Chapter 52: Crossing The River
Fifth Steward Lu Wei reacted the fastest and said delightedly upon hearing this: “So the tenth youngest advanced in rank. Truly detestable, keeping us all in the dark!” Lu Xin ranked tenth among his peers.
Lu Xin gave a bitter smile and said: “It wasn’t intentional to hide it from everyone; it really was impossible to bring up.” He was telling the truth. If it were in the Capital City, whichever family’s scion opened the Ren and Du Meridians would immediately report it to the clan elders. The clan would also hold a grand banquet, inviting various clans to witness the ceremony and celebrate the birth of a new Earth Rank Grandmaster.
But when Lu Xin advanced, he was in Yuhang, and at that time in a state of being pointed at by a thousand fingers with no one inquiring after him. He was unwilling to make a fuss, so no one knew. So many years had passed; he couldn’t return to the Capital City and go around shouting that he had advanced, could he?
“Don’t say those useless things; anyway, you have to treat us!” Lu Wei laughed heartily: “Such great news and you hid it from us. Watch how we drink you under the table!”
The other stewards also came forward one after another to offer congratulations, but not everyone was happy for him. Some instantly turned him into an opponent to guard against, preparing to go back and carefully consider countermeasures!
To maintain the family’s prosperity, the Martial Spirit must not be abandoned. Thus, the noble clans all stipulated without prior agreement that only Earth Rank Grandmasters were qualified to serve as stewards, and only stewards were qualified to compete for the Clan Leader position, with almost no exceptions!
Although it wasn’t that every Earth Rank Grandmaster could certainly serve as a steward, anyone who advanced to Grandmaster would be regarded as a natural candidate for steward. It was even possible that the Clan Leader and elders would use them to replace incompetent stewards.
Previously, the Lu Clan happened to have exactly eight Grandmasters, corresponding to the Eight Great Stewards—one radish per pit, so there was no competition pressure. But with Lu Xin’s sudden rise, those stewards who usually performed poorly now felt a sense of crisis.
This was also one of the purposes of Lu Shang making it public.
Since Lu Xin was already a Grandmaster, the stewards proceeded ahead with peace of mind. Lu Xin originally wanted to follow beside the carriage, but Lu Shang called to him: “Get in the carriage.”
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A group of Lu Clan guards escorted the carriage, slowly driving down the Heavenly Dao.
Inside the carriage was laid a plain carpet, with an incense burner lit, a low table and two cushions. Among the seat carriages of the various Clan Leaders, it was extremely simple.
Lu Shang and Lu Xin sat facing each other. The Old Master sized him up for a good while, then stroked his beard contentedly and said: “Not bad, not bad. This old man did not misjudge you.”
“This nephew did not intend to conceal it,” Lu Xin said apologetically: “I am from the collateral lineage and have a blemished reputation, so I dared not be too ostentatious.”
“How others see you is none of this old man’s concern,” Lu Shang shook his head firmly and said to Lu Xin: “But this old man has always believed he would not misjudge anyone, and the Qianming Emperor would not misjudge you either.”
“…” Even with Lu Xin’s extremely deep scheming nowadays, waves surged in his heart, and his expression changed slightly as he said: “Uncle…”
But Lu Shang raised his hand, stopping it short: “What happened back then is in the past; never mention it again.” He said with some reminiscence: “How long has it been since us two sat down like this to talk?”
“Ten years.” Lu Xin said softly.
“Yes, ten years. The seas have turned to mulberry fields; things remain but people have changed.” Lu Shang nodded, his expression worried as he said: “This country has again reached a time of wind and clouds surging.” He looked at Lu Xin with shining eyes and said: “Ten years ago, us old things could still play the leading roles, but in the great play ten years from now, it will be up to you youngsters to take the stage!”
“Uncle is the Lu Clan’s sea-calming divine needle; we still need you to lead the way.” Lu Xin said respectfully.
“I am seventy-two this year. At seventy-three, eighty-four, one goes to the King of Hell uninvited.” Lu Shang shook his head despondently: “Even if I can live a few more years, so what? As age advances and vital energy and blood decline, not only will my martial arts be wasted, my energy is also far inferior to before. I must consider handing over early.”
At this point, Lu Shang’s expression grew even more somber: “But although the Lu Clan has many disciples, compared to those below we have plenty, but outstanding ones are almost none.” He said with utmost envy: “The Xiahou Clan has four paragons, the Pei Clan has twin heroes, the Cui Clan has three elites—all outstanding choices of their time.” He sighed faintly: “What about our Lu Clan? Only Lu Jian can somewhat count as a person. Among the younger generation there are a few outstanding ones, but far water cannot quench near thirst.”
As Lu Shang said these words, Lu Xin could not interject at all and could only listen silently.
“Xin’er,” Lu Shang stretched out his withered palm tormented by illness and old age, placed it on the back of Lu Xin’s hand, and said: “Back then your uncle favored you the most. Now that you are back, do not sink into dejection anymore. Bring out the spirit from ten years ago and quickly shoulder the great burden for our Lu Clan!”
Ten years ago, Lu Xin would have been stirred to hot blood by Lu Shang’s words appealing to emotion and moving with benefits, but after so many events, he was no longer the Lu Xin of back then. While deeply moved, Lu Xin could still calmly analyze the motives behind Lu Shang’s words.
First and without doubt, he was worth striving for. But more importantly, the Old Master still did not hope he would throw into the embrace of the Xiahou Clan… Although scions of noble clans were connected by blood, it was not uncommon for some frustrated collateral lineage members to throw themselves on other families. Even direct lineage disciples sometimes became lackeys of other families, casting their own clan aside.
The reason was simple: they could not get what they wanted in their family, while other noble clans could provide it. At such times, that clan belonging felt somewhat insufficient.
Previously, such situations were not common, because each clan’s cake was only so big, definitely first allocating to their own disciples, leaving extremely limited shares for outsiders. But as the Xiahou Clan gradually dominated alone, the situation changed. The overwhelmingly powerful Xiahou Clan, while satisfying its own clan disciples, could still offer sufficient resources to recruit frustrated disciples from other families to serve the clan.
And their dual identity as both scions of noble clans and Imperial Court officials also gave them the chance to throw themselves on the Xiahou Clan without betraying their family. As long as they valued their official position more than their clan identity, the Xiahou Clan would achieve its goal.
At first, the various clans did not mind, but as more and more disciples placed the Xiahou Clan-granted official positions above their clan, rather than putting the clan first, they gradually became vigilant. The Lu Clan’s situation was still decent, but Old Master Lu had to nip it in the bud and could not let Lu Xin, this disciple poised for rapid ascent, throw himself into the Xiahou Clan and become an object of imitation in the clan.
Furthermore, Old Master Lu also needed him as this catfish to stir up the stagnant waters of the Lu Clan. By painting a distant and unattainable big pie, he could make him pledge his life to service, and also force those coasting stewards to change their ways and start anew. This scheme was brilliantly clever.
Of course, Lu Xin also believed that Lu Shang had some genuine emotion in it. But he understood even more that at the level of Clan Leader, they no longer judged purely by emotion or purely by benefit. Blending emotion and benefit, wrapping benefits in emotion—that was invincible!
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No matter what he thought in his heart, Lu Xin still had tears of excitement welling up and immediately stated: “It was this child who was previously too fearful of slander and vilification, too concerned with empty reputation. From now on, this child swears to always put the clan first, casting aside personal gains and losses!”
“Good, good!” Lu Shang nodded repeatedly in satisfaction, gripping Lu Xin’s hand tightly and saying: “If you do as you say, the Lu Clan will not fail you; this old man will be your strongest backing!”
Lu Xin nodded heavily, his expression conflicted as he said: “In that case, there is one matter this child must report to Uncle!”
“What matter?” Lu Shang asked in a deep voice.
“It’s the matter of the congee kitchen!” Lu Xin then told Lu Shang about the conversation among disaster victims he overheard when bringing his wife and children back to the Capital City.
Upon hearing this, Lu Shang was stunned.
Lu Xin continued softly: “Hearing is false, seeing is real, so this child quietly visited a few congee kitchens, and the result was…” He saw Lu Shang’s face dreadfully gloomy but still braced himself to say: “The disaster victims did not lie.”
After Lu Xin finished speaking, he saw Lu Shang staring fixedly at him, no expression readable on that deeply wrinkled face.
In the carriage, a pin drop could be heard; the atmosphere was oppressively heavy!
The guards outside vigilantly watched the surroundings, following the carriage slowly forward, when suddenly they heard the Clan Leader’s low and deep voice command from inside: “Cross the river!”
