Chapter 604

The private rooms were all filled with major clients, each equipped with an assistant to help with bidding, and this female guest who had come herself was still quite eye‑catching.

He Guang finished his tasks and returned to the chamber where His Majesty was on standby. He stood by the window, listened briefly, and confirmed the location: "Earth Character Room No. 1 – only a woman inside, the Princess of Ru South, Baili Yan."

Wei Shen blurted out, "It sounds overbearing, and she even gave herself a masculine name."

He Guang was the Chief Steward's assistant and also knew quite a bit about the Intelligence Division's affairs.

"The Prince of Ru South has only this one Princess; all his sons are born of concubines. Your Majesty should know this – the Princess holds great standing in Ru South, and to this day Ru South has not requested the investiture of an heir apparent."

His Majesty never objected to the grandeur of the vassal states' festivities, and he was no stickler for rules: "If you're capable, go ahead and invest this Princess as successor – I have no objection."

Below, the bidding had already gone chaotic – whenever someone made an offer, Baili Yan would raise it by a hundred.

Wei Shen raised an eyebrow at Xie Tu: "All done, Young Master Xie – is she taken with you?"

His Majesty: "Possibly hahaha~"

At this point no one wants to get involved with the vassal states, not even in words. "Second Young Master, don't joke. Your Majesty, this subject's painting… " This way we'll go on strike next time~

His Majesty, who was watching the fire from across the bank, noticed the blaze seemed about to reach his quarters – affecting his privy purse was absolutely unacceptable! That thing immediately switched sides and stood with Xie Tu. His Majesty spoke solemnly, as if the one who had just laughed the loudest weren't him: "Cousin, if you keep spouting off, I'll marry her off to you…… no, she's the Princess, and you're giving her to me!"

Wei Shen: ……

The room fell silent at once.

Xie Tu, after all, was still young and doing fine; he wasn't as obstinate as Baili Yan in stirring up trouble, so this painting really wasn't worth that much. Once it became clear that the third‑floor bidder was determined to win, the several call‑outs gave up, and the hammer fell at an astonishing 2,200 taels.

His Majesty chuckled, shaking his head: "Master Xie, can your painting really fetch that much?"

Xie Tu calmly replied, "Who said the Princess is buying my painting? Your Majesty, you've forgotten the name of this fan – it's the River and Mountain Fan."

His Majesty: … not hehe.

I had thought it was just a joke, but after the fan was sold in Earth Character Room No. 1 the room fell quiet, and afterward many rare items from the estate were offered with no response.

Until that Carp‑Dragon Sword appeared.

Two guards brought up an iron chest, its surface cast with carp scales, and a vermilion‑painted talisman was affixed to it. Zhu Ti lifted the talisman, slowly opened the chest, and flipped it outward to display.

"The Carp‑Dragon Sword is three chi three cun long, dull and lusterless; its hilt is carved with a carp transforming into a dragon, its material unknown – neither wood nor iron. The faded tassel is clearly visible as bright yellow; from its motif and color one would guess it was reserved for emperors. This sword bears no inscription, the only certainty being that it came from a deep ravine near the Zhou imperial mausoleum." Actually every sentence is true, except the dynasty is wrong – this sword was bought by His Majesty at a stall in the Phoenix Market; the vendor merely claimed to have picked it up near the former dynasty's imperial mausoleum.

"Although it is a royal sword, it is not of the present dynasty, so it can be bought and sold without worry. Such imperial objects, when brought home, can ward off evil and protect the house; those with collecting interests may also bid for it to keep or study. The opening bid is 2,000 taels."

The bidding started off quite popular, which His Majesty hadn't anticipated. He didn't think it was truly an imperial emperor's sword, only that the material seemed a bit special. After all, even those who practice aura‑reading at the Phoenix Market hadn't taken a liking to the sword; the vendor said it had been unsold for a long time, so in the end His Majesty snapped it up cheaply.

Given this unverifiable provenance, the Chief Steward simply went along with the vendor's account – who could possibly object?

Tonight everyone here knows that Baili Jing is around eighteen or nineteen, and His Majesty thought rigging the pig prices in Heavenly Character Room No. 1 was too obvious, so he wanted Wei Shen to go to the third‑floor public terrace as a shill. The two huddled and whispered, when they heard that very female voice again personally calling out a bid!

"Three thousand taels, I'll take it!"

Wei Shen dashed out, stood on the terrace with arms crossed arrogantly, and directed the nearby assistant: "You say you want it? Then bid four thousand!"

It wasn't just them – the bidding downstairs got lively. Word spread that it was the Central Plains emperor's sword, and even the envoy delegation shouted their price twice. Earth Character Room No. 1 switched assistants and raised the bid twice, so this properly sourced sword had already reached 8,000 taels, with Wei Shen chiming in, "Bid ten thousand!"

Zhu Ti: "The current bid is 10,000 taels of silver – any higher offers?"

"Eleven thousand taels."

Wei Shen bid: "Eleven thousand two hundred?"

The clear‑voiced woman in Earth Character Room No. 1 rang out again: "Such a divine weapon – who wouldn't like it? Coincidentally, my father‑king's birthday is coming up; why don't we all yield to each other? Let's not fight over this sword – presenting it to him as a gift would be perfect!" Her tone was extremely arrogant.

She blurted out her identity: father‑king, the Great Jin vassal state.

The few who had been bidding lowered their flags and fell silent, catching a whiff of something strange…

Wei Ke glanced up at His Majesty and said, "Today Your Majesty is present – surely the guests of the Pagoda Tower take this for granted? What does the Princess of Ru South mean by this?" One moment she's buying the River and Mountain Fan, the next she's buying an imperial emperor's sword. His Majesty doesn't mind putting this up for auction; anyone can buy it, except the vassal prince of the Baili clan.

The Carp‑Dragon Sword plainly states it was once an imperial emperor's sword – is the Princess of Ru South buying it for her father‑king, or to show off in front of Baili Jing? Having just voluntarily called out and taken the River and Mountain Fan, this matter is worth pondering.

His Majesty, after a moment's thought, also understood; he looked at Xie Tu and exclaimed, "What level of jinx is this!"

Xie Tu spread his hands innocently: "… I, your servant, didn't expect my guess to be this accurate."

"What could it possibly mean, not even putting Me in your sights~"

Wei Ke added, "After entering the capital, the Princess has stayed at the Honglu Temple, only once going into the palace to see Princess Changchun." He commands the Feathered Forest Guard; lately the personnel of Chang'an have been mixed up, and he has been closely monitoring these movements, which he still knows about.

Xie Tu never treats this as a child: "Does Your Majesty think she's doing this on purpose, or… simply not bright?"

Your Majesty: "I don't know that either. I can't control it either. But the Princess of Runan can represent Runan's attitude; knowing that is enough for me."

This damn bastard is sobering up.

The elder cousin was relieved; even Wei Shen's short temper could see that something was up at the Earth Character No. 1, he came in huffing, "Taiping, that guy from Runan is provoking you!"

Wei Ke's barely raised lip quickly dropped, "So what do you say, what do you want to do?"

Wei Shen: "Let her know which way the gates of the Hall of the Yama King open!"

Before Wei Ke could scold him, another lawless outlaw already responded, "Good! With ambition—let's study this later!"

Wei Ke: ……

Your Majesty gestured for Wei Shen to sit down, "Come back first, I'll give this sword to her. I assure you this sword is definitely not the ceremonial sword of a Zhou dynasty emperor. I'm just saying that following the previous owner's description; only the material being rare is true in the introduction. Let's just sell it to her."