Free Web NovelChapter 56: Chapter 56; Su Wan
The answer was obvious. Families like the Lus didn’t collapse loudly at first; they rotted quietly from inside.
Li Chen’s expression darkened. "Second Madam..."
"She’s only one part of it. Extended branches, board members, shareholders, political connections, old alliances. Everyone benefits from controlling succession. Uncontrolled heirs threaten the structure."
Mo Chen looked at her carefully. "Then letting the women stay..."
"Was the safest option." Outside, they could disappear through a staged accident, poison, anything—and no one would trace it properly because the pregnancies were still unofficial. Inside, every movement would be watched, every accident suspicious. Visibility itself became protection.
Su Wan leaned back, exhaustion pulling beneath her composure. "They probably think I’m stupid. But all I did was move every future problem into one place where everyone can see it."
She wasn’t protecting the women out of kindness but restructuring risk—without dirtying her own hands.
"If anything happens to those pregnancies now, the entire Lu family becomes suspect." Li Chen slowly exhaled. She had tied their survival directly to the family’s stability. Now no one could move carelessly anymore.
The silence lingered. Then Su Wan reached for another document near the bottom of the stack. Her expression had cooled, exhaustion settling beneath something sharper. "We need to move faster too."
Li Chen looked at her immediately. She opened the file and slid several pages across the bed. "Three offshore accounts tied to the Zhang family’s pharmaceutical subsidiary. Illegal financing, buried internal transfers."
Mo Chen stepped closer. The numbers were enormous—layered shell corporations, foreign holding routes, laundering structures hidden beneath medical investment firms.
Li Chen frowned. "You want us to expose them?"
"No. I want you to drain them." She tapped one account number. "A billion. Move it gradually across multiple routes before dawn." Even Mo Chen’s expression shifted—not at the amount, but at how directly she said it.
Su Wan’s gaze moved toward the darkened windows. "They’re already under sealed investigation. Once the authorities move publicly, most of those assets will freeze anyway. So we move first."
Li Chen lowered his voice. "If the Zhang family notices—"
"They won’t notice immediately. Not with everything else collapsing around them. They’re too busy trying to stabilize succession leverage through the Lu family." That made them vulnerable.
Mo Chen studied the documents. "The transfer trails are layered well."
"They were designed for hiding illegal movement. Which means they’re also perfect for disappearing legal movement." She looked directly at them. "Split the funds. Three hundred million into external security—private personnel, surveillance, information networks." Her gaze shifted to Mo Chen. "Another four hundred million through secondary holding companies and private accounts outside the mainland."
"And the rest?"
"Liquid reserve." The room stilled. Not stealing for luxury—preparing for war.
"The Lu family is no longer stable enough for blind trust. If this worsens, I refuse to stand here without independent protection." Neither man argued.
"Move carefully. No repeated routes. No familiar names. If anything feels wrong, stop immediately."
Li Chen nodded. Mo Chen closed the files. Wind struck against the windows. While the Lu family tried to contain succession chaos, Su Wan had already begun building survival structures beyond them.
---
"That won’t be enough." Su Wan’s fingers rested against another folder. "The Zhang family accounts are only the beginning."
She pulled a sealed document free and opened it. Inside: domestic transfers, political donation routes, luxury asset holdings hidden beneath proxy corporations. At the center was Second Madam’s name—not directly, but the trails were unmistakable once connected.
Li Chen’s eyes narrowed. "These are—"
"Her private channels." Illegal political financing, tax concealment, unauthorized asset shelters tied to old corporate deals the Lu family could never publicly acknowledge. "She’s been building protection outside the family structure for years."
Mo Chen studied the records. "She can’t report these missing publicly."
"No. Explaining where the money came from would destroy her first."
Li Chen looked at her carefully. "You want us to move against her too?"
"Yes. Three hundred million. Not enough to expose the accounts, just enough to destabilize her confidence."
"If she notices—"
"She’ll suspect internal theft and stay silent while investigating privately." That was exactly the point. "People protect illegal money differently. They become paranoid and distracted."
Li Chen understood. "You want the factions turning against each other."
"I want them too busy watching their own shadows to focus on me."
---
She pulled another file forward: Lu Jianyu, an older branch leader, corporate ally and quiet rival, privately building influence among shareholders dissatisfied with Old Master Lu’s control.
Mo Chen’s expression cooled. "This faction too?"
Su Wan nodded. "His accounts connect to illegal overseas acquisitions and underground bidding tied to Lu Conglomerate contracts. Enough corruption to bury him if exposed properly."
Li Chen exhaled slowly. The deeper they looked, the uglier the Lu family became.
"Take another four hundred million from his offshore structures."
Mo Chen looked at her carefully. "That much?"
"He won’t report it either." Men like Lu Jianyu survived through hidden influence; public investigations would destroy decades of buried corruption.
Su Wan closed the folder softly. "Everyone in this family has spent years preparing for war quietly. They just didn’t expect someone else to start moving first."
She wasn’t merely gathering money—she was destabilizing every hidden structure surrounding her before they could fully turn against her, using secrets none of them could safely expose.
Su Wan remained silent after closing the final folder. The room had grown darker—only dim bedside lamps and muted glow from outside. Wind pressed faintly against the glass while the atmosphere turned colder, more deliberate.
Li Chen and Mo Chen waited. She wasn’t finished. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
She lifted her eyes. "One more thing. Find me two shareholders willing to sell Lu Conglomerate shares."
The room stilled. Li Chen frowned. "Internal shareholders?"
"Yes."
"That won’t be easy."
"I know." Shares meant influence, voting rights, alliances, future control. Most protected them more carefully than liquid money—exactly why she wanted them.
Mo Chen looked at her carefully. "How much are you trying to acquire?"
"Enough to matter."
Li Chen lowered his voice. "If Old Master Lu discovers you’re privately acquiring shares while publicly asking for them..."
