Chapter 107: Room 102 Mystery, Part 2

Located near the Xingyuan in Tan Yang, Mingxin Square is the venue leased by the Yao Yuan Book Club for a five-day exchange gathering.

During these five days, young men and women, both from inside and outside the city, gather here to exchange old books, ancient texts, and miscellaneous items.

Such gatherings also attract many booksellers, collectors, and young men and women who wish to climb the social ladder.

With layers of relationships, connections, social interactions, and the influence of money, many handsome men and beautiful women, who normally wouldn’t qualify to attend, find their way to this exchange.

Similarly, the beauty of these scenes attracts an even larger circle of idle rich youth.

The increase in numbers has further amplified the scale of this exchange.

Thus, the influence of the Yao Yuan Book Club has expanded in leaps and bounds.

“In Great Spirit, from top to bottom, everyone loves gatherings of all sorts.

Banquets, tea parties, dance parties, music parties, moving house parties, farewell parties, sunny day parties; a gathering before study tours, another one after…. And then there are birthday parties, apology parties, drama parties, harvest parties….”

At the edge of Mingxin Square, in rows of long rectangular mansions.

Sun Chaoyue was leading people to inspect the preparations of the servants for the exchange gathering.

Drinks and food, reception staff, guard patrols, external liaisons, none of these could afford any mistake or omission.

It’s important to know that with so many people gathered here, many of whom come from affluent families.

The power they wield together is something even Sun Chaoyue doesn’t dare to underestimate or neglect.

At this moment, she wore a water-blue one-piece dress, sleeveless, exposing her pale arms like lotus roots, with her legs showing a small part of her thighs.

A red silk and gold-thread belt encircled her waist, accentuating its slender lightness.

Her long hair reached her waist, with only a purple jade forehead ornament on her forehead.

As she moved, the colorful beads dangling from her skirt reflected the sunlight, striking and eye-catching.

At this moment, she was patrolling while speaking with a handsome young man beside her.

The young man wore a white robe, with black jade at his waist, and the cuffs embroidered with black and white Taiji yin-yang fish.

His face was handsome, eyes clear, and his skin was even fairer and smoother than a lady’s.

This person’s name was Zhong Yuran, the son of the Palace Master of Merak Palace of the Zhenyi Sect, and at twenty-four years old, he’s already reached the Fourth Grade. In the entire Tan Yang City, he is slightly inferior only to Sun Chaoyue.

“As they say, as above, so below; the Spirit Court loves gatherings, so naturally we follow suit, why suddenly bring this up, Chao Yue?”

“It’s just… these past few days, within five days I’ve had to attend six gatherings, truly a bit exhausting,” Sun Chaoyue frowned slightly. “I don’t want to go but have no choice.”

“In life, one is always tangled in these trivial and tiresome matters. Even esteemed figures like the provincial governor and my master cannot escape such customs,” Zhong Yuran nodded.

“Since you’re tired, after the gathering, I’ll accompany you to the city for some relaxation, how about that?” he said gently.

“Forget it. I can’t delay your current cultivation,” Sun Chaoyue gently shook her head.

The two walked to a corner where several people were sorting volumes of books.

Each name was being recorded, representing the participants of this gathering.

“Place the genuine participants on one side, the invitees on another side. The external ones should be separately listed,”

A man who seemed to be a supervisor directed several others to work.

Seeing Sun Chaoyue approach with Zhong Yuran, the man stepped forward and bowed.

“Sun Li greets the young lady,”

“How’s it going?” Sun Chaoyue asked casually.

“Everything is arranged, just reconfirming the participant details and backgrounds. The seating order cannot be wrong,” Sun Li answered respectfully.

The reflection of social status must be observed even in this exchange gathering.

Otherwise, the weak being given honored positions would be uneasy.

The strong being given lower positions would feel dissatisfied.

That could lead to offending others.

“Let me see the list,” Sun Chaoyue reached out and took the list, scanning it from top to bottom.

“Xie Zhanfei’s position is too low; three days ago, he officially received an admission letter from Ningde Academy. Move him up three seats.”

“Yes.”

“Xun Nuo’s position is too high; this person merely relies on the Xu family’s power to bluff. Move him down five seats.”

“Lin Qixiao…? Move her down three seats; she is already incapacitated, even if healed later, she can’t practice martial arts. Besides, her character is poor, and I don’t like her,” Sun Chaoyue mused.

“…In that case, regarding the Lin family of Merak Palace…” Sun Li whispered for instructions.

“Anyone with an issue can come and see me,” Sun Chaoyue said indifferently.

“Yes.”

Sun Chaoyue continued to tweak the positions of the attendees one by one.

Not long after, she spotted a name of interest.

“Zhang Ying…” Remembering Li Huoyun’s bottle of Divine Enchantment Fragrance, she pursed her lips, “Adjust him to the position closest to the book club ladies.”

“I’ve heard my uncle mention Zhang Ying before; during the Chasing Moon Saber incident, he was the key person who retrieved the saber. He is both brave and wise, likely already promoted,” Zhong Yuran commented with a hint of appreciation in his eyes.

“Then move him up two positions,” Sun Chaoyue nodded.

She didn’t care much about Zhong Yuran’s assessment.

Zhang Ying, a mere Third Grade officer, no matter how brave and wise, couldn’t have been involved in a life-and-death battle involving Ninth Grade fugitives and Eighth Grade envoys. For a Third Grade officer to meddle in such matters is clearly problematic.

It’s obvious that anyone with clear eyes can see this is the Li family nurturing their subordinate.

Without the Li family’s effort dividing the credit with him, there’s no way he could have been promoted again so quickly.

Of course, she was too weary to share these thoughts with her friend. She knew Zhong Yuran’s nature; when disagreements arise, he tends to argue stubbornly.

Such debates are truly exhausting.

“Next, Han Yuchun, move up two positions. Huo Liang, move down ten positions; this man is a habitual bragger….”

Each name had their seating decided by her, while Zhong Yuran occasionally chimed in with a comment or two.

On the other side.

Zhang Rongfang and Li Huoyun’s carriage finally arrived at the entrance of Mingxin Square.

After handing invitation cards to the gate guards, the two disembarked from the carriage and stepped into the venue.

In the venue, rows upon rows of tables and chairs were neatly arranged, with some already occupied.

Various books of differing heights were piled up on the tables, with people sitting behind them, waiting for exchanges.

It was like the formal old book markets in Zhang Rongfang’s previous life.

“Let’s go, we need to go inside first. There’s an auction,” Li Huoyun led him inside.

Weaving through rows of tables and stalls, they entered a larger open-air courtyard.

The difference here is that the tables and chairs are much larger than those outside.

Seated were numerous maid servants.

And at the back, in each small wooden house, were the real protagonists.

The protagonists rested in individual rooms, separated by beaded curtains, with servants outside assisting in transactions.

Li Huoyun led Zhang Rongfang to his seat.

“Brother Zhang, I’ll head to my seat now. Take it easy, don’t really come here just to buy books,” he hinted.

“Go on, go on, got it.” Zhang Rongfang was at a loss for words.

Once seated, he glanced around. To his left was a young woman in a dark green long dress, beautiful in appearance, slowly practicing calligraphy with a brush in hand.

To his right was a tall man with a jade-like complexion, dressed in blue, with long hair tied up with a Ruyi jade hairpin. He was carefully sorting through a stack of old books he had brought.

Now it seemed this place was divided into inner and outer areas.

The outer area was of a lower grade, while the inner area was for young men and women of higher status.

Those with a higher status had their own private rooms.

Those of lower status sold books in front of their seats.

There were, of course, those who preferred to be present themselves, and those who did not wish to be exposed.

Before long, a gong sounded.

A group emerged from the corner, each holding a silver tray with various items on it.

Sun Chaoyue walked out last, alongside a tall and handsome man, taking the first two seats on the left.

“We shall now begin the first auction in the inner area.”

As Zhang Rongfang waited somewhat boredly.

A woman in a green dress stepped forward.

“The first book up for auction today, ’Records of Landscape Painting’ by Wang Yuanzhi, contains his insights and records on painting practices. The starting bid is one hundred silver coins. Each raise must be no less than ten coins.”

Hearing this, Zhang Rongfang lost interest.

The things these young men and women liked just didn’t interest him.

But since he was already there, it wasn’t polite to immediately get up and leave.

Sitting in his seat, he scanned the inner area with his eyes. He recognized several familiar faces.

Among them was Lin Qixiao, Captain Lin, whom he had previously thwarted.

Her face was now gloomy and indifferent, as if the world owed her silver coins.

He also spotted several young faces he had seen in Mingjing Palace, all children of high-ranking families.

Soon, bids rose one after another, and old books were sold off rapidly.

The prices ranged from hundreds to thousands of silver coins.

Zhang Rongfang marveled at the sight, truly this was the largest exchange meeting in Tan Yang City.

It was indeed an affair of wealthy individuals.

He felt the silver notes in his pocket, realizing his funds might not suffice for any purchases he wished to make.

He had brought all his available funds this time, totaling two hundred and fifty silver coins.

As he worried, the girl in the green dress quickly changed to another batch of trays, picking up an item from one of them.

“Next, we have the section of extraordinary items.”

She raised what she was holding, a bronze-colored metal component, its origin unknown.

About palm-sized, its surface resembled a Rubik’s cube with assembly grooves.

“This piece, from Xiao Xiang, is consigned by Young Master Tong. It’s a broken part of an external cult god statue. The starting price is one hundred silver coins, and each increase must be no less than ten coins.”

Zhang Rongfang’s eyes narrowed; he hadn’t expected to find something similar here that he had just acquired at an outside store.

He closed and reopened his eyes, activating the attributes panel.

From afar, the item displayed new information.

’Unknown god statue component, weight unknown.’

’Intuitive Warning: There seems to be a hidden secret within, requiring the assembly of all components for further exploration.’

Before Zhang Rongfang could take a closer look, bidding began quickly.

Only three individuals seemed interested in the item, and it was quickly sold.

Zhang Rongfang hesitated but remained silent.

This item clearly wasn’t a part of the one he previously obtained.

Next, some antique vases, carved jade stones, and other items were brought up.

Those previous components appeared two more times, as different parts.

This stirred a bit of curiosity within Zhang Rongfang.

These component parts seemed numerous; though precious, they didn’t seem to be uncommon.

He kept his attributes panel open, watching the auctioned items carefully.

Until the twelfth item was brought out and held up high.

“The next item is a fragment of a Taoist sect’s god statue, found recently in an underground tomb, damaged.”

These parts are known for their extremely hard material, making them nearly indestructible, and are highly collectible.”

“Starting price, two hundred silver coins, with each raise no less than ten coins.”

This item was a god statue sculpture missing its head and half its body.

Due to its larger size, it had a higher starting price.

Zhang Rongfang initially thought it was similar to the previous items.

But as he laid eyes on this, his expression changed.

The attributes panel gave a completely different prompt than before.

’Unknown Taoist god statue, parameters unknown.’

’Intuitive Warning: This item seems to match a previously collected component… perhaps it could be assembled.’

“It’s here!!” Zhang Rongfang’s heart was filled with anticipation.

Yet a question crossed his mind.

Previously, a secret component hidden within the Chasing Moon Saber had caused the Spirit Court to relentlessly pursue it.

But here, these similar components could be openly auctioned without issue.

What exactly differentiated these components from each other?

“Two hundred and ten!” Without hesitation, he blurted out, raising the auction paddle on the table to signal his bid.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep