Chapter 1189: Rather Die Standing Than Live Kneeling, I'm Not Short on That Much Spine!

The moment these words left his mouth, everyone listening was fired up!!

Eighty to ninety percent? You actually dare say that!!

How is that any different from total confiscation?

These local magnates of Wushuang City had thought this was their chance to ride the wind.

Turns out it was nearly a catastrophe of annihilation.

If they gave up eighty to ninety percent of their assets, their families wouldn't just be cold—they'd be nearly dead.

This was shaking them to their very foundations.

They were being pushed toward self-destruction.

"Grand Duke Lu! Immortal Master Lu!!!!"

The head of the Ji Family shouted louder with each call, truly caught up in his emotions: "Do you really have to take things this far!?"

"The Ji Family has never offended you!!!"

"You're trying to sever the Ji Family's roots!!!"

Lu Ding listened and sighed: "Alas, as they say, times create heroes, and times also destroy them. You just happened to be caught in the current."

"Hahahahahaha... 'Caught in the current,' what a line."

The head of the Tu Family stared at Lu Ding: "One phrase about being caught in the current, and that decides our fate!?"

Lu Ding looked at him: "Yes, exactly right, just like how you decide the fate of others. Because you're strong, you can freely dictate their destinies. But now I'm stronger than you. When you freely decided the fate of others, you should have realized this day would eventually come for you. You should have prepared yourselves to accept it, since that's exactly how you treated others."

"I won't waste more words with you. Those who can listen, go home and pack up properly, prepare properly. Those who can't, when the time comes, I'll come check. Miss even one character, and we'll have to tear each other's faces off."

Lu Ding turned to leave, then suddenly stopped: "Oh, one more thing—don't even think about playing clever tricks."

"Let's get some things straight in advance. My methods are beyond your imagination. I may not need to chase you down, but I have plenty of ways to wipe you out completely, from top to bottom."

"I can give you the chance to put up a desperate struggle, since it's only one day after all. But I absolutely will not allow anyone to take away the development funds of Wushuang City!"

"Alright, that's it. Think it over."

He didn't give them a chance to argue or pull him back.

Lu Ding directly left with Secretary Qiu.

No point in wasting words.

No matter how much they said, it wouldn't change Lu Ding's mind.

These people were rotten apples with deeply entrenched feudal thinking, unshakable class hierarchies, and crimes too numerous to record.

As the city where the Great Han Embassy would be established in the future, Wushuang City couldn't completely eradicate feudalism or carry out reform and opening up due to the broader environmental constraints.

But!!!

It was absolutely unacceptable for things to stay as they were.

If these people weren't dealt with, the reform of Wushuang City would shake their foundations and offend their roots, and they would inevitably cause trouble.

And the envoy delegation from Great Han couldn't handle them. Even the Shen Family would find it difficult to defeat them outright.

So, only Lu Ding could handle them.

But Lu Ding had many matters to attend to.

Rather than waiting for problems to erupt later, potentially facing unexpected outcomes or casualties.

It was better to deal with them now while he had the time.

Never wait for the worst outcome before starting to plan!

Lu Ding left.

Leaving behind a room full of people staring at each other, not a single person speaking.

Until after a long while, roughly when Lu Ding was far away!

Someone slammed the table and shouted!!

BANG!!!!

"Tyranny! This is Lü Mountain tyranny!!!!"

"They don't treat us as human beings at all!!"

"What does this mean? They're treating us like demons, wanting to drive us out, exterminate us completely!!!!"

"So vicious, truly so vicious. Sure enough, what they say outside isn't false—this Lü Mountain is a hegemonic force straddling Demon Province, saying one thing and meaning it. All that talk of karma and fate is complete bullshit. Clearly, whatever they say goes!!!"

"Now they want eighty to ninety percent of our family assets. This is giving us no way to survive!"

"I don't care whether you all give it or not, I'm not giving it. I've shed how much blood to get where I am today? How many brothers have I lost? After all these years, finally reaching this point, and now you want me to hand over half a lifetime of blood and sweat? I can't do it!!!"

The Platform Master of the Gu Family picked up a wine bottle on the table, filled a cup, and downed it in one gulp before violently smashing his jade cup to the ground: "If it comes to it, I'll fight him to the bitter end!!!"

"Rather die standing than live kneeling!"

"I'm not short on that much spine!!!"

With the first one taking the lead.

The second, the third, also turned and left with the intention of fighting Lu Ding to the death.

In the end, not many people remained in the room.

They were the ones who had lived too long in peaceful times.

Looking at the Lei, Lu, and Fei families—the three heads of households who had stayed behind in the room with them.

Someone spoke up.

"Head of the Lei Family, congratulations. Alas... we're finished, but you all, you've managed to latch onto the big tree that is Grand Duke Lu."

The Lei, Lu, and Fei families had originally been relatively well-behaved, which was why Lu Ding had left them behind. The clearest water has no fish—while they weren't spotless, at least they were the tallest among the short.

So facing everyone's flattery.

The three families didn't dare get cocky. They hurriedly returned the courtesy with cupped fists: "We were just lucky. It's all fate. Everyone, we don't know the details either."

"Whether you know or not doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done. They've all left, and we haven't. That means we have no choice—we can only agree to Grand Duke Lu's demands."

"We've had too many good years to go smash eggs against rocks now. Can't afford to gamble anymore. 'Rather die than yield' is a thing of the past."

"We just want to live our peaceful lives quietly. There's just one small matter."

"In the future, the three of you families are bound to grow big, but we shouldn't end up too badly off either. So, I was thinking, we could discuss future cooperation outside the city starting today."

"After all, having given up eighty to ninety percent of our assets, if we don't plan a way to make a living for the future, we probably won't survive."

Now these were the clever ones.

The world has no shortage of fools, nor does it lack the clever.

The Lei, Lu, and Fei families quickly responded: "For matters outside the city in the future, we'll need to rely on you elder brothers to look after us. We'll handle the inside, you handle the outside. With Lü Mountain holding the reins of power, we can't fight Grand Duke Lu, but making money within Grand Duke Lu's rules—that should be doable."

With those words from the three families, everyone felt reassured.

Nothing more needed to be said. They still needed to rush back and take stock of their assets.

After everyone had left.

The heads of the Lei, Lu, and Fei families slowly sat down.

"Fortune and misfortune, who would've thought we'd still have a day like this."

"What do you say—how about we go report to Grand Duke Lu later, tell him someone's planning to rebel against him? Consider it our way of pledging allegiance."

The moment Lu Hai's words came out, the Lei and Fei family heads both stared at him. The Lei family head said: "You're confused, you know that? Can we really say such things? In all these years in Wushuang City, sure, we've had our open and covert struggles, but there have also been times we supported each other."

"If you go report them now, you'd be violating the code of honor of the Jianghu. A person can't live like that."

"If it were Grand Duke Lu who might lose, then sure, going to report would be one thing."

"Even the Jin and Shen Families couldn't beat Grand Duke Lu. Do you think they can? They're just unwilling to accept it, showing their last bit of spine. They know they'll fail, but they still want to fight to the end out of courage. If you say something like that, can you still hold your head up as a person in the future!?"