Chapter 265 - 263: This Is Driving Them to Despair (Part 1)

Chapter 265: Chapter 263: This Is Driving Them to Despair (Part 1)

Xu Jing looked questioningly at Mr. Yao.

Mr. Yao said in a deep voice, "Jiang Zhaoyin asked us to quickly go to the Wang Family to meet him. We’ll discuss more when we get there."

The Wang Family was in the same area as the Xu Family, not far away, so they quickly arrived at the Wang Family’s residence.

As soon as they got off the carriage, a government official led them quickly to the front hall of the Wang Family, where they saw not only the Wang Family members but also the despondent Xu Guangyi and Mrs. Wen.

Seeing them, Jiang Shaobai said, "You’re here? Please sit down. We need to immediately discuss what to do next."

After everyone sat down, he said, "You should all generally know the situation. The kidnapper is extremely cunning. The first and third ransom letters were obviously intended to divert the authorities’ attention, allowing the Wang and Xu families to smoothly place the ransom at the designated location.

The designated place for the ransom is also at Qiu Lin Mountain, just not on the same side as the cabin where the children were originally held. Although he said not to let anyone follow him, Duke Qiao still had someone watching from a distance.

Out of fear of being discovered, that person hid far away. Because it was night, he only saw a masked man driving a carriage over, loading the gold bars, and leaving without seeing the two children."

Jiang Shaobai’s face turned slightly somber, "Because the distance was too far, and the person was clearly familiar with the nearby paths, after a few turns, Duke Qiao’s men completely lost track of him."

Mr. Yao was slightly stunned and said, "But wasn’t he driving a carriage? If we can find the track marks, it shouldn’t be..."

"Duke Qiao’s men lost the person at a fork in the road on the official road. The official roads near the Western Capital are paved with bluestone. Even if there were track marks, they would be very faint, almost invisible."

Jiang Shaobai said, "The kidnapper obviously anticipated that someone would follow him, so just as when he took the people, he used the official road to erase his tracks."

Duke Qiao, sitting nearby, suddenly clenched his fist and struck the small table beside him with such force that it seemed about to break, gritting his teeth, "That treacherous thief! If it weren’t for Jun’er being in his hands, I wouldn’t be so constrained!"

Xu Jing at this time looked at Jiang Shaobai and said, "Mr. Yao just mentioned that something even worse happened. What is it?"

Jiang Shaobai glanced at Duke Qiao and the ashen-faced Xu Guangyi, "After Duke Qiao’s men lost the kidnapper, they returned to where the ransom was exchanged to see if they could find more clues, but who knew..."

He paused and said, "Two more ransom letters were found there demanding the Wang and Xu families prepare another ten thousand taels of silver."

Xu Jing’s brows slightly furrowed.

They want to continue extorting ransom?

Suddenly, Xu Guangyi sat up straight like a corpse, his face pale as he said, "You... you at the Western Capital government have still not found a way to rescue the hostages. What exactly are you doing? Isn’t it your responsibility to handle such matters?!"

Mr. Yao was taken aback, his face involuntarily tightened with anger.

Jiang Shaobai raised his hand to stop Mr. Yao’s imminent outburst of anger and coldly looked at Xu Guangyi, "Exactly, this case is currently the responsibility of our Western Capital government. However, without resources, there’s nothing we can do! If you keep conducting these transactions with the kidnapper behind our backs, even if we had great skills, there’s nothing we can accomplish!

If Minister Xu and Duke Qiao don’t trust us at the Western Capital government, unwilling to cooperate with us, I will have no choice but to report to the Holy Emperor that our Western Capital government is unable to resolve this case! Minister Xu can choose someone more suitable!"

Xu Guangyi’s face turned white instantly. Duke Qiao glared at him angrily, wondering how he had become the Minister of Ministry of Industry, given his lack of insight.

He quickly stood up, his expression solemn, "We didn’t intentionally hide it from Jiang Zhaoyin. We were just too worried about our child, leading to a momentary lapse in judgment. We hope Jiang Zhaoyin can understand.

This kidnapper is not only extremely cunning but also insatiably greedy. He’s already taken two thousand taels of gold bars and still isn’t satisfied! If we keep letting him demand exorbitant amounts, even with more assets, it wouldn’t be enough!

Moreover, the most important thing is, this kidnapper clearly lacks any principles. Even if we offered everything, we’re not sure he’d release Jun’er unharmed.

Please, Jiang Zhaoyin, think of a way to rescue Jun’er. Our Wang Family will be forever grateful."

Duke Qiao, being one who has endured many storms, quickly recovered from his momentary confusion.

As soon as he finished speaking, Mrs. Wen loudly cried out, "No matter what, we can’t let that kidnapper continue acting so recklessly! Our family... our family can’t come up with ten thousand taels of ransom anymore, the first ten thousand taels of ransom already cost us everything..."

A longstanding noble family like the Wang Family would be deeply affected by suddenly needing to prepare twenty thousand taels.

Not to mention someone like Xu Guangyi, who rose from an obscure family. Expecting help from his family would be a stretch; if they’re not bleeding him dry, that’s a blessing!

Even a single payment of ten thousand taels is a life-threatening amount for them!

Initially, they lacked the ability to raise ten thousand taels of gold bars in such a short time, but Xu Guangyi thickened his skin to plead with Duke Qiao, writing an IOU to get the Wang Family to help gather the amount first.

Xu Guangyi’s face quickly changed, "Madam..."

"I’m just stating facts; why are you stopping me? If it weren’t for your incompetence, would we be in such a humiliating position?!"

Mrs. Wen, evidently on the brink of collapse, shouted back loudly.

Xu Guangyi’s lips trembled slightly, suddenly feeling immensely guilty, glanced at Xu Jing.

Xu Jing sneered inwardly.

Does she not know what this man is thinking? The reason he managed to succeed in his career, rising from a small county magistrate to become the Minister of Ministry of Industry, is because the projects he oversaw were perfectly executed, often surpassing the court’s expectations.

However, without the Xu Family’s substantial financial backing, relying only on the court’s meager funds, even if he were Li Bing reborn, he would be helpless.

To support him, the original’s mother, Mrs. Xu, even contributed all her dowry.

However, in the original’s memory, there was once a conversation in which Xu Guangyi shamelessly asked Mrs. Xu for her dowry for project construction, and Mrs. Xu asked puzzledly, "Didn’t your father previously give you a sum of silver? Besides, the court also allocated funds, it shouldn’t run out so quickly..."

Since this matter happened when the original was very young, she couldn’t recall what Xu Guangyi said afterward.

But it was enough for Xu Jing to notice that Xu Guangyi must have embezzled a lot of money previously given by the Xu Family, and most of the Xu Family’s current wealth likely comes from exploiting the Xu Family!

Xu Jing didn’t care whether Xu Hanguang could be safely rescued. In her view, this was the Xu Family’s comeuppance.

However, now that she had taken over this case, regardless of her personal feelings, she had to prioritize the case.

Xu Jing was too lazy to continue looking at Xu Guangyi and said, "Jiang Zhaoyin, I think there’s something off about this kidnapper."