Return of the Phoenix Lady

After lunch, everyone came to the Hundred Flowers Garden one after another. Everything in the garden had already been arranged. Dozens of tables and chairs were placed in the surprisingly large open space as audience seats. There was also a high platform in the front. I guess the treasures will be exhibited there later!

At the so-called Treasure Appreciation Convention, each invited family and merchant presents a treasure, which is then displayed for public viewing and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Of course, some individuals of high status enjoy privileges: they don't need to present anything, simply by showing up. However, if the supplier doesn't want to part with the treasure, they must compete with potential buyers to buy it back. After the supplier sells the treasure, they must pay one-tenth of the profit to the organizers. However, if a supplier's treasure is unsold, they will be looked down upon and removed from the Treasure Appreciation Convention's list of participants.

Han Xing scoffed at this boring activity of the rich. Only a fool would do a business that was obviously losing money. But these people who were usually so shrewd that they would not let go of even trivial matters, were doing such a stupid thing today for vanity and fame.

Looking at the Chu family members sitting there leisurely, Han Xing sneered inwardly. "Hmph! Without those treasures, I wonder how you'll end up! You value face, fame, and fortune more than human life. Today, I'm going to destroy them! Let you taste the pain of losing your loved ones."

Everything was going on in an orderly manner. The guests were greeting each other, the servants were busy running around, and the hosts were chatting leisurely and complacently.

Suddenly, a panicked servant hurriedly walked through the crowd and came to Chu Shengye. He whispered a few words tremblingly, and was slapped away by Chu Shengye. Chu Shengye widened his eyes in anger and glared at the servant fiercely, as if the servant was the murderer of his father. He deliberately lowered his voice and said a few words to the servant, then left in a hurry.

"Xiao Li!" Jin Yifeng's voice came from behind.

"Brother Feng, why are you here?" Han Xing turned around and asked seriously.

"Isn't this a chance to take a break from the busy schedule? You know what? I just saw something interesting!" Jin Yifeng winked at Han Xing mischievously.

Han Xing understood and quickly cooperated: "Oh? What is it? What is it? Tell me quickly!"

"Hehe~ Don't be impatient, listen to me slowly. Do you still remember that the steward here, Wang, has a cat?"

"Of course! Everyone here knows this! This cat is so lucky! To have been favored by Steward Wang, it's living a better life now than us servants! Even we servants can't mess with it, so why are you asking this? Could this be related to this cat?"

"Isn't it? Early this morning, I saw the cat playing recklessly again, but do you know? Then..." Jin Yifeng suddenly stopped, smiled mysteriously, and said: "Guess what happened next?"

"How would I know that? Just tell me!" Han Xing glanced at a few curious people standing by, who were listening with curiosity on their faces.

"Haha! I don't know who was so bold as to cut off all its hair, turning it into a bald cat. You haven't seen what it looks like, but it's really funny! It bites whoever it wants! Haha!" Jin Yifeng said while laughing.

"Really? That's fantastic! I wonder which hero did this, it's amazing! That stinky cat always does bad things, and it always asks us servants to take the blame for everything it does. Someone must have been pissed off by that stinky cat, so they did it secretly while the steward was away!"

"That's right! I thought so too! That evil cat always gets into trouble, and now it's in trouble! It deserves it! Now that it's ugly, the manager will definitely not want it anymore!"

Just as the brother and sister finished their discussion, the person in charge on the platform shouted, "Everyone, please be quiet! Everyone, please be quiet!"

The noisy crowd gradually quieted down. The leader wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "The treasure appreciation meeting is about to begin, but our master has suddenly fallen ill. He is now recuperating and will recover in a few days. Please don't worry!"

"What happened to Mr. Chu? Why did he suddenly fall ill? An old illness? I've never heard of Mr. Chu having any old illness before, right?" An old man with a beer belly stood up and glanced at the person in charge on the podium.

"Master Zhou! The master is old, so his health is naturally not as good as before." The steward is not an easy person to deal with either.

"Really? Then let the meeting begin quickly! What treasure will Mr. Chu offer today? Let me open my eyes!" Mr. Zhou is a cunning businessman after all, so he spoke immediately.

"This... treasure, the master will naturally take it out. But I heard from the master that these treasures are valuable and cannot be lent by others. He must bring them himself. It's just that due to this sudden illness, it may take a few days for everyone to see it." The person in charge said slowly.

"What? A few days later? How can that be okay? Mr. Chu knows that for people like us, time is money. It's good enough that we can come to attend this conference. You want us to stay for a few more days. Who will compensate for the losses during these days? Will you compensate us?" Mr. Zhou said unhappily.

"Yeah! What's going on? Mr. Chu is not ignorant of the rules, so why is he like this today?" A businessman on the other side also chimed in.

"That's right! Mr. Chu's treasures are so valuable, yet he makes us wait so long! What's the reason?" "That's right! Take out Mr. Chu's treasures and let everyone see them. Don't hide them!" "Huh! Is it because Mr. Chu is used to being the boss that he looks down on us?" The more he spoke, the more outrageous and angry he became. The people's riot had made it impossible for the person in charge to withstand it.

Just before the situation was about to get out of control, a shrill voice rang out: "The Emperor has arrived! The Retired Emperor has arrived! The Dowager Concubine Xi has arrived!"

The rioting crowd immediately quieted down. As the saying goes, businessmen should not fight with officials, let alone the emperor!

The crowd immediately knelt down respectfully, saying, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Retired Emperor! Thousands of years to come for the Empress Dowager!"

Han Xing had no choice but to blend in with the crowd and squatted down. She was joking. What emperor and empress, asking her to kneel, impossible! But after all, she couldn't be so crazy as to openly resist the imperial power, right? So she had to pretend first.

She raised her little head restlessly and looked towards the door. For a moment, she was stunned. Was he the real father of this body? That middle-aged man with a majestic face and full of domineering aura?

Han Xing lowered his head calmly, no longer looking at the handsome yet unfamiliar face.

"Stand up!" A familiar male voice sounded, and everyone stood up.

"Today is the treasure appreciation conference held once every three years. Why do I hear noise as soon as I arrive? What happened?" Mu Juetian looked at everyone with curiosity and a smile.

But everyone knows that this smiling little emperor, although young, is no less resourceful than his father!

Upon seeing this, the head official immediately jumped out and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the matter is this: my master has been looking forward to this day of the conference. He heard that Your Majesty would also be visiting our humble residence, and he even wanted to personally supervise the arrangements. However, our master is old after all, so after all this has happened, he fell ill. However, none of you gentlemen seem to understand our master, so the quarrel started, disrupting Your Majesty's enjoyment. I apologize to Your Majesty on behalf of the entire Chu Mansion!"

"What did you say? My father is ill, and they're still making a fuss? This is too much! Someone, come! Give me..." Before Concubine Xi could finish her words, she was interrupted by Mu Juetian, "Your Highness, this matter has not been thoroughly investigated yet, so you can't make a hasty judgment!"

"Your Majesty! Isn't this obvious? It's obvious that these people want to take advantage of my father's critical illness to cause trouble! What else do you want to investigate?" Concubine Xi said arrogantly.

"Chu Xier." The emperor, who had been squinting his eyes, suddenly spoke coldly.

"Xier is wrong!" The Concubine Xi, who had been so willful and capricious just now, instantly turned into a docile little kitten, snuggling up to the retired emperor like a little bird, and flattering him.

Chu Xier has been pampered since she was a child, raised in the palm of her hand. Naturally, she has a temper as arrogant and unreasonable as that of a young lady, but she fell in love with the emperor at first sight and refused to marry anyone else. Therefore, Chu Ziyi had no choice but to put pressure on the emperor to marry his daughter, which also led to the emperor's disgust with Chu Xier. No matter how hard Chu Xier tried, their relationship was always lukewarm. And this was only achieved through Chu Xier's unilateral efforts. If Chu Xier didn't have a father who was as rich as a country, she would have been banished to the cold palace long ago, and how could she be so rampant now?

"In that case, let's postpone the meeting for a few days. As for your losses, I will compensate you!" Mu Juetian waved his hand and said gently.

Everyone was terrified and said hurriedly, "Since His Majesty has said so, we will wait for a few days. As for the compensation, we absolutely cannot afford it!"

"Since that's the case, it's settled. Everyone go back and rest! Disband the banquet!" With Mu Juetian's order, everyone scattered like birds. Han Xing and Jin Yifeng had no choice but to leave with the crowd.

I really didn't expect that Mu Juetian would suddenly appear. Forget it, I'll just give him a few more days and see what treasures he can come up with!