Chapter 57: Is Miss Ling a Useless Person?

  Ling Wushuang knocked down the gate of the Bao Fu Treasury with one hand, emptied half a lifetime of Li Tianyi's savings, and filled all the storage rooms of the Ling family. This news spread like wildfire throughout Donglin. According to legend, the cleanliness was so thorough that even the black mineral stones on the ground were dug up, making it cleaner than when bandits raided a village. Li Tianyi, the renowned Sword Saint, was so enraged that he took to his bed for half a month without getting up.

  Everyone couldn't help but give a thumbs up, it's really awesome. This Ling Wusong is indeed capable of doing anything, snatching food from the tiger's mouth, it's really too daring!

  "Miss, what exactly are you looking for?"

  East of the street, Ling Chuan followed behind Ling Wu Shuang, turning around, Ling Wu Shuang brought several young masters of the Ling family, these days, almost all the ore shops were strolled through, as if searching for something.

  "Strolling around" Ling Wu Shuang raised her eyes and glanced at a jade stone shop, took a step forward and walked in, saying casually: "This shop is not bad."

  A large, crimson-lacquered gate towered high, the shop was spacious and bright. Several dozen black wooden shelves, over a zhang high, stood in neat rows, laden with all sorts of glittering crystals and precious gems, their prices clearly marked.

  Many rare and precious stones were indeed found from Li Tianyi, but she didn't find what she wanted the most. She could only wander around and try her luck.

  "Welcome to our humble shop, miss!" The shopkeeper, seeing a potential customer, beamed with joy and hastily approached her, introducing himself with great enthusiasm: "I don't know what you're looking for, young lady, but our store is the best in all of Donglin. We have all sorts of precious stones, gems, and crystals - everything you could possibly want!"

  That fellow is a personal treasure, seeing Ling Wusuo although dressed simply, but the temperament is extraordinary, not a prince or noble, it's a young lady from a wealthy family, and she's just 15 or 16 years old, doesn't know the value of things, generous with money and likes to buy expensive things, best to deceive, he has done such things many times before, naturally won't let go of such an opportunity.

  "Look at this, the chicken blood gemstone, inlaid on the sword hilt, couldn't be more suitable. And this crystal, look at its quality..." The fellow pointed to the surrounding stone racks and started introducing them with a flurry of words.

  The little girl didn't understand, but he was deceived by a few of them and bought it anyway.

  "You go ahead and busy yourself, I'll just take a look around." Ling Wu's gaze swept to the side rack, where several black stones were placed, fist-sized, and casually said a sentence, took a step and walked over.

  "The young lady has a good eye for things!" The shopkeeper, seeing this, quickly came forward, and after a round of flattery, began to explain in a garrulous manner: "These few pieces of black iron ore are as hard as diamonds. If they were forged into swords or daggers, cutting through iron would be no problem at all. One piece is worth one thousand two silver coins."

  The fellow stretched out one finger, and a sharp glint appeared in his eyes.

  "A thousand two silver coins?" Ling Cui was dissatisfied, picked one up casually and muttered: "You're a black-hearted shop, why don't you just rob people"

  She didn't know what it was, but just a piece of black stone, how could it be worth so much.

  "It's like you're taking us for a ride. Ling Ce pointed at the price tag, discontented, "It clearly says 500 taels here, how did it suddenly double?"

  "This, this just sold out, I haven't had time to put up a price tag yet." The fellow nodded and explained: "This is one of the purest black water stones in the entire Blackwater Iron Mine, so it's naturally going to be a bit more expensive."

  As he spoke, the fellow casually tore off the price tag.

  Ling Wu's eyes flickered slightly as he picked up a piece of black iron, weighing it in his hand before chuckling and saying, "This black iron is only half pure, with the rest being ordinary mud and ash. At most, this thing is worth three hundred taels of silver."

  After finishing, he casually threw it into the arms of that fellow and walked towards another place. The black iron ore was not inferior to Li Tianyi's heavenly refined copper mine by more than one grade. To cast a sword, the Ling family didn't lack this point either.

  "That...” The fellow was flabbergasted, standing rooted to the spot, and his heart immediately became more cautious. He hadn't expected that this little girl would be an expert, able to accurately identify the composition with just one glance.

  Ling Wu's eyebrows slightly furrowed as she walked to a nearby desk, examining the few pieces of ore on it. She smiled lightly and said, "This stuff is actually worth some money."

  On a large red wood plate half a meter wide, there is an oval stone the size of a watermelon, deep orange in color with a hint of crimson, its surface gleaming and misty, like the clouds at sunset, really beautiful.

  "Girl, this is a good thing!" The fellow, seeing Ling Wushuang's interest in the object, quickly put down the black iron water he was holding and stepped forward, saying: "This is a colorful cloud stone, extremely precious, but it costs 5,000 taels."

  That fellow held up five fingers, even if she was a connoisseur, he would still swindle her! The little girl indeed liked good-looking stones, but this thing, in Donglin, their family had it for sale, and if you wanted to buy it, you'd have to pay that price.

  "Five thousand taels?" Ling Wu's hands rested on the colored cloud stone, and upon hearing this, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. This shopkeeper was indeed a rare species, it seemed she was going to be cheated today.

  "Pack it up for me, this thing has caught the princess's eye." Before Ling Wusuo could speak, a delicate and beautiful voice came from the red wooden high gate, filled with arrogance and disdain.

  A man and a woman, two figures walked in, followed by a group of servants, the woman was delicate and charming, wearing exquisite clothes, the man was elegant and majestic, tall and handsome, but between his eyebrows, there was a hint of cruelty that made people feel uncomfortable.

  "Nan Gong Xue?" It's this woman again. Dongjing City is really small, Ling Wu Shuang raised an eyebrow in surprise. Enemies meet on a narrow road, and it's true that no matter where they go, they can run into her.

  Upon hearing this, Ling Cui suddenly became angry, baring her two small tiger teeth, and shouted: "What right do you have to give it away? This thing was first seen by my family's young lady!"

  "What right?" Nangong Xue's eyes stared at Ling Wushuang, sarcastically saying: "Just because I am a royal princess, whoever dares to move the things that this princess fancies?"

  "What's wrong with the royal princess?" Ling Cui said disdainfully: "This thing was first seen by the young lady of our house"

  "Your family's young lady?" Nangong Xue walked into the gate with a smile, her eyes gleaming with a sharp light, and sneered: "Good at haggling, I said that whoever it was, actually you didn't have money, then don't come out to buy things."

  It's that despicable Ling Wushuang again. That day at the entrance of Canaan Academy, she beat her up in front of so many people and left her unconscious for several days. Today, she ran into her again, and with Jiang Yitabao by her side, it's just the right opportunity to teach her a lesson and vent her pent-up anger.

  "It turned out to be the Eighth Princess, who had been bedridden for a few days and looked quite well. Ling Wu's eyes sparkled as she teased: 'Could it be that the discussion that day wasn't enough, and you want to study it again today? I wonder how Concubine Jiang is doing?'"

  "Shut up, stop trying to deceive me with your glib talk. I'm not going to fall for it." Nangong Xue had learned her lesson from last time and didn't bother arguing with Ling Wushuang anymore. Instead, she pulled on the sleeve of the man beside her and said in a sugary tone: "Brother Jiang Yi, Snow likes this pretty stone, can you buy it for me?"

  The man beside Nangong Xue was Jiang Yi, the heir of the four major families, the Jiang family. He was also the nephew of Empress Jiang Gui. Although his strength was only intermediate Tianxuan, even the older generation's high-ranking Tianxuan did not dare to easily confront him. His methods were ruthless and venomous, and within the family, no one dared to provoke him. However, he had a special affection for Nangong Xue, this cousin of his.

  "Good." Jiang Yi nodded, his expression calm and collected. He walked up to the colorful Cloudstone and said casually, "Six thousand taels of silver, I'll take this stone."

  It's just a stone, but Xue'er likes it, so he bought it.

  "This... doesn't seem quite right, does it?" The fellow looked somewhat embarrassed and said with a serious tone: "We businessmen value honesty the most. This thing was first picked out by this young lady, but Eight Princess and Young Master Jiang are making things difficult for me."

  One is a royal princess and the other is the eldest son of the Jiang family, it's really a bit tricky.

  "Nonsense!" A fierce glint flashed across Jiang Yi's face, and he swept a glance at that fellow with some impatience. He waved his hand and said, "Eight thousand taels, wrap it up for me."

  This thing is just okay, can't say it's rare, but as long as it can make Xue Er smile, that's good enough.

  "Eight thousand taels?" The shopkeeper was shaken. Originally, the item was only worth two thousand taels, but now it could be sold for eight thousand taels. Anyone who heard this would be moved. As the shopkeeper hesitated, a faint voice sounded again, "Eight thousand and one tael."

  Ling Wushuang took a slow step forward, her calm and collected face, yet with a hint of cunning smile, said: "Eight thousand one hundred two taels, this thing, I'll take it."

  "Miss......" Ling Cui gritted her small tiger teeth, weakly reminding herself, clenching her small fist, somewhat infuriated. This thing isn't even worth this much money, but if Miss doesn't want it, those two will just get away with it.

  "Do you know who I am?" Jiang Yi was taken aback, looking up at the stunning girl in front of him, his eyes narrowing, and to his surprise, someone actually dared to compete with him for something, adding a few more, clearly provoking him!

  "I don't care who you are" Ling Wu Shuang said calmly, instantly infuriating Jiang Yi.

  "Ten thousand two" was casually mentioned, such a small amount of money, Jiang Yi didn't even put it in his eyes.

  "Wan Lingyu" calmly added a couple of taels with a faint smile, as if nothing had happened.

  Jiang Yi's face turned red with anger, his sleeves fluttering wildly as he took a step forward: "Twenty thousand taels!"

  20,001 taels

  "50,000 taels!"

  "Fifty thousand, zero one two..."

  "One hundred thousand taels!"

  "One hundred thousand and one taels..."

  ……

  No matter how much Jiang Yi added, Ling Wushuang would casually add one or two more, the fellow beside them, watching the two going back and forth, their heart racing wildly, eyes wide with excitement, this is going to be a big deal!

  "What's going on?" The people who were about to buy things around also gathered, listened to the price, and were shocked. They took a closer look at that thing, but it was just a piece of agate. What's going on?

  "Two hundred thousand taels!"

  "Two hundred thousand and one liang..."

  "Three hundred thousand taels!"

  Three hundred thousand and one

  ……

  "As the 'brother' went further back, Nan Gong Xue's face also turned somewhat pale, and she secretly tugged at Jiang Yi's sleeve. They hadn't brought that much money, but Jiang Yi, who had never been provoked to such an extent before, was like a gambler who had lost all reason, and couldn't restrain himself."

  "Five hundred thousand taels!" Jiang Yi slapped his palm on the black wooden counter, leaving behind five pitch-black fingerprints. "I want this thing."

  Even he himself did not expect that the two of them would go back and forth, unknowingly bringing up a price to such an astonishing height. After blurting it out, he only then realized what he had said, and suddenly his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

  Suddenly, he turned his head and thought that if this woman added more, he would immediately withdraw, he didn't want this thing anymore, let her die, see how she could handle it, wasn't this idea even better? Thinking of this, Jiang Yi couldn't help but sneer, fighting with me, a stinky little girl who hadn't even grown a single hair yet, was still too tender.

  "Five hundred thousand taels? Indeed a big deal!" Ling Wusuo glanced at Jiang Yi's face, his hands clasped together in front of his chest, his fingertips rubbing against his chin. This expression suddenly gave Jiang Yi a bad premonition, not allowing him to change his mind. Suddenly, Ling Wusuo smiled and said, "You won! This thing is now yours, congratulations!"

  Ling Wushuang beamed with joy, saying congratulations as sincerely as possible.

  "What!" Nan Gong Xue exclaimed, pointing at Ling Wu Shuang and shouting: "Five hundred thousand taels, why didn't you go rob it?"

  Five hundred thousand taels, such a large sum of money, I'm afraid even Her Majesty the Empress would be unable to produce it in a short time!

  Ling Wushuang spread his hands and even innocently said: "This isn't what I said"

  "My goodness, a piece of colored cloud jade worth several thousand taels of silver was actually sold for five hundred thousand taels"

  "This is indeed the most expensive piece of rainbow jade in history!"

  "This young master of the Jiang family is indeed arrogant and extravagant due to his wealth."

  The people around us exclaimed one after another, but when they heard the name "Jiang Yi Nan Gong Xue", their faces turned pale.

  "Detestable woman, you did it on purpose!" Jiang Yi's handsome face turned gloomy, and at this moment, he finally realized that he had been played by Ling Wushuang.

  At this time, the Ling family disciples around Ling Wushuang suddenly realized and couldn't help but secretly laugh in their hearts. Miss Wushuang was really too sinister. Ling Die shrugged his shoulders and snorted, saying "Let you guys compete with Miss Wushuang".

  No matter what, the happiest one was the fellow with the stone pavement, his face almost smiling to the point of convulsions. He walked up to Jiang Yi's side and said with a grin: "Young Master Jiang, I'm really sorry about this, but these 500,000 taels of silver..."

  He couldn't dare to ask for an IOU, that shopkeeper looked at Jiang Yi's gloomy face and swallowed back his last sentence.

  Jiang Yi gritted his teeth and boasted: "Don't worry, I won't shortchange you a single cent. I'm not lacking that bit of money."

  For someone like Jiang Yi, he can lose his life, but not his face. If it were just this guy, he would have been killed already, but with so many eyes watching around him, he could only continue to put on a strong front.

  "Goodness gracious!" The fellow's face was flushed with joy, he had a big win today!

  Ling Wushuang smiled slightly, just about to say something, when his gaze inadvertently swept across a corner. On the black wooden table, there was a pile of grey stones, seemingly carelessly placed there, like ordinary mountain rocks cut off at the edges, nothing out of the ordinary.

  Ling Wu's eyebrows slightly furrowed, almost imperceptibly, as she walked over, picked it up and blew off the dust on its surface.

  "Pal", Ling Wu Shuang raised his hand and weighed it, a small stone, extremely heavy, casually asked: "How much does this stone sell for?"

  That fellow immediately went over and laughed: "This stone is just a corner stone cut from fine iron, and it doesn't contain much fine iron. If you want it, miss, just give me a few dozen taels of silver."

  This little girl is really a god of wealth, today let him earn so much for nothing, the boss knows, will definitely reward him heavily.

  However, even so, that fellow still can't change his greedy habit. This stone, in his eyes, is only worth a few taels of silver, but he asks for dozens of taels from Ling Wu Shuang.

  But unexpectedly, Ling Wushuang opened his mouth and said: "Ling Chuan, give me money, one hundred taels."

  "Miss......" Ling Chuan was puzzled, and reluctantly bared her small tiger teeth. Although she didn't understand anything about the precious stone mine, she could also see that this was a worthless rock worth at most ten taels of silver. Why did Miss let this swindler take advantage?

  Although he didn't agree, Ling Chuan gave the fellow a hundred taels of silver, and the fellow was so delighted that his eyes narrowed into a slit.

  Ling Wushuang held the stone in her hand, seeing Nangong Xue's gaze that seemed to want to devour her, smiled faintly and said: "Could it be that Eighth Princess, you're interested in the stone in my hand again?"

  Nangong Xue gritted her teeth and suddenly turned her head to the side, saying disdainfully: "It's just a broken stone, this princess won't bother competing with you"

  This wicked woman is trying to cheat her again, she won't be fooled after being deceived once!

  "Is this a broken stone?" Ling Wu Xiang held it in his hand, weighed it, and smiled lightly as he sighed, "This stone in my hand is truly a treasure."

  "This girl is probably trying to cheat Master Jiang and his friends again. It's clearly just a piece of scrap iron, but she's insisting it's a treasure."

  "A fool is fooled once, but only a bigger fool is fooled twice."

  "Haha, this is ridiculous! This girl really knows how to talk big. Is this broken stone a treasure?"

  ……

  Everyone around was strolling through the shops selling crystal stones, among them were people who had a deep understanding of crystal stones and rare minerals, yet they all shook their heads, thinking to themselves that this young girl was still too inexperienced, and it was clearly just a broken piece of grey stone.

  "What's going on here?" Yun Qingchen looked at the crowded scene in front of his own store, with all the employees seemingly watching something exciting. These days, he had been in a bad mood anyway, and now he suddenly flared up, shouting: "Are you all not working anymore?"

  Among the four major Xuan families, the Yun family is particularly special, with business as its main focus. Many of the wine houses, pharmacies, and utensil shops in the capital are under the Yun family's umbrella, and their influence even extends to the four countries of the world. Although the family's strength ranks last, their financial power is the strongest among all families.

  The fellow saw the boss and hurriedly went up to him, nodding his head and bowing, hastily taking credit saying: "Sir, it's a piece of colored cloud stone, I sold it for 500,000 taels of silver."

  "Caiyun Stone, five million taels of silver?" Yun Qingchen was still dressed in white, looking astonished. Even the best Caiyun Stone would only be worth ten thousand taels of white silver. Who would be such a big fool to spend five million taels on one Caiyun Stone?

  Yun Qingchen walked into the crowd, his eyes scanning for a certain someone, and upon seeing him, he slightly hesitated, took a few steps forward with a smile all over his face, saying: "So it's Brother Jiang, I didn't know you were back in the capital, and you didn't even notify me. In a few days, let's go to Mingxi Lou, set up a few tables, and have a welcoming feast for you."

  "Brother Yun, long time no see." Jiang Yi saw Yun Qingchen, who had been deceived out of 500,000 taels, and his face couldn't look good. He just nodded slightly.

  "Could it be that the person who spent 500,000 taels to buy a Cloud Stone is Brother Jiang?" Yun Qingchen smiled secretly in his heart and glanced at Nan Gongxue beside Jiang Yi, teasingly saying: "Unexpectedly, to win a smile from a beauty, Brother Jiang actually made such a big move"

  500,000 taels of silver, this is the profit of his shop for several years. After Jiang Yi went out and came back, he wants to give money to the Yun family?

  Yun Qingchen's words, listened carefully, had a hint of schadenfreude. The four major families, on the surface calm and harmonious, were actually openly competing and secretly fighting each other. As the successor of the Yun family, how could Yun Qingchen have a true friendship with Jiang Yi, the next-generation head of the Jiang family?

  Jiang Yi's face twitched, and he forced a smile: "Five hundred thousand taels of silver, this small amount of money, the Jiang family doesn't even put it in their eyes."

  Yun Qingchen is just a young master with a pale face and a local tyrant, he absolutely cannot be underestimated.

  Ling Wushuang saw Yun Qingchen and Jiang Yi, a pair of good brothers, and smiled lightly. These two people didn't know how many knives they had stabbed each other in the back. She weighed the stone in her hand, it seemed like it wasn't her business anymore. This trip was quite a gain, she might as well go to the Craftsman Guild to take a look around.

  "Ling Wushuang!" Just as Ling Wushuang was about to step away, he was caught in Nangong Xue's gaze and she bellowed, "Halt right there!"

  This woman actually wanted to take advantage of the chaos and slip away, letting Brother Jiang waste so much money. She absolutely cannot let this woman get away with it!

  "Ling Wushuang!?" Yun Qingchen suddenly turned his head, seeing the stunningly beautiful girl behind him with a smile on her face. His complexion changed colors in an instant, one moment red, the next green, his eyes wide open and his whole body stiffened.

  This little scamp, how did he run into his house again!

  "Ling Wu Shuang!"

  The people around her suddenly gasped in unison, and the crowd dispersed in an uproar, keeping a safe distance from her. What's with this little ancestor?

  Jiang Yi's eyebrows furrowed tightly, and she couldn't understand the intense reaction from Yun Qingchen and the people around her. Suddenly, she thought of something, and a bright light flashed in her eyes as she smiled coldly, saying: "I see who it is - the useless Miss Ling of the Ling family."

  Ling Wushuang, isn't she just the useless miss of the Ling family? A woman that Nan Gongyan doesn't want, no wonder Xue'er has an opinion about her. This Ling Wushuang is indeed not worthy of my brother-in-law.

  "Hahaha" Jiang Yi grasped Ling Wusuo's handle, as if he had heard something hilarious, and burst out laughing. Afterwards, he sneered: "A useless person has taken a liking to a useless rock, they're indeed well-matched."

  Ling Wushuang, the trash of the Ling family, and also a shame to their four great Xuanmen families!

  "Pffft... Is Miss Ling a good-for-nothing?"

  The people around, hearing Jiang Yi's words, rolled their eyes one after another. A pair of eyes stared at Jiang Yi with a look that seemed to be looking at an idiot, who was laughing by himself on the side. This person actually said that Miss Ling's family is a waste, my god, he can't have just come out from some remote place, right?

  However, Jiang Yi had indeed left the capital for several months and only returned to the Jiang residence today. As for recent events, he was naturally unaware of them. Nan Gong Xue, on the other hand, had been unconscious for a few days and was being cared for in the imperial palace. Today, she finally found time to leave the palace to welcome Jiang Yi's return.

  However, if she were to find out that her best friend Li Mei'er was crippled by Ling Wushuang, I reckon she would be even more furious.

  "Hahaha——"

  "Hah---hah---" Jiang Yi laughed and laughed, but then found something was off, his voice gradually becoming softer. He discovered that the people around him were looking at him with strange eyes.

  "Is it that funny?" The people around, looking at Jiang Yi's expression, had a mixture of helplessness, amusement and ridicule, as well as sympathy for an idiot.

  Yun Qing lowered his head and covered his forehead, shaking his head with a mixture of laughter and tears. This little troublemaker was actually here, he finally understood why Jiang Yi would do such a stupid thing! He just hoped that whatever happened, it wouldn't drag him in.

  Yun Qingchen was also in Ling Wusuo's hands, suffered a lot of hardships, after being made a big fuss at Rongxilou, and then unfortunately cheated out of two million taels of gold. At this time, he just wanted to pray for blessings, hoping that this little ancestor would leave soon.

  But before Yun Qing could even open his mouth, Jiang Yi suddenly popped out another sentence, "I say, little waste, why don't you take out the so-called 'treasure' in your hand and let everyone see what it is?"

  This wicked woman has swindled him out of tens of thousands of taels of silver, and yet she doesn't even let him vent his anger; it's really hard for him to get rid of the hatred in his heart!

  "How much did you sell this stone for?" Yun Qingchen asked in a low voice, his heart hanging.

  That fellow heard this and immediately chimed in, happily saying: "Boss, I sold that waste rock for 100 taels, and just now that colored cloud stone was also wanted by this young lady, I sold it for 500,000 taels."

  After finishing speaking, the fellow still stretched out his five fingers and made a gesture, secretly delighted, thinking that the boss was going to reward him.

  "You——you——"

  Who would have thought that this guy's words would infuriate Yun Qingchen so much that he kicked him in the butt, his face twitching with rage, and almost cursed out his entire family. This scoundrel actually swindled Ling Wushuang, that little ancestor! Can he still open up shop?

  That fellow rubbed his buttocks, got up rolling and crawling, unclear why he had sold at such a good price, had heavily swindled them out of a large sum, the young master was still so angry, could it be that the selling price wasn't good enough?

  Yun Qing's face was stiff, his heart beating irregularly as he thought about this woman who dared to rob even the Sword Saint Li Tianyi. The treasury of the Guardian Manor had been completely looted, not a single brick left on the ground. And yet, he still didn't know that Ling Wushuang would be someone who acknowledges her mistakes? This small shop of his couldn't withstand her grasp!

  "You're so precious, it must be something good." Jiang Yi directly ignored the strange gaze of the people around him and continued to speak.

  Ling Wushuang's first step was slowly withdrawn, her movements so light and gentle that Yun Qingchen's heart skipped a beat. All he saw was her cherry-red lips curving into a shallow arc, like a lotus flower slowly blooming, as she lightly smiled and said, "Do you want to see?"

  Digression

  Today is less, leave some for later, updated at 8 am tomorrow