Started out getting scumbags, but then invested in the invincible Empress.

Chapter 161 Sorry, I'm not interested in money!

“It’s you…”

The Second Prince, Li Sheng, was slightly surprised. He looked at the spotless Li Wudao and pondered to himself.

Isn't this the boy who argued with Meng Yan and Miao Lun at the door?

He was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected to escape unscathed from the attacks of those two thugs. This young man was quite extraordinary.

Sun Qian, standing beside him, was stiff and avoided eye contact, not daring to look directly at Li Wudao.

"Damn it, how did I run into him again! Did he deliberately chase after me, wanting to kill me all...?"

She lowered her head, her pretty face showing fear and resentment. A myriad of emotions flashed through her mind, but she dared not show them on the surface.

"I have met His Highness the Second Highness."

Li Nanzhi and the stall owner of the jade gambling shop bowed to each other in greeting.

"No gift."

Li Sheng smiled warmly, then looked at Li Wudao, who was standing ramrod straight. Seeing the latter's calm and composed demeanor, he couldn't help but glance at him sideways.

This young man has quite the air about him. He met him twice, but instead of bowing, he looked away, as if he, the second prince of the Great Yu, was not worth paying any attention to.

Suppressing this strange feeling, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "May I ask your name, young master?"

Li Wudao remained silent, his cold eyes fixed on Sun Qian beside him, showing no intention of responding.

He felt nothing but indifference and murderous intent towards this "good childhood friend" who had repeatedly harmed him.

Li Sheng looked embarrassed. This was the first time in so many years that someone had dared to leave him standing there, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.

Sun Qian felt a chill run down her spine, vaguely sensing a faint killing intent shrouding her body, and dared not make the slightest move.

The atmosphere became inexplicably quiet.

"How dare you! Can't you see His Highness is asking you a question?"

At this moment, a servant couldn't help but step forward and shout coldly.

"Keng——"

The next instant, nearly ten guards drew their swords in unison, their eyes filled with hostility, clearly ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Li Wudao stretched lazily, a sneer playing on his lips. "Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking someone's name?"

"You! How dare you! Who are you to compare yourself to His Highness the Second Prince?"

"That's right! Don't think you can disregard things just because His Highness is kind-hearted. We won't allow it!"

The servants glared angrily and launched a verbal and written attack.

"Hehe, I was being presumptuous."

Li Sheng dismissed his men, then forced a smile, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "I am Li Sheng, the Second Prince of Great Yu. May I ask your name, sir?"

Li Wudao nodded with some satisfaction, his amused gaze sweeping over the guards. He said, "Tsk tsk, see? Your master is much more polite than you all."

"........"

The guards were furious, their fists clenched so tightly they almost couldn't resist rushing forward.

"So it's Brother Li, I've heard so much about you..."

Li Sheng offered a few words of flattery with a faint smile, then got straight to the point: "Two thousand taels of silver, I wonder if Brother Li would be willing to part with these two stones?"

Upon hearing this, a look of understanding flashed in Li Wudao's eyes, and he immediately shook his head without the slightest hesitation.

He knew the second prince wouldn't be so kind as to call him brother; it turned out he had his eye on the two stones in his possession.

Li Sheng's faint smile froze; he hadn't expected the other party to reject him so decisively.

Immediately, he held up one finger and said in a deep voice, "Add another thousand taels, I only want the stone in Brother Li's left hand, is that alright?"

"this........."

Li Nanzhi and the stall owner were both stunned.

Three thousand taels of silver is enough to buy ten of these stones. Could it be that the Second Prince is so sure that the stone will be profitable?

To everyone's surprise, Li Wudao still refused, saying, "I won't sell."

"Could it be that this kid also recognized the extraordinary nature of this stone?"

Li Sheng frowned secretly.

He was quite skilled in jade gambling and rarely lost, but today he seemed to have met his match.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a desire to test the waters, and said, "Brother Li, how much would it cost you to give up this stone? Why don't you name a price?"

Li Wudao weighed the stone in his left hand, his eyes flashing slightly.

Of the two stones, only the one on the left has the potential to yield a large piece, while the one on the right is just scrap. This second prince has quite the discerning eye, being so certain of it.

Immediately, he stroked his chin and pondered, "If Your Highness really wants it, I can take a loss and give you five hundred low-grade spirit stones."

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

Everyone was shocked.

"What?! Five hundred low-grade spirit stones?!"

"Kid, why don't you just rob it?!"

"Exactly! Do you know what five hundred low-grade spirit stones mean? That's five hundred thousand taels of silver!"

The guards were furious, all believing that Li Wudao was arbitrarily raising prices.

Li Nanzhi and the stall owner at the jade gambling shop were also dumbfounded.

Even if you add up all the hundreds of stones on the stall, you can't sell them for 100,000 taels of silver. How dare they ask for 500,000 taels of silver for just one small stone?

"Brother Li, are you joking? I admit that this stone might yield some good things, but its value is definitely not that high."

Li Sheng's expression changed slightly, and he also felt that the other party was making fun of him.

Seeing the disbelief on everyone's faces, Li Wudao had a sudden thought and couldn't help but chuckle.

"In that case, how about we make a bet?"

"If the value of this stone is less than five hundred low-grade spirit stones, I will give it to Your Highness for free; otherwise, you will need to pay double the value of the stone. How about that?"

Without a second thought, Li Sheng nodded in agreement, almost bursting out laughing.

Based on his years of experience gambling on stones, he estimated that the value of this stone would be at most two hundred low-grade spirit stones, no more.

In other words, this is a sure-win gamble, and you can even get a good piece of stone for free. Why not?

"Boss, please have the stone cut."

Li Wudao handed over the stone in his left hand.

"Easy to say."

The stall owner took the stone and immediately took out a sharp knife, carefully cutting off a layer of stone skin from the edge.

Time passes little by little.

Fifteen minutes passed, and a lot of the stone skin had peeled off underground, but the overall situation had not changed much.

Seeing this, Li Wudao frowned. At this rate, how long would it take to cut it?

Thinking of this, he said calmly, "Two fingers on the left, cut with one stroke."

The stall owner and the second prince were stunned.

“Brother Li, this is not how you gamble on stones. This stone is not big to begin with, and you will easily ruin it if you cut it like this.”

Li Sheng frowned and shook his head inwardly.

He had thought the other person was a jade gambling expert, but now it seems he was just lucky.

"Young master, are you sure you want to cut it this way?"

The stall owner asked with a bitter expression.

"Just cut it like this."

Li Wudao nodded, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"Okay..."

The stall owner said no more, gritted his teeth, and with a swift motion, sliced ​​off a third of the piece.

"This...it seems like the shipment has been completed!"

The stall owner's pupils contracted slightly.

In the middle of the cut surface, amidst the grayish stone skin, faint spots of crimson could be seen.

Without hesitation, he began to polish the edges more quickly.

Half an hour later, a blood-red stone the size of a duck egg came into view.

"This color, this texture, could it be Demon Blood Stone?!"

"Hiss, Demon Bloodstone is a precious material for refining Heaven-Rank spiritual weapons. It's said to slightly enhance the weapon's toughness and sharpness, making it quite valuable."

"This demon blood stone is of pure quality, and its size is worth at least seven hundred low-grade spirit stones!"

"This boy's luck is truly extraordinary, having cut out a demon blood stone from such a small piece of stone!"

Many curious onlookers were drawn to the scene, and were surprised and envious.

"this......."

The stall owner was pale, filled with regret, and his feelings were extremely complicated.

He originally told Li Wudao to choose any two stones, but to his surprise, the latter was so lucky that he even found such a treasure.

I've lost a fortune; I've lost everything, not even my underwear.

"Your Highness, it's time to honor the bet."

Li Wudao smiled faintly, "We agreed earlier that since I won, Your Highness would pay me twice the value of the stones. So, I'll give you a discount; just give me a thousand low-grade spirit stones."

"In that case, thank you very much, Brother Li..."

The second prince's expression shifted uncertainly, and he reluctantly took out a bag of spirit stones and handed it over.

These spirit stones were originally intended for today's auction, but unexpectedly, some of them were used here.

"gone--"

After putting away the spirit stones, Li Wudao was in a good mood and turned to leave.

"Brother Li, wait a moment..."

Just then, the second prince called out to him.

"Is there anything else, Your Highness?"

Li Wudao paused slightly.

"I greatly admire Brother Li's discerning eye. I wonder if you would be interested in working for me?"

Li Sheng extended the invitation with a sincere tone.

Even with his abilities, he couldn't discern the true value of that stone, but this young man could, which made him want to recruit him.

"You want me to be your subordinate?"

Li Wudao paused for a moment, then turned around with amusement and said, "What makes you think you can recruit me, or what can you offer me?"

"This prince can give you a lot of money, a monthly salary of ten thousand taels, no... fifty thousand taels of silver, how about that?"

Li Sheng said earnestly.

"Unfortunately, I'm no longer interested in money."

Li Wudao sighed softly.

For him, worldly gold and silver no longer held any appeal.

"Then what do you want? Power, women, cultivation techniques... even a low-grade spiritual weapon, this prince can give you anything."

Li Sheng frowned and spoke in a low voice.

"You can't give me what I want."

Li Wudao shook his head slightly, pausing briefly, "Even your father can't give it to you."

Suddenly, he remembered something and tossed the stone in his right hand over, saying, "By the way, this stone is a gift for Your Highness."

After saying that, the boy lifted his foot and walked away into the distance.

The crowd's expressions changed slightly, and they all condemned his arrogance, saying that he dared to look down on even the Emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty. What audacity!

"How dare you! Who gave you the audacity to slander His Majesty?!"

Several guards, their faces grim, drew their swords and stepped forward in an instant.

"stop."

Li Sheng took the stone, stopped the servants, and watched the boy's back as he left, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

"Could this stone also be of value?"

"Who exactly are you...?"

Just as the second prince was lost in thought,

Du Peng hurried over and spotted Li Wudao immediately. He rushed forward, "Young Master Li, I've finally found you! Something terrible has happened!"

"Manager Du..."

Li Wudao's eyes flickered slightly, and he casually asked, "Have those families come knocking on our door?"

"Young master's predictions are truly divine."

Du Peng smiled wryly and said, "The Minister of War led a thousand armored soldiers to surround the Imperial Treasure Pavilion, demanding that we hand over Young Master Li, but I managed to stop them for the time being."