Chapter 53: Li Jinglong: Heh, what a pauper.

"Fragrant, simply too fragrant! What scent is this?"

"Good heavens! This scent smells so divine, this old lady must have this bottle of perfume."

"Damn it all! If I can win this bottle of perfume, won't picking up women in the future be as easy as pie for this young master?"

Even as Zhu Yuanzhang sat in silent contemplation, noisy discussions had already erupted throughout the House of Heaven and Earth.

Especially the youngbloods and noble matrons, whose eyes locked onto the perfume in Shen Fei's hands without blinking.

However, this was merely the beginning.

A moment later, some of the middle-aged men in the private boxes suddenly had their eyes brighten. Emerging from their intoxicated daze, they looked down at their lower bodies, their faces instantly suffused with immensely excited expressions.

Some even rushed to the box windows, pressing against them as they shouted loudly toward Shen Fei, "Manager Shen! How much for this perfume? This Marquis wants it!"

"Hehe! Marquis Zhulu, do not be impatient. This is an auction, so naturally, it goes to the highest bidder." Shen Fei let out a light laugh, then cradled the perfume in the palm of her hand and said with a smile, "A ten-thousand-year cold jade bottle coupled with this Spring of All Things inside, the starting bid is one thousand liang of silver, with each increment no less than fifty liang. Esteemed guests who are interested, please feel free to make your bids!"

Having said this, Shen Fei closed her mouth, her smiling gaze sweeping across the surrounding open windows.

Prices like this were certainly beyond the reach of ordinary people, so her targets naturally fell upon the occupants of the private boxes.

"Five thousand liang! This item, this Zhu Shou, will take it."

Before anyone else could speak, Zhu Shou immediately roared at the top of his lungs.

Knowing his own physical condition all too well, he had been terribly tormented in recent years; even the imperial physicians had been utterly helpless in getting his little brother to stand back up.

Yet from this one tiny bottle of perfume, he had actually re-felt the taste of being a man once again, so how could he possibly let it go easily.

Just as Zhu Shou's voice fell, a head popped out from the adjoining room.

"Hehe! This Duke bids ten thousand liang. No one is to compete with me for this perfume."

Hearing this, Zhu Shou looked over, his expression instantly turning dark. "Li Jiujiang, you little brat, you're trying to steal a treasure from me?"

"Hmph! Marquis Zhulu, Manager Shen herself said it goes to the highest bidder!" Li Jinglong retorted without showing the slightest weakness.

"Duke of Caoguo is right, this old man bids eleven thousand liang!"

"Right! We also support Jiujiang, we bid fifteen thousand liang."

"Hahaha! This lord bids eighteen thousand liang."

...

Following Li Jinglong's bid, quite a few others began shouting out numbers.

Among these people were wealthy merchants, Huaixi nobles, and even civil officials from the imperial court.

The price visibly soared by leaps and bounds, reaching twenty thousand liang of silver in the blink of an eye.

Inside the third-floor private box.

Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth was wide open in astonishment, and he said incredulously, "Such... such a large bottle of perfume can actually sell for two thousand liang?"

Meanwhile, on the fourth floor.

Lan Yu uttered the exact same question as Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yunxiu sat on the sofa beside the 'Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade Bed', swirling a goblet in his hand as he said with a smile, "Great-uncle! Do not underestimate this bottle of perfume. I've added over a thousand kidney-tonifying and yang-strengthening ingredients into this. Just a single sniff can resolve many hidden afflictions that men face."

"What? It actually has such an effect? I thought it was just..."

Lan Yu instantly leaped down from the 'Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade Bed', rushed to the window, and shouted downward, "This Duke bids twenty-five thousand liang."

Knowing this was Zhu Yunxiu's business, Lan Yu did not dare use his status to intimidate others.

Sure enough, a merchant dressed in a wealthy commoner's robe quickly followed up with a bid from below, "I bid thirty thousand liang! Duke of Liang, my apologies, but Manager Shen said it goes to the highest bidder."

Lan Yu was so angered by these words that he gnashed his teeth. Unwilling to lose face, he immediately wanted to call out another bid.

From behind him came Zhu Yunxiu's voice, "Why must Great-uncle bicker with them? Didn't I just say this perfume was concocted by myself? If you truly have need of it, just take a bottle with you when you leave later."

At the phrase 'if you truly have need of it', Lan Yu's old face flushed red with embarrassment.

Yet, the instant he thought about obtaining several tens of thousands of liang worth of good stuff for free, a smile bloomed across his face once again. "Hahaha! Yunxiu is still the magnanimous one, then I shall stand on ceremony."

Zhu Yunxiu smiled without a word.

Beside them, Ma Sanbao could no longer hold it in and turned his body away.

Your Highness, oh Your Highness!

If Your Highness keeps on bluffing like this, the Duke of Liang is going to be bluffed right into a limp.

Where on earth were there a thousand yang-strengthening medicinal ingredients! Wasn't it just the strongest aphrodisiac from the greenwoods that you poured inside?

The perfume was something this humble servant personally shook for half the night to produce, so how did it suddenly become...

Having secured a bottle of perfume, Lan Yu naturally lost the inclination to continue bidding.

However, the shouting outside continued unabated. In particular, those two fellows Zhu Shou and Li Jinglong acted as if their eyes were bloodshot, driving the price close to the mark of fifty thousand liang.

And this was far from over.

The female and male streamers in the second-floor boxes were now beginning to exert their charm, with quite a few recounting the true effects of this bottle of perfume to the 'fan' patrons who had stayed by their sides.

Facing the autumn-water-like gazes of the female streamers, several wealthy patrons could no longer hold back and began joining the bidding.

The price was swiftly pushed to ninety thousand liang.

While this price seemed exorbitant, for a man whose hardware was somewhat lacking, a price like this was hardly excessive for something that could restore his little brother.

"Damn it! One hundred thousand liang, this Lord Duke bids one hundred thousand liang! Whoever dares to snatch it from me, don't blame this Duke for visiting your house tonight." Li Jinglong's eyes were bloodshot as he directly called out the exorbitant price of one hundred thousand liang.

Furthermore, this fellow began issuing threats leveraging his own status.

Instantly, the others retreated from the bidding once again. Only Zhu Shou remained at the windowsill with bloodshot eyes, glaring defiantly at Li Jinglong.

Although he was a marquis, when it came to family property, one hundred thousand liang amounted to his entire net worth, leaving him entirely incomparable to Li Jinglong.

Mainly because the title Li Jinglong inherited was that of a duke, and with Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang as his doting great-uncle, he had pulled off no shortage of scoundrelly deeds over the years riding on his status. Thus, casually pulling out a million liang was entirely unproblematic for him.

Yet just as Zhu Shou was about to give up like this, Li Jinglong's mocking voice reached his ears.

"Hehe! Marquis Zhulu, what? Weren't you acting all hot stuff just now? A mere one hundred thousand liang has you stumped, what a coward!"

"Damn it! You little brat, I'm going to finish you." Zhu Shou nearly jumped right out of the window.

Yet Li Jinglong continued relentlessly, "Hehe! Come on then, you poor ghost!"

"Damn it!" How could Zhu Shou endure such a taunt? With an expression that screamed 'you're the poor ghost here', he gritted his teeth hard and shouted, "Eleven thousand—no, one hundred and ten thousand liang! This Marquis bids one hundred and ten thousand liang. Li Jiujiang, if you've got the guts, keep bidding!"