Chapter 928: Well, why not?

The announcement of a high-quality treasure weapon put up for auction at the Soaring Feather Trading Company by ‘someone’, stirred the public opinion.

“Just as expected, it only took ‘someone’ to do it first, for one or two of those who were on the fence about selling their valuable treasure with us to follow suit, which gave a domino effect on the others”, Sui Luxiao concluded at dinner a few days later.

“Shows that some people need reassurance of other people doing something first in order to bear risks. Though this type of… collective behavior is a natural part of a society”, Luo Mingyu nodded.

“It’s called herd mentality”, Lian Zhiqiu shrugged her shoulders.

Luo Mingyu made a wry smile, since she also thought about it, but chose to soften her words.

“The special fees also worked well to give that initial boost”, Wu Long added.

“Special fees?”, Song Lingfei curiously asked.

“Sister Luxiao implemented a complete exemption of the fixed listing fee and a few tiers of reduced percentage fee for the first sellers, who brought items of certain quality. 50% off for the first 10, then 40% off for the next 20, and so on”, Nie Xiwang explained.

“Ah, so those who hold off applying to sell are missing out on getting reduced fees…”, Song Lingfei nodded, “But that’s cutting off quite a sizable prospective profit… didn’t you say that the percentage fees for this auction were only going to be 10% to begin with?”

“It is our first auction, and the confidence that items will sell is still low since we have no history of success, so we see it as an investment, a necessary sacrifice”, Sui Luxiao explained, “We can gradually increase the fees to 20% once the auction house is fully operational, and has some reputation”

“We’re not investing anything into those goods anyway, so there is no loss”, Cai Yin added.

“And the Heaven Turning Pills, as well as the sword, are all our items so we’re making all the profit from them, so we’re still going to be profitable”, Yu Huan said while pouring tea.

“Today, Qian finished preliminary preparations and we announced secondary auctions, the first one coming up at the end of this week, so that should help us out as well”, Wu Long commented.

“Yes, the streets are full of talk about it”, Liang Yuhan nodded, “There will be many attendees aiming for the main auction who will observe these secondary ones”

She then chuckled, “All of these developments drowned out the rumors about the other auction, especially since the Silverleaf Trade Hall had yet to announce their main treasure. As I thought, it might’ve been a half-bluff aimed at disruption more than an actual intent to hold an auction. Especially since they didn’t make a direct announcement and only sent out rumors through third parties”

“Mm, but we still need to be vigilant, the Thousand Treasures Hall behind them is very powerful, and not someone we can take on directly in terms of trade power, they just might be able to scramble and bring in a comparable treasure in just a week or so”, Sui Luxiao nodded.

“Hmm, if they bring in a main treasure… they have to transport it here from outside, right? Why don’t we just intercept it on the way? Better yet, if it’s not something useful, we can sell it at our auction”, Hong Ye said nonchalantly.

“Ooh! Good thinking!”, Wu Mengqi gave a double thumbs up.

“I agree!”, Gong Cui also enthusiastically nodded.

“Cui’er!”, Gong Liwei exclaimed in shock, bewildered by her little sister’s agreement with this outright robbery.

“What? They’re trying to meddle with us, it’s only fair we meddle with them. If they could steal out treasure, they probably would, those… those bad guys”, Gong Cui innocently spread her hands with a shrug.

“That…”, her sister didn’t have an answer, as Wu Long began laughing.

“Hahaha, only fair huh…”, he said while thinking it over. After all, this wasn’t some friendly competition, and Wu Long wasn’t above directly picking a fight. After a moment, he nodded, postponing the decision, “I’ll think it over later”

“The biggest competitors for our main treasure are likely going to be the three big Sects though, right?”, Cao Mei asked, seeing that the previous topic was exhausted.

Liang Yuhan chimed in, “There’s certainly tension rising among them. They’re contacting their main Sect for funds in order to be able to obtain as many of the Heavenly Pills as possible, especially the prized 2nd and 3rd-tier pills, viewing it as a natural part of their competition over the continent”

“The main competitors are not those three, but two princes”, Wu Long shook his head, “I received news just this morning from Li Weifang in the Imperial Capital, that the 5th prince won in the competition against his brothers in order to come here personally to compete with Yuanjie”

“That must’ve cost him a lot”, Nie Xiwang narrowed her eyes.

“Mm”, Wu Long nodded, “Well, not him, but the family of his Mother, the 6th Concubine. They basically handed over almost half of their business to the Emperor to pull this off, a sacrifice that others, including the family of the Empress, were apparently not willing to make”

“They came out big… it seems they saw this as a crucial battleground for succession”, Cai Yin slightly frowned.

“Well, he was at a disadvantage compared to others after the whole debacle with Wu Long and that captain, so I guess he and his backers were the most desperate as well”, Nie Xiwang noted.

“Yes, that works even better for us though”, Wu Long nodded, “If it was just an Imperial Ambassador vaguely representing all the princes he would have more weight, as to an extent he would represent the Emperor himself, which would’ve put Yuanjie at a slight disadvantage, but now that it came down to this, it is going to be a battle of the two princes, and the Empress is likely to favor us over them”

“Because in her mind it is easier to beat the Princess later even if she wins this round, than the 5th prince… plus the latter burnt a lot of his influence to get this opportunity, which would basically ruin him if he lost out…”, Luo Mingyu guessed.

“Exactly”, Wu Long chuckled, “And as soon as they get here, they would know, that the prince who gets the Heaven Turning Pills will be able to pick winners and losers among the three Sects, putting that prince in the dominant position over the continent”

They spoke a bit more on that topic, and then Sui Luxiao shared more news “The curious thing is, City Lord Ko unexpectedly expressed a desire to put up a few valuable items on the auction”

Wu Long chuckled, “It’s a reaction to the actions of the Silverleaf Trade Hall”

“I see… by competing with Soaring Feather Trading Company from the Iron Claw City they, unwittingly made it a competition of two cities…”, Nie Xiwang spoke with a thoughtful expression.

“They basically pushed City Lord to take our side”, Wu Mengqi giggled, amused by this unexpected backfire.

“So he’s now a temporary ally of convenience”, Xue Bing calmly concluded.

“Yeah”, Wu Long agreed with this assesment, “This also would make Old Yen and Nie Guanting’s work easier, as the whole City Lord’s Manor would be working against any sabotage of the secondary auctions to ensure the success of the main one”

“There are, however, strings attached”, Sui Luxiao said with a wry smile, “He issued a summons for Senior Zhao Xieren, or a direct representative of the Soaring Feather Trading Company to the City Lord’s Manor”

“Hmm”, Wu Long thought for a moment, and then grinned, “Well, why not?”

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