These people simply hadn't seen it. Princess Lingmeng's eyes held a distinct trace of reluctance. The cloaked figure behind her, however, was practically drooling over the fine wines.

"Since the Princess has made an offer, I shall refrain from bidding further. I will simply purchase a batch myself. The Hai family certainly wouldn't miss out on a round, would they?" Hai Chenfeng smiled with impeccable grace, signaling a courteous concession.

"Now, for the second batch of fine wine, Princess Lingmeng bids! One million five hundred thousand taels! Are there any higher bids? Any higher? One million five hundred thousand taels, first call... second call... third and final call! Sold!"

"Dong!" The gavel struck with finality! Fatty Tang was ecstatic; he adored the definitive sound of that final strike.

Upstairs, Jun Moxie was grinning so wide his eyes were slits. "This fatty truly leaves me speechless. He actually yelled 'Princess Lingmeng is getting married'..." Jun Wuyi let out a sudden "Pfft," spitting out a mouthful of tea and coughing twice. Third Master Jun realized something: no matter the subject, anything that came out of Young Master Jun's mouth somehow managed to twist its meaning entirely. What was that nonsense? The fatty clearly shouted "Bidding!" Wait... bidding (chū jià) and getting married (chū jià)—they sounded almost identical! Bah, how did I let this brat lead me down that path?

The third batch of wine was brought out, and the First Prince spoke up: "This vintage is most pleasing to this solitary king. Six hundred thousand taels. I claim this entire wave of wine!"

Fatty Tang on stage rolled his eyes so hard he nearly saw his own brain. I really want to spit dog-shit in your face! The first batch went for five million, the second for one and a half million. And you offer barely above the starting price! Moreover, that wasn't the tone of an auction bid at all—what was that tone of, "Six hundred thousand taels, I take this wave"? Wasn't this a blatant warning to others: Don't try to compete with me; I am the First Prince! Shameless!

After speaking, the First Prince turned with a smile. "Are there any others who wish to bid? It is no matter; this is an auction, after all. Highest bidder wins. Be assured, this solitary king will not take offense in the slightest!"

The faces of the crowd twitched slightly. Every single person cursed inwardly: You call this 'not taking offense'? Do you need to explicitly state, 'Whoever bids, I will slaughter them!' before you admit you care?

Before Tang Yuan could speak, the highly professional shill, Hai Chenfeng, suddenly shot to his feet, coughed twice, and cleared his throat. "Your Highness the First Prince speaks wisely—highest bidder wins. For this wave of wine, I will again bid one million taels."

"Oh?" The First Prince smiled down at him. "Guildmaster Hai shows great spirit. In that case, this solitary king bids one million five hundred thousand taels." Hai Chenfeng hesitated briefly, appearing ready to raise the bid again, but ultimately settled back into his seat.

Over the next sixteen consecutive batches of fine wine, Hai Chenfeng placed a bid every time, but failed to secure a single lot. One million five hundred thousand taels inexplicably became the fixed price! These sixteen waves of wine were all snapped up by the great noble families at that very price.

In the blink of an eye, nine hundred jars out of the total three thousand were gone!

And those further back in the crowd hadn't even had a chance to bid! Of course, they dared not bid!

Fidgeting anxiously, they scratched their heads and faces. The wine was running out!

General Dugu Wudi’s face had turned completely black charcoal. This was truly disastrous. These nine hundred jars alone had already fetched the exorbitant price of thirty-two million taels! This far exceeded the ten thousand taels per jar Jun Moxie had mentioned previously. The total compensation due was two hundred and fifty million taels! And there were still over two thousand jars left! Conservatively estimated, once this auction concluded, it would likely bring in an astronomical figure exceeding seventy million taels! And this was the debt he would owe... This was a crushing, backbreaking debt!

Though the Dugu Family was large, where would they find seventy million taels? Selling everything wouldn't cover the debt! Would they really have to offer up a daughter as collateral? What could be done? Could they truly offer a daughter to settle the debt? He could only mull it over in his heart; if he actually did such a thing, the Dugu Family would instantly become the biggest laughingstock in the entire Tianxiang Empire! Unable to pay a wine bill, they resort to offering a daughter as a bride just to clear the slate...

"Alas!" Dugu Wudi sighed deeply, his heart heavy with worry. He should never have made that bet back then! Especially not adding that clause: payment based on the final auction price! Had he dug a pit for himself, only to jump in and be buried alive?

It should have been only twenty-five million taels. Now, the absolute minimum settled price was one and a half million—that meant thirty thousand taels per jar. Multiplied by his share, that was seventy-five million taels. And that was the lowest estimate. Never mind himself, even the entire Dugu Family combined could never produce that kind of money. It was truly a life-or-death situation!

On stage, Young Master Tang Yuan was so excited his throat was nearly raw from shouting, yet he continued to bellow. Below, the gathered nobles, princes, ministers, and wealthy merchants all shouted bids with wide-open mouths, each voice louder than the last, terrified of being edged out.

Young Master Tang was also mischievous; he continued releasing the wine in batches of exactly fifty jars at a time—never one jar more, never one jar less.

The intense fear of missing out, of returning home without the "noble" status secured by the purchase, further fueled the crowd's buying frenzy. The subsequent bidding process grew even faster and smoother, with everyone scrambling to be first. As it progressed, the prices escalated even higher.

Eventually, Hai Chenfeng, the designated "shill," found himself completely redundant! Everyone present seemed to have transformed into Young Master Jun’s devoted acolytes. As soon as someone dared shout, "I bid one million taels!" five or six people would immediately retort, "I’ll take fifty jars for one million five hundred thousand!"

As a result, the initial aspiration of the newly appointed leader of the Jinyang Gang—Hai Chenfeng—was never realized, though that is a story for later!

Jun Moxie had originally intended to sell the wine for ten thousand taels per jar, but the frenzied bidding drove the base price to thirty thousand taels, with no upper limit set for this truly astronomical price! This price point still resulted in a massive shortage; it was genuinely undersupplied. If not for the restriction limiting each person to a single purchase per round, the frenzy would have erupted several times more intensely.

After several more rounds of manic competition, the grand auction event was finally nearing its conclusion. Two thousand seven hundred jars of the wine had been successfully auctioned, leaving only three hundred jars remaining. At this point, a small number of people still had not managed to secure any!

Most notably, Hai Chenfeng, the Great Guildmaster Hai, the Great Shill, who had been shouting from the very beginning until the end, once again hoarsely cried out, "I bid one million taels!"

"Hold, this Prince has something to say!" Suddenly, a loud shout cut through the air. Everyone turned to see the Third Prince swiftly stride onto the auction stage, directly snatching the definitive gavel from Tang Yuan’s hand. With three forceful strikes, he banged it onto the table.

The crowd was still preparing to compete for the last remaining wine when they witnessed the Third Prince’s sudden intrusion. They were all baffled and immediately quieted down, unsure what this royal figure intended to do. The auction was in progress, yet a Prince charged forward—did he intend to play auctioneer for a bit?

"Everyone! Hear me out!" The Third Prince stood on the stage with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing down at the assembly, his demeanor indescribably arrogant and irritating.

"Today, we are immensely fortunate to sample this Heavenly Grade wine; indeed, it is a blessing beyond measure. Naturally, we must express gratitude to the shareholders of the Noble Hall! To that end, this King extends his most sincere thanks!" The Third Prince nodded towards Tang Yuan, then sharply changed his tone: "However, while this wine is undoubtedly superb—a peerless treasure—we must still observe a modicum of basic propriety!"

"This King is ashamed!" The Third Prince feigned a gasp. "I suddenly recall that in our Tianxiang Empire, there remains one person, the most qualified to taste such Heavenly Grade wine, who is absent! That venerable elder is currently pouring out his heart and soul, exhausting himself day and night, working for the nation’s stability and the welfare of the common people!"

Those aristocrats present in this hall were no fools; they were shrewd operators. In an instant, everything became crystal clear in their minds. How could they not understand what this Prince was attempting? It was nothing less than leveraging another's authority—borrowing the tiger’s might to look fierce, using the emperor’s prestige to feather his own nest!

"This person, naturally, is my father—the Sovereign of our Tianxiang Empire, His Majesty the Emperor! Though my father is burdened by state affairs and cannot personally attend, must we not show filial piety to our elder? Must we prioritize our selfish desires over the needs of the nation?"

The Third Prince’s voice grew increasingly stern. "Such behavior, showing no reverence for father or ruler, is an unforgivable transgression! The auction is now drawing to a close! Only three hundred jars of wine remain! This King proposes that all these remaining wines be respectfully presented to our beloved Emperor. What say you all?"

The Third Prince finished his long, sweeping speech to dead silence!

Everyone had anticipated that the Third Prince’s sudden appearance at this juncture meant he would scheme to acquire the remaining wine, but none had imagined he would possess such staggering audacity! Judging by his words, he clearly intended to halt the auction immediately and have the Noble Hall surrender the remaining wines without receiving a single cent! The wine was provided by the Noble Hall, but the favor—the political capital—would be his, as he was the one who made the suggestion!

A wave of internal cursing swept through the room! If you want to be filial to your father, buy some and take it to him yourself! Didn't you just buy fifty jars earlier? Why aren't you showing filial piety then? Now you want to use other people's property to curry favor, and you say it with such righteous conviction! One must admit, this is a skill—a great skill—a profound ability to turn black into white and confuse right from wrong!

Everyone felt resentment, yet no one dared speak. Those who hadn't secured wine were naturally disgruntled, but this group represented the lowest rung of attendees today; they might have wealth, but lacked powerful connections. Who dared offend the Emperor's own son? Furthermore, raising an objection now would instantly brand one with the grave charge of "great disrespect"! No one dared utter a word, and all eyes turned to Young Master Tang Yuan, the chief steward of the Noble Hall, waiting to see how he would respond.

"Steward Tang, what are your thoughts on this matter?" the Third Prince inquired, his voice low and menacing.