A Hundred Thousand Golden Leaves

The man wore a bright red robe, embroidered with golden threads that weaved various images across it. His black hair was let down, and held together by a single hair pin. His slanted eyes gave him a lazy, nonchalant look. He was leaning against a corner of the cage, his eyes closed and his long, black eyelashes twitching slightly.

The red spider lily mark at the corner of his eye bloomed beautifully—just like the man.

His chin was lifted slightly, and his scarlet lips were the color of blood. He was shackled above his ankles, and though he was clearly the meat on the butcher's table, his carefree air made it seem like he had chosen to be there. 

The more they looked, the more the crowd failed to tear their eyes from his beauty. Gasps of awe repeated endlessly.

"Oh, such beauty. It would be lovely if we bought him and kept him at home just so we could look at him."

"But he would at least cost ten thousand golden leaves…"

Though many admired the beauty in the cage, some thought it was a shame.

"In the end, he's a man and not a woman… no matter how beautiful he is." With that, one of the men threw away his bidding sign in boredom, and simply watched as the others fought.

Meanwhile, Su Ye was frozen to the spot, speechless. She clenched the handles of her chair so hard that she snapped them off with a loud crack.

Was she imagining things? Why would that wicked wretch be in that cage? Did the madam know what she had brought back?

At the sharp sound of the chair handles breaking, everyone turned towards Su Ye. Those jet-black vulpine eyes swept towards her as well, staring fixedly at Su Ye.

The crimson lips on that expressionless face suddenly curved into a slow smile.

The crowd erupted into an even greater uproar at the sight of it. The auction had already started, but it took just a few turns for the bids to shoot up to twenty thousand golden leaves.

Su Ye stood up, turned around, and quickly headed outside, rushing as if her life was in danger. 

It was only after Su Ye disappeared from sight that Su Qing lowered his eyes again, hiding the unfathomable emotions on his face. There was no telling what was on his mind, but his every move seemed to further excite the crowd.

With that, the bids continued to shoot up, and the auctioneer was naturally pleased. "Fifty thousand golden leaves, going once. Will anyone go higher?"

The astronomical price finally restored some sanity to the crowd. It was fifty thousand golden leaves, after all—the highest price for any beauty auctioned over the years.

However, just as the auctioneer was reveling in his glee, a woman's voice called out, "A hundred thousand golden leaves."

The bid had of course been made by Su Ye, who had returned almost as soon as she had left. She was going to walk away… but how could she do that now that he had seen her?

The instant she had shouted her bid, the crowd of wealthy people turned to look at her in disbelief. A hundred thousand golden leaves… it was enough to buy a whole city! The man might be beautiful, but the bid was only for his first night. Was it even worth it?

The long, dark brows of the beauty in the cage twitched once more at Su Ye's bid, though he kept his head lowered and did not react otherwise.

There was a loud banging sound on the platform.

"A hundred thousand golden leaves, going once!"

"A hundred thousand golden leaves, going twice!"

"Sold, for a hundred thousand golden leaves! Congratulations, milady."

The auction concluded right then, but some amongst the crowd who were feeling particularly insatiable walked up to the cage, attempting to get a few fondles in.

As people hurried onto the platform, one of the women tittered, "What a gorgeous beauty… such a shame that I won't be the one to deflower him."