Ji Jianyong cursed, "You've done it and you're still acting meek, old man. You deserve a beating!"
He swung his leather whip, lashing it hard across Wu Qizhong's body.
Instantly, his clothes were torn, and a deep whip mark appeared on the old man's skin, a sight that made one wince just looking at it.
"Ow!" Wu Qizhong cried out in pain.
Ji Jianyong pointed his finger at Wu Qizhong and declared, "Old man, this time next year will be your death anniversary! Elder Fan has spoken, telling me to teach your Wu family a lesson and let you know who's the boss in this city?!"
Seeing the second whip about to fall, Wu Qizhong immediately knelt before Ji Jianyong, kowtowing repeatedly and shouting, "Your Excellency Ji, spare me! This old servant knows his mistake. From now on, I will have no further dealings with the Su family. Furthermore, my Wu family is willing to do anything for you as compensation!"
Anything?
Ji Jianyong's hand, which was raised to strike, paused in mid-air.
He looked at Wu Qizhong with amusement and smiled, "Old man, are you truly willing to do anything for me?"
Wu Qizhong quickly replied, "Yes, I am willing to do anything!"
"Hmm." Ji Jianyong put away his whip and said, "Actually, Elder Fan only asked me to put some pressure on your Wu family, not to slaughter you all. So, as long as you behave, I can let your Wu family off."
Wu Qizhong nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, I will behave. Your Excellency Ji, what do you need me to do?"
Ji Jianyong looked at Wu Qizhong with greed, "Let's be direct. I, Ji Jianyong, love nothing in this life more than money. Your Wu family, as one of the three great families of this city, must be quite wealthy, right? Give me some of it, and this matter will be settled."
So, it was about money.
Fortunately, fortunately.
Wu Qizhong breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "How much money does Your Excellency Ji require?"
Ji Jianyong was unapologetic, raising his hand and stating, "Not much, just a hundred billion."
A hundred... billion?!
For any company, a hundred billion was an astronomical sum, let alone for a declining family like the Wu family. To demand such an amount from them at once was tantamount to demanding their lives!
Draining the Wu family dry could yield a hundred billion; but without that hundred billion, the Wu family would be on the brink of ruin!
What was worse was...
Ji Jianyong said menacingly, "You have one night to prepare. Tomorrow morning, I want the money. If it's not in my account, I'll twist your old head off and feed it to the dogs!"
Wu Qizhong was timid by nature and could not withstand such a shock.
Even though he knew this was extortion, Wu Qizhong dared not utter a single word of refusal. Compared to the honor of his family, his own life was far more important!
After everything was explained,
Ji Jianyong snapped his fingers, "Alright, all instructions have been given. Hurry up and prepare. Tomorrow morning, I will bring my men to your Wu family. If you can't produce the money then, prepare to die, every last one of you."
With that, Ji Jianyong turned and left the courtyard with his soldiers.
After the soldiers left.
The Wu family members in the courtyard, their faces ashen pale as paper, trembled with fear. The Wu family's doomsday had arrived!
What should they do?
Wu Hao cried out, "One hundred billion, what a joke! This is equivalent to completely draining our Wu family! If we give the money to Ji Jianyong, our Wu family will be close to extinction."
But if they refused, Ji Jianyong would come with his men to wipe out the Wu family first thing tomorrow morning!
They were in a dilemma.
One hundred billion. Whether to give it or not, no one in the Wu family could make a decision. Everyone was in a panic.
Some of the fainter-hearted were already making plans to escape secretly.
After a long silence.
Wu Qizhong said, "As long as we survive, there will be future opportunities. The most important thing now is to preserve our lives. Hurry up and prepare the funds. You must raise one hundred billion before dawn!"
There was no other choice. The Wu family members had to scramble to gather funds for the sake of survival.
But how could they obtain one hundred billion in such a short time? The Wu family was not a super family with inexhaustible wealth. After much effort, they only managed to raise 3.6 billion, still far from the target of one hundred billion, less than half.
Wu Qizhong ordered, "Everyone go out and raise money! Whether it's loans or borrowing, go out and raise money!"
Under the leadership of such a timid and submissive family head, could the Wu family prosper?
Everyone reluctantly went out to raise money.
Wu Lingxuan also went out.
Unlike everyone else, Wu Lingxuan went to a place no one else would have dared to imagine – the Su family!
In this city, the only entity with the ability and willingness to help her, after much thought, was the Su family.
...
Origin Project, office building, conference room.
Su Wanran was very surprised by Wu Lingxuan's arrival, and even more surprised that Wu Lingxuan's purpose was to borrow money.
And it was not a small amount.
Wu Lingxuan asked to borrow 5 billion from the Su family right off the bat!
Even more, more, more outrageously, the reason for borrowing 5 billion was to satisfy the blackmail of the Western Emperor Ji Jianyong, to buy the Wu family's lives.
After hearing Wu Lingxuan's explanation, Su Wanran was almost furious.
"Outrageous!"
"Ji Jianyong, Fan Wentao, these scoundrels are simply too much."
"Why should the feud between the Su family and the Fan family be settled on the Wu family?"
Su Wanran reached out and patted Wu Lingxuan's shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, Miss Wu, I will definitely help you with this. After all, the Wu family is facing this disaster entirely because they were implicated by our Su family."
Before she finished speaking.
Su Ru, standing nearby, sneered, "Help? How do we help? Wanran, are you really planning to lend the Wu family 5 billion? Can we even come up with so much money at once? Even if we can, why should we just let that bastard Ji Jianyong profit from it?"
What she said made sense.
But if they resisted, the Wu family might not even survive until tomorrow!
Everyone in the office pondered anxiously.
As they were worrying, Jiang Mengxin received a message from downstairs. Her expression changed drastically, and she said, "This is bad, the Wu family is in trouble!"
All eyes turned to Jiang Mengxin.
Wasn't the trouble the Wu family was already in big enough?
What greater trouble could there be?
As a member of the Wu family, Wu Lingxuan quickly asked, "Family Head Jiang, what has happened to our Wu family?"
Jiang Mengxin looked at her phone, then at Wu Lingxuan, and what was on the tip of her tongue, she could not say.
Finally.
She kindly reminded Wu Lingxuan, "Miss Wu, what I am about to say... will be very cruel to you. You need to be strong."
The more she said that, the more frightening it became.
Wu Lingxuan vaguely sensed something was wrong, "Family Head Jiang, please tell me quickly, what has happened to our Wu family?"
Cough, cough.
Jiang Mengxin did not dare to meet Wu Lingxuan's eyes and replied in a low voice, "The Wu family has been wiped out."