Many people from the Lu family argued non stop.
At this moment, Lu Ancheng walked into the hall with his walking stick. His body was weak, and he seemed to have aged ten years in the span of a few days.
Everyone hurriedly shut their mouths and stood up to welcome Lu Ancheng to the main seat.
Lu Ancheng took a seat, took a deep breath, looked around at everyone, and slowly said, “I’ve already thought about it over the past few days. From now on, we will strengthen the central forces by reducing the smaller ones. The various branches will not live in my Lu family’s mansion any more. You can take some money and seek your own livelihood. In addition, no matter the main family or the branch family, the men can’t all live in the same state capital.”
Everyone was shocked.
Someone hurriedly advised,
“Patriarch, how can we do this? The foundation of our Lu family has been split up like this. Be it the main family or all parties, we will fall to the same level as ordinary wealthy families. Our family’s power will definitely not be the same as before!”
Lu Ancheng widened his eyes and forced his weak body as he shouted out,
“The magistrate has been implicated by us. Now that we don’t know if he’s dead or alive, the Imperial Court will definitely pursue the matter. At the same time, there’s still the Death Beckoning Yama King eyeing us by the shadows. The collapse of our Lu family is right in front of us! You don’t know that a disaster is imminent, yet you still think about your past glory. You really don’t know what’s good for you!
The reason why I want to split the Lu family is so that we won’t be caught in one fell swoop and be able to continue on our legacy. Our current accumulated family’s wealth can still bless our future generations. At the very least, we can still remain rich. If we spend a portion of our wealth on a talented person, be it in politics, business, or buying land, we still have a chance to occupy a territory in the future!”
Everyone was speechless. Seeing that Old Master Lu had made up his mind, even if some people were unwilling, they could only agree.
…
Wu Village Manor.
Wu Zheng had already stayed here for a few days with dozens of servants.
After returning this time, he felt that things had changed.
Every time he returned to his hometown, the villagers would mostly greet him when they saw him. The shop would even give him some small items. Everyone was very friendly.
However, this time, Wu Zheng was shocked to discover that his treatment was completely different. When he walked in the village, he would receive guarded and disgusted gazes from the villagers at any time. Almost everyone ignored him, and he actually turned into an unpopular person.
“As expected of a group of ungrateful people.”
While Wu Zheng was secretly furious, he did not forget his motive behind coming over. He brought his people back to the Wu family’s manor as a place to stay.
However, almost all the items in the house had been moved away, and most of the servants had dispersed. Only a few loyal butlers and servants were left to protect the family.
The local elders and wealthy families knew that the Wu family still had children in the state capital, so they did not make things difficult for the Wu family. However, they did not stop the villagers from looting the Wu family.
Wu Zheng felt that this might not be good intentions, because he realized that the old and rich people who used to curry favor with him now had fake smiles on their faces when they saw him.
Since his belongings had been divided up by the villagers, even if Wu Zheng was angry, he could not snatch them back for the time being. He could only ignore them for the time being.
During this period of time, he had mainly been visiting the farmlands and realized that even his own farmlands had been occupied by the villagers. He had come to ask for the land deeds in the hands of these villagers as evidence, but he was almost surrounded and trapped by them.
Fortunately, there were the servants of the Lu family protecting him, so the villagers did not dare to do anything to him. That was why he was safe for the time being.
The title deeds had been burned down, so he could only go to the county government to make up for it. He would definitely use some money to pull strings, but he did not know if he would be obstructed by others.
However, when Wu Zheng thought about how he had Old Master Lu behind him, he relaxed and felt that this matter would definitely succeed.
On this day, Wu Zheng was leading the Lu family servants on a search on the street when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves.
Many villagers turned their heads and saw a few officials riding their horses into the village. Then, they dismounted in front of the official board set up by the village and took out a few official notices from their luggage to paste.
Immediately after, a few officials rang the gong, attracting the attention of the surrounding villagers.
“The criminal, Chen Feng, has wreaked havoc in the An Lin Prefecture, injured an official of the Imperial Court, slaughtered two families, and trampled on the law. His crimes are unforgivable! If you see this person, you must report it to the government office. You will naturally be rewarded!”
Wu Zheng was literate. He leaned over to look at the list and immediately knew that it was an arrest warrant.
The notice stated Chen Feng’s specific deeds, only omitting the details of the magistrate’s serious injuries. It mainly emphasized that he had killed the He and Huang families, as well as the arrogant words that he would kill the other two families in the future. Beside him was a portrait.
When Wu Zheng saw the name of the Lu family in the list, he was shocked. After reading it carefully, he secretly rejoiced that the Lu family was not the one who had suffered. He could not help but feel a lingering fear.
If the Lu family was eliminated, then his last backer would be gone, and he would definitely not be able to regain his assets.
“Speaking of which, isn’t this Chen Feng the thief who wiped out my Wu Village Manor? This person actually dared to cause trouble in the state capital and didn’t even let go of the officials of the Imperial Court?!”
Wu Zheng felt his mouth go dry, and his heart beat wildly.
His own family had died in Zhou Jing’s hands, causing his family’s assets to be snatched away by others. Naturally, he had hatred in his heart, but he was more afraid… How could a powerless person like him survive against such a strong person? Wu Zheng was glad more than once that he was studying in the state capital and had never returned home.
Moreover, Wu Zheng had long thought about it. He felt that to him, thinking about revenge before he achieved success would only distract him. The most important thing in his life was to obtain an academic title.
As long as he became an official, he would have power. Revenge was naturally not a problem, and he did not have to worry about his life. It was much more worth it.
It just so happened that he had a reason to succeed now. He wanted to ignore everything else once he reclaimed his family’s assets, only burying his head in his studies to pursue better qualifications.
However, at this moment, when he saw that Zhou Jing even dared to hit an official of the Imperial Court, Wu Zheng could not help but feel terrified. He found it difficult to understand why anyone would dare to attack an official.