God of Dragon - Chapter 52

Lu Xingkong, the head of the Lu Family, looked majestic and powerful. He, known as the “Political Desert-Eagle,” was one of the few most powerful officials in the imperial court.

The Desert-Eagle is a rare species living in the desert, which is vicious, greedy, and aggressive. They live mainly on carrion, but from time to time, they will snatch some new food to taste many different flavors. The wolf that has been left alone, wild rabbits, and even wagon trains are their targets. Once Desert-Eagles have chosen their prey, they will never stop trying until they kill and eat their targets.

Either their targets exterminate them, or these eagles will dive sharply and bring their targets high into the air to kill.

It was definitely not a compliment to compare a political figure to an animal like the Desert Eagle. Such an official would be feared by his subordinates and be guarded against by higher-level officials. It could be said that after being regarded as the Political Desert-Eagle, each move that Lu Xingkong took would be extremely difficult and dangerous.

If an ordinary person called him like this, it was likely that Lu Xingkong would instantly silence him and throw his body to the moat around the Capital Heaven.

However, he was first called so by “Starry-Sky Eye,” an old man from the Song Family. Thus, no matter how overbearing Lu Xingkong was, he could do nothing to deal with him.

The post of the empire’s Left Prime Minister was still vacant, but the Chu Family, which was the royal family of the Xifeng Empire, kept silent about this matter. Therefore, all families and clans were fighting hard for this post. In terms of prestige and qualifications, Lu Xingkong was the strongest competitor. Now the whole imperial court was waiting to see if he would successfully win the position of Left Prime Minister.

If he succeeded, the Lu Family would transform from a general’s family to a prime minister’s family. It meant that the war service family would successfully jump to a top literary family, which could be seen as a qualitative leap.

Being as good a general as a minister was the greatest glory of a family and also the guarantee that it would stand firm for centuries. Otherwise, even if Lu Xingkong was the Chief Military Officer, the leader who was in charge of the military officers, his families still had to fight on the battlefield. If all his brilliant descendants died there, how could the Lu family survive, and how could the family preserve its huge wealth?

It was a chasm for both Lu Xingkong and the Lu Family.

Therefore, the entire Lu Family, including Lu Xingkong, was making all-out efforts to get the place of the Left Prime Minister. It was also the reason why Lu Qingming must help his father campaign. He chose to return to the capital even when he was still the Proconsul of Yun Province.

Lu Qingming was too busy in all kinds of affairs, and Lu Xingkong could only be busier for a moment. Every day, he kept meeting his colleagues, old friends, and his subordinates. It was the high time for others to pick or at least pretend to pick their sides, so no one dared to relax or be careless. After all, everyone’s performance was under the watch of hundreds of people’s eyes.

“Dad, I want to bring Muyang back.” Lu Qingming stood in front of his father and said in a firm tone.

His father always had a lot of work to do and was highly stressed, but he still appeared energetic. With his ruddy face and delicate skin, he looked like a middle-aged man in his thirties who had been well maintained.

Lu Qingming knew that it was because his father’s martial cultivation level had reached the Upper Level of the Vicissitude Realm. The moment while he was vital, and another moment he would be spiritless. His vitality was just like the grass, which grows in the spring and withers in autumn, once every year.

At present, his father had just regenerated his life so that both his energy and vitality peaked at this moment.

He swore that he would win the battle for the Left Prime Minister position.

“Hmm?” Lu Xingkong looked down at a document in his hand and asked, “Who is Muyang?”

“Father…”

“Who is Muyang?” Lu Xingkong asked again. He said with a calm voice as if he didn’t know what the name meant at all.

However, Lu Qingming was very clear that he knew everything about Muyang. In fact, his father even knew more than they did.

“Dad, he is my son, a descendant of the Lu Family that I sent away 16 years ago…” Lu Qingming put the brown kraft paper bag in front of Lu Xingkong and said, “Dad, we made a mistake.”

Lu Xingkong glanced at the kraft paper bag but didn’t want to open it at all.

He lifted the kraft paper bag and threw it into the stove next to him. It was used to boil water, make tea, and burn all kinds of documents. In Lu Xingkong’s study, such a stove was burning all the year-round.

“Swoosh!”

The fire in the stove ignited the kraft paper, which soon began to burn with crackles. Inside it, the test papers turned into blazing flames, and the water on the stove started howling and boiling.

When the kraft paper burned up, the water in the stove started to boil.

Lu Xingkong picked up the kettle and began to make tea. He said, “Since you have sent him out already, why will you take the trouble to bring him back?”

“Dad, we cannot repeat the mistake.”

“Clap!”

Lu Xingkong slammed hard on the wooden table, and the tea-table, which was made of thousand-year-old sandalwood, trembled and buzzed.

“Are you going to slap me in the face?” Lu Xingkong shouted angrily.

“…”

“I suppose that you must have spent a lot of time talking to Lil Yu, haven’t you?” Lu Xingkong’s face softened a little. He pointed to the futon opposite him and said, “Sit down and have a cup of tea to moisten your throat.”

Lu Qingming sat down as he was told. He straightened his back and looked at his father, saying, “That year, when we saw his terrible state, we thought that he couldn’t survive. And even if he survived, he would become deformed. Since he was the only descendant of the Lu Family, we were worried that his existence as the only grandson of our family would affect the others’ confidence in the Lu Family. But now this is no longer the case. It turns out that he is not a good-for-nothing. On the contrary, he has achieved a lot of things that many children are incapable of doing.”

“I’ve seen his test papers of the Liberal-arts Exam. I believe that you must have seen it too. Few questions of the exam could get him baffled. From this, we can know how smart and hardworking this young man is. In the entire Capital Heaven, the children of the officials abandon themselves to drinking and dallying with prostitutes. Besides, they indulge in empty talks and horse races. How many of them are practicing martial arts hard or studying diligently? Such an excellent young man is actually a descendant of the Lu Family. Don’t you feel proud of him?”

“So…” Lu Xingkong put a cup of tea before Lu Qingming and said, “Since he is so excellent, why do we need to bring him back?”

“Father?”

“If he stays in the Lu Family, he may also engage in drinking and visiting prostitutes. What he likes may be empty talks and horse races and the like. Will he also become a good-for-nothing like the other children from rich families and be abandoned by the world?”

“But he’s grown up. He’s already 16 years old and will soon come to study in Capital Heaven… Do we still have to let him wander in the outside world?”

“You said he has been wandering outside. Then if he were brought up in our family, does it mean that he would be raised in an enclosure?”

“Father, Lil Yu, she also…”

“Shortsighted views of a woman.”

“…”

“For sentimental reasons, it makes sense. Sixteen years ago, we discarded him because we were worried that he would become a good-for-nothing. But now, after we found that he didn’t grow up into a burden, we want to take him back. Do you know that child’s character? If it were you, what would you think? Would you accept our arrangement and return?”

“According to the current political situation, now is the critical period for the Lu Family to strive for the Left Prime Minister against others. How can we explain our relationship with him if we take him back at this time? There are many smart persons and lots of people with high determination. As long as there are some clues, they can deduce the truth of the matter. If the case that I threw my grandson away 16 years ago is exposed to the world, do you think I would still have the cheek to stay in the imperial court? The Xifeng Empire is a country of ceremony and propriety, which certainly attaches utmost importance to family obligations. What we did has gravely violated the spirits of the empire. At that time, we will have no choice but to quit the competition even without the attacks from our political enemies. I’m afraid we cannot even keep the post of Chief Military Officer, let alone the position of Left Prime Minister. Then, what should we do to guarantee the Lu Family’s future? Have you ever thought about that?”

“…”

Seeing his son slouch over, Lu Xingkong sighed softly and said, “I can feel your pain, but now we still have to give top priority to the overall situation. Since the child Muyang is born with such a fate, let him grow well outside of the Lu Family. The sheep raised within the enclosure will become nothing but just a piece of white meat on the table, but a free-range sheep can fight against the evil wolves outside.”

“Yes, father. I get it,” Lu Qingming answered in a low voice. “Lil Yu hopes that he can enter the Xifeng University.”

“Haha, that’s great…” Lu Xingkong nodded with a smile. “It’s up to you to decide on such a trivial matter.”

“Yes, father.” Lu Qingming bowed and got up to leave. “Father, remember to go to bed early.”

When Lu Qingming left, the old steward pushed the door open and walked in.

“Elder Master, did Miss Yu know something?” The old steward asked with respect.

“Lil Yu is a smart child. We can hide it from her for a short period, but how can we keep it from her for a lifetime?” Lu Xingkong got up and walked toward the courtyard. All the Capital Heaven Cherries of the empire in the yard were in full blossom. Those blossoms that looked like peach flowers were full of branches, emitting a faint fragrance, which made people feel joyful and relax.

“How’s the investigation about Crow? Do you know which family sent him?”

“Crow died, so he was a dead end.” There seemed to be wisdom hidden in every wrinkle on the old steward’s face. He continued, “But he went all the way to Jiangnan City to kill a girl. What a degrading trick! The master at the Starry Sky Realm of the Song Family will die. However, the Song Family has already taken the Right Prime Minister which is a more important position than the Left Prime Minister, so they can’t have any thoughts about the position of the Left Prime Minister. Then our family and the Cui Family become the biggest rival to each other. Since Crow attacked the girl in the Cui Family, others will naturally blame our family for that.”

“Fortunately, the little girl in the Cui Family is all right. Otherwise, if this matter were blown into a major controversy and rumors about it went to the Capital Heaven, our Lu Family’s reputation would be seriously affected. They have no evidence, but people will talk. We can ignore such a thing at other times, but it will have a great impact on us now. It is obvious that they did it to fight for the Left Prime Minister position.”

Lu Xingkong grinned and said, “No one expected that the stupid move we did 16 years ago would help us eliminate an enemy of the Lu Family. Don’t you think that it was heaven that blessed our Lu Family?”

“Yes. Elder Master has been greatly blessed, and the Left Prime Minister is a sure thing in your bag.” Seeing that the Elder Master was happy, the old steward also laughed.

“But we know it clearly that Crow was not the pawn sent by us. If someone wants to shift the blame on the Lu Family, cut his head off and throw it into the shit pool…” Lu Xingkong said with a grim look. He was an unbeaten general who topped all the others in the military circle after going through countless bloody wars. Once such a person went into furious, he would appear as imposing and frightening as thunders.

“Yes, Elder Master. I will send more spies to Jiangnan City.” The old steward bowed and promised, not daring to relax at all.

“But that child… What a pity.” Lu Xingkong looked at the well-opened blossoms of the Capital Heaven Cheery in the courtyard with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Hasn’t young master Qingming said that the kid should go to Xifeng University? When he comes to Capital Heaven, you can certainly take care of him from time to time. With the support of the Lu Family, his future will never be bad.” The old steward next to him said some nice words to comfort him.

“No, let him go to the Starry Sky Academy,” Lu Xingkong said with a cold face.

“Elder Master…”

“Go and arrange it,” Lu Xingkong said, decisively.