Chapter 35

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After walking through a tunnel about two people wide, an upward staircase appeared, surrounded by candles and fire. Nanny Gui reached out and activated the device to go up.

Up there was a courtyard, not very big and not even lit. Still, if Li Baojia were here, she would have noticed that this was a relatively secluded courtyard of the East Palace, called Tingzhi Courtyard, where no one wanted to come because it was rumored that people had died here before.

She fell in love with the big swing here for a while and often came here to play, but later fell off the swing and broke the skin of her hand. Then Zhao Yi would not allow her to come here to play anymore.

Yixian Mansion had a secret passage leading to the East Palace.

Only the prince knew what this was used for.

The courtyard was not as uninhabited as Li Baojia remembered. There were two men dressed as guards here. When they saw someone coming up, one of them went to pass the message.

Soon after, Huang Gao, carrying a whisk, came. “What’s this for? Is there any news from Jiangnan again?”

Nanny Gui bowed and said, “Please forgive me, but there hasn’t been any news since Tanyue’s passing. I have come today for something else.”

Then she told him briefly what happened at Yixian Mansion today. There was a big frown on Huang Gao’s forehead.

It didn’t occur to him that it was the Qin family.

“The Qin family? What kind of lowlife dared to set up His Highness’s beloved woman?” he thought in anger.

He thought about it and said, “You come with me. This is a very important matter. We need to consult His Highness first.”

Nanny Gui was a little surprised.

She couldn’t believe the prince would be involved.

In the past, if she saw the prince in person, a major event must threaten the country. But today’s case was clearly different.

Huang Gao could be considered the prince’s trusted subordinate. Now that he said that, she thought he must be serious.

The importance of the mysterious Miss Li, whom she hadn’t seen, was further heightened.

Now she knew people in the Imperial City were wrong when she realized how important Li Baojia was.

She was secretly glad to have come today after hesitating for a while.

It was now inside Chengde Palace.

Zhao Yi was sitting in front of the desk examining the city defense map. He heard two soft knocks on the door. “Your Highness, Nanny Gui is here.”

Zhao Yi casually circled a hill. “Come in.”

When they entered, Mr. Huang stood to the side. Nanny Gui knelt to salute the prince. “Your Highness, I have something important to report.”

When she finished speaking, Zhao Yi’s look didn’t change in the slightest, and he even laughed lightly twice.

Nanny Gui’s stiff back did not relax because of this but became tighter. Although she did not have much contact with the prince, she knew what this meant.

Whenever he laughed like that, that meant someone was going to be unlucky.

The next thing he said was, “The Qin family in Lian City? Since they are merchants, they must be well-off.”.

Nanny Gui and Huang Gao looked at each other, and then she respectfully bowed and left.

Huang Gao said, standing next to him, “Your Highness, should we just let Qin Yongzhan go back?”

Zhao Yi slowly circled a place, an abandoned reservoir near the Imperial City moat. He smiled slightly, “The Lantern Festival is approaching. It is not appropriate to kill at this time.”

Huang Gao understood.

After the Lantern Festival, it was time to kill.

He was also unlucky to mess with the prince’s woman, which was the height of folly.

The Qin family was a big threat to Lian City, so he thought it would be good for the people of Lian City to get rid of it.

——-

The auction of Yixian Mansion had reached a feverish stage, and the woman Qin Yongzhan had taken a fancy to was quite sophisticated. She said, “I’m just a vulgar woman. Let’s not bother with a poem or something else. Just name your price.”

She had just offered a dance and was drenched in sweat. Her dress was a rare seductive one as a dancer. The edge of her skirt was split. She slightly raised her leg, revealing a spotlessly white leg, sexy and passionate.

Qin Yongzhan mingled with a large number of gentlemen, bidding frantically. Ms. Zhu seemed to have feelings for him because she constantly winked at him, earning him jealous looks from other men, but he was rather pleased with himself.

He thought he had finally regained his confidence and couldn’t embarrass himself in front of a beauty like her. With this in mind, he gritted his teeth and continued to bid regardless of the rising price.

At this point, the bidding price had long surpassed the usual bidding price of Yixian Mansion. Many men had stopped bidding.

Qin Yongzhan looked even more satisfied when he stood out from the rest and found the woman was particularly attracted to him.

Only one unattractive man continued to compete with Qin Yongzhan, and the price was getting so high that people around him began to gasp.

The man looked quite self-assured as he cast a sidelong glance at Qin Yongzhan as if he was his mortal enemy.

Qin Yongzhan got heated up against his provocation and continued the game with him. For the last bidding, the price was a whopping one thousand taels of silver.

This made the group of men at the back of the room dumbfounded.

Qin Yongzhan also hesitated because a thousand taels of silver was enough to buy the best brothel in Lian City for three consecutive months.

If he bought this, more than half of his money on him would be gone.

Ms. Zhu’s soft, seductive voice sounded, “Sir, do you want to raise the price?”

She and Qin Yongzhan looked at each other, and his heart melted. The mockery surrounding him encouraged him to make up his mind.

He held his breath. “One thousand and one!”

No one noticed that the gentleman who had just bid had quietly disappeared into the crowd.

At this time, Qin Yongzhan found it hard to celebrate his success because he had just spent a thousand taels of silver on impulse.

Even he found it unacceptable, and when he looked at Ms. Zhu again, he only felt annoyed.

He blamed her for causing him to spend such a large sum of money.

Since this was the case, he decided he had to torment her later to compensate for his loss.

He had always been tyrannical in nature, and several concubines in his house miscarried because of him.

But Ms. Zhu led him away with a smile as if she didn’t notice his fury.

The group of men below was completely aroused today. Previously, the Qin family was a small family that no one knew about. Now it suddenly became famous.

The family now had a gentleman who spent recklessly at the brothel buying a newly arrived lady’s ownership in a month.

This was the price of a first-class woman here.

Ms. Zhu’s status also rose in the Imperial City. Everyone wanted to see what a thousand-tael-silver-worth woman looked like.

Ms. Zhu led him to the inner room. On the way, Qin Yongzhan had already impatiently put his hands on her slender waist, and his hand roamed her waist.

At this time, another woman came over. “Ms. Zhu, you are so lucky. Your ex-lover Mr. He just won more than 10,000 taels of silver over there! Good for you!”

Ms. Zhu said, “Then congratulate him for me when you see him later.”

Qin Yongzhan’s eyes lit up. “What are they playing? That is a lot of money!”

He had just spent a large sum of money, so he naturally tried to find a way to earn it back.

He wondered what they were playing.

Ms. Zhu covered her mouth and laughed. “It’s nothing. It’s just a game we play here to entertain the gentlemen. Are you interested?”

Qin Yongzhan nodded his head repeatedly.

Ms. Zhu then led him and said, “Why don’t you come with me to have a look.”