A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 1031 Change Is Due

Unfortunately, Shen Jiu-Yi and the rest didn't have the chance to speak to Li Er in person or even take a one step into his house.

"Damn Lu Ming-Feng and Xur Shao-Hua! Curse those bullies! They think they can do whatever they want because of the connections they have. I can't believe that they've declared that they're going to acquire Mufan Group. What should we do now? Things have gotten out of hand. It's only going to get worse."

As an uproar overtook Jiangdong, Li Er, Chen Ao and Lei San gathered secretly in a hotel room somewhere in Yunzhou.

Lu Ming-Feng and Xur Shao-Hua had spoken to them a month ago.

The former group of men wasn't from Jiangdong and had in fact come from Yanjing.

The first thing they had said to Li Er and the others during their first meeting had been to demand the trio's allegiance and complete loyalty.

Li Er and the others had refused flatly.

Mr Chu had treated them well. How could they turn on his family and pledge their loyalty to someone else right after his death?

They had thought that their refusal would send a strong message to Lu Ming-Feng and Xur Shao-Hua, and that the latter would be reluctant to expand their influence in Jiangdong.

They had realized later that they had been wrong.

In fact, they had made a grave and terrible mistake.

Within the month after that first meeting, Lu Ming-Feng and Xur Shao-Hua called upon their connections in their vast network of friends and allies and with their immense forces, invaded Jiangdong. Their target was the company that Ye Fan had founded, Mufan Group!

That had been when Li Er and the other had realized the extent of Lu Ming-Feng and Xur Shao-Hua's ambitions.

They weren't interested in profit or money.

They wanted to replace Ye Fan and become the rulers of Jiangdong.

In that short month, Li Er and the others had thought of all kinds of ways to fight back.

But in the end, they hadn't succeeded in turning the tide and changing the outcome of the fight.

Most of Mufan Group's businesses had already fallen into the hands of Fenghua Group.

Now, Fenghua Group was going to acquire the rest of Mufan Group's businesses and destroy Mufan Group utterly.

Li Er and the rest had planned on assembling the forces of their allies in Mr Chu's name to fight back against Fenghua Group.

But their plan had been thwarted by Lu Ming-Feng's announcement of Ye Fan's death to the public. They had lost their last chance for survival.

The fate of Mufan Group seemed to be sealed. Li Er and the others could do nothing but fret.

They had gathered here to discuss their options.

"Should we get Miss Qiu to make a public statement and tell the public that Mr Chu is still alive? Maybe we should file charges against Fenghua Group for their baseless claim," suggested Li Er. Chen Ao shook his head. "That won't work. We're only going to invite more suspicion if we try to dispute the veracity of his statement. To only true way to dispute his claim is to have Mr Chu make a public appearance. That would answer everyone's doubts. But that's clearly not possible."

Lei San sighed. "Are we going to watch Lu Ming-Feng and Xur Shao-Hua acquire

Mufan Group? You know they're going to come after us after they're done with Mufan Group."

No lords and generals survived the king that they served.

The three of them were Ye Fan's most loyal and trusted men. They had refused Lu Ming-Feng when he had offered them a deal.

If Lu Ming-Feng were to succeed and gain control over Jiangdong, he wouldn't let them off that easily.

As the three men wallowed in despair, the phone suddenly rang.

Li Er glanced at the number on the screen and answered the call.

Alarm flashed across his face.

"What did you just say? They're heading for Mount Yunding Villa? Those scoundrels! They're not going to let the women off that easily too, aren't they? I want more guards at the mansion. Get them to hurry to the mansion right now!" barked Li Er as a look of cold fury appeared on his face.

"Li Er, what's going on? Did something happen?" Lei San and Chen Ao questioned Li Er at the same time. They seemed startled by his outburst.

Li Er looked furious. "Trouble happened. I'm afraid Mr Chu's family is in danger."

What?

"Did you say they were headed for Mount Yunding Villa? Damn those scoundrels! We have to hurry over to the mansion right now. Mr Chu treated us with nothing but kindness. We might not have managed to save his company, but we've got to do everything we can to save his family!"

A solemn look appeared on Lei San's face. He turned and headed for the door, all ready to make his way to Mount Yunding Villa.

Chen Ao stopped the both of them.

"These men are clearly prepared. They did their homework before they acted. We're not going to be of any help even if we turn up at the mansion. Our reputation in Jiangdong means nothing to Lu Ming-Feng and Xur Shao-Hua. Don't forget the martial artists they have with them. Do you really think we can withstand a blow from one of those martial artists?" said Chen Ao.

His words were like a bucket of freezing water dumped over Li Er and Lei San, extinguishing the blind and furious fires burning inside them instantly.

The latter two stopped in their tracks.

They knew that Chen Ao was right.

Their presence wasn't going to be of any help at all.

Lu Ming-Feng didn't give a damn about Mr Chu. Why would he give a damn about them?

"Are we going to stand by and watch as Mr Chu's family get in harm's way? Are we really going to do nothing?" Bitterness and helplessness filled Lei San as he sighed.

"We won't do nothing," replied Chen Ao. "But we need a plan. Lu Ming-Feng and Xur Shao-Hua have a plan. They have connections and powerful allies as well. This isn't a fight that we ordinary folks can handle. Li Er, you mentioned that Mr Chu and the mayor are friends. Can you ring up Wu Wei-Tao? We can only count on the officials to protect Mr Chu's family now."

Li Er thought that his plan made sense. "Alright, I'll try and call him."

His call got through within moments.

"Mr Li, is anything the matter?" Wu Wei-Tao's voice rang out from the other end of the line.

Li Er exchanged a few lines of pleasantries before telling Wu Wei-Tao why he had called.

"Mayor Wu, this is an emergency. Please send your men to Mount Yunding Villa and make sure that things don't get out of hand. I understand that my request might seem inappropriate, but I hope that you'll issue the orders to protect Mr Chu's family on account of your friendship with him," said Li Er anxiously.

Wu Wei-Tao answered his plea with laughter.

"My friendship with Mr Chu? Once upon a time, I did desire Mr Chu's friendship. Unfortunately, he didn't deem me worthy to be his friend. There is no friendship to speak of between me and Mr Chu." "Mayor Wu, let's not quibble over such details. Please send your men to the mansion," urged Li Er. He wasn't interested in listening to the mayor recount his past interactions with Ye Fan.

Wu Wei-Tao did not agree to Li Er's request. Instead, he said coolly, "Mr Li, don't you think that Jiangdong is due for a change?"