Chapter 4848 — Bao Zuoliang
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"Indeed, the Morning Star Grand Auction is a rare and momentous occasion, and the Academy has gone to great lengths to make it a success. I hear this particular rule was proposed by Chancellor Ling himself," Chai Laoshi said with a grin, dishing out the gossip.
"Is that so?" Wei Zhao thought to himself that this was indeed an old hand—rich in worldly experience, able to breathe life into an auction with a single remark. Then he asked, "But in that case, doesn't that mean I have to put something up for consignment as well?"
"No need for that. The auction has an extra provision: each merchant house participating in the first session gets two slots. I have my hands full with the trading company's affairs anyway, so I'll leave both slots entirely to your discretion," Chai Laoshi said with a smile.
"Very well, then." Wei Zhao nodded. Two slots were far too few—after all, even counting only himself, Wang Xinyan, and Huang Xiaotao, that already made three people. But it was a minor problem; he would simply put up any one item.
Wei Zhao did not linger long at the trading company. By his reckoning, he made it back to the East Sea Pavilion just before the two women's morning lessons were likely to end. Over the next several days, the three of them could be seen everywhere within Morning Star Academy—having come all this way, they naturally had to enjoy themselves properly.
The sight nearly shattered the hearts of every male disciple in the Academy. The looks they cast at Wei Zhao were a brew of envy, jealousy, and hatred—if glares could kill, Wei Zhao would have died ten thousand times over.
After all, whether Wang Xinyan or Huang Xiaotao, both were goddesses in the eyes of every male disciple—especially Wang Xinyan, one of the Three Fairies of the Eastern Continent's Gaolin Sea Region, a being long confined to the realm of male disciples' dreams.
This was no cheap, commonplace title. The Gaolin Sea Region was part of the Eastern Continent's Yellow-Rank Sea Region—and a vast part at that, containing no fewer than a dozen Yellow-Rank academies within its waters. One can well imagine just how much substance there was behind Wang Xinyan's title of Fairy.
By comparison, Huang Xiaotao's popularity, though slightly lesser, was purely because she habitually wore a veil—to this day, only a handful of disciples at Morning Star Academy had ever glimpsed her face. Otherwise, the title might well have been changed to Four Fairies long ago.
Even so, on the strength of her graceful figure and ethereal bearing alone, Huang Xiaotao remained highly popular, almost rivaling Wang Xinyan.
And now, these two goddesses of the masses were actually in the company of a young man—laughing and chatting, with intimate, unreserved physical gestures every so often, day after day on end. The male disciples of Morning Star Academy were practically going mad.
Had Wei Zhao not made a resounding name for himself at the earlier auction—above all, had the Academy's chief alchemist Qing Xuanzi not become his disciple—making his origins terrifyingly formidable, he would likely have been challenged to duels by a whole parade of male disciples long ago.
But now no one dared cross Wei Zhao. Even Chancellor Ling Yuanqing treated him with great courtesy. If they dared show him the slightest disrespect, they would not need Wei Zhao to lift a finger—the Academy itself would be the first to come down on them. So they seethed in silence, able only to watch from afar while secretly cursing him, all the while forcing their faces into an appearance of utmost reverence.
Yet among the Academy's disciples, talents and hidden dragons inevitably lurked. Not everyone dared only swallow their anger—there was no shortage of those who wanted to make a move against Wei Zhao. Bao Zuoliang, for one.