All Hopes Rest on You
The remaining spices were also successfully auctioned off. Thanks to Princess Mira, who relentlessly drove up the prices for the previous spices, everyone's enthusiasm for bidding was high, and the later spices also fetched excellent prices.
The winning buyers received their spices on the spot, along with complimentary recipe booklets. They treated these two treasures like gold.
Once the auction ended, the spices were priced according to the final bids. And let me tell you, that price—was truly steep!
Just look at those prices! These aren't spices—they're practically gold!
From now on, any dish made with these spices will have to be marked up!
Luckily, the customer base for these spices is made up of high-end restaurants. Their patrons are all wealthy and powerful—spending hundreds or even thousands of taels on a meal is nothing to them.
The diners aren’t afraid of expensive dishes; what they want is prestige. The higher the price, the greater their status.
But as these rich restaurant owners watched Princess Mira drive the prices so high, they looked at her as if she were a fool.
Princess Mira was completely oblivious, thinking everyone was just jealous that she’d snagged so many spices before them.
This time, Eight Treasures Bistro, acting as an internal bidder, won fewer spices than Princess Mira. Mira was absolutely smug, as if she’d finally regained her pride. She waved her stack of recipe booklets at Bella Bell with a haughty flair, saying, “See this? So many recipes—more than you have! Tsk tsk, and you call me poor? I’ll show you just how wealthy I am!”
Bella Bell just looked at Princess Mira and smiled without saying a word.
The recipes Princess Mira was flaunting were actually all written by Lily Evans.
Lily had tweaked every recipe that appeared at the auction, so while the dishes made from these recipes were tasty, they could never match the original flavors of Eight Treasures Bistro.
To Bella Bell, those recipes were worth less than scrap paper. It was laughable that Princess Mira treated them as her ticket to bragging rights—she’d been tricked and didn’t even realize she was helping count someone else’s money.
Princess Mira returned home loaded with bags of spices. She said to her head chef, "Now we don’t have to worry about running out of spices."
The chef beamed, "Your Highness truly is generous! At the auction, you spent so much that everyone else was left speechless!"
Princess Mira was thoroughly pleased and let out a hearty laugh.
But Green Ivy couldn't laugh at all. She wore a worried expression and said, "Your Highness, you used your betrothal gifts and dowry to pay your debts. What will you tell the Crown Prince if he finds out?"
Princess Mira frowned. She might have boldly used her betrothal gifts and dowry to buy things, but if Alexander Hayes found out, she’d be in serious trouble.
Still, Princess Mira quickly brushed off her concerns and waved her hand. "It’s just some stuff, nothing to worry about. With these spices, Suxin Pavilion’s business will boom, and we’ll be raking in silver every day! Once I’ve made enough money and redeemed my things, my brother won’t scold me—he’ll praise me for being clever and making money!"
Green Ivy bit her lip and sighed inwardly, wishing it could be that simple. But could Suxin Pavilion really earn enough silver before the princess’s wedding to redeem everything?
Princess Mira, however, was brimming with confidence. She told the head chef, "Now that I’ve bought all the spices you wanted, you’d better work hard. My grand plan to make money depends on you!"
The chef’s eyes sparkled as he bowed respectfully. "Yes, Your Highness. I’ll do everything I can to make money for you."