Chapter 131: Chapter 132 - 132 She Has Plenty of Silver!

In no time at all, the two people fighting for the pearl had driven the price up to one hundred fifty thousand taels of silver.

In Qi Yue’s eyes, even though the pearl was large, to call it a panacea for calming the mind and settling fright seemed a bit of an overstatement; her own prescription medicine, which cost just a silver note or two, would do better.

But watching the two quarreling was indeed quite amusing.

One cursed your mother, while the other cursed your father, relentlessly matching each other, neither giving an inch.

Both were determined to get that pearl.

Amid the fierce bidding, their voices gradually returned to normal, and even their wigs had been pulled off.

Qi Yue became more certain that one of the shorter figures was Song Gensheng.

Since she recognized him, she wouldn’t let him keep fighting over a pearl; as it happened, she had two large boxes in her space.

Though not as large as this one, they were sufficient for either ornamentation or medicinal use.

Thinking this, she took out a piece of paper from her bosom, along with a charcoal pencil she’d made herself, and wrote down three characters.

“Gan Tang, take this to that shorter fellow over there and bring him to me.”

“Yes, young master.”

Heeding the command, the old servant lady quickly went over.

Over here, Song Gensheng looked at the note with the words “Stone City” written on it, puzzled, then saw a handsome young master extending a hand in greeting from the high platform.

The face before him was elegant and refined, especially his willow-leaf eyes, sparkling with vivacity, resembling someone he knew.

His interest piqued, he abandoned the bidding for the pearl and said to the person he was competing against, “Lucky you,” and then followed the old servant up to the private balcony.

For a moment, Qi Yue didn’t reveal her identity, wanting to tease him a bit, so she invited him to sit.

“You must be Gensheng, right? I recognized your voice from a distance.”

Song Gensheng plopped down carelessly and started stuffing food into his mouth from the plate beside him.

“Who are you? You look a bit like my Sister Yueyue.”

Qi Yue held back her laugh and continued to dupe him.

“You’re referring to Qi Yue, right? She’s my sister. I’m Qi Jia. I’ve heard her talk about the things in Stone City before and even sketched your likeness. Seeing you today, I felt a sense of familiarity, so I wanted to test it out. I didn’t expect it to be you, Brother Gensheng.”

Song Gensheng was simple and sincere, and didn’t notice the holes in Qi Yue’s story. Instead, he felt a sense of kinship and quickly stood up to greet her.

“So you’re my pretend brother, my apologies, my apologies.”

Qi Yue was on the verge of bursting out laughing but managed to hold it in.

“Please sit down, Brother Gensheng. Why were you fighting with that boorish man over the pearl? Does your family have someone who can’t sleep at night?”

“You see, pretend brother, you may not know, but my elder brother’s baby was born last month and cries incessantly. I heard there were many treasures here, so I came to look. I didn’t expect them to be so expensive.”

Reaching this point, he lowered his voice and winking slyly said, “I also need to thank you, pretend brother, for calling me here. Otherwise, I would have turned this place into a chaotic mess by now.”

Qi Yue was surprised, “Why is that?”

“I don’t have any silver on me.”

“You dared to bid without silver? If you hadn’t succeeded, it would’ve been fine, but had you won it and couldn’t pay, how were you planning to leave this place?”

Song Gensheng chuckled with a mischievous smile.

“That’s why I said I would have caused a huge disturbance, and when things got chaotic… hehe… I’d have seized what I could and run away.”

Qi Yue’s face flushed with embarrassment.

He truly lived up to being Guyang’s great thief, bold indeed.

But when she thought about his ironclad body, unafraid of swords and hidden weapons, it seemed quite possible he could indeed escape from this place.

The two chatted for a while longer.

Soon Qi Yue learned that in the several months they were apart, Song Gensheng had actually gone to the Imperial Palace in Beiyuan.

However, he thought she was Qi Jia and did not reveal his true identity.

Meanwhile, the auctioneer had moved on to the third item.

It was a weapon with an ancient design and a chilling gleam. Song Gensheng opened his mouth, seemingly intending to bid, but perhaps remembering he didn’t bring silver, he stopped and continued to eat from the fruit tray on the table.

“Which weapon do you like?”

“Mhm.” Song Gensheng chewed the fruit in his mouth, and mumbled indistinctly, “Let’s forget it for today, I’ll bring enough silver next time.”

This kid was both cheeky and sensible, aware that his Sister Yueyue’s pretend brother was here and worried about causing trouble.

Qi Yue smiled faintly and said something to the old servant lady.

“Gan Tang, no matter the price, secure that knife.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Madam Zhang was clearly well-versed in the art of auction.

She didn’t join the bidding right away, but instead waited until everyone else gradually dropped out. Then she suddenly shouted out an offer of one hundred thousand taels of silver and successfully secured the knife.

Soon the auction house’s boy delivered the knife along with its sheath.

Madam Zhang took the silver notes and quickly settled the transaction with the boy.

Song Gensheng seemed truly fond of that knife, his eyes constantly sneaking glances at it.

“Fake brother, do you also like knives?”

“Uh-huh, I do.”

Qi Yue took the knife out, held it in his hand to try its weight—it was over sixty catties. Knocking the back of the blade with his hand, it rang out clearly, showing it was a fine knife.

Suddenly remembering something, Song Gensheng smiled and said, “Fake brother must have bought it for Sister Yueyue, I’ve seen her wield a knife too.”

Hearing him earnestly call him ‘fake brother’ again and again, Qi Yue didn’t have the heart to tease him anymore and placed the knife in front of him.

“It’s for you, give it a try.”

Song Gensheng was both shocked and delighted.

“For me? Sister Yueyue doesn’t want it?”

Qi Yue rolled his eyes in resignation.

“The knife is rugged; she prefers something more delicate.”

“Oh. Then Gensheng thanks fake brother…”

As he stood up, holding the knife and about to give his thanks, Qi Yue quickly supported him with his hand.

“No need to be polite, little brother Gensheng, consider it a gift from Qi Yue.”

Only then did Song Gensheng swing the knife a few times and, satisfied, sat down.

After that, a book called “Qimen Secret Arts” was being auctioned on stage; the bidding was particularly fierce.

Qi Yue wasn’t interested and was wondering whether to leave when he noticed Madam Zhang beside him acting a bit strange.

Her fists were clenched tightly, her eyes fixated on the viewing platform opposite them.

It was at a diagonal angle to them, and due to the thin curtains, one could only vaguely see three people sitting inside.

At that moment, the person in the middle raised their hand and bid two hundred thousand taels of silver—a high price.

Hearing that voice, Madam Zhang’s entire form suddenly shrank, her demeanor clearly one of fear.

Qi Yue saw everything clearly and felt apprehensive.

Could it be that Madam Zhang refused to accompany her to the black market because she was afraid of encountering this person?

“Gan Tang, what trash book is worth two hundred thousand taels of silver?”

“Ah… What did… the Young Master say?”

Madam Zhang snapped back to reality, hurriedly wiping her reddened eyes.

This truly baffled Qi Yue.

It was obvious she was scared, so why was she crying?

“I said that person bid two hundred thousand taels of silver for that trash book; there must be a reason. Perhaps we should snatch it away.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Zhang shook her head repeatedly.

“No, Miss, it’s not a good book, don’t waste the silver.”

Qi Yue asked curiously, “How do you know it’s not a good book?”

“Because the person bidding is the filthiest, vilest being in this world.”

As Madam Zhang spoke, hatred filled her eyes, her muscles tensed as if ready to charge at any moment.

Qi Yue watched this carefully, her curiosity growing.

Thinking about how Madam Zhang had managed to double the money she made from selling the medicinal wine recipe, Qi Yue decided to help her.

“If that’s the case, we should all the more snatch away this trash book and destroy it. Otherwise, if it falls into the hands of evil people, it could lead to trouble.”

Saying so, she pulled out a stack of silver notes from within and slapped them onto the table.

“Gan Tang, bid for me, your Young Master intends to have this book!”

What was there to fear? She had plenty of silver!