YNRHPCYC Chapter 93

Perhaps because the gem was so beautiful, people soon began to guess the price.

In the beginning, a fairly high price was called out, “I guess it’s eighty taels of silver.”

The people sighed.

The strong merchant took the gem back into his sleeve, smiled, and shook his head. The person next to him said, “If someone gets the price right, he will take it out again.”

Then the price kept going up, and the people kept raising the price too high until it was completely outrageous in the end, but no one guessed it right.

People thought that the merchant had too big an appetite, and he was not satisfied even after the sky-high price. Wen Chan said, “It’s just a gem. How could it be priced so high?”

Later, someone with a bad temper said directly, “How much silver would you sell this gem for? Just name a price!”

The merchant still shook his head, “Everything depends on fate. If you are fated with this gem, it can protect your home, ward off disasters, and protect your descendants after you buy it back. If you aren’t fated with it, then it will just be a piece of stone for marvelling after you buy it.”

Between the lines and in his every word, everything seemed to centre around the idea of fate.

“It doesn’t matter; you just sell it to me. I don’t care if it’s a magic stone that can protect your home.” The man did not overlook, nor spare[footnote]was relentless[/footnote].

“My lord, I’m sorry I can’t do what you want.” The merchant also didn’t absorb any oil or salt[footnote](fig., describing a person) was extremely stubborn, did not listen to others’ suggestions [/footnote], and just said, “When the owner of this sacred stone gave it to me, he repeatedly told me that I couldn’t break his rules.”

“I see that you are unable to tell good from bad.” The man was rejected in public and became angry for a while.

Wen Chan was attracted by this and carefully looked at the person who was talking. He saw that this person was very unfamiliar.

Wen Chan remembered all the famous and promising people in the capital, but the person in front of him didn’t look familiar. It may be assumed that he was the son of some unknown wealthy businessman.

Everyone around was silent, waiting to watch the excitement.

The strong merchant stopped arguing with the man and shut up. The woman beside him came out to smooth things over again and said with a smile, “Sir, don’t fight with us merchants. Each trade has its own rules, right? My brother doesn’t want to sell things to you, but it is also for your own good!”

“Don’t fool me!” The man snorted and said viciously, “I just took a fancy to that stone. Are you selling it or not? Just say one word!”

“Sir.” The strong merchant said, “If you buy this stone forcibly, it is very likely that bad luck will plague you and bad things will happen. Do you still insist on buying it?”

“Are you cursing me?” The man glared at him.

“I dare not.” The merchant said, “If the sir really wants it, you will have to pay twice as much silver. This coloured glass stone was originally priced at twenty taels, but now if Sir wants it, he will have to pay forty taels.”

This number surprised many people, including Wen Chan, who was astonished.

Twenty taels? Just looking at this stone, one could see that it was exquisitely made, made of high-quality materials and beautiful in shape. So it shouldn’t be priced at twenty taels!

Compared with the first offer of eighty taels, it was sixty taels less. No wonder the people who added more silver later couldn’t guess it right.

When the son of the wealthy businessman heard the price, he burst into laughter and asked the servant beside him to deliver the silver banknote, successfully exchanging it for the glazed blue stone in the hands of the merchant.

Although there had been some small farces, the purpose of the businessmen to create gimmicks had been achieved. Now most people on the scene believed that the prices of those rare things on the table were determined by fate.

Wen Chan saw through this business strategy at a glance. He thought that the son of a wealthy businessman who looked very unfamiliar was also a shill for this group of travelling merchants.

Ah Fu was deeply deceived by it and said to Wen Chan, “Young Master, do you see anything you like? Why don’t we go buy one too?”

He smiled and used an excuse to divert Ah Fu’s attention, “I just saw someone selling plum blossom cakes[footnote][/footnote] on the roadside; go buy some for me.”

Ah Fu complied with it and quickly slipped out of the crowd.

Amid the people’s discussions, the merchants made a move again. One of them, a bearded man, took out a thin branch and gently knocked on the unknown object hanging on the top of the wooden stick.

A muffled sound was heard through the layer of silk cloth, and the bearded merchant said, “This is the main thing we came to the capital to sell. It could also be considered a rare thing. I dare to assert that there is no second one to this in the whole Xi Liang.”

Before people could react to these solemn words, they heard a little girl’s voice coming from under the silk cloth, “That’s right. There is no second one!”

Everyone was amazed, and some shouted loudly, “Boss, do you have a little girl hidden in it?”

“Funny, funny!” The little girl’s voice sounded again, “You mortals are funny!”

The bearded merchant seized the opportunity to say, “All of you, sir, should pay attention to what you say. This thing is not something we can criticise.”

“You make it so mysterious. Could it be that you caught a fairy?”

“I don’t think it can be explained so simply.” The bearded merchant said mysteriously.

Wen Chan looked up at the hanging thing and had a guess in his mind, but he was not sure yet.

“Whether it is a god or a ghost, you uncover the silk cloth and let us see!” There were people below who couldn’t wait to see it.

“It must be uncovered, but before that, listen to me, sirs.” The bearded merchant said, “This thing is different from the previous one. There is no fixed price. It depends on which sir is more generous.”

It meant that whoever paid the most would get the thing.

The people in the inner circle didn’t care about a little silver and urged the merchant to act quickly.

The bearded merchant smiled and responded and lifted the silk cloth with a branch, and the thing that was covered under it was exposed to everyone’s sight.

A burst of exclamations sounded in Wen Chan’s ears, but Wen Chan only stared at the thing hanging above, and his heart started to beat violently.

It was an exquisite wooden cage, painted in a beige colour, with delicate texture. And in the wooden cage, there was a bird.

The whole body of this bird was fiery red, the two feathered crests on its head were about the length of a little finger, and the top was a little golden. Its tail feathers were long and drooped, and every feather on its body was visible. In the sun, it was actually glittering and extremely beautiful.

Like a phoenix cub.

Wen Chan recognised the bird at a glance. It was the mockingbird that Liang Yanbei gave to Situ Zhoulan in his previous life. Because it was so beautiful, he had always been thinking about it.

The bird would land on the pear tree in Liang Yanbei’s mansion, fly about freely, but never flew out of the mansion. It was very loyal to its master. Wen Chan was embarrassed to ask for it and originally planned to send a secret guard to Liang’s mansion to steal it out, but he was afraid that the people he sent would be killed by Liang Yanbei, so he never took action.

This phoenix-like bird could imitate human speech. He remembered that once when Wen Chan entered the Liang Mansion, he directly caught sight of this vermilion bird perched on the top of the pear tree, and it said loudly, “Zhoulan is so beautiful that it shames the moon and the flowers. Zhoulan is unparalleled in beauty.”

The voice was no different from that of a little girl, which scared him at that time.

Unexpectedly, in this life, he accidentally encountered this bird being sold in the capital. He subconsciously touched the silver on his body and thought: This bird is mine. No one can take it away!

He turned around and handed the jade token on his body to Shu Hua, saying, “You go to the bank in the capital now and get as many silver notes as you can. I want to buy this bird.”

A puzzled look flashed across Shu Hua’s face. But he, who was very efficient, took the jade token without saying a word, and set off.

Wen Chan rubbed his fists and wiped his palms[footnote](idiom) to roll up one’s sleeves for battle / eager to get into action or start on a task[/footnote], full of fighting spirit, thinking that no one should dare to snatch it from him, right?

The bearded merchant tapped on the wooden cage lightly with the wooden stick, and the bird inside turned its head and rolled its black eyes, “Don’t knock.”

The crowd was shocked again, “Does this bird really have a spiritual consciousness? Can it talk to people?”

“Whether it is true or not, you will know after you buy it.” The merchant said, “The lowest price is one hundred taels. If the sirs are interested, don’t hesitate.”

“I’ll give you one hundred and fifty taels!” The person who forcibly bought the glazed stone before was the first to jump out again, “I have plenty of silver. I want this bird!”

“I just want to ask, where did you come from, you bastard? What’s your full name? I haven’t seen you in the capital before!” Someone on the side said.

Wen Chan looked over when he heard the sound and saw Lu Yi standing in the crowd, looking at the person who kept shouting with an impatient look. That was just how he was. Whenever he disliked something, he’d scold it without hesitation.

The man panicked for a moment and stammered, “I’m not from the capital. I just heard that a □□ merchant was coming here. So I came to buy some fun things……” After saying that, he took a breath and said, “Could it be only people from the capital buy things in the capital?!”

Lu Yi didn’t have anything to refute it with and just said, “If you continue to be so arrogant, I will beat you up!”

This was really unreasonable, and he successfully scared the trustee of the caravan, and his voice suddenly became much lower.

The bearded merchant hurriedly laughed, “Don’t argue, sirs. Let’s just see the true worth in silver. This sir just offered 150 taels. I wonder if there are other sirs willing to increase the price?”

“Me.” Lu Yi said, “My sister should like this bird. I will offer 200 taels, so sell it to me.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the room, carrying a roguish air, as if declaring he’d fight anyone who dared to take it from him.

The Lu family was a family of generals, and Lu Yi was also the son of a general. The general’s family’s education was strict. He was not usually so frivolous. Maybe he really liked that bird, so he wanted to seize it by force.

Wen Chan thought: This is not up to you!

Just as he raised his hand to increase the price, he heard a voice through the chaos of everyone’s discussion, and it drilled into Wen Chan’s ears.

“I’ll pay 500 taels.” Then, they added another part of the sentence, “Of gold.”

Wen Chan was shocked all over and thought it couldn’t be such a coincidence!

Following the voice, he saw Liang Yanbei standing in the crowd in a snow-white cloak, with his long black hair tied up in a ponytail, and his scattered hair hung on the fox fur at the neckline.

When he was wearing vermilion, he looked exquisite and charming, and his slight smile was full of a wicked seductive aura. But when he was wearing white, he looked like an undisciplined and languid immortal who had been banished from heaven to live on earth. Every time he turned his eyes or raised his eyebrows, he looked cold and distant, making people feel that he did not belong to this mortal world.

Liang Yanbei still had a smile on his face, looking up at the bird in the cage with a focused look.

With that rough glance just then, he didn’t actually see Liang Yanbei, who was so obvious in the crowd?！

Wen Chan suddenly felt that there was something wrong with his eyes.

Translator’s corner

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