Chapter 439: At the Auction House 4
After sitting down for a while, Qi Qingyao looked around at the people surrounding her. They were all quite good-looking young people. Many of them were middle-aged. There were even a few incredibly pretty little ladies who made Qi Qingyao glance over them a few times. Pointing at one of them, she asked Lu Yan, “Who is that beautiful lady?”
Lu Yan looked over and replied, “The third lady of the Qingzhou City’s Ling family, she’s named Ling Luoyan.”
“She doesn’t look very friendly.” There was a sense of dominance between Ling Luoyan’s brows, which made her look difficult to approach.
“Yeah.” Lu Yan nodded and agreed with her.
Qi Qingyao was just about to look away when the little lady looked over; there was an aggressive a.s.sertiveness between her brows. Then, she fiercely walked over, pointed at Qi Qingyao’s nose, and shouted, “Which family’s maid are you? What are you looking at?”
Her posture seemed to say, ‘Careful, I might gouge out your eyeb.a.l.l.s if you continue looking at me.’
Si Jin’s expression cooled. He did not dare say much and instinctively glanced at Qi Qingyao.
Qi Qingyao of course did not want to invite trouble, so she hurriedly stood up and with appropriate attention to etiquette, curtsied, performing a meek and subservient character. She said, “This maid arrived here with her master and has never seen such a beautiful lady before, so I was taking a few more peeks at you. If I caused any offense, please forgive me.”
Ling Luoyan had indeed been very angry, feeling a bit disgusted at being sized up by a maid. Hearing this, however, she immediately felt better and said, satisfied, “You have quite a silver tongue.”
Qi Qingyao smiled very sweetly. Her eyes crescents, she looked down and said, “Miss, this maid was born to a humble background and cannot lie. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Ling Luoyan was slightly stunned. She thought that although this little woman looked rather ordinary, her voice was very pleasant. Her words made others feel very comfortable, and her att.i.tude was also very modest and amiable. She quite liked her, so she said to the maid behind her, “Cuiping, a reward!!”
Cuiping immediately fetched a silver ingot from her bosom and handed it to Qi Qingyao.
Qi Qingyao pretended to be extremely grateful and bowed. After accepting the silver ingot, she thanked Ling Luoyan again. “Miss is very charitable and kind, a generous person known by everyone in Qingzhou City. Seeing is truly believing, and getting to know you in person is much better than hearing about you from your reputation. This maid thanks Miss for her reward and will remember you forever.”
Ling Luoyan felt good being praised, thinking to herself that she was really good with her words. She looked at Lu Yan, who was sitting beside them, and snorted cooly, “So you’re a maid who serves Master Lu.”
Qi Qingyao nodded with a smile and said, “Yes, Miss.”
Si Jin did not think that Qi Qingyao would be able to settle this matter with just a few words, let alone receive a reward for it…
Lu Yan wondered if it was time for her to get lost already.
Before he could say anything, Ling Luoyan crossed her arms and happily said, “Master Lu, I want this little maid of yours.”
Lu Yan was stunned; he thought he had heard her wrongly.
Ling Luoyan said in a rich and arrogant tone, “Set a price.”
“??” Lu Yan was dumbfounded.
Qi Qingyao, “…”
Si Jin, “…”
Dong Jing, “…”
Ling Luoyan did not think that she would have to repeat herself, but the Lu family’s young master of the chamber of commerce in Northern Liang was in a daze. Of course, he had not heard what she had said at all, or perhaps he was deaf. She was really speechless and thus repeated again, “Lu Yan, I want to buy your maid. Do you understand me or not?”
Lu Yan rubbed his forehead and said, “I’m sorry, Miss Ling, but she’s not for sale.”
“Sell her to me for a thousand taels.” ‘Did he think that I would try to buy her for fifty taels? I would buy this little maid for a thousand taels.’
Lu Yan was vexed and immediately said, “I wouldn’t sell her even for ten thousand taels!”
Ling Luoyan was extremely surprised.
He would not even sell her for ten thousand taels.
Ling Luoyan immediately touched her chin and muttered to herself, “As I thought, this little maid is a talented person.”
Lu Yan’s words strengthened her desire for this little maid even more, and she said, “You must also think that she speaks well, so you want her to remain serving you.”
Lu Yan, “…”
Ling Luoyan glanced at the bewildered little maid. She patted her on the shoulder and said to Lu Yan, “I feel like this little maid and I really hit it off. Why are you so reluctant to let go of her?”
Lu Yan, “…’
Dong Jing did not know whether to cry or laugh. He thought to himself, ‘I’m afraid the master never imagined anyone would ever dare to speak to him like this.’
Ling Luoyan of the Ling family was a ruthless person.
Wanting to buy a maid from the Lu family!
A number of people around them were looking over now.
Lu Yan did not want to be at the center of attention, and so with some annoyance, he said angrily to Qi Qingyao, “You, sit down and don’t say anything for the time being.”
You could get someone’s attention with just a few words.
What a strange person!
Qi Qingyao sat down silently.
Si Jin also sat down silently.
The two looked like part of the uninformed onlooking crowd.
Ling Luoyan frowned with much dissatisfaction and said, “Master Lu, that was wrong of you. The maid is still a person. Even more so, your little maid is also rather cute.”
Qi Qingyao, “?”
Was she cute?
She had just praised this lady once.
Although everyone loved hearing compliments, this lady… just what exactly was wrong with her?
“I know my maid is cute.” Lu Yan cradled his forehead. He turned to look at Qi Qingyao and viciously said, “If you speak any more nonsense in the future, be careful I don’t cut your tongue out.”
Ling Luoyan was instantly extremely astonished. She pointed at Lu Yan’s nose and said, “You want to cut out this maid’s tongue just because she praised me a little? How inhumane.”
Lu Yan gave Dong Jing a look and immediately sat down.
Dong Jing began to drive Ling Luoyan away with some impa.s.sioned words.
Lu Yan did not bother paying attention to the clamorous Ling Luoyan anymore. After he sat down, he whispered into Qi Qingyao’s ear and said in a rough and nasty voice, “You really are a troublemaker.”
They had just arrived, and she had already caused such a storm.
Qi Qingyao shrugged. She said with an innocent look, “I’m pretty and silver-tongued. Is it really my fault that the little lady has fallen for me?
“If it’s not your fault, is it then mine?” Lu Yan looked at Ling Luoyan, who was still arguing with Dong Jing, and felt his head ache. He said, “For today’s occasion, the less trouble the better.”
Qi Qingyao glanced at her surroundings and coughed lightly. She hurriedly apologized. “Alright, it’s my fault.”
Obstructed by Dong Jing, Ling Luoyan felt really conflicted and gloomy. She shouted at Lu Yan who was some distance away from Dong Jing, “Lu Yan, don’t reprimand your maid secretly. Just tell me how much you’re willing to sell her to me for?”
“Dong Jing,” Lu Yan said as he rubbed his forehead.
Dong Jing was speechless. He said to Ling Luoyan, “Miss Ling, our master really likes this little maid, so we won’t sell her, no matter how much you offer.”
Ling Luoyan had never been humiliated to this extent before. She was just a little maid, yet they would not sell her for even ten thousand taels. What a joke!
She said in a heavy tone, “What about one hundred thousand taels?!”
Dong Jing, “…”
Lu Yan, “…”
“A hundred thousand?” Qi Qingyao murmured the number and asked Lu Yan in a soft voice, “Is a maid worth a hundred thousand? I must be very valuable.”