Mo Hua mused, "It seems they found a way to silence the matter..."
"Yes," Lu Ming nodded. "It was Miss Zhu..."
"Miss Zhu doesn't allow anyone to mention the matter of the Family Head marrying into the clan."
"Those in the know have all been silenced, forbidden to speak of it to outsiders. The personal maids and attendants have all been replaced as well."
"To outsiders, they only say that the Family Head is from a collateral branch of the Lu Family, whose parents died early, but who has great talent, which is why the Old Ancestor had him marry Miss Zhu."
Mo Hua expressed his doubts: "Is it permissible to marry within the clan if they share the same surname?"
Lu Ming nodded, "Within the same clan but different branches, beyond three generations, the blood relation is diluted. After verifying the family tree, marriage is possible."
Mo Hua slowly nodded, then asked:
"How did Lu Chengyun, a man who married into the family, become the Family Head?"
"Because of the mines."
Mo Hua's gaze sharpened slightly, "The mines..."
Lu Ming said, "Miss Zhu is wholeheartedly devoted to the Family Head. With her support, the Family Head quickly gained some actual power and began to manage some mines..."
"At first, there wasn't much of a difference, but after a while, the profit from the mines managed by the Family Head was nearly one-tenth more than the other mines of the Lu Family..."
One-tenth more...
Mo Hua's gaze turned icy.
For no reason at all, how could someone make one-tenth more than the others?
Mo Hua thought of the zombies in the mines.
Initially, he only suspected, but now he was almost certain.
Lu Chengyun practiced Corpse Refinement indeed for mining!
It's likely that from the moment he was in charge of the mines, Lu Chengyun secretly refined zombies and used them to mine...
Others used the living for mining.
Lu Chengyun would use the living to mine by day and the "dead" by night, which naturally yielded higher profits for the mines.
He also used this to gradually gain actual power within the clan.
To the clan, profit was the most tangible thing.
If Lu Chengyun could use zombies for mining and double the mine's profits, even the Lu Family Old Ancestor must have looked at him with new respect.
As for the means used by Lu Chengyun.
Given the character of the Lu Family Old Ancestor, even if he knew, he may not care.
"So, Lu Chengyun became the Family Head because of the high profit from the mines?"
Lu Ming nodded slightly, "It seems so."
"It seems so?"
Mo Hua's gaze shifted slightly, noticing that Lu Ming hesitated to continue, and said:
"Is there something else you want to say?"
Lu Ming hesitated somewhat, his brow furrowed, and he slowly said:
"I also heard a rumor..."
Mo Hua nodded, signaling him to go on.
Lu Ming said, "It is said that the Old Ancestor… indulged in excesses, depleted his vitality, damaged his foundation, and then was mortally wounded by a sneak attack from an enemy."
"Before his death, the Old Ancestor wanted to decide on the next Family Head."
"At first, the clan proposed, and the Family Head decided by the Old Ancestor was actually not Lu…"
Lu Ming felt it disrespectful to directly call the Family Head by name, but seeing that Mo Hua showed little reverence for Lu Chengyun, he braced himself and continued:
"…it was not Lu Chengyun, but rather... Elder An from within the clan."
"Elder An was in the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, not yet 150 years old, young and strong, with sufficient experience, acted in a steady manner, and held high prestige. Everyone unanimously thought that Elder An would become the Family Head."
"But unexpectedly, something happened, and right before his death, the Old Ancestor suddenly changed his mind."
"He stubbornly insisted on making Lu Chengyun the Family Head, and no one's opposition mattered."
Mo Hua frowned.
Did Lu Ming strike some deal with the Lu Family Old Ancestor?
What kind of deal could there be right before death?
Given Capitalist Lu's selfish and profit-driven nature, this deal should not involve the interests of the Lu Family but be concerned only with his own benefits.
Mo Hua's gaze turned cold.
He thought of the bizarre thing on the golden altar, covered with yellow cloth and offered spiritual meat by an incense burner, which looked like a mix of human, demon, and zombie...
A chill began to creep into Mo Hua's heart.