Lu Wen sensed the extreme hostility from Xia Lian and remained silent not wanting to push this matter further. He wondered as what the man did to make his own flesh and blood hate him to such extent.
Taking care not to make her mood worse, he tried to change the subject " Before you were saying something. What is it?"
" Hmm, can you bring Du Weng over here? There's something I need to discuss with him." Lu Wen left the room to search for that old man who would always be around his clients.
Xia Lian stood up and walked towards the window and leaned against its frame. She started to observe all the occupants who are currently enjoying the wine and fruits in their respective rooms.
What the hell? She was not able to recognize anyone in this room. Sigh, it seems that she needs to do a lot of homework. She started to take in their attires and other features since she had nothing to do. Some were dressed up in completely different attires and she deduced that they were from the neighbouring countries.
A gentle knock on the door broke her train of thoughts.
" We are coming in, master." Lu Wen entered the room with Du Weng trailing behind him. The old man's face was flushed and he was looking at her as if she is a piece of meat which made Xia Lian frown. She did not like that look! Not noticing her displeasure, the old man spoke with difficult to hide the excitement in his voice.
" Doctor Wu, is it true that you concocted new poisons?"
So, the earlier excitement was about poisons? Too bad, it's not poisons this time. She happily broke the old man's heart.
" Not poisons, it's potions."
" Oh! What are the effects of your potions?" the excitement in the old man's voice did not fade in the slightest, instead it increased by a few decibels.
Xia Lian was also affected by his excitement as she happily explained the names and effects of all the potions, powders and creams on the table. Du Weng felt dizzy after hearing everything, his hands trembling from excitement.
" Doctor Wu, so you want to live test all these things?" he spoke in a trembling voice his heart thumping hard against his chest.
" Not all, but a few." she spoke after a pause " Take note of what I am going to say." Xia Lian listed out the names and which of these could be used for live testing. Du Weng very obediently noted down everything like a good student.
" Then I will arrange for the person to undergo live testing." Du Weng was surprised when the young doctor refused to that suggestion. He was stunned by his next words.
" No need for all the trouble. The lab rat will be arriving soon."
" Lab rat?" Is this doctor going to test on rats? It's not heard of till now. Du Weng was sceptical.
" No, it's a human. A slip of my tongue. I will bring out the person at the right moment." Xia Lian patiently explained and Du Weng nodded before leaving the room in high spirits.
Hmm… She forgot that lab rat is a foreign terminology here and she found it funny when she related Xuan Li Wei to a rat.
" Bwahaha…" she started laughing happily as she was highly anticipating this day's events. She wanted to see how the prince is going to face the world from tomorrow.
Her laughter stopped in her throat as Lu Wen shoved an apple into her mouth. Instead of fighting with him, she started to munch on the apple forgetting him completely.
He thought that she would flip out, but he stared at her dumbly as if he did not expect this outcome. Was he that insignificant compared to an apple? Suddenly, he was jealous of that apple.
" Is that apple more important to you?" he poked at her.
" Yup," she replied without the slightest bit of hesitation.
" Then I will make sure to keep apples out of your reach," he muttered under his breath.
Xia Lian choked on her apple when those words drifted to her ears and her face had an incredulous expression as she stared at the twisted face of her 'elder brother.'
Is he jealous of an apple?! Xia Lian now truly wanted to roll on the ground with laughter. Now, her mood instantly eclipsed.
" Hey jealous bro!" she teased him " Tsk, getting jealous over a simple apple."
" As long as it is food, I will choose it over you!" she declared with a haughty expression on her face. " I am a foodie!"
Ignoring the heartbroken man beside her, she made her way towards the window. The window is covered with strings of pearls acting as a curtain making it easy for her to see others without her identity getting discovered. At most, they can see her silhouette but they cannot tell where she is looking.
The auction hall was circular in shape and there were three men seated in a room opposite to that of Xia Lian's room. The hall was of a large area, and the room is far away from hers. At most they could see the curtain and the faint shadow of the person standing behind it. When she was staring at others, the three men were busy trying their best to catch a glimpse of her face.
They were only able to see a person in male robes, but they were not able to see her face no matter how hard they tried leaving them disappointed.
Xia Lian was oblivious to the fact that she was being watched by others as she locked her gaze at a man who was dressed in a bizarre way. He was also on the same floor as her and his room was diagonal to hers.
He wore a loose set of silk pants and his chest was bare except for the heavy pieces of ornaments on his neck. His toned upper body and muscles were highly attractive even for men, not to speak about girls. He was so sexy!
He was good looking, but she was now immune to all good looking men after being with Xuan Li Wei. She was able to resist the big devil's temptations, and now anything is just a piece of cake for her. Before that flirty prince, all pale in comparison. So, the only feeling in her heart at this moment is curiosity.
She was curious about this man's attire and all, so she started to study this exotic specimen in the room.
The man felt a gaze on him and raised his head to meet his eyes with Xia Lian's. He did not see any lust or envy in them, those black iris seemed curious. Feeling amused, he tried to observe the person clearly and noticed that it was a little boy. He raised his cup and smiled in greeting, which Xia Lian reciprocated with a polite smile. After that faint greeting, both of them turned away getting involved in their own business.