Meanwhile, a few moments before, in the auction hall.

As the conversation between the two brothers just started, Kwon Qianhong began calming down the crowd raising his hands up in a calming gesture, "It seems there is now a dispute with the original item’s owner. Don’t worry, we will deal with this situation"

He then proceeded to explain, "Normally we would not allow a last-second pull of an item, but since the discovery of the item’s real value was made at such a last minute, we did not have a typical consultation with the owner of the item if they wished to proceed, which means part of the responsibility lies with our Trading Company"

This statement surprised the public as they did not expect a sincere admission of responsibility in such an open and straightforward manner.

Meanwhile Kwon Qianhong continued, "Thus, we will freeze this transaction, and decide everything with the negotiation between the winning bidder and the item’s original owner at a later date"

This outcome sent murmurs through the hall, since it put Wei Yuanjie at a severe disadvantage - he had no guarantees of getting the item, but the funds he put up for this bid were now frozen which meant he couldn’t use them to compete for the main prize.

Ember Palm Palvilion Elders were the first to stand up and loudly point that out, since they stood the most to loose after Wei Yuanjie who for some reason was completely calm.

Kwon Qianhong replied, "I was just about to get to that part. Technically, His Highness the 9th prince is yet to be decided as the winner"

This once again took everyone by surprise, prompting him to explain, "Due to the timing of the interruption, the item is yet to be declared sold, there was not even a full count so it’s not even close"

And then added before anyone could ask any other question, "His Highness still remains the highest bidder for now, however. In a short while, we will resume the bids. As part of taking responsibility, we will allow everyone who placed their bids as of now to annul them at this moment before the bidding resumes, with no exceptions"

"Wait... so... you’re saying we will bid for just the opportunity to buy the item if the dispute with the City Lord is solved?", Wei Liheng asked with incredulousness.

"Essentially, yes", Kwon Qianhong nodded, "We allow everyone to withdraw their bids with no penalty, so it might be possible the item is not sold as well if everyone is not satisfied with bidding for an item that they are uncertain to obtain"

"So, in case there is a winning bid at the end of the next round of bidding, that bid will be frozen until the dispute is solved with item owners, if not the money is returned and if it is solved they get the item at that bid price...", one person from the audience said sounding a bit uncertain.

"Exactly right. A fair deal for everyone involved as everyone is now aware of the conditions of the deal", Kwon Qianhong made another nod, "That is the only way we can ensure our obligations to both bidding customers and the item owners in this extraordinary circumstance, since it is not covered by our current sale agreement. We will be sure to include a clause about item value reevaluation during the auction run with no time for consultation with the item owner in our future agreements"

Despite looking like a mishap on the part of the Trading Company, this way of solving it earned approval from most of the audience as it showed that the Soaring Feather Trading Company could handle even such unexpected and potentially hazardous for them circumstances with a degree of decorum, and rather fairly to both sides.

"I am not withdrawing my bid", Wei Yuanjie spoke next, causing the Ember Palm Pavilion Elders to become agitated - after all it was their hope that the pill did not go into the hand of either of their competitors, which was undermined by this. All three of them starting to persuade the 9th prince with no results.

"Very well, we will resume the auction in another ten minutes to give everyone time to fully understand how we will proceed and make a decision whether they wish to participate", Kwon Qianhong nodded, and began the countdown, giving the others time to think whether they were going to compete under these circumstances.

This 10 minutes time became a break during which discussions rose among the crowd.

The two Ko siblings now sat in their private balcony with dark expressions on their faces, although one of them was significantly worse off than the other.

The Bao Family member seemed to be ready to compete for the treasure even with the chance it would not be sold, but suddenly, those with higher cultivation and perception detected a sound transmission that came toward him.

His expression changed the next moment, as he clenched his hands, squeezing the railing he placed them on as the one who warned him against further competing for the treasure was none other than the Imperial Ambassador, confirming his earlier suspicion that the anonymous bet was a warning to not interfere in the bids between the Imperial Princes.

Wei Liheng was notified about this by the General from his entourage, who recognized the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi of Wei Lufan, causing the 5th prince to pale, realizing that the painting was indeed incredibly important since even their uncle got involved.

Rather, perhaps Wei Yuanjie somehow knew that his uncle would be interested in the painting and that was the reason it was so important. He could not be sure, but now he was sure it was even more important than the main prize.

However, soon, a servant entered into his private balcony carrying the same message from his uncle - do not make any more fuss about the painting.

Soon, the auction resumed, but no new bids were placed, and after the countdown, Wei Yuanjie was pronounced the winner.