Before Jiang Huai left the house, Jiang Ye had given him an extra five hundred taels of silver, urging him to secure the most important item at the auction.
Yet, he ended up spending four hundred taels on a practically useless ring.
Jiang Huai’s face darkened like ink.
Beside him, Wang Feifei, however, was overjoyed, relentlessly provoking Xiao Ran.
It took a while before she noticed Jiang Huai’s grim expression. She cautiously asked, “Brother Jiang Huai, is something wrong?”
Jiang Huai silently blamed Wang Feifei for this. In front of everyone, he forced himself to maintain his composure, unwilling to lose face. “It’s nothing. As long as you like it.”
Jiang Nan, seeing him humiliated, was in high spirits.
Only then did she realize that her previous indifference toward the Jiang family had been nothing but pretense.
Finally, the key item made its appearance—a hairpin, exuding an ancient charm, that Xiao Ran’s mother had reluctantly pawned during financial hardship.
The starting bid was a mere thirty taels.
Jiang Huai perked up slightly, glancing subtly at Xiao Ran, who had been standing quietly by his side without a word.
Xiao Ran’s eyes were fixed unwaveringly on the auction stage, her fingers clenched tightly in nervousness.
This was precisely why Jiang Huai had brought Xiao Ran here.
He had known beforehand that her mother’s belongings would appear. As the young master of Yangcheng’s foremost family, he naturally had access to the auction catalog.
The auctioneer, noticing his interest in the hairpin and knowing its price wasn’t steep, had even offered to gift it to Jiang Huai directly.
But Jiang Huai refused.
He insisted they proceed with the auction as usual, planning to bid for it himself later. This way, Xiao Ran would only grow more grateful and devoted to him.
Things obtained too easily never yielded high returns.
Jiang Huai relished this kind of manipulation.
The hairpin wasn’t particularly rare or valuable, and the attendees of this auction were discerning. For a while, no one placed a bid.
Seeing the timing was right, Jiang Huai smiled and asked Xiao Ran,
“Xiao Ran, do you want this hairpin?”
He added, “If no one buys it tonight, it’ll go unsold and won’t be auctioned again until the next town.”
As expected, panic flickered in Xiao Ran’s limpid eyes. After a moment, she bit her lower lip and nodded.
Satisfied, Jiang Huai raised his paddle. “Forty taels.”
Wang Feifei scoffed. “And here I thought it was something precious. Just forty taels barely a tenth of what I spent.”
Her words carried a double-edged jab at Xiao Ran.
Xiao Ran paid no mind, her focus solely on her mother’s hairpin.
Forty taels were more than enough to secure the hairpin. Jiang Huai crossed his arms, waiting for the auctioneer to deliver it.
Then, a familiar, detested voice countered his bid.
“Four hundred taels.”
Jiang Huai’s expression froze, his breath hitching in anger.
Through gritted teeth, he muttered, “He’s insane.”
His face darkened, and he didn’t raise his bid again for a long time.
He didn’t have enough silver left. If he still wanted to secure the final item, he couldn’t afford to counter this offer.
Xiao Ran was momentarily dazed. The bidder clearly had a grudge against Jiang Huai. If they won, she might never reclaim her mother’s keepsake.
Her fingers twisted the emerald fabric of her dress, her mood plummeting to despair. She glanced toward the mysterious bidder’s private booth, but it was sealed tightly, pitch-black and impenetrable.
Jiang Huai sulked for a moment before turning to Xiao Ran and saying, “I’ll buy you a better hairpin later.” With that, he quickly turned his head away.
“Four hundred taels, going once!”
“Four hundred taels, going twice!”
“Going three times—sold!”
The auctioneer’s gavel struck, its echo reverberating not just through the auction hall but also lingering in Xiao Ran’s heart. Her face was pale, her gaze unfocused as she watched the hairpin once a cherished treasure she used to admire on her mother’s dressing table being carried away from the auction block.
It was a little worn, but that didn’t diminish its luster in her eyes.
A bitter ache spread through Xiao Ran’s chest, stubborn and unrelenting.
She thought, In the end, I’m just a useless daughter who couldn’t even keep my mother’s belongings.
Then came the final lot.
It was an utterly unremarkable mask, rusted and chipped at the edges, looking as though it had been plucked from some roadside trash heap.
The crowd exchanged puzzled glances. Most of them had come for the last treasure. The silver-threaded jade burial suit and knew nothing about this final item. But since it was the grand finale, there had to be some significance to it.
Everyone waited patiently for the auctioneer’s explanation.
The man on stage cleared his throat and leisurely recounted the mask’s long history: “This was once worn by a general who fought countless battles. After his family scattered, the mask was lost to the common folk. Starting bid, two hundred taels.”
The mask’s origin commanded respect, but the price still shocked the audience.
Even with its storied past, who would spend two hundred taels on a completely useless mask?
An elderly man raised his hand. “This old man has a keen interest in collecting memorabilia. Two hundred twenty taels.”
“Two hundred twenty taels, going once!”
Another bidder joined the fray.
Jiang Huai, growing increasingly irritated, called out, “Three hundred taels.”
The old man countered once more but finally withdrew when Jiang Huai raised the bid to four hundred taels.
“Four hundred taels, going once!”
“Four hundred taels, going twice!”
Jiang Huai glanced toward the private booth where the person who had outbid him for Xiao Ran’s hairpin sat. It was eerily silent, and he inwardly sighed in relief. For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this person was targeting him.
Just as the gavel was about to fall—
A languid voice drifted from the booth.
“Five hundred taels.”
Jiang Huai’s ears burned, his neck flushing with an indescribable fury.
Why must this person oppose me at every turn? Why?!
Even the auction house staff noticed. The mysterious bidder in the private booth didn’t actually need these items. They just wanted to snatch them from Jiang Huai.
Someone with that kind of wealth had to be a figure of great importance.
Only the Jiang family could afford to provoke such a person.
Amid the murmurs of the crowd, Jiang Huai pulled out all the silver notes he had on him and declared coldly, “Eight hundred taels.”
He refused to believe that the other party would actually spend eight hundred taels on what everyone else saw as worthless scrap metal.
But Jiang Huai’s calculations were wrong.
If there was anyone in that room besides him who understood the true significance of that mask, it was Jiang Nan.
Spending a bit of money to cut off Jiang Huai’s future was a worthwhile investment.
The Jiang family had grown bold in offending Yangcheng and the surrounding clans precisely because they had the means to uproot and leave the capital, escaping all consequences.
Jiang Nan would not allow that to continue.
“Eight hundred twenty taels.”
Unlike when she had outbid Xiao Ran’s hairpin with a tenfold increase, Jiang Nan only raised the bid by a modest twenty taels this time. She knew that even this small increment would be enough to push him to his limits.
Jiang Huai was furious and said to the people around him, “I beg you all to lend me thirty taels. I will repay you double in the future.”
And so, he managed to borrow another sixty taels in bits and pieces.
Jiang Nan added ten taels to his eight hundred and eighty taels.
Jiang Huai borrowed another fifty taels, bringing his total to nine hundred and thirty taels. But the other party outbid him by another ten taels.
When there was no one left to borrow from, everyone finally understood.
Jiang Nan was toying with him like a cat playing with a mouse always seeming just within reach, only to leisurely pull away again.
Jiang Huai was seething with anger but utterly helpless.
“…Nine hundred and forty taels, going once, going twice—sold!”
The last item wasn’t something Jiang Huai needed. He pushed through the crowd and stormed off without a second glance.
Xiao Ran glanced at the private booth above and prepared to follow him.
At that moment, a servant-looking man approached and clasped his hands in greeting. “Are you Miss Xiao?”
Xiao Ran nodded blankly.
“My master has instructed me to invite you upstairs for tea,” the servant said, pointing to the booth she had been eyeing earlier.
Xiao Ran’s fingertips turned pale with tension. Her heart pounded as she looked in the direction Jiang Huai had gone, only to find he had already vanished into the crowd without a trace.
She nervously pressed her lips together, trying to decipher the intentions behind the servant’s words.
Softly, she asked, “Why does your master wish to see me?”
The servant smiled faintly. “It’s good news. My master says he has something you want.”
Xiao Ran froze for a long moment, her expression complicated. When she saw the servant’s impatient glare, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear. The servant was clearly growing annoyed. He wasn’t a real servant bound by contract but had been hired by Jiang Nan on the street with the promise of payment only if the task was completed. He certainly wasn’t about to let Xiao Ran slip away.
Jiang Nan had told him to “invite” her up, but she hadn’t specified how.
The servant grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the stairs.
Xiao Ran nearly cried out in alarm and instinctively tried to break free. The servant frowned and tapped the hilt of his sword with his right hand.
The metallic clink rang out clearly, a blatant threat.
A few onlookers noticed, but when they saw where the servant was headed, their expressions changed. They quickly averted their eyes, afraid of provoking someone they shouldn’t.
Resigned, Xiao Ran silently allowed herself to be led to the private booth.
When the booth’s curtain was lifted, the inside was pitch black, with only faint light from outside barely revealing a shadowy figure at the far end. This only heightened Xiao Ran’s unease.
She stopped just inside the entrance.
Jiang Nan lowered her voice and said, “I heard this hairpin was your mother’s keepsake. I’ll return it to you.”
A soft sound of a lid opening came from the darkness, followed by footsteps drawing nearer.
Upon hearing that her mother’s keepsake would be returned, joy flashed across Xiao Ran’s face, only to be quickly replaced by sorrow.
Why would this person simply give it back to her for no reason?
But contrary to her expectations, the figure stopped an arm’s length away and handed her the hairpin.
Xiao Ran took it hesitantly, bracing for further demands. Instead, the person told her she could leave.
Overjoyed, she quickly bowed. “Thank you, my lord. Once I’ve saved enough money, I will repay you without fail.”
“No need. That amount is but a drop in the bucket to me,” Jiang Nan replied.
Xiao Ran insisted on taking out all the valuable items she had on her and handing them over to the servant in one go. Thirty taels of silver, a necklace, earrings, and even a gold locket she had treasured until today. If exchanged, they could fetch one or two hundred taels of silver.
She said, “I can’t take things from others for nothing. The remaining silver will be repaid in time. May I ask where the esteemed lord is staying?”
Jiang Nan studied her for a long moment before speaking in a low, deliberate voice, uttering the classic line of a villain: “Knowing too much won’t do you any good.”
Xiao Ran was startled, her eyes widening, and indeed, she dared not ask further.
“Let’s go,” Jiang Nan said. “And I don’t need these things.”
Dizzy with the unexpected stroke of fortune, Xiao Ran thanked her profusely before turning to leave the private room.
“Wait!” Jiang Nan suddenly called out.
Xiao Ran, her sleeve caught, trembled and instinctively took two steps back as she tried to pull it free.
Rip—
The sound of tearing fabric was especially sharp in the darkness.
Both froze. Jiang Nan stood there, holding a scrap of cloth, utterly at a loss.
By the faint light filtering through the curtains, she saw that a piece of Xiao Ran’s sleeve was missing, revealing a stretch of jade-like skin—pale, delicate, with veins faintly visible beneath.
Xiao Ran let out a soft sound of distress, hastily covering her arm with her sleeve.
Her eyes were moist, slightly reddened, like those of a startled rabbit. Clutching her hairpin tightly, she forced a faint smile and said, “Esteemed lord, I can embroider and make pastries. In the future… in the future, all the silver I earn will be sent to you, alright? I’ll pay interest too. It should take about five years to repay everything. I can write an IOU right now—”
Jiang Nan rubbed her forehead, realizing the misunderstanding had spiraled out of control.
All she had wanted to ask was how the red, swollen marks around Xiao Ran’s wrist had gotten there.