Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 239 Limited-Time Alliance

Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.

The main family of Saionji Temple.

The warm sunshine of early spring spilled onto the wooden edging of the backyard of the main house. Several century-old Yoshino cherry trees in the courtyard were in full bloom.

A gentle breeze stirred, causing the trees full of blossoms to tremble slightly. The pink and white cherry blossom petals, like a silent snowflake, drifted down, covering the bluestone slabs and white sand of the dry landscape garden in the courtyard.

Today, Saionji Satsuki did not step into that oppressive underground strategic room.

A pale white silk kimono draped over the wooden edge of a room. A simple, purplish-purple brocade sash accentuated her slender waist. The girl sat quietly at the edge of the corridor, her bare white feet gently touching the warm cypress wood floor, feeling the warmth of the wood in early spring.

Shuichi Saionji, dressed in a dark gray casual kimono, sat cross-legged on the other side of the table. The father and daughter were quietly sharing this rare moment of tranquility.

On the rosewood table in front of them sat an exquisite set of Kuko-yaki tea utensils. A faint aroma of sencha rose from the teapot, mingling with the scent of cherry blossoms in the courtyard.

Butler Fujita, dressed in a sharp tailcoat, strode briskly down the corridor. He stopped two steps away from Satsuki and gave a slight bow, holding in both hands a fax that had just been received and printed from an encrypted connection.

"Young Miss. News from New York."

Satsuki turned her head, her gaze falling on the fax paper.

"The freeze order from Washington has been completely lifted under lobbying and pressure from Salomon Brothers. The $35 billion settlement process has been restarted and is expected to be fully transferred to our offshore trust matrix in the Cayman Islands within 48 hours."

"Understood. You may leave." Satsuki's voice was gentle, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Fujita bowed, placed the fax on the table, and quietly withdrew.

Shuichi put down his teacup. His gaze swept over the fax on the table. It clearly stated that the crisis had been resolved. But his thick, sword-like eyebrows were tightly furrowed together.

"Satsuki." Shuichi looked at the cherry blossoms falling all over the courtyard, his tone filled with deep worry. "Although the crisis has been temporarily averted, this is tantamount to us borrowing a route from Wall Street."

He picked up the teacup, but the warmth of the cup could not dispel the chill in his heart.

"Brother Solomon... these guys aren't so easy to deal with."

"You used seven billion dollars to drag them down, using their channels as cover. That really solved the immediate problem."

Xiu turned his head, looking at his daughter with a solemn expression.

"But... the appetite of Wall Street capital is insatiable. Once they've established themselves in Japan and figured out the rules here..." He paused, his brows furrowing deeply. "Then, what will we use to protect ourselves from their backlash?"

Satsuki listened quietly to her father's worries. She extended her fair right hand, her fingertips pausing slightly in mid-air. A pinkish-white cherry blossom petal twirled and landed steadily in her palm.

"Father, there's really no need to worry about the hungry wolves on Wall Street."

Satsuki's gaze fell on the tender petal, her tone light and relaxed.

"Fujita, bring me the monitoring logs from the Saionji Information System (SIS) regarding the North American bond market."

Fujita emerged from the depths of the corridor like a shadow. He placed a thick, basic data report with a printer hole along its edge on the rosewood desk.

Shuichi's gaze was immediately drawn to the dense text of English data.

"Hmm... based on feedback from the underlying router."

Satsuki's slender fingers tapped lightly on the report.

"Solomon Brothers is the largest primary dealer of U.S. Treasury bonds. In the past six months, their proprietary trading room has frequently exhibited unusual fund flows in Treasury bond auctions."

She looked up at the cherry blossom tree deep in the courtyard.

"The U.S. Treasury stipulates that a single agency can only bid up to 35 percent of the Treasury bonds in an auction. This is to prevent anyone from monopolizing the country's sovereign credit."

"But... guess what they did?"

Satsuki chuckled softly, looking at Shuichi who was somewhat stunned.

"They used clients' accounts to create a large number of fake bids without authorization, in an attempt to hoard two-year U.S. Treasury bonds and force a short squeeze in the secondary market."

As Xiu Yi looked at the data, his breathing gradually became heavy.

"Are they... are they manipulating US Treasury bonds?"

"A trading room that dares to trample on even the red lines of national security. In pursuit of the ultimate monopoly profits, their internal risk control algorithm has long been manually turned off."

Satsuki's fingertips gently caressed the texture of the cherry blossom petals.

"The data shows that this kind of abnormally high-leveraged bidding is amplifying exponentially. And the U.S. Treasury's automated auditing system is by no means blind."

She applied slight pressure with her thumb. The delicate petals crumbled instantly under the pressure of her fingertip. Juice seeped out, tinging her fair skin with a faint pink hue.

"Based on the actuarial model's projections," Satsuki casually tossed away the broken petals, the fragments drifting onto the cypress floor. "By next year at the latest, this blatant market manipulation will trigger the Federal Reserve's (FED) regulatory red line. To uphold the dollar's credibility, Washington politicians will not hesitate to take them to court."

"By then, even their prized capital will be useless. Because damaging the credibility of the dollar directly offends the entire American capital market."

"So, this is just a 'limited-time alliance.'" Satsuki looked at the pink mark remaining on her palm, a cold smile playing on her lips. "We only need to use them for the next year or two to provide cover for the liquidation process. In this Japanese market that is about to turn into ruins, we can freely seize territory."

"Wait until the meat grinder in Washington starts."

"This Wall Street tycoon will suffer a devastating backlash. At that time, the Saionji family will not only be able to sever the physical connection without suffering any damage, but they can also conveniently take over the Japanese assets they acquired during this period at a low price."

Xiu Yi's fingers, holding the teacup, stiffened slightly. He looked at the cold, underlying data, then at his daughter's profile, which appeared exceptionally serene in the sunlight.

All worries and doubts vanished completely in the face of these solid quantitative projections.

I'm so useless. My daughter has to do everything for me, and I even have to explain things to her.

He put down his teacup and raised his right hand, wanting to pat his daughter's head as he used to do.

But his hand paused in mid-air, slightly hesitant.

The girl in front of me is almost seventeen years old.

She was no longer the child who needed to hide under the wings of her elders, but the true helmsman of this massive imperial warship.

Shuichi chuckled self-deprecatingly, then gently took Satsuki's pale hand, which was stained with a trace of pink flower sap. His rough fingertips softly caressed the back of her hand.

"Satsuki..."

"Thinking about so much... must be tiring, right?"

He paused for a moment, his voice slightly hoarse.

"You've really had a tough time these past few years."

Satsuki paused slightly. She didn't pull her hand away, letting her father hold it.

The calculation and sharpness in her clear black and white eyes faded away. A gentle, genuine smile appeared on her lips.

"I'm not tired, Father." Satsuki's voice was gentle and composed. "To be able to manipulate the chips of this country with my own hands, and watch those arrogant rules crumble beneath my feet, is, for me, the most interesting game in the world."

She gently grasped her father's broad hand in return.

"Besides... with you always protecting me from the storms of life, how could I possibly feel burdened?" (The old man handles all government affairs and social obligations in Japan; don't think he's useless.)

The father and daughter smiled at each other.

A gentle spring breeze swept by. The century-old cherry tree in the courtyard shook violently. Cherry blossoms rained down like a blizzard, swirling and dancing in the air.

"Clang—" The startled deer, its body brimming with spring water, struck the mossy round stone heavily.

The crisp sound mingled with the rustling of the wind through the cherry trees, creating a lingering, melodious sound.