fifth form

Chapter 2197: Marquis Mansion Banquet
Zhang Xuezhou had participated in the banquet hosted by Marquis Pingyang and also in the banquet hosted by Zhao Tianhua.

Due to the limitations of social productivity, the banquets at Pingyang Marquis Mansion were mainly hot pot, and the ingredients were not luxurious. However, Pingyang Marquis Mansion arranged entertainment such as singing and dancing, acrobatics, and guessing covers to be interspersed among the banquets. The number of people involved in the banquet exceeded a thousand, which could be regarded as a banquet for the upper class of the Han Dynasty.

Zhao Tianhua's banquet was held in the Jinzun Palace, a special banquet venue where only the rich and powerful could hold banquets. The scale of the banquet was also huge, with drinking, finger-guessing games, and betting interspersed among them.

These two banquets left a deep impression on Zhang Xuezhou.

At this moment, the banquet that left a deeper impression on Zhang Xuezhou came again.

What Tian Fen hosted was not a family dinner involving only a few dozen people, but a treasure viewing banquet.

Zhang Xuezhou and others arrived at Wu'an Marquis Mansion by carriage, and what caught their eyes were various antiques displayed along the way.

These antiquities include stoneware, pottery, bronze, gold and silver wares, porcelain, lacquerware, jade, handicrafts, calligraphy and paintings, and ancient documents. Antiquities of all sizes are placed all the way along the banquet hall of Wu'an Marquis Mansion, and there are at least three thousand pieces involved.

What to eat and drink at the banquet is another matter. The antiques arranged by Tian Fen are obviously quite appropriate, and it is worthy of being a banquet for treasure appraisal.

"Was it also like this at the banquet you attended a few days ago?" Zhang Xuezhou asked in a low voice.

"Past banquets were not so exaggerated. The prime minister only took a scroll of bamboo slips and asked for interpretation. Another person took a set of formation equipment, and another person took a box of old things that were collected over the years," Zhenyuan Shenjun replied in a low voice.

"I thought you had to identify thousands of artifacts at every banquet you attended before!"

Zhang Xuezhou murmured, confirming that the scene of Tian Fen was a big one.

These antiques were not owned by Tian Fen alone. Many of them were classified and marked with bamboo sticks to indicate their owners.

It was obvious that Tian Fen invited people here. The preciousness and value of these antiques were another matter. The fact that Tian Fen could mobilize so many people to bring antiques to the banquet to show his respect undoubtedly showed his great ability to appeal.

"Look around and try to find a bargain!"

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at many objects.

Li Shaojun has a vast amount of knowledge. Although he is not an expert in anything, he knows a little bit of everything. Zhang Xuezhou is extremely lacking in this aspect.

He could only join in the fun of Li Shaojun, and told Zhenyuan Shenjun to just bring forward any useful things he found.

Zhang Xuezhou is not good at distinguishing, but if he sees something that catches his eye, he can acquire it through normal methods such as purchasing it or using personal connections.

"I try my best!"

Zhenyuan God nodded.

Zhenyuan Shenjun has been in Kunlun for hundreds of years. All he knows are the texts and objects in the Heavenly Palace. How could he know about the past of the Dongtu Dynasty?

When attending the banquet with Li Shaojun, Zhenyuan Shenjun was just a spectator.

The many antiques in front of him dazzled Zhen Yuan Shen Jun, and he could only stare wide-eyed to see if there were any array objects hidden among them that others did not recognize.

"Marquis Wu'an, you are the host of the banquet, you are a little late!"

"Wei Qihou, I am so ashamed. I was having a long conversation with Li Daochang at Yunyi Taoist Temple. I am sorry for keeping you waiting!"

Following Tian Fen into the hall of the marquis's mansion, many important guests came into view.

Sitting in the front row was Dou Ying, Marquis of Weiqi.

This was the prime minister originally appointed by the new emperor, but he was dismissed by the Empress Dowager.

Zhang Xuezhou was familiar with Dou Ying. He even acted as a middleman and communicated with Dou Ying's yang soul. He obtained the Nine Cauldrons Technique from Dou Ying to avoid the inspection of the Empress Dowager. He also tricked Dou Ying into trading the Qin King's Imperial Seal for the marrow of the spiritual jade with great monsters such as Lu Baibai, and also taught Dou Ying the yang soul transformation technique.

Although the deal ultimately failed, Zhang Xuezhou still remembers Dou Ying to this day, and he is also well aware that many people in the court have different faces and represent different competing interests.

Dou Ying in front of him undoubtedly had two faces, and Zhang Xuezhou was also wary of him.

"Master Li, Dou Ying has visited you many times but never saw you. This has always been a regret for me!"

Dou Ying stood up and greeted Tian Fen, then looked behind Tian Fen and saluted. When he saw two Taoists, he didn't know who to salute for a moment, but thinking that many people praised Li Shaojun for his immortal appearance, he couldn't help but turn to the good-looking Li Shaojun.

But Dou Ying also had many doubts in his heart.

The Taoist priest with good looks seemed to have strange cultivation, which made Dou Ying feel weak. The Taoist priest with strange appearance was filled with an extremely strong aura, and whenever Dou Ying tried to draw his energy to test him, he knew very well that the other party would definitely rebound.

This kind of opponent is at least at the level of Self-Existence Realm, or possibly even higher.

After Dou Ying finished his ceremony, he felt puzzled and felt that there was something strange about these two Taoists.

"I am just a mortal, Wei Qihou is too polite!"

Li Shaojun casually rejected Dou Ying's polite words.

Dou Ying had heard this kind of words no less than ten times. He knew that these people's polite words should not be taken seriously. If he took them seriously, he would lose.

After responding directly, Li Shaojun took Cai Ma to find an empty seat and sat down.

"Someone, give Marquis Zhou Yang a seat!"

When Li Shaojun was looking for an empty seat, he did not sit in a row according to the rules, so Tian Fen had to quickly smooth things over.

He glanced at the God Zhenyuan who could teach the art of flying, and couldn't help but move a seat for the high-ranking guest next to him.

"Still don't know who this person is?"

It was not surprising that Li Shaojun took the seat of Marquis Zhou Yang, as he was not familiar with the court etiquette. What was strange was that Tian Fen later welcomed in another Taoist priest, who also took the seat of Marquis Qu Ni.

Dou Ying looked at Chen He, the Marquis of Qu Ni, who entered the hall of the marquis' mansion later, and at the other party's face which seemed somewhat frightened and angry, he could not help but ask questions quickly.

"The Taoist priest is a master," Tian Fen said, "I need to learn martial arts from you. This is the position of a master, so I can only inconvenience Qu Nihou!"

Tian Fen returned to the mansion quite late, so the seating arrangements seemed hasty.

He quickly introduced the God of Zhenyuan, and then bowed to apologize to Chen He, the Marquis of Quni.

"Since he is a master who can serve as the commander of Wu'anhou, Chen's position should indeed be moved back!"

Marquis Qu Ni nodded, took off the purple robe covering his body and handed it to the servant, then frowned and sat down behind Zhen Yuan Shen Jun.

When one person changes his seat, many people who follow him will also need to change their seats, and the seat signs will continue to move to the back.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't care about the seating arrangement. He found a seat at the entrance of the hall and sat down as usual.

"Hey, Master Dongfang, why are you sitting here?"

It was not until Tian Fen was busy that he discovered Zhang Xuezhou was sitting at the entrance of the hall.

According to the court official rank, the position of Taizhong Daifu was lower than that of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, and lower than that of princes and dukes, but this position was already extremely high, and the seat at the table was generally in the middle.

Tian Fen was shocked when he suddenly saw Zhang Xuezhou sitting in the last row of the hall.

He had seen Zhang Xuezhou reform the etiquette in the court. Although Zhang Xuezhou had a good relationship with him today, Tian Fen was also afraid that Zhang Xuezhou would come to the court tomorrow and give him a beating, catching him and criticizing him for improper etiquette like he did Zhuang Qingzhai.

Zhuang Qingzhai was from Anle Palace and could withstand criticism over etiquette.

But Tian Fen was from the Empress Dowager's lineage and had been demoted from his position, so he had no real power. Everyone was just giving him face.

If any troublemaker caught him and criticized him, Tian Fen was sure that no one in the court would speak up for him, and he might even be used as a typical case of standardizing etiquette.

As a case, it is impossible to end up with the title being stripped, but being fined in salary is inevitable, and he may even be ridiculed as a laughing stock.

This made Tian Fen's heart skip a beat, and he quickly reached out and pulled Zhang Xuezhou to the front row.