Li Xuan was furious.
For a moment she burned with anger, but the flame cooled quickly into a hard, calculating calm. She fixed Zhao Shuning with a look of contempt. “You really don’t know who I am, do you?”
Zhao shook her head, amusement curling at the corner of her mouth. “There are plenty of people in the world. Why should I know you?”
Li Xuan’s eyes flashed. “You should at least know whose turf this Chaozhou is.”
The smile on Zhao Shuning’s face turned sharper, threaded with mockery. “Oh? You think it’s the Li family’s? If that were true, the officials of Chaozhou might as well pack up and go back to the countryside.”
Heat rose to Li Xuan’s face. She turned to Lou Yang, the auctioneer. “Lord Lou, I refuse to bid with this woman.”
Lou Yang blinked in surprise. “Why not, Miss Li? The auction has rules—”
“Lord Lou, don’t take it personally,” Li Xuan interrupted coolly. “I just question whether this girl even has the spirit stones she’s tossing around. She’s making a show—nothing more.”
All eyes shifted to the girl on the stage. Zhao Shuning smiled and, with a single spring, hopped up beside the lot again. If Li Xuan wanted to press, Zhao would not back down.
“It’s a hot day,” she said softly. She formed hand seals, and shadows slid across the hall like a tide. Then she reached into a space pouch and pulled out a hefty pearl that seemed to drink in the darkness. With a casual toss the pearl floated into the air and bloomed light—so bright the auction house was suddenly mid-afternoon.
Gasps spread through the crowd. Li Xuan’s complexion drained of color. She had not expected such extravagance from a plainly dressed girl.
“Take a good look, Lord Lou,” Zhao said, letting the pearl hang between them. “How much would this night-illumination pearl fetch?”
Its surface was flawless, gleaming with that deep, even lustre prized in true treasures. Lou Yang, a man who knew these things, frowned in appreciation.
“At least a hundred spirit stones,” he judged.
Zhao’s smile widened. She drew the pearl back, withdrew the shadowing, and let it vanish into her pouch. Li Xuan’s features tightened into something like a spasm.
“Well? Miss Li. Will you continue?”
Li Xuan let out a breath and looked to Wei Qian, who stood behind her. Her expression softened enough to be convincing.
“Wei Qian,” she said, “after I settle this, I’ll marry you.”
Wei Qian’s surprise was blatant. “You—weren’t you the one who insulted me before?”
“Just answer the question. Will you marry me or not?”
Wei Qian’s nature was to pander. Despite the earlier humiliation, he bowed and humbly replied, “Of course.”
That public exchange drew a murmur from the crowd, one edged with disapproval. People began to talk.
“What is Miss Li planning? Wen Xiaoxiao’s contract is in Wei Qian’s hands—she is still his possession in law. The auctioned funds, after the house takes its cut, mostly go to Wei Qian.”
“So if Miss Li deliberately humiliates Wen Xiaoxiao and then funnels money back to the Wei household, aren’t they just cheating the system?”
“Exactly. She’s trying to have it both ways—abuse Wen Xiaoxiao and then reclaim most of what she spends.”
Zhao looked at Li Xuan and thought: clever. Too clever. But did Li Xuan really think she was competing with her?
Li Xuan tossed the words out like a gauntlet: “Lord Lou, I have no objection. Continue.”
Lou Yang glanced to Zhao Shuning for confirmation. Zhao nodded. “Proceed.”
Li Xuan’s next bid came with haughty certainty. “Five hundred spirit stones.”
Five hundred. The hall fell silent. That was a tenfold jump and a crushing challenge. It was a sum that could swallow half of the Li family’s assets. Everyone looked to Zhao to see if she would back down.
Zhao folded her arms, amused. “Old rules.”
“Five hundred and one.”
Li Xuan bristled. “What—”
“I’m bidding legitimately, Miss Li. Conducting myself properly. Is that a problem?”
“You can’t beat me,” Li Xuan snapped.
“Try me,” Zhao said, cool as a blade. “Won’t cost you anything to try.”
Li Xuan spun on her heel, fury playing on her face. From where she stood, she believed the money would loop right back into her family’s coffers. What could this girl possibly do?
“Six hundred,” Li Xuan said, forcing herself to sound confident.
Zhao’s reply came like a bell. “One thousand.”
A ripple ran through the room. Even Li Xuan jerked upright, startled. Lou Yang’s brow furrowed. This wasn’t the predictable, orderly climb of a normal auction.
Li Xuan stared at Zhao as if she could bore a hole through her. Zhao returned the stare, provoking.
“So that’s it? Miss Li, is that your limit? Even with the Wei household backing you, what are you going to do—gamble it all away? I should tell you now: my reserve is more than a thousand. If you can’t afford to lose, you should admit it. Take your broken-armed fiancé and leave Chaozhou quietly. Don’t keep using the Li name to swagger about—you’ll only embarrass yourselves.”
The words were a fresh burn. Li Xuan erupted. “Who are you calling coward? Who told you to tuck your tail and run?”
“If you’re not careful,” Zhao shrugged, “you won’t even get down from the auction hall.”
“You can’t even cover a thousand spirit stones and you bark about the Li family’s status?”
Zhao had not used such cutting sarcasm in a long time; it rolled off her tongue with a practiced cruelty. Li Xuan’s anger boiled over. She shoved past Wei Qian’s attempt to restrain her and raised the bid to two thousand.
Two thousand. The number stunned everyone—this was nearly everything the Lis had.
Wei Qian’s face paled, but Li Xuan barreled forward. “You think I won’t risk it?”
Zhao Shuning answered with a leisurely tone, as if naming the price of tea. “Two thousand and one hundred.”
“Two thousand five hundred!”
A collective gasp. Lou Yang’s eyebrows knit together. “Miss Li, where would the Li family find numbers like that?”
The hall thrummed with the mounting stakes. Zhao’s smile never wavered; the youngest bidder seemed to take an odd pleasure in throwing down gauntlets and watching noble pride flare and crack.