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The people in the yamen came and went in a hurry, just to inquire about the news and had no intention of getting involved at all.
Of course, Lu Xin had no intention of reporting the matter to the authorities. This matter was too strange. Not only did it involve the Wu family, but there was also an insider involved. Reporting the matter to the authorities would only alert the enemy.
Besides, he didn't believe that the officials in Yuhang would dare to take the case. If it were brought to the attention of the authorities, who knows what would happen.
Having said that, after discussing it behind closed doors, they didn't come up with any useful solutions.
Some people were indignant, some were panicked, some remained silent, and there were even a few who gloated and wanted to see others suffer.
Just seeing these people's reactions alone made Lu Xin's heart sink. It seemed that his brother's loss of power had already caused people to be upset, even his own uncles and brothers were like this, not to mention the elders and relatives in the clan.
As expected, the news brought back by the fast horse from the clan told him to be patient and find out what Wu's plan was and why they wanted to deal with Lu.
If they could negotiate, they would do so; if they couldn't, they would have to be extremely cautious and not allow others to take advantage of the situation and harm their family's foundation. As for writing to their brother and contacting the officials and noble families in Yuhang, it was clear that the elders felt that they couldn't easily start a fight with the Wu family. It was just a season of raw silk, not something that needed to be brought to such a climax.
A series of responses made Lu Xin understand the clan's intentions. They wanted to push him out and make him take all the blame.
Yes, the elder brother's loss of power is the biggest trouble for their branch. Even if other branches do not covet the position of the clan leader, they can still make him take the blame and take away the power and responsibility for business.
After figuring it all out, Lu Xin became really determined and cleaned up the backyard and searched for the traitor.
The more serious the crisis is, the more we cannot let chaos reign in our family. We must make everyone understand the principle of sharing weal and woe together, and suppress the person who stabs you in the back first. Only in this way can we hold on for a while longer and wait for our brother to return.
But no matter how good Lu Xin's plan was, the current situation would not wait for him. In just two days, before he could find the arsonist, the price of silk in Yuhang skyrocketed, soaring by a few cents, and was about to break through one tael and six cents.
Is this an attempt to cut off their escape route? Lu Xin couldn't sit still any longer. She gritted her teeth and went to look for Wu Tianming herself.
In the past two days, the Wu family had only sent a few stewards to inquire about the situation and had not taken the matter seriously at all. Therefore, when Lu Xin saw Wu Tianming, she didn't bother to be polite and directly scolded him, "Brother Wu, are you planning to force me into a dead end?"
Faced with his old friend's aggressive attitude, Wu Tianming remained unfazed. Instead, he frowned. "Brother Lu, what do you mean by this? Do you think you're the only one who signed the contract? Can the silk be delivered on time? If not, I'm afraid I'll have to pay more than you!"
These righteous words made Lu Xin sneer, "Since both our families are losing money, why don't you break the contract and get that outsider out, Brother Wu? The price of silk has gone up so much, what's the profit in one tael?"
Wu Tianming's face suddenly fell. "Why, are you trying to break the contract? It's written in black and white, signed and sealed, and you're just going to let it go like that? Do you think the Wu family can be bullied?"
The real purpose was revealed. Lu Xin glared at Wu Tianming fiercely. How could she not understand his intentions? Compensation would be fine, but if he refused to pay and hand over the silk, not only would he be at odds with the Wu family, but his Jiangdong Lu family's reputation would be completely ruined. By then, they would become a laughingstock. No one would care how much the Lu family had suffered, but would only exploit it as a weakness to further erode their business.
Suppressing the rage that was about to burst forth, Lu Xin said coldly, "What benefits did those villains give Brother Wu? They colluded with outsiders and harmed the Lu family. Are they trying to make enemies with the Jiangdong nobles?"
Wu Tianming didn't want to be blamed for this, so he said coldly, "It's still unclear who's actually defrauding whom. Isn't your good nephew still hanging around in a den of thieves, making such a big name for himself? Maybe he deliberately tricked me into signing the contract to bring bad luck to the Wu family."
He actually mentioned Lu Jian. Lu Xin's head was buzzing, and she was speechless for a moment. It sounded absurd, but if she told it to others, they might actually believe it. After all, Lu Jian's surname was Lu, and he might even be a pawn arranged by the Lu family. Hedging is a common practice among aristocratic families. Who could believe that these brothers, so feuding to the death, would help an outsider to harm their own family?
If the Wu family also became a victim, few people in Jiangdong would stand by him. All the relationships he had painstakingly cultivated and the conditions he had negotiated would be for nothing. Even more devastating, Wu Tianming was so assertive. Did he have someone behind him? The South China Sea pirates, thousands of miles away, couldn't give him such confidence.
Before Lu Xin could figure it out, Wu Tianming had already announced, "There are only a few days left before delivery. Brother Lu, don't forget the time, or you'll make a fool of yourself."
This meant they were leaving. Lu Xin took a deep breath and left.
If Wu's approach proved unsuccessful, they could only find a way to resolve the contract. Double the money was simply not something Lu Xin considered. All Lu's ships were destroyed, their food supply cut off, and their only source of income was raw silk. Now was the time to take in refugees and consolidate their estates. How could they afford so much money to squander?
The only remaining option was to replenish the raw silk supply. It was true that the warehouse had been burned to the ground, but there was still a small amount of raw silk that had not been stored. He could barely gather three to five hundred dan of raw silk. Purchasing another batch would be enough to meet the delivery, which would relatively reduce the losses.
Now that the decision had been made, there was no time to delay. With silk prices soaring, a swift resolution was necessary. Lu Xin was also determined. He mobilized the public property of the eldest wife's family and sent his trusted confidants to the market to collect silk. These were not shipped to the Lu family's warehouses, but directly to ships, which were heavily guarded. This way, as long as they could gather 1,500 dan of silk, they could deliver it as soon as possible.
No matter how unlucky the Lu family was, they still had connections. As long as they paid enough, how could they be worried about not being able to collect silk during this time of raw silk market? The only problem was that they couldn't make a big fuss about it. If people found out that the Lu family was desperately trying to collect silk, who knew how much the price would skyrocket.
After such anxiety and painstaking effort, Lu Xin finally gathered enough silk for delivery. To protect the silk, he even lived aboard the ship. This was two days earlier than the agreed time, but this was exactly what he wanted. He had to finish this deal quickly so he could continue his fight with the Wu family. Otherwise, regardless of who won or lost, he would definitely be in trouble.
Furthermore, even after handing over the silk, Wu Shi was also required to pay according to the agreement. Only with the money could she make up for the shortfall and explain herself to the clan. Although she had lost a significant amount of money, at least she wasn't completely wiped out and even had to pay a loss. With her heart somewhat at ease, Lu Xin finally managed a good night's sleep. Unexpectedly, the next day, she woke up to the news of another tragedy.
"The price of silk has dropped? How could it drop?!" Lu Xin was almost going crazy. Did he want to make another fuss now that he had collected enough raw silk?
However, the news brought by the confidant was worse than expected. He muttered, "There are rumors that the burning of our warehouse was a deliberate fabrication, intended to drive up silk prices and harm silk merchants."
Lu Xin's face turned green: "Such a large warehouse was burned, can't they see it?!"
"We, we didn't report it to the police..." The confidant's voice trembled.
Lu Xin felt dizzy and fell back into his seat. He had indeed not reported the incident to the authorities. Not only that, he had even secretly disposed of the servant's body. The fact that thieves had managed to sneak onto the docks and set fire to the warehouse was a testament to the Lu family's weakness. With someone targeting him, he was unlikely to show his weakness in front of outsiders.
However, without reporting the matter to the authorities, who knew how much raw silk had been burned? It would turn to ash in a fire, leaving no evidence. And now they had several boatloads of goods floating openly on the river. If someone used this as a pretext, how would he defend himself? Furthermore, silk prices had already plummeted before the delivery date. What would his family think if he paid too high a price for the silk? This was all public property of the eldest wife. He had finally won over the people, but now it was about to fall apart. As a bastard, how could he shoulder the responsibility and explain himself to his brothers?
Lu Xin couldn't think of a way to deal with the situation, but the silk price would not listen to him. Ever since the news spread that Lu's family was pretending to burn silk and driving up the market price, the silk price fell sharply. In just two days, it dropped by half from the high of one tael and eight cents. The whole of Yuhang was filled with weeping. Silk merchants of all sizes who had stockpiled goods for money were panicked. Some cried loudly in the streets, some beat drums to protest, and many were forced to break up their families.
Countless people came to the Lu Mansion, wanting to ask why they were so cruel. However, Lu Xin had no time to respond. Who would believe that the price of silk could be cut in half in just two days without the manipulation of a major silk merchant? It wasn't just Wu Tianming who was against him; there were countless other opponents as well.
Lu Xin prided himself on his shrewdness, meticulously managing the family estate, never slacking off for a single day. But now, was there any escape route for him? Would the clan elders let him go? Would his brother forgive him? Even if he delivered the goods and took the payment, he would no longer have a foothold in the Lu family.
Just when Lu Xin was completely desperate, an invitation was delivered to him.
"Gu Yunkai invited me to a banquet?" Lu Xin laughed bitterly. "Okay, I want to see who set this up."
Lu Xin knew it was time for a showdown, and he understood even more clearly that he was already a fish on the chopping board, waiting to be cut down. However, when he walked into the Gu family's hall and saw the people seated there, his face drained of color.
That was Zhou Zhenglun, Gu Yunkai, Wu Tianming, and another figure whom I hadn't seen for several years but whom I would never mistake.
"Lu Jian, are you responsible for all this?" Lu Xin couldn't care less about the others. Her eyes were blazing with anger, and she wanted to rush over and slap him in the face. "You traitor, don't you know what's right and wrong?"
Lu Jian looked at the two guys with red eyes and dark complexions and chuckled, "Where did Fourth Uncle come up with that? I just wanted to help the Lu family break out of this predicament."
How do you break the impasse? Are you trying to win over three of Jiangdu's four clans and become a traitor?!
Lu Jian didn't wait for his reply and continued calmly, "This time, such a big disaster has occurred simply because no one has established rules. If there was a trading place with several families in charge, how could such a big commotion have occurred? The world is in chaos now, and the Lu family can't afford to be tormented. Someone must step forward to take charge of the family business and rule Jiangdong."
Lu Xin didn't even need to ask who this person was. All he wanted to ask was, "You're also a member of the Lu family. What do you want by causing such trouble?"
Lu Jian looked at the man who had lost his composure and gradually put away his smile: "Am I still a member of the Lu family? Someone has sent assassins to kill me and they want to take my life. Am I going to let them slaughter me? Fourth uncle, don't lose your composure in front of outsiders."
This sentence brought Lu Xin back to his senses and he looked at the other three. Some frowned, some smiled, and some were very interested. They were all laughing at the Lu family's joke and the trouble this unfilial son had caused.
Lu Xin immediately shut her mouth and just wanted to turn around and leave without being bullied anymore.
However, as if sensing his thoughts, Lu Jian spoke up, "I asked Fourth Uncle to come here to help. How can I let you shoulder such a huge burden alone? Putting everything else aside, doesn't Fourth Uncle want to resolve his own problems?"
He did. Lu Xin paused, looking at the face that bore a striking resemblance to his brother. So many thoughts and memories raced through his mind. Finally, he slowly took his place. If the situation was about to collapse, he didn't want to be the scapegoat.
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