Chapter 551: Stain

Chapter 551: Chapter 551: Stain

When you’re out and about, even lowly servants are spoiled beyond measure, so unruly—must be something wrong with the family rules too.

Nobody dared say this to Shen Hao’s face for now, but many people thought it, especially the self-proclaimed upper-tier types. When they saw the three Xia Nu girls fooling around, they forced polite smiles without intervening, but the scorn in their eyes was plain as day.

Even the three Guards from the Commander’s Office, who trailed Shen Hao to secretly protect and keep watch over him, had their own opinions. Of course, they wouldn’t step out and "lecture Shen Hao on how to discipline his servants," but they’d gossip about it anyway.

"Lord Shen is skilled, lucky, gifted, well-connected, and a real doer too, but he just can’t get past the hurdle of women—what a pity." That was a fairly friendly take; some were nastier.

And you know, the longer gossip goes on, the more distorted it gets—doubling a story is hardly rare.

So does this make one’s reputation worse?

Definitely. But with so many lice, what’s one more itch? Shen Hao knew perfectly well that he still had a reputation? Now that the nickname "Evil Star" was spreading outside Fengri City, there were plenty who wanted him dead—very few rooting for him. So, for now, reputation barely mattered to Shen Hao.

On the contrary, having a bit of a stain could actually be an advantage for Shen Hao.

Others would think: Look, that guy Shen isn’t so untouchable after all—can’t even resist a pretty face, can’t even keep up his reputation, do we really need to worry that much about him?

Just like that, his level of threat drops by several notches.

This was a trick born of necessity; otherwise, having everyone on guard against him wouldn’t end well. And Shen Hao’s little strategy wasn’t only aimed at those hoping for his death—it was also for people like Jiang Cheng and Pang Ban, who were still decent to him.

Besides, Shen Hao wasn’t really a native of this world anyway. He’d been here ten years, but his fundamental outlook was still shaped by nine years of compulsory education back home, different from this world where people could be treated like things. He was always a lot more tolerant towards those in his own household.

So what if they have a bit of fun when they’re happy? It clashed with none of his beliefs, and—if he could use it to play down his threat level a bit, why the hell not?

The moment he got out of the carriage, an attendant from the auction house who’d caught wind of his arrival hurried up to greet him.

"Greetings, Lord Shen. Shopkeeper He just went in, so he couldn’t welcome you personally—hope you can forgive us."

No need to take this lackey’s words at face value. Judging by today’s crowd, there was no way Shopkeeper He wasn’t up to his neck in business here at Fengri City’s auction—if he had time to receive guests, that’d be a miracle.

"Alright, get me to my private room, then give me a rundown, hmm?"

"Yes, Lord Shen—this way, please."

At the entrance, a Warrior checked Shen Hao’s Gold Medal, but because space was limited inside, Shen Hao could bring in only five people. With the three Xia Nu girls, that left two out of the three Guards who were shadowing him for protection. Those three had practiced flipping between covert and overt duty many times. Poor Xiaoma, though—he’d wanted to come in and see the sights, but he had to wait outside with the two Nursing Home staff.

Shen Hao had heard the Fengri City Auction House was massive and labyrinthine, but it wasn’t until he followed the attendant around for a good while that he realized he’d underestimated the place entirely.

Four floors above ground, three below! The ground floors formed a pyramid, the subterranean levels an inverted one.

Shen Hao’s private room was in the loft overlooking the main hall on the first floor—technically on the first floor, yet suspended over the ground below.

Most of the oval-shaped main hall’s perimeter was ringed by these suspended rooms, more than thirty in total, jutting out from the walls.

The way you got into these rooms was special too—you’d have to wind through a side passage, then spiral in toward the inside. Once you opened the door, you’d find it actually wasn’t that big, maybe three zhang square. The arrangement inside was cozy and exquisite. Facing you was a set of windows; open them, and you’d have a direct view of the main stage below.

This really was a prime spot.

"Lord Shen, if you need anything, just ask him—he’s the attendant for this room." The escorting attendant saw Shen Hao looked satisfied and gestured to a young man by the door.

"Alright. You go do your thing."

"In that case, I’ll take my leave. Enjoy your time, my lord!"

Once the usher was gone, the room attendant brewed a pot of tea and stood quietly by. Unless spoken to, he faded into the background.

"How long until it starts?"

"In answer to your question, my lord, the main auction in the hall is scheduled for early 7 a.m., so there’s about half a stick of incense’s time left. Would you like me to fetch you a detailed list of the first round’s auction items?"

Shen Hao took out a pamphlet, which He Huan had given him earlier, and said, "Didn’t I get this booklet before? Something changed?"

"Yes, my lord—what you have is a preview list. Now that the auctions are split into sessions, every round may have lots added or removed at the last moment, so the copy you have is just a reference."

"Alright, get me a copy then." 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Since he was already here, Shen Hao wasn’t going to just sit around for the fun of it—it wouldn’t do to waste someone’s invite and not buy anything at all, right?

He took the sheet the attendant handed over and fell silent, reading.

The three Fox Women crowded by the window, craning to peer at the main floor, all giddy with anticipation for the auction. It was their first time, and they couldn’t contain their curiosity.

The two Guards from the Commander’s Office who’d come along were also checking out the scene below; they’d heard all about the famous Gold Medal Auction at Fengri City and knew there would definitely be treasures up for bidding. They were quite intrigued.

"Still poor as hell!" Shen Hao thought to himself, not without feeling.

For a long time, Shen Hao had felt pretty confident in his own wealth. With Wuliangye—such a lucrative monopoly—he was raking in a fortune at all times, definitely qualifying as a local tycoon. But after seeing the list in his hands, he realized he’d still overrated himself.

What He Huan had originally given him was merely the "briefing;" the sheet he’d just received was the detailed auction intel, with item descriptions and starting prices.

After scanning the list, Shen Hao realized that, although many items could be bought with silver coins, compared to "outside" prices, they were heavily "devalued" in here. Here, real hard currency wasn’t gold or gems, but Spirit Stones.

Lower Grade, Middle Grade, even Upper Grade Spirit Stones were the main "currency" for the auction. If you wanted to use silver, you had to exchange it at Spirit Stone street value plus a thirty percent markup. Put bluntly, it was equivalent to black market rates for swapping silver and Spirit Stones. Many of the high-grade items even had restrictions on bidding with silver.

The truth was that, counted up, Shen Hao wasn’t all that well-off for this arena. For those dazzling lots, he could only look but not touch. Still, there were a few Magic Discs and similar items he could afford—maybe later he could try bidding for one or two.