The first two items were so common, so how could the third be so expensive? It was just daylily grass.
No one cared about what the ingredient was, only the price.
"One hundred and fifty thousand. Is there anyone else?" Granny Zhao shouted again.
The crowd fell silent. It seemed that no one wanted to bid anymore.
The crown prince had won the first two items at the high price of two hundred thousand taels. For the third item, he had bid another one hundred and fifty thousand taels.
The crowd sighed with emotion at the crown prince's calm and composed manner. They hadn't expected him and the imperial uncle's estate to have such wealth. One had to know that one had to pay in cash for a charity auction.
What was cash? Cash referred to shiny silver. It was money that could be immediately exchanged for silver at a private bank, or a gold card that could be used directly.
There were two types of rich people. The first type were those who couldn't take out a large sum of money. Their wealth was the sum of their mansions, fields, businesses, and even their collections. If they were asked to take out a large sum of money, they would need time to convert it into cash. The second type were those who could throw away a thousand taels of gold without hesitation. The second type were those who could casually throw away a large sum of money. The second type were undoubtedly the most impressive.
If the crown prince won the third item, the total value would be five hundred and fifty thousand taels! This wasn't a small sum.
Granny Zhao had already called out twice. Just when everyone thought that everything was settled, General Baili actually opened his mouth again. "Four hundred thousand!"
The crowd erupted into an uproar!
It wasn't clear if Granny Zhao was truly frightened or if she was faking it, but she cried out in alarm, "General Baili, what did you say?"
"Four hundred thousand. Old Man bids four hundred thousand!" General Baili stood up.
Granny Zhao nodded repeatedly. Fine, she really was frightened.
Wasn't General Baili's money also her master's money? After all, raising soldiers was the most expensive, especially navy soldiers. Her master attached great importance to General Baili's navy. Even though the imperial court allocated silver to General Baili's estate every year, her master had secretly spent quite a bit on him as well!
Had General Baili gone mad? He actually shouted out "four hundred thousand" in one go. This was the sum of the crown prince's two bids!
Even Han Yunxi was stunned, to say nothing of Zhao mama. Although His Highness Duke of Qin was rich, this event was for the crown prince and imperial uncle's estate to spend money, not him!
Han Yunxi turned around and looked at Long Fei Ye. She saw that Long Fei Ye was calm. Han Yunxi ponders. Could General Baili's "400,000 yuan" be intentional?
Long Fei Ye was probably the only one who remained unperturbed. Long Tianmo's handsome brows had long been tightly knitted together.
He was very sensitive to this "four hundred thousand". General Baili had offered this price for the last medicinal ingredient because he wanted to share the limelight with him!
Before he came to the birthday banquet, he'd already told his imperial father that the Duke of Qin's estate had already won the hearts of the people by using the grand concubine's birthday banquet as a charity auction. Now that he'd come to the banquet, he had to win back all the goods and steal the limelight. Only then would he be able to suppress the Duke of Qin's estate and become the center of public opinion.
He originally respected His Highness Duke of Qin from the bottom of his heart, but no matter how much he respected him, His Highness Duke of Qin was still his enemy. His Highness Duke of Qin wasn't just a formidable opponent for the throne, he might even be a formidable opponent for the throne.
Under these circumstances, he had to stand on his imperial father's side. Even if he couldn't defeat his imperial father in the next few years, he could wait. His imperial father would eventually grow old. As long as he didn't encounter any major problems, he would be able to rightfully inherit the throne one day.
However, His Highness Duke of Qin was different from his imperial father. His Highness Duke of Qin was too young. He was only two or three years older than him.
This time, he didn't want to lose to the Duke of Qin's estate!
Moreover, he had his own selfish motives. He had purposely overspent the imperial uncle's silver to win the hearts of the people.
His imperial father was wary of the imperial uncle's estate, but he was also wary of them. Throughout history, there were many cases where relatives of the emperor interfered in politics and eunuchs monopolized power.
So what if the imperial family was respected? There were far too many cases where they held the son of heaven in their hands and ordered his vassals around. He didn't want to be forced to listen to the imperial uncle's orders when he ascended the throne one day.
If he hadn't been ill for so many years and been abandoned by his imperial father, he wouldn't have relied on the imperial uncle's estate as much as he did now.
Now, he could only advance step by step and endure everything in his heart.
He hadn't even told Qinwang Rong about this.
Amidst the chatter, Zhao mama even forgot to ask about the price. Who knew that Long Tianmo would suddenly stand up? Qinwang Rong couldn't even stop him.
He said, "Five hundred thousand taels!"
Unlike the previous uproar, the entire place had quieted down.
Five hundred thousand taels?
How was this still a charity auction? This was a battle of wealth!
Who would've thought that General Baili would be so persistent? "One million!"
This …
No matter how great Long Tianmo's momentum was, he was still suppressed in an instant! Everyone looked in General Baili's direction, all of them sighing in shock.
After the empress dowager's birthday banquet, almost everyone knew that General Baili's backer was His Highness Duke of Qin. General Baili's bid was undoubtedly His Highness Duke of Qin's. In other words, the Duke of Qin's estate wasn't just holding a charity auction, they were also offering such a high price.
Who wouldn't be convinced by this kind of play and this kind of spending? Who wouldn't approve?
At this time, everyone suddenly realized that His Highness Duke of Qin was richer than they'd imagined!
Long Tianmo stared at General Baili in a daze, his breathing ragged. One million … He didn't dare to raise the price any further.
If he did, the total price would exceed 1.4 million taels. He had no choice but to consider whether the imperial uncle's estate could afford such a large sum of cash.
One had to know that the rules of a charity auction were that the buyer had to pay half of the price up front and pay the rest within ten days. If he couldn't come up with that much cash by then, he'd lose a lot of face!
But he really wanted to raise the price even further!
Han Yunxi, who'd been pondering General Baili's actions this entire time, suddenly understood. She was certain that General Baili didn't really want to bid, but was purposely raising the price to force Long Tianmo to raise the price!
Han Yunxi grinned craftily. "Granny Zhao, what are you waiting for? Hit the hammer! "
Granny Zhao's mind was blank. She dumbly slammed the hammer down with a resounding clang.
"One million going once! Is there anyone else who wants to bid? "
The entire hall … was silent!
"One million going twice! Anyone else?" Granny Zhao shouted again.
The hall was still silent. Only the sound of everyone's breathing could be heard. Long Tianmo stood in place, holding his breath. He was so close to impulsively raising his hand and shouting out a price, but in the end, he managed to restrain himself.
"One million going thrice! Is there anyone else?"
Granny Zhao shouted. She raised the hammer high and was about to hit the hammer.
In that moment, everyone's eyes gathered on the hammer. Even Han Yunxi and General Baili couldn't help but feel nervous. Raising the price like this, would they end up shooting themselves in the foot? Not only did they fail to make the crown prince raise the price, but they also lost the one hundred and fifty thousand he'd originally bid?
The bidding hammer slowly fell onto the table.
Only Long Fei Ye gracefully raised his teacup and lowered his eyes to sip the tea. In this tense atmosphere, one flower, one cup of tea, one world.
In this silence, someone suddenly stood up. It was none other than the imperial uncle's only son, the empress dowager's most beloved grandnephew, the crown prince's cousin, and the most hedonistic young master in the capital. He was the third young master, Li Leyuan, who represented the imperial uncle's estate at the grand concubine's birthday banquet.
He was very skinny, but he was dressed in loose, wide-sleeved brocade robes and a large jade pearl necklace. His shoulders were slanted to one side, and his body was trembling frivolously. He didn't have any posture at all.
Han Yunxi recognized him at a glance. She remembered how she'd gone to the imperial uncle's estate to save him when the plague had threatened Tianning's capital. The situation had been dire then, and this fellow might have lost his life if she'd been late.
As soon as he stood up, Han Yunxi exhaled in relief. She knew that General Baili's provocation had succeeded.
Li Leyuan stood there for a long time until everyone was looking at him. Finally, he smiled coldly in satisfaction and slowly walked out of his seat.
The imperial uncle of the current dynasty was a wily fox who kept a low profile. How did he raise a son like this? He was spoiled rotten!
Seeing this, Granny Zhao stopped moving on the table. The hammer was only three or four inches away from the surface.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Li Leyuan strutted towards the auction stage. Unexpectedly, he snatched the hammer from her hand and turned to sweep his gaze across the crowd. "2,000,000. Is there anyone else who wants to raise the price?"
The scene was already very quiet, but his words made it even quieter. Even the breathing exercises stopped. How many people were holding their breaths now?!
Long Tianmo and Qinwang Rong were stunned. It had to be said that Han Yunxi was flabbergasted as well. She knew this fellow would raise the price, but she never expected it to be like this!
At this moment, Long Fei Ye's lips curved up in a satisfied smile. General Baili didn't raise the price any further.
"Is there no one else?"
Li Leyuan asked despite knowing the answer. He dropped the hammer playfully.
"General Baili, are you still going to raise the price?"
He actually dared to provoke him. "If not, then I'll drop the hammer. Don't regret it." So speaking, he dropped the hammer again.
He didn't dare to provoke the Duke of Qin directly, but he still shot him a glance. "Is there anyone else who wants to raise the price? If not, then this young master's hammer will make the final call! "
No one!
Under these circumstances, raising the price by one copper coin would mean paying two million. No one spoke for a long time.
Li Leyuan was extremely smug. "Everyone, my apologies. Thank you for letting me win."
With that, he slammed the hammer down. Clang! The sound reverberated throughout the courtyard.
The imperial uncle's estate had received an invitation this time, so his father and grandfather naturally wouldn't give face to the Duke of Qin's estate. Originally, his mother had wanted to come, but she was ill, so he had to come instead.
He was famous for spending money like water, and his father always scolded him for it. Before returning, his father had repeatedly warned him not to bid against the crown prince and not to steal his limelight.
The crown prince had been in the limelight for so long. Although he was itching to make a move, he'd obediently watched from the sidelines. However, when the situation changed, he couldn't sit still any longer.
If he couldn't compete with the crown prince, then he could at least compete with General Baili, right?
He didn't care what the meaning of this auction was. He only knew that if the crown prince couldn't hold on, then he had to step in. No matter what, he couldn't let the Duke of Qin's estate continue to be so arrogant.
Two million, it was decided! The auction was over.
Was it really over?
No, His Highness Duke of Qin still had matters to attend to …
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