Chapter 17: Wealthy and Arrogant (Part 1)

  The cool night was like water, Chi Shao's carriage slowly drove through the streets and stopped in front of a magnificent mansion.

  The mansion faces the street on three sides and backs onto the water, with many carriages already parked in the empty space in front of the main gate, suggesting that there will be a grand banquet at the manor tonight.

  Xiao Si got off the horse carriage, looked up and saw the plaque above the main gate with three ancient gold-plated characters "Duoyun Xuan" written in a dragon and phoenix dance style.

  He stared blankly for a moment before saying, "Isn't this an antique shop? I think there's one in Chang'an City too."

  Chai Shao nodded and said: "This is the main store, tonight at midnight there will be an appraisal meeting."

  He stepped up onto the steps and pulled out a pure gold invitation from his sleeve to hand over to the guard standing watch at the door.

  The guard took the invitation with both hands, opened it and looked at it, then bowed respectfully and said: "Mr. Chai, please come in."

  Just then, a crisp horseshoe sound came from the street, and two people rode side by side from the east end of the main street.

  On the left was a young man in his thirties, wearing a brocade robe with a jade belt around his waist. Beside him rode a beautiful maiden whose simple attire could not conceal her elegant demeanor, as if she were a lotus flower floating on the water, serene and otherworldly.

  Hou Junji said in a low voice: "The guy who came is Wang Renze, the nephew of Zheng Guogong Wang Shicheng. He has been practicing in Laojun Temple on Qingcheng Mountain for more than 20 years and recently returned to Chang'an after completing his apprenticeship. I don't know why he came to Jinyang. It's said that when he was on Qingcheng Mountain, he had a grudge against Li Yuanba, the fourth son of Tang Guogong, and also had some dealings with Ma Chaijun from Chai Prefecture."

  Before the words had fallen, Wang Ren had already dismounted at the door and swept a glance over Hou Junji, Diao Xiaosi and Wanyi, his gaze coldly fixed on Chai Shao's face, and he sneered: "Chai Junma, we meet again. By the way, let me introduce you to my junior sister, the treasure of our sect's leader, Zhangsun Guanyin!"

  Xiao Si was shocked, the precious daughter of the Qingcheng Sect's leader, wasn't she like a heavenly fairy? Unfortunately, a beautiful flower was inserted into cow dung, and the cow dung next to it looked very smelly and lacking in nutrients.

  Chang Sun Guanyin rode up on her horse and gave Chi Shao a faint smile, saying: "Brother Chi is well. You've gone to Qingcheng Mountain several times to visit my junior brother Yuan Polu, but I was always in closed-door meditation and didn't get to see you. Who would have thought that we'd meet tonight in Jinyang?"

  Chai Shao cupped his fists and said with a humble yet confident tone, "I've long heard that Changsun Xianzi is the first successor of Qingcheng Sect. I'm truly fortunate to meet you today!"

  As everyone walked into the Doun Cloud Pavilion, they saw that the hall was brightly lit and bustling with people. Nearly a hundred tables were set up on both sides, with esteemed guests filling every seat.

  Chai Shao's seat was in the first row on the left, third from the front, directly opposite Wang Renzhen.

  Xiao Si sat down beside him, casually picked up a large red satin-covered book on the long table, opened it and saw that it recorded all the treasures to be auctioned at the appraisal meeting tonight. The first one was the purple gold Guanyin statue used to ward off evil spirits.

  Further back, there were "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Basin", "Azure Water Severing Fate Sword", "Twelve Red Dust Bells", "Water and Sky as One Color Flag", "Three Thousand Year South Sea Spirit Turtle Golden Elixir", "Cloud Sea Jade Bow"…… all sorts of immortal soldiers, magical treasures, refining materials, spiritual elixirs, and other things that dazzled the eyes, with over forty pieces in total, momentarily blinding Xia Xiao Si's thieving eyes.

  Suddenly, the crisp sound of a gong echoed through the hall, and it gradually became quiet. A middle-aged man wearing a blue cloak stood up from behind the main table, bowed to the crowd with his fists together, and said: "I am Gao Shi-Lian, the master of Duo Yun Xuan. I'm grateful for your presence tonight. Tonight is our annual Treasure Appreciation Meeting at Duo Yun Xuan, and we are honored to have the daughter of Long Sun, the leader of Qing Cheng, Guanyin, attend. It brings great honor to my humble abode."

  The guests couldn't help but exclaim in surprise and followed Gao Shilian's line of sight to look at the third table in the first row on the right.

  Zhang Sun Guanyin smiled slightly and bowed, saying: "Lord Gao's hospitality is renowned, tonight the treasures you are auctioning off are all priceless and sought after by many. My humble abode has no gold to spare, I'm just here to join in the excitement."

  Gao Shi Lian smiled and said, "As a member of the Long Sun family with its profound scholarly heritage, what rare treasures haven't you seen? I'm afraid that even the few items from our Duo Yun Xuan might not be worthy of your attention. Fortunately, I have prepared one more special item, which I hope you will evaluate at the appropriate time."

  He gently clasped his palms together and said, "Let's cut to the chase. The rules of the appraisal meeting can be found on the Treasure Appreciation Spectrum, so I won't go into details. Now, please bring out the first treasure to be appraised tonight - the Purple Gold Guanyin Statue!"

  A girl in a Luo skirt was seen carrying a six-inch-high purple gold Buddha statue on a tray, slowly circling the venue and showing it to hundreds of guests.

  "Taking the opportunity, Gao Shi Lian introduced: 'This Guanyin statue is a treasure brought back by the Golden Ding Saint Monk from Tianzhu, made entirely of Henghe purple gold sand, with a pair of Buddha hands forming a Vajra seal, and the palm has a magic seal personally cast by a high-ranking monk from Tianzhu. The base is engraved with Sanskrit manuscripts of the Diamond Sutra, capable of warding off evil spirits, driving away ghosts, subduing demons, and suppressing monsters. It's a top-grade treasure for protecting one's home and body. After being evaluated by Golden Ding Saint Monk himself, it should be a fifth-grade Buddhist treasure. Our Duan Yun Xuan is not black-hearted, the base price is 35,000 taels of silver, and each bid must not be less than 1,000 taels.'"

  As the voice fell, a middle-aged monk in yellow robes stood up from the second row of seats on the right and said: "Amitabha Buddha, my Dharma name is Jian Yong. I was sent by my master to escort this purple gold Guanyin statue to Jin Yang. My master specifically instructed that this treasure was given by a friend from Tianzhu and should be enshrined in the Buddhist hall. However, thinking of the suffering of all living beings and the emptiness of the four elements, we monks have compassion in our hearts. Therefore, we are offering the Guanyin Bodhisattva statue for auction, with the intention of donating all the proceeds to purchase medicine, rice, and other relief supplies for the disaster victims in Henan Province. We hope that all donors will generously open their purses and join us in this good deed."

  As he spoke, he took out a scroll from under the seat with both hands and said: "To express his gratitude, Master will also give a handwritten calligraphy to the buyer free of charge, to commend his kind heart and righteous deed."

  He slowly unrolled the scroll with both hands, and saw that there were four characters "Guang Jie Shan Yuan" written on it, with a line of small words and a seal written by Jin Ding Sheng Seng himself at the bottom.

  At this moment, everyone in the hall praised and eulogized the great kindness, great compassion, noble character and bright integrity of Master Jindeng.

  Xiao Si's heart felt more disgusting than eating a fly. Thinking of Bu Suanzi's pair of eyes that must have been blinded by this scoundrel, now the old blind man had left Chang'an for fear of disaster and his life was uncertain, this scoundrel actually took out a statue of Guanyin from who-knows-where, stolen or cheated or robbed, and ran to the appraisal meeting to set up a booth, making him furious.

  Wang Renze was smiling and saying to Changsun Guanyin, "Sister, isn't your name 'Guanyin'? I'll just buy it and give it to you as a small gift."

  He loudly called out: "The saintly monk is generous, how could I, the king, fall behind others? 40,000 taels!"

  He started with a bid, and someone followed up from behind. After several rounds of bidding, the price was raised layer by layer, and soon someone called out 48,000 taels.

  Wang Renze was trying his best to win over his eldest grandson Guanyin and shouted: "Fifty thousand taels!"

  Chang Sun Guanyin slightly frowned and said: "Elder brother, I appreciate your kind intention, but no matter what, I absolutely cannot accept this statue of Guanyin."

  Wang Renze was taken aback and said: "Then I'll place the Guanyin statue in my house, and every time I see it, it's like seeing my Shifu's sister."

  Suddenly, someone on the opposite side lazily said: "Fifty-one thousand two."

  Wang Renze heard the voice and looked over, only to see that the one shouting out a price was a young man sitting next to Chai Shao. He secretly seethed with anger, thinking that Chai Shao had deliberately instructed this young man to come forward and bid against him in order to humiliate him publicly.

  "Fifty-five thousand taels!" Wang Renzi snorted, his nose low, and stared coldly at Chai Shao.

  Chai Shao said in surprise: "Xiao Si, you believe in Buddhism?"

  Xiao Si smiled and said: "I don't believe in Buddha, my surname is Xiao."

  Hou Junji exclaimed in surprise: "Then why did you want to spend fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver to buy a Guanyin statue? Even if it's a fifth-grade Buddhist treasure, it's not worth that price."

  Wan Er said: "No need to ask, this guy is trying to curry favor with that girl on the opposite side."

  Xiao Si didn't say a word, lightly smiling: "Xiao Chai, is that little Wang guy at odds with you? Let's help you vent." He picked up his chopsticks and gently tapped the wine cup: "Fifty-six thousand, not enough, add more."

  Wang Renze's face changed color, and he became even more convinced that Chai Shao was behind the scenes. He coldly smiled and said: "Sixty thousand!"

  When he uttered these two words, his heart couldn't help but ache. Although Old Wang's family was wealthy beyond compare, sixty thousand taels of silver wasn't something to be spent carelessly. But at this moment, he was no longer simply trying to win the favor of his eldest grandson, Guanyin; more importantly, he absolutely could not lose face in front of everyone.

  Xiao Si calmly and unhurriedly followed the rules and added a thousand taels: "Sixty-one thousand."

  Wang Renze looked at Xiao Si with disdain, gritting his teeth and saying: "You stinky little kid, don't think that just because you have Chai Shao backing you up, you can fight me. Who doesn't know that my uncle is Zheng Guo Gong Wang Shicheng, and my father is the number one wealthy family in Luoyang, Wang Shihan? You want to compare wealth with me? Hmph - 700,000!"

  Xiao Si shook his head and sighed, "A rich father is indeed different. No wonder it's popular these days to acknowledge godfathers everywhere. Alright, since Uncle doesn't care about Grandma, I'll have to pay for the Guanyin statue myself."

  He painfully pulled out a silver note from his dragon waistband and placed it on the table, saying: "One hundred thousand, take one more coin and you can have it."

  One hundred thousand!!! The crowd suddenly stood up, and all eyes were fixed on Xiao Si's face.

  Those who can attend the appraisal meeting are all wealthy masters, otherwise they would not come here to join in the fun. But this purple gold Guanyin statue, even with a handwritten inscription by Jin Ding Sheng Seng, is absolutely worth no more than 50,000 taels of silver. Xiao Si actually raised the price to 100,000 taels at once, obviously just to spite Wang Renzhen.

  Wang Renze almost bit his steel teeth to pieces and glared at Chai Shao: "Chai, what do you mean by this?"

  Chai Shao hadn't spoken yet, when Xiang Xiao Si hastily took over the conversation and said: "Your family's Xiang Fourth Master likes Guanyin, what business is it of yours?"

  Wang Renze's face turned pale and he said: "You..."

  "Brother, it's just a statue of Guanyin, why bother competing with others? Letting him have it won't hurt," said Zhangsun Guanyin in a soft voice.

  Wang Renze felt slightly better, and with a fierce glare at Chai Shao and Xie Xiao Si, he said: "Today, my master's sister is here, so I won't stoop to your level. This debt will be recorded by me, Wang, and it will definitely be repaid in the future!"

  Xiao Si has never been one to suffer losses, just as he was about to retort, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his thigh, only to find that Wan Er had pinched him hard under the table and said in a low voice: "This account, I will also settle with you!"

  Xiao Si's face contorted in pain, but she couldn't make a sound with so many people around, and could only grit her teeth and bear it.

  But his expression fell into Wang Ren's eyes, and it became a ghostly face that disgusted himself, and the seven orifices were filled with murderous intent.

  At this time, three rounds of gong sounded, and the famous flower had its master. The famous girl brought the purple gold Guanyin statue to Xiao Si's table.

  Everyone was whispering among themselves, all trying to find out the young man's background, but very few knew that he was the deputy head of the Tongtai Bureau of the Anqing Prefecture.

  Jian Yong and Shang walked over with the scroll held in both hands, saying: "Good, good! The young donor's kindness is commendable. Please accept this ink treasure, which does not disappoint the poor monk's teacher's expectations."

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