Chapter 159 - The Grand Auction (4)
Lin Rong who never partic.i.p.ated in the auctions before, pestered Xia Jiang to take her along with him. Xia Jiang usually didn"t take women along with him, they were a nuisance according to him. He had only relented since he had been harsh with her and he had also confined her to house arrest. For only this once, he made an exception.
Lin Rong was usually not interested towards auctions and truth be told she hated such crowded places. In the past week, rumors had been going on that a prodigal doctor had introduced new poisons. Apparently that bit of news caught her interest.
Her husband Xia Jiang seemed to have taken interest in an young dancer. She can use this poison to eliminate that woman if she dared to enter the house. It was only for this reason that she pestered her husband suppressing the fear in her heart.
She saw all those in the auction hall bid for that poison fervently. She noticed that it was only men who were raising the bids. She felt that something was off but she brushed it off saying to herself there were no women bold enough to do that. Wanting to show off her courage she shouted her bid.
Only silence followed her voice as many started to look towards her direction with weird expressions on their faces. Lin Rong would not have been so confused by their gazes if she had lifted her head and noticed the large cloth banner hanging above the stage…
NO WOMEN ARE ALLOWED TO BID FOR THE POISONS…
" What the…?" Xia Jiang"s disappointed gaze made her swallow the rest of her curses. He was now regretting his show of momentary pity on her, he should have locked her in the room for the entire year. Who would have thought that the women would bring shame on him.
"A dog"s tail can never be straightened." he thought to himself.
" Madam, it is clearly written that no women are allowed to bid for the poisons. You may not have noticed it, but it is clearly written on the banner." even the auctioneer was shocked that such a foolish woman was present at their auction.
They had clearly made their people announce that no women can bid for poisons. Mouth publicity will not reach everyone, so they prepared a large cloth banner for this occasion. It was beyond their knowledge that a person who would not notice the banner exists…
Lin Rong glanced at the banner and clenched her fists. She had not only failed to notice such large banner but instead managed to become a laughing stock before everyone.
Loud sneers and laughters were heard from her surroundings making her clench her fists tightly. Xia Jiang was the prime minister but it was not the court where he could silence the whispers with his glare. All those who were in this auction house were either n.o.bles or royal families from various neighbouring nations. He could not possibly offend anyone of them and glaring at them is equivalent to inviting death. Xia Jiang felt a ma.s.sive headache coming over him.
Talking with this woman would only worsen his already plummeting mood. Acting wisely, he chose to feign ignorance.
Noticing her husband"s indifference, Lin Rong felt anger bubbling up in her heart. She could not possibly go against him, she could vent her against this so called eccentric, Doctor Wu…
" What sort of rule is this? Why are women prohibited from bidding?" Lin Rong"s voice became increasingly agitated.
" Is that Doctor Wu discriminating against women?" Lin Rong"s voice started shaking and anyone would easily believe that the woman is crying when the reality is that she was only acting.
" Is that woman mad?" He Chun was clearly disgusted with Lin Rong and one can see that he was clearly displeased by his stern face and pursed lips.
Xia Lian maintained a poker face but her insides were dancing and jumping with excitement. She was originally very disappointed on finding that the auction was really going on smooth without any fun events like this. She was eagerly waiting to witness these fights in the auction houses which she greatly fantasised while reading the transmigration novels. Now she finally got the chance and on top of that it seemed like she was going to be the centre of attraction in the argument.
Though she maintained a poker face, her eyes were radiating with a naughty and playful glint which did not escape from Xuan Li Wei"s eyes.
" This girl was going to cause trouble now…" he sighed but a similar glint flashed in his eyes. If she was going to cause trouble, he was going to fan the flames and join the fun. Somehow, he was looking forward to it.
" All the women here, I implore you to support my claims…" Lin Rong"s voice sounded pitiful to the point that one would want to wipe her tears and comfort her.
Some of the women were totally unconcerned but many felt that this Doctor Wu was being unfair to women. They also wanted to bid for the poisons, but they were only subjected to disappointment after knowing the conditions.
" Yes, it"s really unfair…"
" This Doctor Wu is really biased…"
" We demand an explanation from the Doctor. If it is reasonable then I will apologize to the doctor." Lin Rong spoke before Xia Jiang could interrupt her.