The Rise of the White Lotus

"According to our dear family rules: each member shall be honest with the family master and the next headmaster… don't make me repeat my question, Uncle Den." After one slow blink, Ethan Lu uttered. 

Everyone present inside the meeting room remained silent with a stern expression plastered across their faces. Some displayed extreme displeasure regarding Ethan Lu flaunting his powers, while others intently observed every little detail on the young master; his tone, every slightest change in his facial expression, and so on. 

It was not new to them that Ethan Lu's extreme opposition to this ala mafia family rules. However, now that he was using it in his own good—they were quite interested in how come this young master suddenly abides and even used it to his advantage.

Of course, they also knew his obvious intention in implanting fear to them that was indeed effective. After all, the consequences of disobeying the family iron rules were dire… or rather, deadly.

Dennis Lu slammed his fist on top of the table as he abruptly stood in agitation. "Eth-- Young Master! As I said, I did! I am merely sharing my knowledge about the town because it will be a huge loss to us if we did what you wanted!" Despite his building eternal hatred to Ethan Lu, he still uttered his words in complete discretion—afraid that it would be used against him. Still, Dennis Lu spatted his words as if he was just trying to help his nephew but instead, Ethan Lu was using the family rules to shut him.

"I see... " Ethan Lu faintly sighed as he unhurriedly nodded in understanding. After a beat, he spoke again; "Lyrick, this is a direct order from me: drag Dylan Lu from wherever he is to receive punishment in his father's stead—make sure he wouldn't be able to walk for 3 months." Without turning his eyes from Dennis Lu, he emotionlessly ordered his assistant who was standing several steps behind him.

Bowing his head, Lyrick Jiang gulped a mouthful of saliva as sweat started to form on his forehead and back. He had never heard nor did he ever witnessed his young master utter such heartless words in a complete poker face as if he had no remorse on his cousins. 

Granting that Lyrick Jiang was well-versed with the frightening Lu family rules, and if he ever heard it from the Chairman himself, he wouldn't be surprised. However, it was Ethan Lu who was giving these orders—directly coming out from his mouth! It was not that Lyrick Jiang was unwilling to receive the orders but, having such tasks from his boss for the first time—he didn't know if his ears were just deceiving him. 

Regardless, he concealed his astonishment and slight fright as he responded, "Yes, Young Master." with that said note, Lyrick Jiang excused himself as he immediately executed the command as soon as possible.

"What-- what nonsense-- Master!" Stunned at the sudden order, Dennis Lu panicked as he turned to the head seat where the chairman perched with a stern and observant countenance.

"Uncle Den, I asked you multiple times to give you a chance to be transparent to me. However, you choose to lie after lie—do you think my absence made me forget everything?" Looking apathetically at Dennis Lu's ugly front, Ethan Lu showed no remorse as his tone seeped with menace.

"If what you said about reading the reports were true, you wouldn't utter such careless words. On page ten, the location of the land was located near the border of the next town's, but because of many reasons, legally, it was stated that it was inside the territory of xx town." Ethan Lu paused as his eyes thoroughly scrutinized Dennis Lu's expression. Seeing that he froze upon hearing his statements, he smirked.

"Therefore, upon checking with my own eyes and thorough investigation, it was a safe area to establish a haven for tourists and to help the local townspeople… also, since the government was opening the place for tourists—it is a good time to grab this opportunity. After all, the few inns and old resorts were all lacking." He paused as Ethan Lu slowly stood from his seat. 

Walking in front of everyone, he picked up the wireless remote for a presenter and pressed one button which displayed the designed project.

"Just like what Director Lu stated; the xx town was prone to natural disasters, reasons why it was looked upon and only small, commendable businessmen gambled to build their small hotels and inns despite that fact. It was also the reason why it wasn't a popular tourist spot for many for now. However, as you can see…" Ethan pressed another button and photos of the incredible view and places where they could add more recreational activities were shown.

"This place has a huge potential with the government starting to promote it, and a big company, which is us, supporting it. Of course, we cannot ignore its history. Therefore, I had to efficiently dig information about the areas that were unaffected whatever disaster occurred in the past, and we found it—the perfect spot where we could establish our Royal Palace. Well, sooner or later, this place would garner the attention of those men in this field." He smirked as a glint flashed across his eyes. His eyes then scanned each and every one of the top executives as they listened and reconsidered his explanation. 

Soon, they again went through to the documents to have a thorough read if what he said was true. Surprisingly enough, they were amused how did Ethan Lu had this information from the government without them knowing.

"It is indeed a great plan to be the first one to choose the best place to establish a hotel and resorts… even other spots can be used for recreational activities." Gerald Huang uttered his unbiased opinion as he nodded in understanding while skimming the documents.

"It is also cost-efficient and the land value hadn't increased yet and it will surely increase after a year or two." Adding to what Gerald Huang's stated, Harold Lu pointed out this important detail. 

Soon, the core members of the Lu Family spouted their opinions. Oddly enough, they were satisfied with Ethan Lu's project as they were all businessmen and in that perspective, this was a sweet deal that shouldn't slip their grasp.

"Ethan, how did you know the government was opening it as a tourist spot? They should have proposed this project to us beforehand." After some time, Edward Lu straightened his posture as his unreadable gaze met his grandson's calm ones.

"Sadly, rats nowadays upgraded and can steal from someone with a few sugar words and a considerable amount of money. If it wasn't for my luck for visiting someone several days ago, I wouldn't even know that our resources were being snatched one by one without us knowing." In a matter of factly tone, Ethan Lu responded with a shrug. 

Indeed, when he visited Lexi to her filming location, he wandered around the town in his free time. Hence, his interest was piqued seeing that not far away from the filming area, the whole place was actually a good spot. Moreover, the hotels they stayed in were all lacking. Up until now, he was surprised that Lexi was able to sleep in that kind of hotel.

His reply undoubtedly caught the attention of everyone. Sensing that their awareness was back on him, he continued.

"The Sun Group of Companies had been sniffing around and proposing deals with some of our partners." 

"Those fools!" Upon hearing the name of the company, Edward Lu tightened his fist. While the others scoffed in dismay and murmured their ridiculous remarks towards the said company.

Satisfied with their displeased reaction, the corner of Ethan Lu's lips curled into a cunning smile. "Don't get so worked up, Chairman. We wouldn't gain this information if it wasn't dealt with. After all, no matter how sneaky rats are, they are not as cunning as foxes." His reassuring remarks stunned everyone including Dennis Lu whose knees weakened after Ethan's clear explanation of the project.

Eventually, all dumbfounded eyes were on the man standing in front of them with a terrifying smirk plastered across his face.

'Hah! This sneaky brat—he is not holding back to give everyone a heart attack… now, I'm more intrigued by the woman behind him.' Edward Lu chuckled inwardly seeing that his heir has revealed his fangs too early that it intimidated everyone. Nevertheless, it was the most effective way to catch them off-guard and engrave his status to them.