Martial Cultivator

As they neared the ancestral hall, the sounds of arguments inside were already drifting out. Lu Qingling could vaguely distinguish several voices among them, including Second Granduncle's and Third Great-Uncle's.

These elders were all highly influential figures within the Lu Family. They represented not only themselves, but also the branches of the family they belonged to.

The only time Lu Qingling had ever seen so many elders gathered together had been at the old family head's birthday celebration. Just thinking that all those elders were now inside the ancestral hall made her somewhat nervous.

Even though she was already far calmer than most people her age.

"Don't worry, Elder Sister. Leave everything to me."

Lu Xin smiled and reassured her a few times before arriving at the entrance to the ancestral hall.

He reached out and handed the lantern to a servant standing nearby. The servant accepted it and was about to withdraw when Lu Xin shook his head. "Don't leave. Wait here."

The servant had just begun to lift his head when Lu Xin said indifferently, "Do my words carry no weight?"

The servant lowered his head again. Before he could speak, however, a dignified voice rang out from inside the ancestral hall. "Little Xin, it's only been a few days since I last saw you, why have you become more childish? Why are you making things difficult for a servant?"

As the voice rang out, a middle-aged man stepped out of the ancestral hall and looked at Lu Xin with an unfriendly expression. "Making all your uncles and elders wait for you at a family council in the ancestral hall isn't very appropriate, is it?"

Lu Xin smiled. "When servants don't know their place, they need to be taught. As for the meeting, the appointed time hasn't arrived yet. My uncles are free to come early if they have nothing better to do, but this nephew doesn't have that much spare time. Doesn't Seventeenth Uncle know that?"

Seventeenth Uncle's expression changed as he was about to speak, but Lu Xin gave him no chance, continuing, "The tea business Seventeenth Uncle is responsible for mad a loss of thirty percent last month. If I hadn't gone to inspect it personally, I'm afraid this month it would have been operating at a loss, wouldn't it?"

After hearing that, Seventeenth Uncle had even less to say. Stepping past him, Lu Xin smiled and said, "Seventeenth Uncle, nothing stays the same forever. You can't just sit on your past achievements forever."

With those words, Lu Xin officially stepped into the ancestral hall, with Lu Qingling following behind him.

However, the moment the two of them entered, one of the Lu Family elders who had already taken his seat frowned and said, "What kind of behavior is this! Bringing a woman into the ancestral hall? Lu Xin, are you trying to start a rebellion?!"

Although the Lu Family was a merchant family, its clan traditions were even stronger than those of most families. Except during major ancestral ceremonies, women were forbidden from entering the ancestral hall. This was one of the Lu Family's ancestral rules.

Lu Xin clearly knew this ancestral rule, yet had acted this way anyway. Some people immediately thought they had found an opportunity to attack him, while others became somewhat worried.

Today's Lu Xin was obviously different from his usual cautious self. None of them believed he had suddenly become so arrogant. They only believed he must have some other purpose.

"Fifteenth Uncle, don't put such a huge accusation on this nephew. The imperial court is at the height of its power. Even if the Lu Family wanted to rebel, what could we possibly accomplish, even if we risked everything?"

"Spend some money to raise an army? What are you implying? Could it be that, with the north embroiled in war, Fifteenth Uncle has been thinking about changing the dynasty?"

"You..."

Fifteenth Uncle's face flushed red with anger. That was naturally not what he meant, but if he was unreasonable, Lu Xin would simply be even more unreasonable.

Lu Xin calmly said, "This nephew will be perfectly frank with all my elders. This ancestral rule of the Lu Family has existed for over a hundred years. Your nephew believes it's wrong and shouldn't be followed any longer. Men and women alike bear the surname Lu. What's the difference between them?" "Forbidding women from entering the ancestral hall is simply absurd. Don't tell me it's because 'it's always been this way.' Our dynasty's Empress once held the title of Female Scholar, and her scholarly tablent was no less than that of any man. Women of the Xie Family can serve as instructors at the academy, and now one of them is even a general in the Northern Frontier. If the court had rigidly clung to its so-called ancestral rules, wouldn't our Great Liang Dynasty have one fewer outstanding general?"

When Lu Xin first began speaking, his voice was not particularly loud, but by the end, it rang clearly throughout the hall.

The two examples he had given were the late Empress and Xie Nandu who was currently like the noonday sun. No matter who it was, no one could find grounds to refute them.

The ancestral hall immediately fell silent.

Although Lu Qingling appeared calm on the surface, her heart was already in turmoil.

She herself had never cared much about whether women could enter the ancestral hall, but the other women of the Lu Family certainly did.

What she had never expected was that her younger cousin had brought her here today precisely to speak up on behalf of every woman in the Lu Family.

It had all happened far too suddenly.

"Lu Xin, a matter like this can't be decided with just a few words. The Family Head is still here. Why bring this up now?"

One of the elders, who usually had a good relationship with Lu Xin, spoke up, trying to help him out. After all, Lu Xin was not yet the one in charge of the Lu Family. Even if everyone present agreed, such a major decision still required the old Family Head's approval.

Just as Lu Xin was about to reply, the sound of footsteps came from outside. An elderly man entered, leaning on a walking stick.

The elderly man had a full head of white hair and a solemn expression. He was the Lu Family's Old Family Head, Lu Yin.

As soon as Lu Yin appeared, everyone's gaze fell upon him. For so many years, every major affair of the Lu Family had ultimately been decided by the Old Family Head.

Including Lu Xin, everyone present bowed in greeting upon seeing Lu Yin.

The Old Family Head glanced at Lu Xin before walking to the seat of honor. After taking his seat, he said calmly, "Little Xin's argument does have some merit. But these things cannot be accomplished overnight. A rule that has existed for so many years cannot be changed in a single day either. Tonight isn't the time to discuss this. We can take it slowly."

The Old Family Head's words settled the matter. Naturally, no one else had any objections. After a few voices expressed their agreement, the ancestral hall quickly fell silent again.

Lu Xin merely turned to glance at Lu Qingling, whose expression remained unchanged.

Turning back, Lu Xin took a deep breath but said nothing.

Lu Yin coughed lightly. "I called everyone here tonight to discuss something else. The Northern Frontier is no longer peaceful. Our Lu Family should do something for the court. Every branch has already made its own contributions. Now it's time for the Lu Family as a whole to do something."

Hearing the Old Family Head speak up, Seventeenth Uncle stepped forward with a smile. "As subjects of Great Liang, we should naturally help shoulder the nation's burdens. I propose that this year, the Lu Family donate ten percent of our annual profits to support the court. Every branch will simply receive a little less in dividends."

The moment Seventeenth Uncle finished speaking, many voices immediately expressed their approval.

Before long, however, someone else said, "The imperial court is facing difficult times right now. Ten percent seems too little. Let's make it thirty percent. If we do that, the court will remember our loyalty, and the common people will praise us as well. Everyone wins."

"Sixteenth Brother, saying thirty percent is easy enough, but have you thought about how much less every branch will receive in dividends this year?"

"That's right, Sixteenth. Don't be so impulsive."

"Second Granduncle, thirty percent really isn't that much. Once it's divided among all the branches, each one won't actually lose much."

"No, no. Thirty percent is still far too much..."

Arguments broke out throughout the ancestral hall one after another. The hardest thing in the world was taking money out of someone else's pocket. For a family business as enormous as the Lu Family's, even ten percent of the annual profits was an astronomical sum, let alone thirty percent.

Bang, bang, bang...

The Old Family Head tapped his walking stick against the floor several times, and the ancestral hall immediately fell silent.

"Little Xin, what do you think? How much is appropriate?"

The Old Family Head looked at Lu Xin with a faint smile on his face.

Lu Yin had always been very satisfied with this most outstanding member of the younger generation.

"One hundred percent."

After a brief silence, Lu Xin calmly gave an answer that no one had expected.

Without question, the entire ancestral hall instantly exploded into an uproar.

Countless angry voices erupted at once.

"Lu Xin, do you even know what you're saying?!"

"One hundred percent? Wouldn't that mean the Lu Family worked for nothing this year!"

"Lu Xin, I think you've really gone mad!"

A chorus of angry voices filled the ancestral hall.

Only after the shouting had died down somewhat did Lu Xin speak. "Even if we donate all of this year's profits to the court, no one here is going to starve. Haven't all of you accumulated savings over the years? Forget living off them for one year, you could probably live off them for ten years without any trouble. Since that's the case, why not? People are dying in the north. They are dying for us, yet we're unwilling to part with a little money?"

Lu Xin said indifferently, "Although the Lu Family has engaged in commerce for generations, has everyone forgotten that our ancestor was once a scholar? The principles he followed were Mr. Zhang's four sayings!"

His voice was not loud, but it carried tremendous force.

Mr. Zhang's four sayings had always been the ideal pursued by countless scholars.

Lu Qingling looked at Lu Xin before her and felt as though she were seeing this younger brother for the very first time.

"Don't bring that up. If all of our profits are donated and something happens to the Lu Family's business next year, will you, Lu Xin, take responsibility?!"

Someone spoke up to challenge this young man.

Lu Xin merely replied, "As long as I'm here, nothing will happen."

His words were calm, but wildly arrogant.

And they were more than enough to infuriate some people, because everyone knew that the Lu Family's business had indeed prospered more and more because of Lu Xin.

The truth hurt the most.

"Old Family Head, Lu Xin has lost his mind. First he brought a woman into the ancestral hall today, and now he's saying all this madness. I think..."

Second Granduncle stepped forward, but before he could finish, someone interrupted him.

"What do you think?"

Old Family Head Lu Yin looked at him, his expression unreadable.

Lu Yin's words stunned everyone present, because they all heard the displeasure in his tone.

Lu Yin ignored everyone else and instead turned to Lu Xin with a gentle smile, "Little Xin, what you said isn't right."

Lu Xin's expression remained unchanged, but his heart sank halfway.

Many people raised their eyebrows.

See? The Old Family Head won't be muddleheaded!

But in the next moment, Old Family Head Lu Yin shook his head, "One hundred percent isn't enough."