Xin Yunzhou thought to himself with pride, "Ayong, let them see what you've got."
The servant, Ah Yong, carefully brought over a wooden box and opened it in front of everyone.
There was a moment of silence, followed by an uproar.
Inside the opened wooden box was a piece of crystal-clear jade. The jade itself was of exceptional quality, evident even to the naked eye. The base was adorned with exquisitely beautiful and lifelike carvings.
"Brother Xin, where did you find this jade? There's no jade of such high quality anywhere in Yingzhou!"
"Brother Xin should take the championship today!"
Xin Yunzhou was instantly overwhelmed by the praise, a smile spreading across his face as he couldn't help but glance at Qi Huaiyu.
This person has been completely outshone!
To everyone's surprise, Qi Huaiyu, who was standing to the side, was not jealous or angry at all; he even smiled at Xin Yunzhou.
Just as Xin Yunzhou was feeling awkward, a sudden voice rang out amidst the crowd's praise—
"There's something wrong with this thing."
Xin Yunzhou turned his head and saw that it was the eldest son of the Lin family who spoke. "What nonsense are you talking about? What could be wrong with my things?"
Young Master Lin frowned, examined the jade artifact again carefully, and suddenly his expression changed.
"Brother Xin, where did you get this?"
Xin Yunzhou said unhappily, "Why ask this?"
“This is no ordinary jade artifact,” said Young Master Lin. “It was a favorite possession of the Third Prince of the previous dynasty!”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone was startled.
The rebellion many years ago was truly devastating, as many people present knew.
Qi Huaiyu feigned concern, saying, "Young Master Lin, are you sure? If it really is something used by the Third Prince of the previous dynasty, this is no small matter. Don't be mistaken and cause trouble for Brother Xin."
"I could never be mistaken!" Young Master Lin exclaimed. "When I was young, I went to the capital with my grandfather and saw the portrait of the Third Prince. It was the 'Illustrated Portrait of the Prince's Jade Artifacts,' and this jade artifact is exactly the same as the one in the portrait!"
Some people also said, "The previous dynasty loved jade, and the story of the previous emperor bestowing jade artifacts upon the third prince was once told by storytellers as an anecdote, so it must be true."
"In that case, you'd better put those things away quickly, or you'll break a taboo!"
"Exactly! Let's not let our treasure appraisal event get us into trouble for no reason."
Qi Huaiyu quickly said, "Brothers, don't panic. I think Brother Xin didn't mean it, it's just that he..."
He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped, and everyone was immediately led to have the same idea as him.
It seems Xin Yunzhou doesn't have the brains to harbor any ill intentions; he's just too stupid!
The only son of the prestigious Xin family is such a fool!
Xin Yunzhou was immediately flustered. This jade was a top-quality item. He couldn't take his eyes off it when he first saw it that day, and he pawned many things in his room to buy it. How could he have known that there was such a thing behind it?
He suddenly looked at Qi Huaiyu: "You...you're the one who ruined me!"
Qi Huaiyu said leisurely, "Brother Xin, you brought these things yourself, so what do they have to do with me?"
Xin Yunzhou slammed his fist on the table and stood up, "It was clearly you...!"
"Brother Xin, have you gone mad?!" Qi Huaiyu took two steps back, and the others quickly came over and held Xin Yunzhou down.
The scene became chaotic for a moment.
"Oh my god, who switched my brother's treasure?"
A clear female voice rang out, and everyone turned around to see Xin Jiuwei walking briskly towards them with her maid.
Xin Yunzhou finally saw her family. She broke free from the others and took a few steps forward, "Sister!"
When Qi Huaiyu saw Xin Jiuwei, his eyes flickered slightly. He was about to say something when Xin Jiuwei walked past him without even glancing at him and went to Xin Yunzhou's side.
Xin Jiuwei glanced at the jade artifact, her face showing surprise and doubt, and said to Xin Yunzhou in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear:
"Brother, didn't you take that Golden Wind and Jade Dew Cup with you when you left this morning? How did it turn into a jade artifact?"
Xin Yunzhou was stunned and didn't react.
Young Master Xie sneered, "This jade artifact was personally brought up by Brother Qi, how could there be a problem?"
Everyone nodded in agreement, thinking that Miss Xin was foolish and spoke without considering the situation.
Someone else said to Qi Huaiyu, "Brother Qi, quickly take Miss Xin back. This is not a place for her."
Qi Huaiyu smiled apologetically and looked at Xin Jiuwei, "Jiuwei..."
"Why can't I come?" Xin Jiuwei raised her chin coyly, acting like a high-society lady. "If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known that there were thieves trying to harm my brother!"
Young Master Lin sensed something was amiss and asked unhappily, "What does Miss Xin mean by this? Do you expect me to fabricate something to frame Brother Xin?"
“I didn’t say it was you,” Xin Jiuwei said. “Everyone knows who replaced my brother’s things with this harmful stuff. You all grew up in wealthy families, haven’t you seen enough of these kinds of underhanded tactics?”
Xie Sanshao said, "If it's really as you say, then tell me, who here has nothing better to do than go through all this trouble to remove the bag?"
Xin Jiuwei smiled and said, "Naturally, it's whoever has my brother's Golden Wind and Jade Dew Cup."
The crowd looked left and right, exchanging bewildered glances.
Xin Yunzhou quietly tugged at Xin Jiuwei's sleeve, "Sister, the Golden Wind and Jade Dew Cup was something I exchanged for... Ouch!"
Before he could finish speaking, Xin Jiuwei pinched him through his sleeve. Xin Yunzhou suppressed the urge to grimace and obediently kept quiet.
Xin Jiuwei looked at Qi Huaiyu, "Qi Huaiyu, did you come to this appraisal without bringing anything with you?"
Qi Huaiyu's eyes flickered for a moment, "To be honest, I didn't find any treasures, so I thought I shouldn't show off my limited skills in front of you gentlemen."
"How could that be?" Xin Jiuwei looked surprised and walked up to Qi Huaiyu in front of everyone, her face showing obvious admiration. "Didn't you say a few days ago that you had found a rare treasure? With your abilities, how could you come empty-handed?"
A young man in the crowd said, "That's right, Brother Qi. Before the show started, I asked you what you brought, and you said you'd find out later."
Qi Huaiyu's smile froze, and he asked Xin Jiuwei in a voice only the two of them could hear, "What exactly do you want to do?!"
Xin Jiuwei chuckled softly and raised her voice, "Huaiyu, why don't you let everyone see what's going on?"
Qi Huaiyu's face darkened. "I already told you I didn't bring anything."
"No, no," Xie Sanshao suddenly said, "Apart from Xin Yunzhou arriving late, all the treasures we brought were handed over for unified preparation. You really didn't bring any?"
Young Master Lin, fearing that others would think he was trying to harm Xin Yunzhou, quickly added, "That's right, why don't we just go and ask?"
Seeing that someone was actually heading towards the place where the treasure was kept, Qi Huaiyu had no choice but to change his words immediately:
"Brothers, brothers! To be honest, seeing that you have all brought such fine treasures, I am ashamed of my own inferiority and do not wish to make a fool of myself. So I can only lie like this. Please forgive me!"
Xin Jiuwei exclaimed, "Huaiyu, how can you be so self-deprecating?"
“Yes, Brother Qi,” said Young Master Lin, “you are being too modest!”
As everyone started talking, it was no use for Qi Huaiyu to make any more excuses. He could only watch helplessly as the person walked over carrying a wooden box with his name on it.
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