Royal Gold Magistrate

Seeing the booming sales, Fang Zheng put his mind at ease and took the three to stroll around.

By the time they returned, half an hour had passed.

At this point, the peak sales period was over, but the dancing girl sales guides were still shouting themselves hoarse.

“Only five rings left, not 9,999 taels! Not 2,999 taels! Only 79 taels! Limited quantity, sold out means sold out!”

Fang Zheng looked and smiled. These people he hired were certainly working hard! After the event, he’d give each of them a ring worth a hundred taels!

The rings were said to be limited, but in fact there was no limit. In any case, no one would stand in front of the stage and count. Fang Zheng just told them to shout that way.

The miscellaneous jewelry on the counter added up to over two thousand pieces.

When Fang Zheng initially sent word to Taoyuan County, he specified over five thousand, but with only a dozen or so days, even working overtime they could only make a bit over two thousand.

Although Taoyuan County had some rudimentary lathes, there were still many steps that required manual work, so that was the maximum production capacity.

But from the looks of it, they hadn’t even sold out the two thousand plus pieces. Later, once the road from Taoyuan County to the capital was opened up, the rings would definitely become hard to sell and could only be sold as ordinary jewelry. Today could already be considered a huge success.

At this time, there were still a few noble sons with ladies snuggled up to them, looking at the diamond rings in front of the stall.

It seemed they were somewhat tempted but didn’t want to spend that much money.

Then the couple seemed to say something to each other and got into a bit of an argument.

The four spectators curiously sidled up not far from the couple, all pricking up their ears to listen.

They heard the woman crying and sobbing, “My lord, it’s just that I like this diamond ring. I’ve followed you for five years behind my parents’ backs, never asking for anything. Could it be I’m not even worthy of a single ring now? I only want the smallest one…”

The white-robed noble son’s angry voice rang out, “Jingting, even the smallest is seventy-nine taels. Have I let you go hungry or cold!”

“With that money, what can’t you do? I’ve told you long ago, women don’t need all that superfluous jewelry! What’s the use?”

The woman continued crying, “You despise me now, don’t you?”

The noble son said irritably, “Stop crying and making a spectacle of me here. Let’s go! With this money, I’d be better off having a good time at Hidden Fragrance Pavilion!”

“Enough, don’t cry anymore. I’ll buy you better things in the future! What’s so special about this thing?”

“Oh~” Fang Zheng and the others all showed a look of disdain.

He had money to go whoring but no money to buy a ring, and even tried to make empty promises. What a scumbag!

Li Yuanzhao rolled up his sleeves in righteous indignation, “This guy is really asking for a beating. I’m going to go teach him a lesson!”

Fang Zheng hurriedly held him back. The youth was too hot-blooded, not good!

“What are you in a rush for! We’re here to do business, not to fight. Let’s mess with him! Follow me.”

With that, Fang Zheng led the four to the front of the stall and said to the dancing girl sales guide, “Wrap up all this jewelry on your table. I’ll take it all!”

Then he began making eyes at the dancing girl sales guide, his gaze constantly flicking towards the noble son.

The dancing girl sales guide understood and said loudly, “Ah! My lord, what bad luck. The few rings here have already been reserved by someone, and that noble guest beside you, he was going to take the last one… You see…”

Fang Zheng turned to directly face the noble son, smiling, “May I ask your honorable surname, brother?”

The noble son was in a foul mood and said with a gloomy expression, “Qiao, Qiao Zuo, if you must know.”

Fang Zheng still had a grinning face, “Brother Qiao, do you still want this ring or not? If not, I’ll take it. Looks like your lady has been hesitating for half a day.”

Qiao Zuo suppressed the anger in his heart and said, “And who might you be, sir?”

“Everyone calls me Mr. Sai. You can just call me Mr. Sai.” Fang Zheng had a look of contempt.

“Heh, Mr. Sai? Never heard of him!” Faced with this unwelcome guest, Qiao Zuo grew even more impatient.

“Brother Qiao, I’ve taken a fancy to this ring. Why don’t you step aside?”

“Why should I!?”

Fang Zheng scoffed, “Why else? Because you have no money, of course. Let’s have a good talk and make a deal. Brother Qiao, it wouldn’t be good for you to waste time like this.”

“I have eighteen concubines. If buying things always involved haggling like you, this young master wouldn’t have time for anything else! Come on, just say if you’ll let me or not!”

“You!…” Qiao Zuo wanted to argue, but on second thought, it didn’t seem worthwhile to spend over a hundred taels of silver just to save face. He pulled on the woman’s sleeve and turned to leave.

Just at this moment, Fang Zheng’s voice rang out, “Miss, I don’t think Brother Qiao is a good man. You’re so pretty, why don’t you come with me instead? He can’t even bear to buy you a ring. You can come home with me and be my nineteenth concubine. I guarantee you’ll enjoy wealth and glory. I won’t mention anything else, but a mere piece of jewelry is nothing.”

“Surnamed Sai! You’re just here to pick a fight, aren’t you!” Qiao Zuo finally couldn’t hold back and shouted angrily.

Fang Zheng snorted coldly, “Pick a fight? You think I’m very idle? Trying to buy a ring and running into a pauper hogging the spot without taking a crap, making me sick!”

“My eighteen concubines are all clamoring for me to buy this ring. What are you, standing here being a nuisance?”

Then he turned to the woman with a smile, “Miss, a man who loves you will take the initiative to give you money to spend. A man who truly loves you will be willing to spend money on you. If he only keeps sweet-talking you but isn’t willing to spend a single coin on you, then chances are it’s fake love.”

“You can find a man with no money, but you definitely can’t find a man who’s stingy with you. A man willing to spend money on you may not love you, but a man unwilling to spend money on you definitely doesn’t love you.”

This punch has the power of two thousand years, can you take it!?

Hearing this, the woman couldn’t help but waver. It made so much sense! Isn’t this exactly what I wanted to say but couldn’t put into words?

She looked at Fang Zheng again, her eyes now containing a hint of adoration.

Qiao Zuo was furious but also felt very awkward, so he said angrily, “Jingting, let’s go. Don’t engage with this person’s sophistry!”

Jingting hesitated on the spot, looking at the ring and then at Fang Zheng with a pleading gaze.

Seeing this, Fang Zheng laughed heartily, pulled Bai Yi over beside him, and said loudly to the dancing girl sales guide, “Come! Take that ring and put it on my wife’s finger. In any case, this pauper doesn’t want it!”

The dancing girl sales guide timely handed over a large diamond ring.

Fang Zheng took the ring and carefully put it on Bai Yi’s finger. A perfect fit.

Bai Yi was a bit at a loss from this series of actions, her face flushed red as she looked at the ring and then at Fang Zheng.

How many years had it been since she last received a gift…

“Wait!”

“Did I say I wasn’t buying? Take off the ring!” Qiao Zuo was filled with rage from being repeatedly called a pauper.

Where did this nouveau riche come from, daring to step on this young master’s head and shout?

“Oh? This ring is already on my wife’s finger. How can there be any reason to take it off? I advise you to hurry and leave.”

Hearing the word “wife” again, Bai Yi’s heart trembled. She couldn’t help but cover her pretty face with both hands.

Qiao Zuo smiled coldly at the dancing girl, “I came first. How could you give the ring to him first? Tell me, who does this ring belong to in the end?”

The dancing girl sales guide had a look of “fluster”, “It’s yours. After all, you came first. Mr. Sai, please have your wife hand over the ring…”

Fang Zheng hurriedly said, “How much is this ring sold for? I’m willing to add another hundred taels on top of the original price!”

“This large diamond ring originally costs two hundred taels. If you add more, it’ll be three hundred taels…”

“I’ll also pay three hundred taels!” Qiao Zuo immediately followed up and raised the price.

Hearing this, Fang Zheng instantly showed “hesitation”… lowering his head and not speaking.

Qiao Zuo saw this and sneered, “Pauper… If you can’t take out the money, then hand over the ring.” As he spoke, he took out two banknotes from his sleeve and slapped them on the table.

Fang Zheng gritted his teeth and said, “Fine! You win! The item is yours!”

Bai Yi’s hands that had been covering her face were forcibly pulled apart by Fang Zheng. He yanked the ring off and tossed it to Qiao Zuo.

Qiao Zuo gave Fang Zheng a smug look, then put the ring on the woman’s finger and mocked, “If you have no money, don’t come out and show off. This young master has seen plenty of pretentious nouveau riche like you. Hahaha!”

With that, he left with the woman feeling pleased with himself. As they left, the woman even gave Fang Zheng a grateful glance.

After having the ring yanked off, Bai Yi’s mind went blank for a moment, her good mood completely swept away.

When she came back to her senses, she felt like her heart was being pricked by needles, an indescribable pain. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

Bastard! Why are you bullying me again… What did I do wrong… Am I that insignificant in your eyes?

The grievances from before, mixed with a sense of loss, once again surged in her heart, and the whole world began to turn gray.

Bai Yi bit her lower lip tightly, her head lowered, not making a sound.

Only her delicate hands kept tugging at the hem of her clothes, her fingers turning white from the force without her even noticing.

Suddenly, a pair of large hands appeared in her field of vision, pulling her hands apart. An even bigger, more dazzling diamond ring was put on her finger.

Bai Yi looked up, staring blankly at the man in front of her.

Fang Zheng grinned, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth, “Like it? That one just now wasn’t good. Your Young Master will give you an even bigger one!”

Bai Yi’s heart trembled again, feeling like the world had brightened once more.

She just gazed at Fang Zheng like that, her eyes brimming with emotion, two spots of red flying onto her cheeks.

Fang Zheng’s expression stiffened upon seeing this.

Oh no! The tool had gotten too into character?