“Your Highness is indeed extremely handsome.” Shen Jintang stared straight at him, her peach blossom eyes shimmering with tender affection.

Gu Zhixing seemed amused, the corners of his mouth curving upwards slightly, a hint of amusement spreading across his eyes: "You have good taste."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and his tone instantly turned cold: "But you should still shut up. Your lousy voice hurts my ears."

As he spoke, he reached out and untied the ropes binding Shen Jintang's hands. Her thin, bony wrists were covered in bruises. Gu Zhixing couldn't help but frown. Could this little guy, who could be killed with a single slap, have escaped? Why was he tied up so tightly?

However, this feeling only lasted for a moment before he remembered the purpose of his visit.

With a sharp look in his eyes, he snatched the indenture from the slave trader's hand, confirmed that it belonged to Shen Jintang, and then casually tossed it to Chongyang behind him.

"Your Highness!" Seeing Gu Zhixing take away Shen Jintang's documents, Shen Huaixu could no longer contain himself and straightened up to look at him.

Gu Zhixing narrowed his eyes, his cherry-pink lips opening and closing with a playful expression, and said, "Did I tell you to get up?"

Abuse of power to oppress people.

Everyone around dared not breathe, afraid that if they made a mistake in their breathing, they might anger the ill-tempered prince, which would be disastrous.

Rumors have it that this unique Crown Prince of Kyoto is tyrannical and acts recklessly, beating anyone who displeases him. Even the Crown Prince has been harmed by him, let alone ordinary people like them.

"Your Highness, please forgive me." Shen Huaixu took a step back and bowed again, but his voice was still neither humble nor arrogant: "In this world, things are all about first come, first served. I bought this female slave first, so the documents and the person will naturally be taken back by me."

Gu Zhixing raised an eyebrow, looked at the trembling slave trader beside him, and asked, "How much did you pay for it?"

"Reporting to the young master," the slave trader began timidly, "fifty..."

"Fifty taels of gold?"

The slave trader's eyes widened upon hearing this. Yellow, gold?

Let him calculate how much gold is worth.

One tael of gold is equivalent to twenty taels of silver, so fifty taels of gold would be equivalent to one thousand taels of silver!

He's going to get rich! He's going to get rich!

The human trafficker was so excited he couldn't speak.

Gu Zhixing gripped Shen Jintang's shoulder, looked him up and down, and said, "That's too little. Five hundred taels of gold, please."

Five...five hundred taels!

The slave trader immediately knelt on the ground. Who said His Highness the Crown Prince was a spoiled brat? This Crown Prince is truly an incredibly kind person!

"Your Highness, you have such excellent taste! This female slave is the best I have here!"

"Appearance..." The slave trader closed his eyes and praised, "She's a first-rate beauty!"

"Look at her figure, so...so slender, look at this..."

"Shut up!" Gu Zhixing interrupted the slave trader. No wonder he was called a swindler. He could blindly praise such a bean sprout as a beauty that could topple kingdoms.

"Alright!" The slave trader quickly shut his mouth. As long as he got the money, he'd do anything, even cut out his tongue!

A playful glint flashed in Gu Zhixing's eyes as he looked at Shen Huaixu and asked, "Can you produce it?"

Shen Huaixu frowned deeply. Did they think everyone was richer than a country?

Five hundred taels of gold?

Do you have any concept of money?

A family of three only needs forty taels of silver a year to make ends meet.

Five hundred taels of gold—that's enough for a family to live on for over two hundred years!

However, if Shen Jintang falls into Gu Zhixing's hands, his father's reputation will be completely ruined, and it will also affect his career.

That's enough!

Didn't they just assume he couldn't come up with those five hundred taels of gold?

That's right, he couldn't afford it!

But so what?

As long as we can coax Gu Zhixing away first, we can easily get rid of a broker and a few dozen taels of silver.

"I can produce it." Shen Huaixu gritted his teeth so hard they were about to break.

"It's good that you can afford it. I was originally planning to pay for it myself, but since Minister Shen is so kind, I'll accept your offer." Gu Zhixing smiled triumphantly, grabbed Shen Jintang's wrist, and was about to leave.

What?

What did Gu Zhixing mean by that?

He paid the money, but the person and the indenture weren't his.

Do you think he's some rich fool who has too much money to spend?

Shen Huaixu's face turned green, and he could no longer maintain his composure: "Your Highness, a gentleman keeps his word. Since you have agreed to let me buy this female slave, you should return her and the contract of sale to me."

"Oh? When did I agree to that?" Gu Zhixing stopped and looked down at him, his eyes full of amusement.

He didn't say it explicitly, but isn't that what he meant?

Or is it a deliberate attempt to frame him?

"Don't say I didn't say such things. Even if I did, what can you do to me if I don't follow through?"

Gu Zhixing mocked himself, "I'm not a gentleman, why should I follow any rules?"

However, Shen Huaixu's words had indeed offended him, so he had to vent his anger.

"You, go to the Grand Tutor's mansion tomorrow to collect the debt, or come to the Prince's mansion and I will help you collect it."

These words clearly indicate that Chen Huaixu is about to suffer a huge financial loss.

The slave trader glanced at Gu Zhixing, then at Shen Huaixu, and finally decided that money was the most important thing. Besides, with the heir backing him up, he wasn't afraid of not getting his money.

"Yes, yes, yes, I will certainly follow your instructions tomorrow."

A wicked smile crept across Gu Zhixing's stunningly handsome face as he lazily placed his hand on Shen Huaixu's injured wrist and said, "What, you're not convinced?"

"There's nothing you can do if you're not happy about it; you have to put up with it even if you can't stand it."

"You should be glad you weren't involved in that incident, otherwise it wouldn't have been as simple as just shedding blood."

Gu Zhixing's smile softened, and he said coldly, "Go back and tell your father to wash his neck clean and wait for me. I'll skin him alive!"

Gu Zhixing wiped the blood on Shen Huaixu's clothes and walked towards the carriage.