"Your Majesty, won't you go out and take a look?"
In the Chong Yuan Hall, the Empress walked over holding the hand of the Crown Prince's consort and asked with a smile.
Emperor Jing shook his head and said, "If we go out, they won't be able to relax. Let's wait until all the glazed items are sold."
Chang De came in from outside and bowed, "Your Majesty, the largest glazed Buddha statue has been bought by the Fahua Temple for thirty thousand taels of silver."
"Thirty thousand taels of silver …"
A sneer appeared on Emperor Jing's face and he said, "We have to carefully consider allocating thirty thousand taels of silver to the Ministry of War. These monks are really generous …"
"Qin 'er, let's go out. It's quite noisy here." The Empress took the hand of the Crown Prince's consort and said with a smile, "Which glazed jewelry do you like? Tell the Empress and she will ask them to bring it over."
"No need, Empress, I want to see my husband …"
The Empress patted her hand and said, "Okay, after the appraisal is over, I will send someone to call him over."
Outside the curtain, an imperial guard said to the monks who came over, "Masters, I'm sorry, but this glazed Buddha statue is wanted by the Imperial Consort. It is not for sale today."
"What?" The expressions of two monks immediately changed.
For them, these glazed Buddha statues were the most important things in the hall today. Fortunately, the Buddha statues were huge and expensive. Ordinary nobles could not afford them, and very few people would compete with them.
However, these Buddha statues were still too few. Dozens of temples were competing for the ten glazed statues. Originally, there were more monks than Buddha statues. Several large temples had already distributed the statues, but this Imperial Concubine suddenly wanted one statue. Someone had to return empty-handed. Who would be willing to be the monk who returned empty-handed?
"Amitabha …" One of the masters spat out a Buddhist name and said, "If that's the case …"
The monks were relieved. As long as someone withdrew, their Buddha statues would be saved.
The old monk had a solemn expression and said, "If that's the case, the Wanhua Temple will increase the price of the Mahamayuri statue by five thousand taels of silver."
A monk's expression changed immediately and said, "I'm afraid this is inappropriate. Didn't we agree that this Mahamayuri statue belongs to our Thousand Buddha Temple?"
The old monk shook his head and said, "Amitabha. His Majesty has said that the highest bidder wins. My actions are not inappropriate."
The monk gritted his teeth and said: "My Thousand Buddha Temple will add another five thousand taels!"
…
…
The crowd in the hall was distinct. Around the few booths, there were only bare heads.
On these booths were, of course, Buddha statues and prayer beads.
As for the glass jewelry, most of them were women. Of course, there were also many men beside them.
Usually, it was His Majesty and Empress who would hold separate banquets. Today's Glass Appreciation Conference was one of the few occasions where men and women were not separated.
"Miaoyu, do you have any jewelry you like? Second Brother will buy it for you. "Chen Chong stood beside the white-haired woman and asked with a smile.
The woman shook her head and said, "It's good that you can wear the jewelry. How much can you do with three thousand taels of silver? Forget it."
Chen Chong waved his hand and said, "You don't have to worry about that. Just tell Second Brother which one he likes."
The white-haired woman smiled and said, "There's nothing I like. Let's go over there and take a look."
Chen Chong nodded. After the white-haired woman turned around, he waved his hand at the person beside him and said, "Miaoyu has been looking at this hairpin for a long time. Buy it."
Chen Qing waved his hand and said, "I know. Go and accompany her."
"Three thousand taels of silver."
"Three thousand five hundred taels of silver," a young man standing beside the booths said helplessly as he glanced at the woman beside him.
Hearing the voice beside him, he was stunned for a moment. When he turned around, his expression changed and he immediately said, "Sorry, I misspoke. We don't want this hairpin anymore."
The eunuch looked around and saw that many of the people who had been eager to try had retreated. He said helplessly, "Three thousand taels going once … Three thousand taels going twice … Three thousand taels going thrice … Congratulations, Official Chen. You can take this hairpin. Remember to send the money to the palace within three days."
"Su Su, do you intend to buy one back?" a woman called Chen Su asked in a low voice as she stood beside one of the booths.
"No." She shook her head. It was easy to buy it, but it would be troublesome to explain it to her grandfather and father.
"That's true. It's too expensive. Let's just take a look." The woman beside her glanced around and pointed to a place not far away and said, "That Buddha statue over there is so beautiful. Let's go take a look …"
"Miaoyu, this Buddha statue looks not bad. Do you want me to buy it for you and place it in the temple at home?"
The white-haired woman turned around and looked at the middle-aged man. She said helplessly, "No need, second brother. This Buddha statue costs twenty thousand taels of silver. Worshiping Buddha requires sincerity. There's no need to be so extravagant."
Chen Chong waved his hand and said, "It's precisely because I'm sincere that I want to buy it."
He walked over and said, "This Buddha statue is for Duke Chen's Residence."
The imperial guard had a helpless expression and said, "Official Chen, this Buddha statue is for the Imperial Concubine."
"The Imperial Concubine?" Chen Chong frowned. If it was someone else, he could still fight for it. However, if it was the Imperial Concubine, it would be difficult.
The imperial guard pointed to the side and said, "Official Chen, there's another one over there. Do you want to go take a look?"
The monks who were bidding looked over at the same time, causing the imperial guard to shiver uncontrollably.
The white-haired woman walked over to take a look at the Buddha statue. Behind her, a young woman also came over.
"What a beautiful Buddha statue …"
The woman praised softly. Just as she was about to go forward, a huge force suddenly came from behind her, causing her body to fall forward involuntarily.
Her entire body crashed into the white-haired woman. The latter crashed directly into the display stand and fell to the ground.
Pa!
It happened suddenly. A crisp sound rang out in the hall. The surrounding imperial guards looked down and their faces instantly paled.
"Su Su!" A figure beside her immediately helped the woman up.
"Miaoyu, are you alright?" Chen Chong looked back and immediately rushed over, asking anxiously.
Seeing blood seeping out from the white-haired woman's palm, his expression changed. He immediately said, "Imperial physician, hurry and summon the imperial physician!"
"It's … it's broken …"
An imperial guard looked at the shattered Buddha statue on the ground. His face was pale and bloodless as he spoke in a trembling voice.
A glass statue worth twenty thousand taels of silver had been shattered, and it was even one personally appointed by the Imperial Consort. As imperial guards in charge of guarding it, who could bear this responsibility?
The woman called Su Su's face also paled. She hurriedly went to the white-haired woman's side and said, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. Are you alright?"
"Imperial physician, where's the imperial physician!" Chen Chong pushed the woman away. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared.
A figure walked out from the crowd. He squatted down and picked up the white-haired woman's hand to take a look. He said, "It's just a light cut. It's not a big deal."
Li Yi turned back to look at MIngzhu and asked, "Do you have a clean handkerchief?"
"I do!"
The woman called Su Su immediately took out a handkerchief from her bosom. Li Yi picked out a few extremely small pieces of glass and bandaged it for her. He said, "In a while, the imperial physician will come. After he cleans the wound, use a clean gauze to bandage it again. Remember not to touch water for the next few days …"
Chen Chong glanced at Li Yi. His expression turned cold, but he didn't say anything. He stood up, looked at the woman, and asked, "What were you doing just now!"
"I, I …" The woman called Su Su's face paled. She was shaken by his aura and couldn't speak.
"Lord Chen is a dignified Imperial Censor. Why would you bully a weak woman?"
Li Xuan raised his eyebrows. Since this woman was very likely Shen Shu's younger sister and a member of the Shen clan, he naturally couldn't remain silent.
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