Chapter 55: Furious
The leading Black Rank guard dropped to one knee before Lu Shang and said in a deep voice: “What orders does the Clan Leader have?!”
“Ah!” The disaster victims were instantly dumbfounded, never imagining that this seemingly ordinary old man was actually the Lu Clan’s Clan Leader! The current Minister of Works who had shaken the land under heaven for decades, Duke of An Lu Shang!
With a whoosh, all the disaster victims knelt down, no one daring to raise their head or look at Lu Shang again.
Those servants taken down by Lu Xin were even more terrified, their departed souls flying out, shaking like chaff nonstop. The few who had directly cursed Lu Shang moments ago were so frightened they lost control of their bowels and fainted outright.
“You go call Lu Jian,” Lu Shang coldly instructed one guard, then said: “No, all eight Great Stewards must come, immediately!”
“Understood!” That guard immediately accepted the order and left.
“Splash them awake!” Lu Shang coldly instructed.
One Black Rank guard stepped forward and kicked over a large water vat, a full vat of water surging toward the servants sprawled on the ground, instantly soaking them through! The servants choked on mouthfuls of water, coughing repeatedly, and all woke up this time.
“Clan Leader, spare our lives! We’re just doing our jobs, we know nothing!” The servants wailed with snot and tears, none of their earlier arrogance remaining.
“It’s not your responsibility,” Lu Shang looked disgustedly at those sniveling wretches and coldly asked: “Then whose trouble should this old man find?”
The servants were already scared out of their wits, desperate to push all blame away clean, no longer covering for anyone. They hurriedly chattered: “Find Manager Chai! He delivers the grain every day; however much he sends, that’s how much we cook!”
“Yes, Sect Master. The grain Manager Chai sends gets less each day; we can only cook however much we get. It has nothing to do with us!”
“Where is he now?” Lu Shang interrupted their babble.
“I know,” one servant who had gone to Changtong Wharf to receive grain that day hurriedly answered: “Today he arrived much later than usual; after unloading the grain, he got on a boat and continued east!” He paused, then added: “When we boarded to unload, we saw that boat piled full of grain, but we don’t know what he plans to do with it!”
“What did that boat look like? Do you still remember?” Lu Shang asked in a deep voice.
“I remember, I remember, of course I do.” That servant saw hope of survival and answered loudly: “He uses the same boat to transport grain every day; this servant could recognize it at a glance!”
“You few take him and chase that boat. You must capture Manager Chai alive!” Lu Shang instructed several more guards, adding at the end: “Absolutely do not let him destroy evidence!”
“Understood!” The several guards grabbed that servant and sped off at full tilt.
“You lead men to Tongluo Granary and bring back the on-duty staff and the grain disbursement accounts!” Lu Shang issued two successive orders to two guards. “You take men and immediately take over the other three congee kitchens; bring all the responsible people here.” He paused, then emphasized: “At the same time, immediately start recooking the congee! Remember, even if it’s just nine jin and nine liang of rice per pot, if you don’t, this old man will chop off your head!”
“Yes!” The two guards responded solemnly and likewise sped off.
Having decisively issued a string of orders, Lu Shang sighed wearily.
Lu Xin moved a chair behind him; Lu Shang nodded slightly, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest for a moment.
.
Several Lu Clan stewards had just returned home from court, not even having time to change out of their official robes, when guards from the Clan Leader’s side notified them to hurry immediately to Tongle Ward south of the Luo River!
They wanted to ask what had happened, but the other side only claimed ignorance, saying they’d know when they arrived. The several stewards could only quickly order carriages prepared and set out. Only at Luo River Bridge did they realize all eight Great Stewards had been summoned, not one missing.
“What exactly happened?” The several stewards asked each other, most at a complete loss. Only Lu Jian vaguely sensed it was trouble at the congee kitchens. After all, one of the Lu Clan’s four congee kitchens was located in Tongle Ward.
“Find Chai Jinbao.” Lu Jian frowned tightly and instructed his attendants to quickly summon Manager Chai; he needed to clarify the situation to avoid fumbling in front of the Clan Leader later.
However, even upon reaching Tongle Ward, there was no sign of Manager Chai; Lu Jian’s heart clouded with unease.
The eight stewards arrived together at Tongle Ward and indeed saw crowds milling outside the congee kitchen—disaster victims plus onlookers.
Now all eight stewards knew something enormous had gone wrong at the congee kitchen; otherwise, why would the Sect Master summon all eight of them?
Lu Jian’s heart tightened more and more, but he could only take it one step at a time.
Seeing a team of Lu Clan carriages arrive, the commoners hurriedly cleared a path, and the noisy scene instantly fell silent.
From the carriages stepped eight men of extraordinary momentum and noble composure, six of them in purple robes with gold-belted waists—actually all third-rank high officials!
The commoners couldn’t help peeping stealthily at these great figures rarely seen in ordinary times, thinking to themselves: ‘The Lu Clan’s higher-ups must all be here; looks like their Clan Leader is truly enraged!’
The eight stewards had no mind for these grass folk and entered the congee kitchen with serious expressions.
Upon entering, they saw the Clan Leader in plain cloth, face dark as he sat in a chair. Lu Xin, also in plain cloth, stood attending behind him.
Before the two knelt seven trembling Lu Clan servants. On the stove nearby were five large pots, four simmering congee with steam rising, while the fifth pot had no fire lit beneath for some reason.
The eight stewards hurriedly saluted the Clan Leader, but Lu Shang raised a hand, his icy gaze looking toward Lu Jian: “Lu Jian, you are the Lu Clan’s Finance Steward, in charge of all clan expenditures. Two months ago, when this old man ordered you regarding disaster relief, what did I say?!”
“In response to Sect Master,” Lu Jian hurriedly answered loudly: “At the time, Sect Master instructed to set up four congee kitchens in the capital for relief, each with five large pots. Each pot to cook twelve batches of congee per day, ten jin of rice per batch!”
“Ah!” The disaster victims instantly stirred in commotion. Earlier when Lu Shang had told them, they only felt shocked; now hearing it from the person concretely responsible, they were filled with righteous anger.
“How did you guarantee it to this old man at the time?!” Lu Shang asked in a deep voice.
“Your nephew guaranteed no discounts, to complete the Sect Master’s assigned task until the disaster victims were properly settled!”
“Then how did you actually do it?!” Lu Shang asked coldly.
“Your nephew naturally dared not slack; I immediately delegated it and regularly sent people to inspect, to prevent those below from cutting corners!” Lu Jian hurriedly said.
“So you never came to south of the Luo River to check?” Lu Shang snorted.
“When the congee kitchen first opened, your nephew did come. Seeing everything in perfect order, I entrusted it to those below with peace of mind.” Lu Jian said with a guilty expression: “Recently, the Ministry of Personnel has been busy with disaster relief; your nephew, as Minister of Revenue, truly has been too busy to come for a while.”
“Then take a good look!” Lu Shang turned his gaze to those large pots and said coldly: “See the fine congee your subordinates have cooked!”
“Yes.” Lu Jian hurried forward and looked into the pots, instantly freezing in place.
“You all go look too!” Lu Shang glanced at the other seven stewards.
The seven reached the stove and saw that in the four pots bubbling with bubbles, the congee broth was clear to the bottom, the rice grains flipping up and down seemingly countable!
Looking at that watery gruel so thin it could hardly be called congee, everyone now understood why the old Clan Leader was so furiously enraged!
“What in the world is going on?!” Lu Jian’s square face flushed alternately green and purple; he had never felt such shame and fury in his life. He whipped around, glaring deathly at those damned servants!
“We’re just doing our jobs; however much rice comes from above, that’s how much congee we can cook.” Several servants cried out their innocence: “They only send those few dozen jin of rice total each day; by the rules that’s barely enough for one pot—after that we could only boil hot water for the disaster victims…”
“Yes, Master, we’re sharing worries for the clan too, that’s why we had to cook such thin congee…”
“Shut up!” Lu Jian erupted in fury: “Aren’t twenty shi of grain withdrawn from Tongluo Granary every day, with over five shi allocated to each congee kitchen? How could it be only few dozen jin of rice?”
“That’s not for servants like us to question…” The servants hurriedly said: “But truly only two bags of rice come each day; the disaster victims can testify!”
