’s make it a thorough one."

The secretary understood immediately. "Yes, sir. I understand," he said in a low voice. "I will make sure things are handled with absolute clarity."

As for what "clarity" meant, that was simple enough.

It meant that every last drop of profit that could be squeezed out would end up in the right pockets.

Xiao County. The Li Family’s ancestral estate.

The sprawling estate, once bustling with the clamor of carriages and lit bright through the night, was now shrouded in a deathly silence.

Servants scurried about with their heads bowed and eyes downcast, afraid to make the slightest sound.

In the study, Li Chongshan was slumped in a Huanghuali wood armchair.

His eyes were sunken and his cheekbones jutted out. In just two short days, he looked as if he had aged a decade.

Several recently received secret letters lay spread across the Zitan wood desk before him.

Their contents were all largely the same: friends who had once been like brothers were either refusing to see him or had turned on him completely.

After long deliberation, Li Chongshan snatched the telephone receiver from his desk.

His fingers trembled with the force of his grip as he cranked the handle, connecting to the secret line that ran directly to the Security Command in the Provincial City.

The slow BEEP... BEEP... of the ringing line...

...hammered against his fraying nerves.

"Speak."

Commander Bai’s signature voice finally came through the receiver—so steady it bordered on detached.

It betrayed no emotion, like a piece of iron submerged in ice water.

Li Chongshan clung to the call like a drowning man to a lifeline, his words tumbling out in a rush, interspersed with ragged breaths.

"Commander! That old bastard Liu Zhenyue has lost his mind! He telegraphed the Provincial Government directly!

The province’s investigation team has already been formed, and they’ll be in Xiao County any day now!

They’re trying to wipe my Li Family out!

Commander, you have to save us! For the sake of everything the Li Family has done all these years..."

"I’m aware," Commander Bai cut him off, his tone chillingly calm.

"What’s the rush? I have things under control. Just keep your people in line."

With those words, Li Chongshan’s heart plummeted into an icy abyss.

He could clearly hear the distance and apathy in the Commander’s tone.

’The Li Family... we’ve become a sacrificial pawn.’

’Or maybe even bait, deliberately thrown out to draw fire and attract hatred.’

The other end of the line fell silent, save for a faint crackle of static. The silence was more suffocating than any reprimand.

"Commander..." Li Chongshan’s throat was dry as he tried to make one last desperate plea.

"Is there something else?" Commander Bai’s voice turned a shade colder, laced with the unique impatience of a powerful man whose time was being wasted.

The last glimmer of hope in Li Chongshan’s eyes died.

In its place rose a reckless madness born of despair and malice—the fury of a man with nothing left to lose.

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the receiver, his fingers nearly sinking into the hard Bakelite.

He took a deep breath, inhaling the musty scent of old books and mildew, and forced the words through his teeth, his voice hoarse and savage:

"I only ask one thing of you, Commander. One final favor."

"Speak."

"I want Lu Jing’an dead!"

Li Chongshan’s voice suddenly rose, laced with a blood-soaked hatred.

"I want the entire Lu Family wiped out—not even a dog or chicken left standing! Not a single survivor!"

Without waiting for a response, he continued in a frantic, almost sacrificial tone:

"If you just give the word, Commander, I’ll immediately send men to the Provincial City with the keys and details to all of my family’s secret overseas accounts!

It’s the accumulated wealth of three generations. I won’t touch a cent of it. All I ask is that the Lu Family accompanies mine to the grave!"

A long silence stretched over the line.

Li Chongshan could hear his own ragged, bellow-like breaths and the frantic drumming of his heart.

After a few moments, Commander Bai’s voice finally returned.

It was as placid as ever, yet now seemed to carry an almost imperceptible hint of amusement.

"The Lu Family has been an eyesore for some time. Since you’re asking, I’ll just help them on their way a little sooner."

"Thank you, Commander! Thank you for this great kindness!"

Li Chongshan bobbed his head at the receiver again and again, as if Commander Bai were standing right before him.

Cold beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, and his silk shirt was already soaked through, clinging to his back.

CLICK.

The line went dead. He had hung up.

Li Chongshan slowly released his grip, and the receiver fell onto the heavy desk with a CLATTER.

He slumped back into his chair, his gaze fixed on the intricately painted coffered ceiling.

A strange, guttural sound, half-sob and half-laugh, suddenly escaped him, echoing through the vast, empty study.

「Provincial City. Security Command.」

A great granite edifice of hard, cold lines, the building loomed like a crouching beast, staring down at the city districts in the distance.

The top floor was heavily guarded.

Commander Bai replaced the gold-rimmed telephone receiver and leaned back, sinking completely into his large, soft, high-backed leather chair.

Outside the window, the sky was sullen, lead-gray clouds pressing low over the city walls.

His index finger tapped a steady, muffled rhythm—TAP... TAP...—on the mirror-smooth Zitan armrest.

’Lu Jing’an... The Lu Family...’ He silently mulled over the two names, a faint, predatory glimmer of interest passing through his eyes.