"Well? Will you trade or not?"
Jiang Lang wore a smile. Surely this was as good as in the bag. Hui Mian, meanwhile, muttered beside Yi Shuyuan's ear, loudly enough for Jiang Lang and the others to hear.
"Ugh, how shameless! Tempting mortals with treasures!"
Jiang Lang pretended not to hear.
Sure enough, neither woman could tear her eyes away now.
"Now those are genuine treasures!" "Of course we'll trade! How could we not? Don't you agree, dear?"
The second Master Chu, Chu Hongzu, scratched his head off to one side, his resolve already wavering. But the eldest Chu brother had spent many years in official service and, having absorbed his father's example most deeply since childhood, possessed exceptional self-control.
As the two elderly women clamored for the trade, Chu Hongsheng, the current head of the household, raised his voice above the commotion.
"Enough of this nonsense!"
The moment Chu Hongsheng spoke, the drawing room fell quiet. Rather than say anything else immediately, he looked outside.
"You're all gathered here. Have all the table and chair materials been brought in?"
The servants outside jumped in fright, and one answered instinctively.
"Master, they've all been brought in."
"Good. Go close the main gate. No one is to come or go for the time being, and you mustn't breathe a word about these things you've seen. Though our Chu Household has nothing to fear, we don't wish to spend a thousand days guarding against thieves. Nor do we wish loose tongues among our people to bring unnecessary trouble upon Master Jiang, who carries these two treasures!"
Several people answered, "Yes," and two immediately went to close the courtyard gate.
Hearing Chu Hongsheng say this, Jiang Lang's heart lurched, and a bad feeling arose within him. Yi Shuyuan, meanwhile, had been drinking tea