The inside of the conference room had a bench-like chair on one side and two carved wooden chairs across form it, separated by a rectangular wooden table. Sir Mu gestured for the pair to sit in the wooden chairs and ordered a servant to bring some tea for them.
"I will go call our manager to decide on the purchase. Please relax and drink some tea while you wait." Sir Mu smiled and left after saying these words. A short while later, a servant came in carrying a tray with a set of porcelain teapot and three cups and set it down on the table. The servant then proceeded to pour tea into two of the cups and set one down in front of each guest. The nervous girl stared at the tea set for a while, admiring their beauty. The teapot was simple white porcelain with beautiful blue branches of lavenders painted on it. The teacups were painted with single lavenders or lavenders with leaves. The man got a cup with lavenders and leaves, while the girl got a cup with merely a lavender.
Though, the teacups were very pretty in the girl's opinion, she didn't dare to make a move without permission in front of her father who was relaxing and drinking tea leisurely. After waiting for a while longer, a purple robed man with a slightly rough appearance and an imposing aura, entered the room. He nodded at Minister Shen and sat down on the bench-like sofa in opposite of the two, without sparing a single glance at the girl sitting beside the minister.
"I heard you wanted to talk business with me, Minister Shen," the man gave a rough smile as he poured some tea for himself and lifted the teacup to his lips.
"Indeed. I am glad to see that Manager Sung does not beat around the bush. Then, I shall reciprocate. I wish to sell her." Minister Shen turned around and indicated the girl sitting beside him with his chin.
The girl froze as if struck by lightning. 'Sell her? Father wanted to sell her? Even if my cultivation isn't very good, there's no reason to sell your own daughter because of that right? Much less to a brothel! Was he trying to soil his family name and ruin his own daughter?!' A million thoughts ran through the girl's mind as she sat in her chair as still as a statue.
"Ho? Are you sure? She's indeed the looker, but aren't you worried about the social repercussions?" Manager Sung finally looked at the girl and asked. He's seen her before and knows that she was the Minister's daughter. 'This man.. so cruel ah! Selling his own daughter!'
"Hmph! This useless girl, I'd be happy to get rid of her! It's been so many years yet she's still only in the Houtian stage, not even close to Qi Condensation, the start of a true cultivator! I really question the person who tested her talent all those years ago!"
"Is that so? Well, we can offer... 2,000 taels of silver..."
Minister Shen jolted. Then, he leaned forward and started gesturing with his hands. "Come now, Manager Sung, despite her nonexistent lack of talent, she's still quite the beauty. You'll surely earn a lot because of her in the future, how about 10,000 tales of silver? Just see this as an investment for the future of your business..."
Manager Sung frowned hearing his words. "Is that so? If your daughter's such a beauty why are you selling her to us? Just marry her to a wealthy man and receive some dowry. Also, are you mocking our Lavender Palace? There are plenty of beautiful flowers here. If not, we'd have shut down long ago because no man wishing to satiate his lust would visit a place with ugly women."