Only Got My Martial Arts Modifier in My Old Age
Chapter 258: Chapter 136: The Lu Family is the Greatest Power, Lu Jingjun is in Danger
Inside the Military Governor’s office at the Yun Port City garrison headquarters.
"Elder Zheng, Assistant Du seems to have been quite busy lately. I haven’t seen him at all these past few days. Uncle Tong tells me the guards recently seized a shipment of smuggled opium?"
"What’s more, it came through the Southwest Defense Line. Assistant Du’s son is in charge there, isn’t he?"
As he spoke, Lu Jingjun rose unhurriedly and poured tea for Zheng Zhishan.
Zheng Zhishan raised the teacup, took a small sip, and set it down. His face, deeply lined by the years, revealed no emotion.
Lu Jingjun sat down again and leaned back against the sofa, his eyes dark as he spoke.
"If I find evidence that he’s using his military power to smuggle opium, I’ll have his head."
Zheng Zhishan set down his teacup and fell silent for a moment before finally speaking. "Deputy Lu, I’ve already personally arrested several of the ringleaders. Assistant Du’s sons were indeed involved."
Hearing this, Lu Jingjun stood up with a cold laugh. "Excellent. Let’s go. To the Du Family."
This Assistant Du was the highest-ranking officer under the Deputy Officer. Previously, all military affairs, major or minor, had to pass through his hands.
Back when Governor Zhang Cheng’an of Yun Port City was still alive, he had plotted to use the army to attack the Lu Family.
Lu Jingjun had never forgotten that score; he was just waiting for the right time to settle it.
When he first took command of the Yun Port City garrison, he had considered giving these old-timers a chance to change their ways.
After all, they were military veterans who had been entrenched in Yun Port City for many years. Their foundations were deep, their connections sprawling and complex.
As a young man new to the post, he didn’t want to be too ruthless and cause widespread panic throughout the army.
But unexpectedly, some people didn’t appreciate the gesture. A few of the old guard looked down on him for his youth, gossiping behind his back that he was just a "second-generation" kid who had ridden his father’s coattails to the top.
When these words reached Lu Jingjun’s ears, he would just smile and never take them to heart.
’People could say what they wanted. He couldn’t control their mouths, nor did he care to try.’
’So what if he was a second-generation scion? Others who wished they had parents to sponge off of didn’t even have the opportunity.’
’Having a good father was his blessing, a stroke of luck in the lottery of birth. Whether others were green with envy or just plain jealous, Lu Jingjun couldn’t care less.’
But now, this old fool Assistant Du had dared to smuggle opium into Yun Port City. That meant he had crossed the Lu Family’s bottom line, and crossed the red line his own father had drawn.
After all, on his very first day as Governor of Yun Port City, Lu Yun had personally issued a decree: not one shred of opium was to be found within Yun Port City. Anyone caught would be executed by firing squad, with no room for discussion.
It was an iron law, a red line, a live wire that no one could touch.
It didn’t matter who you were, who backed you, or what you had accomplished. If you touched it, you died.
Unfortunately, human nature is fundamentally greedy. Although the supply of opium in Yun Port City had dwindled, the addicts remained, as did those who sought to profit from it.
Many saw this as an opportunity to strike it rich. Their eyes turned red with greed, their minds went wild, and they began to throw all caution to the wind.
If the profit margin exceeded three hundred percent, people would be willing to sell the very rope that would hang them. What, then, of an obscene profit margin exceeding one thousand percent?
A city as vast as Yun Port City could never be policed perfectly. There would always be dark corners and cracks to slip through.
In many areas, officials of all ranks colluded with opium traffickers to secretly open underground dens. The business was immensely profitable, a veritable gold mine raking in fortunes daily.
Du Shi’an of the Du Family. As a former high-ranking officer in the Yun Port City garrison, he had wielded immense power. A single stomp of his foot could make the entire city tremble.
The entrance to the Du Family estate had always seen a constant stream of traffic. The visitors were dignitaries and powerful merchants, and who among them didn’t have to greet him with a respectful "Master Du"?
A large number of gangs and government officials within Yun Port City had once been his puppets.
On the surface, it looked like gang wars and turf disputes; but behind the scenes, the Du Family was always pulling the strings.
Opium, casinos, loan-sharking, smuggling—the Du Family had a hand in every one of these illicit enterprises, and each brought them immense wealth.
Yishun Hall, which had been annihilated by the Cyan Dragon Gang, had also been backed by him.
Unfortunately, ever since the Lu Family rose to prominence and Lu Yun’s fame grew by the day, life for the Du Family became increasingly difficult.
His status in the military took a major blow, to say nothing of his underworld connections. The criminal enterprises he had secretly supported were wiped out one by one, causing the Du Family’s sources of income to shrink drastically.
One day it was a casino in East City getting shut down, the next it was an opium den in the south getting raided. Smuggling routes were choked off, and even the loyal gang bosses were either captured and executed or had fled north.
Naturally, Du Shi’an and figures from other factions were not resigned to this. They were accustomed to being a class above, preying on the common folk, leaving their homes flanked by an entourage, and returning to a life of luxury.
Who would want to go back to living a meager life?
Relying on their military stipends or running legitimate businesses could still provide a more comfortable life than most, but how could they be satisfied with that?
The taste of that superior life is addictive. It’s like asking someone accustomed to feasting on the finest delicacies to go back to eating coarse bread. Could they possibly stomach it?
To stand above the masses—that was true living. To decide a person’s fate with a single sentence, to make hearts turn cold with a single glance—that was the meaning of existence for men like them.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the Du Family’s main hall was so oppressive it felt heavy enough to drip. Du Shi’an’s five sons stood in the hall below, their faces ashen.

Comments

Loading...