I was a princess in ancient times

Knowing the identities of Yu Heng and Ji Xinxue, the shopkeeper neither dared to stop Dou Shi when Yu Heng had already agreed, nor did he dare to arrange the process of Dou Shi according to the old rules without authorization.

He could only pretend to be busy, and anxiously waited for the orders from his master Shiwulang.

After a while, the shopkeeper appeared in front of Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng again.

He euphemistically said that Doushi is different from Kaishi, and more people who are famous in the jade industry need to be invited to witness.I hope to take advantage of the preparation time to open the two hundred taels of fortune stones selected by Ji Xinxue first.

Upon hearing this, Ji Xinxue immediately agreed to the shopkeeper's proposal.

If in terms of choosing fortune stones, Yu Heng is a "talented school", and Yu Kang is at least a "technical school", but he is a "useless school" who can only rely on Shi En and the shopkeeper.

The fortune stone selected by the shopkeeper can be called mediocre, but the two hundred taels of fortune stones selected by Shi En's suggestion will only make you crotch worse if there is no accident.

Although he didn't expect two hundred taels of fortune stones to really make him rich, Ji Xinxue didn't want to be the cannon fodder background board for "Fairy Fight".

Facts have proved that Ji Xinxue's worries are very self-aware.

Two hundred taels of fortune stones yielded topaz the size of a palm and black jade the size of an egg.

The fineness of the topaz is not as good as the topaz that Yu Heng opened from the Baiwen Facai Stone.

The jade appraiser pondered for a while, and was only willing to give 15 taels of silver.

The fineness of black jade is worse than that of topaz, and there are too many cracks on the surface.

The jade appraiser shook his head, not even willing to make an offer.

The shopkeeper coughed lightly, and said loudly, "Jinyulou is willing to pay five taels of silver to take back this piece of black jade."

"15 taels of silver plus five taels of silver, plus the previous 32 taels of silver, for a total of 52 taels of silver." Ji Xinxue muttered to herself, doing the calculation thoughtfully.

The money for buying ten fortune stones, with the odds erased, shared 220 taels of silver.

In less than two hours, he lost three quarters of his capital.

Ji Xinxue looked around, taking in all the expressions of everyone around her.

Some people ridiculed and gloated, some showed pity, and some were indifferent... But no one was surprised.

200 taels of silver turned into 20 taels of silver in two quarters of an hour, which turned out to be a matter of course in the eyes of these people.

Ji Xinxue didn't see the shopkeeper, so she raised her hand and called a waiter over, and asked, "How often does the 'Fat Cai Hui' happen?"

"Usually half a month," replied the man.

Ji Xinxue nodded and continued to settle accounts in her heart.

Every time the "Fat Cai Hui" Jin Yulou will sell two fortune stones, one hundred fortune stones and one or two fortune stones in limited quantities.

Among them, the purchase of two Wenfa Caishi stones is limited to ten pieces, and twenty Wen is required to buy all of them.

There is a limit of five hundred Wen Fortune Stones to buy, and five hundred Wen is required to buy them all.

There is a limit of two fortune stones per tael, and two taels of silver are required to buy them all.

People who live in poverty and want to change their predicament will most likely try their best to buy up the two fortune stones and the hundred fortune stones, dreaming of getting rich quickly.

Half a month is 520 essays, which is enough for a poor student to spend half a month on pen and ink.

Half a year is six taels of silver and 240 Wen, which can allow a family of seven or eight in the countryside to live a good life for a whole year, and still have some surplus.

The whole year is 12 taels of silver and 480 Wen.When the daughters of ordinary people in Huazhou get married, if they have this silver as a press box, they will be able to stand up straight in front of their sisters-in-law for most of their lives.

If you buy one or two fortune stones every half a month or longer, the cost will be even more shocking.

It only takes a few years, or even less time, for Jinyulou's "Fat Cai Association" to empty out the homes of the low-level people around Huazhou.

Ji Xinxue shook his head, even if there is a huge hidden danger in Jinyulou's 'Fat Cai Hui', he is not sure whether the Yu family did it on purpose or not.

Judging from what he saw and heard after he entered the Jinyu Tower, the Yu family didn't pay much attention to the "Fat Caihui". No matter how lively the guys shouted, they just wanted to make the Jinyu Tower lively, and did not confuse the people into the excitement of the Jinyu Tower In the middle, it means to pick out the purse in an irrational situation.

If he and Yu Heng hadn't been recognized, neither the shopkeeper nor the second shopkeeper would have appeared in the 'Fat Cai Club' on the first floor.Ji Xinxue reasonably guessed that these people originally entertained distinguished guests on the second floor.

Rather than earning money from the common people through the "Fat Cai Hui", the "Fat Cai Hui" held by Jinyulou is more like trying to make a name for it and attract more customers who can consume ten taels of fortune stones and hundred taels of fortune stones.

However, no matter how perfunctory Jinyulou is to the 'Fat Cai Hui' and the people, it cannot cover up the tyrannical plunder by the 'Fat Cai Hui' to the people.

Ji Xinxue had no doubt that if he stood on the high platform and told these truths to the people in the Jinyu Tower, would he be scolded bloody by the people.

Don't even think about it, it will.

As long as the people have the dream of getting rich overnight, believe that they will eventually be lucky, and feel jealous because of other people's luck...they will jump into the huge pit called "getting rich" without hesitation.

"Besides Huazhou Jinyu Building, where else is there a fortune club?" Ji Xinxue asked the buddy again.

Difficulty appeared on the brows of the clerk, and he whispered, "How can such a small thing know? You might as well ask the shopkeeper or the second shopkeepers."

Ji Xinxue nodded, and casually took out a silver bean from her purse as a reward.

Soon after, Doushi officially started.

The shopkeeper draws lots in person to decide the order of opening stones.

Open Yu Kang's fortune stone first, and then Yu Heng's fortune stone.

Then open another fortune stone of Yu Kang, and finally another fortune stone of Yu Heng.

Ji Xinxue crossed her arms and complained to Yu Heng in a low voice, "The shopkeeper is a bit inferior to being the shopkeeper here. He should go to the county government to work as an errand."

There are so many stone-cutters in the Jinyu Tower, it is perfectly possible to open four fortune stones at the same time, but the Jinyu Tower insists on opening them in sequence, or in the order of A, B, and A, obviously for the effect of a "show".

As long as the shopkeeper can teach the yamen servants five points of the ability to stir up emotions, why worry about the people being hostile to the yamen?

"Yeah." Yu Heng absently agreed to Ji Xinxue's words, and whispered, "The people on the second floor are the direct descendants of the Yu family."

Ji Xinxue looked up, and in the corridor on the second floor, there was a famous man in dark blue brocade standing with his hands behind his back.

Lang Jun nodded to Yu Heng and Ji Xinxue from afar, without any intention of going downstairs to talk to them.

"Out!"

"Violet? Violet again!"

"Oh, this is not violet, this is called red purple, more expensive than violet!"

……

Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng were brought back to their senses by the sudden loud voice, and looked in the direction of Kaishi Mason.

This is Yu Kang's first stone.

Just opened to a quarter of the position, you can see the moist purple.

Ji Xinxue smiled, "This piece of jade is of good quality. If it can give my sister a small face, it can match the previous violet earrings."

At that time, he will search for some more purple jade, and strive to make up a complete set of 28 pieces.

"You guys are so shameless!"

I don't know when the bearded man who quietly moved behind Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng suddenly roared, mocking Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng for not knowing themselves.Seeing Hongzi, not only refused to admit defeat, but brazenly arranged for Hongzi's whereabouts.

This time, without waiting for other people to echo the words of the bearded man, the shopkeeper used the reason that the bearded man disturbed Doushi as an excuse, and ordered the guard to throw the bearded man out in a deep voice.

Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng looked at each other and smiled, not paying any attention to the various gazes on their bodies, and continued to arrange the red and purple that had not been fully opened as if no one else was there.

Even if Yu Heng loses in fighting the stone, they can buy back the jade they want with silver.

Yu Kang would only be happy that his jade was sold at a high price, and he would never know who bought the jade.

It's a pity that Ji Xinxue's plan was very good, from the hair crown to the hairpin ring, to the necklace, to the forbidden step... In the blink of an eye, the prototype of 28 pieces of jewelry was planned.The purple jade that came out of the fortune stone like a hill is only half the size of a palm, and the color distribution is extremely uneven.

The place where the purple is the most intense can be regarded as Eastern Purple, but unfortunately it is only enough to be inlaid on the ring for decoration.There are also two corners that are considered to be of high-quality red and purple, so they cannot be made into full-jade hairpins, so they can only be polished into jade beads or pieces, and inlaid in gold and silver.

The rest of the place is ordinary blue and purple, depending on the size, you can take out several rings or earrings.

After a heated debate, several jade appraisers finally offered a high price of 500 taels of silver.

Surprise appeared in Ji Xinxue's eyes, it was actually more expensive than the green jade he gave Ji Jingyu last year?

If he hadn't been sure that Jin Yulou would not dare to cheat, he would have wondered if he had encountered a pig slaughter.

"Purple jade is rare, and it is usually more valuable than ordinary jade." The clear voice sounded from behind Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng. It was a man in green clothes.

Ji Xinxue turned her head, her eyes moved from the man's pale face to the belt.

There is no sign of the Yu family, so I don't know if it is a member of the Yu family.

The man in green seemed completely unaware of the probing in Ji Xinxue's eyes, and stopped beside Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng as if nothing had happened.

"Blue-purple and red-purple are already rare good jades, and Donglaizi is the only one..." He cupped his hands in the direction of Chang'an, and his tone suddenly became low, "It is a tribute that can only be used."

Ji Xinxue nodded thoughtfully.

Throughout the ages, the royal family has always been taken advantage of, and the emperor is the most taken advantage of.

It is no joke that the price of any tribute is doubled.

"In your opinion, this piece of purple jade is priced at 500 taels of silver. How are the purple, red and blue parts from the east priced?" Ji Xinxue asked humbly.

The green-clothed gentleman smiled, and answered kindly, "Dong Lai Zi costs 2000 taels of silver, red and purple costs 700 taels of silver, and blue and purple costs 800 taels of silver."

Ji Xinxue nodded, already sure that the other party belonged to the Yu family.

This person knows jade very well. Although he doesn't show that he is very familiar with Jinyulou in his gestures, he can always understate the important points.

Because the shopkeeper just drove away the bearded man with thunderous means and told everyone that as long as the jade shop related to the owner of the Jinyu Building, the bearded man would not be allowed to step in.Although the rest of the people frequently looked at Yu Heng with weird eyes, they didn't dare to provocate with their mouths as before.

After Yu Kang's first Stone of Fortune was opened and evaluated, it was Yu Heng's turn to use the Stone of Fortune.

The gentleman in green asked, "Are the two friends confident that they can win more than 500 taels?"

Ji Xinxue shook her head without hesitation.

Yu Heng nodded reservedly.

Seeing Yu Heng's movements out of the corner of her eye, Ji Xinxue showed surprise, and immediately turned to look at Yu Heng, "Isn't this the stone you picked up casually because you thought it was blocking the way?"

Can this also be confident?

Yu Heng thought for a while, then whispered, "I bypassed all the other stones, only that one..."

special?

Not really.

At least it is not as special as the fortune stone that was pulled out from under the other two fortune stones.

Before Yu Heng could figure out how to describe his feelings at that time, the Lucky Stone had already given a lottery.

Unavoidable, the people who couldn't see were talking nonsense and spreading rumors, and the shopkeeper immediately shouted out the color drawn from the fortune stone, "Huanqing."

Ji Xinxue raised her eyebrows, subconsciously looking at the man in green.

What is a gangster?

Among the fortune stones he selected, there were several pieces of blue color, all of which were muddy blue, and the price was pitifully low.

The man in green smiled and said, "Hunting green is a color between black jade and white jade. This is a piece of multi-colored jade."

Ji Xinxue has seen multi-colored jade, and the most exquisite one is the jade carving with brown, green and yellow at the same time.The master carved the brown part into the shape of a tree branch, and polished the green and yellow parts into cute kingfishers and orioles respectively, which are the favorite decorations of Empress Dowager Su.

"Gradually changing to green, it's natural!" The shopkeeper roared excitedly, his voice almost breaking.

Ji Xinxue raised her eyebrows, and looked at the man in green with sympathy.Hearing the shopkeeper's voice, he knew that the value of this piece of jade would not be lower than that of purple jade.

Two rare jade stones were unearthed consecutively from the fortune stone of one hundred taels of silver, and the most bettors were undoubtedly Jinyulou and the Yu family.

The man in green smiled gently, and calmly explained to Ji Xinxue the various reasons that affect the value of mixed-color jade.

"Mixed green with green! It's emerald green!" The shopkeeper covered his chest and shed tears of regret.

Mixed-color jade is common, but natural-made mixed-color jade is extremely rare. Among them, mixed-color jade with gradual change from black and white is the most rare, not to mention the unobtrusive emerald green in it.

Master Xun carved it into an ornament, enough to pass on to his descendants.

After a fierce quarrel, the jade appraisers finally made an offer.

5000 taels of silver.

So far, the first round of fighting stones is over.

The jade that Yu Kang offered in the second round must be worth at least 500 taels of silver more than the jade that Yu Heng offered in the second round, in order to be able to beat Yu Heng.

Ji Xinxue looked at Yu Kang's position from afar.

At this time, Yu Kang no longer saw the arrogance clamoring to fight Yu Heng.He circled around like a defeated rooster, with remorse on his brows.

"He regretted it." Ji Xinxue said firmly.

If he didn't have a feverish brain and proposed to fight Yu Heng for stones, Yu Kang would earn 500 taels of silver with a hundred taels of silver, and he would already be a winner in life.

At this time, he had to wait for the final result with trepidation, always worrying that the 500 taels of silver in his hand would grow wings and fly away.

If Yu Kang could always maintain the confidence he had when he proposed to fight Yu Heng, even if he lost in the end, he would still maintain his demeanor, Ji Xinxue might think highly of Yu Kang.

pity……

"Out! Suet White!"

The shopkeeper's roar interrupted Ji Xinxue's train of thought.

Not only is it the suet white jade known as the best among jades, but also the translucent nephrite jade without any blemishes and large enough to carve all common decorations.

Regret appeared on the face of the green-clothed gentleman, and he said to Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng, "The suet jade of this quality and size will be quoted at least 9000 taels of silver, and 1 taels of silver is also possible."

"The price difference is so big?" Ji Xinxue looked surprised.

Between the lowest price and the highest price, it is almost comparable to the purple jade containing Donglai purple and red purple,

"This kind of top-quality material that has not been polished is the most rare. If you happen to meet someone who is not short of money and wants to give a gift, it is not impossible to resell it for 2 taels of silver." The green-clothed gentleman said.

Yu Heng raised his eyelids to look at the gentleman in green, and said in a firm tone, "You sold it."

The man in green was stunned, and a strong surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes.

This was the first sentence Yu Heng took the initiative to say to him since he had been looking for him for so long.

Thinking of the [-]% similar portrait of Yu Heng in the ancestral hall, the man in green, who originally wanted to wait and see, suddenly made up his mind.

If it weren't for the presence of Princess An, the Yu family would have struggled under the persecution of the Ji family and the remnants of the previous dynasty like other aristocratic families, and gradually became a dog raised by the remnants of the previous dynasty.

In the case of Chu Mo, it was the Yu family who was sorry for Princess Anguo's mansion.

Now that the situation is improving, Yu Heng should be taken into consideration when measuring the ups and downs.

He suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, looked straight into Yu Heng's eyes, "I have never sold it, but I have seen such a transaction."

"In the 19th year of Yanguang, I was still in the south of the Yangtze River. I heard that the Bai family bought a piece of mutton fat jade from a northern merchant at a high price of 5 taels of silver, and planned to carve it into a birthday peach as a birthday gift for the late emperor." The green-clothed gentleman shook his head. Shaking his head, "It's a pity that the master sculptor the Bai family found suddenly fainted while carving suet jade and smashed it into pieces. The Bai family had to find another green bamboo screen as a birthday gift that year."

While Ji Xinxue felt sorry for the 5 taels of silver, she immediately noticed the violation and asked, "Why is that piece of jade worth 5 taels of silver?"

The suet jade unearthed from Yu Kang's God of Wealth Stone is not only flawless, but also perfect in size and shape, and can carve almost all standard ornaments.

Unless the mutton fat jade brought to Jiangnan by northern merchants is more than twice the size of this mutton fat jade, it should not be sold at a high price of 5 taels of silver anyway.

The man in green smiled, and said in a voice that only he, Ji Xinxue, and Yu Heng could hear, "It's not 5 taels of silver. When the northern merchants left Jiangnan, they took 8 taels of gold with them."

Ji Xinxue's eyes widened suddenly, and she immediately forgot about Dou Shi, Yu Kang, and Yang Zhiyu.

Three million taels of gold!

When the Bai family was searched, the imperial envoy transported back to Chang'an a total of 16 taels of gold and 600 taels of silver.

The number shocked the government and the public, so the people cursed the Bai family day and night, wishing that there would be no peace after his death.

It wasn't until Ji Xinxue began to plan to change the Jiangnan business district and really felt the terrible profits in it that Ji Xinxue realized that the money confiscated from the Bai family was far from enough.

Since the fourth year of Changping, he has been looking for the silver that disappeared from the Bai family. Unfortunately, the Bai family did not leave any survivors. Anyone involved in the interest chain of the Jiangnan business district is also the hardest hit area for "suicide" and "assassination". There were not many survivors left.

Nearly two years have passed, and Ji Xinxue can only calculate that at least 200 million taels of gold or equivalent silver have disappeared from the profit network of the Jiangnan business district, but she has never been able to find out the whereabouts of this money.

It is known that the people behind the Bai family are the remnants of the previous dynasty, the remnants of the previous dynasty have been living in Turkic all the time, because the Bai family did not know whether the suet jade existed, the northern merchants took away 8 taels of gold...

Could it be that the remnants of the previous dynasty relied on the Bai family's wanton accumulation of wealth in the south of the Yangtze River, and the gold and silver obtained from the people's fat and anointing, to maintain the right to speak in the Turkic royal court?

Ji Xinxue gritted her teeth, trying her best to control the anger that suddenly surged into her heart.

Yu Heng put his hand on Ji Xinxue's forearm, looked deeply at the gentleman in green, and asked straight to the point, "Where is the money hidden by the Bai family?"

"I don't know." The man in green shook his head, and said with a wry smile, "It's too late for the Bai family to guard against me, so how could they disclose such an important matter to me?"

lie.

The Bai family is so wary of you, isn't it because you discovered that the suet jade that the Bai family claimed to buy from a northern merchant cost 5 taels of silver, but it was actually 8 taels of gold?

Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng exchanged glances and calmed down at the same time.

The man in green is willing to take the initiative to talk about the strangeness of the Bai family buying mutton fat jade, which means he is willing to surrender to Emperor Changping.Acting stupid at this time is because the two sides have not reached an agreement yet.

It is not suitable for Jin Yulou to discuss this matter in detail. They should first investigate the details of the gentleman in green and wait for the Yu family to make a move.

The gentleman in green showed a kind smile to Yu Heng, and said warmly, "I see that you are close to your eyes, you can call me Uncle. Tomorrow, I will ask the servant to deliver the meeting gift to the place where you stay."

Yu Heng looked at the green-clothed gentleman from top to bottom, and his eyes stayed on the cat-eye bracelet on the green-clothed gentleman's wrist for a long time, "Uncle?"

He has a string of cat's eyes that are exactly the same, which was a tribute given to Princess An by the last emperor of the previous dynasty.

According to the old servant of the princess mansion, there were originally two cat's eye bracelets, and Princess An once wore one of them on the hand of her adopted younger brother.

"Hey!" The smile on the corner of the man's mouth widened suddenly, and he looked at Ji Xinxue again.

Ji Xinxue turned her head expressionlessly.

The news that the Bai family had transported gold and silver to the north through northern merchants was enough for Yu Heng to call him uncle.

The shopkeeper ran to Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng with sweat on his head, his eyes were full of enthusiasm.

Yu Heng subconsciously protected Ji Xinxue behind her, and both of them looked at the shopkeeper vigilantly.

"Purple, all purple from the east!" The shopkeeper said incoherently, "Excellent! Flawless! Purple from the east!"

Before the words were finished, a tall and strong man was already carrying Ziyu, which was as tall as an adult man's thigh, and walked cautiously in front of Ji Xinxue and Yu Heng.

The color of purple jade is deep and introverted, as if there are layers of purple clouds sealed in white jade, which is both thorough and heavy.

That's what the so-called purple air comes from the east.

Ji Xinxue stared blankly at Ziyu for a while, then raised her head and looked around.

First, he saw the same fanaticism on the faces of the people around him as the shopkeeper, and then Yu Kang, who was emotionally broken and knelt on the ground and cried bitterly.

"This..." Ji Xinxue pointed to the purple jade that was always held in the hands of the strong man, "Is it the fortune stone chosen by Feng Lang?"

The shopkeeper nodded again and again, his excitement was beyond words, "Yes! The whole piece is Donglaizi! Donglaizi!"

Only such Donglaizi could surpass the mutton fat jade from Yu Kang's fortune stone.

Ordinary people are very lucky to see one of them in their lifetime.

How could he be able to see two top-quality jade stones within half an hour!

Seeing that Ji Xinxue just nodded, with a reserved smile on the corner of her mouth, there was affection in her eyes but it was not 'real' enough.

The shopkeeper yelled, "This is Donglaizi! The high price of 18 taels of silver is better than the mutton fat jade worth 12 taels of silver! Now these two pieces of jade belong to the county... and they belong to you!"

Ji Xinxue hurriedly hid behind Yu Heng, fearing that the shopkeeper's saliva would fly on his face, her tone finally turned into the excitement imagined by the shopkeeper, "I heard it, I heard it!"