Chapter 1463: Strange Competitor

The Soul-Capturing Mirror in He Lingchuan’s arms chuckled, "Is he talking about himself? So many people came tonight; your residence is certainly an eye-catcher."

Despite being listed for only two days, with insufficient time for warm-up, the Tranquil Lake Retreat managed to draw a full house tonight. It could only be said that the auction items He Lingchuan presented were quite compelling. Everyone's curiosity was piqued, eager to see who would be the first to reside in the royal domain.

Tonight, Red Fort was as bustling as a marketplace, and the auction began amidst the lively crowd. As Fan Shuang had predicted, the other items in this minor auction lacked substance; they either sold quickly or went unsold. Despite the large audience, very few raised their paddles. However, He Lingchuan raised his paddle several times, securing a shop and a bundle of over ten pieces of jewelry and several small magical artifacts.

This shop had been put up for auction by Tonglin Workshop ten days prior. It was well-located, just around the corner from Tonglin Workshop's back street. At that time, He Lingchuan, the big patron, had not yet arrived to bring business. Facing the inability to pay next month's wages and with no funds for business operations, Gu Lin had sold off properties to raise some money. He Lingchuan also took the opportunity to buy his first private shop in Tianshui City.

As for the jewelry and magical artifacts, they were all from "Qian Donglai," a renowned armament forge whose status in Tianshui City was akin to that of Songyang Prefecture in Yuandu (formerly). They specialized particularly in formation artifacts and talismans. The items put up for auction were of excellent quality but noticeably overpriced. It was unclear how much the original owner had paid for them, and after several unsold attempts, the price had only dropped by ten percent. He Lingchuan held the artifacts, examining them closely, a slight stirring in his heart. He had heard that the Yao Army excelled in two areas: warhorses and formation artifacts. This was certainly worth investigating.

As the auction progressed, some attendees couldn't wait any longer and simply left. They had come merely for the spectacle, and if the excitement didn't materialize, they saw no reason to stay. Red Fort, aware of the audience's limited patience, finally presented the evening's main event half an hour after the start—the first lakeside retreat of Tranquil Lake Villa!

Here it was, finally! Everyone perked up.

The ace auctioneer from Red Fort also stepped onto the stage. He first displayed an exquisite map, showing everyone the precise location of Tranquil Lake Villa, then proceeded to extravagantly praise information that most people already knew. The core message was essentially this: "Enjoy royal gardens and direct imperial lakeside views!"

He Lingchuan thought the praise was quite effective. Many people from Tianshui City had visited Tranquil Lake and knew it was royal territory, so they didn't find his description exaggerated.

"Living here, you can gaze across the water at Tranquil Lake Pavilion! It's just a few yards away, only a few yards!" This key point, emphasized by the auctioneer, had been repeatedly stressed by Yang Shan beforehand. "We start the bidding at five hundred taels!"

A hush fell over the venue.

This auction had been facilitated by Yuwen Xu. He had been watching the spectacle with his arms crossed, but upon hearing the auctioneer's words, he suddenly lowered his arms, a thoughtful expression on his face. He knew that a phrase like 'gaze across the water at Tranquil Lake Pavilion' could not have come from the auctioneer himself. Its emphasis was full of deeper meaning.

"Five hundred taels!" The auctioneer called out again. The onlookers exchanged glances, but not a single paddle was raised. The main event had arrived, and everyone knew it would definitely not sell at the starting price, so they were in no hurry to bid.

"What's going on?" Fan Shuang muttered, more anxious than He Lingchuan. "No one's bidding?"

Yuwen Xu was still deep in thought. He raised a hand and gestured downwards, though it was unclear if he was telling Fan Shuang to calm down or to remain silent. Many others in the hall shared his thoughtful expression.

The auctioneer called out a second time. According to Red Fort's rules, an item was passed if no bid was made after five calls. Fan Shuang couldn't sit still. "I'll get things started." Then he raised the wooden paddle in his hand. "Me." He had to support his friend, He! He could certainly afford five hundred taels.

The auctioneer immediately announced, "Five hundred taels! We have a bid!"

"Five hundred taels, going once..." If no one outbid him, it would be sold to Fan Shuang. His five-hundred-tael feint worked as expected, and bids began to come from the audience.

Six hundred. It immediately jumped to a thousand. Then a thousand three, a thousand seven, two thousand... two thousand five hundred!

Yuwen Xu nodded inwardly. He had initially expected the bids to cap at two thousand taels; it seemed he had severely underestimated the enthusiasm of Tianshui City's nobility. No commoner would bid on this residence; everyone was merely there to watch the officials and nobles demonstrate their power.

In a flash, it reached four thousand taels. From this point upwards, the number of bidders decreased, and the bidding slowed down. By five thousand taels, only seven bidders remained in contention. At seven thousand taels, there were four people. At eight thousand taels, three people.

The entire hall was immersed in a buzzing murmur of discussion; the onlookers were all surprised: Was a mere 'exclusive privilege' truly worth spending a hefty sum of eight thousand taels? No matter how beautiful or significant Tranquil Lake was, it was still just a retreat in the suburbs. With that money, one could buy a very decent residence with a large courtyard in Tianshui City itself.

When the bidding reached ten thousand taels, only two remained. At this level of competition, even Yuwen Xu, who had initially been tempted to join, gave up. Fan Shuang unconsciously clenched his fists. He Lingchuan took a sip of warm tea, utterly unperturbed.

The price slowly climbed to fifteen thousand. Just then, someone in the front row of the hall suddenly spoke up, "Twenty thousand."

The hall erupted in an uproar; someone had cut in! And with an increase of five thousand taels, they displayed immense wealth. This man had a thin, gaunt face and drooping eyebrows, looking perpetually unhappy. He was not far from Yuwen Xu, so Yuwen Xu could only lower his voice to He Lingchuan, "That's the Second Young Master of Qing Wangfu, Zhang Shan."

Fan Shuang wondered aloud, "Even a royal family is participating in the auction?" The Tranquil Lake Retreat was noteworthy precisely because the royal family had always prohibited others from building on Tranquil Lake. Only He Lingchuan could make an exception to this rule. Those who wished to buy the retreat, needless to say, were all officials or wealthy merchants, who were originally not qualified to live at Tranquil Lake. Why was the Second Young Master of Qing Wangfu joining in at this moment?

He Lingchuan, however, simply said, "Clever." It was precisely because Qing Wangfu had no apparent reason to bid that their participation made everyone suspicious, wondering if they had missed some hidden agenda. Was this a contestant deliberately arranged by King Yao?

A thought stirred in He Lingchuan's mind, and he asked Yuwen Xu, "Has Qing Wangfu been in any trouble recently?" He recalled General Chongwu mentioning that Qing Wangfu's entourage had suffered a theft in Zhuo'an, but they left without recovering their belongings, departing in a great hurry.

Yuwen Xu leaned in and whispered, "I've heard a rumor—it's not confirmed, so just take it as hearsay. It seems the Regent Qingyang recently gathered some evidence against Qing Wangfu, and even the King was aware of it, but the matter was ultimately not made public."