Chapter 57: Seeing Ghosts
The guard received the order and pulled the towel out of Manager Chai’s mouth, then pinched Manager Chai’s chin before Manager Chai could bite his tongue to commit suicide.
“Want to die? Not that easy!” Lu Xia’s gaze darkened, his figure flickered and he arrived in front of Manager Chai, slapping the back of Manager Chai’s neck. Manager Chai immediately collapsed limply to the ground, without even the strength to lift a finger, yet still able to speak.
This was the effect of the Lu Clan’s Righteous Qi. The so-called Righteous Qi was the greatest and most unyielding, capable of subduing all demons and ghouls. Once cultivated to open the Ren and Du Meridians, with True Qi projected outward, it could directly shatter the opponent’s True Qi within their body, rendering them unable to move.
“Tell me, what exactly have you been up to?” The situation was now clear; the problem lay with this Manager Chai. According to the guard’s report, Manager Chai’s subordinates and those merchants had all been captured. Even if he didn’t confess, the truth could still be uncovered!
“Heh…” Manager Chai knew he was doomed. He cast a meaningful glance at Lu Jian, then slowly said, “To answer the steward, I resold a portion of the disaster relief grain withdrawn from the Tongluo Granary.”
“It really was him up to no good!” The disaster victims angrily cursed.
“How much did you resell?” Lu Xia asked in a deep voice.
“Eighteen shi.” Since they had caught him red-handed, Manager Chai saw no need to lie anymore.
“Twenty shi of grain, and he dared to resell eighteen shi—truly a leopard’s guts!” Now not only the disaster victims, but even the great stewards changed their expressions. Lu Jian’s forehead veins bulged, his heart filled with murderous intent.
“How long have you been reselling?” Lu Xia pressed.
“…” Manager Chai fell silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, “Two months.”
“Every day for two months?!” Lu Xia said in shock.
“Not the first five days, nor the three days when the higher-ups came to inspect,” Manager Chai replied.
“That’s fifty-two days, nine hundred thirty-six shi?!” Lu Xia couldn’t suppress his anger and said, “Are you insane?! Why be so heartless and deranged?!”
“Heh…” Manager Chai glanced at Lu Jian again, making the latter panic. Only then did he withdraw his gaze and say flatly, “To be honest, I owe a huge gambling debt. If I don’t pay it back on time, I’m dead. With no other choice, I could only take the risk.”
“Who else knows about this?!” Lu Xia asked coldly.
“This kind of thing naturally has to be hidden from everyone; no one else knows,” Manager Chai said word by word.
“Haha, who would’ve thought you’re quite the hero!” Lu Xia sneered twice, his face full of sarcasm. “This hero, can you really bear such a big matter?”
“One person does the deed, one person bears it. Whether I can bear it or not, I have to,” Manager Chai said expressionlessly.
“Too naive! You think the Discipline Department can’t find out if you don’t tell the truth?!” Lu Xia sneered, casually flipping open the account book the guard had found and looking through it.
Manager Chai wasn’t nervous, because it only recorded his daily income from reselling grain, nothing else. Lu Xia could certainly convict him based on this without issue, but dragging others into it wouldn’t happen overnight.
Manager Chai knew very well that Lu Feng must have received the news by now and absolutely wouldn’t dare continue hiding it from Lu Jian. As long as Lu Jian had time, he could certainly turn the big issue into a small one—even if it was a task assigned by the Sect Master.
That way, at least his family wouldn’t be implicated…
While Manager Chai was lost in wild thoughts, Lu Xia finished flipping through the written parts of the account book. The latter half was blank, so he naturally didn’t look. Seeing that the records matched Manager Chai’s confession with no discrepancies or novelties, Lu Xia casually handed it to Lu Jian.
When handing it over, the account book’s spine was facing up. As Lu Jian reached to take it, a sheet of paper fell out from inside!
The paper floated in mid-air. Lu Jian glanced at the words on it, his expression changing drastically. He suddenly reached out to grab it, and without thinking, circulated his qi to shred it!
“You dare?!” Two roars sounded simultaneously—one from Lu Xia, the other from Lu Shang!
Startled by the shout, Lu Jian snapped back to his senses and froze in place.
Lu Xia snatched the paper and glanced at it, his pupils contracting. He now understood why Lu Jian wanted to destroy the evidence in public!
“Bring it here!” Lu Shang’s deep voice rang out.
Lu Xia gave a deep look at the distraught Lu Jian, sighed inwardly, and presented the paper with both hands to Lu Shang. Since the matter involved the stewards’ level, it was beyond his authority to handle.
Lu Shang took it, narrowing his slightly cloudy eyes for a close look. At the top, it clearly read ‘Deed’ in bold characters, followed by neat vertical clerical script:
‘Today, the one thousand five hundred qing of wasteland in Qi Prefecture and Ji Prefecture obtained from river governance is leased out at two thousand cash per mu to Lu Feng of Luodu. The payment was fully received on the same day, with no shortfall. The land has no overlapping transactions nor disputes from others. If any such issues arise, the seller shall be held accountable, and the current holder shall be uninvolved. Words alone are no proof; this document serves as evidence.’
At the end were the signatures of both buyer and seller. The lessor’s was Water Management Commissioner Huang Yun, followed by the Water Management Bureau’s seal. The buyer’s was Lu Feng, followed by his private seal and handprint.
“One thousand five hundred qing at two thousand cash per mu—how much is that in total?” Lu Shang asked coldly.
“Sect Master,” Lu Chou said softly, “Three hundred thousand guàn of money.”
“So much?!” Not only did the disaster victims erupt, but the various stewards also drew in sharp breaths. Though they held high positions, everything came from the clan, and they had little private wealth. At least on the surface, the stewards’ annual income was only four or five thousand guàn including official salary. Even without eating or drinking for a lifetime, they couldn’t save that much!
“Your son is truly generous.” Lu Shang coldly glanced at Lu Jian, saying with a half-smile, “Third Steward, you truly excel at raising children and making money.”
“Sect Master!” Lu Jian knelt straight down and said tearfully, “This child has managed the Finance Department for many years and has never been corrupt or embezzled. My family absolutely cannot produce this much money! Please allow me to return, bring the unfilial son to Sanwei Hall, and interrogate him thoroughly!”
“Why go back?” Lu Shang said in a deep voice. “The Lu Clan’s face is already lost; do you still care about your own face?!”
“Yes…” Lu Jian’s eyes were red, his mind in chaos. He had indeed wanted to end it there and privately negotiate with the elders to see if they could get past this, but Lu Shang gave him no chance. Lu Jian could only comply.
“Bring Lu Feng here immediately!” Lu Xia ordered in a deep voice, and the guard dashed off at once.
.
The sun rose higher, its vicious rays beating down on the ground. Inside and outside the congee kitchen, more and more onlookers gathered.
Under the gaze of the masses, the normally unattainable Earth Rank Grandmaster and Lu Clan financial god Lu Jian knelt before the Sect Master just like Manager Chai and the others, awaiting Lu Feng’s arrival.
Manager Chai nearly fainted. With that deed revealed, he couldn’t deny it even if he wanted to! If the seller were ordinary folk, it might be manageable— he could just claim he forged the young master’s signature. But the seller was the Water Management Bureau! That was a fourth-rank imperial office. How could they sell over a thousand qing of land without seeing the principal? He couldn’t explain it away!
He couldn’t figure out why the young master’s deed was in his account book! He racked his brains, trying to recall when he had slipped it in, but he hadn’t even touched this deed—how could he have had the chance to insert it?
Soon, Manager Chai realized he had been schemed against. But he always kept the account book on his person; no one else could touch it—except when the Clan Leader’s guards had searched him earlier. The guards around Lu Shang were absolutely loyal and impossible to bribe—how could they help scheme against him?
Unless the Clan Leader was scheming against Lu Jian… But that didn’t make sense. A clan leader wouldn’t use such an embarrassing spectacle to deal with a steward, nor joke with the entire Lu Clan’s reputation!
Manager Chai racked his brains but couldn’t figure it out. He could only guess if someone had tampered with it last night while he was whoring in the brothel… But he hadn’t noticed anything, and who could foresee the Clan Leader’s inspection today, know about this account book, and arrange everything so seamlessly, scheming without a single leak?
Was that even human?!
