Gu Youlan decided not to compete with Mu Jinyu any longer.
Soon, the exquisite gift gown made of Heavenly Silkworm Silk that had taken three months to weave was delivered to their private room by a maid.
After Mu Jinyu settled the bill, the maid respectfully took her leave.
Then, Mu Jinyu handed the gift gown over to Su Zijin.
"Mom, this is for you," Mu Jinyu said with a smile.
"Ah?! For me?" Su Zijin was surprised by Mu Jinyu's words, her mouth agape with shock and joy.
She hadn't expected the gown Mu Jinyu had bid on to be a gift for her.
After thinking for a moment, Su Zijin shook her head and said, "There's no need, I'm old now and have lost my luster. You should give it to Little Xue instead."
Mu Jinyu had not yet spoken when Mei Yinxue, coming back to her senses, quickly urged, "How can you say you're old, Mom? When we walk together, everyone believes we're sisters. This gown really suits you, so please accept it quickly. It represents Jinyu's heartfelt gesture. Don't decline it; you might hurt his feelings, and then he might never buy you anything again."
Mu Jinyu also nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, Mom, please accept it. As for gift gowns and such, Old Mei has plenty of them. Last time, Ah-Xiang even gave several sets of gowns and high heels to each of them, so she's certainly not in need of more."
Upon hearing this, Mei Yinxue secretly rolled her eyes at Mu Jinyu.
A woman can never have too many clothes, and after all, the gifts from Xiang Mantang as a junior brother's greeting present couldn't be compared to the gifts from Mu Jinyu, could they?
However, considering that Mu Jinyu was giving this gown to her mother-in-law, Mei Yinxue decided not to make a fuss.
With the persuasion of Mei Yinxue and Mu Jinyu, Su Zijin eventually accepted the gown.
She particularly liked the style of the gift gown, but more importantly, it was a gift from Mu Jinyu, which made it even more special.
In the subsequent auction, whenever Mu Jinyu was interested in an item, he always raised the bid by fifty million yuan each time.
Sometimes, when others raised the bid by ten million yuan or twenty million yuan all at once, Mu Jinyu would assess the value and decide whether to continue bidding or to give up directly.
After being outmaneuvered by his tactics, many were cautious not to impulsively raise the bid in anger, fearing that instead of trapping Mu Jinyu, they would be the ones left with a heavy loss.
Thus, without increasing his offers by much, Mu Jinyu managed to acquire many items he found desirable quite easily.
Mei Yinxue was somewhat astonished by his bidding strategy.
Finally, the auction was coming to a close.
"We will now begin the bidding for the highlight of tonight's Jinling auction—the absolute treasure sword, the Zichen Demon-Slaying Sword!"
The auctioneer on stage, gripping the microphone, introduced with an excited and passionate tone:
"This peerless sword is forged from scarce ores such as Meteorite Iron from Beyond, Ten Thousand Years Profound Iron, and North Pole Cold Iron. It is a laborious creation of the master swordsmith Ouye Zi. It effortlessly slices through iron and is sharp enough to cut a hair blown across it. The opening bid is 1.3 billion yuan with each subsequent bid increasing by no less than fifty million yuan!"
While the auctioneer introduced the item, a maid had already brought the treasured sword on a tray to the stage.
And at the sight, the atmosphere among the audience grew tense with anticipation.
Some of them came with the specific goal of acquiring a coveted item, while others hadn't noticed anything that caught their eye—except for this peerless sword, which indeed stirred their desire.
However, with a starting bid of 1.3 billion yuan and an estimated final price upwards of two billion yuan, even though it strongly appealed to them, their wallets prohibited any impulsive bidding.
They too were merely present to broaden their horizons.
In private room number seven, both Mu Jinyu and Mei Yinxue perked up upon hearing the auctioneer's announcement.
The reason for attending the auction was precisely to bid on this Blood-Drinking Sword for Mei Yinxue.
Finally, the moment to auction off her foster father's legacy had arrived.
Under the eager gazes of the crowd, the auctioneer took the sheathed treasured sword from the tray.
The scabbard was made of sharkskin, and as the auctioneer slowly drew the sword, a streak of chilling light flashed by. Under the spotlight, it appeared even more cold and formidable.
Then, the auctioneer plucked a strand of hair from a waiting maid's head and laid it beside the blade. With a gentle blow, there seemed to be a surge of sword qi, instantly cutting the glossy black hair cleanly into two.
"Clang!"
After the demonstration of its sharpness, two burly staff members brought up a steel spear, and the auctioneer, holding the treasured sword, struck down upon the spear shaft!
The sword slashed through the spear, sparking on impact, and then to the amazement of all present, the approximate three-inch thick spear shaft was cleanly severed by the peerless sword.
The crowd watched with excitement, then some began to doubt, had the spear shaft been tampered with in advance?
While they were still harboring doubts, the auctioneer's movements continued without pause, and with several "clang," "clang" sounds, a seven-foot-long spear was chopped into four pieces by the auctioneer!
With a wave of his hand for the staff to take the broken spear shaft away, the auctioneer sheathed his sword with a smile and said:
"Alright, everyone has seen the prowess of this treasured sword, haven't they? No more idle talk, let's start the auction!"
As soon as he finished speaking.
Someone immediately made a bid:
"Thirteen billion five hundred million!"
Then someone promptly bid:
"Fourteen billion!"
"Fifteen billion!"
Some tried to intimidate others by increasing the bid by a billion in one go.
"Fifteen billion five hundred million!"
Unfortunately, it was of no use, as someone immediately continued with a higher bid!
"..."
Soon, the sword named Zichen Demon-Slaying Sword by the auction had its price raised all the way to eighteen billion!
"Twenty billion!"
This time, Mu Jinyu spoke up directly.
He could estimate the value of the other items in this auction and decide whether to give up on them or not, but the only exception was the Blood-Drinking Sword that Mei Yinxue's adoptive father had once given her; Mu Jinyu was determined to win it, even if it cost a hundred billion!
As soon as the bid of twenty billion was made.
The whole venue suddenly quieted down a bit.
After all, the price was rather high, and it was around the figure they had estimated for the final deal.
But quickly, someone continued to raise the bid.
"Twenty-five billion!"
The bidder, naturally, was Gu Youlan.
Mu Jinyu didn't hesitate and immediately made another bid, "Twenty-five billion five hundred million!"
"Thirty billion!"
Gu Youlan's bid came out.
All of a sudden, it made everyone in attendance couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
The Su family, even if wealthy, shouldn't be so reckless with money, should they?
But why was Gu Youlan being so lavish, raising the bid by five billion each time, lifting the price higher and higher with such grandeur?
It left everyone without any doubt, giving off the feeling that...
She was a "shill" planted by the auction house.
Mu Jinyu frowned at this bid, wondering if Gu Youlan knew that the sword was very important to Mei Yinxue and was deliberately targeting him?
After all, Mei Yinxue along with Gu Youlan, Zhu Yeqing, and Huang Qiuhua had all been adopted by a Jianghu bigwig from River City, and the Blood-Drinking Sword had been a gift to Mei Yinxue from their adoptive father back in the day—so there was no way Gu Youlan would be unaware of that.
Of course, it could also be that Gu Youlan genuinely liked this sword as well and wanted to snatch it away to further mock Mei Yinxue.
Mei Yinxue's expression, however, changed slightly.
In fact, when she encountered Gu Youlan at this auction, she had a sneaking suspicion that her beloved Blood-Drinking Sword, which she had lost years ago, might have been stolen by Gu Youlan—who was like a sister to her at the time...
Now, Gu Youlan had brought it out to attract her here again.