Chapter 358: She’s Quite the Drama Queen!
Chao Liang: “…”
When he first met Huang Quan, he thought she was breathtakingly beautiful.
After spending time with her, he realized that although she seemed carefree, she treated people very differently. To those she acknowledged as friends or family, she was gentle. But to strangers, while she appeared warm with a smile, she was actually cold at heart.
Now…
He realized for the first time that she was quite the drama queen!
Nangong Yan, however, didn’t share Chao Liang’s complicated feelings. He found his sister’s act of playing the pity card to be utterly adorable.
Chao Liang: “…” There’s no talking sense with a sister-con.
Just as Chao Liang was at a loss for words, the door of the opposite private box fully opened, revealing a group of people sitting inside.
Once the door opened, Dongfang Ling, who was seated in the middle, glanced over at them.
“Second Prince?”
Chao Liang muttered, “Looks like we’ll have to spend more money today.”
The Second Prince, Dongfang Ling, whose mother was the Imperial Noble Consort, was highly favored. He was known as a little tyrant in the Tianqi Empire, and few dared to cross him.
Huang Quan glanced at the people inside and then looked away.
To her, it didn’t matter who was bidding for the Dragon Spirit Fruit — whether it was the Second Prince or not made no difference.
“Young Master Chao,” Dongfang Ling called out when he saw Chao Liang and Huang Quan. “I was wondering who dared to compete with me. So, it’s Young Master Chao and Miss Nangong.”
“Second Prince, in an auction, the highest bidder wins,” Chao Liang replied. “It’s all fair competition.”
“Fair?”
Dongfang Ling sneered and said, “I’m not interested in fairness. How about you do me a favor, Young Master Chao, and let me have the Dragon Spirit Fruit?”
Chao Liang heard what the Second Prince said and chuckled. “Your Highness, perhaps you could do me a favor and let me have the Dragon Spirit Fruit?”
Upon hearing this, Dongfang Ling immediately knew Chao Liang would not back down, and his expression darkened.
If it were anyone else, Dongfang Ling would use his status as a prince to intimidate them, but that wouldn’t work on Chao Liang. He was the Young Master of the Dan Tower, which produced half of the elixirs in the Tianqi Empire. Offending Chao Liang would mean offending the Dan Tower — not to mention that Chao Liang had the powerful Di Qin backing him.
“Young Master Chao,” said a man sitting beside Dongfang Ling, lightly fanning himself, “His Highness wants the Dragon Spirit Fruit to offer it to the Emperor. Why not give him this favor?”
To offer it to the Emperor?
That made it even less likely for him to give it up.
This fruit could kill someone. While it had nothing to do with him initially, if Dongfang Ling later claimed that Chao Liang was the one who let him have it, it would put him in a very difficult position.
“I want the fruit,” Huang Quan looked at them. “So there’s no use trying to convince Chao Liang.”
“Of course, it won’t work to convince me either,” Huang Quan continued. “You could talk from morning to night or make the most beautiful arguments, but I won’t give it up.”
Huang Quan’s words crushed all their hopes.
Dongfang Ling looked at her and sneered, “Very well, then the highest bidder shall win.”
A loud “dong” echoed through the hall, drawing everyone’s attention to the person in charge below. The crowd looked on in surprise.
“Why was the deal closed already?”
“His Highness was about to make an offer — why settle it now?”
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
“Explain! What’s happening here?”
The person in charge, expressionless, said, “The bidding time has expired. Since no one raised the bid during this period, the item is naturally awarded.” The Cloud Auction House had a complex background, and even the royal family wouldn’t easily provoke it. That’s why the person in charge decided to settle the item for Huang Quan before the Second Prince could place his bid.
Chapter 359: The Daughter-in-Law with Nothing to Do with the Son
Of course, the person in charge made this decision to prevent the Dragon Spirit Fruit from being taken by Dongfang Ling.
Just as Huang Quan and Chao Liang had speculated in their conversation, the Cloud Auction House had more than one Dragon Spirit Fruit, and they had already conducted experiments on it.
The person who consumed the Dragon Spirit Fruit exploded from within.
The scene was extremely gruesome, and everyone present was terrified.
After that incident, they concluded that the fruit contained an excess of spiritual power that was impossible to absorb.
Upon reaching this conclusion, they tried to separate the fruit or refine it into an elixir. However, no matter how they tried to cut it with a knife or split it with an axe, the Dragon Spirit Fruit remained intact.
Uncertain about how to separate the fruit, the auction house’s mysterious owner gave them two instructions.
One was to inquire discreetly, and the other was to conduct an auction. At the auction, they would highlight the potential benefits of the Dragon Spirit Fruit and link it to the Dragon Clan. That way, whether people were interested in the benefits or intrigued by the connection to the Dragon Clan, the news would inevitably spread. Eventually, someone curious enough would come to the auction house to inquire.
Perhaps someone would know how to consume it properly.
As for the person who purchased the fruit… if they died after consuming it, and their family sought compensation from the auction house, they could claim that the person didn’t heed their warnings and died from eating it whole, absolving the auction house of responsibility.
This was why the person in charge decided to sell it to Huang Quan. After all, the Second Prince was a member of the royal family, and if something went wrong, it wouldn’t be easy to resolve.
Huang Quan realized that the person in charge was unwilling to earn money at the expense of risking trouble. A brief thought was all it took for her to understand why they were in such a hurry.
This was a good thing.
After all, it meant she didn’t have to pay more.
The Second Prince, infuriated by the lack of respect from the auction house, wore a dark expression. However, this was the Cloud Auction House’s territory. No matter how angry he was, he couldn’t just destroy the place. He could only leave angrily with his entourage.
After the grand finale item was auctioned off, there was still one more item left.
Once that item was sold, someone came to guide Huang Quan to make the payment.
Twenty billion.
Just thinking about it was painful.
After making the payment, someone handed the Dragon Spirit Fruit to Huang Quan.
Huang Quan took the fruit and turned to Chao Liang, saying, “Let’s go.”
The person who handed the fruit to her seemed like he wanted to say something, but before he could, the manager approached and subtly shook his head.
Seeing this, the man closed his mouth.
Once Huang Quan and her companions were out of sight, he finally spoke up, “Manager, that woman named Huang Quan is the one who recently won first place in the Academy Alliance Competition. She’s also rumored to be the future Crown Princess. If something happens to her, the Crown Prince won’t let us off easily.”
“You said it yourself, she’s only the *future* Crown Princess. She hasn’t become the Crown Princess yet, has she?” the manager replied. “If something happens to her, there will be other girls who could take her place. If anything goes wrong, we’ll just have to explain ourselves to the Crown Prince.”
“But…”
“Enough.” The manager cut him off, seeing that he wanted to continue, “If you were the Emperor, between your son and a daughter-in-law with no formal ties, who would you care about more?”
Before the man could reply, the manager continued, “You saw it yourself. She and the Second Prince were the only ones bidding. If we didn’t give the item to her and instead gave it to the Second Prince, and something happened, do you think the royal family would let us off so easily?”
This chapter is finished. Enjoy your reading!
