Chapter 46 The treatment at the singing and dressing party inexplicably improved.

Three days later, in the suburban office.

The four sat around the table, with Jin Suiqing in the middle, resting his chin on his hand, calculating accounts, looking worried and unhappy.

Gong Dagou had just finished his errand and entered the room when he saw this scene. Completely puzzled, he asked Gong Xiaoyang, "With four hundred and eighty taels of gold in hand, why is the young princess still so unhappy?"

Gong Xiaoyang shrugged, looking equally surprised.

The gold was buried in the suburbs in stages, then secretly dug out by four people, melted down, and then put into the bank. Although there was a fire loss of twenty taels, it was enough to cut off Huangfu Li's tracking, so it was not a loss.

Jin Suiqing knew the plot, and the thought of having to give back the money she had taken in made her feel uneasy. She was listless. "Have you redeemed Qingqing?"

Gong Dagou nodded: "As you instructed, the other two girls were also redeemed. Each of them was given one hundred taels of silver as travel expenses, and they have already been sent away from the capital."

After listening, Jin Suiqing lay down on the table with satisfaction.

Huihong looked worried. "If the young princess is unhappy, shall we go back to the city now and have some ice cream?"

Huihong was still treating her like a child. Jin Suiqing shook her head, buried her face in her arms, completely hiding it, and said in a muffled voice, "If... I mean if."

The four looked at each other, puzzled, and their gazes turned to Jin Suiqing.

Jin Suiqing took a deep breath, "If I were to leave the capital in the future, would you be willing to come with me?"

Without hesitation, Huihong replied, "Yes, of course I'm willing! The young princess treats me so well, I'll go wherever she goes!"

Seeing this, Gong Xiaoyang blurted out without thinking, "If Sister Huihong is leaving, then I'll go with her!"

Gong Dagou glanced at Gong Xiaoyang with disdain. Ji Saiyu pondered for a moment and asked Jin Suiqing, "Judging from this, does the young princess intend to leave the capital?"

As soon as he finished speaking, all was silent.

Ji Saiyu pointed, and the three of them finally realized what was going on. They all looked at Jin Suiqing with different expressions in their eyes. Huihong and Gong Xiaoyang were puzzled, while Gong Dagou was worried.

Gong Dagou said worriedly, "Is the young princess going to do something dangerous?"

Gong Xiaoyang: "Wasn't what happened three days ago considered risking your life?"

Gong Dagou shut his mouth.

Huihong anxiously took Jin Suiqing's arm, Gong Xiaoyang scratched her head in frustration, and only Ji Saiyu remained to keep things under control. Her lips moved again and again, but she ultimately did not speak.

Jin Suiqing sighed.

Huihong treated her very well, and she would definitely take her with her when she left the Jin family; Gong Xiaoyang was young, full of passion, and impulsive, so he would definitely follow her too.

Only Ji Saiyu and Gong Dagou, being much older and more experienced, have their own standards, and whether they will lean towards her is another matter.

Jin Suiqing could only say, "Indeed, no matter the outcome, we will not treat you unfairly."

Having worked together for a long time, Gong Dagou and Ji Saiyu understood Jin Suiqing's character. Although he was frivolous, he had never shortchanged the two of them. Since the boss had made a promise, they nodded in agreement.

Jin Suiqing straightened up and said solemnly, "A high-ranking monk from Da Ci'en Temple has passed away. A singing party will be held, and there is one item in the auction that I must buy."

*

The "Singing Clothes Assembly," a system in monasteries for disposing of monks' belongings or donated clothing, is one of the origins of modern auctions. It involves public auctions, with bids placed by monks or laypeople, and the proceeds going into the monastery's public property.

This is a normal singing and dancing event.

Why would a novel's plot include a normal singing and dancing party?

The female lead's sophistication needs to be highlighted through a dramatic and suspenseful plot; any event that can be incorporated into the plot, like a fashion show, can't possibly be normal.

The singing and singing fair at Da Ci'en Temple was essentially an auction disguised as a dog meat sale. While it appeared to be auctioning off the monks' personal belongings, each item actually represented a "goods" that were rarely seen even on the black market.

One of the items that the female protagonist, Huang Tufeng, really liked was rumored to be a sketch that circulated when the Jin family's patriarch designed the super sulfur combustion engine.

This item is the reason why the female protagonist participates in the costume singing party.

With the stage set up, people naturally need to perform. If there's a protagonist, then there needs to be a clown to highlight the heroine's brilliance.

The clown in the singing and dancing group is the vicious female supporting character, Jin Suiqing.

According to the plot, the idle young princess wanders the streets and accidentally discovers that Huang Tufeng has entered the Great Ci'en Temple. Without being invited, she forces her way into the singing and dancing event and uses her financial power to oppose Huang Tufeng without knowing the real items to be auctioned.

Simply put, whatever the female lead is filming, she'll eagerly film it too.

Huang Tufeng used a clever trick to get Jin Suiqing to bid a high price for an illegal mine that had already been mined out, causing Jin Suiqing to incur huge debts without his knowledge.

The female supporting character brought trouble upon herself, emptying her treasury but still unable to repay the debt; moreover, due to the special nature of the auctioned item, for the Jin family, owning a black mine was tantamount to rebellion, so the female supporting character had no choice but to swallow her anger and could only take out loans to pay off other loans, eventually depleting her own pockets.

This is also why Jin Suiqing has become increasingly impatient lately.

Although she has her own businesses and plenty of money, so she doesn't have to resort to borrowing, who wouldn't be anxious if the money she just earned was about to be taken out of her pocket?

If she doesn't complete the tasks, the system will weigh heavily on her, and she'll either suffocate or be electrocuted.

Just as Jin Suiqing had sorted out his thoughts, the system in his mind said: "Oppose the female lead at the singing party, bid for the mine, one day limit, countdown begins."

Just then, the carriage carrying her and Huihong arrived at their destination and stopped. Jin Suiqing accepted the task, calmly jumped off the carriage, and met Huihong's worried eyes. She reassured her, "It's alright, it's alright. I'll probably be back tonight, don't worry."

Huihong nodded, clutching her handkerchief. Jin Suiqing had only taken two steps when Huihong jumped off the rhinoceros carriage, grabbed Jin Suiqing, and stuffed something heavy into her hand.

Jin Suiqing looked closely and saw it was a faded purse filled with loose silver. Huihong said worriedly, "Princess, this isn't much money. Keep it. You can use it to help yourself if anything happens."

This amount of money wasn't much, but it was what Huihong had been saving since she entered the Jin family. She was genuinely worried that Huihong wouldn't have enough money to give her all at once today.

The heavy weight on her hand was a testament to Huihong's genuine concern.

Jin Suiqing was very touched and stuffed the purse back into her hands. "Huihong, don't worry. We have savings, plus the gold we got from the Crown Prince, which is enough for me to handle today's singing and dancing party. Keep the money, we'll use it in the future."

Jin Suiqing's words, "We'll use it in the future," reassured Huihong. Huihong nodded solemnly, turning back every few steps, and returned to the rhinoceros-horn carriage.

Jin Suiqing put on her veil, waved to her, and then strolled out of the alley and blended into the crowd.

The streets were crowded today, mostly heading towards the Great Ci'en Temple. At the Great Ci'en Temple, important worshippers received invitations, while ordinary believers could only kneel before the temple to pray for the Buddha's protection.

What should have been the most devout and pure place has become a gathering place of money. The entrance fee is money; the rich go in to engage in illicit activities, while the poor genuinely believe that something sacred is happening inside, and a large number of them kneel down.

Inside the temple, incense sticks made from gleaming silver notes were lit, their fragrance lingering above the main hall, like a divine miracle. This seemed to urge those outside to kneel even more deeply, chanting "Amitabha" faster and faster than anyone else, creating a truly magnificent sight.

A monk wrapped in a kasaya held a donation box, saying that he could write scriptures for a deceased high monk and guide him to the Western Paradise. Devout people threw in one copper coin after another.

Jin Suiqing scoffed. Fans supporting the high monk were cheering and performing a Buddhist 101 online voting contest. "So, you're going to debut in the Western Paradise? You know it well."

Da Ci'en Temple is so greedy that it won't even let a mosquito's leg meat go to waste.

Jin Suiqing peered into the crowd toward the temple gate. People dressed in silk and brocade held documents resembling ordination certificates and handed them to the gray-robed monks guarding the gate for inspection before entering the temple.

It's virtually impossible to fake it on site. According to the plot, Jin Suiqing not only needs to show his face to enter the temple, but also has to pay a considerable sum of money.

The money-grubbing Jin Suiqing asked the system, "How do I get in?"

System: "Go inside."

Jin Suiqing: "Nonsense, of course I know. If I don't go in, am I supposed to climb in? I'm asking how to get in legally and legitimately for free."

The system thought for a moment and said, "Go inside."

"#￥%@##Damn it, you dog system, one day I'll definitely make a hole in your head." No matter how much Jin Suiqing cursed, the system chose to play dead and refused to respond.

Jin Suiqing had no choice but to glance around and see Huang Tufeng at the end of the line, holding a certificate of ordination, walking toward the gatekeeper monk, preparing to enter the temple.

Startled, she quickly squeezed through the crowd. Just as Huang Tufeng entered the temple and the gates were about to close, Jin Suiqing ran over and grabbed the sleeve of the gatekeeper monk: "I want to go in too!"

Seeing her elegant attire, the monk spoke politely, "Today is the Great Ci'en Temple Clothing Singing Ceremony. Everyone participating in the ceremony has an invitation. Do you have an invitation, lady?"

Jin Suiqing replied confidently, "No."

The gatekeeper monk shook his head. "Then you cannot go in. Please leave."

"Wait a minute," Jin Suiqing flung open the curtain, tilting her head back arrogantly, "I am the little princess of Kyushu. My aunt said I can go wherever I want. Why can't I go in!"

Unexpectedly, a young princess appeared out of nowhere, leaving the gatekeeper monk in a dilemma.

To finish quickly, Jin Suiqing took out a hundred-tael silver note from her sleeve, stuffed it into the palm of the gatekeeper monk, blinked her big eyes, and whispered, "I'll pay for the entrance fee and incense money. If it's not enough, I'll give you more. Master let me in because I'm curious and want to join in the fun. I don't want to cause you any trouble."

In the story, the female supporting character refused to back down and argued with the gatekeeper monk, causing the ticket price to skyrocket. Jin Suiqing was thick-skinned and would readily compromise for the sake of saving money.

One hundred taels is one-fifth less than the five hundred taels required to start the story.

The monk touched the silver note, casually slipping it into his sleeve. "Wait a moment, I'll go inform them." Not long after, the monk hurried over, a hint of joy on his face. He bowed to Jin Suiqing and said, "Please come with me, I'll guide you inside."

Jin Suiqing was overjoyed. He had accomplished a great deal with a small amount of money, the system hadn't triggered any alarms, and he hadn't offended anyone—a win-win situation.

The monk led Jin Suiqing around the main hall and along a quiet path. Jin Suiqing asked curiously, "Master, aren't we going into the main hall?"

The monk said respectfully, "You are a distinguished guest. Please take a seat of honor. A private room has been prepared for you."

Jin Suiqing is even stranger. He only lowered his head to save money, so why has his treatment changed?

She became more wary, put her veil back on, and followed behind the monk.

After passing through the corridor, the gray-robed monk led her into a guest room and asked her to sit down. The young novice monk who had been sweeping the room had been waiting for a long time. As soon as she sat down, he pulled up a screen to shield her face and pushed open the floor-to-ceiling paper window.

Through the gauze screen, the towering golden Buddha statue in the main hall shone so brightly that it hurt the eyes.

Author's note: 7,000 words finished, ten small red envelopes to give away.

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