Chapter 367: Defeated Subordinate? No, the New King I Raised With My Own Hands!

When the name "Wilson" was lightly uttered from Lu Qingshan's mouth, James Reed only felt a Siberian chill surge from his tailbone to his forehead, freezing the last shred of his dignity and Rationality as a senior minister of the British Empire into ice shards.

Wilson?

The Wilson who was personally crushed by Lu Qingshan, exiled by his family, and almost became the laughingstock of the entire London financial circle?

The name was like an invisible poisoned dagger, spoken from Lu Qingshan's mouth, yet it precisely and brutally pierced his—James Reed's—heart.

He jerked his head up, staring fixedly at Lu Qingshan, and on his blood‑pale face, for the first time, a horror and absurdity almost as if seeing a ghost flickered.

"You… what are you saying?" his voice was hoarse beyond recognition, as if each word were being forced out of rusted gears, "Wilson? You let him… take over Yihuo, Taigu's assets? Mr. Lu, are you joking? He's your defeated subordinate! A complete failure!"

Secretary Allen also screamed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "This is impossible! Absolutely impossible! Wilson has already lost all support from the Sashun Family! He is now just an idle, ridiculed failure at home! Letting him handle the Settlement is a blatant humiliation of us, of those three foreign firms!"

Lu Qingshan looked at their terrified faces, his own expression remaining unruffled, as if he were watching a drama whose script had long been written.

He ignored Allen's scream, fixing his gaze on the now completely unhinged Reed, and spoke slowly, his voice low yet like a sharp scalpel, precisely cutting open the deepest, darkest logic behind this high‑stakes gamble.

"Mr. Reed, it seems your understanding of the word 'failure' is still superficial."

He paused, poured himself another cup of tea that had gone completely cold, the icy liquid mirroring his current gaze.

That's right, Mr. Wilson lost to me on Hong Kong Island, forfeiting HK$4 billion and also losing his chance to contest the inheritance within the Sashun Family against Henry. However, Lu Qingshan shifted his tone, his jet‑black eyes flashing with a light that sees into hearts, "have you ever considered, for a clever person, whether a total failure is an end or… a rebirth?"

Reed's pupils snapped shut, his heart feeling as if gripped by an invisible hand.

Lu Qingshan gave him no time to think, continuing, "A clever person who sees the family's cold, ruthless nature, who sees that so‑called blood ties are worthless before profit, when forced to the brink—do you think he will simply sink, or become a sharper, unrestrained, even more vengeance‑driven blade?"

"Mr. Wilson and I are the sort of acquaintances who only know each other through conflict," Lu Qingshan's voice took on a peculiar, nostalgic tone, "On Hong Kong Island he was a respectable opponent. Back in London he was an even more traditional, dignified English gentleman. I've always admired such a person. So, when he was at his lowest, I met him privately and gave him a piece of advice."

"I advised him to keep fighting for that family inheritance."

"Madman! You're a complete madman!" Reed could no longer control himself, pointing at Lu Qingshan, his finger trembling violently with excitement, "You defeated him, then went to support him? What on earth are you trying to do?! What on earth do you want to turn London into?!"

"What do I want?" Lu Qingshan smiled, his smile cold and sharp, tinged with a hint of pity, "Mr. Reed, haven't you figured it out yet?"

He extended two fingers and gently waved them in the air.

"Do you remember the second clause in our memorandum?"

Reed's whole body stiffened, and the clause that made his heart seize flashed in his mind—payment using Private Gold from a core member bank of the London Bullion Market Association.

"The London Bullion Market Association's public members include banking giants like HSBC and Standard Chartered. But I think, given your position, Mr. Reed, you know better than I do that behind those banks, the real decision‑makers are just those two ancient families, aren't they?"

Lu Qingshan's voice, like a devil's whisper, drilled word by word into Reed's ears.

"Rothschild, and… Sashun."

"Boom!"

In Reed's mind something exploded with a boom; he staggered backward, plummeting onto the sofa, his eyes filled with boundless horror.

He finally understood! Everything clicked together!

It started with that Quotation Sheet at ten times the price, then the stipulation to pay with Private Gold from a private bank, and finally having Wilson, the 'failure', step forward to receive the assets… This wasn't a scheme; it was a tightly interlocked, airtight chain of murders! A Heavenly Net that had been laid out before he even stepped into this office!

Lu Qingshan wasn't targeting the British Empire at all!

He was using the British Empire's war needs as a weapon, Downing Street as the henchman, to precisely, surgically dissect the two largest, oldest financial families within London Financial City!

"Yes," Reed murmured as if all his strength had been drained, his voice full of despair and self‑mockery, "Yes… In this deal, HSBC and Standard Chartered, as the lead accepting banks, will have to part with the largest sum of gold. Their vitality… will be severely damaged. Their interests in the Far East—Yihuo, Taigu… will be uprooted completely."

He jerked his head up, staring intently at Lu Qingshan, his gaze filled with a terror as if facing a deity or demon.

"So, you put Wilson forward to carry the 'Cession Treaty' we signed, to present it to Henry of the Sashun Family, to announce it to the entire London Financial City… He, Wilson, is your sole agent in London! And you are the true winner behind this war!"

"No, you're wrong," Lu Qingshan shook his head, correcting, "The winner isn't me; it's Mr. Wilson."

He rose, walked to the window, and looked down over the city's financial heart, each of its vessels now set to pulse again under his will.

"One heir who can bring you a HK$9.5 billion sky‑high order, help you solve the British Empire's war problem, and rescue the family at its most perilous moment; and another heir who only brings trouble, causes massive losses, and drags the family into the abyss. Which do you think the elderly head of the Sashun Family will choose?"

"The current Wilson is no longer Henry's competitor," Lu Qingshan said, his voice calm and cold, as if stating an established fact, "He is already the victor."