At this moment, the private room with the nameplate of the Black Hawk Family Head was not occupied by the Bai siblings. Instead, there sat a man with extremely enchanting features. Those unique almond-shaped eyes were unforgettable at first sight. Wasn't it none other than Situ Qing! And sitting beside him was Dongfang Yi.
Dongfang Yi was sitting there, munching on nuts and sipping tea. From time to time, she would cast a sidelong glance at Situ Qing beside her. A day had passed. Although Dongfang Yi still hadn't fully grasped the temper of this good-looking man, she knew that for now, she could only rely on him quietly. It was absolutely impossible for her to escape on her own.
She had to pretend to be indifferent and hateful towards Helian Qi to barely keep herself from being killed. After all, on his territory, killing her would be easier than crushing an ant.
Situ Qing watched the woman beside him nibbling on snacks, with her eyes blinking as if in deep thought. He found it quite interesting and couldn't help curling his lips.
Before long, the hubbub in the venue gradually subsided. A woman had stepped onto the round platform on the first floor. She was wearing a white cheongsam embroidered with silver flowers, and a fluffy white shawl was casually draped over her shoulders. Her fox-like eyes scanned the entire hall, and there was an unknown red flower painted between her eyebrows, which made her look even more radiant.
"Thank you all for gracing our Black Hawk Society," the woman said softly. Immediately, thunderous cheers erupted in the hall.
"This elder sister is so beautiful," Dongfang Yi exclaimed from the second floor. She thought that this place really produced beautiful women. Then she turned to look at Situ Qing.
Unexpectedly, Situ Qing was staring at her intently. She didn't know how long he had been looking at her like that.
"She is my right protector, Bai Huan. Half of the men on the first floor come for her," Situ Qing suddenly said, referring to the woman speaking on the round platform on the first floor.
Dongfang Yi listened attentively to what the woman had to say for a while and roughly understood the content of the underground transactions of the Black Hawk Society. It turned out that the Black Hawk Society was not just a simple assassination organization. Their business covered a wide range of fields, including finance, grain and grass, gold and silver, salt fields... and even some imperial business.
And at this underground trading event, the content was not only about offering rewards for assassins. What everyone was looking forward to more was the auction. Many rare medicinal herbs, jade stones, antiques and so on might appear here. But the old rule remained the same: the highest bidder would win.
People on the first floor could simply raise the wooden placards in their hands to participate in the auction when they saw something they liked. People on the second floor only needed to pull the ropes in front of them. Generally, those good items would be won by the people on the second floor. After all, this was a society where the strong preyed on the weak, and in this trading event, money represented everything.
Wu Jian's purpose for coming to this event was actually to bid for a piece of jade. It was said to be a precious jade mined from the barbarian lands. So-called precious jade referred to extremely valuable jade stones.
The Wu family had been in the gold and silver business for many years. The elder Wu master was planning to expand into the jade business. If he could bring this precious jade back home at this time, the misunderstandings of the entire Wu family towards him, Wu Jian, would be cleared up. He, Wu Jian, was not a complete good-for-nothing!
With a gong sound from Bai Huan, the first stage of the auction began.
One rare item after another was taken away in the scramble of the crowd. Although those things looked very exquisite, Dongfang Yi found it more and more boring. After all, she had no desire for them. Moreover, Situ Qing beside her was staring at her intently all the time, and she felt tired just maintaining her sitting posture.
On the other side, Ru Yi, whom Helian Qi had sent out, returned at this moment. He leaned over and whispered what he had found out into Helian Qi's ear.
He heard that the Black Hawk Society's leader, who never showed up usually, was now in this trading venue. And he had searched the entire venue but couldn't find any trace of Dongfang Yi and the mysterious leader.
So the most likely thing was that the Black Hawk Society's leader, who rarely showed up, had abducted Dongfang Yi, and the two of them were probably together now. Then in this entire venue, where would be the most suitable place?
Helian Qi's gaze immediately fell on the private room in the southeast corner with the nameplate of the Black Hawk Society's leader.
If he guessed correctly, they were inside!
As it turned out, Helian Qi's guess was right. Dongfang Yi and Situ Qing were indeed in that private room. Situ Qing was the mysterious Black Hawk Society's leader they were talking about.
Suddenly, a tense atmosphere permeated the air. Even the a bit slow-witted young master Wu Jian could sense something strange.
Dongfang Yi, what on earth has happened to you?
On this side, Dongfang Yi suddenly sneezed. She rubbed her nose and was just about to say something when she suddenly heard Bai Huan downstairs say, "The next item on display is a necklace once worn by the current empress. It is made of the night pearl from the East Sea, which can light up the night like day. It is a rare treasure. The starting price is 30,000 taels of gold!"
The current empress? Dongfang Yi stared in surprise with wide eyes. Didn't that refer to herself? But after she traveled through time, she didn't remember having such a string of beads...
"Look, it's your thing," Situ Qing teased, looking at her as if he was watching something interesting.
But Dongfang Yi didn't remember this string of beads, so she could only force a laugh in response.
Helian Qi was also surprised when he saw this string of beads. He remembered this string of beads. When Dongfang Yi was first crowned empress, the first thing he bestowed on her was this night pearl from the East Sea. He remembered that she seemed to wear it day and night.
It was just that at that time, Helian Qi had no intention of paying attention to her...
"Bid for it," Helian Qi said softly.
"But... but it's 30,000 taels of gold!" Wu Jian replied somewhat awkwardly.
And Ru Yi standing beside him scolded him impatiently, "Just bid when I tell you to. Our young master will give you twice the money."
After hearing this, Wu Jian tremblingly reached out his hand and pulled the rope.
Immediately, there was a thud outside. Then Bai Huan on the first floor shouted, "Young master Wu on the second floor bids once!"
Young master Wu?! Could it be... On the other side, Dongfang Yi seemed to realize something when she suddenly heard a thud outside her room. It turned out that Situ Qing had also reached out and pulled the rope. After that, he turned his head and stared at Dongfang Yi. His smiling face was just like a child waiting for praise after doing a good deed.
Situ Qing squinted his eyes and said with a smile, "How about I help you get back your own bead string?"
Dongfang Yi turned to look at Situ Qing, forced a laugh and waved her hand, saying, "No, no. How could I let you spend so much money on such a precious thing?"