The Return of the King

If Li Xiujian's revelation of the "switched heiresses" was a nuclear bomb of public opinion, then Lu Chenyuan's detonation of the "Shengtian Realty investigation" was a precision-guided apocalypse.

The former destroyed hearts and reputations, while the latter severed the very lifeline of Lu Corporation.

The moment the official announcement appeared online, the internet's frenzy over the wealthy family's scandal came to an abrupt halt. All eyes were drawn to this far more explosive news.

"Holy shit! Didn’t Lu Corporation just acquire Shengtian Realty? This… this is a surgical strike!"

"Is Lu Mingshi some kind of business prodigy? The moment he takes over, he buys a company hiding a ticking time bomb?"

"Tax evasion, major safety violations… This isn’t something you can just pay a fine for—this is prison time!"

"Lu Corporation’s stock… it’s over. It’s already unsalvageable. Tomorrow’s opening bell? Hell, there might not even be a tomorrow."

Public sentiment flipped in an instant.

Netizens who had been sympathizing with the Lu family’s "18-year deception" mere seconds ago were now cursing Lu Corporation’s management as incompetent, negligent, and a cancerous blight on the capital markets.

The financial markets responded with brutal efficiency.

Lu Corporation’s stock, already limping along at the daily limit-down, collapsed completely in after-hours trading and futures markets. All related financial derivatives turned to worthless paper overnight.

Rating agencies scrambled to issue reports, downgrading Lu Corporation’s credit rating to "junk" and slapping it with warnings of "imminent bankruptcy and liquidation."

Three-pronged annihilation.

Public opinion. Stock prices. Legal repercussions.

Three nooses tightening around Lu Corporation’s neck, waiting only for the executioner’s final command.

......

Li Family Study.

Crash!

An antique crystal glass, worth a small fortune, shattered violently against the floor.

Li Xiujian stared at the official announcement on his screen, his face ashen. The smug triumph in his eyes had vanished, replaced by the stunned fury of a hunter realizing his prey had outmaneuvered him.

"Lu. Chen. Yuan."

He ground out the name between clenched teeth, each syllable dripping with venom.

He couldn’t understand it.

His 18-year-long scheme had been flawless—triggering a scandal to destroy their reputation, shorting their stock to cripple their foundation. The Lu family’s empire had been on the verge of total collapse, and he had been moments away from savoring the sweetest revenge.

But how had Lu Chenyuan done it?

How had he known about the landmine Li Xiujian had buried within Shengtian Realty?

And how had he dared—how had he managed—to weaponize the government itself to detonate that bomb right under Lu Corporation’s feet?

This wasn’t just cutting out the rot. This was strapping on explosives and blowing both himself and his enemies to smithereens.

What the hell was he trying to accomplish?

For the first time, a chilling sense of losing control seized Li Xiujian’s heart.

Somehow, without him noticing, the chessboard had changed hands.

......

Western Hills Estate, Study.

Lu Chengsi sat slumped in his armchair, his face as lifeless as a corpse. In just one day, he seemed to have aged another decade.

The phone rang incessantly—banks issuing panicked warnings, board members screaming demands, his own sons wailing in panic.

He ignored them all.

Because he knew. It was over.

The Lu family, the colossal ship he had steered for a lifetime, was sinking for good this time.

Regret, despair, unwillingness—all of it dissolved into a hollow, ashen numbness.

With trembling hands, he picked up the phone again.

This time, he dialed without hesitation.

Three rings. Then, a connection.

"Speak."

Lu Chenyuan’s voice was calm. Ice-cold.

"Chenyuan…" Lu Chengsi’s voice was a broken wheeze, like a rusted bellows. "Grandfather… I beg you—"

Those four words drained the last of his strength.

The once-untouchable patriarch of the Lu family, the man who had commanded absolute authority, now knelt—figuratively—with all his pride and dignity shattered.

A pause on the other end.

"Fine."

That single word sparked a faint glimmer in Lu Chengsi’s clouded eyes.

"But my terms are non-negotiable," Lu Chenyuan continued, his tone still even but laced with steel.

"Starting today, I will establish a new investment firm to acquire—at current market value—every share of Lu Corporation held by you, my uncles, and every other branch of the family."

Lu Chengsi’s heart plummeted.

"After the transfer, I will create a family trust," Lu Chenyuan went on.

"Each of you will receive annual dividends proportional to your original holdings. The payout will ensure the Lu family’s wealth and status for generations."

"But,"—his voice hardened, like a judge delivering sentence—

"from the moment the contracts are signed, none of you will have any say in Lu Corporation’s decisions, operations, or management. You retain profit rights. Voting rights and control are forfeited."

Lu Chengsi’s breath hitched.

He understood.

This was scorched earth. A complete severance of the family’s influence over the company.

A wave of humiliation crashed over him—the shame of being stripped bare.

But then his mind flashed to his sons’ petty squabbles, to Lu Mingshi’s catastrophic incompetence, to the sight of Lu Corporation crumbling under endless infighting.

And suddenly, he saw it.

Perhaps Lu Chenyuan’s goal wasn’t to build a personal dictatorship.

This was radical surgery—a ruthless, unflinching amputation to separate ownership from management.

He was transforming Lu Corporation from a nepotism-riddled family empire into a modern enterprise with clear governance.

The family trust would act as an impenetrable firewall, shielding the Lu family’s core assets, ensuring their preservation—not their destruction at the hands of future generations’ greed and ineptitude.

"Three generations from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves"—the curse of family businesses.

Its root lay in the conflict between bloodline and capability.

And Lu Chenyuan, with merciless precision, was cutting that root away.

The humiliation remained. But beneath the grief and reluctance, a sliver of clarity took hold—a grudging awe.

Lu Chengsi had built the Lu family’s glory. Yet in his twilight years, his lenience had nearly destroyed it.

Now, his grandson, with a ruthlessness even he had never wielded, had carved out the only path forward.

"I… accept."

Lu Chengsi closed his eyes. Two silent tears streaked down his weathered face.

He knew that from the moment he uttered those words, an era he had pioneered—an era belonging to traditional family businesses—had come to a definitive end.