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After Gu Jiao came out from Zhuque Street, she directly changed her clothes in the carriage and headed to the underground arena.
The Crown Prince had been waiting at the underground arena for quite some time.
Gu Jiao: This guy's enthusiasm is truly higher than the mountains and boundless as the sea!
It was a pity that Ning Wang couldn't come today due to some matters.
That’s right, she wanted the two of them to compete against each other.
Gu Jiao adjusted the mask on her face, bid farewell to Old He and Zhu Yun, who came out from the accounting room, and turned to the Crown Prince's room.
She had inquired and found out that this room was originally allocated to the 19th ranked expert on the ranking list of the underground arena. The Crown Prince had paid a hefty sum to purchase the right to use the room from that expert.
As for whether the Crown Prince had also bought out the expert, Old He didn't know. After all, it was a private matter between the expert and the guest, and the underground arena wouldn't interfere with that.
Ranked 19th.
Gu Jiao glanced at the ranking list hanging on the pillar, realizing that she hadn't even made it to the bottom yet.
But she wasn't in a hurry.
Gu Jiao arrived in front of the Crown Prince's room and lightly knocked on the door.
The door was pulled open from the inside.
This time, the Crown Prince didn't position himself behind a folding screen like last time. He was sitting on an official hat chair, wearing a mask that covered half of his face.
This mask, just like him, was made of the finest jade, surpassing Ning Wang's mask in craftsmanship by a long shot.
He exuded an air of royal luxury from head to toe, as if he wanted to proclaim "I am the best in the world" except for the fact that his father was the Emperor.
Gu Jiao remained silent; she couldn't reveal her true identity.
The Crown Prince, however, thought that Gu Jiao was overwhelmed by his imperial aura. He was about to raise his hand and graciously invite her to sit down when Gu Jiao had already pulled out a chair and sat down without any hesitation.
The Crown Prince whose hand froze in mid-air: "..."
Forget it, he promised Linlang to properly buy off this young man. He couldn’t use his status to suppress the other party.
The Crown Prince withdrew his hand and said to Gu Jiao, "It's not easy to have you agree to meet me."
Gu Jiao lit half an incense stick on the table.
The Crown Prince: "..."
The Crown Prince asked, "Why only half an incense stick?"
Gu Jiao took out a small notebook and wrote slowly: ‘The price went up.’
The Crown Prince again: "..."
Fortunately, the Crown Prince wasn’t short of money. If the price went up, then it went up. He immediately took out two hundred taels of silver and said, "Two incense sticks!"
The quality of this leek was indeed good; he was generous with his money.
Gu Jiao was very satisfied.
One had to know that she charged people one to ten taels of silver for each house visit, and the journey for a single house visit alone took more effort and time than simply burning two incense sticks.
Of course, she still enjoyed treating people. It was her practice.
But it didn’t prevent her from developing her side business of cutting leeks.
Gu Jiao accepted the silver banknotes and generously placed more unlit incense sticks on the table.
The Crown Prince was also satisfied.
The incense stick last time was so short that he didn't even manage to finish his speech. With an extra incense stick this time, it should be enough to buy off someone.
But thinking about someone's slow handwriting speed, the Crown Prince felt that he couldn't take it slowly. He had to get to the point quickly.
He solemnly said, "I came to find Young Hero Heaven for one thing. I hope Young Hero Heaven can become my person and participate in the arena. As long as you can reach the top three, this pri... I, I will reward you generously!"
He almost exposed his identity!
Little did the Crown Prince know that his identity had long been exposed, and he had nothing left but his underpants.
Gu Jiao glanced at him casually and wrote in her notebook: ‘Do you also want to go to the State of Yan?’
The Crown Prince was stunned, "How did you know?" He paused, furrowing his brows. "Wait, what do you mean by 'also'? Do other people want to go too?"
Yes, your eldest brother, Ning Wang.
Fortunately, Gu Jiao was a person with professional ethics. She didn't disclose the client's information and wrote in her notebook: ‘I can't tell you.’
"You..." The Crown Prince stumbled over his words.
Writing that phrase was as good as not writing anything. "Can't tell" meant there was something to tell, but it was inconvenient to say it out loud.
The Crown Prince furrowed his brow. What was going on? Were there many people nowadays who wanted to go to the State of Yan? Being able to find Heaven Dominator meant that the other person, like himself and Linlang, saw the potential in Heaven Dominator.
Who else had such sharp eyes?
The Crown Prince originally came to find Heaven Dominator merely based on Wen Linlang's words. However, upon discovering that Heaven Dominator was actually a highly sought-after talent, a sense of competition suddenly arose within him.
However, he was the Crown Prince, and he didn’t believe that anyone in the world could compete with him!
Except for his father and uncle.
But his father and uncle wouldn't come to a place like this.
The Crown Prince arrogantly said, "Whatever the other party offers you, I'll pay double!"
Gu Jiao didn't immediately refuse. She was considering the possibilities. She wouldn't sell herself to anyone, but the opportunity to go to the State of Yan could be sold, provided that she could squeeze into the top three of the ranking list before that.
The first and second-ranked experts were said to have retired from the martial world and hadn't appeared for several years. Neither Ning Wang nor the Crown Prince could exert any influence on them, so they could only target the third position.
And the current third-ranked expert wasn’t from the State of Zhao, making it difficult for the Crown Prince and Ning Wang to cooperate with him.
Therefore, they wanted to find someone to openly defeat him instead.
There were truly brothers, their methods for going to the State of Yan were identical.
Gu Jiao asked: ‘Why do you want to go to the State of Yan?’
She needed to understand his motives. What if he wanted to collaborate with the enemy or betray his country? Then she would become an accomplice.
The Crown Prince replied impatiently, "Why are you asking this? You only need to agree to my conditions, and I won't mistreat you! Moreover, I can promise you things better than money!"
He was the Crown Prince. Not to mention a mere sum of money, it wouldn't be difficult for him to grant titles and honors.
The prerequisite, of course, was that she truly managed to reach the top three.
The Crown Prince actually didn't trust her abilities. After all, he had a 19th ranked expert in his hands, who was much stronger than this kid, right?
But Linlang said that one shouldn't put all their eggs in one basket, so it wouldn't hurt to have multiple skilled individuals.
Gu Jiao leisurely wrote: ‘I won't consider it unless you tell me.’
The Crown Prince took in a sharp breath!
Did this kid know who he was threatening?
He was the Crown Prince of a nation!
The Crown Prince suppressed his anger and said indifferently, "I want to meet Old Master Meng, the Chess Saint of the Six States."
Oh.
Old Master Meng.
Never heard of him.
Gu Jiao could tell that the Crown Prince wasn't lying. He was just looking for someone, without any political implications.
The Crown Prince said coldly, "I've said everything I needed to. Can you agree now?"
Gu Jiao nodded earnestly and wrote: ‘I agree to consider it.’
The Crown Prince who once again fell into a trap: "..."
The rest of the time was spent with the Crown Prince utilizing his political methods to brainwash Gu Jiao, but it went in one ear and out the other.
The Crown Prince's mouth became dry from talking, and Gu Jiao closed her notebook with a snap.
Time's up!
The Crown Prince: "..."
Gu Jiao emerged from the underground arena, changed her clothes in the carriage, and had the coachman drive the carriage to the Hanlin Academy.
There was still some time before the end of their shift, so Gu Jiao decided to go to a nearby bakery.
She had accidentally discovered that the dried vegetable pancake from this bakery was delicious. The outer crust was crispy while the meat filling inside was juicy and full.
However, the price wasn’t cheap. Each pancake was sold for twenty copper coins.
The coachman parked the carriage next to the bakery.
Gu Jiao got off the carriage and ordered ten pancakes at once.
"Ten? We can't finish them all at once. Young miss, do you want to come inside and sit for a while?" The bakery owner suggested.
"No, thank you. I'll wait outside." The weather was hot, and she wanted some fresh air outside.
She was the only customer at the moment, and the couple in the bakery focused on making her ten pancakes. They didn't make her wait too long.
"Young miss, the pancakes are ready." The shop owner smiled and said to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao walked over and turned around, saying, "Little San, help me carry the food box."
"Okay!"
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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