50 Ouyang's determination
Normally speaking, Liu Hanruo is a first-rank princess consort, while Qin Siyan is merely the wife of a court official. She would never dare to compete with Liu Hanruo. However, the fact that the item being auctioned this time is the Jade Blood Pearl of Leng Qingli, the former daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion, has stirred up both old and new grudges in Qin Siyan's heart, making her extremely angry.
It turned out that after Qin Siyan married Xiao Feng, her life was not as happy as she had imagined. As a second wife, she was far inferior to the first wife in terms of status. Moreover, she had to kneel and pay respects to the first wife during ancestral worship, which made her very angry. She was born into a prestigious family and was a young lady of high birth. Why should she kneel and kowtow to the former prime minister's daughter who had fallen from grace?
Therefore, when Qin Siyan heard that the First Pavilion Under Heaven was holding an auction, and that the items being auctioned were Leng Qingli's belongings, she pestered Xiao Feng relentlessly to attend. She had already decided that she would obtain the item at any cost, not because it was rare or could ward off all poisons.
To put it bluntly, Qin Siyan felt angry about anything belonging to Leng Qingli. Just thinking about how Leng Qingli used to wear this item made her want to buy it, smash it, and crush it to vent her resentment!
The bidding continued fiercely, with Liu Hanruo and Qin Siyan refusing to give way. The price soared from the initial five thousand to fifty thousand, and then continued to rise. This price had already exceeded the value of the Jade Blood Pearl, which excited the auction staff. Their eyes gleamed with excitement, and they regarded the two as gods of wealth.
"Sixty thousand!" Qin Siyan didn't care about being a princess or anything like that; all she wanted to do at that moment was buy the Jade Blood Pearl.
"Seventy thousand!" The Jade Blood Pearl was originally Liu Hanruo's possession from her previous life, so how could she not know its price? However, because her competitor was Qin Siyan, she didn't want to lose this argument no matter what.
"Eighty thousand!" Seeing Liu Hanruo relentlessly pressing on, Qin Siyan didn't hesitate to use her own resources to hurt her, adding up the amount by the tens of thousands.
"Ninety thousand!"
“…”
“…”
"150,000!"
Upon hearing Qin Siyan's bid, Liu Hanruo frowned slightly, looking at Qin Siyan as if she were an idiot, thinking to herself:
Buying a single Azure Blood Pearl for 150,000... it seems that old scoundrel Qin Taiwei isn't exactly an honest official. In that case, why not raise the price a bit more? She wants to see where Qin Siyan's bottom line is. If she wants the Azure Blood Pearl, she'll have to pay a price! Anyway, she just doesn't want to see Qin Siyan living too comfortably! If she can buy what she wants with other people's money, that doesn't seem so bad!
Having made up her mind, Liu Hanruo continued bidding, raising the price from 150,000 to 170,000. While bidding, she carefully observed Qin Siyan's expression. When she saw Qin Siyan's face slowly turn red and then turn blue, Liu Hanruo knew that this was Qin Siyan's bottom line. She smiled and stopped bidding. At this moment, the Jade Blood Pearl sold for an unprecedented sky-high price, stunning everyone in the venue.
With the final decision made by the staff at the venue, Qin Siyan purchased it for a sky-high price of 300,000. Upon hearing the price, all the staff present beamed with joy. Thinking about the share they would receive, everyone was overjoyed and glad to be on duty today.
When a smiling staff member approached Qin Siyan with a box, she reluctantly took out 300,000 silver notes and handed them to the staff member. However, when she took the Jade Blood Pearl, the thought of how she could thoroughly humiliate Leng Qingli made her feel it was all worthwhile, and she smiled excitedly.
Seeing Qin Siyan's barely concealed joy, Liu Hanruo's smile deepened, and she whispered a mocking tone:
"Hehe! Having a Grand Commandant as a father is really something else. You're so generous. You bought a single Jade Blood Pearl for a whopping 300,000. If Grand Commandant Qin knew, I wonder if he'd be furious with you. Hehe!"
"..." Faced with Liu Hanruo's sarcastic remarks, Qin Siyan could only stare blankly, furious but unable to retort due to Liu Hanruo's status.
"Hehe, silence means acquiescence. Sigh, it seems that 300,000 is just a piece of cake for you, not worth a second thought. But I find it very strange. Grand Commandant Qin's annual salary is only about 13,000 taels. How many years would it take to save 300,000? Or rather, how much of the people's hard-earned money must he have plundered to obtain it? Hehe!"
As the saying goes, "When forbearance reaches its limit, there's no need to forbear any longer." Seeing Liu Hanruo's words becoming increasingly outrageous, even directly accusing Grand Commandant Qin of embezzlement, Qin Siyan, as the Grand Commandant's daughter, finally lost her temper. It should be known that in the Hanxuan Dynasty, embezzlement was a major crime, punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. At this moment, she no longer cared about social status and gritted her teeth, saying:
"Liu Hanruo, for the sake of the Prince, I will address you as Princess Consort. Do not make trouble just because you lost the auction. You should know that my father is the Grand Commandant, one of the Three Dukes. Even if you are a Princess Consort, you cannot arbitrarily accuse my father of embezzlement and bribery without any evidence!"
"Embezzlement and bribery? I have never named anyone for embezzlement or bribery. From beginning to end, I have never uttered a single word. It's all your own speculation, you're just taking it personally!" Liu Hanruo sneered. "Qin Siyan, let me tell you, the most terrifying thing is not a troublesome, elusive enemy, but a teammate who's as good as a pig. Usually, these people are too self-righteous and like to jump into trouble themselves!"
Qin Siyan was furious but didn't know what to say. From beginning to end, Liu Hanruo had never said anything explicitly; it was Qin Siyan herself who had confirmed the crime. This made Qin Siyan even angrier, and she felt so frustrated that she had nowhere to vent her anger. She could only glare coldly at Xiao Feng beside her, cursing him for being useless. If he hadn't been incompetent, she wouldn't have been humiliated today. Xiao Feng, who received the cold knife, smiled helplessly.
The ensuing auction was filled with all sorts of treasures, and everyone present vied for them. About an hour later, although all the items had been auctioned off, the huge hall was still buzzing with excitement.
"Your Highness, the Jade Blood Pearl is a keepsake from my deceased wife. I had no choice but to remain silent and not stop her from bidding on it. Please forgive me for any offense I may have caused!" Xiao Feng knelt on one knee and respectfully apologized.
"Auctions are always awarded to the highest bidder, so how can it be considered a crime! It's truly remarkable that Lord Xiao would pay such a high price of 300,000 for it. It seems that Lord Xiao's love for his deceased wife is genuine!"
What was said in jest was taken seriously by Qin Siyan. She glared fiercely at Xiao Feng's back, hands on her hips, and angrily said:
"You, Xiao Feng! So that's what you were planning! Since you can't let go of that dead person so much, why don't you go down and keep her company!"
Looking at the furious Qin Siyan, Xiao Feng was speechless with bitterness. He couldn't help but think of Leng Qingli in her lifetime. In all the years they had been married, no matter how difficult things were, she had never complained and was always incredibly considerate of him, never raising her voice or criticizing him. On the other hand, Qin Siyan, in all these years of marriage, relied on having a Grand Commandant as her father, and would give him a hard time at the slightest displeasure. In front of her, had he ever had any dignity?
If you were to ask Xiao Feng if, in the dead of night these past years, he has ever regretted his initial decision, he would answer without hesitation:
No, he valued tangible power and inexhaustible wealth more than those intangible things.
Unlike the noisy atmosphere of the auction hall, after leaving, Ouyang went straight to a secluded dilapidated temple, left a piece of paper under the stone statue, and muttered to himself:
"I hope it's all just speculation; otherwise, I'm willing to become a bloodthirsty Yama to avenge every single blood debt!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the dilapidated temple was deserted.
---Aside---
I recommend my friend Xue Mudan's novel, "The Golden Concubine's Daughter," it's really good!
P.S.: Featured today, and officially released tomorrow! It's all thanks to your support that I've been able to get this far. Thank you so much! I sincerely thank you all for your continued support! Please continue to support me in the future. Thank you!
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