Chapter 89: Underlying Currents Surge

“Go. Call a press conference and announce that our Liu family is canceling all cooperation with the Ling Group. And inform every one of our partners that from now on, they are not to work with the Ling family either.”

“Dad, we never had any projects with the Ling family to begin with. Old Wu does have some dealings with them, but he’s only the subcontractor. It’s not really his call.”

“It’s a gesture.” Liu Wenhong looked at his son in bitter disappointment. “Tell me this: we’ve never had any dealings with Ye Qiusu. So why would she remember you?”

Liu Wenhong paused, then went on, “Let me ask you something else. You’ve played around with so many women. Which ones stayed in your memory the longest? Which ones actually moved your heart?”

Young Master Liu answered without a second’s thought, “The innocent ones.”

Smack.

Liu Wenhong slapped him across the face. If he had worn a beard, it would probably have trembled with fury.

Even so, Old Liu was blazing with anger.

And yet Young Master Liu felt wronged. It was true enough—the innocent ones were the most unforgettable.

Especially the sort who acted shy and coy, yet looked full of endless possibilities. That expression was impossible to forget.

“Fine. Let me use a different example.”

Old Liu realized he had chosen poorly. Talking to his son about women was using his own weakness to attack the other man’s strength.

So he immediately changed tack.

“You’ve got so many useless hangers-on buzzing around you. Why is it that you only ever help a select few?”

“Because they’re my own people.” Young Master Liu thought for a moment, then added, “Because I know those people can only make money by relying on me. And I know that as long as I don’t fall, they can all serve as my advance guard. As long as those lackeys are out front, I, Young Master Liu, can enjoy the prestige I have today.”

As he spoke, Young Master Liu dimly began to understand what his father was really getting at.

“Dad, is that really necessary?” he said, puzzled. “Our Liu family is somebody in Linhai. Why do we have to go out of our way to curry favor?”

“Boy, don’t think that just because you’ve got the title of one of Linhai’s Four Young Masters, you’re actually something special.” Liu Wenhong said flatly, “If your Four Young Masters are really so impressive, then why aren’t Murong Xiaofeng and Tian Ju included? Do you seriously think you’re more formidable than those two? If that’s the case, then I’d better father another son, so the little family fortune I’ve scraped together doesn’t all get squandered by you.”

“Dad, what are you saying? Aren’t you afraid Mom will skin you alive if she hears that?”

“Get lost. As if I’d be afraid of her.”

Liu Wenhong shouted at the top of his lungs, but a moment later he could not help glancing around, as though afraid some tigress might appear without warning.

“Hmph. If your mother hadn’t coddled you at every turn, you wouldn’t have turned out like this. An indulgent mother ruins her son.”

“Enough. I can’t be bothered wasting more words on you. Just do as I say. And remember—make it loud. Make it big. And move fast. Who knows how many people are watching this. If you’re even one step too slow, they won’t appreciate your gesture.”

“Dad, do we really have to do this?”

Young Master Liu was still unwilling to accept it. Back then, Ye Qiu had slapped him, and he still had not settled that score. Yet now his father, instead of being a proper big boss, was practically rushing over to become someone else’s lackey.

If his old man’s words and manner had been any different from usual, he would have started suspecting the man had been replaced by a clone.

“I’m not discussing this with you. The Liu family is still under my command. Don’t let having a little money go to your head. In the face of absolute power, what use is money? When that time comes, it’s nothing but wastepaper.”

“All right. I’ll make arrangements now.”

Though Young Master Liu was unconvinced, he still listened to his father.

After all, he was the only son in the family. One day the Liu fortune would be his to inherit. The old man would not set him up for ruin.

Pinching his nose in reluctant resignation, Young Master Liu began issuing orders for the company to act.

Young Master Liu moved quickly, but Xue Yishou was no slower.

Before long, the news that Ye Qiu intended to wipe out the Ling family of River City spread throughout the whole of Linhai.

The entire city was shaken.

Those who knew nothing began wildly speculating about Ye Qiu’s identity. Those who knew something started weighing gains and losses, calculating the interests involved.

Yet no one knew why the Ling family had come into conflict with Ye Qiu. It felt like joining the crowd for gossip only to find the melon unripe—half-cooked and unsatisfying.

The Murong family was equally shaken.

“Brother, how can this Ye Qiu be so bold? He’s just some upstart nouveau riche with no roots or backing. How does he dare challenge the Ling family?”

When Murong Di first heard the news, she had assumed it was the Ling family making a high-profile move against Ye Qiu.

The whole thing sounded absurd.

“I’m not too sure either.” Murong Xiaofeng shook his head, a gravity never before seen on his face. “Grandfather gave orders personally just now. The Murong family is to support Ye Qiu with everything we have.”

“Grandfather gave the order?”

Disbelief spread across Murong Di’s face.

The older generation had long since stepped back in order to cultivate the younger one. The Murong family’s day-to-day affairs were already being handled by third-generation descendants like Murong Xiaofeng. Rarely did the elders intervene with direct commands.

“Yes.” Murong Xiaofeng gave a slight nod.

He could not understand it, and the old master had offered no explanation.

“Then, Brother, what are you planning to do?”

“We wait and see.” After a moment’s hesitation, Murong Xiaofeng said, “The Ling family has considerable influence in River City. If they retaliate recklessly, even the Murong family could suffer losses we can’t predict.”

“But what about Grandfather’s side?”

“Grandfather only said we must fully support him. He didn’t say when we had to begin. Once the situation becomes clear, the Murong family can make its move. That way there’s no risk, and the Murong family’s share of benefits won’t be any less.”

Murong Xiaofeng felt there was no flaw in his thinking. After all, too many people depended on the Murong family’s ship for their livelihood. For great clans like theirs, it was better to be a little slower, so long as they remained steady. Falling behind was not frightening; latecomers could still overtake those before them.

But if they grew too aggressive, then perhaps the Murong family might climb still higher from its already lofty height. Yet by that same token, in no more than a decade or two, the family might also splinter and collapse.

Seas turn to mulberry fields, the world forever shifts. Across thousands of years of civilization, how many great houses once shone like stars—only to vanish into the long river of history?

The reason the Murong family had endured for so long rested on a single word:

Steadiness.

Where there were the steady, there were naturally also the bold.

Jin Liu and En Hui were the two boldest of them all.

Jin Liu, who had just been preparing to flee, tore up his ticket the moment he heard the news and quietly returned to Linhai.

After Fan Wencheng was assassinated, Jin Liu had keenly sensed that he would be next.

He was, by trade, a merchant. Back when he agreed to help Fan Wencheng secretly bring in goods from outside, it was because he had believed Fan Wencheng’s lies.

He had thought it was nothing more than smuggled merchandise. He had never expected it to involve secrets worth killing for.

More importantly, he had not even possessed that route in the first place. It was Ye Qiu who had opened up that line of business for him. And now he had managed to offend both sides.