Chapter 402: Chapter 368: Auction House
After bathing, having washed away the dirt, Baili Yuyao felt as if she was reborn. Was the woman in the bronze mirror, with skin as silky as a freshly peeled egg and a healthy, rosy complexion, really her?
For a moment, she even doubted herself.
When had she ever been so radiant?
No wonder people said a woman who has been cherished by a man is the most beautiful. Only now did she understand the true meaning of these words.
The undergarments she had with her were definitely not wearable anymore, they were dirty. She could only ask Si Miaoxue for a new set. In any case, it hadn’t been worn before.
In terms of size, it was about right.
"Yuyao, you are truly radiant today. So beautiful that I, as a woman, can’t help but feel moved," Si Miaoxue entered, unable to stop praising.
"Thanks to your fondness, Si Miaoxue, I had this chance," Baili Yuyao said. She was well aware of Si Miaoxue’s abilities and rank, and what she valued in their sisterhood.
Even if they were truly sisters now, Si Miaoxue’s rank would still be ahead of hers.
"It’s destiny, a sign of fate between you and Mr. Lin, not my doing," Si Miaoxue said with a sly smile. "After a whole morning of fuss, it’s time for lunch, and Mr. Lin still has to head back shortly."
"Hmm." Baili Yuyao shyly nodded, still unaccustomed to many things as a new wife.
"I’ve saved a room for you here. You can come anytime you want, how about that?"
"Thank you, sister."
"Let’s go, don’t keep Mr. Lin waiting too long." Si Miaoxue gently patted Baili Yuyao’s shoulder.
"Ouch..." As Baili Yuyao stood up, she let out an involuntary cry, leaving Si Miaoxue covering her mouth in a stifled giggle.
Baili Yuyao blushed fiercely, embarrassed that this incident might be laughed about for a lifetime.
It was all on her, being too indulgent in pleasure.
"The other day at the Jade Pavilion, I found a set of bracelets that seemed to match your aura, so I bought them..." After the meal, once leftovers were cleared,
Lin Miao took out the jade bangles he’d originally prepared, neatly boxed, and handed them to Baili Yuyao.
He had even carved two characters on the inside using ancient script—one "Yu," the other "Yao," together forming "Yuyao."
"For me?" A surprised Baili Yuyao took them. Though she had received many gifts growing up, none had such a personal and special meaning.
These were obviously tokens of affection.
The jade bracelets appeared gleaming and exquisite—obviously priceless. Her experience with jade was evident, having never been a stranger to it.
These bracelets were worth at least a thousand taels of silver.
"Won’t you, sir, help Yuyao put them on?" Si Miaoxue teased from the side.
Lin Miao shot her a glance, noticing her stifling a giggle, but he still retrieved the bracelets from the box and slipped them onto Baili Yuyao’s wrists.
"So beautiful. Yuyao, these bracelets match your complexion and size perfectly, as if custom-made for you," Si Miaoxue proclaimed with exaggerated admiration.
Looking at the bracelets on her wrists, Baili Yuyao felt her heart melt, realizing this was what it felt like to be loved and cherished.
Shen An had wanted to gift her something more extravagant, but if her heart wasn’t in it, no treasure could catch her eye.
"There are characters on here too..."
"I carved them myself, one on each. Together, they form ’Yuyao,’" Lin Miao explained with a nod.
A hint of moisture appeared in Baili Yuyao’s eyes!
Oh, women.
No matter how beautiful or ingenious, against heartfelt tokens, they are defenseless.
Si Miaoxue also had a pair and felt the sentimentality a long time ago, unaffected now by Lin Miao’s gesture. How many women could resist such a move?
The lady of the house was right; it was time to set some limits.
...
"Not out for the entire morning?" Xiaoyuan’s report surprised Mrs. Mei and Baili Bingyun, but knowing this establishment ’Lin’s’ was Si Miaoxue’s, with Lin Miao as the true owner, was reassuring.
If Baili Yuyao was visiting Si Miaoxue, there was little to worry about. They were familiar with each other, sister-like in bond, so chatting and staying for a meal was normal.
But this time, Baili Yuyao went alone without her close maid Xiaoyuan, which was unusual.
"What about Shen An?" Baili Bingyun inquired.
"He’s been missing. Since he went out yesterday afternoon, there’s been no word. The Chief Shopkeeper of Bihai Tower sent out a search, and Life-taking Saber Shen Hao has also been gone a day and a night," Mrs. Mei responded.
Baili Bingyun pondered briefly: "Both uncle and nephew are missing?"
"Life-taking Saber Shen Hao is of the Upper Grade Meridian Passage Realm. Wherever he wants to go, no one can know, nor will he tell anyone. Trying to find out his movements won’t be easy. As for Shen An, he took his saber slaves to East Third Street and got on a carriage, but where that carriage finally went, no one knows," said Mrs. Mei.
In Li Hen City, if even the embroidery shop can’t find someone, then it’s really hard to find them.
"Before returning to Bihai Tower, Shen An was with Miss Yuyao. Could Miss Yuyao know anything about the situation?"
"What does this have to do with Yuyao? We’re not responsible for their uncle and nephew’s safety in Li Hen City. Even if Shen Yidao comes knocking, I’d say the same," Baili Bingyun snorted coldly.
"Yes, with Shen An missing, does Miss Yuyao only have Mr. Lin Bei to choose from?"
"Initially, I chose Lin Bei. If Zhuang Rong hadn’t interfered, I wouldn’t have delayed it to this point. Also, if it weren’t for Yuyao’s stubborn nature, I would have announced it long ago."
"When do you plan to announce it?"
"Wait until tonight’s auction is over," Baili Bingyun said. "How much funding can the embroidery shop mobilize?"
"Approximately three million taels of silver, any more would affect the shop’s liquidity," Mrs. Mei said. "Zhuang Rong should have money, but she definitely wouldn’t let us use it."
"Three million will be three million. If we can’t get the Celestial Essence Fruit, then it’s fate," Baili Bingyun said.
...
The disappearance of Shen Hao and Shen An didn’t attract much attention. Without an official presence here, and with no one to report the missing persons,
except for the people from Four Seas Building searching everywhere, others may know but wouldn’t care.
Everyone is strategizing for tonight’s Heaven-Dominating Tower year-end auction.
The annual year-end auction will feature many good items: martial arts manuals, magical pills, weapons, and various rare materials and treasures...
There’s even a "female slave" auction.
Any "female slave" appearing in such an auction must be extraordinary. In the past, there have been daughters of chiefs from Southern Wilderness tribes, women of Yue Country’s royalty, princesses of Nanzhao Country, beauties from the Western Regions, and pearl collectors from the South Sea...
Some precious auction items won’t be announced in advance; attendees will be informed during the auction, with mystery being the key feature.
Today’s year-end auction coincides with the owner of Heaven-Dominating Tower, Nie Tian, obtaining celestial essence, attracting more guests, especially with major forces present, and possibly surpassing previous auctions in scale.
The unknown factor remains as to which treasures, besides the Celestial Essence Fruit, will be bid on by the various groups.
Anyway, the auction starts at You Hour and extends to Zi Hour; holding an auction entry ticket allows entry, and the auction isn’t just one event.
There are many sessions, under various titles, like jade, calligraphy, utensils, martial arts manuals, weapons...
Among these lots, Lin Miao is mostly interested in martial arts manuals and weapons, as well as rare materials and treasures, along with the medical officer’s token.
The master’s medical officer’s token was merely a common intermediate medical officer’s token, which the wealthy deem worthless.
However, to Lin Miao and Sun Youwei, it holds immense sentimental value, and therefore must be retrieved.
Hence, it won’t appear in the ultimate top-ten treasures auction, but if it does, it will appear in an earlier categorized auction.
Thus, he and Sun Youwei need to arrive early, lest it get auctioned off prematurely, making it difficult to retrieve.
After a simple dinner, Lin Miao took Sun Youwei and the sisters Lianxin and Liansuo, four in total, to Heaven-Dominating Tower.
The auction tonight takes place at Heaven-Dominating Tower.
More people gathered tonight, and it was even livelier, with various folks doing small businesses outside the street.
However, they aren’t permitted in the core street area.
Each year’s auction is also Heaven-Dominating Tower’s most profitable period, with transactions totaling several million taels of silver by night’s end.
Just from commissions, Heaven-Dominating Tower nets millions, showcasing its profitability.
Though, as much as they earn, they spend, with Heaven-Dominating Tower being Li Hen City’s largest organization, needing to feed over ten thousand subordinates, not to mention the numbers indirectly relying on it.
Of course, Heaven-Dominating Tower’s prestige today wasn’t built in a day.
Items at the auction aren’t all Heaven-Dominating Tower’s possessions; most are consignment items from others, with a portion procured by Heaven-Dominating Tower itself.
Occasionally, items of exceptional quality are released, but the year-end auction is the main event.
"Junior brother, where should we go first?" Still disguised as a man, Sun Youwei’s first time participating in such a large-scale auction made her a bit excited.
"The treasury chamber, I think. If the master’s medical officer’s token were auctioned, it should be stored in the treasury chamber. That’s how it usually works," Lin Miao, having strategized for the auction, replied.
They’re here for the medical officer’s token, naturally prioritizing its auction category.
"Where’s the treasury chamber?"
"Let’s ask; there should be guiding attendants here," Lin Miao said, also a first-timer at Heaven-Dominating Tower’s auction, unaware of the different auction chambers’ locations.
Soon, Lin Miao noticed an attendant in uniform, asked, and then found the treasury chamber auction hall, leading Sun Youwei there.
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