Chapter 219 - 217: Holding an Auction

For the next few days, Night Rose did not see Ye Xuan again. Ye Xuan, for his part, refused to let her run around aimlessly. He had Vermilion Bird transfer two agents from the Ministry of State Security to keep a close eye on her around the clock. Originally, Night Rose had planned to travel to Elephant Country on her own, but with Ye Xuan’s interference, she couldn’t go anywhere.

Meanwhile, Ye Xuan, Vermilion Bird, and the others received a special mission.

"Old man, you weren’t the one who assigned this mission to us, were you?" Ye Xuan asked with a frown, looking at the Chief, whose expression was equally grim.

"That’s right. This didn’t go through my hands at all," the Chief replied, his eyes filled with a cold glint as he stared at the notice from above.

The mission itself wasn’t particularly difficult. The higher-ups had organized an exclusive auction to better curry favor with the major noble families of Jingcheng. In name, the event was to honor and strengthen the bonds between the noble families. In reality, it was a test to clearly see where each family’s loyalties lay.

Yet, for some unknown reason, the security details for this auction were handed over to the Four Palaces. In the past, such tasks were always handled by the Security Bureau. Clearly, there was an ulterior motive behind this arrangement.

"We can reject this, right? For something this trivial, leaving it to the Police Department would be more than enough," Vermilion Bird said, frowning. She clearly had no desire to take on the job.

"I doubt we can get out of this. In all likelihood, this auction is targeted squarely at our Four Palaces," Ye Xuan sneered, his eyes flashing. "If we don’t take it, then all the immense trouble they went through to set this up would be meaningless."

The Chief sighed heavily, a trace of helplessness in his tone. "Ye Xuan is right. This auction is being held specifically to target you all. You have to take it whether you want to or not; there is no backing out. Just keep your wits about you and make sure you don’t fall into whatever traps they’ve dug for you."

Ye Xuan looked at the worried Chief, reached out to pat his shoulder, and offered a few resolute words of reassurance. The Chief pursed his lips and remained silent, only nodding heavily.

The auction was scheduled for three days later. Most of the items up for bid were donated by the various noble families. Of course, the Ministry of State Security had also contributed a portion of the items. All proceeds from the auction would be donated by the Ministry to charities dedicated to helping children in impoverished mountainous regions.

Operating under the banner of charity made it difficult for the major noble families to refuse. Whether they wanted to or not, almost all of them sent representatives to attend. Naturally, such a large-scale joint event involving the noble families attracted significant attention from the media. In fact, long before Ye Xuan returned, the Ministry of State Security had heavily promoted the auction. It was safe to say that everyone in Jingcheng knew about the upcoming event.

The fact that the higher-ups had tried every possible means to force Ye Xuan and his team to handle the security detail meant they were likely plotting to humiliate the Four Palaces in front of the public and the media. If they succeeded, the Four Palaces would lose what little public support they had left, giving the higher-ups a legitimate excuse to disband them once and for all.

Now that Ye Xuan and his team had figured out the higher-ups’ true objective, the only unknown was exactly what underhanded methods would be used to frame the Four Palaces.

"Damn it, we’ve never been so humiliated before!" Vermilion Bird cursed. She and a group of her subordinates were setting up the auction venue. Infuriated, she slammed the chair in her hands heavily onto the floor.

Ye Xuan bent down and quietly picked the chair back up. Offering a faint smile, he comforted her, "Relax, these days won’t last much longer. Endure it a little more; the people from the Qilin Hall won’t be able to act so arrogantly for much longer."

Frustration was one thing, but the work still had to be done. After venting her anger, Vermilion Bird let out a helpless sigh and went back to moving items to arrange the venue.

Just as Ye Xuan and the others were working in full swing, the Qilin Chief arrived with dozens of members from the Qilin Hall and immediately began lobbing cold sarcasm at him. "Oh? If it isn’t Huaxia’s number one War God, the Cyan Dragon Chief. How is it that you’re out here playing security guard with your subordinates?"

Hearing this, the eyes of the members of the Four Palaces instantly flared with anger. Their muscles tensed as they looked ready to start a fight. Ye Xuan expressionlessly flashed a hand signal, motioning for them not to act rashly. Back when he was a live-in son-in-law for the Lin family, he had heard every nasty insult under the sun. Compared to that, the Qilin Chief’s words were practically pleasant.

"Did you bring the auction items?" Ye Xuan ignored the Qilin Chief’s mockery and directly asked for the goods slated for the event.

Seeing that Ye Xuan wasn’t provoked in the slightest, the smile on the Qilin Chief’s face stiffened, and a flash of irritation crossed his eyes. He marveled at how Ye Xuan could keep his temper in check, remaining completely indifferent even when being humiliated in public.

"There are fifteen auction items in total, and they’re all here. You’d better protect them well. If even a single piece is lost or damaged, everyone in your Four Palaces will be punished!" The Qilin Chief waved at the people behind him, who then brought forward fifteen locked boxes. After setting the boxes down and tossing the keys into Ye Xuan’s hands, the Qilin Chief turned to leave.

Ye Xuan narrowed his eyes and called out to stop him. "Hold on. Wait until we inspect the goods before you leave."

At those words, the Qilin Chief’s gaze flickered, and his body grew noticeably stiffer.

"What? Does the Cyan Dragon Chief not trust us?" he asked with a sneer, turning his head to look at Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan glanced at him and replied in a flat tone, "That’s right, I really don’t trust you. Who knows if you intentionally damaged or lost the items just to pin the blame on our Four Palaces?"

These words left the Qilin Chief completely speechless. His face turned beet red with anger, and he couldn’t utter a single word for a long while.

"Fine! Inspect them! We are upright and honorable. One check is all it takes to see whether we played any tricks to frame you." Left with no other choice, the Qilin Chief ultimately waved his hand dismissively, allowing Ye Xuan to open the boxes and inspect the goods.

Ye Xuan lifted his chin toward his subordinates, gesturing for them to open the boxes. Soon, all fifteen boxes were opened. Inside lay fifteen rare and exotic treasures, each holding extraordinary value.

The boxes also contained national-level certificates of authenticity. Ye Xuan examined them one by one. Only after confirming that all the items were intact, undamaged, and genuine did he have his men lock the boxes again.

"They’ve all been inspected. You can leave now. We still need to set up the venue, so don’t get in our way." Looking at the people from the Qilin Hall, Ye Xuan waved them off, unceremoniously kicking them out.