The place where the Gao Clan’s Chamber of Commerce was organizing their auction today was called the Ten Thousand Treasure House. On any given day, there would always be many precious treasures sold in the stalls outside. The venue inside was used to organize auctions. At present, the large venue was already filled with quite a lot of people, but despite the crowd, everything remained systematic. This venue had a semi-circular shape with two stories. The private rooms were all located above on the upper storey and its big hall was well-equipped with many seats
The attendant ushered Fu Chengyu and the rest of the group into a private room. The fifth princess thickened her skin and also followed them over into the room. Once she slipped in and sat down, she immediately waved towards Ling Chuxi and called out to her, “Master, over here, over here.”
Ling Chuxi smiled and sat down beside the fifth princess. Fu Chengyu was speechless as he took his seat next to Ling Yichen. The experienced attendant very efficiently made some tea and served them fruits and snacks. After that he respectfully stood aside, awaiting any other orders. During the bidding portions of the auction later on, he would be the one announcing their bids for them.
The private room was not entirely covered. The front of the room opened up into the hall below. It was more like a private balcony with a railing that was about waist high. There was a veil draped over the balcony opening to block off anyone outside from looking in while allowing those inside to see clearly what was going on outside. Footsteps sounded from the walkway outside the private room and voices of people speaking to each other could be heard.
“Lord Deity’s Servant, if…”
“Oh, all right…”
These few vague sentences could be heard over the rest and judging by their volume, Ling Chuxi knew that E Shulan was sitting in the private room right next to theirs.
The person in charge of this auction was someone Ling Chuxi knew. It was Gao Wentian!
Gao Wentian stood on the stage below. After putting a formal smile on his face, he spoke a few courteous sentences thanking everyone for their support and whatnot. After that, he no longer talked nonsense and announced the start of the auction.
The first item that was being auctioned off was a box of pearls. Twelve shiny, big pearls were neatly arranged in a brocade box. This was very rare item indeed.
“This box contains North Sea Pearls. They possess a shiny luster and a round and smooth texture. The starting price is three thousand taels.” Gao Wentian explained the item very simply. After all, those who came to this auction were all people who had good judgement and the ability to pick out quality. Some items needed to be bragged about, but others did not as one could easily tell their worth with a simple look.
As predicted, the moment Gao Wentian finished speaking, someone started bidding immediately, raising the bid to ten thousand teals. It was just that this box of pearls far exceeded this price. Therefore, right after, someone else raised the bid. Ling Chuxi saw this and felt uninterested. Suddenly, she heard someone bidding from the room next door, directly raising the price to fifty thousand taels. After Ling Chuxi broke through to Battle Qi Level 8, her hearing was no longer like it was in the past. Naturally, she heard someone speaking to the attendant next door and requesting for the attendant to announce the bid they were offering. ‘Aiya, wasn’t this one of E Shulan’s admirers who was called Qi something, something? It seems as though he wished to obtain this box of pearls to win the favor of a beauty. It was just that E Shulan had never even looked him in the eye before. Could he really gain her favor by doing this?’
Still, this was not something Ling Chuxi cared about. She calmly ate her snacks and watched the proceedings down below. She was waiting for the appearance of the Thousand Pearl Orchid. This rare herb was something not everyone was able to afford, and neither was it something that everyone could use wisely even if they had obtained it somehow.
“Chuxi, do you like that box of pearls? If you do, I’ll buy it for you,” offered Fu Chengyu gently.
“Ah?” Ling Chuxi was stunned, then she immediately shook her head. “There’s no need for that. I don’t like this kind of thing.” She did not notice that the way Fu Chengyu addressed her had changed. The previous term, Miss Chuxi, had become simply, Chuxi.
“I feel that if you bought master a few roasted suckling pigs, she would prefer that,” muttered the fifth princess in a whisper.
Despite himself, Ling Yichen laughed out loud unkindly. One could not deny that the fifth princess was right! Ling Chuxi was indeed a big foodie. All these precious treasures were incomparable to such roasted delicacies in her eyes.