章節 532: Chapter 532: Sudden Surprise
To say what is the most famous building in Norfolk, England, it would undoubtedly be Howard Castle, belonging to the Howard family. Not only in Norfolk but also throughout England and even Europe, Howard Castle is considered a grand architectural marvel.
Howard Castle has a history of 280 years, starting construction in 1699. It took three generations and over a hundred years to complete.
The entire Howard Castle covers more than a thousand acres and has 145 rooms. It is the family estate of the Howards, but due to the family's dwindling numbers, most of the rooms remain unused.
At this moment, in the hall of Howard Castle, Duke Carter Howard, at just 48 years old, leaned on a leather sofa, gently caressing the emerald ring on his right thumb, listening quietly to a detailed report from an aide.
"Your Grace, the investigation leads have now been interrupted. The current intelligence shows that the five individuals who kidnapped Young Master Henry were manipulated by someone codenamed 'Blue Eagle.' The task issuer has not been identified. Although the five perpetrators provided clues about meeting 'Blue Eagle,' when our people arrived at the location, 'Blue Eagle' had already disappeared. MI6 is also investigating intensively, but there are no updates yet."
Upon hearing this, Carter Howard's face darkened, and a surge of anger surged within him, with no outlet for his frustration.
Three days had passed without any results. Only a codenamed 'Blue Eagle' had been identified, with the true culprit still unknown. Various figures flashed through his mind, but he could not be certain.
Because he had been disqualified from inheriting the ducal title in his youth, his family had not placed much pressure on him. He was known as a playboy throughout Britain.
What was surprising was that Carter Howard had fallen in love with a commoner girl, reformed his ways, and stopped indulging in vice, becoming a devoted family man.
He later had a daughter and a son with his wife. After his elder brother's unexpected death, he inherited the Duke of Norfolk title. His only son, Henry Howard, was the most suitable heir to the ducal title.
Moreover, his wife passed away seven years ago. Although his old nature was gradually resurfacing, he had not remarried and had only one son.
Now that his only son was targeted by the enemy, how could he not be enraged!
After learning about the incident, he mobilized the family's resources to investigate and, as a staunch royalist Duke, requested an audience with Her Majesty the Queen. The Queen immediately ordered MI6 to intervene in the investigation to maintain the aristocracy's ruling position.
To his dismay, three days had passed with such results!
However, despite his anger, Carter Howard did not blame his subordinates. After all, if MI6 could not uncover anything, it was only natural that the Howard family's resources could not either. The enemy must be too cunning.
What he could do was to enhance the covert security for his son and daughter, in addition to the visible bodyguards.
"What about the others? How are Elena and Henry today?"
Changing the topic, Carter Howard said calmly.
The subordinate sighed with relief and reported honestly, "Miss and Young Master went to the Bright Fund in the London Financial District today. They waited for Xia Yu, and then they went… At 5:31 PM, Xia Yu left."
When Carter Howard heard that Elena had invited Xia Yu to their residence and that Henry was learning martial arts from Xia Yu's bodyguard, Li Wuming, his gaze became thoughtful.
He silently picked up the documents on the table and reviewed them once more.
Although the intelligence about Xia Yu had increased over the past few days, from England to Hong Kong, Carter Howard had read them many times, and each time he was struck by astonishment.
He never expected that Xia Yu, who had saved his son, would be so outstanding. From being the son of an ordinary fisherman to becoming the head of a financial consortium at such a young age, and even overthrowing the Keswick family, the rulers of the Far East's top British-funded conglomerate.
Initially, he suspected whether Xia Yu was behind the incident involving Henry, perhaps aiming to get close to their family. However, after further investigation, Xia Yu's suspicion was cleared.
Today, his daughter and son going to thank Xia Yu was something he had tacitly approved.
What he did not expect was that his usually aloof little princess would invite Xia Yu to their home, and his young son was learning martial arts from his bodyguard.
After investigating Xia Yu's background, Carter Howard had also learned about Li Wuming, the personal bodyguard. Li Wuming's impressive record in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia made him realize that Li Wuming was an astonishing martial arts master with close-combat skills far superior to the previous martial arts instructors hired for his son, Henry.
When Henry returned after the incident, he had pleaded with Carter Howard for a long time to bring Li Wuming over to teach him martial arts. Initially, Carter Howard had hoped it would be possible, but after understanding the intelligence, he knew it was nearly impossible to extract him from Xia Yu's side.
So now that Henry's wish was fulfilled, learning martial arts from Li Wuming, Carter Howard was quite pleased.
He cared more about his son's feelings than about his own pride.
"Your Grace, do we need to strengthen the monitoring of Xia Yu?"
The subordinate asked softly.
Carter Howard thought for a moment, then a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he shook his head and said, "No need. Since he is Elena and Henry's friend and has saved Henry's life, he is naturally a friend of the Howard family."
"Given your abilities, it's hard to monitor him secretly. You may have already been discovered. Withdraw and focus on protecting Elena and Henry."
"I don't want a second incident!"
At the end, Carter Howard's face turned stern, and his voice rose abruptly, making his subordinate shiver.
"Understood!"
"Alright, you may leave now. Report to me immediately if there's any news!"
Carter Howard waved his hand, dismissing his subordinate.
After the subordinate quietly took his leave, Carter Howard looked again at the documents in his hand, a look of keen interest on his face.
"He has the ability to become a friend of the Howard family…"
"Wants to acquire the Financial Times? Heh, thinking too simply. But since he saved Henry, I'll give him a hand. The Howard family doesn't like owing favors…"
"It seems I haven't seen Philip for a month. It's a good time to discuss the election with him…"
Five days later, Xia Yu received good news from George Berkeley, leaving him a bit dazed.
Pearson Group had unexpectedly changed its previous cold attitude and agreed to sell its 71% stake in the Financial Times. The acquisition process was now entering the negotiation stage!
This completely surprised him. Originally, Xia Yu had expected progress with the Daily Telegraph, held by Canadian Black, but did not anticipate the breakthrough with the Financial Times, and it was a major breakthrough, with the biggest difficulty in acquiring the Financial Times being overcome!
He remembered that two days ago, when he inquired about the situation, George Berkeley had mentioned that there was progress with the scattered small shareholders' equity acquisition, while Pearson Group was uncooperative and would not resolve the issue within a month.
Unexpectedly, just two days later, the situation had completely reversed, and he was astonished.
As a result, Xia Yu did not stay home long and immediately went to the Bright Fund to find George Berkeley.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票