“Master Yu Wei’s work indeed comes with spiritual formations.” Feng Wu nodded.
“So, this Whistling Vase is worth a thousand low-grade spiritual stones.” Mr Mo smiled.
“A thousand low-grade spiritual stones? Are you kidding me? Where am I supposed to get that many spiritual stones?!” Chaoge was terrified.
It was common knowledge that spiritual stones were the hard currency in the cultivation circle, more so than actual gold and silver. However, spiritual stones were scarce in quantity and supply always fell short of demand. Hence, the price of spiritual stones had always been exorbitantly high.
“Well, you can’t come up with that much money, but your Feng Wu can. Right, Miss Feng Wu?” Ye Yafei glanced at Feng Wu with a half-smile.
I’d like to see you cast Duan Chaoge aside.
Of course Feng Wu wasn’t going to abandon her friend. Moreover, she needed to find an opportunity to talk to Chaoge. How had that petite, slim girl from five years ago become such a butterball?
Although, the most important thing now was to take care of Mr Mo and Ye Yafei.
Feng Wu ignored Ye Yafei and turned to Mr Mo. “A thousand spiritual stones would be a fair price if this were an authentic work by Master Yu Wei. Actually, you could almost call it a bargain.”
Mr Mo’s kind smile vanished and his face twisted. “What? Is Miss Feng suggesting that this Whistling Vase is a fake?”
“Of course it’s fake,” Feng Wu said without hesitation.
Mr Mo flared up!
“Miss Feng, are you saying that Elegant Ink Gallery knowingly cheats our customers?” Glancing at the pile of broken porcelain pieces on the floor and the shelf that Ye Yafei knocked over when Chaoge bumped into her, Mr Mo smirked.
“Good, you got my hint.” Feng Wu nodded. “Chaoge is responsible for breaking this Whistling Vase because she didn’t know the rules of an antique shop. That’s a lesson she needs to learn. However, we’re not going to pay the one thousand spiritual stones. You’ll get a thousand taels of silver instead.”
Mr Mo’s face darkened. Ye Yafei snorted before he could say anything. “A thousand taels of silver? Are you paying off a beggar? Do you know who the owner of Elegant Ink Gallery is?”
“Who might that be?” Feng Wu was actually intrigued.
Mr Mo said, “This Whistling Vase is our sixth young master’s favorite. He reserved it for his mother’s birthday, and I don’t think the young master will find a thousand low-grade spiritual stones enough.”
By now, a large crowd had gathered round, but they stayed on the fringe so as not to accidentally knock over some antique pieces.
“The sixth young master? Is he referring to the sixth son of Lord Mu?”
“That’s him, alright. Young Master Mu is well-known in the imperial capital for his unruly behavior. He’s well-connected and gets along with people both above board and underground. The east side of the city is his territory. There was this time when a third-ranked official came to the imperial capital and offended Young Master Mu somehow. That guy ended up being locked up a few days after that.”
“His father is a lord. Of course he’s well-connected.”
“That’s not it. Lord Mu isn’t influential enough to remove a third-ranked official from his post. Young Master Mu has a much more formidable acquaintance than his father,” said that person in a mysterious voice.
Young Master Mu? That jogged Feng Wu’s memory. That teenager she met at Feng Xun’s place?
However, she couldn’t connect that capering teenager with this big boss that everyone was talking about, who associated with both the lawful and lawless. That teen couldn’t be the same person, right?
Mr Mo let others introduce the background of this shop before turning his cold gaze on Feng Wu. “Miss Feng, are you sure you’re going to get involved in this?”
Feng Wu nodded.
Mr Mo smirked. “I think I know where the Feng manor is. If Miss Feng can’t come up with a thousand low-grade spiritual stones, we’ll go fetch it from your clan!”