For Morax
Wearing a mask here for the nobles is equivalent to taking off the mask on their faces. Along the way, one could occasionally see nobles, masked and behaving inappropriately towards their "female companions."
These female companions are almost all staff from the auction house. They appear to be coyly resisting, smiling brightly, but their eyes are filled with confusion and deadness.
It's a situation where their bodies are alive, but their hearts are dead.
Even if these nobles "redeem" them, they would only become playthings.
There will always be a day when they grow old and lose their charm, or when the nobles tire of them. When that day comes, their fate might be even worse than being in the auction house.
Paimon glanced around, feeling a bit disoriented by everything. It felt somewhat uncomfortable for her, even though everyone seemed quite happy. There was still something strange about it.
Zhongli occasionally paused and sighed, not paying attention to it anymore.
These women were mostly children from poor families, sold to the auction house for various reasons, be it family troubles or other circumstances.
Although the auction house treats them as commodities, it genuinely provided them with a form of upbringing, twisted as it might be. It allowed them to survive.
As the God of Contracts, Zhongli had a moment where he wanted to break the "contracts" here, but ultimately, he gave up.
Without a change in mindset, saving them temporarily wouldn't change their fate in the long run.
These women are beyond saving. Besides serving men and the powerful, they have no other skills.
If they were rescued and left to fend for themselves, it wouldn't be long before they returned here.
"Xue Qinghe" noticed Zhongli sighing, and a scene from Jialing Pass flashed through his mind.
"Although I have no desire for power, I know the suffering of the people..."
"Could it be... could it be that Zhongli became God because of these commoners?"
Qian Renxue frowned and thought to herself.
It was understandable that she thought so.
Not to mention the two great empires, even the Spirit Hall never paid much attention to commoners without the potential to become Spirit Masters!
If someone didn't have the potential to become a Spirit Master, the Spirit Hall's attitude towards them was only slightly better than that of the two empires.
At least, they gave the commoners some hope.
Qian Renxue asked herself: Has she ever considered commoners without spirit power as people?
She focused on talent and gifts.
Without those, she wouldn't even pay attention to them.
She may be kind-hearted, but she also didn't really care about commoners without spirit power.
"For Morax!"
"Should I make some changes?"
Qian Renxue looked around the auction house. She rarely came here.
Seeing these scenes made her feel uncomfortable.
The auction house is a major source of revenue for the Heaven Dou Royal Family. After all, the starting price for a staff member here is ten thousand gold soul coins!
What kind of project could be so profitable?
The annual military expenses, officials' salaries, and royal expenditures of the Heaven Dou Empire all require money...
The auction house supports a large portion of these expenses!
If these projects were canceled, the empire's revenue would inevitably be affected.
Qian Renxue felt a headache. These historical issues could only be addressed after she ascends to power.
For now, no matter what she says, Xue Ye would never make any changes for this reason.
Morax could appear, but not like in the dream. He would ruin everything!
"In a while, I must have a good talk with the guest official about this issue, about the people's livelihood!"
Thinking of this, Qian Renxue glanced at Zhongli's profile. Even with a mask, he still exuded charm!
Following the receptionist's lead, Paimon, Zhongli, and "Xue Qinghe" arrived at a private room after wandering around.
Upon arrival, "Xue Qinghe" waved her hand, signaling the receptionist to leave.
Although reluctant, this was an opportunity she had fought hard for. Yet, she had no choice but to leave when the crown prince ordered her to go.
"Qinghe, is there a specific meaning behind these colored areas?" Paimon turned her head and asked "Xue Qinghe."
She had noticed them when they arrived.
It seemed like this place was divided into four areas.
The red area had only one private room, and it wasn't clear who it was prepared for.
The black area had a few more rooms, roughly five or six.
They had entered Room No. 1 in the black area.
The purple area also had private rooms, but there were noticeably more than in the black area.
As for the yellow and white areas, they were distinguished by seating arrangements and did not have exclusive private rooms.
Hearing this, "Xue Qinghe" explained to Paimon that the different areas represented different statuses and wealth levels.
Of course, without power or nobility, the highest one could go was the purple room.
Even if someone was offered a black room, they wouldn't dare enter due to the class hierarchy.
As the crown prince, her room was naturally Room No. 1 in the black area.
If Xue Ye died, she could then move into the sole red room.
In the world of spirit masters, status and power are often distinguished by the color of one's spirit rings.
Even in divine trials, this color system is used to distinguish levels.
White is the lowest, and gold is the highest.
The order goes: white, yellow, purple, black, red, and gold.
"I see!" Paimon nodded thoughtfully.
Suddenly, her attention was caught by the fruit platter on the table. Whatever she had been about to say was instantly forgotten at the sight of the snacks.
"Qinghe, can we eat these?"
"Yes," Xue Qinghe nodded. "Paimon, you can even pack them up to take away if you like."
Paimon's eyes lit up at this. Zhongli, however, couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his eye. He was almost certain that these fruit platters would show up at his residence later that evening.
He was willing to bet his name on it; it was bound to happen.
Despite her small size, Paimon had a surprising appetite.
According to the "law of conservation of energy," this was quite unusual!
But Zhongli had sharp eyes and noticed that Paimon had grown a bit.
When they first met, Paimon was no more than fifteen to twenty centimeters tall.
Now, she had gotten a bit bigger.
It seemed that all those Mora she ate from the Traveler weren't wasted after all.
Without Paimon, she'd probably be very bored.
Alas, who knew Paimon would cross worlds with him?
"Guest Official, what do you think of this auction house?"
As Paimon was eating, "Xue Qinghe" took the opportunity to ask, probing Zhongli's thoughts.
She was very interested in knowing his attitude; other matters were secondary.
"The Heaven Dou Empire publicly bans certain things, yet here they are," Zhongli replied. "However, while the auction house's act of raising orphans has a twisted purpose, it can still be considered a small good deed."