Chapter 169: Setting The Trap
Through the previous clashes, Lu Yun had deeply realized that moving against a noble clans steward was far more difficult than moving against an imperial court high official.
The Imperial Court, though also a place that looked at connections and favored relationships, always had to abide by national law provisions—at least on the surface, committing a crime meant receiving corresponding punishment. But among the noble clans, it was completely a place of personal rule; they say if you were capable you were capable, and if not you still were, as long as someone provided protection, clan rules and national law could all be ignored.
Especially for Lu Jian, the money god entrenched in the clan with deep connections, who knew how many people were willing to speak for him; no matter how big a mistake he made, someone would help cover it up, turning major issues into minor ones and minor ones into nothing. So, Lu Yun wanting to move against him was almost impossible, unless Lu Jian committed some clan-intolerable heavenly rule!
Plotting to murder kin was precisely such a heavenly rule. In noble clans formed by blood ties, clansmen might not necessarily love each other, but they absolutely could not harm one another. Otherwise, everyone would be in peril and full of suspicion—what cohesion would the clan have left, and the noble clan would not be far from collapse.
Not to mention plotting to murder elite disciples of the clan—this was tantamount to severing the future hope of the entire clan, something clansmen absolutely could not tolerate.
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Lu Yun was certain that if Lu Jian sought revenge, the spearhead would first point at himself. Because Lu Xin was an Earth Rank Grandmaster, it would be hard to kill him without deploying a Heavenly Rank Grandmaster. No matter how capable Lu Jian was, he could not hire those lofty grandmasters, so he could only settle for the next best thing and set his target on Lu Yun.
From an emotional standpoint, Lu Jian definitely also wanted Lu Xin to taste the grief of losing a son. Moreover, Lu Yun had taken the quota vacated by Lu Feng and was now thriving, even becoming a disciple of a Heavenly Rank Grandmaster. From Lu Jian’s position, he was certainly determined to take Lu Yun out. Otherwise, given time, once Lu Yun gained momentum, not only would Lu Jian be unable to take him out, but Lu Yun would take him out instead.
So Lu Yun was convinced Lu Jian would act against him and had always ordered men to keep a close eye on Lu Jian and his group. Even if he hadn’t run into Steward Zhang in the East Market that day, Uncle Bao’s men would have detected Lu Jian’s attempt to hire the White Ape Society at the first moment.
At first Lu Yun didn’t quite believe the White Ape Society would risk offending the Lu Clan to act against him, a core disciple of the clan. But in the following days, Uncle Bao and others secretly protecting him discovered people constantly peeping at Congshan Ward, evidently the White Ape Society had for some reason taken on this hot potato.
After Lu Yun and Lu Xin analyzed repeatedly, they concluded Lu Jian must have given the White Ape Society extremely strong assurances, allowing them to act without worry of repercussions. Thus, a bold plan took shape in Lu Yun’s mind: he would play along and hunt the White Ape Society, forcing them to hand over evidence of Lu Jian buying assassins!
Since it was a hunt, it naturally had to be in a hunting ground of his own choosing, striking suddenly when the prey was utterly unaware. So normally Lu Yun went everywhere with Lu Xin and never wandered around, giving the White Ape Society no chance to strike. Only upon receiving Xie Bo’s challenge letter did he announce he would compete with Xie Bo today outside the city at Ten Mile Slope, with no onlookers.
Today was the day of Grand Court; by rights Lu Xin and the Lu Clan grandmasters all had to go to Ziwei City for court, so there shouldn’t be any grandmaster protecting Lu Yun out of the city. Outside the city was sparsely populated, the perfect place for murder and robbery; plus the competition forbade onlookers, so there wouldn’t be a bunch of relatives and friends following to cheer. For the White Ape Society, it was perfect timing, terrain, and conditions—Lu Yun didn’t believe they would miss this “heaven-sent opportunity.”
Of course, this opportunity wasn’t granted by heaven but given by Lu Yun to the White Ape Society. Once the White Ape Society took the bait, all those conditions of timing, terrain, and harmony would turn into fatal traps!
However, there was one point: even if the White Ape Society took the bait, with the power Lu Yun had shown, they absolutely couldn’t swallow this big fish. So he had to ask the Clan Leader for help. The day before yesterday, Lu Xin laid out Lu Yun’s plan to Lu Shang in full—of course, Lu Xin wouldn’t expose Lu Yun and silently shouldered this black pot again.
After hearing Lu Xin’s report, Lu Shang was silent for a moment, then only asked him one thing: “Are you sure?”
“Nephew is certain.” Lu Xin nodded heavily. In truth he wasn’t certain at all, merely fully trusting Lu Yun’s judgment.
Lu Shang then sighed and said, “Those who bring trouble on themselves cannot live; do as you say.” The old fox never asked Lu Xin from beginning to end: what great grudge did Lu Jian bear against you to risk universal condemnation and buy assassins to kill your son? Lu Shang knew very well there must be other resentful deeds here he didn’t know about, but he had no need to ask clearly—at least not right now.
Lu Xiu and Lu Wei were also present at the time; Lu Shang then sent them separately to fetch Lu Xia and Lu Kan—one the Steward of Punishment responsible for penalizing lawbreakers, the other the Steward of Observation responsible for monitoring clansmen and gathering intelligence. Setting aside personal ties, this matter fell squarely within their duties; both sentiment and reason required they be informed, and they couldn’t refuse.
Early this morning, after Lu Xin set out, under the gaze of White Ape Society informants he crossed Luo River Bridge and boarded a carriage with Lu Wei and others, then the group headed straight for Ziwei City. When the carriage arrived before the heavily guarded Ziwei City, the White Ape Society naturally couldn’t stake out anymore; Lu Xin, Lu Xiu, and Lu Wei quietly switched to another carriage, detoured to the north of Ziwei City, and exited the Capital City directly through the north gate.
Lu Kan and Lu Xia weren’t going to court anyway, and the White Ape Society hadn’t expected them to get involved. The two discussed it: Lu Xia, whose build and complexion resembled Lu Yun’s, would impersonate him, while Lu Kan followed secretly; if anything happened, he could immediately intervene. If Lu Xia met with mishap under assault by White Ape Society experts, it would be too not worth it.
So early this morning, Lu Xia directly hid in the carriage assigned to Lu Yun; once Lu Yun was sent onto the carriage by family, he handed that eye-catching hooded cape to Lu Xia to wear.
Lu Yun then quietly slipped off the carriage when it passed through the bustling market, vanishing into the jostling crowd. With the carriage compartment’s cover, those staking out eyes didn’t see anyone get off… When the carriage reached Ten Mile Slope and the White Ape Society made their move, seeing that hooded cape they didn’t suspect at all the person under it had been swapped. The White Ape Society’s two bosses were led by Lu Xia deep into Maple Forest, where the Lu Clan’s four grandmasters were already waiting.
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After the great success, Lu Xin and the four stewards brought the White Ape Society’s Second Boss back by boat to Luojing, docking at the Lu Clan Pier.
As the name implied, the Lu Clan Pier was exclusively used by the Lu Clan. The Clan Leader had already ordered that today no ships could dock, and retainers were posted to stand guard at the pier.
Upon arriving at the pier, Lu Xin and the others saw Lu Shang already waiting there; everyone hurried to salute the Clan Leader.
Lu Shang was in full court attire, evidently coming straight from court to the pier, showing the importance he attached to this matter.
“No need for salutes; everything go smoothly?” Lu Shang asked with a smile. Actually no need to ask—judging by everyone’s expressions, he could guess the result.
“Mission accomplished.” Lu Xia replied in a deep voice: “We have both witness and evidence.”
“Very good!” Lu Shang nodded: “We’ll talk in the carriage.”
At this point the retainers secured the large ship’s mooring ropes and set up the gangplank; the five grandmasters escorted Gu Qi off the ship and onto several carriages parked on the shore. The assassins’ corpses were also carried off and neatly loaded into the last carriage.
The convoy then headed under retainer escort toward the nearby Lu Ward. Along the way, clansmen buzzed with discussion, wondering what major clan incident had occurred to mobilize such a force.
In the Clan Leader’s carriage, Lu Xiu and Lu Xin reported the full details of the matter to Lu Shang. Lu Shang held the pledge written in Lu Jian’s own hand and listened very attentively, occasionally interrupting the two to ask about details they hadn’t clarified.
