Chapter 39: Yuqing Room
Unknowingly, Lu Xin’s holiday ended, and the visits also came to a close. Lu Yun planned to stay at home for a few days to let the facial muscles that had been forced to smile every day get sufficient rest. It would also give him time to plan and add more fuel to the fire between the Emperor and the Xiahou Clan.
This morning, after accompanying Lu Xiang in tending to the flowers and plants, Lu Yun was about to return to the room to read, but he saw Lu Ying coming over with a cold face and pulling him out without explanation.
Only after leaving the house did Lu Yun cautiously ask: “Elder Sister, who has angered you?”
“Just follow me, I’m going to reason with them!” Lu Ying’s face was frosty, and she said angrily: “They are really bullying people too much!”
“What exactly happened? Even if we’re going to kill or set fires, you should at least explain it clearly to me.” Seeing they were about to cross the Luo River Bridge, Lu Yun asked helplessly.
“Hmph!” Lu Ying snorted coldly before explaining to him. It turned out that the Lu Clan, out of care for its clan members, would allocate a certain amount of settling allowance to all children who returned to the capital to settle down, for them to purchase household items and servants. According to Lu Xin’s current official position and family size, the finance department should have disbursed two thousand guàn of money right upon their return to the capital.
But the manor steward went to request it several times and returned empty-handed each time. Later, people from the finance department simply said that their situation did not count as returning to the capital to settle down, but only as reuniting with their elders, so there was no such money. The steward argued according to reason, saying that according to the Lu Clan’s rules, for married children whose families had left the capital for more than five years, settling allowance should be issued upon return. Clearly, Lu Xin fully met the regulation. But in the end, they did not reason at all, instead mocking him and driving him out.
“They actually called us rats in the granary! How can we swallow this insult?” Walking on the Luo River Bridge, Lu Ying said indignantly: “Otherwise, people will really take us as soft persimmons to pinch!”
Lu Yun nodded, feeling some anger in his heart as well. These days, he and his father had been visiting everywhere to pay respects to the gods. Except for not daring to disturb the elderly Grandmaster Sect Master, all the elders and stewards in the clan had received generous gifts, and naturally, the steward in charge of the finance department was not overlooked!
Who would have thought that these gifts had all been given to dogs! They wouldn’t even give the money that rightfully belonged to their own family! And it didn’t even require them to pay out of pocket!
Although the family did not lack this bit of money, how could they be bullied like this?!
So Lu Yun did not stop her and followed Lu Ying to the Lu Ward north of the Luo River. The Lu Family occupied three wards north of the Luo River, and only this northernmost one was named Lu Ward. Because the Lu Clan ancestral hall was located here, the Lu Clan’s headquarters, clan school, finance department, sect treasury, and other institutions were also set up here.
Entering through the tall ward gate with the plaque reading ‘Lu Ward’, one saw a straight bluestone path leading directly to the Sanwei Hall of the Lu Clan ancestral hall in the center of Lu Ward! Sanwei Hall was the core of the Lu Clan, bearing the spiritual faith of clan members under heaven, while also undertaking important tasks such as sacrifices, deliberations, punishments, capping ceremonies, and more.
On the large flat ground in front of Sanwei Hall stood a three-zhang-high flagpole with brackets, and on the flagpole fluttered a silver-gray large flag in the wind, bearing a huge seal-script Lu character! On the large flat ground, retainer generals guarded day and night! Inside Sanwei Hall, there was also the Lu Clan’s only Heavenly Rank Grandmaster stationed, defending the dignity of the great Lu Clan!
However, the brother and sister were not heading to Sanwei Hall this time; they turned east from under the large flag and arrived outside a row of unremarkable courtyards on the east side of the large flat ground.
On the wooden plaque above the courtyard gate were written the regular script characters ‘Finance Department’. Though it was just the finance office of one clan, it managed the money and grain affairs of fully 180,000 households, equivalent to an entire large prefecture of Great Xuan.
Yes, the Lu Clan’s direct lineage, branches, retainers, clansmen, servants, as well as countless people who had thrown themselves under the Lu Clan across the nation, added up to fully 180,000 households. If one also counted the small and medium aristocrats dependent on the Lu Clan, the population directly or indirectly controlled by the Lu Clan could even reach 400,000 households. That was one-twentieth of Great Xuan’s total households!
And the Lu Clan, among the Eight Great Clans, was thoroughly at the middle-lower level…
Well, that was not something Lu Yun and his sister cared about. They entered the courtyard, inquired about the location of Yuqing Room which handled the disbursement of money and grain for children in the capital, and went straight there.
In Yuqing Room, three men resembling managers were huddled together chatting idly, their topic naturally revolving around the lower regions, filling the room with foul air. Several other stewards who had come for business were left aside by them, looking quite uneasy.
Seeing Lu Ying and her brother enter, the three managers stopped talking but eyed her up with a lecherous gaze. “What do you want?”
Lu Yun wanted to step in front of Lu Ying, but she raised her hand to stop him. Lu Ying coldly swept her gaze over the three and said in a deep voice: “Which of you is the manager?”
Although the three managers were merely clansmen of the Lu Clan, they controlled the food and clothing money and grain of over ten thousand clan members in the capital and had always been snobbish. If a real power holder from the clan came, they would of course serve carefully, but since they had never seen Lu Ying and her brother, they naturally knew the two must be from the south.
One manager said in a strange tone: “What the hell do you care for? If you have something to say, spit it out; otherwise, get the hell out!”
Lu Ying’s pretty face turned frosty with anger, and Lu Yun stepped forward, staring expressionlessly at that manager and saying: “Apologize!”
Although hut stools and chairs had spread to the Central Plains, within aristocratic noble clans, sitting on the floor was still the norm, and this place was no exception.
At this moment, Lu Yun stood straight in the room, looking down imposingly at the manager kneeling on the ground, as if the man were kneeling before him.
A sense of humiliation surged in the manager’s heart; he abruptly tried to stand up, but Lu Yun pressed one finger on the top of his head. Immediately, his knees buckled, and he knelt straight on the ground again.
Seeing this, the other two managers jumped up, wanting to shove Lu Yun while cursing: “You little punk dare to be so arrogant? Let go now!”
With a flick of Lu Yun’s sleeve, the two felt a numbness on their foreheads and instantly collapsed to the ground, kneeling straight before the brother and sister just like the first one.
“Call for people quickly! Someone is causing trouble in Yuqing Room!” The three managers desperately tried to stand but were paralyzed all over and could not move, so they shouted at the top of their lungs.
“Go ahead and call for people,” Lu Yun brushed off his sleeve and said indifferently: “As servants, not only did you insult a young lady of the clan, but you also embezzled public funds and withheld our settling silver.” Pausing, he glanced at the doorway: “Perfect, everyone can judge together. If it can’t be settled here, we’ll go to Sanwei Hall to debate it!”
Hearing this, the three managers’ faces changed.
At this time, many people in the courtyard heard the news and came over, about to enter the room to help.
The manager who had first been pressed to the ground by Lu Yun waved his hand toward the doorway with a dark face: “All disperse!”
All mixing in the same courtyard, who didn’t know whom? Hearing this, the people outside understood he had some shady business he didn’t want others to hear. They gave a deep look at Lu Yun and his sister, and the people at the doorway dispersed completely.
He glared again at the several southern stewards watching from the side. “You too… leave.” Those stewards did not say much, but as they left, the expressions on their faces clearly relaxed.
Once the unnecessary people had left, Lu Yun became even more certain of his guess: the settling allowance that should have been given to them had definitely been embezzled by someone.
“Young Master, which family are you from exactly? Let’s talk it out nicely.” The manager softened.
“Apologize first.” Lu Yun still said: “After apologizing, slap your own face ten times.”
“Don’t bully people too much…” The manager had never suffered such humiliation; even the direct lineage north of the Luo River had always been polite to them and never dared to offend.
“Or no need to apologize; I’ll slap your face ten times for you.” Lu Yun raised his hand and said leisurely.
Lu Yun’s earlier display had already shown he was highly skilled in kung fu; if he were to slap ten times, the head would be smashed flat!
Seeing Lu Yun’s palm already before him, Manager He had no choice but to say with a mournful face: “Sorry, Miss, I was wrong; this stinking mouth of mine deserves a beating!” With that, he raised his arm and gave himself ten slaps, not too light or heavy.
Lu Yun said nothing more and stepped aside, letting his sister reason with them.
With Lu Yun intimidating from the side, the three managers had no temper left. After asking clearly about their identity, they hurriedly flipped open the account book and pretended to search. Manager He looked carefully at Lu Ying: “It should be given, it really should be given. The underlings just arrived and didn’t understand the situation; it was a misunderstanding, purely a misunderstanding…”
As he spoke, Manager He gave an eye signal to another manager beside him, indicating him to take the blame. That manager had no choice but to nod with a bitter face: “Yes, yes, this lowly one was just transferred to Yuqing Room and doesn’t know the ropes yet; a momentary oversight, sorry, sorry.”
“Hurry up and give the money!” Manager He blew his beard and glared, wishing to send these two plagues away immediately.
