Five Years After My Death, the Mad Emperor Still Summons My Spirit

Chapter 223: Chapter 223: Bidding Result

It wasn’t just Ming Lingyi and Cai Jie waiting for Hu Erniangzi’s answer; even Qin Lingzhi was looking at Hu Yuwan with anxiety.

All of the Huaihua General Mansion’s household affairs were currently in the hands of her sister-in-law.

If she wanted to buy something at Treasure Pearl Pavilion today and didn’t have enough silver coin on her, she would need Hu Yuwan to cover it from the household accounts.

"Sister-in-law..." Qin Lingzhi urged.

Her pride was on the line. She couldn’t let Ming Lingyi and Cai Jie get the upper hand.

Hu Yuwan dug her nails into her palm, avoiding Qin Lingzhi’s gaze.

"Since it’s come to this, and Boss Ming wants this Dongzhu set so badly, I wouldn’t want to take something you love," Hu Yuwan said. "Boss Ming, this set of Dongzhu Jewelry is all yours."

Hearing this, Ming Lingyi laughed out loud.

’Listening to Hu Yuwan, you’d think the only reason I’m getting the Dongzhu is because she’s being "magnanimous" and graciously letting me have it.’

However, before Ming Lingyi could say anything, Qin Lingzhi, who was standing right next to Hu Yuwan, exploded first.

"Sister-in-law, it’s not like we don’t have the money! Why are you letting them have it? I like that Dongzhu jewelry too!" The moment Qin Lingzhi remembered how she had already apologized to Cai Jie in front of everyone at Qinglong Temple, she felt she had already been put in her place. She had been hoping to redeem herself after running into Cai Jie today, so how could she accept Hu Yuwan’s "voluntary withdrawal" now?

Hu Yuwan hissed, "Do you have any idea how much money over ten taels of gold is?!" She lowered her voice. "Later, if you see something else you like, we’ll buy it, and I won’t say another word. But this Dongzhu, which was originally only worth three taels of gold, is now at twenty-five taels of gold. Do you know how much jewelry you could buy with that?"

Seeing Qin Lingzhi’s defiant expression, Hu Yuwan forced herself to be patient and softened her tone. "It’s not that I don’t want to grant your wish today, Sister-in-law. It’s that our family’s liquid assets from the shops simply don’t amount to that much right now. If we continue bidding against this merchant girl from the Ming Family and win, but then can’t produce that much money at a moment’s notice, wouldn’t we become an even bigger laughingstock? It’s better to take a step back. I, for one, would like to see just how this merchant girl is going to come up with that much gold."

Forget twenty-five taels of gold; even just the odd five taels of gold was enough to cover a wealthy family’s living expenses for an entire year.

If she really gave away nearly twenty taels of gold today just to win a moment’s satisfaction, it would be one thing for Qin Lingzhi, who was a daughter of the Qin Family. But as the daughter-in-law in charge of the household finances, she would surely be reprimanded by her father-in-law.

If that happened, it would be a complete loss of face.

Hearing this, although Qin Lingzhi’s eyes still burned with resentment, she knew when she could and could not throw a tantrum.

"Fine! If that’s the case, then I don’t want the Dongzhu today!" Qin Lingzhi declared after a moment of silence. "Consider it a chance for you country bumpkins to witness the splendor of our Shangjing City! I imagine you’ve never seen such jewels before, have you?"

The insult was potent. Cai Jie’s face instantly flushed crimson. How could she not understand that Qin Lingzhi’s words were aimed directly at her?

"The Dongzhu set is ours in the end, but the common people who came to watch us bid today have discerning eyes. How could they not see that in the end, it was simply because Mrs. Hu and Miss Qin couldn’t produce that much gold that you lost to a humble merchant girl like me?" Ming Lingyi said, stepping in front of Cai Jie and smiling at Hu Yuwan and Qin Lingzhi.

She had no intention of playing along with Hu Yuwan and Qin Lingzhi’s game of trying to save face and pretend everything was fine. She exposed them with a single sentence.

Otherwise, what would have been the point of her suggestion to hold a public auction in front of all the onlookers?

Since those two had tried to trample on her and Cai Jie’s dignity, they couldn’t blame her for stomping on theirs in return.

After all, she wasn’t the one who gave them their pride, nor was she the one who threw it away. Pride is something you earn yourself.

It wasn’t her fault that Qin Lingzhi and Hu Yuwan had failed to earn any.

"That’s right! If you really wanted that Dongzhu, you’d keep bidding against Boss Ming! Saying you don’t want to ’take something she loves’ at a time like this is just a load of crap!"

At that moment, someone in the crowd spoke up, and soon, many others chimed in.

"Oh, I bet some people were just putting on a brave front, and now they can’t keep it up. And they’re still spouting nonsense about doing it for Boss Ming’s sake! TSK TSK. Even the... ahem... people in Pingkang Square aren’t as... tsk."

"HAHAHA, crude but true! Makes perfect sense!"

"Either admit you lost fair and square, or keep bidding! What’s the point of saying all this now? I think what Boss Ming said was right! I support Boss Ming!"

In an instant, the surrounding crowd of onlookers began to criticize Hu Yuwan and Qin Lingzhi for failing in the bidding, one person after another.

Hu Yuwan had been skilled at reading people since she was a child, always able to subtly dodge important issues to get what she wanted. When had she ever been so directly challenged like this, with absolutely no room to counterattack?

"They all say Boss Ming is a businesswoman. I would have thought a businesswoman would know how to read the situation..." Hu Yuwan’s voice turned cold.

To put it bluntly, in her eyes, someone of Ming Lingyi’s status was utterly beneath her notice.

Now that the other party had gotten what she wanted, she should have at least shown her some courtesy.

Who knew that the boss who had made Ming’s Restaurant in Huaided Fang so successful could be so clueless about such a simple principle?

But before Hu Yuwan could finish her veiled threat, a squad of government officers suddenly surged in from outside.

"Make way! Official government business! All unauthorized persons, stand aside!"

Hearing this voice, Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but let the corners of her lips curve into a slight smile.

Just as the voice faded, Ming Lingyi saw Ma Dali, the Patrol officer who had previously bought many lucky zongzi from her shop and was also a frequent diner at her restaurant.

"Brother Ma," Ming Lingyi greeted him.

Ma Dali wasn’t surprised to see Ming Lingyi.

"Boss Ming." Ma Dali clasped his hands in a salute toward Ming Lingyi, then quickly turned to the Shopkeeper of Treasure Pearl Pavilion. "Manager Wang, I heard there was an incident of assault and injury in your shop today. Is this true?"

It was obvious that Ma Dali and the other Patrol officers from Jingzhao Mansion had come because someone had reported the incident.

Hearing this, the Shopkeeper of Treasure Pearl Pavilion looked flustered.

Of course, he wanted to nod, but he hesitated, intimidated by the extraordinary personages standing behind him.

"Yes!"

But just then, Cai Jie spoke up.

Cai Jie stepped out from behind Ming Lingyi. She could certainly feel Qin Lingzhi’s glare on her, but she wasn’t made of clay. After Qin Lingzhi had provoked and belittled her time and time again, she couldn’t just remain silent.

"Sir, I saw it with my own eyes. This Miss Qin was wielding a long whip and injured someone inside Treasure Pearl Pavilion. Not only that, but she also caused a commotion in the crowd and damaged many valuable items in the shop. Besides myself, many others saw it happen. Even the innocent bystander who was injured by Miss Qin is still here."

Cai Jie said, enunciating every word.