The Poisonous Consort, the Regent's Beloved

Su Fuying looked at them with a smile, then turned to the shopkeeper and said, "That hairpin from earlier, one thousand taels."

The shopkeeper looked incredulous. He had already refused her, but she still wanted to ask for a thousand taels. Just as he was about to speak, one of the young ladies who had just arrived interrupted, saying, "You even haggle over the price of a hairpin. Don't tarnish the princess's reputation."

county lord?

The shopkeeper was shocked. No one had told him that this was a princess. Oh no, what should he do if she was convicted of insubordination?

But when he thought of the person behind him, he couldn't help but raise his head. She was just a princess conferred by His Majesty on a whim.

"Princess, this price..." the shopkeeper said hesitantly.

Seeing that Su Fuying had not spoken for a long time, Ji Nanqing assumed that Su Fuying had nothing to say, and immediately pressed her advantage, saying, "Shopkeeper, I offer 1,500 taels. Let me see the hairpin."

Su Fuying smiled slightly. "Two thousand taels."

"Two thousand five hundred taels."

The shopkeeper looked up and met Su Fuying's cunning gaze. They were both smart people, and naturally understood the meaning behind it.

Su Fuying continued, "Three thousand taels."

The shopkeeper pretended to be about to agree, but Ji Nanqing got anxious. She had already bid twice, and Su Fuying had snatched the deal. Wouldn't that be embarrassing for her?

"Three thousand five hundred taels."

"Five thousand."

"What? Su Fuying, do you have that much silver?"

Ji Nanqing exclaimed in disbelief, and Su Wan'er beside her was also astonished. Where did she get the money? Even with His Majesty's reward, apart from the thousand taels of silver, the rest could not be sold. How could she have five thousand taels?

Su Fuying's eyebrows curved into a smile, a hint of amusement always playing on her lips. "What, does a dignified young lady from the Ji family not even have five thousand taels?"

"This Princess Chang Le is so beautiful, even more beautiful than the rumors say."

"Yes, that smile is like a fairy descended from heaven."

"I think she's even more beautiful than the most beautiful woman in the capital."

"Shh, you mustn't say that."

Upon hearing this, everyone around fell silent.

Hearing the surrounding whispers, Ji Nanqing's anger flared even more. "Five thousand five hundred taels."

"What, Miss Ji, are you short of money? You can only add five hundred taels at a time."

“You…” Ji Nanqing was speechless for a moment, not expecting Su Fuying to be so sharp-tongued. She could only grit her teeth and say, “Shopkeeper, I’ll give you seven thousand taels. Wrap up the hairpin for me right away.”

The shopkeeper was somewhat tempted. After all, this hairpin had been sitting here for more than half a year without being sold. Getting seven thousand taels today wouldn't be out of the question.

"Hehe, nine thousand."

Hearing Su Fuying's words and seeing the people around him whispering, he immediately felt that they were all laughing at him. He made up his mind and said, "Ten thousand taels."

The three words slipped out, and he almost bit off his own tongue: 10,000 taels. Even if he sold her, he couldn't come up with 10,000 taels.

She had to beg her mother for a long time before she was allowed to go out today, and her mother finally gave her two thousand taels of silver so that she could outshine Ji Zhiyun at the banquet and also give the Empress a decent gift.

Ji Zhiyun's purchasing money was also with her, because she didn't usually like these things. She always gave the money to Ji Zhiyun so she could go out to buy things and have some extra food.

For such an important banquet, the legitimate daughter would receive 1,000 taels to purchase her attire, while she only had 500 taels, bringing the total to 3,500 taels.

She's still far from ten thousand taels; the seven thousand taels she just mentioned was something she said through gritted teeth. Over the years, she's only managed to save three thousand taels by skimming profits.

Forget it, Su Fuying will definitely raise the price again this time, so she'll just refuse. It's better to be embarrassed than to make her pay so much money.

She wanted to see if Su Fuying could come up with more than ten thousand taels of silver. If she couldn't, she would make her bear the reputation of being untrustworthy today.

After waiting for a long time, the entire room was silent, and Su Fuying, who had been bidding up the price, did not say anything.

The shopkeeper's face was beaming with joy, afraid that she might change her mind, so he immediately replied, "Alright, Miss Ji has offered ten thousand taels, I'll pack the hairpin for you right away."

Su Wan'er tugged at her sleeve and whispered, "Sister, do you have this much silver?"

Ji Nanqing suddenly realized something was wrong, and when she looked up, she met Su Fuying's smiling eyes.

She was playing a trick; she had never intended to buy this hairpin from beginning to end. Thinking of this, her face turned deathly pale.

At this moment, the shopkeeper, with a beaming smile, packed the hairpin into an exquisite sandalwood box and presented it to Ji Nanqing, saying cheerfully, "Miss Ji, this is the hairpin, named Magnolia..."

The shopkeeper repeated the same explanation he had given Su Fuying. Ji Nanqing looked at the hairpin in the box with a somewhat helpless expression. It was made of pure white jade, which was alright, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell that it wasn't worth ten thousand taels of silver.

Su Fuying almost burst out laughing. If this hairpin was worth 10,000 taels, this sandalwood carved box was probably worth 8,000 taels.

Ji Nanqing felt annoyed and angry just looking at the hairpin. She raised her hand, intending to smash it on the ground, but then she thought, if she smashed it, she would have to buy it back.

Thinking of this, he immediately changed his tune, smiling warmly at the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, I didn't bring that much money with me today, you see..."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper's expression immediately changed. He thought to himself, "What another poor bastard? Why is he getting involved if he has no money?"

"Miss, you've already bought it, so what do you mean by saying this now?"

The shopkeeper's voice was quite loud, and everyone around her looked at her. She immediately felt her face burning with embarrassment. Fearing that things would get out of hand, she could only add, "I'll pay half now, and I'll pay you back later."

Half of that, five thousand. She probably only had less than seven thousand taels of silver on her, including the silver notes she had secretly saved. This was going to empty her pockets.

How could such a broken hairpin be worth five thousand taels? I need to figure out how to get out of here first; she's not going to give me the rest anyway.

The shopkeeper was already making a profit, so it wouldn't be bad if he could give her five thousand taels first. Anyway, with the power behind him, she wouldn't dare to run away. He was just about to agree.

"What, Miss Ji, you snatched something from me in front of so many people, and now you don't want it anymore? Are you deliberately playing tricks on the shopkeeper?"

Just as the shopkeeper was about to nod in agreement, this wretched woman interfered again. Ji Nanqing clenched her fists, thinking how utterly despicable she was.

At this moment, Su Wan'er, who was standing to the side, glanced around and said, "Sister, Sister Ji doesn't have that much silver on her, so don't make things difficult for her. Besides, she didn't know that this hairpin could be sold for such a high price. It's not like she doesn't want to pay, she just didn't bring enough. It's not like she's playing tricks on the shopkeeper."

This scheming girl really loves to meddle whenever she gets the chance. Looking at that similar face, Su Fuying felt disgusted.

"If you're not just making fun of the shopkeeper, then you're making fun of me, the princess?"

Seeing that Su Fuying had changed from her previous amiable attitude to a more imposing one, with an aura of authority emanating from her brows, it was clear that Su Fuying was now more assertive and commanding.

How could that be? How could Su Fuying possibly have such an aura?

Su Wan'er was a little nervous for a moment, and felt a little scared when Su Fuying stared at her.