No matter how extravagantly the woman boasted, Nie Yuan didn't believe a word of it. However, there were a few things he could believe, such as her praise for his good taste and his wife's beauty. Fortunately, the woman lived in this bustling market and didn't know Luo Zhixue. If she had known that the girl she was talking about was the current princess, one wonders what her expression would have been.

"Is it really that beautiful?" Luo Zhixue's lively eyes looked at Nie Yuan.

"Beautiful, like strands of fragrant silk scattered on the ground, and the jade hairpin falls silently and smoothly," Nie Yuan looked at Luo Zhixue seriously, reciting two lines of ancient poetry.

"Young master, such literary talent, truly a perfect match of beauty and talent," the woman praised again.

"How much?" Nie Yuan, no longer wanting to listen to the woman's empty words, asked directly.

"Two hundred taels of silver," the woman said in one breath.

"Take it," Nie Yuan, unusually, did not haggle and took out a silver note, handing it over. Although he knew the woman was making a hefty profit, he didn't bargain. Buying something for his wife should be done generously.

After wandering around for a while, the street stalls seemed endless, filled with many curious items. The princess, though young, had seen many rare things and couldn't help but curiously touch them. Nie Yuan played the big spender this time, buying every curious item Luo Zhixue fancied without haggling over a single price.

After they left, the stall owners who had been visited by Nie Yuan and Luo Zhixue all smiled, thinking these two fools were happy even after being overcharged. It was only because Nie Yuan was in a good mood accompanying his wife; otherwise, all the stall owners combined might not have been able to outtalk him.

Unknowingly, they arrived at the Qin residence. From afar, they saw a young man sitting at the entrance, looking very impatient and muttering to himself. This young man was also an acquaintance—Nie Yuan's good friend Qin Shou.

He had been waiting at the Qin residence for Nie Yuan for a long time, and not seeing even a hair of Nie Yuan, he was so angry he wanted to curse. As he was cursing, he suddenly saw Nie Yuan and Luo Zhixue approaching.

"Xuan Chou, finally you're here," Qin Shou was about to rush forward to hug Nie Yuan when he suddenly stopped, his eyebrows raised high. If he wasn't mistaken, the woman beside his good friend was the princess.

At a glance, wow! It really was her.

"Princess," Qin Shou hurriedly bowed to Luo Zhixue and whispered to Nie Yuan, "Buddy, you're not being fair, asking me to get contraband for you and then bringing a royal family member along. Is playing 'Nine Clan Elimination' fun?"

"My wife, absolutely safe!" Nie Yuan winked at Qin Shou, whispering back.

"Really?" Qin Shou looked at Nie Yuan with suspicion, not daring to believe easily, as this matter concerned his entire family.

"Absolutely true," Nie Yuan whispered again, "My wife wouldn't report me, right? Even if she wanted to eliminate her own family, she wouldn't do it this way, right?"

"Right, reliable," Qin Shou found the reason reasonable and believed Nie Yuan, stepping aside and gesturing for them to enter the Qin residence.

Only because the princess was here would he be so polite; otherwise, it wouldn't be like this.

"Young master."

"Princess."

Qin Shou led the two into the Qin residence, where every passing servant and maid bowed to them. As for Nie Yuan, they didn't recognize him and assumed he was a new servant the young master had taken in.

Without delay, Qin Shou led them to his courtyard.

Pushing the door open, Qin Shou twisted a small object on the door.

With a rumble, the stone slab in the middle of the courtyard sank, revealing a tunnel in front of the three.

"Follow me, what you want is inside," Qin Shou said, stepping in first, with Nie Yuan and Luo Zhixue following closely.

The tunnel was long but not oppressive, as the Qin family's wealth had made it spacious and grand.

Half an hour later, the three arrived at the end of the tunnel, blocked by a stone door.

Qin Shou walked forward, lightly knocked on the stone door three times, then recited a spell.

"Open sesame!"

Click! The array on the stone door activated, runes flashed, and the heavy stone door opened completely the next moment.

This scene left Nie Yuan and Luo Zhixue momentarily speechless.

The spell was a bit too casual, wasn't it?

Behind the stone door was a huge chamber filled with various treasures, dazzling and brilliant.

"Is this your Qin family's treasure vault?" Nie Yuan asked curiously.

"Of course not," Qin Shou waved his hand, "If the Qin family's treasure vault looked like this, the people under the Qin family would starve to death. This is my private vault."

Shocked, stunned! It's no wonder Nie Yuan was so surprised, as even the princess was astonished.

Knowing the Qin family was wealthy, but not this wealthy, even the princess didn't have such a private vault.

"Come on, old Xuan, what you want is inside," Qin Shou said, leading the way.

"Stumbling," Qin Shou kicked away a few gold bricks blocking the entrance of the vault, saying disdainfully, "I'll throw you away sooner or later."

Hearing this, the two behind him looked at each other, their mouths twitching involuntarily.

So heartless, is there any justice? Simply heartless!

Nie Yuan and Luo Zhixue followed into the vault, stopping after a while in front of a pile of neatly stacked large boxes.

"Old Xuan, these are what you wanted," Qin Shou stepped forward, opened a box, revealing the contents to Nie Yuan and Luo Zhixue, and said.

"Finally, everything is here," Nie Yuan rubbed his hands, stepped forward, and gently picked up a piece of material, examining it closely. These things would be deadly weapons in the future, all treasures.

"These... are materials for making crossbows?" As the current princess, Luo Zhixue naturally recognized these materials as those used for making crossbows.

Luo Zhixue looked at the two, and they exchanged glances.

Finally, Nie Yuan spoke, "Yes, these are indeed for making crossbows. There are always villains trying to harm me, so I need a couple of things to protect myself."

"Crossbows are extremely difficult to make. Even with the materials, without the blueprints, you might never be able to make one in your lifetime," Luo Zhixue said.

"My lady, please look," Nie Yuan, who had somehow taken out a piece of paper, handed it to Luo Zhixue.

After a brief glance at the crossbow's blueprint, Luo Zhixue's eyebrows raised, and she looked at Nie Yuan, chuckling, "I didn't expect my husband to be involved in activities that could exterminate nine clans."

"Princess, I must ask," Qin Shou interjected, "If old Xuan is doing something that could exterminate nine clans, then when exterminating nine clans, what about you... uh..."

Before Qin Shou could finish, he felt a chill from the back of his neck. Turning around, he saw his good friend staring at him.