Chapter 11: First, Eight Hundred Million

Wu Sanye exclaimed:

"This is at least a thousand‑year‑old Golden Silk Nan Ebony Wood! It's been sealed for several thousand, even ten thousand years to achieve this texture! I'm afraid its price isn't cheaper than gold of the same weight!"

"Miss Ning, I'll give you eight hundred million first; this is all the liquid capital I have right now."

"In a few days I'll send a vehicle and people to move it; from the proceeds, the portion exceeding eight hundred million I'll give you ninety percent. The operating costs will be deducted from the remaining ten percent, and whatever's left I'll keep for a sip of broth, okay Miss Ning?"

Wu Sanye, clutching the Golden Silk Nan Ebony Wood, eyes flashing gold, said a lot, but heard no response.

"Miss Ning?"

He looked up, puzzled.

Ning Jingli was already stunned, "You said… how much??"

Wu Sanye stood up and patiently repeated it.

Ning Jingli knew this thing was valuable, but didn't expect it to be valuable to this extent.

Wu Sanye explained that ordinary Golden Silk Nan Ebony Wood isn't this extreme.

The main point is this piece's massive size and top‑grade quality; nowhere in the world can a second one be found.

"Fine… then give me eight hundred million first." Ning Jingli mechanically nodded.

Wu Sanye swiftly transferred the money.

Eight hundred million, instantly credited.

Wu Sanye silently clicked his tongue; his business cash flow is huge, so he's a specially favored bank client.

But it took him over twenty years to achieve this.

Ning Jingli, still young, has such high bank‑card permissions that receiving eight hundred million and having it instantly credited means her backing isn't ordinary.

She felt she'd turned misfortune into fortune by latching onto a golden patron.

"Miss Ning, is there anything else I can help you with?" Wu Sanye asked with a smile.

Ning Jingli thought, his network is extensive; she could have him help connect with suitable food factories and pharmaceutical plants.

Just as she was about to speak, her phone rang.

It was a call from the City‑center Star‑Han Hospital where Su Yi was hospitalized.

Ning Jingli asked about the situation and set off immediately.

Fortunately Wu Sanye could drive her; otherwise, in this suburban area, it's hard to hail a car late at night.

Wu Sanye saw her burning with anxiety and sped like lightning.

He ignored red lights, delivering her to the hospital at top speed.

He originally intended to leave after dropping her off, but kept a watchful eye and quietly followed.

Ning Jingli rushed straight to Su Yi's ward and saw several doctors, nurses, and security guards present.

There was also a man in his thirties, legs crossed, sitting at the bedside.

"Su Qiang!" Ning Jingli stormed to his face, "How can you still have the face to cause trouble?"

He was Su Yi's biological son.

His biological father ran away when he was just born.

Su Yi let him take her surname and, through hardship, raised him alone.

Su Qiang sized up Ning Jingli, smiled and said, "What trouble have I caused? Isn't it fine to come visit my own mother?"

Ning Jingli's anger was uncontainable.

She had taken Su Yi to this hospital early yesterday; Su Yi is still in a coma now.

She didn't believe a single word of Su Qiang's pretended 'visiting' nonsense.

"Stop pretending!"

She pointed at Su Qiang's nose and scolded, "If you had any conscience, you wouldn't have driven her out back then! In ten years, did you ever care about her life or death?!"

As she kept scolding, she began to cry herself.

Ten years ago she was driven out of the Ning Family by her own uncle.

Being expelled by relatives, feeling helpless, she knew how painful it was.

It was then that she met Su Yi, who made a living scavenging trash.

Su Yi only rented a cheap room, yet still took her in.

She treated her like a daughter, supporting her schooling…

"You think you can meddle in matters between me and my mother?" Su Qiang, shameless, fiddled with the IV line, poking and pinching it.

"Speak up, what exactly do you want?" Ning Jingli wiped her tears and asked coldly.

Su Qiang grinned.

"Ning Jingli, Ning Jingli, I truly didn't expect you to be this rich."

"She was taken to the best hospital of Star‑Han, placed in a premium single room, with two nurses hired, tsk tsk…"

"I'm short on cash lately, you get what I mean, right?"

Seeing his brazen shamelessness, the doctors and nurses all wanted to slap him.

"How much do you want?" Ning Jingli gritted her teeth in hatred, but now could only hurry to send him away.

Su Qiang stood and faced her, "My wife told me we need to get a new school‑district house for our son; I'm still short three hundred thousand on the down payment."

Wu Sanye suddenly entered, grabbed Su Qiang's shoulder, and said, "It's just three hundred thousand; does Miss Ning really need to spend that?"

Ning Jingli was taken aback.

"Who are you?" Su Qiang frowned and sized him up.

"Who do you think I am? You want money, right? Come with me."

Wu Sanye deliberately flashed the multi‑million‑dollar watch on his wrist.

Su Qiang's eyes lit up, and he followed him out, completely unaware that this old fox had flashed a vicious look in his eyes.

Ning Jinli breathed a sigh of relief, kept Su Yi company for a while, then left.

Just as she left the ward, she ran into Zheng Lao's secretary.

As it turned out, Zheng Lao was hospitalized here.

Upon learning that the old gentleman had not yet rested, Ning Jinli obtained the secretary's consent and went to visit him.

Seeing her, Zheng Lao was delighted and quickly put down the notes he had been writing.

"Hello, Grandfather Zheng."

Ning Jinli said softly, "Actually, I have something I'd like to ask you."

Zheng Lao wore a kind smile, "Go ahead, speak."

Ning Jinli asked, "Do you know what happened when Prince of Xuan Xiao Qidi was eighteen?"

She learned of their situation from the soldiers of Lin Xian Village.

But she still wanted to know how it all ended in the end.

It happened that she met Zheng Lao here, and she thought perhaps this old expert who had devoted his life to studying antiquities could give her an answer.

"When Xiao Qidi was eighteen..." Zheng Lao's expression grew grave, "Xiao Ning, do you really want to know?"

The atmosphere suddenly turned solemn, and Ning Jinli nervously nodded.

Zheng Lao lowered his reading glasses and slowly began:

"This is a…… brutal secret history that has not yet been made public."

"That year, Xiao Qidi was trapped in the Xi Tun Guan region of Xuan Guo, leading the border troops to resist the invading Yu Guo army."

"Xi Tun Guan had few troops and poor equipment, and then a drought cut off water and grain. In this situation, surrounded by an enemy force many times stronger, Xiao Qidi could not turn the tide; ultimately all the border troops died, and about sixty thousand local civilians were slaughtered by the enemy."

Ning Jinli felt anguished, her nose sour, "And…… what about Xiao Qidi?"

Zheng Lao's face grew grim, "He suffered grave injuries and lost consciousness, falling into enemy hands. However, by the time Xuan Guo's reinforcement army arrived, the enemy had gouged out his eyes, cut off his limbs, sliced off his ears and nose, turning him into a 'Human Stick'!"

"Ah!" Ning Jinli exclaimed.

She took a while to recover from the shock, unable to believe it:

"Grandfather Zheng, that can't be right? He became a Human Stick, so how did he later unify the world and become the ancestral emperor?"

"Sigh……" Zheng Lao let out a breath and continued:

"Because the powers that held sway in Xuan Guo used a puppet resembling him in appearance and build to replace him, exploiting his talents and having him devise strategies from behind the scenes."

"He lived, neither fully human nor ghost, contributing his wisdom to help Xuan Guo destroy the Six Nations, exhausting himself to achieve the first great unification in our nation's history, yet before the world the one who became the ancestral emperor was…… that puppet!"

"From the age of eighteen, when he became a Human Stick, he was imprisoned in a secret chamber, and even after exhausting his heart and blood and draining his life, he never got to step out and feel the great dynasty he had founded."

Ning Jinli felt as if struck by lightning, her heart seized with pain, and tears quickly blurred her vision.

She dared not imagine what kind of life Xiao Qidi led after the age of eighteen.

The youthful king who stood alive before her actually met such a tragic end!

"Grandfather Zheng, thank you! I have urgent business, I'm leaving first!"

Ning Jinli wiped away a tear, turned, and rushed out of the ward.

The secretary had just brought the fruit over, and shouted after her back:

"Miss Ning! Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?"