Chapter 962 — The Liu Family's Gifted Daughter

What was more, Wei Zhao had made it plain that if the money was not forthcoming, he would march to Donghai and tear down Zhen Dazhou's own business holdings—and that left Zhen Dazhou feeling utterly and unbearably humiliated. Only now did he understand what a true villain looked like. Compared with Wei Zhao, he himself was nothing at all.

"Five hundred million... I cannot produce that," Zhen Dazhou said, forcing down his fury.

"Oh, then give me whatever you have for now," Wei Zhao said. "For the rest you can write me an IOU."

"Fine!" Zhen Dazhou ground his teeth and said, "I have only two hundred and fifty million at present."

He knew that if he endured for now, when Ma Zhu's master arrived, every last bit Wei Zhao had taken would be vomited back out of him. Wei Zhao had robbed him in broad daylight; when the time came, he would rob in broad daylight as well. Once Ma Zhu's master stood there, he would simply demand money from Wei Zhao and Gu Pengzhan. Refuse to pay? Then he would beat the whole family to death on the spot.

At this moment Zhen Dazhou had entirely forgotten the lessons of the Xiao family, the Yu family, and Zhao Qibing. Every single person who had threatened Wei Zhao with the slaughter of his whole family had been beaten to death by Wei Zhao himself. Yet even had he remembered, Zhen Dazhou would not have thought anything amiss, for in his eyes Ma Zhu's master, Jin Wudi, was far more formidable than Wei Zhao. The man was an Earth-ranked expert and a master of the Golden Bell Cover technique; unless he were struck dead by a comet or a meteor or some such thing, even a road roller could do him no harm.

And Wei Zhao, however capable, could not possibly leap across so many ranks to strike down Jin Wudi. Moreover, the Mystic rank and the Earth rank were as far apart as heaven and earth. With this thought, Zhen Dazhou drew a deep breath, buried his hatred deep in his heart, and resolved to wait until Jin Wudi's arrival before settling accounts with Wei Zhao.

"Two hundred and fifty million?" Wei Zhao frowned. "I gave you two hundred and fifty million, so how is it that you have only two hundred and fifty million?"

"I did have money before, but it went to treating Zhen Yingjun's illness..." As Zhen Dazhou spoke, his eyes brimmed with hatred. You still ask me where the money went—if not for you, would I have spent so much on curing Zhen Yingjun?

"Fine, so be it—two hundred and fifty million it is. Transfer it to this account," Wei Zhao said, giving Zhen Dazhou an account number.

Zhen Dazhou played no tricks. He transferred the two hundred and fifty million straight back to Wei Zhao, then wrote him an IOU.

The Liu family of Yanjing.

Though the recent events in Songshan City had nothing to do with Liu Tianyi, he followed the situation there more closely than anyone.

Wei Zhao had been injured, his strength entirely gone! Such was the news Liu Tianyi received.

Once word arrived that Wei Zhao had lost all his strength, the Liu family erupted.

Liu Zhenhu's younger son, Liu Tianli, came home with a dark face and sought out Liu Tianyi with some displeasure. "Eldest brother, I would not be the one to say it, but how could you lend money so freely? The Liu family's money does not blow in on the wind—it is earned by me, coin by coin! You are the heir to the family head, so when you said you wanted to lend money, I handed it over without a word. But when you lend money, should you not first investigate whether the man is even capable of repaying? Now I hear the Xiao family, the Yu family, and even that illegitimate son of the hidden families, Bing Shao, have all gone to trouble this Wei Zhao. Whether he will even live to tell of it is uncertain—how is he going to pay us back?"

"Tianli, one must look further ahead in all things. Even without his martial arts, Wei Zhao still has his medical skill, and sooner or later he will stand at the pinnacle of this world again," Liu Tianyi said, showing little anxiety over the situation in Songshan City.

"What use is medical skill if he has no life left?" Liu Tianli retorted, unconvinced.

"Father, I think Uncle is right. If this Wei Zhao is truly as wondrous and formidable as Uncle says, then at a moment like this, offering fuel in the snow is undoubtedly bringing the Liu family a future ally," a young woman at Liu Zhenhu's side interjected. "Our Liu family rose through commerce and politics, but we have no cultivators, and that is a shackle on our development. Though we are allied by marriage with the Wu family, we ourselves are still a little too weak and must seek new allies. Sometimes one simply has to gamble. This hundred million can be seen as a wager: if we win, the Liu family gains benefits beyond imagining; if we lose, we count it as a hundred million easily earned. If Father feels uncomfortable about it, then deduct it from my share of the dividends..."

This young woman was Liu Tianli's daughter, Liu Jinghan, the Liu family's prodigious girl. She had followed Liu Tianli into business at fifteen. To the outside world, the Liu family's affairs were managed by Liu Tianli, but the various great families who knew the inside story understood full well that this beautiful fifteen-year-old girl was the true helmsman of the Liu family's business.

In business at fifteen, she doubled the Liu family's holdings outright at sixteen, doubled them again at seventeen, and just after her eighteenth birthday she was permitted by Liu Zhenhu to sit in on the Liu family council.

Liu Zhenhu had plainly begun grooming Liu Jinghan as the Liu family's third generation—his only regret being that she was a girl. Should she succeed to the position of family head, unless her children bore the surname Liu, she would be barred from the next succession, and an heir would have to be chosen from among the other descendants of the clan.

"Tianli, Jingjing is right. In all things, look further ahead!" Liu Zhenhu now spoke as well. "If Wei Zhao weathers these troubles smoothly, then our Liu family will have established a fine relationship with him, and in days to come we shall reap enormous benefits. Your instincts for business are sound enough, but your grasp of the larger picture falls far short of Jingjing's. You still have much to learn!"

"Yes, Father!" Hearing his father speak, Liu Tianli naturally voiced no further objections—and besides, he admired his own daughter greatly.

"At the great family assemblies each year, our Liu family is always the weak party. We have no miracle elixirs and no rare treasures, so at the trade fair hardly anyone will deal with us, and at the martial tournament we have no one who can compete. Old Master Chen has been retired for several years now, and the Chen family's situation is scarcely better than the Xiao family's. Fortunately, Chen Yuxuan is a Yellow-ranked expert and will likely break through further in the future, so for the moment the Chen family is not in any great difficulty," Liu Zhenhu said. "But Tianyi is no longer young. If he steps down and holds no post in the political world, our Liu family will face a gap between generations, and relying on business alone cannot sustain our standing as a great family. While I live, some old connections still honor me with their regard. The moment I am gone, I fear the Liu family is finished!"