Chapter 615: Princess Fei'er

"You..."

The Sixth Miss's nails dug into her flesh, her face shifting between overcast and clear, her eyes blazing with intense hatred, wishing she could devour the man before her alive.

For her, being a maidservant was impossible, but kneeling was an even greater humiliation, extremely difficult to do.

"Change the terms..."

Her teeth nearly grinding to pieces, the Sixth Miss suppressed her anger and said.

"Our young master is being generous, isn't he? This won't do, that won't do—are you doing this on purpose? Won't kneel, won't be a maidservant? Fine, the young master still needs a warming-bed girl. Come do that! As long as you serve the young master well, ten thousand spirit stones are nothing!"

Hearing her continue to dawdle, Sun Qiang interjected with displeasure.

What a piece of work. It was only because the young master had a good temper; if it were him, he wouldn't even agree to a warming-bed girl, let alone a maidservant.

"What did you say?"

Her body swayed, the Sixth Miss's eyes turning red, wishing she could tear the man before her apart on the spot.

"What did I say? Can't you understand?" Sun Qiang shook his head and turned to Zhang Xuan: "Young master, since this one won't do this or that, picking and choosing, may I make the decision?"

"Your maidservant, do as you please!" Zhang Xuan waved his hand, looking indifferent.

Sun Qiang might seem muddled, but he was actually very clever. Since he asked for the task, he must already have a plan.

"His... maidservant?"

Her body swayed, the Sixth Miss nearly spat blood.

She had thought this young master coveted her beauty and wanted her as his own maidservant. Never in her dreams had she imagined it wasn't that at all—he wanted her to be the servant of this scatterbrained steward...

And that indifferent look—what did it mean?

With my status... even the emperor of the Huan Yu Empire would welcome me. If I revealed it, it would be enough to scare you to death on the spot!

To act like this... it's a sheer humiliation!

"Thank you, young master!"

Looking at the nearby Sixth Miss, Sun Qiang circled around, frowned, and said: "You're too ugly. Even if you wanted to be a warming-bed girl, the young master wouldn't want you. So you'll just have to be a maidservant!"

"Ugly? Not want me?"

The Sixth Miss could barely contain herself, about to explode with rage.

I am naturally beautiful, and you call me ugly? Are those eyes of yours just for decoration?

In truth, she didn't know that Sun Qiang wasn't saying this to provoke her; it was his genuine thought.

The young master's students, Zhao Ya and Wang Ying—which of them wasn't more beautiful than her? Even Mo Yu and Zhao Feiwu were no less, and the young master remained unmoved.

A spoiled, willful brat like her—how could he possibly take a liking to her?

"But, being a maidservant, my terms are different from the young master's. There's a time limit... say, five months! You owe the young master ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Divided over five months, that's two thousand a month. Per day, that's sixty-six. Let's round it up to seventy!"

Counting on his fingers, Sun Qiang looked over: "If you think being a maidservant is too demeaning, you can buy your free time by the day. As long as you pay, you regain your freedom and can do whatever you want."

"Seventy? Buy free time?"

The Sixth Miss was taken aback.

"That's right. During free time, you're not a maidservant. In other words, you don't have to pay the ten thousand spirit stones all at once; you can repay day by day. As long as you clear the debt within five months, you won't be a servant or have that status. As for why it's seventy a day instead of sixty-six, it's because buying day by day is more expensive; monthly subscription is cheaper!"

Sun Qiang explained.

"Monthly subscription, pfft..."

Just as she thought his method was somewhat acceptable, upon hearing this, the Sixth Miss nearly spat blood.

How was it that every word made her sound like a commodity, available for purchase at will?

And 'payment,' 'monthly subscription'...

The more she thought, the more frantic she became, about to explode.

But after the anger subsided, thinking it over carefully, this method was actually quite good.

With her status, being a maidservant to a steward was certainly out of the question. But repaying by the day, as long as she got through these few days, she could gather enough spirit stones once she returned home and easily break free from this arrangement!

"Fine, I agree!" Having thought it through, the Sixth Miss nodded.

"Not bad!" Hearing Sun Qiang's arrangement, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

As expected of a merchant, his methods were indeed clever.

Pulling out ten thousand spirit stones all at once would be difficult for anyone and would seem impossible, but breaking it down into daily payments made it much smaller and less stressful.

It was like installment payments in his previous life—though the total spirit stones paid were more, everyone could manage it and even enjoyed it.

"Sixth... Miss!"

Not expecting her to agree, the young man was extremely anxious.

Others might not know the Sixth Miss's identity, but he knew it all too well. Being a maidservant... what a joke!

Once the news got out, the entire imperial family of the Huan Yu Empire would go mad!

"I'll handle my own affairs!" The Sixth Miss snorted.

"But..."

The young man's veins bulged on his forehead.

"Alright, you two can discuss your matters later. From now on, you are a maidservant. If you have no money, hurry up and prepare to return to the mansion with us!"

Interrupting their conversation, Sun Qiang said.

"No need, I'll pay for ten days first!"

With a snort, the Sixth Miss turned her palm over, and a pile of medium-grade spirit stones appeared before everyone's eyes. Counting them, there were exactly seven hundred.

"Hmm!"

Sun Qiang's eyes lit up as he looked at Zhang Xuan, and heard his voice ring out: "You take them for now."

"Yes!"

Sun Qiang waved his hand, storing the spirit stones into his ring, then looked back at the girl before him: "Judging by your appearance, your status and position must be quite high, so you probably won't just run off. But you never know. How about this: you leave something as collateral with me. After five months, or when you've paid all ten thousand spirit stones, I'll return it to you!"

"You..."

The veins on the Sixth Miss's forehead twitched wildly.

She had already agreed to the humiliating condition of being a maidservant, and yet he still worried she might run away. It was... infuriating!

Still, she knew these two fellows were utterly unyielding; the more she said, the angrier she'd get. She flipped her wrist again and took out a badge.

A master teacher badge!

Five stars glittered dazzlingly on it.

"This badge represents my identity. It should be enough as collateral for ten thousand spirit stones!"

"It'll do."

Sun Qiang took it and stored it in his ring.

The young man earlier had also produced a badge—a five-star master teacher. He hadn't expected this girl to be one too.

But even a five-star was nothing. As the steward of an eight-star master teacher, if he lacked such composure, he might as well give up.

"Hmph!"

Seeing that the man showed no shock or fear at her badge, but remained as calm as water, the Sixth Miss was taken aback. Her face darkened, and she turned around, heading straight downstairs.

She couldn't stand another moment here—not because she was humiliated by losing the bet, but because she was furious.

What kind of people were these!

She had thought that as a five-star master teacher so young, she would command respect and awe wherever she went. Yet these two didn't even acknowledge her, as if the title meant nothing.

The stark contrast left her so frustrated she wanted to vomit blood.

"Sixth Miss..."

Seeing her leave directly, the young man was startled. He turned to Zhang Xuan and the other: "You two... just wait!"

He snarled viciously, then hurried after the Sixth Miss, catching up with her downstairs.

"Sixth Princess, these two are arrogant beyond measure. If you wish, I can tell Ye Qian to have them killed!"

His eyes flashed as he snorted.

This time, he addressed her not as Sixth Miss, but as Princess.

If Ye Qian, the crown prince of the Huanyu Empire, had been there, he would have recognized the Sixth Miss as none other than Princess Fei'er of the Hongyuan Empire! The young man beside her was her classmate, a five-star master teacher named Xing Yuan!

They had come out for a stroll, visited the Qizhen Pavilion hoping to find some treasures for their upcoming training, and never dreamed they'd suffer at least ten thousand points of damage in such a short time.

The noble princess, revered even by the emperor of the Huanyu Empire, had been taken as a maidservant, losing all face.

"I, a princess and a five-star master teacher, would stoop to killing someone just because I lost a bet?"

Princess Fei'er stopped in her tracks, raising her eyebrows.

"This..."

Xing Yuan's face reddened.

Losing a bet was already embarrassing enough; if he went and killed someone over it, causing a scandal, he might as well give up being a five-star master teacher.

"But... we can't just let it go. Those two are too arrogant, too infuriating!"

Xing Yuan gritted his teeth.

"They are infuriating, but the stone pillars that neither of us could solve, he solved over a hundred in a minute... And that servant, when he saw the five-star master teacher badge, wasn't afraid at all... These two probably have a background that's not simple. Have Ye Qian send someone to investigate their identities."

Princess Fei'er waved her hand.

Her agreement wasn't impulsive.

Having reached the five-star level, her mental state was above 15.0; she was no longer rash or reckless. The strange master-servant pair upstairs, though not strong in strength, possessed a disconcerting calm and steadiness.

Their identities might be more complicated than she imagined.

Besides, she was curious how the man had so easily solved the stone pillars she couldn't.

"Alright!" Xing Yuan nodded.

...

"Young master, may I ask your name?"

After the Sixth Princess and the others left, Gan Yiping finally recovered. He came before Zhang Xuan, bowing with cupped fists.

"You may call me Zhang Xuan." Zhang Xuan nodded.

"So it's Young Master Zhang. These are all the treasures of the Qizhen Pavilion. You've earned enough points from solving the stone pillars, so these are yours..."

The attendant who had gone downstairs earlier had already packed everything and handed it over in a storage ring.

"Mm."

Taking the ring, Zhang Xuan swept his spiritual sense inside and saw that all the treasures from the lower floors were neatly placed within, not a single one missing.

"If you give me all these treasures, what will happen to your Qizhen Pavilion?"

Zhang Xuan looked at him with confusion, feeling a bit embarrassed.

To be honest, he wasn't very interested in these treasures, but since the other party had given them all to him, it would be rude to refuse, yet he also felt helpless.

But if he took everything, wouldn't the Qizhen Pavilion, lacking treasures to support itself, immediately go bankrupt?