Chapter 146 - The Auction (Part One)

"Miss Li, you are finally here!" 

The same man, who previously met Li Ming at the reception, greeted their group at the entrance of the auction house.

There was barely three minutes left before the auction would officially start. The Crown Prince really wasted a lot of time.

They all greeted the shopkeeper and Li Ming said, "We apologize for making you wait here. We got stuck with some matters. Hope you won't mind."

The shopkeeper immediately shook his head negatively. How could he be angry at one of their special guests of the auction that was starting soon?

Miss Bao had already informed him to treat Miss Li and her companions with respect and to make sure that she would be comfortable during the auction.

What he was not expecting was to see an entire group of people to come along with the Young Miss.

"Miss Li, are these people accompanying you in the auction?" The shopkeeper asked as his eyes roamed over the man who was wearing high-quality robes and nearly a dozen royal guards.

"Oh! Actually, he is the Crown Prince of the Han Empire. We coincidentally met on our way here. We will be attending this auction together." Li Ming politely replied to the shopkeeper, without even giving any chance to the Crown Prince to open his mouth.

She could feel his eyes glaring at her from her right side but she completely ignored it, pretending to be completely oblivious.

The shopkeeper bowed to the Crown Prince while greeting him as he replied to Li Ming's question, "Sure Miss Li. Also, the Eldest Young Miss has made sure that you won't face any discomfort here. Please come this way."

The shopkeeper took them towards the third floor where the private rooms were prepared for the high-status visitors.

A faint smile appeared on Li Ming's face as she followed behind the old man.

If not for the veil that hid her evil smirk, the Crown Prince would definitely have noticed the trick that she just played, but fortunately, no one noticed anything.

Everything went exactly according to Li Ming's plan. After seeing the Crown Prince of the Han Empire with her, the shopkeeper was even more curious about the young girl's identity.

They already knew that the young girl belonged to a powerful background and after seeing her casually entering into the shop with the Crown Prince of an Empire, her identity had become a mystery.

But the shopkeeper happily took the group to their private room as their auction house was already considering to invest in the Young Miss. The final decision would be taken after the auction. 

In short, according to the information that the old shopkeeper had received from Miss Bao, it looked like Miss Li would become one of their special customers and investors if her pills sold out at a high price in the auction.

The smirk on Li Ming's lips stretched into a soft smile as she heard the thoughts of the shopkeeper.

Her plan was going exactly how she wanted. And though she couldn't listen to the Crown Prince's thoughts due to his higher level of cultivation, just looking at the frown that had appeared on his face assured her that her plan had succeeded in luring the Prince into her trap.

Li Ming was definitely not wrong about the Crown Prince. Just like how the shopkeeper mistook Li Ming as a friend of the Imperial family of the Han Empire, similarly, the Crown Prince mistook her as a close friend or at least one of the VIP customers of the auction house after hearing the conversation between the shopkeeper and the young girl.

He was currently in a dilemma. He could not punish the young girl if she really belonged to a high-class family, but he also could not let her go so easily otherwise his reputation would be at stake.

They reached outside a room and he turned towards the young girl while saying, "Let's leave your companions outside."

Only seven guards were going to enter into the room while the other guards stood outside the room to guard the Prince.

Li Ming folded her hands in front of her chest as she replied to the Crown Prince, "Thanks for the offer, Your Highness, but I'll like to keep my people with me."

And with that, she entered in the room along with Zi Yan, Jin Jing, and the little boy.

The Crown Prince stood there with his mouth left open at the audacious behavior of the Young girl.

It took them barely a few minutes before all of them settled down in the private room.

Li Ming and the Crown Prince were sitting around the main table while Zi Yan, Jin Jing, and the little boy were sitting around another table that was placed behind the main table.

The last table was placed a little far behind the main table where four royal guards were sitting.

The rest of the three guards were standing at the door as they made sure to protect their Crown Prince.

Li Ming looked at the crowd that was sitting down below. A platform was set at the center of the floor where a high podium was sitting empty. 

A few people who were wearing the same colored uniform were guiding the people around the room to settle them on their tables.

This was the first time when Li Ming had seen so many rich people from various Empires of the mainland.

Though everything was happening in her favor but there was still a problem that had surfaced.

Since the Crown Prince unexpectedly by.ped into her and she ended up as his prisoner, for the time being, she couldn't interact with Zi Yan and Jin Jing openly.

Therefore, her plan of bringing Jin Jing along with her to learn more about the high families of the mainland was of no use.

Unknown to her, exactly above their room was another private room. The highest level of VIP rooms of the auction house was present on the fourth floor.

There were a total of three rooms on that floor and currently only one was occupied.

Two men who appeared completely opposite to each other were sitting in the private room of the fourth floor.

One of them was wearing a pair of beautifully designed golden brocade robes with a single golden hairpin decorating his silky smooth long hair.

He was just sitting there silently looking at the crowd down below, observing the mortals as they prepared to start the auction.

The shopkeeper of the auction house was currently standing on the platform, explaining the rules of the auction to the people who had come to participate in the auction.

He could tell that many had arrived there just to enjoy the show that was going to start any second.

These auctions were more like a chance for the high families to show off their wealth and power to the world and they were going to take full advantage of this chance.

On the other side of the table was sitting the man in black and red brocade robes. Half of his hair tied with a red ribbon and a black jade hairpin was loosely inserted into it, while his hands were busy in playing with his jade flute.

While one was emitting sunshine then the other was emitting the very essence of darkness.

But even after carrying auras that were polar apart from each other, they still held a powerful bond of brotherhood that had been unshakeable through thousands of years.

"What are you busy thinking about?" The golden robes man finally asked while breaking the peaceful silence of the room.

He noticed that ever since the two of them had entered into the auction house a few minutes ago, the black robbed man had wandered off into his own world. 

"Nothing special. Just saw someone here whom I was not expecting to meet. But looks like that person is always appearing in front of my eyes no matter how much I try to stay away." The Second Demon Prince replied. His tone was neither cold nor warm, rather it carried a bored edge into it.

A small switch appeared on the lips of the golden robed man. "Why it looks like it is really something special? You know that you are bad at lying, right?" 

Hei Long shook his head at the mocking words of his friend and brother. 

He just could not help himself from thinking about the lilac girl. She always pulled him towards her like a magnet.

No matter how much he tried to stay away from her, but in the end, he always ended up meeting her at the most unexpected places and in unexpected situations.

To distract himself from the thoughts of the lilac girl, he tried to change the topic as he asked, "Forget about me since it's nothing important. But I'm still curious to know what you are doing here in this auction house. You are the last person to take part in the mortal affairs. Want to share the secret?"