Looking at the royal sister who only became so charming in front of him, Qin Chuan frowned.
It wasn’t that he was indifferent to romance, but rather he knew clearly that Murong Mingyue’s motives for wanting to become his woman were impure.
Qin Chuan said expressionlessly, "Miss Murong, you should avoid making such jokes in the future."
After speaking, he got up and walked to the window of the VIP room, looking down at the auction hall that was already filled to capacity.
The expression on Murong Mingyue’s face instantly stiffened, as Qin Chuan’s attitude towards her had obviously changed, his tone carrying a hint of cold indifference that kept people at a thousand miles’ distance.
This caused Murong Mingyue’s heart to violently twitch as if she had lost something very important.
Once she calmed down, she also realized that she had been too intimate in front of Qin Chuan.
Such intimacy had already caused Qin Chuan’s aversion.
The realization made Murong Mingyue’s eyes involuntarily mist over.
As if feeling nothing, Qin Chuan stood with his hands clasped behind his back in front of the window, watching the bustling auction hall.
As the auction was about to start, a group of three people entered the hall.
When this group appeared, exclamations erupted from within the auction hall.
Someone said in surprise, "Elder Young Master of the Long Family, Long Jieming, from one of the Nine Gates of Yandu, actually arrived being wheeled in a wheelchair!"
"Holy shit! It really is Long Jieming, why is he in a wheelchair? Could it be that someone broke his legs?"
"Who would be so bold to even dare strike Long Jieming?"
"I’ve heard that Long Jieming’s father, Long Teng, has put out a word. The Long Family has claimed the final auction slot for a treatment by the Mysterious Doctor. It must be for treating Long Jieming’s legs."
While everyone was buzzing with discussion, Long Jieming had already been wheeled into the VIP room.
At every Premium Auction House, VIP rooms were prepared for the local elite families.
Being the son of the Long Family Heir, Long Jieming naturally had the right to use the Long Family’s VIP room.
At that moment, another group arrived.
"The Ye Family’s people have also come, and it’s Pei Jing, the wife of Ye Tiannan, who is about to take the position of family heir."
"I heard that Ye Tiannan has suffered serious injuries, and even the four Saintly Hands of the National Medical Hall are unable to help. Pei Jing must have come for the Mysterious Doctor’s treatment as well."
"I originally thought the Mysterious Doctor was just a marketing ploy by the Premium Auction House, but now even the Ye Family and Long Family have sent people. It seems legit."
"Weren’t the four Saintly Hands of the National Medical Hall considered the pinnacle of medical expertise in Shen Zhou? Could there really be someone whose medical skills surpass theirs?"
...
The successive arrivals of Long Jieming and Pei Jing brought the atmosphere on site to a new peak.
What shocked the guests present was that not only the Long and Ye families had arranged for people to come, but other families of the Nine Gates had also sent direct descendants.
It could be said that this was the first time the Premium Auction House had attracted so many people from the Nine Gates of Yandu to participate in an auction.
The Nine Gates of Yandu were almost all present, obviously all here for the Mysterious Doctor.
Murong Mingyue quickly managed to control her emotions and stood with Qin Chuan, looking down without daring to make any more inappropriate moves.
Suddenly, she said with a worried face, "It seems I have underestimated the Mysterious Doctor’s appeal to these influential figures."
"Qin Chuan, if the opportunity for you to intervene isn’t won by the Ye Family, it won’t cause any problems, will it?"
Qin Chuan said confidently, "You just relax, since I have taken this step, I obviously have everything under control."
Looking at the side of Qin Chuan’s confident face, Murong Mingyue felt her heart pounding, thinking that becoming his woman might actually be very nice.
Just then, the head of Premium Auction House’s headquarters, Huang Yu, stepped onto the auction stage.
"Good evening, everyone. I am Huang Yu, the head of Premium Auction’s headquarters. I am very grateful that all of you could take time out of your busy schedules to attend today’s auction..."
As Huang Yu’s courteous words came to an end, amidst the warm applause from the audience, a young woman in a cheongsam made her way to the front of the auction stage.
Then, a delicate glass display case rose in front of the auction stage.
Inside the display case, a rustic-looking scroll painting was laid out.
Even from a distance, and although not understanding art, one could guess that the painting was extremely valuable.
The painting depicted a Hu man riding a horse and playing the xun, passing by ancient pines in the desert.
On the left side of the scroll, in the middle, there were three characters "Chen Gao" written in regular script, the ink deeply saturated within the paper’s texture.
"This is a unique piece by the famous Song dynasty master Chen Gao, entitled "The Painting of a Hu Man Playing the Xun"."
The beautiful auctioneer introduced with a smile, "Historical records of Chen Gao are sparse, and few of his works remain, just this unique piece, which is "The Painting of a Hu Man Playing the Xun"."
"Although this painting is a solitary piece, it has been collected by scholars and literati through the ages and is an extremely precious ancient painting."
"The starting bid for this ancient painting is eighty million, with each increment not less than five million. Now, let the auction begin!"
As soon as the beautiful auctioneer’s voice faded, someone immediately raised their bidding paddle on the spot.
"Ninety million!"
"One hundred ten million!"
...
"One hundred eighty million!"
In just three minutes, the painting with a starting bid of eighty million was auctioned for the sky-high price of one hundred eighty million, and was successfully won by an antique painting collector.
Qin Chuan couldn’t help being astonished; it was indeed the number one auction house in Shen Zhou, where merely the first item was sold for nearly two hundred million.
"I didn’t expect the last-minute change of the special auction item would bring such a huge benefit to Premium Auction House."
Murong Mingyue said with a smile, "According to previous auctions, the first item is usually hard to sell for more than double its starting price."
"Because the Mysterious Doctor attracted members of the Nine Gates of Yandu, the competition at this auction is much more intense than usual."
"Your chance to take action might even break the record price at Premium Auction House."
Qin Chuan asked, "What’s the record?"
Murong Mingyue stretched out five fingers, "Fifty ’little goals’!"
Qin Chuan was secretly amazed in his heart, thinking if the final sale price for his chance to take action could break the record of Premium Auction House, would that mean it could exceed five hundred million?
A sly look flickered in Murong Mingyue’s eyes as she spoke with a smile, "I am suddenly very much looking forward to it. If the Ye Family wins your service, I wonder if they will cough up blood when they find out the Mysterious Doctor is you?"
Qin Chuan also smiled, "I suppose they would!"
Murong Mingyue spoke with a smile, "That would be quite bad for Long Jieming!"
Previously, she had asked Qin Chuan if Long Jieming suddenly losing feeling in his legs was a result of Qin Chuan’s secret actions.
Qin Chuan had not answered at the time, but now she had guessed the answer.
Clearly, Qin Chuan was worried that the opportunity he offered lacked competitive power, so he crippled Long Jieming’s legs to incite competition between the Long Family and the Ye Family.
However, he had underestimated the allure that a one hundred percent cure rate for all complex diseases had for the Nine Gates of Yandu.
Now, it wasn’t just the Long Family and Ye Family gunning for the Mysterious Doctor, but all nine top families of Yandu.