Chapter 422

Once they make a move, there's basically no chance of survival—no escape!

"Then, according to Master Lu's meaning..."

Sun Yaoqing, his belly swollen with pregnancy, tentatively asked Lu Hong.

Seeing Sun Yaoqing's appearance, how could Lu Hong not understand his thoughts?

He felt it was necessary to let the heads of the other families understand the situation of the matter.

So he clapped his hands.

An utterly ordinary servant walked in quickly...

"Master, heads of all the families!"

Lu Hong's gaze swept over the faces of the other family heads; he nodded lightly and said, "Lu Qi, tell the heads of the families the course of events."

"Yes!"

Lu Qi was actually a fish that slipped through the net.

Unlike the bandits who besieged Su Qiao at the dock back then, he was specifically sent by the Lu family to act as an observer, waiting for the outcome.

Originally, with Su Qiao surrounded by several hundred people, he thought the matter was basically finished.

But when the earth-shaking explosive detonated, he immediately knew it was over!

Their mission had failed!

Plus with official troops arriving, he was extremely alert and jumped straight into the river, holding his breath to hide.

That was how he managed to dodge disaster and avoid being captured by the official troops.

Afterwards, Lu Qi detailed the entire process of the ambush on Su Qiao at the dock to the three family heads.

The three family heads felt as if they were listening to a story, their jaws dropped in astonishment.

"Didn't they say this Su Qiao was just a Mao Touxiaozi? This doesn't look like anything a Mao Touxiaozi would do!"

"Yes, he's completely a venomous snake; whoever underestimates him will likely suffer terribly!"

"This plan was already very thorough; we just didn't expect him to be so sinister, producing explosives with such devastating power. Otherwise, the outcome would have been uncertain."

"Enough, everyone. What kind of person this Su Qiao is, I'm sure you've all formed your own judgments. For the next month, we must quickly find a way."

Lu Hong cut off their discussion; now was not the time to discuss this.

They must work together to see how to deal with Su Qiao.

"We have no objections. Our four families have always been of one mind, with the Lu family leading. Master Lu, whatever you say we shall do!"

"Yes, we will all listen to you!"

"Brother Lu, you take charge."

The Sun family head, the Wang family head, and the Qian family head expressed their stance without much hesitation.

The time was simply too tight, the task too heavy; they also wanted to shed part of the responsibility.

If it failed, and the sect came down on them for accountability, they could shift the blame onto the Lu family.

Lu Hong understood their thoughts just as clearly, but he simply didn't take them to heart.

"Good. Since everyone has decided to deal with Su Qiao, let us quickly formulate a plan."

276, Probe!

The family heads discussed at the Lu family residence for a whole day.

On the second day, Su Qiao was in the morning flipping through the Juan Sect files of the Quanzhou Prefecture regarding the Maritime Trade Office.

Sun Youxu entered to report, "Mr. Su, there is someone outside named Lu Hong who has delivered a visiting card; he appears to be the head of the Lu family, one of the four great families of Fuzhou."

"Oh?"

Su Qiao paused in surprise upon hearing this, then nodded and said, "Hmm, first lead him to the side hall to wait; I will come over in a moment!"

"Yes!"

After Sun Youxu went to make arrangements, a figure suddenly appeared in Su Qiao's study.

This person was Zhao Xifang, the guard who had disappeared from Su Qiao's side for some time.

Zhao Xifang was originally supposed to stay by Su Qiao's side to help coordinate centrally.

However, after drawing all attention to himself, Su Qiao secretly arranged for Zhao Xifang to go out and investigate the affairs of Fuzhou, as well as the matters of the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office.

The Bai Bai Lianjiao hid very deeply; Su Qiao did not expect Zhao Xifang to catch their tail.

Instead, the 28 opium secretly flowing out from the Maritime Trade Office was something easier to investigate.

He just didn't expect the head of the Lu family, one of the four great families of Fuzhou City, to come forward first to visit him, this Imperial Envoy.

Hmm, no matter how you look at it, it feels a bit eerie.

At this moment, Zhao Xifang looked completely different from his previous sharp and capable appearance as an Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He was now pretending to be a very wealthy landlord, wearing a dark blue silk robe; his originally stiff and cold face had vanished, replaced by a hypocritical, sly smile.

He wore several gold rings on his left hand; one look told you he was a rich fool!

No one could possibly guess he was an Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Even Su Qiao, upon seeing his attire at first glance, was taken aback.

"Mr. Su, your subordinate in the Lu family has indeed found some things. The Lu family is a major clan in Fuzhou, having existed for two or three hundred years. The other families, such as the Sun family, the Qian family, and the Wang family, all regard the Lu family with reverence. Moreover, although the Lu family holds no major official posts in Fuzhou Prefecture, they have people in basically all positions from the sixth rank downwards and various minor clerks!"

"Not only that, they engage in joint smuggling and trafficking; their annual profits are said to be enormous. They have several large Fukien ships under their family's control..."

Through Zhao Xifang's introduction, Su Qiao gained a simple understanding of what this Lu family was about.

Su Qiao asked with a puzzled expression, "Since you know they are smuggling, why do the Fuzhou officials not deal with them?"

"Mr. Su, the officials in the Fuzhou bureaucracy are so close to these four great families that they are almost one family. It is said there are mutual interests linking them. Of course, all this is without evidence; it is speculation from other merchants."

"If that is the case, then none of the officials in Fuzhou Prefecture are clean. But what about Grand Secretary Sun?"

Su Qiao fell into brief contemplation, feeling that the matter was not as simple as it seemed.

Sun Chuanting did not seem like an honest man either; it appeared he was trying to dig a trap for himself.

He had arrived in Fuzhou too recently, knew too little about the situation, and had not known the people he met for long.

He still needed to judge slowly; for now, there were hardly any clues.

Thus, he waved his hand and said to Zhao Xifang:

"Very well, I understand. Continue to hide in the shadows and investigate. Especially regarding the opium flowing out of the Maritime Trade Office; I feel it cannot be unrelated to several families!"

"Yes!"

Su Qiao straightened his robes, then leisurely made his way to the side hall.

Lu Hong, the head of the Lu family, had already finished his second cup of tea.

There was no sign of impatience on his face; his cultivation of composure had reached a realm of perfection.

Hearing footsteps approach, he immediately set down his teacup and stood up.

As soon as Su Qiao entered, he saw the head of the Lu family dressed in purple robes; clasping his hands and smiling awkwardly, he stepped forward to greet, "This humble one, Lu Hong, pays respects to the Imperial Envoy, my lord!"

"Too polite, too polite. You must be the head of the Lu family. Although I have only recently arrived in Fuzhou City, I have already heard of the head of the Lu family's reputation."

"Minister Su is joking. These are but empty names for this commoner, utterly unworthy of mention! On the contrary, it is Minister Su, so young yet holding such a high position, that we truly admire!"

The moment they met, they began exchanging elaborate flattery.

After speaking for a long time, they shifted from the scenery of Fuzhou to matters overseas, then back to Liaodong and so on.

Their conversation was wild and unfettered, a chaotic jumble of nonsense.

It amounted to wasting an hour of saliva.

Then, without continuing to discuss anything else, Lu Hong took his leave.

It was as if his visit to Su Qiao today was simply to speak nonsense.

Lu Hong also specially delivered many gifts.

All of them were of considerable value!

In truth, both had been testing each other today; Su Qiao was testing Lu Hong's purpose in approaching him.

Lu Hong, in turn, was personally testing Su Qiao's depth of character.

Do not think that because the two spent over an hour engaging in evasive talk, nothing useful was said.

In fact, both sides had gained something.

Lu Hong felt that in dealing with Su Qiao going forward, he could not rely on schemes and tricks; he would have to rely on absolute superiority to complete the mission by surprise.