The Auction Begins

When Qingya returned to the private room, her footsteps were much lighter than before, as if she was afraid of disturbing something. She pushed the door open, turned sideways to close it behind her, then stood where she was and swept her gaze around the room. Her eyes flicked quickly between several spots—there was no princess, and no emperor. In the end, her gaze landed on Xue Lingyun, paused for a moment, then moved away.

Before she came in, she had already heard the rough story—the princess had practically jogged over after obtaining the token, entered this private room, then hurried away not long after, after which the emperor had come too, and the two of them had left together. Most of the people in the private room had already returned to what they were doing; some held cups while watching the soul tool screen, while others conversed in low voices. There was nothing obviously unusual to be seen. But she noticed that Xue Lingyun's seat had not changed, and there was nothing strange about him either, as if what had happened during that stretch of time had little to do with him. Qingya did not ask anything. She simply walked back to where she had been standing before and lowered her head slightly, as if looking at the table in front of her.

Her peripheral vision still drifted briefly in Xue Lingyun's direction, but she did not speak.

At that moment, the light in the room changed. A layer of golden radiance seeped out from the edges of the walls, very faint, yet it covered the entire room. The originally warm-toned light was tinted with a gentle pale gold, and even the outlines of the sofa armrests and the edges of the table grew a little clearer. Everyone's gazes