fifth form

Chapter 2309 The Art of Charm
There was no leading official position in the Han Dynasty that could be easily promoted.

Zhang Xuezhou's position as Taizhong Daifu was not very high, but he almost controlled the changes in the Han Dynasty's rituals, Mingtang and other systems.

In the past, the person in charge of this position was either a royal relative or a respected elder, and there were rarely any young people in charge of etiquette.

Whether in terms of power connections or qualifications, Zhang Xuezhou is not qualified.

Even Zhang Xuezhou is not a talented person, and not many people know about him.

But strangely enough, the court tacitly accepted such a person and did not raise a large-scale wave of opposition.

The situation since Zhang Xuezhou took office as Taizhong Doctor has been extremely strange. Not only can visitors not find him, but officials from relevant departments cannot find their superiors.

Even so, the other party's position is secure and worry-free.

Sitting at the top seat at the banquet, Liu Ling's beautiful eyes flickered with a gleam, and she looked at Zhang Xuezhou who was concentrating on eating and drinking.

Zhang Xuezhou really ate and drank at the banquet, not out of pretense or courtesy. But in just a few minutes, one third of the lamb neck in the big stove had been eaten.

This is at least three pounds of meat, even a cultivator who practices Qi and blood can eat half full.

Liu Ling didn't mind Zhang Xuezhou's eating style. She looked at Zhang Xuezhou for a while, then looked at Li Shang on the other side.

When Li Shang hesitated and shook his head, then raised his glass again, Liu Ling waved his hand.

"Master Dongfang, it is said that once you take up the wine glass, your career will flourish. I take this wine to wish Master Dongfang a prosperous career!"

The maid refilled the wine cup with wine, and Liu Ling took the wine and gestured to Zhang Xuezhou.

When Zhang Xuezhou stood up with a mouthful of mutton neck to express his gratitude, she quickly asked the maid to bring the wine away.

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou taking the cup and drinking it all, his body swaying back and forth, Liu Ling breathed a sigh of relief, and Li Shang nodded with certainty.

"I heard that Lord Dongfang is the only one who has been favored by Anle Palace. I wonder if Lord Dongfang can give me some pointers so that we can follow his example?"

Liu Ling felt a little relieved.

She snapped her fingers, and the wine glass in front of her splashed, and then a very unfamiliar female face emerged in the wine.

The woman's appearance was not stunningly beautiful, but she possessed a delicate, mature, and steady temperament. It was obvious that she came from a wealthy family and she even had the confidence to control power.

Liu Ling was very familiar with women of this appearance. After all, she herself had similar features.

But compared to the face in the wine, she felt that she seemed a little inferior, but Liu Ling didn't know which woman in the Han Dynasty was so outstanding that made her feel inferior.

Her mind was wavering, and when the image of the woman in the wine glass began to ripple, Liu Ling quickly perked up.

"Master Dongfang, what does Anle Palace like about you?"

When Liu Ling opened his mouth, someone at the banquet took a flute and a light and happy sound came from it.

Jin Chang frowned and looked at everyone again. When he saw Zuo Wu's warning look, he felt a chill in his heart for no reason.

Three days after he surrendered to Princess Liu Ling and agreed to her orders, Jin Chang felt that he could walk more steadily, his mind was at ease, his muscles and bones were relaxed, and he was no longer distracted. As all the strange feelings faded away, he felt like he was reborn.

He still had some of the arrogance of the Yin-Yang School in his heart, but Jinchang felt that his edges had been almost smoothed out.

And at this moment, the one whose edges are being smoothed out is another person from the Yin-Yang School.

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou being tricked, Jinchang couldn't help but curse in his heart.

"What a fool that is, pretending to be so high and mighty. He took a fancy to the mutton in the stove as soon as he entered the room. He never considered that the meat with the smell of medicine was just used to cover up the 'Jade Burning'. The real trigger for the spell was the two pots of wine. Now that he has been bewitched by Liu Ling, he can't get rid of this trouble without shedding a layer of skin!"

While cursing Zhang Xuezhou, Jinchang couldn't help feeling a little sad.

"Guest official of Jinchang, I heard that your Yin-Yang School's cultivation methods are all based on one discipline, and they also have the wonderful advantage of neutralizing each other. If you want to ask about the inheritance of the Nine Heavens Sect, now is a good time!"

When Zuo Wu's low reminder came, Jinchang's feeling of grief for the loss of the rabbit disappeared by 90% in an instant.

"Don't worry," Zuo Wu said with a low laugh, "We all have our own learnings, so there's no need for us to pry into your Yin-Yang family's secrets. Even if we listen in, it won't have any bad effects!"

"Is it?"

Jinchang responded in a low voice, with a look of difficulty in keeping calm on his face.

He and Zhang Xuezhou had traded what they had learned in cultivation, and Jinchang had no problem learning it. What he lacked at the moment was the exchange of the contents of the Solitary Self Realm. This was the content that Zhang Xuezhou would find difficult to obtain in the Evil Ross River Holy Land, and Jinchang did not expect to obtain it from Zhang Xuezhou now.

Asking Zhang Xuezhou again would not gain anything more, but it would undoubtedly serve as a token of his allegiance.

A letter of allegiance is to participate in this matter and form a united front with everyone.

Another pledge of allegiance was to read out the secret Yin-Yang School realm technique and present it in Room A of Wenying Pavilion to ensure Jinchang's loyalty to the Huainan Palace.

As long as the realm technique of the Yin-Yang School is available, a second successor will appear after the death of Zhu Bugui, and the Huainan Palace will also be able to send other people to practice the Nine Sects' unique skills after Jinchang's death.

This was something Jinchang was extremely taboo about in the past, but now he is not qualified to make a free choice.

He finally took a deep breath, stood up and bowed to Liu Ling.

The person who stood up like Jinchang was not just one person, there was also another man in white clothes involved.

"Jin Keqing!"

"Su Fei!"

The man in white was a little surprised, but he politely bowed to Jinchang.

Jinchang had no relationship with the other party, but he recognized him.

As one of the few remaining descendants of the Beast Taming Sect, Jin Chang met Su Fei when he was searching for inheritance in the Beast Taming Sect's treasure land.

If Su Fei's father Su Fang commands monsters and is qualified as a Class A guest official of the Huainan Palace, Su Fei's qualifications and strength undoubtedly have many shortcomings, even if Su Fei is willing to sell himself to the Huainan Palace.

Jinchang was puzzled for a moment as to why Su Fei was qualified to attend this banquet and also had the qualifications of a first-class guest official.

Seeing Su Fei also queuing up, Jin Chang knew very well that the other party also wanted to get something from Zhang Xuezhou, or to prove something again.

"Grand Empress Dowager... maybe it was because I presented a top-grade elixir recipe to her that she favored me!"

"What prescription?"

"Eight Steps to Immortality Pill!"

Jinchang glanced at Su Fei, then reluctantly returned the greeting, and then quickly turned back to Zhang Xuezhou.

He only saw Zhang Xuezhou's body shaking slightly, holding a piece of mutton neck meat and communicating very naturally.

Zhang Xuezhou did not seem obsessed or intoxicated, but his frankness at this moment made Jinchang question his life.

In response to Princess Liu Ling's questions, Zhang Xuezhou answered very straightforwardly. Even when Liu Ling asked in depth about the recipe, Zhang Xuezhou did not hide anything and almost handed over a top-notch recipe to her.

"This recipe is incredible. It uses an external pill to ignite mana or qi and blood, thus adding strength when breaking through the realm of ego, thus crossing the threshold of cultivation in one fell swoop. If the dosage is increased, it may have an effect when impacting the realm of true self!"

The detailed recipe of the elixir was narrated, and Li Shang, who was good at refining elixirs, kept commenting with delight.

"Guest official from Jinchang, it's amazing that your Yin-Yang School has such a good elixir recipe. No wonder it was so popular back then," said Li Shang.

"If I say I don't know the secrets of the Nine Heavens Sect, would you believe me?"

Jinchang replied helplessly.

He thought it was normal that Zhang Xuezhou was good at making elixirs, but he vaguely felt that something was wrong. After all, the Yin-Yang School did not seem to be good at external elixirs.

But when he thought about the fact that he had followed Gou Bugui for many years and had schemed many times but still ended up like this, Jin Chang felt that it was normal for Gou Bugui to hide something. After all, with Gou Bugui's level of cultivation, he couldn't use such top-level medicine.

"I believe it, of course I believe it." Li Shang nodded and said, "The use of this pill is really bold and magical. If the Yin-Yang family had not been so ruined, it would not have been offered to the Anle Palace in exchange for an official position. However, the requirements for this pill recipe are very strict. It is almost impossible for the Yin-Yang family to refine this pill at the moment. Only the imperial court and other places have the means to refine it!"

"There really is something good about Dongfang Shuo!"

Liu Ling also had a look of joy on his face, thinking that Zhang Xuezhou was really a person who could not get any benefits. Even if he had the secret recipe of top-level elixir, he could not enjoy any benefit at all.

This is no different from the evaluation made by King Huainan back then.

According to the King of Huainan, as long as you see that this guy is lucky, you can win him over and get to know him better, and there is a high possibility that you can gain benefits from him.

This kind of thing doesn't require a high investment, but the rewards can be huge.

Liu Ling only set up a simple dinner, and he felt that he had squeezed Zhang Xuezhou, this unlucky guy, dry again, which also brought unexpected benefits.