“32000 gold taels!”
Mosaide offered.
“35000 gold taels!”
Zhao Fengchen said without any hesitation.
“37000 gold taels!”
Mosaide gritted his teeth. The Western Regions merchants were well-known for their wealth in the Central Plains. Even so, 30000 gold taels was a huge sum for Mosaide.
Mosaide couldn’t understand why the fellow before him was willing to spend so much money to compete with him over a sword.
“40000 gold taels!”
Zhao Fengchen spoke casually, as though what he spoke of wasn’t 40000 heavy gold taels, but just a figure.
The Zhao Clan didn’t lack money!
No matter what, it was impossible for Zhao Fengchen to lose out to a Western Regions Charax Spasinu merchant. More importantly, the seat of a general in the Imperial Army wasn’t something that could be measured using money.
There were limited number of seats as a general in the Imperial Army and it was not every day that one would get such an opportunity. The moment Zhao Fengchen becomes a general of the Imperial Army, he would have opened another door for himself. He would gain access to more cultivation technique and resources, allowing him to reach greater heights.
This wasn’t what an ordinary commander could compare up to.
Furthermore, he couldn’t lose to Huang Xiaotian!
“41000 gold taels!”
Mosaide clenched his jaws, but clearly, those words were forced out from his mouth reluctantly.
“There’s no need for compete for it anymore. I won’t sell it to either of you!”
Just when Zhao Fengchen was going to up the bid once more, Wang Chong turned around and said a few words which left the two completely astounded, tt was something they never expected.
The moment Wang Chong said those words, the bustling street immediately turned silent. Everyone’s gazes fell on Wang Chong.
“Why?!”
Shocked, the duo asked with surprising harmony.
40000 gold taels was an astronomical sum. It was more than two times greater than the value Wang Chong had offered previously, and any ordinary person would have been overjoyed to hear such a price and sell his sword in a flash.
Yet, Wang Chong rejected their offers.
“Didn’t you hang your sword at the Bluebottle Pavilion to sell it out?”
Zhao Fengchen asked.
“Indeed! Given how high our offers are, why is Wang gongzi reluctant to sell it? Isn’t this beneficial to gongzi as well?”
Mosaide asked.
Wang Chong’s words had truly caught them off guard. Mosaide did anticipate the potential arrival of a rival, but he never imagined that Wang Chong, the owner of the sword, would be reluctant to sell it!
“I’ve already said it, the sword will be up for sales for seven days. No one is allowed to view it or touch it. Furthermore, it will only be sold for two hours a day. Now, seven days have already passed, and the two hours of sales time… has also passed!”
Wang Chong pointed to the Bluebottle Pavilion as he said.
At this instant, Zhao Fengchen, Mosaide, as well as Cheng Youqing, Huang Jiao, and the others in the pavilion were all shocked. Only now did they recall that Wang Chong had spoken of this rule on the very first day:
His sword will only be sold for seven days, and no one is allowed to view or touch it. Furthermore, it would only be sold for two hours a day!
Everyone had heard of the rules countless times, but no one took it to heart. No one could have possibly imagined that they would be rejected at this moment by Wang Chong due to it.
“Wei Hao, let’s leave!”
Ignoring the duo, Wang Chong called for Wei Hao, turned around, and left. This time, Wei Hao didn’t doubt Wang Chong. He simply smiled, turned around, and walked alongside Wang Chong.
“Wait a moment, rules can be changed. Wang gongzi, I am willing to offer a higher price!”
Mosaide called.
Wang Chong chuckled, seemingly not hearing anything that Mosaide had said. In an instant, he had already traveled dozens of zhang away. With a fling of his robe, he dived into the carriage.
Boom!
Behind him, the crowd immediately burst into an uproar.
“Mad, he is truly mad! How can there be someone like that in the world? To refuse money that is delivered to his doorstep!”
“40000 gold taels! It’s 40000 gold taels! What’s that fellow thinking?”
“Aren’t swords made to be sold? Since other people are willing to buy it, why won’t he sell it? If you don’t want it, you might as well pass the opportunity on to me!”
“Argh, I feel so regretful! If only I knew that it was worth that much money, I would have bought it on the very first day.”
…
The crowd howled in ‘regret’, feeling as though the world has gone mad. No one knew what Wang Chong was thinking of. To them, this was a dreamlike opportunity, yet Wang Chong pushed it down cleanly, not in the least moved by the offer.
When they recalled those precious gemstones embedded in the sword, they felt so much regret that their lamentation could fill an entire river and smacked their chests in frustration.
Just the gemstones embedded on the sword itself was worth more than six hundred gold taels. So many people had come to spectate the sight back then, but not a single person was willing to make a move.
Even more so, no one could have imagined that the sword would be worth this much in the end!
Upon thinking of this, everyone felt their hearts ripping apart.
“Those nobles sure earn money quickly! Without doing anything, he had already earnt a huge sum.”
Just when everyone was roaring in frustration, no one noticed a thirty to forty-year old man with a shaggy beard and untidy clothes standing by the corner. He seemed like an idle thug, and he was currently silently watching at the direction where Wang Chong was.
No one knew when the man had appeared here, and no one knew where he came from. All they knew was that this person had probably witnessed the entire sword duel gamble.
“… Thirty-two swords, with every house paying 1200 gold taels each, it added up to a total of 38400 gold taels. This is truly a humongous sum!”
The man stared at the back of Wang Chong’s carriage with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
In this era, mathematics wasn’t as advanced as the modern era where Wang Chong came from. Many people still relied on their fingers to count from one to ten, yet this thug-like man was able to easily calculate Wang Chong’s profit from the gamble in an instant.
Chuckling softly, the man pushed against the wall to prop himself up before walking toward the direction where Wang Chong was.
…
The carriage didn’t move.
Shen Hong and Meng Long were currently overviewing the personnel in Bluebottle Pavilion outside as they moved boxes after boxes of gold taels into the carriage. On the other hand, Wang Chong and Wei Hao were waiting patiently in the carriage.
Several ten thousands of gold taels wasn’t a small sum. However, with the guards from the Duke of Wei residence, no one would dare cause trouble. Wang Chong and Wei Hao waited patiently for Shen Hai and Meng Long to finish their task.
“38400 gold taels. After this, I won’t be far from my target of 90000 gold taels anymore.”
After settling the sword duel gamble, Wang Chong felt much more relaxed.
Without selling a single sword, Wang Chong had earned nearly 40000 gold taels from the gamble itself. This wasn’t something that Wang Chong anticipated.
Even though he was still a distance off from reaching 90000 gold taels, Wang Chong wasn’t in a rush. He had everything planned out properly.
“When I’m finally done with this, I can finally put all my efforts into training my martial arts.”
Wang Chong thought. Placing his hands behind his head, he relaxed his body and lied backward, leaning against the walls of the carriage.
Wang Chong had his clan behind him, and this exerted a huge pressure on him. All kinds of dangers laid in wait for him, and with a single wrong step, Wang Chong could lose the entire game.
Under this kind of situation, Wang Chong didn’t dare to divert his attention. As such, he was unable to focus on his training.
But now, he had already averted the main crisis at hand. At the same time, he was also going to gain possession of the Hyderabad ores. Once the deal finally lands in his hands, he would have created the most solid foundation for his future.
When all of it was done, Wang Chong could finally rest easy.
“Wang Chong, why didn’t you announce your identity at the Bluebottle Pavilion previously? If you did so, you could have avoided many troubles.”
In the carriage, Wei Hao suddenly spoke. This was a question which had been plaguing him since a while ago. If those fellows knew that Wang Chong was a child from the Wang Clan, they definitely wouldn’t dare to treat him so lightly.
“There’s no need for it!”
Wang Chong chuckled. “I should solve those trifling matters by myself. If I have to depend on my clan’s backing to solve everything, wouldn’t that make me seem useless?”
Wei Hao was taken aback. He clearly didn’t think of this possibility.
“What about Zhao Fengchen? It’s 40000 gold taels, it is a pity that you allowed this opportunity slip pass.”
Wei Hao said in pity.
Even though he trusted Wang Chong’s judgement, he still couldn’t help but feel heartache and missing forty thousand gold taels just like that.
Upon hearing Wei Hao’s words, the grin on Wang Chong’s face widened.
“Don’t worry, he is already on the hook!”
Wang Chong said.
There were some things that Wang Chong didn’t explain clearly and naturally, Wei Hao didn’t know of them as well. The reason why Wang Chong intentionally prevented anyone to viewing or touching the sword was because he didn’t intend to sell the sword at all.
The crux of ‘hunger marketing’ was to not satisfy the buyer’s appetite easily. If Wang Chong had agreed to Zhao Fengchen’s request previously, he would have made 40000 gold taels. However, it would be hard to raise the price of the other Wootz steel sword in the future. In fact, it might not even reach such a price in the future!
This was something Wang Chong wouldn’t allow.
Wang Chong wasn’t worried about Zhao Fengchen at all. Given the deep fate he had with the Wootz steel sword, it was impossible for him to escape.
However, all of these weren’t matters of this timeline, and thus, Wang Chong couldn’t explain them properly to Wei Hao.
Shen Hai and Meng Long were extremely efficient. In a moment’s time, they were already done moving the 38400 gold taels. Half of them were moved to Wang Chong’s carriage while the other half was moved to Wei Hao’s carriage. On the other hand, the experts from Wei Residence were all standing behind the carriage.
“Gongzi, we’re done!”
Shen Hai and Meng Long pulled opened the window and dived in from outside. Wang Chong nodded his head, lifted his palm, and the carriage started to set off from the Bluebottle Pavilion.
“Ah! What are you doing? Look where you are walking, don’t you have any eyes?!”
When the carriage made a turn and traveled around ten meters, a commotion suddenly broke out in front and the coachman roared in anger. It seemed like someone had charged in front of the carriage.
Kacha! Even before Wang Chong and Wei Hao could react, the doors to the carriage were forcefully opened from the outside. Dirty hands stretched in, then an untidy, thug-like, brazen face appeared before Wang Chong and Wei Hao’s sights.
“Gongzi, please lend me some money. Rest assured, I will write you a debt note and return it to you in the future.”
The man stretched his palm forward and flashed a smile toward Wang Chong and Wei Hao.