Zi Ji Tian was moved to tears, while Ye Ling Yuan gently finished washing Zi Lin Ling's hands, raising his eyebrows and saying, "You are not allowed to touch other men from now on!"
His tone was more than a little overbearing, leaving no room for argument.
Just as Zi Lin Ling was about to retort, she heard Ye Ling Yuan utter a dismissive word – "Dirty!"
Then, under Zi Lin Ling's indignant gaze, he explained, "Qing Yu is yours. Tell him to do whatever needs to be done, so you don't dirty your hands!"
Zi Lin Ling didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
This possessiveness, this overbearing dominance, left her flustered yet strangely exhilarated.
She nodded and said, "Since there's free labor, I'm too lazy to lift a finger."
Ye Ling Yuan said indifferently, "Free labor? You're thinking too much!"
"I..." implying she couldn't afford to pay him.
"He's registered at the Underworld Palace. You don't need to pay his salary." Su Dan Novel Network.
Zi Lin Ling smiled.
This ice-cold man was quite subtly charming.
Even though his joke wasn't funny, it was meant to make her laugh, wasn't it?
"Alright! Since I don't have to foot the bill, I'll reluctantly keep him!"
Ye Ling Yuan looked up at where the sun was setting and frowned, "It's getting dark. Hurry up!"
His time was indeed running out. When the moon rose, the Blood Jade would begin to act up.
Fortunately, his Lin'er was by his side to help suppress it.
Zi Lin Ling blinked, clearly not understanding his meaning.
But regardless, Ye Ling Yuan was right; the priority was to deal with the current situation.
She didn't even glance at Zi Yun, who lay on the ground weakened by the enhanced Heart Disturbance, but walked up to Zi Yi.
"Are you going to contact the Imperial Zi family obediently, or would you like to taste the enhanced Heart Disturbance first?"
Zi Yi, looking fearfully at the half-dead Zi Yun on the ground, couldn't help but shiver.
"I... I... I'll contact the Zi family!"
She said this with all her might.
Zi Lin Ling sneered, "Not bad, you're quite sensible!"
Zi Yi let out a bitter laugh.
She was a young lady of the Imperial Zi family, held in high regard, yet now she had to deceive her own family for resources to avoid suffering. How ironic.
Zi Lin Ling's eyes suddenly turned cold. "You know what to do, right? I don't need to teach you."
Zi Yi shook her head, resigned to her fate. "I don't need you to teach me. Just tell me how much you need?"
Zi Lin Ling smirked, "Of course, the more the better. Who wouldn't want more?"
Zi Yi lowered her head in thought.
She was contemplating how much would be appropriate.
Too much wouldn't work; she had to return, and if her deception was discovered, she wouldn't be able to account for it.
If it was too little, Zi Lin Ling would surely be displeased, and then...
Thinking of this, she glanced at Zi Yun, who had been tortured beyond recognition on the ground, and shuddered again.
Zi Lin Ling said coldly, "No need to think. Twenty billion for each of you three. As for Zi Dong Lai, being the young master of the Zi family, he should be worth at least fifty billion, right?"
Zi Yi let out a sigh of relief.
A total of one hundred and ten billion silver. They could still afford that.
"Remember, all of it must be spirit stones. If there's even a shortfall, I'll cut off one of Zi Dong Lai's fingers first."
The relief Zi Yi had just felt had to be put on hold again.
She looked at Zi Lin Ling incredulously, her voice trembling, "Are you... are you a bandit? One hundred and ten billion low-grade spirit stones, how dare you say that?"
Zi Lin Ling scoffed, "What? Aren't the four of you worth one hundred and ten billion?"
Her contemptuous gaze swept over the four of them. "If you're not even worth this many spirit stones, then there's no point in keeping you."
As she spoke, her killing intent solidified into substance.
Zi Yi's mind snapped back to reality.
She was the fish, and Zi Lin Ling was the knife.
How could she be so foolish as to haggle with Zi Lin Ling at this point?
"Worth it! Worth it! How could it not be worth it!"
Zi Yi, pale with fear, quickly exclaimed.
Zi Lin Ling said coldly, "Too late. All one hundred and ten billion spirit stones must be top-grade. If there's even a shortage, I'll cut off each of your arms!"
One hundred and ten billion top-grade spirit stones?
Zi Yi was stunned.
After all, one hundred low-grade spirit stones only exchanged for one mid-grade spirit stone, and one hundred mid-grade spirit stones exchanged for one top-grade spirit stone!
She had only said one extra sentence, and the value had increased tenfold?
"You..."
Zi Yi was so angry she couldn't speak.
This was simply a bandit's mother opening the door for a bandit's father, a bandit raiding their home!
"Let me guess, spirit stones of a higher grade than top-grade should be called..."
Zi Lin Ling casually examined the porcelain bottle in her hand.
"Top-grade spirit stones it is. I'll contact them now."
Zi Yi, terrified that Zi Lin Ling would utter the words "ultimate grade spirit stones," quickly interrupted her.
One hundred and ten billion top-grade spirit stones. The Imperial Zi family might still come up with that for the four of them. But if it were ultimate grade spirit stones, the Imperial Zi family would definitely not produce them for the four of them.
After all, one hundred and ten billion ultimate grade spirit stones would be enough to cripple the entire economic chain of the Imperial Zi family.
If that happened, and the Imperial Zi family abandoned them, with Zi Lin Ling's methods, how could she possibly let them live?
Zi Lin Ling smiled, "Considering how sensible Miss Zi Yi is, let's leave it at that! However, to make the Imperial Zi family believe your predicament, I still intend to prepare a gift for them!"
A gift?
What gift?
Zi Yi's heart sank.
Zi Lin Ling curved her lips and her gaze fell upon Zi Yi's hand.
Zi Yi trembled with fear and quickly put her hand behind her back.
Unexpectedly, Zi Lin Ling shook her head and said, "Your hand alone isn't enough weight!"
Zi Yi breathed a sigh of relief, secretly feeling fortunate.
However, Zi Lin Ling's next sentence caused Zi Yi to collapse in terror.
"But if yours and the young master Zi's are sent together, the weight will be almost sufficient!"
"No! Don't! Don't chop off my fingers!"
Zi Yi cried out in panic, and a strange odor emanated from her.
Zi Lin Ling frowned, looked at the wet patch beneath her feet, and said with disgust, "For a young lady of the Imperial Zi family, you're quite messy!"
"Never mind, then!"
As she spoke, she looked at Zi Ji Tian and said, "Have your people clean this up quickly. These four will be locked up first. After a month, let this messy young lady contact the Imperial Zi family to send the spirit stones."
The reason she pushed the deadline back by a month was to buy herself more time.
She had many things to attend to.
Not to mention the distant future, but just the patriarch succession ceremony tomorrow, she had to quell the ambitions of those two from the Zi Jin Pavilion.
Then, she would have to go to the back mountain to ascertain whether the legend of the Tian Qi Zi family was true.
If it were true, then...