Ye Fan smiled and nodded in support of the Great Elder.
This old man was very clear about his own strength and naturally knew he would win tonight's competition.
After chatting with Ye Fan for a while, the Great Elder slowly left.
"The Wang family and the Feng family are both part of the Heavenly King's Mansion. Can they be trusted?"
Liu Piaoxu asked Ye Fan with a worried expression.
The Heavenly King's Mansion had rules requiring all members to be united, so the Wang and Feng families had many business dealings.
Under such circumstances, the Great Elder standing on Ye Fan's side could not help but raise suspicions.
However, Ye Fan was completely unconcerned. With the rapport between him and the Great Elder, he believed the Great Elder was genuinely on his side.
Although the Wang and Feng families had many business collaborations, fundamentally, the two families had deep-seated conflicts.
They were only constrained by the rules of the Heavenly King's Mansion, unable to act openly.
However, their secret maneuvers were constant.
Therefore, seeing him suppress Feng Xiao, the Great Elder was happy to witness it.
Seeing Ye Fan's confidence, Liu Piaoxu, though puzzled, did not say anything further.
At this moment, Feng Xiao and Elder Zheng walked out slowly.
Feng Xiao's face was full of smiles as he waved to everyone, and Elder Zheng was even more beaming.
The people present flocked towards them.
Both Feng Xiao and Elder Zheng had great reputations. Now that the two of them were united, their methods would surely be formidable.
These people all favored Feng Xiao. As for Ye Fan, he was merely an appraiser with some fame from a small place, how could he be compared to Elder Zheng, a first-class appraiser?
Feng Xiao could also see Ye Fan and Liu Piaoxu at this time and walked over slowly.
"Oh, Miss Liu arrived so early. What? Eager to lose?"
Feng Xiao was very arrogant, with a sense of pride in his brows.
As long as he won tonight, this frosty beauty would be his.
Liu Piaoxu frowned and coldly shifted her gaze away.
Only Miss Liu could afford to be so disrespectful to Feng Xiao.
But Feng Xiao was not annoyed at all, his gaze fell on Ye Fan's face.
"Ye Fan of Jiangcheng, I heard you have a good reputation in Jiangcheng. However, this is not the desolate small place like Jiangcheng. This is Jiangnan. With your meager skills, I advise you to surrender early and avoid embarrassment, lest the reputation you've finally accumulated be destroyed in one fell swoop."
Throughout the entire exchange, Feng Xiao never took Ye Fan seriously.
Ye Fan was not annoyed by this; instead, he smiled.
"I've always heard that the young master of the Feng family is very astute and has a good mind. What I've seen today has greatly disappointed Ye, can it be that the rumors outside are all false? Is this young master Feng actually brain-dead?"
Facing Ye Fan's provocation, Feng Xiao's expression gradually sank, but soon, he sneered again.
"Ye Fan, tonight I will personally watch you being trampled under my feet, and this woman. I heard she likes you very much. I will let you see how I take away your woman and everything you have right before your eyes."
A cold glint flashed in the depths of Feng Xiao's eyes.
"By the way, I heard you have a woman you like in Jiangcheng, named Shen Tianyin, who is incredibly beautiful. Don't worry, I'll have her serve me well, and you can just watch from the side."
Feng Xiao laughed wantonly, but he didn't notice that when he said these words, an icy chill suddenly emanated from Ye Fan's body.
This chill was so terrifying that the surrounding temperature plummeted.
It was a pity that Feng Xiao's mind was entirely focused on how to humiliate Ye Fan, and he didn't perceive Ye Fan's formidable gaze.
In fact, the moment he said those words, his fate was sealed. Ye Fan would never let him off.
And at this moment, Elder Zheng also walked over, glancing at Ye Fan indifferently.
"Don't think that just because you have some reputation in Jiangcheng, you can have it easy in Jiangnan. Let me tell you, there are too many overconfident little figures like you in Jiangnan. Tonight, I will show you what it means to have heavens beyond heavens."
Looking at Elder Zheng's arrogant demeanor, Ye Fan merely smiled slightly and did not retort.
As an appraiser, the most important thing was the result. As for verbal sparring, it was not important.
Moreover, with Ye Fan's current state of mind, he indeed disdained arguing with Elder Zheng.
However, Ye Fan's lack of retort was precisely what the onlookers wanted to see.
"See? This kid is scared."
"In front of Elder Zheng, what courage could this little brat who hasn't even grown his hair have?"
"To dare to compete with young master Feng, this kid will be crying as he leaves tonight."
Laughter erupted from the crowd, mostly mocking Ye Fan.
Only Liu Piaoxu's face was grim, filled with anger towards these people.
"They're just a bunch of ignorant people, why get angry?"
Seeing Liu Piaoxu's grim expression, Ye Fan said indifferently.
"In the antique business, the result has always been paramount. Nothing else matters, so if you want to establish yourself in this field, you must adjust your emotions."
Having lived two lives, Ye Fan had seen too many such scenes.
Especially some people with ulterior motives would use the most despicable methods to affect the appraiser's emotions on the eve of a competition.
It must be known that mood is crucial for an appraiser.
Many times, when in a bad mood, even if they understand something correctly, they will misjudge it.
Hearing Ye Fan's words, Liu Piaoxu was slightly stunned, but she still nodded.
"We'll show them later."
She said fiercely, then followed Ye Fan to the side.
Seeing Ye Fan like this, both Feng Xiao and Elder Zheng couldn't help but be slightly taken aback. They hadn't expected this young man to have such composure.
Even though they were experienced and accustomed to looking down on others, at this moment, they couldn't help but look at Ye Fan with newfound respect.
"Elder Zheng, this kid seems a bit strange. Elder Zheng, you must be careful later, and you absolutely cannot let this kid find a chance to turn the tables."
Feng Xiao whispered to Elder Zheng.
Elder Zheng nodded, but then he let out a disdainful snort.
"Antique appraisal is directly related to experience. Without sufficient experience, it's impossible to become a senior appraiser. Looking at this kid's age, he's only around twenty. For him to want to compete with me, it's a joke of the century."
After a moment of surprise, Elder Zheng resumed his haughty demeanor.
At this time, Elder Lei, Jiang Zhong, and others also walked out.
After all, this was a big gamble, and witnesses were needed. Undoubtedly, Elder Lei was the best witness.
He nodded slightly at Ye Fan, then Elder Lei looked at the crowd below.
"Today, for the appraisal competition between Feng Xiao and Ye Fan, I, Elder Lei, will serve as the judge. Also serving as judges are first-class appraiser Jiang Zhong, second-class appraiser Chen Bao, and second-class appraiser Lu Yifeng. This competition will uphold the principles of fairness and impartiality. We are merely judges and will not interfere with the bets."
Elder Lei said a few brief words, and then announced that the competition had officially begun.