Chapter 37: Tributor
Li Qinghe spoke with murderous rage, "They all think the Li Family is an easy target, a piece of meat for anyone to bite off. From now on, you are not to go anywhere without bodyguards. I will also hire two Grandmasters to watch over the company and our home. Have they all forgotten that the Li Family was once the number one family in Jiangzhou!"
Hearing Li Qinghe's words, Li Jianwen and Li Huiran finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The Sun Family's prestige in Jiangzhou was long-established. The Four Great Families were in constant flux, but the Sun Family always remained. The news that the Sun Family wanted not only the Li Group but also their lives had terrified them.
"I can't believe Grandpa can still call upon a Grandmaster!"
Li Qinghe said calmly, "Huiran, for a family to grow strong, it must be protected by a greater power. At the level of the Four Great Families, that power is always a Grandmaster. The Sun, Yang, Huang, and Li families... The Sun Family's Grandmaster is Sun Yuanjing, the Yang Family's is Yang Yushan, the Huang Family's is Cui Hong, and our Li Family is backed by three Grandmasters."
Li Huiran was stunned by this revelation. 'The Li Family is backed by three Grandmasters?!'
Li Qinghe said with a hint of resignation, "The Li Family became the number one family in Jiangzhou because we were backed by three Grandmasters. But two of them died from their injuries, causing our family's status to plummet. The last one has spent these years traveling and taking on apprentices, so you've never met him, being so busy with your studies. It's because we had no Grandmaster present that the Li Family has had to repeatedly back down before the Huang Family."
Li Jianwen asked, his face lighting up with excitement, "Does that mean Uncle Lu is coming back?"
Li Qinghe nodded. "Huiran, you don't know him. Your Grandmaster Lu's name is Lu Yongxiu, a Tributor of our Li Family. His apprentice, Shen Gong, broke through to the Grandmaster realm two days ago, and they will return to Jiangzhou tonight. When they arrive, our Li Family will have two Grandmasters. We'll have nothing to fear from the Sun Family then. As long as we can overcome this financial crisis, the Li Family's future will be bright!"
Li Huiran and Li Jianwen nodded emphatically. Now that the Li Family would have its own Grandmasters in residence, they would no longer have to fear the Huang Family. Even the impending threat of the Sun Family seemed less terrifying.
KNOCK KNOCK~ Xia Yi knocked on the door and said, "Father, the bodyguards say there's an old man named Lu at the manor gate asking us to announce his arrival. I thought it might be Uncle Lu, so I came to get you."
Li Qinghe laughed heartily. "Haha, speak of the devil and he shall appear! Come, let's go welcome him."
Li Qinghe led the Li Family members to the manor gate. There, they saw an old man in a green robe, his left arm missing, his temples frosted with gray, but his eyes sharp and bright. Beside him stood a young man with a swaggering air, puffy eyes, and a sharp, almost simian face.
Spotting the one-armed old man, Li Qinghe laughed from afar, "Yongxiu! Long time no see!"
Lu Yongxiu laughed in return. "Patriarch, I'm back! We were supposed to take the train and arrive tonight, but this kid, Shen Gong, insisted on flying. It was my first time on a plane. I felt no sense of security whatsoever, but it sure was fast. We're here already..."
Meanwhile, the young man named Shen Gong seemed oblivious to the conversation. His puffy eyes, blazing with lust, were fixed on Xia Yi and her daughter, and he couldn't help but swallow hard.
'Holy shit!' he thought. 'This mother-daughter pair... each one is a masterpiece. The older one, the wife... she's got the boobs, she's got the ass, her body is just sinfully hot. But the younger one is even more lethal. That gorgeous face, those long, straight, perfect legs... If she wrapped those around me, wouldn't I just die and go to heaven?'
He didn't snap out of his reverie until Lu Yongxiu called him over to meet the Patriarch.
Lu Yongxiu's face darkened. He knew his apprentice's character all too well. "Shen Gong," he barked coldly, "come and greet the Patriarch!"
Shen Gong turned to look at Li Qinghe, his flippant gaze holding a hint of disdain as he made a show of preparing to bow.
Li Qinghe and the others had their attention focused on Lu Yongxiu, so they didn't notice Shen Gong's behavior. "Yongxiu," Li Qinghe said with a carefree smile, "I'm not the Patriarch anymore. Jianwen is the one in charge now."
Li Jianwen said warmly, "There's no need for 'Patriarch.' Uncle Lu, you can just call me Jianwen. And Shen Gong, you can call me Brother Jianwen." He then introduced his wife. "This is my wife, Xia Yi."
Xia Yi shot Li Jianwen a cold glare before turning with a smile to nod at the two men. "It's a pleasure, Uncle Lu. And Young Master Shen."
Lu Yongxiu had met Xia Yi before, so he simply nodded in return.
Shen Gong, however, greeted her with a wicked smirk. "Hello, Sister-in-law."
Li Jianwen then introduced his daughter. "This is my daughter, Li Huiran."
Lu Yongxiu smiled. "In the blink of an eye, Huiran is all grown up. I used to hold you when you were little. I wonder if you remember."
Li Huiran replied with a polite smile, "I was probably too little to remember. It's an honor to meet you, Grandmaster Lu. And you, Uncle Shen."
Lu Yongxiu laughed heartily, but Shen Gong just stared at Li Huiran with a burning intensity. "Hello, Niece Huiran!"
After the introductions were made, Li Qinghe quickly invited the two men into the manor.
Xia Yi went to brew tea personally, while Li Qinghe explained the Li Family's current predicament.
Lu Yongxiu said thoughtfully, "I heard about Sun Yuanjing's power twenty years ago, but I've never crossed hands with him, so I can't gauge his true depth. In that case, my apprentice and I can split up. One will guard the company, and the other will guard the manor."
Shen Gong snorted in dissatisfaction. "Master, why be so timid? Why don't the two of us just storm the Sun Family's home and kill that Sun Yuanjing? Wouldn't that solve everything?"
"Fool!" Lu Yongxiu snapped. "Do you think a century-old family like the Sun Family is that simple? Even if the Sun Family Manor isn't an inescapable deathtrap, it's certainly filled with countless mechanisms and snares. To go there now would be suicide. Our only option is to wait for Sun Yuanjing to make the first move, and then the two of us will take him down together."
Shen Gong turned his head away, clearly unconvinced, but said nothing more.
Lu Yongxiu shook his head. Ever since Shen Gong had broken through to the Grandmaster realm, he had grown increasingly defiant.
But with the Li Family in crisis, now wasn't the time for a lecture. He asked Shen Gong, "Would you rather go to the company or stay at the manor?"
Shen Gong's eyes flickered toward Li Huiran, shamelessly raking over her form. 'Staying at the manor means more time with that gorgeous older woman,' he mused, 'but going to the company means more time with my exquisite "niece." Maybe we could even act out a few office fantasies.' He answered, "I'll go to the company."
This time, all three members of the Li Family saw Shen Gong's blatant stare, and their brows furrowed in unison. As veterans of the business world, reading people was second nature to them; they could easily guess his intentions. However, the Li Family's current situation didn't permit them to show their displeasure.
As long as Shen Gong didn't make any excessive demands, they would have to endure it and play along. He was a Grandmaster, a powerful expert the Li Family could not afford to offend. But at that moment, all three of them became wary of him.
Li Qinghe decided to test the waters. He asked with a smile, "Do Yongxiu or Nephew Shen have any requests for us?"
Shen Gong's face lit up with glee and he was about to speak, but a look from his master made him sit back down.
After shooting Shen Gong a warning glare, Lu Yongxiu said, "This is a time of crisis for the Li Family. Any requests can wait until after it's over."
Li Qinghe nodded, ordering his staff to prepare a welcome banquet and arrange guest rooms for the two of them.
The master and apprentice's guest rooms were, of course, adjacent. Lu Yongxiu went into Shen Gong's room, closed the door, and demanded, "What are you playing at?"
Shen Gong gave a sly chuckle. "Master, you said that once I became a Grandmaster, you'd stop meddling in my affairs."
Lu Yongxiu's voice was ice. "That depends on the affair! I'm warning you, the Li family is off-limits!"
A wicked grin spread across Shen Gong's face. "And why is that? The Li Family is begging for our help. They'd have to agree to even the most outrageous demands. Besides, what's so outrageous about sleeping with a mother and daughter a few times?"
Lu Yongxiu was shaking with rage. "You vile creature!" he roared. "The Li Family showed me a kindness as heavy as a mountain! They saved my very life! If you dare lay a finger on any of them, I will kill you right now!"
Seeing that Lu Yongxiu was truly furious, Shen Gong said dismissively, "All right, all right, I won't touch them!" But in his heart, he thought, 'You old fool. How long can you really watch over me?'
Lu Yongxiu knew his apprentice's nature all too well. He threatened in a cold voice, "You'd better mean that. And don't try any of your usual dirty tricks. Don't you forget about the Military Suppression Department!"
Shen Gong's face instantly turned deathly pale. He would never forget the days he spent being hunted by the Military Suppression Department. He nodded quickly at Lu Yongxiu.