The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Your Highness, the gold is all packed in boxes and will be brought over immediately. As for the Ice String Zither, it is kept with the gold!"
Before the shopkeeper could finish speaking, several young men carried over several large boxes, placed them on the ground, and opened them. Inside, the boxes were filled with glittering gold, dazzling the eyes. The locals, who rarely saw gold, couldn't help but exclaim repeatedly, "So much gold!"
"Excellent, excellent!" Nangong Xiao glanced at the gold and the guqin and exclaimed repeatedly, "The Crown Prince of Qin from the Southern Frontier is quite sincere in offering the Ice String Guqin and ten thousand taels of gold as betrothal gifts..."
Su Yuting's face instantly turned even paler!
Nangong Xiao seemed not to see it, and sighed to himself: "However, gold and guqin have prices. Marrying an ordinary woman as a concubine is a loss, marrying an ordinary official's wife as a concubine is just right, and marrying Miss Su as a concubine is a gain."
Nangong Xiao shook his head slightly, his eyes filled with regret and helplessness as he looked at Su Yuting: "If it were Crown Prince Hong, he would definitely marry Miss Su with ten times the dowry. Crown Prince Qin's dowry is a bit too light..."
Su Yuting's lips moved, but she didn't say anything. Was Nangong Xiao mocking her for giving up the position of Crown Princess of Qingyan to become a concubine of the Crown Prince of Nanjiang, thus degrading herself and humiliating herself?
Nangong Xiao's words resonated with many people. The glittering gold was dazzling. The people looked at Su Yuting with a mixture of envy and pity. Marrying into the Southern Frontier meant leaving one's hometown and becoming a concubine of the Crown Prince. It was nothing compared to marrying into the capital of Qingyan and becoming the principal wife, with one's family nearby and mutual support.
"The music competition is over, everyone can disperse!" The Crown Prince and Su Yuting both looked displeased. The shopkeeper, understanding the situation, ordered his men to disperse the crowd, quickly found a carriage, loaded all the gold onto it, and said with a smile, "Miss Su, all this gold will be delivered to your esteemed residence!"
"Thank you for your kindness, shopkeeper. Please leave the gold at the music shop for now." Su Yuting forced a smile. "I'll come back for the gold when I have time!"
"Your Highness, I am feeling unwell and must take my leave!" Su Yuting's eyes were red-rimmed as she gently wiped away her tears with a silk handkerchief. She curtsied to the Crown Prince and Nangong Xiao, then turned and walked toward the carriage of the Duke of Wen's residence. Her steps were unsteady, and her slender figure swayed precariously, as if she might fall at any moment.
"Your Highness, aren't you going to comfort her?" Nangong Xiao snapped his folding fan shut, the handle lightly tapping his left palm, his eyes full of mockery.
"No need!" Dongfang Hong frowned and answered coldly, without even glancing at Su Yuting. He lightly touched the ground with his feet, and his slender figure floated into the air and entered the private room.
Nangong Xiao raised an eyebrow: "Dongfang Hong really ignores Su Yuting now. Such a great beauty, what a waste for the Crown Prince of Southern Xinjiang!"
"Su Yuting won't let this go easily!" Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow. Her carefully laid trap had been turned on her, and Su Yuting was furious. The Crown Prince of Southern Xinjiang would probably be enraged as well. If these two met, there would definitely be a tough battle...
"With everyone watching and a hefty betrothal gift, Su Yuting has been sealed as the concubine of the Crown Prince of Southern Xinjiang. She can't deny it!" Nangong Xiao looked around. Apart from himself, Shen Lixue, and Qiu He, there was no one else nearby. "Where is Qin Ruoyan?"
Shen Lixue glanced at Nangong Xiao, her eyebrows furrowing slightly: "You went back to inform Crown Prince Qin a long time ago. You didn't just realize she was missing now, did you?"
"There were so many people and I was so busy that I didn't notice!"
The sunlight was blinding, making people dizzy. Nangong Xiao looked around at the empty surroundings, his charming eyes flashing: "Chen Lixue, you haven't eaten or drunk anything since the competition started, and you've been playing the zither for so long. You must be hungry. I'll invite you to Zuixianlou for a meal as a way of congratulating you on defeating that shameless villain and achieving a resounding victory!"
A white figure, like a startled rainbow, traced a graceful arc in mid-air before gently landing between Shen Lixue and Nangong Xiao.
"Dongfang Heng, what are you doing here?" Nangong Xiao was taken aback when he saw the handsome man's face. He then sighed. With the number one handsome man of Qingyan here, very few people would notice him, the second most handsome man. He couldn't make an appointment with the beauty again.
Dongfang Heng ignored Nangong Xiao's question, his obsidian-like eyes fixed on Shen Lixue: "Don't take such risks again!" When he learned the contents of the mysterious surprise and saw that Shen Lixue was about to finish playing the zither, he, who was usually calm, actually had the urge to tear the Southern Border Crown Prince to pieces.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" A strange light flashed in Shen Lixue's beautiful eyes: Su Yuting is cunning and won't admit defeat easily. She will definitely find a suitable opportunity to retaliate!
"Has anyone been found out who the mastermind behind the Jiaowei Qin Workshop is?"
"It's the Duke of Wen's mansion!" When Zi Mo discovered the contents of the mysterious surprise, he also found out the mastermind behind the zither shop.
"So this is Su Yuting's family business." Nangong Xiao looked at the solemn Jiaowei Qin Workshop and exclaimed in amazement, "This qin workshop has been around for nearly a hundred years and has always had a very good reputation. I didn't expect the Duke of Wen's mansion to have such a rich heritage!"
Shen Lixue's gaze sharpened. This was actually a shop under the name of the Duke of Wen's mansion. No wonder Su Yuting was able to easily tamper with the prizes and judges.
"This scheme was set up by Su Yuting and the Crown Prince of Southern Xinjiang. As long as the Crown Prince of Southern Xinjiang agrees, Su Yuting won't have to marry into Southern Xinjiang!" Nangong Xiao said casually, fanning himself. "With Su Yuting's intelligence, persuading the Crown Prince of Southern Xinjiang shouldn't be difficult. Shen Lixue, you'd better be careful. Su Yuting won't let this go easily after suffering a loss."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Shen Lixue smiled slightly, her clear, cold eyes narrowing into crescent moons. She had a pretty good idea of what Su Yuting was going to do next.
At the post station, Prince Qin Junhao of Southern Xinjiang lay on the bed, his body wrapped in layers of white cloth, thick like a rice dumpling. The only thing exposed was his face, which was terrifyingly gloomy: "Miss Su, didn't you say that the plan was foolproof and guaranteed to make Shen Lixue my concubine?"
"Your Highness, it's because Shen Lixue is too cunning..." Having been outmaneuvered, Su Yuting was in a bad mood. She came to the post station to discuss with Qin Junhao the next step in dealing with Shen Lixue, but she never expected that he would be so unreasonable and blame her entirely for the failure.
"A loss is a loss, don't make so many excuses!" Qin Junhao interrupted Su Yuting impatiently. In his eyes, there was only success and failure, not so many annoying reasons.
"Your Highness, you're lying here without contributing a single bit of effort. I was the one who orchestrated the whole thing. Even if we failed, you have no right to blame me!" Qin Junhao's attitude was very bad, and Su Yuting's suppressed anger finally burst into flames.
“Miss Su, I paid ten thousand taels of gold and a guqin; I did not do nothing!” Putting aside the gold, the guqin was a treasure of the Southern Frontier.
"The guqin and gold are both at Jiaowei Qin Workshop, already loaded onto the carts, and will be delivered to His Highness immediately!" Her dignified Wenguo Duke's Mansion doesn't need his little bit of gold!
"I sent the betrothal gifts to marry this beauty, how could I possibly take them back?" Qin Junhao looked at Su Yuting and said arrogantly, "I will give you two choices: one is to find a way to make Shen Lixue my concubine, and the other is for you to take Shen Lixue's place and become my concubine!"
Su Yuting stared coldly at Qin Junhao, a hidden anger burning deep in her eyes: "Crown Prince Qin, we are allies in cooperation, how can we kill each other!" She suddenly felt that cooperating with Qin Junhao was not mutually beneficial, but rather like seeking help from a tiger!
Qin Junhao shook his head and said casually, "Miss Su, you are mistaken. If you marry me, you will become my concubine, and our cooperation will be further strengthened. It's not about killing each other!"
"In order to lure Shen Lixue into the trap, my family's Jiaowei Qin Workshop was exposed. His Highness the Crown Prince just lay here watching the battle, without contributing any money or effort. Even if he wants to enjoy the fruits of his labor, there should be limits. Don't push your luck!" Su Yuting said through gritted teeth, enunciating each word clearly.
Unknown shops have little credibility. Only century-old shops like Jiaowei Qinfang, with their profound heritage and stellar reputation, can produce ten thousand taels of gold and ice-stringed guqin without arousing suspicion.
It can be said that she invested heavily in luring Shen Lixue into her trap. Failure was the last thing she wanted to see. What's even more infuriating is that after giving her all, Shen Lixue turned the tables on her and then bit her own ally, who not only shifted all the blame onto her but also made her pay with her own body.
Qin Junhao scoffed: "Your family's music workshop is right in Qingyan Capital, so it doesn't matter whether it's exposed or not!"
“One is in the open, the other is in the shadows, how could they be the same!” Su Yuting came to the inn to talk to Qin Junhao in a calm and peaceful manner, but she did not expect him to be so arrogant, domineering and unreasonable. She even regretted cooperating with him.
"I have no time for idle chatter. I'll say it again, Su Yuting, either make Shen Lixue my concubine, or you become her!" Qin Junhao said impatiently, issuing his final ultimatum: "I'll give you three days. If I don't see Shen Lixue within three days, your Wenguo Duke's Mansion can expect to receive your betrothal gifts!"
"You!" Su Yuting glared at Qin Junhao, her beautiful eyes almost spitting fire with anger. If it weren't for Qin Ruoyan being there, she would have rushed forward and strangled him.
"Farewell!" Qin Junhao was being unreasonable, and Su Yuting would only be asking for trouble if she stayed. She flicked her sleeves, turned around, and strode out without looking back.
Su Yuting was always calm. No matter how powerful the opponent or how complicated the situation, she could face it calmly and deal with it with ease. But Qin Junhao was an unreasonable and arrogant bandit with a heart as venomous as a scorpion. She had a lot of reasoning to offer, but she couldn't reason with him.
This kind of person is self-centered and doesn't consider other people's feelings at all. They are willing to sacrifice anyone for their own benefit, and she should never marry such a person.
Watching Su Yuting's departing figure, Qin Junhao called out loudly, "Miss Su, remember this: you only have three days!"
Watching Su Yuting's body stiffen instantly, Qin Junhao was in a great mood. A cruel smile appeared on his lips. He loved tormenting people, especially beautiful women. He felt a great sense of accomplishment when he saw pain and sorrow on their beautiful faces!