“You…”
The Sixth Young Mistress clenched her fists so tightly that her nails sunk deep into her flesh. Her face was dark, and her eyes were clouded with intense resentment. If she could, she would have dashed forward to slice this man into countless pieces.
She would never accept being a maid, and kneeling was a humiliation so great that she would rather die.
Clenching her jaws so tightly that her teeth might chip from the sheer force, the Sixth Young Mistress held back her wrath and spoke once more.
“Choose something else…”
Hearing the other party’s complaints, Sun Qiang interjected with a look of displeasure.
“Our young master has given you a lot of options already. To turn down everything, are you trying to be difficult? Since you refuse to kneel and won’t become a maid, our young master still needs someone to warm his bed for him. Do you want to take on that job? As long as you please our young master, ten thousand middle-tier spirit stones are nothing!”
What the heck is this? You should be thankful that Young Master’s temper is good! If it were me, I would have never given you any other alternative!
“What did you say?”
The Sixth Young Mistress’s eyes immediately turned red, and her hands trembled in rage.
“Which part of what I said do you not understand?” Sun Qiang shook his head. Turning to Zhang Xuan, he said, “Young Master, since this fellow is being difficult, can you allow me to deal with her?”
“She’s your underling, feel free!” Zhang Xuan shrugged nonchalantly.
Even though Sun Qiang might get reckless at times, he did possess wits when it came to dealing with others. He must have an idea in mind.
“His… underling?”
Hearing those words, the Sixth Young Mistress nearly puked blood.
She thought that the reason why this young man wanted to accept her as his maid was because he felt lust for her, considering her beautiful appearance. Who could have thought that she couldn’t be any more wrong? He actually wanted her to come under this shady-looking person of a butler…
Besides, what is with your nonchalance?
Do you know who I am… Even the emperor of Huanyu Empire would have to welcome me with the grandest of ceremonies! If I were to tell you, you would surely faint from shock!
To actually be subjected to such conditions… What a tremendous humiliation!
“Thank you, Young Master!”
Turning to the Sixth Young Mistress, Sun Qiang measured her from head to toe and frowned. “Your appearance is sub-par, so I doubt our young master would want you to warm his bed. You should just serve him as an ordinary maid!”
“Sub-par? Would not want me?”
Blood gushed into the head of the Sixth Young Mistress, and she nearly exploded.
You actually dare to evaluate an appearance such as mine ‘sub-par’? Are you saying that intentionally to anger me?
Little did she know that Sun Qiang actually meant what he said.
The young master’s students, Zhao Ya and Wang Ying, had appearances that didn’t pale to her at all. Even Mo Yu and Zhao Feiwu possessed superior grace as well. But even so, Young Master still remained unmoved.
Considering that, how could he possibly be interested in such an obstinate and domineering lass?
“Considering that you’re doing this to repay your loan, we should talk about the duration too… Let’s make it five months! Since you owe Young Master ten thousand middle-tier spirit stones, over a course of five months, that would be equivalent to a wage of around sixty-six middle-tier spirit stones each day. I’ll round that up to a seventy!”
Counting with his fingers, Sun Qiang said, “But of course, if you feel indignant having to serve as a maid, you can purchase ‘days off’ by repaying your debt. On those days, you’ll be able to do whatever you want to do.”
“Seventy middle-tier spirit stones a day? Purchase ‘days off’?”
The Sixth Young Mistress was taken aback.
“That’s right. On the days that you’re off, you won’t be considered a maid. In other words, you are paying the ten thousand middle-tier spirit stones over a course of five months. Anytime within the five months, if you find sufficient money to repay your debt, you can back out of your responsibilities. As for why it’s seventy spirit stones a day instead of sixty-six, considering that we’re going by a daily basis, naturally, it should be more expensive. If you wish to go by month, I could lower the charge!” Sun Qiang replied.
“Daily basis, pu…”
Initially, the Sixth Young Mistress still found the idea acceptable, but upon hearing this part, she nearly fainted.
What does it sound as though she’s some kind of commercial good for sales?
Paying by daily and monthly basis…
The more she thought about it, the more frenzied she felt. She was on the verge of explosion.
However, after her anger subsided, she gave it some thought, and honestly speaking, she did find this solution acceptable to her.
She would never be willing to lower herself to serving as a maid for five months, but if they were going by a daily basis, as long as she could get past the first few days, her family should be able to send some spirit stones over to free her from her suffering!
“Alright, I’ll agree to it!” Having thought things through, the Sixth Young Mistress nodded her head, giving her consent.
“Good!” Zhang Xuan’s eyes couldn’t help but light up upon hearing Sun Qiang’s arrangements.
As expected of a merchant, his means were indeed extraordinary.
It would be difficult for anyone to take out ten thousand spirit stones in a breath, but if they were to split it over a longer duration, the repayment would seem much more reasonable.
The concept of interest payment wasn’t widely used in this world, but as an astute businessman, he knew how to use his words to shape the conditions into something the other party could accept. Not to mention, he even managed to hike up the price at that.
“Sixth Young Mistress!”
Not expecting that she would agree to such terms, the young man accompanying her panicked.
Others might be unaware of the Sixth Young Mistress’s identity, but he knew it very well. For a person of her standing to serve as a maid… You must be jesting!
If news were to spread, the royalty of Huanyu Empire would probably go insane.
The Sixth Young Mistress harrumphed.
“I’ll deal with my own affairs!”
“But…”
Veins were popping from the young man’s temples.
Interrupting the conversation between the duo, Sun Qiang said, “Enough. If the both of you have anything to say, put it off for now. From this moment onward, you’re our young master’s maid. If you don’t have money to repay your loan, prepare whatever you need and follow us back to the residence!”
“There’s no need for that. I’ll pay for ten days first!”
Harrumphing coldly, the Sixth Young Mistress flicked her hands, and a pile of middle-tier spirit stones appeared before the eyes of the crowd. Counting it quickly, there were exactly seven hundred of them there.
“Un!”
Sun Qiang’s eyes lit up. He turned to look at Zhang Xuan, and the latter said, “You should take them for now!”
“Yes!”
Sun Qiang quickly put the spirit stones into his storage ring before turning to look at the young lady once more. “You seem to be from a prestigious family, so I doubt that you will do anything as foolish as running away. But even so, we still need a guarantee. Thus, you’ll need to leave something valuable with us, and after the five months are up or when you’ve repaid your entire debt, we’ll return the item to you!”
“You…”
The Sixth Young Mistress’s eyebrows twitched violently.
It was already sufficiently humiliating for her to have to agree to serve as a maid, and yet, the other party was even worried that she would escape… How infuriating!
But she knew that these two were fearless thugs, and arguing with them would only shorten her own lifespan. Thus, she flicked her wrist and took out an emblem.
Five bright stars shone brightly on them.
Her 5-star master teacher emblem!
“This emblem represents my identity. Surely it should suffice as a pawn for my debt!”
“It will do!”
Sun Qiang took it and placed it in his storage ring.
He was surprised to learn that this young lady was a 5-star master teacher as well, just like the young man.
But in his view, 5-star master teachers were nothing to fear as well. As the butler of an 8-star master teacher, if he couldn’t even face a 5-star master teacher with nonchalance, he should have quit his job ages ago.
“Humph!”
Seeing how that fellow took her emblem without the slightest fear or astonishment, the Sixth Young Mistress froze for a moment. An awful complexion slowly spread across her face before she turned around and stomped out of the store.
She couldn’t stay here even a moment longer. It was no longer about her loss in the bet but that… she couldn’t stand facing these two anymore!
What the heck was with them?
She thought that a young 5-star master teacher like her would be respected and feared no matter where she went, but… the other party looked as though they didn’t even give a damn. It was as if her identity was nothing more than a wisp of wind to them.
An intense feeling of indignation left her so frustrated that she could spew a bucket of blood.
“Sixth Young Mistress…”
Seeing his companion leave, the young man froze for a moment. Then, turning to Zhang Xuan and Sun Qiang, he threatened menacingly, “The both of you… just you wait!”
Leaving behind those words, he hurried down to catch up with Sixth Young Mistress.
“Sixth Princess, those two fellows sure don’ know their place. Why don’t I get Ye Qian to have them beheaded?”
A glint flashed across the young man’s eyes as he harrumphed.
This time, he addressed the young lady before him not as Sixth Young Mistress but as Sixth Princess.
If Crown Prince Ye Qian of Huanyu Empire was here, he would have surely recognized the ‘Sixth Young Mistress’ as Hongyuan Empire’s Princess Fei-er! And the young man beside her would be her fellow classmate, 5-star Master Teacher Xing Yuan!
The both of them were strolling around when they caught sight of Mystical Treasure Hall. Curious, the both of them walked in. Little did they know that they were just moments away from suffering both financially and mentally!
Noble from birth, she was a great princess whom even the emperor of Huanyu Empire would have to regard with utmost respect. To think that she would actually end up as a maid. This was a huge humiliation!
“As an esteemed princess, a 5-star master teacher, should I kill someone just because I lost a bet?”
Princess Fei-er abruptly came to a halt, and her eyebrows shot up.
“This…”
Xing Yuan’s face reddened.
Losing was embarrassing in itself. If she were to kill someone due to that, even if no one would ever learn of it, she would never be able to come to terms with it.
“But even so… we can’t let this thing go. That person is simply too arrogant and infuriating!”
Xing Yuan gritted his teeth.
“He’s indeed infuriating, but admittedly, he does possess incredible capability. Against the stone pillars which even you and I are unable to decipher, he actually deciphered 110 of them in less than a minute… Furthermore, did you see the nonchalance on his butler’s face when he saw my 5-star master teacher emblem? The both of them are unlikely to be ordinary. Tell Ye Qian to look into their identity!”
Princess Fei-er gestured.
She didn’t agree to the arrangement out of recklessness.
Having reached 5-star, her Soul Depth had already exceeded 15.0, allowing her to separate her emotions from rational thinking. The master-and-butler pair might not anything special in terms of their cultivation, but their calm disposition that couldn’t be fazed by anything wasn’t normal.
Most likely, there was something deeper to them.
Besides, she was also curious to know how the other party deciphered those stone pillars so easily.
“Alright!” Xing Yuan nodded.
…
“Gongzi, may I know how to address you?”
After watching the Sixth Princess and Xing Yuan leave, Gan Yiping swiftly regained his composure, and walking up to Zhang Xuan, he clasped his fist and bowed.
“You can call me Zhang Xuan!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
“So, it’s Zhang gongzi. Here are all of the artifacts our Mystical Treasure Hall possesses. You’ve accrued more than sufficient points from deciphering the stone pillars, so these are all yours…”
The attendant had already packed everything neatly into a storage ring and passed it over.
“Un!”
Grabbing the storage ring, Zhang Xuan took a look into it and saw several shelves of precious artifacts inside.
“But if you were to give all of these to me, what will happen to your Mystical Treasure Hall?” Zhang Xuan asked with a slightly embarrassed look.
To tell the truth, he had little interest in these artifacts. However, rules were rules, and it would be impolite for him to refuse it. Thus, he was put in a difficult position.
If he were to accept it all, wouldn’t the business of the Mystical Treasure Hall collapse instantly?
