Su Yaoyao’s crisp voice instantly ignited the atmosphere.
She held a glass ball in her hands, her face cloaked in an air of profound mystery.
“Ladies, this is no ordinary luminous pearl. Just look at its luster—look at that halo!”
Su Yaoyao continued her grand deception with a solemn expression. “What flows within it is immortal energy!”
“Place it beside your pillow every night, and within three months, I guarantee your skin will become as smooth and delicate as that of an eighteen-year-old girl.”
As she spoke, she tilted the glass ball toward the sunlight.
The fluorescent powder mixed with shards of glass refracted the sunlight into a dazzling, dreamlike halo.
The women stared at the glass ball with eyes gleaming like hungry wolves.
“I bid fifteen thousand taels!”
A palace maid in pink raised her hand high and shouted.
She was one of the plants Su Yaoyao had arranged in advance, and her performance was quite convincing.
“What’s fifteen thousand taels? This is an immortal treasure capable of preserving your youth forever! Miss this opportunity, and there may never be another!”
Another undercover plant disguised as an older palace matron jumped in, waving her hand with heroic determination, looking as though she was bound to win.
“I bid twenty thousand taels! Nobody fight me for it. I’m buying my youth today!”
With the two plants leading the bidding, the consorts who had still been hesitating could no longer sit still.
“I bid twenty-five thousand taels!”
“Thirty thousand taels! And I’ll add the red-gold and ruby headdress I’m wearing!”
The price skyrocketed. The elegant pavilion had transformed into a frenzied marketplace.
Lin Wan’er stood to one side, her pure and graceful face twisted with rage as she nervously wrung her handkerchief.
She stared at the pink luminous pearl in Su Yaoyao’s hands, jealousy making her heart bleed.
She was reputed to be the most talented woman in the capital. One day, she would become empress and outshine every other woman.
If a treasure capable of preserving youth fell into someone else’s hands, what advantage would she have left?
Besides, she had set up today’s scheme precisely to suppress Su Yaoyao and flaunt her own wealth!
Now, all the attention had been stolen by this country bumpkin. How could she swallow such humiliation?
“I bid fifty thousand taels!”
Lin Wan’er gritted her teeth, stepped forward, and called out in a shrill voice.
The entire scene fell silent. Everyone turned to look at her.
Fifty thousand taels!
That was absolutely no small sum. An ordinary family could live on it for several generations!
Su Yaoyao was practically laughing her head off inside, but on the surface, she put on an embarrassed expression.
“Oh, Cousin, this immortal treasure goes to the highest bidder. It’s not as though I can control the price.”
“Fifty thousand taels may sound like a lot, but for eternal youth, isn’t it just a little… modest?”
Su Yaoyao cast a subtle glance at the plant hidden among the crowd.
The disguised palace matron immediately understood and shouted, “Exactly! I bid sixty thousand taels! If Miss Lin can’t afford it, she shouldn’t join in and make a fool of herself!”
Those words pierced Lin Wan’er’s fragile vanity like a poisonous thorn.
Can’t afford it?
She was the niece of the Grand General. How could she possibly be short of money?
Confidence was the one thing she had in abundance!
“Seventy thousand taels!”
Lin Wan’er’s eyes were bloodshot as she screamed the number with all her strength.
She swiftly pulled the golden hairpin from her head, slipped off the white-jade bracelet from her wrist, and slapped both onto the stone table.
“Add these pieces of jewelry as well. They’re worth at least another ten thousand taels!”
Su Yaoyao looked at the fine jade and jewelry, her mental abacus clacking away.
[Oh my, this leek is plump. Looks like I can make one last, truly brutal cut.]
Su Yaoyao deliberately sighed and shook her head in disappointment.
“Cousin, your jewelry is certainly valuable, but it’s still only dead objects.”
“To exchange them for an immortal treasure, I’m afraid it’s still not quite enough.”
“Why don’t you give up? You still have to raise funds for winter clothing for the soldiers stationed at the border. Don’t let the small gains make you forget the greater loss.”
This provocation was a killing blow against Lin Wan’er, who had been blinded by vanity.
“Who says I can’t afford it? I must have this pearl today!”
Lin Wan’er had lost control. Her reason had been cast into the ninth heaven, and she had completely forgotten to maintain her usual delicate, helpless demeanor.
She turned and barked at the personal maid behind her, “Bring me paper and ink! Quickly!”
The maid trembled in fright. She hurriedly laid out the paper and brush she had been carrying and ground the ink on the stone table.
Lin Wan’er snatched up the brush. Her wrist trembling, she swiftly wrote out an IOU.
“One hundred thousand taels of silver!”
She slammed the IOU down in front of Su Yaoyao. Her chest heaved violently, and her eyes were filled with madness.
“I’ll have the one hundred thousand taels delivered to the Hall of Radiant Brilliance shortly. I will not go back on my word!”
Su Yaoyao glanced at the IOU, the ink still wet, but made no move to take it.
A sly glint flashed through her clear, wide eyes.
“Cousin, words are meaningless without proof. What if you refuse to pay the IOU later?”
“This Crown Princess insists on paying in full before handing over the goods. No credit, I’m afraid.”
Lin Wan’er trembled with fury, nearly spitting blood.
She was the niece of the Grand General. How could she possibly default on a mere one hundred thousand taels?
“Fine! Since you want collateral right now, I’ll give you some!”
Like a gambler who had lost all sense after betting everything, Lin Wan’er reached into her sleeve with trembling hands.
She pulled out three slightly yellowed deeds and slapped them onto the table.
“These are the deeds to three thriving shops on Vermilion Bird Street in the capital—the finest location there!”
“The Grand General gave me these three shops as birthday gifts. Each one brings in at least tens of thousands of taels a year!”
“Add them to the one-hundred-thousand-tael IOU, and they’re more than enough for your luminous pearl, aren’t they?”
Lin Wan’er’s eyes were bloodshot as she glared fixedly at Su Yaoyao, her gaze filled with feverish obsession.
In truth, the three shops were core properties under Lin Zhenxiong’s name. She had secretly taken them to bolster her own prestige.
But now, in exchange for a pearl that could preserve her youth, she could no longer afford to care.
The Grand General doted on her so deeply that he would surely forgive her.
Once she possessed unrivaled beauty and could control every man under heaven, what did a few shops matter?
Su Yaoyao’s eyes lit up when she saw the three deeds.
[Holy crap! Prime shops on Vermilion Bird Street! Those are practically money-printing machines in the heart of the capital!]
[This haul is incredible! Not only have I secured funding for weapons research and development, I even have a storefront for the weapons experience shop I’ll open later!]
Su Yaoyao’s hands moved as quickly as her eyes. She swept the deeds, the IOU, and the jewelry into her arms in one motion, as though afraid Lin Wan’er might change her mind.
“Deal!”
Beaming so broadly that her teeth showed, Su Yaoyao cheerfully stuffed the glass ball into Lin Wan’er’s hands.
“My cousin is truly a straightforward person. This Pink Beauty Luminous Pearl is yours from now on!”
“Remember, you must place it over your heart every night before going to sleep so it can absorb the essence of the sun and moon. Sincerity brings miracles!”
Lin Wan’er cradled the pink-glowing glass ball in both hands as though it were a priceless treasure.
She felt a warm current spread across her face the moment she took possession of it, and even her skin seemed to grow firmer.
This was the power of an immortal treasure!
Her financial ruin had been worth it!
Lin Wan’er arrogantly surveyed the surrounding women, whose faces were full of envy. Her vanity was thoroughly satisfied.
Although she had emptied her family’s coffers and even sacrificed the Grand General’s shops, everything had been worth it!
And so, the fundraising banquet came to an absurd end.
The ladies left reluctantly, each already plotting how to hunt down some immortal treasure at the black market.
As the sun set, the imperial garden returned to its usual tranquility.
Su Yaoyao brought Cui’er back to Zhaoyang Hall, swaggering all the way.
The moment she stepped inside, Su Yaoyao eagerly dumped everything she was carrying onto the canopy bed.
“Hahaha! I’m rich!”
Propping her little face in her hands, Su Yaoyao stared at the IOU for one hundred thousand taels and the deeds to three prime shops, laughing so heartily she sounded like a honking goose.
【These ancient suckers are unbelievably gullible.】
【A bit of fluorescent powder mixed with glass shards, and I traded it for one hundred thousand taels plus three prime shops. This round of profiting without lifting a finger was absolutely amazing!】
【Now I have the funds for research and development, plus prime storefronts.】
Su Yaoyao sat cross-legged on the bed, satisfied as she folded the deeds and tucked them into the little purse worn close to her body.
A thoughtful gleam soon appeared in her clear, peach-blossom eyes.
Holding the Gatling gun blueprint she had drawn with a charcoal pencil, she lightly tapped her head.
【I have the money, but I still don’t have enough materials to build the Gatling gun.】
【Looks like I’ll have to take Crown Prince Bro with me tonight for another round of zero-dollar shopping.】
