Chapter 1244: Shifting the Blame: The Essential Edition

The auction house was bustling, much livelier than usual, and quite a few big shots had arrived.

The big shots had come because they received inside information that the long-lost Eye of Heaven was about to reappear in the world!

The Eye of Heaven is a complete set of jewelry.

It is known, along with Tears of the Desert, Star of the Ocean, and Glitter of the Earth, as one of the world's four great treasures.

Tears of the Desert is in the hands of Shi Ran, and it once shocked everyone as her dowry.

Star of the Ocean is in the hands of the largest collector in the United States, its value immeasurable, while Glitter of the Earth and the Eye of Heaven have been lost for a long time.

People had only heard the legends of them, but had never seen what they truly looked like.

Of these four sets of treasures, Tears of the Desert ranked last; their appearance back then had stunned the whole world, and now the Eye of Heaven had appeared!

It appeared without any warning; no one knew where it came from, and everyone only knew that they had to win the bid, no matter the cost.

People began to enter, and the scene was somewhat strange.

Some people who were on good terms would usually exchange pleasantries and greet each other warmly when they met.

This time, however, everyone tacitly pretended not to see each other, looking down or looking elsewhere, even pretending not to notice when they brushed past one another.

There was only one reason for them to act this way—they were afraid the other party would try to leverage their friendship, making it difficult to save face when competing for the treasure later!

Nianyin followed behind her mother, walked into the auction hall with the crowd, and sat in the auction seats.

Nianyin was puzzled and whispered to Ji Yingjie, "Mother, why are we sitting here?"

The Eye of Heaven was something they had brought out; in fact, there was no need for them to sit here at all. They could have been in a VIP room, drinking iced beverages, watching the monitors, waiting for it to sell for a sky-high price, and then just collecting the money.

Ji Yingjie said, "For safety's sake, this way it doesn't attract attention."

Nianyin:...

If she wanted to avoid attracting attention, wouldn't it be better to be somewhere no one could see her?

But she would not ask.

Ji Yingjie was the god in her heart; a god could not be wrong, and whatever a god said was right.

The "god" began to stir up trouble.

She did not sit properly in her seat, but instead chatted with the person sitting next to her.

"Hey, hello, do you know who the owner of the Eye of Heaven is? Who brought it out to sell?"

The person next to Ji Yingjie shook their head: "I don't know."

Her voice was not quiet, and this question immediately resonated.

People began to whisper to one another: "Do you know who the owner of the Eye of Heaven is?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know?"

"I haven't seen the person himself, but I heard it was brought by a very handsome young man."

"What's his background?"

"I don't know..."

People discussed it heatedly and began to make all sorts of guesses.

Everyone had come for the Eye of Heaven, yet most people had overlooked who the owner of the Eye of Heaven was.

But some had inquired, only to find nothing out.

When someone said that the Eye of Heaven was brought by a very handsome young man, Ji Yingjie immediately pulled up a photo on her phone and asked, "Is the person you're talking about him?"

"It's him, that's him!"

The two went back and forth, and others' curiosity grew even stronger as they all looked over. Ji Yingjie held up her phone, generously letting them see.

"Take a look, does anyone recognize this person? Is he the son of some bankrupt wealthy family or a spendthrift from a hidden billionaire's family?" The implication in her words was clear: if he weren't from a bankrupt family or a spendthrift, he wouldn't be auctioning off such precious jewelry.

Loving gossip is human nature.

This topic perfectly suited people's desire for the sensational; their curiosity was piqued, and everyone looked even more closely.

Furthermore, someone made a request: "Beauty, could you send me the photo on your phone?"

"Sure, no problem."

Ji Yingjie was very "easygoing" and agreed immediately.

The photo was sent over, and it spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred; soon, almost everyone in the hall had this photo on their phone.

Nianyin sat next to Ji Yingjie, expressionless.

But in her heart, her admiration for her mother was like a surging river, endless!

Her mother was too formidable; just like that, she had quietly shifted the blame, spreading Zhu Qingrui's photo everywhere!

"This person looks familiar, I feel like I've seen him somewhere..." Someone felt the photo looked familiar.

Soon, he slapped his thigh and remembered.

"Oh, I know now, isn't this person the illegitimate son of the former Finance Minister of L Country? It was because of him that the Finance Minister died."

"Their family has the Eye of Heaven?" Someone expressed disbelief and raised doubts.

The doubt was well-founded; L Country was a small nation, and no matter how rich their Finance Minister was, he wouldn't have a treasure like the Eye of Heaven.

Seeing that the time was right, Ji Yingjie said at this moment, "Do you know about the mysterious Ji Family? I heard this kid wiped out the Ji Family, and the Ji Family Treasure is now all in his hands."

"What?"

"Impossible! The Ji Family Treasure has appeared? The Eye of Heaven is actually something from the Ji Family Treasure?"

"What's impossible about it? I think it's very likely."

"That's right, it must be exactly like that!"

People's reactions changed; from their initial curiosity, they became agitated, even forgetting what their original intention was.

The original intention was merely the Eye of Heaven, which, compared to the Ji Family Treasure, was but a drop in the ocean!

Someone asked Ji Yingjie: "How did you know?"

Ji Yingjie: "The bodyguard of my relative's family is a Guard who came out of the Ji Family. Zhu Qingrui is particularly ruthless; he killed the Ji Family Clan Leader and everyone of importance, and the remaining commoners were all drugged and sold to surrounding tribes."

"My relative went there on an expedition and accidentally saved one of them, who then followed them home to work as a bodyguard; all of this was said by that bodyguard."

When Ji Yingjie lied, it always sounded like the truth, let alone when it was half-true and half-false.

At this moment, the auction began, and everyone quieted down.

The Eye of Heaven was the focus of the entire venue, and the competition was exceptionally fierce.

Ji Yingjie was not idle; she raised her paddle frequently, driving up the price time and time again.

Nianyin whispered: "Mother, please take it easy."

They were the ones who brought the Eye of Heaven out for auction precisely because they had no money left in their hands,

hoping to exchange it for some money to stir up trouble; now, she was the most active person in the entire venue raising her paddle—what was she trying to do?

Ji Yingjie whispered to Nianyin: "Just wait to count money until your hands cramp, stop talking nonsense, I know what I'm doing."

She did indeed know what she was doing, and her sense of proportion was handled very well.

She successfully ignited everyone's enthusiasm, pulling people's focus back from Zhu Qingrui to the Eye of Heaven.

It was clearly she who said the Ji Family had many Treasures and the Eye of Heaven was nothing, yet now she was raising her paddle more actively than anyone else, so everyone was afraid of falling behind and having the treasure snatched away by her.

Ji Yingjie was very swift in driving up the price early on, but became gradually cautious later; finally, when someone behind her raised their paddle to offer a sky-high price of 600 million, she dropped her paddle and pulled Nianyin away from her seat, looking "indignant."

600 million.

Not in Q Country currency, but in US dollars!

Never mind counting until one's hands cramp, even if one counted until their fingers broke, they might not be able to finish counting.

The two of them were extremely happy; after finishing the procedures later, they looked at the rapidly soaring numbers in the bank card and left satisfied!