The treasure exhibition at the Curiosity Hall had been making a great stir in Kyoto.
When Ye Xi woke up, washed up, and went to pay her respects to Ye Pengcheng and Qian Fangxue, she found that they had already gone out. Ye Jueyao and Ye Yudong were also nowhere to be seen.
The servant hesitated and only said that they had something to attend to and told Ye Xi to stay in the mansion peacefully.
Ye Xi understood that they must have gone to the Curiosity Hall and just didn't want her to go. If she hadn't wandered around yesterday, she might still be in the dark about this.
Since they were all out, it saved her the trouble of making up an excuse.
Ye Xi returned to her small courtyard. After making all the arrangements, she changed into the same outfit as yesterday and quietly slipped out with Saixing.
The Curiosity Hall consisted of two large yards, the front and the back. The front yard was for ordinary people, wealthy merchants, and low - ranking officials to view the exhibits. The back yard had three three - story pavilions connected by covered bridges. There were pavilions and towers with carved beams and painted rafters. From time to time, well - dressed people passed by, presenting an air of opulence.
Anyone who wanted to enter the back yard had to pay ten taels of silver first and then obtain a waist tag. Only then would a waiter come to lead them in.
Ye Xi and Saixing paid the money and followed the waiter towards the back yard.
The place was a motley crowd. People were talking in groups of two or three, and there were also many people in strange costumes.
Ye Xi and her servant's outfits were not at all eye - catching among this group.
After looking around, Ye Xi didn't see the Fourth Princess or anyone around her. Considering the Fourth Princess's status, she must be in a private room or something.
So Ye Xi led Saixing up the stairs.
However, they were stopped by a servant at the stairway.
"Daoist maiden, anyone who wants to go to the second floor needs to pay a deposit of twenty taels of silver or bring a treasure for display," the servant said politely with a beaming smile.
Ye Xi: ……
Why didn't you say so earlier? She should have asked for more money yesterday.
"What about going to the third floor?" Ye Xi couldn't help but be curious, given the strict requirements of the Curiosity Hall.
"To go to the third floor, one needs to pay ten taels of gold. Or bring a treasure that catches the eye of the Curiosity Hall, or have an invitation card," the servant still said respectfully.
Fine, fine, fine. It was obvious that they didn't want her to go up.
Thanking the servant, Ye Xi was a bit annoyed.
It was so unfair. She had wasted twenty taels of silver in vain. All her hard acting yesterday and she had almost gotten injured for nothing.
Huffing in anger, Ye Xi led Saixing to find a corner and sit down.
Since she had come, she might as well take a look at the treasures.
However, as soon as she looked, she saw Ye Pengcheng, Qian Fangxue, Ye Jueyao, and Ye Yudong on the second - floor corridor, chatting with someone.
Ye Xi instinctively shrank back and let the people in front of her block her.
[I had a special anti - rust coating applied to this dagger. I've put so much effort into it. It's almost indistinguishable from the real one. I'm sure I can fool this sucker. Hahaha...]
Suddenly, a man's smug voice rang in Ye Xi's ear, startling her.
Ye Xi turned her head and found that she had accidentally leaned against a man when she shrank back.
Since the first floor was the most crowded, everyone wanted to take advantage of the exhibition at the Curiosity Hall to sell their own things and try to find some good items. So it was a bit crowded, and people didn't really care if they accidentally bumped into each other.
The man was talking to a handsome young master in front of him, looking rather reluctant:
"Three daggers were made by the Crown Prince of the Wei Dynasty hundreds of years ago. One of them was named 'Qinggang', and this is the one in my hand. If I didn't think you were somewhat sincere, I wouldn't show it to you."
The handsome young master said:
"Don't worry. If it's really the 'Qinggang', you can name your price."
Because of the gauze curtain, Ye Xi couldn't see the person's face clearly. But the voice was clearly a young woman's.
The man selling the dagger was extremely arrogant in his heart:
[Little girls are so easy to deceive. They have long hair but short vision. They can't tell the difference between pig iron and wrought iron, especially since I've coated it with anti - rust. She should have stayed at home embroidering and doing women's work instead of pretending to be an expert. Don't blame me for fleecing her.]
The girl had finished examining it and seemed quite hesitant.
"Your dagger is really not bad, but the material is a bit..."
"What do you mean by that!" The seller immediately got angry. "Just now you said you were sincere, and now you're belittling my stuff?"
"Fine, fine. I won't sell my 'Qinggang' to someone who doesn't appreciate it. Go and look at other people's stuff! Humph!"
The girl got anxious and quickly apologized, saying:
"I was just asking. Please don't be angry, seller. It's just that my elder brother likes weapons, and I want to give him a surprise. Please don't blame me."
"Well then, to show my sincerity, you name your price, and I won't bargain."
Ye Xi didn't want to meddle in other people's business at first. Buying and selling was a matter of mutual willingness, and in a place like the Curiosity Hall that specialized in rare treasures, if one misjudged, it could only be said that they lacked good judgment.
However, the seller was so arrogant and kept belittling women in the world. Ye Xi really couldn't bear it.
Seeing the seller about to ask for an exorbitant price pretentiously, Ye Xi stood up and said:
"May the Heavenly Worthy bless us. The seller's words are so foul that sins will be incurred."
"Where did this stinky daoist maiden come from?" The seller was quite angry. "What are you babbling about! Get out of the way quickly!"
The girl had doubts in her heart. Seeing that Ye Xi seemed to know something about it, she said:
"Wait. I'm being polite. May I ask the daoist maiden's dharma name? Please give me some advice, daoist maiden."
Ye Xi looked around. The Ye family had already left at some point. They must have been in the private rooms on the second floor.
Having no immediate concerns, Ye Xi pretended boldly and said:
"You're too polite, sir. You can just call me Manping."
"It's Daoist Maiden Manping..."
"Isn't she the one from the Qunying Tower yesterday..."
"Oh, I didn't even get a chance to talk to Daoist Maiden Manping yesterday because she left in a hurry. I didn't expect to meet her today..."
As soon as Ye Xi finished speaking, some people who had seen Ye Xi "telling fortunes" at the Qunying Tower yesterday immediately started whispering to each other.
The girl didn't expect that so many people here knew Ye Xi. She immediately trusted Ye Xi a bit more and said more respectfully:
"Please give me your instruction, daoist maiden."
The seller was a bit panicked but still pretended to be calm and said:
"What Manping or whatever. I've never even heard of her! You're not in cahoots with this little girl, are you?"
Ye Xi scoffed and said:
"It doesn't matter whether you know me or not. The point is your dagger. It's actually made of pig iron. It's just coated with anti - rust on the outside, so it looks very sharp but is actually extremely fragile."
"You, you..."
The seller didn't expect that his ingenious trick would be seen through by a young woman. He was immediately furious:
"Nonsense! Nonsense! You're just talking without any evidence!"
"Evidence is easy," Ye Xi's voice was clear and carried a natural sense of conviction. "Pig iron makes a dull sound, while wrought iron makes a loud sound. The fracture of pig iron is gray - black, while the fracture of refined iron after being forged thousands of times is silver - white."
"You're just taking advantage of the fact that most people in the world are not familiar with weapons, especially women. So you're trying to deceive people."
"If your dagger is really the 'Qinggang', would you dare to break it to prove your innocence?"