The three feudal officials who called out the exact same bid at the exact same time turned to look at each other once again. Then, just as Han Qinhu was about to raise his bid again, the attendants beside him immediately held him back.

“Lord Han, we can’t afford it!” “It’s too much… this lot of armor is worth 2.5 billion at best, and it’s way overpriced right now. Please be mindful that we’re not among the wealthiest of fiefdoms. At the very least, we can’t hold a candle to the Lord of Hanyang!”

Han Qinhu’s nostrils flared up slightly as he desperately struggled against the attendant’s grip to raise his hand. Seconds later, he finally sighed regretfully, “Fine. Let go. I’ll give in.”

Although he conceded verbally, his heart still felt terrible, almost as though a viper was constricting tightly around it.

It was subtle, yet completely at odds with that feverish rush that he had experienced when he called out the bid earlier. That simple action had earlier filled him with the sensation of being on top of the world. But the decision to back out of the running made him feel incomparably stifled and upset. He even wanted to scream out loud to ventilate his frustrations, and it took him three full minutes of ragged breaths in order to properly suppress these stirring feelings in his heart.

I’ve been somewhat impulsive tonight… He could only imagine the kind of feelings that the other twelve envoys were going through right now.

The only two ostensibly left in the running were Ma Fubo and Liu Yu.

“Lord Ma.” Liu Yu glanced at Ma Fubo with a faint smile on his...