"Oh, right, Dad," Lu Jingteng said, remembering another urgent matter. His brow furrowed again. "I heard from Jingwu that those guys from the Cultural Relics Department teamed up with the Security Bureau to lock down our Longyuan Bay Pier. They even impounded the ships."
"What... What are we supposed to do about this?"
When it came to business, Lu Jingteng’s face took on the shrewd expression befitting his role as the Captain of the Lu Family Trading Company.
Although he had no love for martial arts, he had weathered the storms of the business world for many years and had long since become a veteran with sharp instincts and slick methods.
Since Lu Jingteng took over as chairman, the Lu Family Trading Company’s business had indeed flourished, with both its scale and profits expanding considerably.
"Should I pay a personal visit to the City Affairs Bureau? We’ve certainly greased those officials’ palms enough over the years. Every one of them was so warm and considerate, puffing out their chests and promising we could ask for help with anything!"
"And look what happens! Some random guy from the Cultural Relics Department shows up and shuts down our Lu Family’s pier!"
"This isn’t just about one ship—it’s our company’s financial lifeline and our reputation! What will our other partners think? How are all the people in our company supposed to put food on the table?!"
Lu Jingteng was clearly well-versed in bureaucratic matters. He knew full well that in a place like Yun Port City, the "rules" were often dead, while "connections" and "interests" were what truly mattered.
He was confident that by leveraging the Lu Family’s financial power and their network of connections, he could go to the City Affairs Bureau, pull some strings, apply some pressure, and perhaps turn the situation around.
As Lu Yun listened to his son’s analysis and proposal, his expression remained placid.
He lifted his teacup, took another sip, and then spoke slowly. "There’s no need. You expect that pack of useless gluttons at the City Affairs Bureau to get things done efficiently?"
"You’ll be lucky if they don’t hold you back or try to squeeze more out of this for themselves."
"I’ve thought of a way to speed up those dawdlers."
When Lu Jingteng heard this, his eyes instantly lit up!
He knew his father always planned meticulously before taking action, and his methods were often as unexpected as they were effective.
Lu Jingteng suppressed his curiosity and quickly asked, "Dad, what’s your brilliant plan?"
"I asked Ah Fu. Last month, our Longyuan Bay Pier took on a job for a shipment belonging to Mr. William Harris, the Deputy Consul of Great Britain in Yun Port City."
Lu Jingteng immediately recalled. "Yes! That’s right! Mr. Harris commissioned us to procure a shipment of high-quality tea, fine porcelain from Jingdezhen, and some spices and handicrafts from Ping’an Province to ship back to Great Britain."
"According to the contract, it should be loaded onto the ship and set sail any day now."
William Harris was one of the foreign merchants Lu Yun had met in the early years when he founded the Lu Family Trading Company.
The man was a quintessential opportunistic merchant, purely profit-driven, but relatively speaking, he was one of the more trustworthy foreigners.
He had worked with the Lu Family for many years, relying on their stable supply of goods, reliable shipping, and their steam freighter to resell Daxia’s merchandise in Great Britain for enormous profits.
A cold smile touched Lu Yun’s lips. "Have Jingwu and Ah Fu go to the Consulate right now and find this Deputy Consul Harris."
"You don’t need to say much. Just tell him that ’certain people’ have taken an interest in the shipment he has stored at Longyuan Bay Pier, the one that’s about to be sent out."
"The pier is now inexplicably blockaded, so his shipment... will likely be delayed. It might even have some ’problems’ discovered during an inspection."
Lu Jingteng was stunned for a moment, then it dawned on him. He couldn’t help but slam the table in admiration and burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Dad! As expected of you! Truly, the older the ginger, the spicier it is! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"
He instantly understood his father’s plan.
Whether it was under the fallen Yin Dynasty or the current Daxia New Country, those few corrupt officials in the court and local governments—the ones who bullied the weak and feared the strong—all had a common "strict... father."
The foreigners! Especially the consuls and merchants of the great powers of the Western World!
The moment the interests of a foreigner were involved—especially someone with the rank of a deputy consul like William Harris—those same officials who normally lorded it over their own people, procrastinated, and shirked their duties would instantly become more diligent than rabbits.
They would be practically falling over themselves to kneel and call him ’Daddy,’ moving heaven and earth to resolve the matter properly and promptly.
Lu Jingteng was overjoyed. "Dad, I’ll go find Jingwu and Uncle Fu right now and have them get on it immediately! I guarantee it’ll get Mr. Harris all worked up!"
Lu Yun nodded slightly and added a word of caution. "Be discreet. A light touch is all that’s needed. We... are merely giving our partner a friendly reminder, that’s all."
"Understood!" Lu Jingteng exclaimed, jumping to his feet and starting to head out.
Watching his son’s hurried departure, Lu Yun shook his head, a faint smile on his face.
’Sometimes, you have to use unconventional methods to deal with certain people.’
In contrast to the masterful strategizing on Lu Yun’s side, the other side was in utter chaos.
「Ren’an Hospital.」
Inside a high-end hospital room reserved for special personnel.
Three hospital beds stood side by side in the room.
Lying on them, wrapped in bandages and hooked up to IV drips, were the three unlucky souls who had suffered a crushing defeat on the freighter at Longyuan Bay Pier the previous night.
Fang, Ren, and the plump Lei Yaoyang. The heroic female team member, Gu Sican, was not in this room.
Her injuries from the night before were more severe, and she was currently in the intensive care unit. According to the doctors, her condition was critical and required close observation. It would be at least half a month before she was out of danger, and no one was permitted to visit.
Standing before the three beds were two other men dressed in black Zhongshan suits, their demeanors cold and stern.
The leader appeared to be in his forties, with a square jaw, a crew cut, and a burly frame. He stood ramrod straight, his gaze as sharp as a hawk’s, exuding the distinct, hard-nosed aura of a military officer.
He was none other than the supervising commissioner dispatched from the Cultural Relics Department headquarters in Yanjing.
Standing half a step behind him was a young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
The middle-aged man’s gaze slowly swept across the faces of the three injured men before finally settling on Fang and Ren, whose injuries were comparatively lighter.
"Fang Jingtang. Ren Shuhan. Can the two of you be honest with me and tell me exactly what happened on the freighter at Longyuan Bay Pier last night?"
"Was it Lu Yun who injured you? After he boarded, did he take anything from the ship?"
Fang Jingtang, pale-faced on his bed, didn’t even lift an eyelid. He just muttered listlessly, "Special Commissioner Feng, you’re overthinking things."
"Lord Lu just heard the pier was being inspected and got anxious. He only came to look at his own property. He left after seeing it. He didn’t do a thing."
Ren Shuhan, lying in the next bed, suddenly chimed in. "Right, I can prove it! Lord Lu didn’t take anything. He just looked and then left."
"Prove it?"
At that, the middle-aged man laughed in fury, his voice suddenly rising to a roar. "Hah... So you’re helping that old bastard from the Lu Family cover things up? Have you betrayed the organization? Huh?"
"Then let me ask you this!"
"What about all the signs of a fight on the deck? And this fat bastard,"
He pointed at Lei Yaoyang. "And Gu Sican, who’s lying in the ICU—where did their gunshot wounds come from? Don’t you dare tell me their guns accidentally discharged!"
Fang Jingtang forced a smile that looked worse than a grimace and tried to laugh his way out of it. "Hahaha... Special Commissioner Feng, you’re truly prophetic."
"You... you... you..."
The middle-aged man was so enraged by this blatant lie that his finger, still pointing at Fang Jingtang, started to tremble. For a long moment, he was too furious to form a complete sentence.
He suddenly rounded on Lei Yaoyang in the other bed and bellowed, "You fat bastard! Get up and talk! What the hell happened? If you dare speak a single word of falsehood, I’ll skin you alive!"
Lei Yaoyang, who had been pretending to be asleep with his eyes squeezed shut, jumped with fright, jostling his bandaged left leg. He immediately let out a series of pathetic wails.
"OW! OWWWW... It hurts like hell, Special Commissioner Feng! My leg hurts, and my head’s all fuzzy. It was pitch black last night, I couldn’t see a thing! And just like that, I got shot by that crazy woman, Gu Sican. You have to get justice for me!"
He wailed, his eyes darting away, not daring to meet Feng Yuan’s gaze.
The image of Lu Yun’s demonic figure from the previous night was already seared into his mind, leaving behind an indelible shadow of terror.
The three of them had been thoroughly cowed. They knew how terrifying Lord Lu was; how could they possibly dare to breathe a single word?
Not unless they truly had a death wish!
Watching one of them play dumb and the other two spout blatant lies, the middle-aged man’s chest heaved with rage, but there was nothing he could do.
He had originally planned to wait for Gu Sican to wake up and question her, but who could have known her injuries were so severe? She had been taken straight to the ICU, and he couldn’t even get in to see her.
"A bunch of useless trash! Morons!"
The middle-aged man finally broke down and cursed aloud. He knew he wouldn’t get a single word of valuable truth out of these three men who had clearly been scared witless.
The middle-aged man took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
’This situation is far trickier than I anticipated.’
A moment later, he spun back around, a vicious sneer spreading across his face.
"Hmph! Lu Yun... A mere Grandmaster of Huajin, nothing more than a remnant of the old dynasty! Facing the army’s guns and firepower from headquarters, he’s still just flesh and blood. I, Feng Yuan, don’t even take him seriously!"
His gaze finally fell upon the young subordinate, only twenty-seven years old, who had been standing by silently.
The young man’s name was Gan Wen Yao, and he was one of the trusted aides Feng Yuan had brought with him from Yanjing.
His skills were decent, and he was efficient in his work.
"Gan Wen Yao!" Feng Yuan barked.
"Sir!" Gan Wen Yao immediately snapped to attention and responded loudly.
"Listen up!" Feng Yuan ordered, pointing right at the man’s nose and enunciating every word. "You are to leave immediately for Longyuan Bay Pier and personally take charge! I want you to lock that place down tight!"
"And tell those useless fools at the Security Bureau that the pier is to be blockaded for half a month!"
"Without my order, not even a fly gets in! If anyone dares to feign compliance while secretly disobeying, I’ll personally throw them in prison to rot for life!"
"Is that clear?!"
When Gan Wen Yao heard this order, a troubled expression instantly crossed his face.
’He wants me to take charge of the pier by myself?’
’To face Lu Yun, a Grandmaster of Huajin who could appear at any moment—the same man who instantly defeated two Late-stage Anjin experts like Fang Jingtang and Ren Shuhan?’
’This... How is this any different from sending me to my death?’
"Huh? Me... by myself?" Gan Wen Yao’s voice trembled. "But... the Lu Family... they’re definitely not going to take this lying down. What if..."
"Hah?" Feng Yuan’s face turned icy. Before Gan Wen Yao could finish, Feng Yuan lunged forward, his hands clamping down on the younger man’s shoulders like a vise.
The immense force made Gan Wen Yao feel as if his shoulder blades were about to be crushed, and he sucked in a sharp breath of pain.
Feng Yuan’s face was practically touching Gan Wen Yao’s, his eyes burning with an almost paranoid fury.
"GAN!!!"
"TELL ME, WHAT IS THE ONLY REASON YOU JOINED THE CULTURAL RELICS DEPARTMENT?!"
Terrified by Feng Yuan’s sudden, intense questioning, Gan Wen Yao’s heart hammered against his ribs. He responded almost by reflex, roaring with all his might:
"SIR, MY PURPOSE IS TO OBEY YOUR ORDERS, SIR!!!"
Hearing this answer, the ferocious look on Feng Yuan’s face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of almost manic approval.
"FUCKING GAN, YOU ARE A FUCKING GENIUS! I HAVE NEVER HEARD A MORE SATISFACTORY ANSWER IN MY LIFE!"
"I am ordering you now! Immediately! Right this instant! Go and carry out your mission! That pier is your new battlefield! Hold it for me with your loyalty!"
Gan Wen Yao’s scalp tingled, utterly bewildered by Feng Yuan’s mercurial behavior, but the order had been given. He had no room to refuse.
He could only suppress the fear in his heart, snap to attention once more, and roar with all his might, "YES, SIR! I GUARANTEE THE MISSION WILL BE COMPLETED!"

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