The girl traveled through another world and forced the prince to take the imperial examination

Chapter 243 This Damn Fate

The lantern auction is already halfway through, with more than fifty lanterns sold. The starting price has now risen to one hundred taels, and the highest bid has reached three hundred taels.

At this time, the front of the stands had been cleared, with rows of benches placed in the middle. Only the wealthy and powerful could sit here to bid. Ordinary people were already out of reach and could only stand on the periphery to watch the excitement.

As time went on, the lanterns being auctioned became more and more exquisite, especially the last ten lanterns, which were the best of the best. Everyone was looking forward to the sky-high price these ten lanterns would fetch.

Mu Qingcheng and the others were extremely happy after dealing with Tang Chuning's family in the teahouse. Su Qingyan was even more grateful to Ning Haochen!

When everyone arrived at the auction square, they saw Mu Yao waving at them: "Here, here, I've reserved a seat for you. Why are you here so late?"

Mu Qingcheng just smiled and didn't say much. Everyone sat down.

"Sister Muyao, how many lanterns did you take? Did you take the crab lantern I wanted?"

Mu Yao suddenly looked depressed and aggrieved and said, "I don't even have one or two taels of silver, what can I use to bid?"

"Oh!" Mu Qingcheng slapped her forehead. How could she forget such an important thing?

Ever since Mu Qingcheng traveled through time and space to come here, she has gone from the deep mountains and old forests to Zhou's Inn, and later lived in the bamboo forest of Daxi Village. The only time she went shopping and spent money was in Daxing Town.

She had no place to spend money, so she had no intention of storing it! It was also because silver was too heavy in this era, and banknotes were neither waterproof nor wear-resistant, so she had to be careful when storing them. So she felt her pockets and could only say, "It's cleaner than my face!"

"I don't have any money either! What should I do?"

"Ah! No way! Sister, are you lying to me?" Mu Yao pouted and looked at Mu Qingcheng pitifully, like a child who was refused to buy candy.

Mu Qingcheng simply turned her pocket inside out to show her. It would have been fine if Mu Yao hadn't looked, but once she did, she was completely disappointed. She turned to look at Su Qingyan, who was stifling a laugh. She opened her purse and took out all the money, only to find two silver ingots and a dozen or so loose silver pieces, which together amounted to only about a hundred taels. Mu Yao was even more disappointed.

"I should have stayed here! It's so embarrassing to just sit here and watch!"

Suddenly, a burst of women's laughter came from behind them.

"Oh my! This is hilarious! A poor bastard with no money dares to sit here and embarrass himself. Why don't you just give up your place?"

Mu Qingcheng and the others turned around to look, and saw an enchanting woman standing behind them. The woman was wearing a bright red brocade dress, and had her hair in a bun with a golden hairpin inserted in it!

Wow! What a coincidence! It’s an old acquaintance, Sun Zhenzhen!

Mu Qingcheng and the others looked at each other, then turned their heads and ignored her, pretending they hadn't heard or seen her. They only complained in their hearts, "What a damn fate!"

"Hey! What's wrong with you? Don't be so shameless! Hurry up and leave!"

Seeing that no one paid any attention to her, Sun Zhenzhen became furious and shouted, "Master!" and threw herself into the arms of a man next to her, twisting her waist and acting coquettishly.

"Master! Look at these unruly people! They are so abominable! Tell the officers to drive them away! These are stools specially prepared by the government for the rich. How can you let anyone sit on them?"

This gentleman was none other than County Magistrate Yu. Since returning to Yongkang County, County Magistrate Yu found that he had truly become a "redundant" county magistrate.

Now, he would go to and from the yamen on time every day, but so what! Every day, he would sit alone in his study in silence, without even a yamen runner to serve him tea or water.

In the vast county yamen, no one came to discuss matters with him, let alone seek his advice. Even the legal advisor had disappeared, and the yamen runners avoided him.

County Magistrate Yu was completely panicked and immediately wrote a letter to his superior Fang Xurao, hoping to use his superior's influence to take back the power of the county government. Unfortunately, there has been no reply from Fang Xurao to date.

He tried to get closer to the Crown Prince's men, but unfortunately the county government office was heavily guarded, and he couldn't go anywhere except the study. He couldn't even get close to the Crown Prince's people.

He took the initiative to interfere in various affairs in the county, but was directly rejected. He could only be angry but not say anything.

Magistrate Yu, feeling depressed, had no time to think about bidding for lanterns! Besides, he had no money left, not even his three thousand taels of silver! Just thinking about it made his heart ache.

Fortunately, the Tang family still owed him two thousand taels of dividends. He secretly asked the Tang family for the money, but they only sent him three hundred taels. He was furious, but he dared not speak out. He could only wait for the Crown Prince's men to leave before he went to settle the score with the Tang family.

County Magistrate Yu was lost in thought when a delicate figure suddenly threw herself into his arms. He was startled at first, then felt a hint of displeasure. He thought, "She's just a peasant girl, so frivolous, she's not presentable. To dare throw herself into his arms in public is unbecoming!"

However, when he lowered his head and his eyes met Sun Zhenzhen's shy and beautiful face, his unhappiness instantly vanished. County Magistrate Yu really couldn't bear to scold her. Never mind! Sun Zhenzhen was his only spiritual support at the moment.

County Magistrate Yu straightened up Sun Zhenzhen, and then said seriously: "Zhenzhen, don't make trouble! This is a place where everyone is watching, it is very impolite of you to do this!" He said it seriously, but the doting look in his eyes was hard to conceal!

Sun Zhenzhen was no longer the naive young lady she once was. She knew at a glance that County Magistrate Yu wasn't really angry; he was just a little impatient. Sun Zhenzhen immediately subsided and stood obediently beside County Magistrate Yu.

County Magistrate Yu was very satisfied and turned his attention back to the auction. He came here today to find out what the Crown Prince's men were planning to do.

"Look, look, this lantern, is it the one you liked, Sister Su?" Mu Yao pointed excitedly at the lantern in the hands of the emcee on the stage.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the stands. Yes, it was that hexagonal lantern. The six sides of the lantern were made of light, translucent white silk, and each side was embroidered with a lifelike painting of a lady. From a distance, the lantern looked ordinary, but up close it was truly exquisite!

"Sister Su, you have such good taste!" Mu Qingcheng praised without reservation.

Su Qingyan was also sighing. The more she looked at the lantern, the more she liked it. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough money to buy it!

At this time, the host spoke: "The hexagonal lantern with a picture of a lady has a starting price of one hundred taels of silver. Bidding begins!"

"One hundred and one taels!" Mu Yao jumped up and shouted the price.

Su Qingyan wanted to stop her but was a step too late: "Muyao, please don't yell like that. We don't have that much money."

"What are we afraid of? What if no one competes with us for it? We can just take advantage of the situation. Besides, there are so many of us, we can definitely collect one hundred and fifty or sixty taels!" Mu Yao looked a little proud.

Mu Qingcheng gave Mu Yao a fist pump of encouragement: "You're right! Come on, Mu Yao!"

Although Mu Yao didn't know what "Come on" meant, she followed Mu Qingcheng's example and made a fist: "Come on!"

Su Qingyan looked at the two of them helplessly.

"One hundred and one taels, is there anyone else bidding?"

Mu Yao clenched her fists, waiting for the host to announce the deal with excitement and anticipation.

"One hundred and fifty taels!"

"hiss!"

Mu Qingcheng and the others turned around at the same time, because the person who called the price was actually Sun Zhenzhen. Sun Zhenzhen was also looking at them complacently at this time.

"You did it on purpose!" Mu Yao pointed at Sun Zhenzhen angrily!

"So what? Go ahead and shout if you have the guts! Humph! You poor bastard, you dare to occupy the toilet without doing anything? Let's see who will be embarrassed later!" Sun Zhenzhen was not willing to be outdone.

At this time, County Magistrate Yu's face was completely black. What on earth did this woman want to do? One hundred and fifty taels to buy a broken lantern. He was really mad at Sun Zhenzhen. He had never seen such a stupid woman.

"One hundred and fifty-one taels!" Mu Yao shouted again!

"Hmph! I called out! Come on! Chase me if you can!" Mu Yao stuck out her tongue at Sun Zhenzhen provocatively!

Sun Zhenzhen was so angry that she twisted the handkerchief in her hand and suddenly blurted out: "Two hundred taels!"

"Shut up!" County Magistrate Yu reached out to cover Sun Zhenzhen's mouth, but unfortunately he was a step too late.

At this time, County Magistrate Yu was sweating profusely. He tried hard to control himself from strangling this stupid woman.