Second Patriarch: Rise Of The Liu Clan

Two days had passed since Liu Zhu recovered from his fever. Since then he had been cultivating and getting used to his new weapon. At first he had worried that the incident in the cave had left behind some sort of trauma, especially from when his meridians burst open, but once he noticed that his cultivation was going smoother than before these fears were washed away.

Today Liu Zhu was planning to make his rounds through the Liu Clan's businesses. Liu Zhu knew that in order to thrive one of the most important things an organization needed was money. Whether it was a sect, family clan, or the government, money was a must in order to acquire resources, attract and raise talents, and motivate people to defend the organization. That's why Liu Zhu had been making the rounds through the Liu Clan's businesses and checking how things were going once a month for over a year. If he was able to become the family's second patriarch in the future, then it would be important that he had some understanding of business and the family's finances after all.

Liu Zhu left the estate early in the morning, heading to a small restaurant on the outskirts of Vermilion City. The restaurant didn't make that much money, but the Liu Clan had a 70% stake in it after providing most of the funds to construct it, so Liu Zhu visited it nonetheless. The only person inside the cramped restaurant was the owner, a spinster. She politely greeted Liu Zhu upon his arrival, having long since grown used to him visiting instead of one of the clan's employees. First Liu Zhu looked over the facilities, and after making sure that everything was in good shape he started to look over the books. He compared the money earned in the past few months to last month, found that it was satisfactory, and took his leave. Most of his stops were like this, and while it wasn't particularly eventful he enjoyed it. It let Liu Zhu learn about trends he wouldn't otherwise notice in business, and occasionally he was able to spot something odd and either find out why that was or fix the problem.

The day wore on as Liu Zhu went through ordinary stores that the Liu Clan had large shares in. They didn't bring in large amounts of money individually, but combined they were a decent source of income. After this he stopped by the stores targeted towards cultivators, which were all fully owned by the Liu Clan. Nothing much came from the rounds as the family's businesses tended to be on top of things, although Liu Zhu did learn about a couple of seasonal variations in price and bad decisions in purchasing stock. Finally Liu Zhu went to his last destination, the Dozen Treasures Pavilion.

"Young Master Liu, it's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to see you. You came to see how the Dozen Treasures Pavilion was doing?" Liu Zhu nodded at the Dozen Treasures Pavilion's manager. He seemed like more of a suck up than usual, but Liu Zhu figured that it wasn't that odd. There were plenty of people who wanted to form a relationship with him after all. He wasn't guaranteed to become the clan's second patriarch, but even if he failed he'd have a high standing within the Liu Clan. "I'll see how the other employees are doing and then visit you in a bit to look over the books." Liu Zhu went through the four floors open to the public, making sure that the employees were acting competently and that everything was in order.

Satisfied by what he saw, Liu Zhu went to the Dozen Treasures Pavilion's fifth floor. It was where the manager's office and a storeroom was located. Above that was the final floor, where the elders on duty stayed. "Do you have the books ready?" The manager nodded as he hesitantly handed a ledger over to Liu Zhu. Liu Zhu began going through it, occasionally throwing glances at the manager, who looked oddly nervous. He didn't find anything out of the ordinary looking through the ledger, but felt like something was off and decided to investigate further. "Can I check the funds to be sent to the estate?"

The manager was caught off-guard by the question and paused. For a few moments he simply stood still while gritting his teeth. Just as Liu Zhu was about to repeat his question the manager sighed, his body seemingly deflating as his stance broke and a visible frown covered his face. "That... the funds will be different than what's expected." Liu Zhu looked towards the manager coldly, realizing that his suspicions had been correct. "...Does that mean you've been stealing from the Liu Clan?" Scared, the man shook his head. "No, no, it's not my fault. It's your brother, Liu Xuan. He wanted a bow at the Meridian Opening level so... I gave it to him."

Confused, Liu Zhu inquired further. "But my brother doesn't use a bow. Why would he ask for one?" The manager nervously continued on. "He wanted to give it as a gift to the young missus Jin Zemin. I wanted to stop him, but I was worried for my job." Liu Zhu's face turned to a scowl as he heard this. Jin Zemin was a woman who played the zither somewhere his brother frequented. She was a minor figure in an even more minor family. He wouldn't mind if it were "true love", but if it were then Liu Xuan would have at least 20 wives at this point.

Liu Zhu stayed silent, beginning to get a headache. A piece of jewelry wouldn't matter much, but a bow fit for a Meridian Opening cultivator? That's ridiculous. Liu Zhu looked at the manager, and his face, which had recovered slightly, fell once again as he realized that he wouldn't be getting off scot-free by passing the blame. "You are under probation. If there are any more mistakes, I will speak to Grand Elder Zhu and the other elders about replacing you." The blood drained from the manager's face at this point, but Liu Zhu continued. "I understand that you didn't take action against my brother because you feared retribution, but grow a spine. If my brother tries to take anything else from the Dozen Treasures Pavilion, tell him no. If he tries to use his reputation against you, which is doubtful, you will contact me. It's not like a Blood and Viscera Tempering cultivator will be able to defeat someone at Dantian Creation before I arrive- right?"

The manager nodded his head, relieved after realizing that he wouldn't be fired. "Al-alright then Young Master Liu. I'll make sure to stop your brother if he tries something like this again." Liu Zhu replied and turned to leave. "Good, hold down the fort here then. I don't want to have to breathe down your neck while you work as I have my own business to tend to. Tell Elder Fan I said hi." Liu Zhu left before hearing the manager's response and let out a sigh as he returned to the Liu Clan's estate. The manager here wasn't the kind of man to amount to much, but he still hadn't expected him to make such a major mistake. Still, this could also be attributed to his idiot of a brother.

As he returned home, Liu Zhu strengthened his resolve to overtake his brother and become second patriarch of the Liu Clan. If he didn't, and his brother became the Liu Clan's next patriarch, then who knew what kinds of mistakes his stupidity could cause. There would be no medicine for regret if he gave away the clan to a woman in the future, as outlandish as it sounded.