fifth form

Chapter 2308 Attending the Banquet
As the first of the Nine Ministers, Fengchang Temple had its office in the imperial city area, so the leading officials did not need to go to the Jingzhao Yin Mansion which gathered various functions.

Fengchang Temple is not far from Huainan Palace.

Amid the sound of the wheels turning, it took only a quarter of an hour for Zhang Xuezhou to see the familiar and spacious Huainan Palace.

He avoided Liu Ling in the carriage. Although they were riding in the same carriage, he did not get close to him and never spoke to him.

It was not until he entered the street where the Huainan Palace was located that Zhang Xuezhou coughed lightly.

"I sent Zhang Cigong, who was driving this carriage, to pay a visit to Lord Dongfang. I thought he was not doing a good job and it would be difficult to invite Lord Dongfang to the banquet," Liu Ling said with a smile.

"The people in your palace are very polite, but I was late due to personal reasons," Zhang Xuezhou replied.

"Fortunately, Lord Dongfang explained it clearly," Liu Ling said with a smile, "otherwise I would still think that he was incompetent and would have to punish him to be a car slave for life!"

Liu Ling looked at Zhang Cigong in front of him, whose body trembled slightly, and stared at him for a while.

Only when they stopped the car and entered the Huainan Palace did she point at Zhang Cigong.

"It is your blessing to invite Lord Dongfang here," Liu Ling said, "You are good at training horses, but you lack the ability to ride horses to kill enemies. Go to the mansion to get a sign, then return to Shouchun City to find Wu Bei, he will teach you!"

"Thank you, Master!"

Zhang Cigong looked up at Zhang Xuezhou, then looked at Liu Ling and quickly lowered his head to receive the reward.

Listening to the low voices of several people, Zhang Cigong was very clear that he had received an extraordinary reward.

Wu Bei was the Lieutenant Colonel of Huainan. He could command the Huainan Legion and also govern countless retainers of Huainan on behalf of the King of Huainan. The status of such a person in Huainan Kingdom was equivalent to that of a general, and he was one of the top figures in Huainan.

This reward is not just a plaque, but also a guarantor, who will even train him and teach him skills.

Perhaps it was because of the recognition brought by his riding with Liu Ling, or perhaps it was because of Zhang Xuezhou, Liu Ling was extremely generous when rewarding, and even Zhang Cigong was flattered.

"Brother Zhouzi is still the most powerful one!"

Just a trip to the Huainan Palace changed his destiny. Zhang Cigong looked at the people entering the palace gate and taking sheep carts. He felt excited and envious at the same time.

He hoped that one day he could ride on the sheep cart of the Huainan Palace, but whenever he thought of his mother who was still suffering in the northern mountains of Shouchun City, all the thoughts in his mind were like a bucket of cold water poured down, and he no longer had any romantic ideas at all.

The heat in his heart faded away, and he followed into the mansion with a calm expression, and walked towards the place where he asked for the token.

Riding on the sheep cart again, Zhang Xuezhou also enjoyed the luxurious living conditions of the princes.

His face looked extremely normal. Although Zhang Xuezhou only lived in a 400-square-meter mansion, these external low-end material conditions could not deceive his eyes.

Not to mention that he had similar experiences in Pingyang Marquis' Mansion, the conditions that Zhang Xuezhou achieved in the real world alone were not something that ordinary people could achieve.

In the eyes of ordinary people, attending high-end dinners, entering and exiting magnificent places, tasting all kinds of rare and expensive delicacies, and owning luxury cars and luxury goods are the characteristics of top-level wealth. But among the real top-level people, only the resources that are controlled by each other are real luxury.

He can currently mobilize high-end medical care with a single transfer order, freely choose genetic drugs of different levels, own a private laboratory, mobilize various resources by water, land, and air, and his network of resources is so vast that it is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Not to mention anything else, the Yuanyang cargo ship they had requisitioned for hunting ferocious beasts had been docked at the Huli Port before, and there were only fourteen ships of this heavy industrial specification and tonnage in the world.

As long as Zhang Xuezhou has enough power and can use this power, he will only have a normal attitude towards many luxuries.

Riding on a sheep cart, Zhang Xuezhou followed Liu Ling straight to the banquet hall.

The fire in the hall was burning brightly at this time. Juice and broth were bubbling out of the twelve boiling furnaces, and large pieces of meat were bubbling in the juice, constantly emitting the aroma of meat.

"I asked people to get the neck meat of forty sheep," Liu Ling said. "Sheep neck meat is the best ingredient for entertaining guests. It has no fishy or smelly taste, and is both fat and lean. It is chewy!"

"Wonderful," Zhang Xuezhou praised, "Mutton is sweet and warm in nature, and it is suitable to add ginseng, deer antler, angelica, astragalus, and tangerine peel. The aroma of meat in this big furnace is fragrant, and it is full of nourishing aroma!" "I didn't expect that Lord Dongfang could smell the medicine," Liu Ling exclaimed, "He can tell the medicinal materials in the lamb neck meat from a distance of three meters!"

"This unique smell is probably made from three parts of ginseng, two parts of deer antler, three parts of angelica, one part of astragalus, and one part of tangerine peel," said Zhang Xuezhou.

"Good job!"

As soon as Zhang Xuezhou finished speaking, a man with long gray hair stood up in the banquet hall.

The ability to distinguish medicinal materials by smell is not uncommon. Most people who are good at making alchemy have this ability. However, accurately judging the ratio of boiled medicinal materials by smell is an extraordinary level.

"This is Li Shang, a top-ranking guest official of our Huainan Palace," Liu Ling introduced.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Li Shang!"

Zhang Xuezhou bowed and saluted.

If it were an official banquet, a guest like Li Shang would not be qualified to sit down.

But this was obviously not an official banquet, but more like an inspection banquet.

Zhang Xuezhou glanced around and felt that all those sitting by the banquet stove were capable monks, even including the sickly Jinchang.

"How are you, Uncle Master?"

Zhang Xuezhou glanced past and took the initiative to greet Jinchang.

"I'm very good!"

Jinchang stood up, returned the greeting, and sat down again.

"I heard that Lord Dongfang and the guest official from Jinchang are from the same school. It seems that this is true?" Liu Ling asked.

"It is true, but my uncle is from the Nine People Sect, and I am from the Nine Heavens Sect." Zhang Xuezhou replied: "My faction does not have any killing ability, we can only learn some skills in alchemy and medicine making!"

"The Yin Yang Jiu Tian Sect's ability to make medicines and elixirs is incredible!"

Li Shang exclaimed, seeming to be a little more surprised.

Some people couldn't help but whisper in each other's ears.

After Liu Ling introduced everyone, he sat at the top seat and arranged for Zhang Xuezhou to sit on the lower side.

She took off the veil covering her face, revealing a beautiful face that met Zhang Xuezhou's guess of 60% purity and 40% charm. She smiled at Zhang Xuezhou and took a copper kettle and filled a glass with wine.

"This is the fine wine 'Yuzhongshao' from Huainan. It is refreshing yet spicy. It is a rare brew of my father's." Liu Ling said, "I will use this wine to welcome Lord Dongfang to the palace as a guest!"

"Your Excellency is too kind. I am just a minor official in charge of etiquette in the court. I don't deserve your courtesy!"

Zhang Xuezhou said politely.

He took the wine cup brought down by the maid and drank it without even looking at it.

This kind of unreserved behavior obviously won the favor of everyone. Even Liu Ling widened her eyes, feeling that Zhang Xuezhou was a man without any scheming at all, which was far from what she had guessed.

There are people in the Huainan Palace who are good at targeting those with ulterior motives, and they also have means to do so.

Liu Ling set up a plan to squeeze Zhang Xuezhou dry, and invited many capable people to the dinner, but based on Zhang Xuezhou's heartless behavior, she felt that she would probably be able to take away Zhang Xuezhou's good fortune without having to use these means.