Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Escalating the Matter
Ye Xuan’s refusal to appreciate his gesture also irked him.
In his eyes, he had already given them plenty of face by letting them leave and even offering to refund their VIP fee. He never expected them to be so arrogant, so his tone turned hostile.
"Against the rules?" Ye Xuan sneered, looking at the steward. "And what about them? Are they following the rules?"
"I don’t care whether they are following the rules or not. The fact is, you started a fight in my auction house, and that is against the rules," he continued. "Seeing as this is your first offense, I’ll play the peacemaker. Compensate Young Master Chen for his losses, and I’ll personally see to it that you’re allowed to leave. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not warning you. You can’t afford the consequences of breaking our rules, nor can you afford to offend Young Master Chen."
"What? You want us to compensate this guy for his losses?" Chen Xing could no longer hold back. He shot to his feet, Profound Qi surging around him.
"What? You want to start another fight in my auction house?" Steward Luo snapped, his voice growing even colder.
Chen Ming, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but smile. ’These fools just don’t get it. They should have taken Steward Luo’s offer. Now they’ve gone and angered him too.’
’Let’s see how this kid gets himself out of this one.’
At that thought, Chen Ming couldn’t help but glance up toward the Sixth Prince’s private box, a faint smile playing on his lips.
’I’ve really made myself look good in front of the Sixth Prince this time.’
Just as Chen Xing was about to lose control, Ye Xuan stood up. He patted his friend’s shoulder, motioning for him to sit back down, then turned to the steward. "So, this is your final solution?" he asked coolly. "We give up our seats and pay him compensation?"
"That’s right. You broke the rules, so you must accept the punishment."
The steward stared coldly at Ye Xuan. ’These people are just shameless,’ he thought.
"Ye Xuan, you’re not actually going to pay them, are you?" Chen Xing asked in disbelief.
Ye Xuan gave a faint smile. "What do you think?"
BOOM!
The words had barely left his lips when Ye Xuan suddenly struck out with his palm. With a thunderous BOOM, the stone table before him exploded, instantly pulverized by the blow and turning into a cloud of dust that billowed through the VIP area.
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.
The thunderous roar wasn’t just confined to the VIP area; it was clearly audible even in the private boxes and the common seating area below.
The ongoing auction came to an abrupt halt. All eyes turned toward Ye Xuan’s location.
Seeing the dust-filled scene, the Martial Artists attending the auction frowned. ’What’s going on? It’s in the VIP area. Who would dare cause trouble there?’
The auction house staff, however, were filled with rage.
’Who has such a death wish? Daring to cause trouble in the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association’s auction house! They must be tired of living!’
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
In an instant, several streaks of light flashed as a number of the auction house’s experts shot over, their faces livid with anger.
But the most surprised of all were the people right next to Ye Xuan. Chen Ming and his cronies had shielded their faces from the dust. When they lowered their hands, they gaped in stunned silence at the pulverized remains of the stone pavilion.
’Is this kid insane? Making such a huge scene over a trivial matter, even smashing the pavilion in the auction house’s VIP area. He’s completely reckless!’
As for Steward Luo, he was utterly dumbfounded. Ye Xuan’s action had startled him, and after the loud bang, his heart sank.
At the same time, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
"Luo Leng, what is going on? Who is causing trouble at the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association’s auction?"
A cold snort rang out. With a few swishes, several powerful figures landed in front of the shattered pavilion. They stared at Ye Xuan’s group with cold, indifferent eyes, as if looking at dead men.
"My lord," Steward Luo said, bowing hastily. "These people were causing trouble in the auction house. Your subordinate failed to handle the matter properly. Please, my lord, issue your punishment!"
The elderly man leading them snorted. He glanced at Ye Xuan’s group, noting their unfamiliar faces, and sneered. "Where did these brats crawl out from? Daring to cause trouble at the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association? Utterly lawless. Men! Take them away for a thorough interrogation."
As he spoke, several guards from the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association stepped forward. Profound Qi surged around them as they moved to seize Ye Xuan and his friends.
"Haha! ’Utterly lawless,’ you say? So this is the great Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association—a place that can’t tell right from wrong, a place that doesn’t care about the truth. You’ve truly opened my eyes."
As the guards moved to capture him, Ye Xuan’s expression remained unchanged, but his mocking, disdainful laughter thundered through the auction house.
"We paid good money to attend your auction! We paid a premium for these VIP seats! We are your valued guests! Is this how you humiliate your VIPs?"
"Not only do you deny us the treatment we’re owed, but you also try to throw us out on a whim! Is this how the supposed number one commerce association in the kingdom treats its customers? If this is how you do business, who will ever dare to consign their goods to you again?"
Ye Xuan’s voice was like a clap of thunder, ringing clearly in the ears of every guest.
"What’s going on? That young man said the auction house was throwing them out. Could that be true?"
"I doubt it. The Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association is the top commerce association in the kingdom. Their auctions are always run by the book. Why would they just kick out a VIP?"
"But if that’s not the case, why would that young man be so furious? Why would he dare to smash the pavilion? Maybe there’s more to this story."
"It’s very possible. Now I wonder how the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association is going to handle this."
For a moment, the entire auction house buzzed with discussion.
"Hold on." Hearing the crowd’s murmurs, the lead elder’s expression changed. He held up a hand to stop the guards and fixed a cold, hard stare on Ye Xuan. "Brat," he said grimly, "you claim our auction house humiliated and tried to expel you? If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation today, I don’t care who you are. For slandering my auction house’s reputation, I, Qin Tian, will not let you off lightly."
"My lord, don’t listen to his nonsense," Steward Luo interjected, his eyes glinting maliciously. "They were the ones causing trouble and showing contempt for the auction house. Just drag them away for questioning. The auction is in progress; we can’t let a few youths disrupt the schedule."
"What do you mean, ’nonsense’?" Chen Xing shot up from his seat.
"Everyone here, you be the judge! We heard the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association was the number one in the kingdom with an excellent reputation, so we came admiringly! We bought our VIP tickets days in advance, but we hadn’t even warmed our seats today when this little punk from the ’Monkey’ family came over stirring up trouble, claiming our VIP seats were his private spot and telling us to get lost!"
"Think about it! We paid a fortune for these seats, so why would we agree? Then who knows what happened, but some Steward Luo or whatever-steward shows up. Not only did he demand we leave, but he also wanted us to compensate that little ’monkey’ punk! What a complete joke!"
"And what’s even more ridiculous is you! You must be the person in charge here. You show up, and without a second word, you accuse us of causing trouble and want to drag us off for interrogation. Tsk, tsk, so high and mighty. I just don’t get it. Is this auction house a den of thieves or something? If you don’t give us a straight answer today, I don’t care how big the name of your Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association is—this young master will get his justice!"
Chen Xing’s voice, like a shattered gong, was deafening, carrying clearly to every person’s ears.
The crowd looked from Steward Luo Leng, standing near Ye Xuan, to Chen Ming, a short distance away, and the whole story instantly clicked into place. It was the young marquis of the House of Tianqi. No wonder the auction house steward was so biased.
It was just, no one had ever heard of the VIP area having "reserved" seats. Anyone with real status would be in a private box. It was obvious that this Young Marquis Chen Ming was the one looking for trouble with these young men, and the auction steward was his accomplice.
Still, what Luo Leng did was completely out of line. No matter how noble Chen Ming was, the other party were also paying VIPs of the auction house. How could they not be furious at being suppressed like that? Anyone in their position would be.
Luo Leng’s face turned ugly, his gaze flickering uncertainly. ’This bastard...’
Seeing the ashen look on the face of the head manager beside him, Luo Leng quickly retorted, "Brat, don’t you dare slander me! If your friend hadn’t attacked Young Master Chen first, why would I have asked you to pay compensation?"
"Which of your eyes saw us attack him?" Ye Xuan sneered. "All I saw was him arrogantly stepping on our table and repeatedly insulting us, while you turned a blind eye. So this is the great Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association. Not the ’number one commerce association in the kingdom,’ I’d say. More like the ’number one lapdog for the aristocracy.’"
The entire hall erupted in an uproar. Who was this young man? His words were unbelievably venomous. Even if he was in the right, he had just terminally offended the Celestial Cauldron Commerce Association. He was impossibly audacious.
The head manager’s expression was grim. He shot Luo Leng a cold glare, then turned back to Ye Xuan with a semblance of an apology. "My apologies. This matter was handled poorly by our staff. Since you gentlemen paid for these seats, our auction house would, of course, not arbitrarily expel you."
"An apology? You think a simple ’my apologies’ is enough?" Ye Xuan said coolly.
A cold light flashed in the elder’s eyes, and his body blurred into an afterimage.
SLAP! With a crisp crack, the elder instantly appeared before Luo Leng, sending him flying with a vicious backhand.
"You worthless bastard!" the elder roared. "Since they purchased VIP tickets, they are our valued guests! Is that how you treat our guests? Now apologize!"
The elder spoke coldly, but his thoughts were scathing. ’This guy has no real skills, just a pair of eyes for looking down on people. Young Master Chen may be noble, but to curry favor with him by casually trying to expel other VIPs... he completely ignores the auction house’s rules. In the end, we’re the ones who have to clean up his mess and suffer the damage to our reputation. What a useless piece of trash.’
Luo Leng scrambled to his feet, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. His face was a mask of ugly resentment. Under the elder’s icy stare, he walked over to Ye Xuan, lowered his head, and spat out, "My apologies."
