Before the head steward could react, Stone had already stepped onto the stage. Instantly, everyone's gaze shifted from the auctioneer to Stone.
"Who was it that just auctioned off my prized possession, the Blessing of the Elf Queen?" Stone was obviously asking a question she already knew the answer to, but the eldest prince, who was already eager to participate, jumped up immediately after she asked him that question.
"I!"
Stone suppressed a laugh, avoiding looking at the fourth prince, whose face was contorted in pain, standing next to the eldest prince: "Could you please come forward and cooperate?"
Without saying a word, the eldest prince strode onto the stage: "You must be the second young lady of the Huo family? Although you are not as beautiful as the eldest young lady of the Huo family, you are quite capable."
Shi Tou admitted that she was indeed not as good-looking as Huo Xiaoxiao. After all, it's normal for a pure-blooded Asian girl to not be as attractive or have a better figure than a mixed-race person. However, her own admission did not mean she would allow others to say the same.
Hehe, Your Highness, we originally just wanted you to have a simple live experience, but now...
Hopefully, this blissful night won't leave you with lifelong psychological trauma.
-----
It's time for the second watch!
The pan-fried buns are freezing! I'm going to bed. ╭(╯3╰)╮
...
☆, Chapter 154 Do You Have Any Suitors?
“Your Highness, this Heart of the Ocean in my hand has a special function. Today, in order to demonstrate this special function, I will invite Your Highness to cooperate.” Stone looked at the prince with a smile, but no one noticed the cunning glint in her eyes.
"No problem!" the eldest prince readily agreed. "Miss Huo, how would you like me to cooperate with you?"
Stone smiled slightly: "Your Highness, you only need to stand on the platform; you don't need to do anything."
Without saying a word, the eldest prince walked onto the stage, and even pushed the auctioneer off the stage when he saw the auctioneer standing in the center: "Is this alright?"
Looking at the overly honest and simple-minded eldest prince, Stone felt a little embarrassed. But judging from his expression, he probably wouldn't hold it against her later, right? Somewhat hesitant, Stone held the Heart of the Ocean and began to think about how to explain herself. To be honest, she had originally planned to have a member of the Huo family's collateral branch act as the experimenter, but when she saw the eldest prince, she suddenly felt playful.
"Miss Huo, could you teach me how to do this? I'd like to take your place and work with my elder brother." Just as Shi Tou was hesitating, the Fourth Prince suddenly stood up.
Stone looked at the Fourth Prince in surprise, not because the Fourth Prince had suddenly solved Stone's problem, but because of the Fourth Prince's voice...
Damn it, why do you, a guy, have such a nice voice?
Actually, the Fourth Prince's voice didn't sound feminine; it was more androgynous yet remarkably magnetic. Stone thought that in his previous life, such a voice would be unmatched even by top-tier radio anchors.
“Sure.” Since someone was willing to take on this hot potato, Stone naturally wouldn’t refuse. Handing the Heart of the Ocean to the Fourth Prince, Stone briefly explained how to use it: “…Remember, launch it towards the stage. Don’t worry, the First Prince will be absolutely safe.”
The fourth prince raised an eyebrow, to be honest. He was only curious about the Heart of the Ocean in Stone's hand; he wasn't worried about his eldest brother getting into trouble! Looking at the little girl in front of him, who was only about ten years old, he realized that she probably didn't know that his eldest brother was already a seven-star mage, and the most resilient earth mage at that.
"ah!"
Amidst the gasps of the audience, a freshly made, drenched chicken was presented to everyone.
That's right, the Heart of the Ocean, as the name suggests. This bead represents the ocean. Actually, to put it bluntly, the technology involved is quite limited. The stone simply seals a large number of crystals into the bead using a special method; however, when the bead is subjected to external force, a large amount of crystals will gush out in the form of liquid water.
If intervention is provided, an extremely beautiful fountain scene may even occur.
However, Stone would never tell anyone that the idea originally came from a flush toilet...
“A very nice collectible.” The Fourth Prince’s voice rang in Stone’s ears.
Stone was taken aback by the Fourth Prince's close proximity.
"Hehe..." Perhaps the Fourth Prince was amused by Stone's frightened appearance, because he suddenly chuckled softly. Since the two were very close, the Fourth Prince's breath went directly into Stone's ear.
Stone awkwardly took a few steps to the side. After thinking for a moment, she simply apologized loudly to the eldest prince, who was still standing on the platform in a daze: "Your Highness, I'm sorry to have startled you."
"Huh?" The eldest prince finally realized what was happening and rushed down from the stage: "Miss Huo the Second!"
Stone instinctively took several steps back, forgetting that the Fourth Prince was standing behind her. In doing so, she ended up in his arms.
"Uh, I'm sorry," Shi Tou quickly apologized. With memories of her past life, she didn't mind being close to people like this, and since her current body was only ten years old, it didn't matter. The key issue was that the Fourth Prince was just too handsome; Shi Tou felt she was taking advantage of him.
"Miss Huo, do you still have the Heart of the Ocean? I'll take it all!" Before the Fourth Prince could speak, the Eldest Prince grabbed Shi Tou's hand: "Miss Huo, if I may ask again, you don't have any suitors yet, do you?"
puff!
Stone was about to explain that the Heart of the Ocean would be auctioned off soon, but the words caught in her throat when the eldest prince startled her. "Damn it, why did you ask such a suggestive question?"
"Yes!" Stone abruptly pulled his hand away from the eldest prince's. Although a handshake is a fairly common form of etiquette in this world, the way the eldest prince looked on his face made it all the more...
This is outrageous!
"What? What did you say?" The eldest prince had been waiting for Shi Tou to say "no" before he would act as matchmaker for her. He hadn't expected such a response: "How could that be? How old are you? I don't think Miss Huo has any suitors."
How is she supposed to answer that?
Stone looked up at the sky and said hesitantly, "Then...then maybe it's because no one wants my sister?"
This answer completely shocked everyone.
"Uh." The eldest prince was clearly taken aback by the answer and was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses: "Miss Huo, who is your suitor?"
Stone looked up at the sky again. Did she really have to answer? Seeing the eldest prince's expectant expression, Stone hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth: "Lin An..." After thinking for a moment, she added: "He is not my suitor, he is my fiancé."
While the eldest prince was still pondering who Lin An was, he was choked by Shi Tou's last words: "Fiancé?!"
The fourth prince was also surprised, but he felt that whether the young girl had suitors or a fiancé was none of his business. To prevent his older brother from further embarrassing the royal family, the fourth prince stepped over the stone and grabbed his brother: "Brother, now that the demonstration of the Heart of the Ocean is complete, shouldn't we sit down and wait for the auction?"
Before the eldest prince could say anything more, the fourth prince pushed him back into his seat and turned to look at the stone: "Miss Huo, will there be an auction for the Heart of the Ocean later?"
Stone nodded quickly: "Of course, I have prepared a full ten Hearts of the Ocean."
"Alright, we'll have to delay the auction. Please start as soon as possible."
Stone nodded eagerly. What a joke! She wanted the auction to start as soon as possible, better than anyone else! Forget about making money; just getting away from that silly prince was enough to make Stone happy.
However, on the other hand, when the auction is over, she must ask her old man Huo why he has never mentioned anything about the royal family to her.
Back in the backstage dressing room, Stone rested his chin on his hand and began to ponder a problem. Manager Hua stood by, motionless like a statue.
"Wushuang, what do you think that eldest prince means by this?" After thinking for a long time, Shitou felt that her intelligence wasn't quite up to par in this situation. In her past life, countless novels she had read depicted the darkness, treachery, cunning, and ruthlessness of royalty. Seriously, she had never seen such a clueless eldest prince before!
“Beautiful mistress, you may not know this, but the eldest prince’s position is extremely awkward. To be precise, he is the rightful heir to the Fallen Empire, but because his father died early, he lost his right to the throne. Although his uncle, the current king, treats him very well, he is not his biological father after all.”
Stone looked at Steward Hua in surprise: "You mean he's faking it?" If that's the case, then the eldest prince's acting skills are top-notch.
“Beautiful master, I’m afraid you haven’t fully understood what I mean.” Steward Hua still had a zombie-like face: “What I mean is that the eldest prince’s status is special. Even if His Majesty the King treats him well, he can’t possibly treat him as his own son. He lost his father when he was still in his mother’s womb and lost his mother shortly after he was born. He was raised by the Queen, but the Queen has two biological sons.”
If Shi Tou still didn't understand after all this, then she would truly be a fool: "You mean, the King and Queen deliberately raised the eldest prince to be this simple-minded? Okay, even if that's the case, then what did he mean by what he just said? If I didn't have any suitors, what was he planning to do?"
The head steward calmly told Stone, "Beautiful master, the eldest prince is 28 years old this year. He married his current wife eight years ago, and it is said that their relationship is very good. The second prince passed away when he was young, and although the third prince is in poor health, he also married his current wife two years ago. Therefore, in my deduction, the eldest prince wants to act as a matchmaker for the fourth prince."
puff!
That fourth prince, as handsome as a fairy? Seriously, even if she never marries, she would never marry someone like that! Looking at that devilishly beautiful face every day, she'd be so insecure she'd scratch herself to death!
"However, you can rest assured that the Fourth Prince's marriage is not up to the First Prince. Moreover, even if you didn't have a fiancé now, given your status as Miss Huo, it would be impossible for you to marry the Fourth Prince." Steward Hua directly reassured Shi Tou, although this reassurance made Shi Tou roll her eyes.
"Are you saying I'm not good enough?" Although it was true, Stone still felt very uncomfortable when someone said it out loud.
Steward Hua's expression remained unchanged: "It's not that you're unworthy, but royal princes have always only married the eldest daughters of noble families. You are the second daughter of the Huo family, so you've already lost the opportunity."
Chapter 155 Do You Like the Eldest Prince?
That evening, at the Huo family's ancestral home.
This is Grandpa Huo's room. Normally, Shi Tou and Huo Xiaoxiao never come here. This shows that although the Huo family and other Eastern families try their best to maintain the traditions of the ancient Eastern clans, there are some aspects that cannot be restored to the past.
For example, paying respects to the emperor in the morning and evening.
Of course, for Shi Tou, being forced to perform morning and evening greetings would be absolutely suicidal. You see, in her life, eating comes first, sleeping second. Getting up early in the morning is nothing short of torture for Shi Tou.
"Hey Xiaoyi, can you explain to me what it means that I'm not popular with anyone?"
Shi Tou had just sat down and taken a sip of tea when he heard Huo Xiaoxiao's accusatory voice through gritted teeth, which immediately sent a chill down his spine.
Damn it! She'd completely forgotten that she'd apparently badmouthed Huo Xiaoxiao at the auction. But that wasn't the worst part; what was worse was that she'd forgotten Huo Xiaoxiao was also at the auction.
Um, is it possible to turn back time? Seems unlikely. But what if we lose our memory?
Before Shi Tou could even begin to feign amnesia, Grandpa Huo stopped Huo Xiaoxiao, saying, "Xiaoxiao, stop bullying your sister all the time." He then turned to Shi Tou and said gently, "Xiaoyi, come to Grandpa."
Looking up at the sky, I've heard the story of the Big Bad Wolf since I was little, but I don't think there's a story about the Big Bad Wolf, right? Dear Grandpa Huo, why is your expression so creepy?
Stone slowly moved to Grandpa Huo's side, grinned at him, and said, "Grandpa."
"Hey, good boy. Tell Grandpa, how did today's auction go?" Grandpa Huo was the epitome of a kind and benevolent elder, looking at Shi Tou with the same eyes he would give his first love.
Is this a scam to cheat us out of our money?
Stone hesitated for a moment, then said, "It should be good, right? Wushuang will tell me today's final profit tomorrow." We need to make it clear beforehand. We're still young; we won't handle the accounts.
To Stone's surprise, Grandpa Huo didn't continue questioning her about her income. Instead, he changed the subject: "Xiao Yi, how do you feel about your Ironforge now? Can you manage it all by yourself?"
Oh, I see. So you're planning to take over the whole thing?
"Ironforge's not bad, is it? But I don't get involved; Wushuang's got the job!" Stone chuckled innocently. "I may be useless, but Wushuang is incredibly capable!"
"Your steward?" Grandpa Huo was of course aware that Hua Wushuang had signed a master-servant contract with Shi Tou. After thinking for a moment, he changed the subject: "Hmm. In that case, you're quite fortunate. By the way, Xiao Yi, what do you think of the eldest prince?"
Stone was completely bewildered. "Damn it, Old Man Huo, just say what you want to say! What's with all this beating around the bush?!"
"The eldest prince is rich! And generous!" How could she possibly say that? Should she admit that the eldest prince was just a fat sheep in her eyes?
Grandpa Huo nodded: "Yes. The eldest prince is quite good, very much like his father."
What?! So, the former king was an idiot too?!
"Grandpa, is the eldest prince going to be the future king?" Ever since she heard some royal gossip from Hua Wushuang, Shi Tou had become curious about royalty. Hehe, after all, he was the first living human prince she had ever seen in her two lifetimes.
Grandpa Huo would have either shaken his head or given an ambiguous answer to the question, but to everyone's surprise, he nodded without hesitation.
Stone stared wide-eyed at Grandpa Huo in disbelief: "The eldest prince will really inherit the throne?"