Lu Yulin

Biodata

Appearance

• Build and face: A square-faced man of around forty 2.
• Clothing: Wears long brocade robes, including a black-and-gold gown during his nighttime outing with Lu Sui 2 25.
• Signature accessory: Frequently fingers a bracelet of eighteen prayer beads 2 25 26.
• Disguised frailty: Uses powder to whiten his temples and deliberately looks exhausted to convince opponents that the trading firm’s troubles have weakened him 13.

Personality

Lu Yulin presents himself as forthright and generous, but his reputation rests on ruthless calculation. Dou Xiaowen considers him vastly inferior in martial skill yet incomparably more dangerous in scheming and merciless methods. Lu Yulin prefers to expose an enemy’s intentions, turn their scheme against them, and preserve his own public legitimacy rather than simply strike openly 1 8 26.

He is a strict patriarch who insists on household rules, proper posture, and orderly conduct. He dislikes frivolity and closely supervises the firm’s accounts to prevent embezzlement. His authority also has a firm boundary: outsiders must not interfere in Lu family affairs 2 38 67.

His affection for Lu Sui is genuine but difficult to separate from his concern for the family’s survival. He is quietly delighted by his son’s concern, boasts that Lu Sui’s talent comes from him, and supplies increasingly generous training funds. Nevertheless, he repeatedly withholds a life-preserving heirloom during Lu Sui’s prolonged illness—a decision that troubles both Lu Sui and Yang Kunbing 13 25 38 47 67.

Background / History

Youth and Estrangement

Lu Yulin began accompanying the family’s elder proprietor on trading journeys in his teens, crossing mountains and rivers and passing through Shaqing Pass several times. By Lu Sui’s age, he was already fighting mounted bandits with a horse and steel saber 8 67.

His relationship with his father, Lu Dacheng, deteriorated over the latter’s domineering behavior, womanizing, and abuse of Lu Yulin’s mother. After Lu Yulin drove one of his father’s mistresses to attempt hanging herself, Lu Dacheng expelled him. Lu Yulin resolved to establish a reputation independent of his family 67.

Before heading to Guandong, he returned to the ancestral home and survived encounters with mounted bandits and a demon calamity. There he acquired a godmother and became party to a marriage arrangement with her side. The arrangement was set aside after he met Lu Sui’s mother; Luo Youxian also credits him with venturing through Shaqing Pass and bringing back a wife 24 67.

Taking Control of the Family Business

Lu Yulin eventually displaced Lu Dacheng, confined him to the rear courtyard, and took control of the Ganzi Gang. He described this seizure of power as necessary after his father became consumed by lust. Other Lu branches that opposed the takeover subsequently died during bandit-suppression campaigns 24 38.

Under his leadership, the business expanded across Guanzhong and Guandong. He renamed the Ganzi Gang the Dacheng Trading Firm and established himself as chairman of Yongning Prefecture’s merchant guild. During an early challenge in Yongning, rival firms tried to humiliate him at a treasure-appreciation gathering; Yang Kunbing secured a Fire Cloud Pearl that outshone their offerings and established the firm’s reputation 24 52 58.

He also crushed the Wind and Sand Saber bandits. His killing of Yu Tianci’s father left a surviving enemy determined to destroy the Lu family and reclaim its supposed treasures 22 24 31.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Combat

Lu Yulin is an experienced fighter rather than one of the household’s foremost martial specialists 8.

• Skilled with spear and staff, with extensive experience fighting bandits and traveling dangerous routes 8 67.
• Earned the outlaw nickname Saber-Wielding Ghost through his exploits 1 8.
• Killed Yu Tianci’s father, an opponent whose defeat Yu Tianci attributes to underestimating him 22.
• Remains far below Dou Xiaowen in direct martial ability; no cultivation realm is specified for him 8.

Strategy and Deception

• Feigning weakness: Stages physical exhaustion and graying hair to encourage disloyal associates to reveal themselves 13.
• Counterplots: Sees through the stolen-cargo conspiracy and turns the gunpowder trap against those involved 25 26.
• Public performance: Mourns Luo Youxian before a crowd, even spitting blood, while publicly assigning responsibility to Luo Dongsheng 28.
• Political leverage: Immediately recognizes that Deng Yun’s connection to the Zhou family could secure money, manpower, or their protective Shi Gandang 47.

Commercial Leadership

• Personally checks accounts and figures rather than trusting branch managers without oversight 38.
• Uses business patronage to support Lu Sui’s schooling, arranging escort and transport work for Hundred Victories disciples 23.
• Maintains influence with Crimson Cloud Mountain, Dragon Spine Mountain, and Moon-Embracing Mountain 67.
• Understands that even powerful merchants must observe the rules sustaining the Five Great Trades 26.

Esoteric Knowledge and Family Fate

• Knows the connection between incense, inherited fortune, and the Owl God Fate, including the dangers of awakening its hunger 67 68.
• Knows that only Lu family members who have lit incense may enter the secret vault and take its treasures 68.
• According to Yang Kunbing, Lu Yulin “ate” his father’s share of Qi, enabling the firm’s prosperity and his rise to guild chairman. Yang fears that Lu Yulin might similarly consume Lu Sui’s Qi; this remains Yang’s suspicion, not a confirmed plan 67.

Equipment & Resources

• Eighteen-bead prayer bracelet — His habitual personal accessory; no supernatural function is established 2 25.
• Private carriage — Furnished with soft cushions, floor pelts, and a hand warmer 25.
• Dacheng Trading Firm — Provides money, medicinal ingredients, weapons, personnel, and commercial influence 23 38 47.
• Four principal retainers — Dou Xiaowen, Yang Kunbing, Duan Fusheng, and Chai Sanjin supply protection, investigation, treasure appraisal, and administrative support 2 22 58.

Family Treasures

Relationships

• Lu Sui / Zhan’ao — Only son and intended heir. Their relationship is strained by paternal authority and the original Lu Sui’s fear and rebelliousness, but improves as Lu Sui trains seriously and shows concern for him 2 64 67.
• Lu Sui’s mother — Deceased wife. Her dying request that their son live safely explains much of Lu Yulin’s earlier indulgence; her illness consumed much of the family’s ginseng reserve 25 67 68.
• Lu Dacheng — Father and predecessor. Lu Yulin rebelled against him, was expelled, and later seized his position 24 67.
• Wanrong — Second concubine. He reassures her of her place in the household and offers her brother a gold shop from the reorganized business 38.
• Dou Xiaowen — Respected chief steward, household defender, and Lu Sui’s first martial instructor. Lu Yulin grants him a private courtyard near the outer study 2 3.
• Yang Kunbing — Treasure-seeking retainer whose assistance helped establish the firm in Yongning. Lu Yulin treats him with greater courtesy and distance than his other subordinates 58.
• Duan Fusheng — Second steward and close administrative aide. After Yu Tianci wounds him, Lu Yulin orders him to rest and receive the best medicinal ingredients 13 28.
• Chai Sanjin — Long-serving protector who intercepted assassination attempts during the firm’s expansion. He remained with the family because of a kindness from Lu Sui’s mother 27.
• Luo Youxian — Former right-hand man who once bloodied himself to protect Lu Yulin’s fledgling shop. Their long association ends in the warehouse conspiracy and Luo Youxian’s death 24 26 28.
• Yu Tianci — Surviving hereditary enemy. Lu Yulin insists he must die to end the five-generation feud, even after learning of his connection to Han Wenlong 50 67.
• Unnamed godmother — Protector associated with the ancestral home. Lu Yulin offers her protection and the old marriage arrangement as an alternative future for Lu Sui 67 68.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Lu Sui’s Recovery and Training

• Investigates the attack on Lu Sui, considers sending him to the ancestral settlement for safety, and assigns Dou Xiaowen to teach him the Turtle-Snake Stance 2.
• Arranges admission to Hundred Victories Martial Arts School after recognizing his son’s talent 13 23.
• Expands Lu Sui’s financial support from a thousand taels monthly to unrestricted spending on training needs 38 47.

The Stolen Cargo and Household Mole

• Conceals his knowledge of the missing goods’ location while pretending that the robbery has placed him under severe strain 13.
• Turns the warehouse bombing plot against the conspirators; while they believe him caught in the explosion, he is with Lu Sui in their carriage 25 26.
• Publicly condemns Luo Dongsheng, stages grief for Luo Youxian, and uses the captured Yuniang as bait for Yu Tianci 28.

The Zhou Family Calamity

• Receives Lu Sui’s report about Deng Yun’s corpse-like transformation and his association with Zhou Qing 47.
• Recognizes an opportunity to pressure the Zhou family, then tells Dou Xiaowen that they spread the calamity through a Calamity Artifact and requests that their warding Shi Gandang be moved to the Lu residence 47 50.

Choosing Lu Sui’s Future

• Learns that Yu Tianci has obtained backing from Han Wenlong, the Red-Bearded Heavenly King, but refuses to abandon the effort to eliminate him 50 67.
• Offers Lu Sui two routes: pursue advancement in the Nine Ridges and Ten Mountains, or settle in Mute Hamlet under his godmother’s protection and fulfill the marriage arrangement 67.
• After Lu Sui chooses the mountains, promises to shield him from attacks and reveals the true nature of the family’s three treasures 68.

Notable Quotes

“The Lu Family’s banner has stood for decades. There’s never been a shortage of people who bite the hand that feeds them, with wolves’ hearts and wild ambitions. But after all these years, the banner of the Ganzi Gang still bears the name Lu.” 13

“Since you’ve chosen the Nine Ridges and Ten Mountains, go forward boldly, without worry. Dad will block those spears in the open and arrows in the dark for you.” 68