Chapter 36: Haggling With a Crafty Merchant
"Prince, you had better check a mirror first and see how scrunched up your own face is!" The current Ye Junqing had tragedy written all over his face.
"Yao Mowan, please save me!" There was no way Ye Junqing would be in the mood to check a mirror. He picked up the teacup and started gulping down the water.
"Oh? It seems that Prince doesn't find Xia Furong very pleasing?" When Yao Mowan saw Ye Junqing react like this, she was intrigued and sat down to look towards him meaningfully.
"Do you know what this day was like for this prince? That honored princess, ever since leaving Guan Osprey Palace, has been following this prince around. From the imperial garden to the imperial kitchen, then to the imperial hospital. Even when this prince goes to the la… Ahem… In any case, no matter what this prince does, she insists on following and this prince can't shake her off! Yao Mowan, this prince seriously can't take it anymore! As long as you can help this prince deal with her, this prince will give you a hundred taels of cold!" exclaimed Ye Junqing.
"That's easy. Yin Xue, kill her!" Yao Mowan responded swiftly and immediately gave this order.
"Wait! This prince isn't asking you to kill her, but to help this prince get free from her! If this prince was going to kill her, would this prince even need your help? Achoo…" Even now, that intense perfume still filled Ye Junqing's nose.
"In reality, Prince shouldn't be too harsh. Based on what Mowan saw, that honored princess is also quite pitiful…" Yao Mowan pinched her throat as she looked towards Ye Junqing with a sad expression.
"Did you take the wrong medicine? She's pitiful?" This was Ye Junqing's first time loathing a woman to this degree.
"Prince doesn't know but in reality, all the pearls and gold scales Xia Furong was wearing were borrowed by King Xia from Feng Yihan. It can be seen from this that for the sake of seeing you, Prince, the honored princess had spent quite a lot of effort, but you…" Yao Mowan looked towards Ye Junqing with a resentful and blaming expression like she was feeling angry on behalf of Xia Furong.
"Stop! Just say it, how much?" If Ye Junqing actually came to believe that Yao Mowan felt pity for Xia Furong, then he had truly stayed with Yao Mowan this long in vain.
"Five thousand gold taels, no negotiating." Yao Mowan stopped pretending to feel sympathy and her eyes started sparkling like stars.
"Yao Mowan, the bandit world has truly lost a great talent to not have recruited you! Five thousand gold taels? Why don't you sell this prince to see if that price can be reached? Do you think this prince is Yan Nansheng!?" Ye Junqing suddenly regretted knocking on this door and he immediately got up to leave.
"Prince, take care. Forgive this one for not seeing you off." Yao Mowan leaned back on the chair leisurely as she said this.
When Ye Junqing saw that Yao Mowan had no intentions of stopping him, he returned to his seat.
"Five hundred taels of gold, how's that?" Ye Junqing looked towards Yao Mowan solemnly. When he saw that Yao Mowan wasn't saying anything, he hardened his heart.
"A thousand taels of gold! Alright?" This was Ye Junqing's limit.
"Five thousand taels of gold." Yao Mowan tilted her exquisite face and smiled towards Ye Junqing. Her innocent face was flawlessly beautiful, but in Ye Junqing's eyes, it was as sinister as the grin of a demon.
Yao Mowan only sighed in relief once she heard the sound of Ye Junqing slamming the door. She then walked to the bed and fell asleep peacefully. Since the nation of Xia has always lacked money, this would be easy to deal with.
The next day, right after Yao Mowan finished washing up, before she even left her bedroom, she heard the sound of Xia Furong's voice. At this time, Liu Xing had hastily pushed open the door and entered.
"Your Imperial Highness, that honored princess seriously has no respect for you. She's currently preparing breakfast in the main hall and has commanded her maid to go invite the esteemed prince." Liu Xing wanted to stop Xia Furong, but she was the princess of a nation after all. Without his master's consent, he couldn't very well offend her.
"This Xia Furong! Does she think that she's still in Bactria? How dare she take over this place like it's her own? Your Imperial Highness, this servant will help you drive her out right now!" Ting Yue angrily headed towards the door, but Yao Mowan stopped her.
"Don't mind her. Yin Xue!" Yao Mowan quickly called out Yin Xue.
"Master, the items you've requested," said Yin Xue respectfully, then she placed an embroidered bag on the dressing table.
"Good work, you may withdraw." Once Yin Xue left, Yao Mowan commanded Ting Yue to sew all the blood-colored pearls in the purse onto her clothes, then put those colored glass ornaments on her head. At the very end, Yao Mowan took out a nine luan hairpin from her jewelry box. This hairpin was made with pure gold and had extremely exquisite handiwork. On every tail of the luan there were jade night pearls that shined beautifully with the jadeite on the luan's head. The design was peerlessly exquisite.
Once Yao Mowan walked out of the bedroom, she saw that Ye Junqing was sitting there silently, allowing Xia Furong to get dishes for him. He only nodded occasionally without saying a word.
The moment Ye Junqing heard the door open, he abruptly looked over, only to freeze when he saw Yao Mowan's brilliantly sparkling outfit. From what he remembered, this counted as Yao Mowan's second time dressing herself up as a peacock! The first time was when Feng Yihan had come.
Ever since he slammed the door and left yesterday, he had been feeling very unhappy. Whenever he recalled that all the jewels that Xia Furong was wearing came from Feng Yihan, he would feel loathing from the depths of his heart. Feng Yihan was clearly doing this to have Xia Furong take him to Bactria so that he would be able to exchange love letters with Yao Mowan without any apprehensions!
"Junqing kowtows in salute to Your Imperial Highness." Ye Junqing decided to stop worrying about these for now. He knew that at the very least, Yao Mowan's appearance has saved him in this moment.
"Furong kowtows in salute to Your Imperial Highness. This is Furong's first time coming to great Chu, so Furong doesn't know what Your Imperial Highness likes. That's why Furong specially ordered Ah Zi to prepare breakfast. These are all Bactria's specialties. Furong hopes that Your Imperial Highness will like them." Xia Furong smiled towards Yao Mowan, but when her eyes landed on the outfit Yao Mowan was wearing, her gaze was instantly captivated by the blood-colored pearls.
"There's tasty things, so this consort will definitely like them!" Yao Mowan happily placed her jade fingers on Xia Furong's hand, then walked with her to the table.
When Xia Furong saw the jadeite thumb ring Yao Mowan was wearing, she couldn't help but swallow. A trace of greed flashed through her eyes.
"You like this?" Yao Mowan's eyes widened when she saw that Xia Furong wouldn't let go of her hand, then she asked this in a naïve manner.
"Oh… No…" Xia Furong knew that she had behaved inappropriately, so she immediately retrieved her hand. However, right after she said that, Yao Mowan took off the thumb ring and lifted her hand to forcefully put the ring on Xia Furong's finger.
"Furong has plenty of toys like this, there's no need for Your Imperial Highness to give it to Furong…" Xia Furong forced down the pleasant delight in her heart and feigned refusal.
"Since you have plenty, one more is nothing! Wan er also has plenty! His Majesty has said so! You're a guest, so Wan er has to take good care of you. From now on, if you like something, just tell Wan er! Wan er will give them all to you!" Yao Mowan smiled generously, then started eating in a simple-minded way. At the side, Ye Junqing didn't know what exactly Yao Mowan was trying to sell, but he was able to figure out with a glance that the thumb ring Yao Mowan had just given Xia Furong wasn't worth much.
"Since that's the case, then Furong thanks Your Imperial Highness." Xia Furong feigned a polite response even as greed arose in her heart.
It was so much so that after breakfast ended, Xia Furong didn't cling to Ye Junqing again and instead, stayed in Guan Osprey Palace to start chatting with Yao Mowan. Yao Mowan sent Ting Yue and the others away to sit with Xia Furong on the chaise lounge and chat.
"It's obvious from Your Imperial Highness's luxurious outfit that King Chu truly cherishes Your Imperial Highness!" Xia Furong gently stroked the blood-colored pearls on Yao Mowan's greedily.
"Mmhm! His Majesty does dote on Wan er a lot. He often gives Wan er a lot of fun things, but after looking at these things for a long time, it's not fresh anymore! For example, these pearls are just red. They're nowhere as pretty as the ones you're wearing!" Yao Mowan started setting her trap.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira's Corner]
Enjoy~
