The Rise of the White Lotus

"Aiya, aiya, I'm really old. My knees can't help but tremble for just taking a walk." Edward Lu slightly stretched his aching back a little as soon as he stepped his foot inside the vast private hall that held all of the core members of the Lu family.

He arrived and all of the elderly members and new ones were still having a squabble with the perfect candidate of who should Ethan Lu, their new master, be wed to. Upon witnessing this, Edward Lu could only nonchalantly shrug as he caught the attention of everyone, that had at that moment, made them stop their heated discussion that was a facade into a friendly conversation.

The elders who followed Edward Lu earlier including Gerald Huang could only shake his head inwardly as he finally recovered from his shock upon meeting Lexi, Ethan Lu's lover. Yet, these colleagues slash relatives of his were still squabbling about it.

"Old Master, are you alright?" Harold Lu who was among the men around the table abruptly stood up from his seat as he rushed to offer his assistance to Edward Lu. Alas, with a weak gesture by lightly waving his hand off, Edward Lu refused.

"Ay, ay, I am good. I am old but I can manage." 

"Yes, Old Master." Slightly bowing his head in acknowledgment, Harold Lu responded as he let Edward Lu pass by him before he went back to his seat.

When Edward Lu finally relaxed in his original seat, he languidly rested his back against the back of the chair and scanned the men that had their eyes glued on him. "Hehe, you lot are persistent. I already found a good match for our Master." Without further ado, to stop them from arguing whose family it would be that suited his grandson the most, Edward Lu indifferently announced before a grin formed on the side of his lips.

His last remark caused a sudden silence as his words thoroughly processed to each and every scheming brain in the Lu family. Seeing their reaction, Edward Lu already expected this as it was too sudden. What he meant by sudden was his decision of choosing the future matriarch without any regard for any traditional method of choosing.

Normally, Edward Lu would have to visit the temple and get the birthdates of the candidates that would match well with Ethan Lu; be it family background, their compatibility, and of course, the person who could give stronger backing to his grandson. However, Edward Lu, even beforehand, had never really wanted to matchmake his grandson because of one thing: his grandson didn't need that method. 

What he needed was someone to be his light in their much too dark family that even Edward Lu had failed to purify… and a person who could control him if he ever snapped. Hence, he never really cared who he dated before or who he would fall in love with. As long as he would have his own reasons to earnestly protect someone from the bottom of his heart, Edward Lu would always support whoever it was.

It was only a bonus that Lexi was a rather big bully and courageous— a good impression for a future lady of their family head. Hence, he was satisfied that the woman his grandson picked wasn't just a damsel in distress that only knows how to look beautiful.

"Old Master, what do you mean…?" Dennis Lu who remained silent all throughout the night and had his loyal followers to speak for him, finally broke his silence as he stared at his father with the same baffled expression as the rest of them.

"What Grandpa meant is that, if you wanted to go about marriage… why don't you get a divorce and remarry again instead of squabbling nonstop about someone else's love life." Just then, Ethan Lu entered the room just a second later after Edward Lu perched in his seat. Since his grandfather's words took them off-guard, they didn't notice Ethan Lu's arrival with a beautiful date that he was linking arms with.

Upon hearing the blunt sarcasm, everyone aside from Edward Lu turned their heads to the entrance of the hall. There, what appeared before their very eyes was their new headmaster with an elegant woman beside him. They seemingly had matching outfits as their attire for tonight was in one palette: Lexi was in a blazing red off-shoulder dress while Ethan Lu's tux was in a retro maroon. For some reason, they could be mistaken to be a bride and groom with a fire motif. 

Ethan Lu, though anxious concealed everything as he bore his ever sly smile on his lips— same with Lexi's inexpressive countenance as she wasn't pleased to meet these men who had made the life of her man burdensome. Both silently walked towards the head seat… followed by the stunned gazes that had remained glued on them.

As they languidly made their way as if they were on a garden trip, Lexi discreetly moved her gaze to observe everyone's faces. If she didn't ask Nico Zhuang about the basics in the Lu family, she would be naturally confused as the only attendees were men— no women around, just her.

'Huh, so it's real…' Lexi thought inwardly. From Nico Zhuang, she was told that the Lu family had a strong belief about 'men's rule.' Therefore, the only job the women in the Lu family was to keep beautiful and not shame the family.

Regardless, women in the Lu family were nothing but a decoration to the Lu's men. They were akin to furniture to make their surroundings pretty which irked her to the core. Of course, Lexi was also told that despite this, there are still Lu women who were smart and excelled in their own fields and the Lu Corporation subsidiaries. It was just that, they could never be a part of the core members of the family as the only thing they could partake in their family business was to aid and support their fathers or brothers that were part of the main members that rule the family system.

"My lady," Arriving at the head seat, Lyrick Jiang swiftly placed another chair beside his boss's chair and Ethan Lu assisted her into the seat like a real gentleman.

"Thank you," Meekly smiling, Lexi sat on the chair before her gaze traveled amongst the numerous eyes on her. 

'Now, I wonder what are they up to…'