Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Third Master Ji

“Miss Qiao—if you’re not feeling well, I’ll take you back first.”

Qiao Qing Yan forced herself to breathe, lifted the glass on the side table, and took a slow sip of water. She set it down with steady fingers and shook her head.

“It’s fine. An old problem,” she said lightly. “It’ll pass.”

Si Jin Nan watched her like a hawk anyway. Only when color returned to her face and the strain eased from her brow did he finally exhale.

He still kept half his attention on her, just in case.

By then, the price had already been driven to 70 million.

“70 million,” the auctioneer called. “Anyone higher than that?”

On the floor, a potbellied middle-aged man sat forward with smug satisfaction, eyes glittering as if the vial already belonged to him.

“That’s Third Master Ji,” Si Jin Nan murmured, glancing toward a certain row. “Ji Chang An’s third uncle.”

Sure enough, Ji Chang An looked genuinely startled to see him here.

“And Ji Qiang Wei is registered under Third Master Ji’s name,” Si Jin Nan added, voice low.

Qiao Qing Yan rubbed her chin, thoughtful. “So it’s for that Old Ancestor in the Ji family. Is the Si family doing this on purpose?”

Si Jin Nan pressed his tongue to his cheek. “They’ll do anything.”

He didn’t know whether it was Si Xiang Ting’s scheme or Old Master Si’s decision. Either way, it was a slap across Su Zi Chan’s face.

As the Si family’s youngest legitimate daughter—and Old Master Si’s most pampered late-in-life child—Su Zi Chan should have been the one to receive something like this. If it went to her, it would also be best for Ji Chang An.

Instead, the Si family was quietly joining hands with other branches of the Ji family.

What would outsiders think of Su Zi Chan then?

Qiao Qing Yan’s gaze slid across the hall, calm and faintly amused.

Interesting.

It looked like she wouldn’t even need to lift a finger. The play was already starting on its own.

“70 million, once…”

“100 million.”

The bid cut through the air like a blade.

At the same moment, the lights in the mysterious second-floor private room flicked on.

The entire venue went still.

Ji Chang An and Madam Ji stared toward that room as if they’d seen a ghost.

“Who’s in that box?” Qiao Qing Yan asked, eyes lifting to the second floor.

Si Jin Nan shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve only heard that at the Ji family charity auction, one second-floor room is always reserved. But for who… no one says. Only the Ji family would know.”

Ji Chang An exchanged a look with his wife. Shock sat plain in both their eyes.

Third Master Ji’s presence was surprising enough. But the lights in that private room—those lights—left them truly stunned.

Qiao Qing Yan watched the window. A young man in gray casual clothes stood there, posture relaxed, presence unmistakably refined—the kind of young master raised with money and power as a birthright.

But she was certain he wasn’t alone. There had to be four or five people inside.

“I’ve never seen that man in Cloud City,” Si Jin Nan said, frowning. “He might be from the Capital. And if he is… it’s probably a very big family.”

Qiao Qing Yan set the auction brochure aside. “What kind of Capital family could make the Ji family set up a private room just for them?”

Everyone else—Ji family, Capital families, local elites—sat out in the open, equal in the main hall.

Only that room was special.

That alone proved its owner wasn’t just rich.

And now, it looked like they’d come for Clear-Heart Dew too.