Xuanqing Guard-Chapter 62: The Banquet

Fengri City is southeast of Li City, three thousand li away, with a permanent population of over 3.5 million. It’s a mega-city within the Jingjiu Dynasty, and the military, political, cultural, and commercial center of the Jingxi Region.

Including Li City, the jurisdiction of Fengri City covers a total of forty-three cities.

This was Shen Hao’s first time coming to Fengri City. His first impression as he stepped out from the Teleportation Array was how crowded it was—so many more people than densely populated Li City.

Wang Jian walked beside him, carrying a big wine jar weighing twenty jin. The jar looked utterly ordinary, but it was worth 130,000 taels of patterned silver!

All because this wine was called "Immortal Brew."

Rumor had it that Immortal Brew had already become a lost art, and what still existed today were collector’s items—rarely would anyone actually drink them. Initially, this wine was regarded as the "holy grail" of all wines by the Sect Leader of "Mountain of Ten Thousand Books," first among the Ten Great Sects, and that’s when the hype began.

Cultivators, especially high-tier cultivators, controlled more than eighty percent of the world’s resources. Even things like Immortal Brew, which had no real effect on cultivation, were monopolized by the high-tier crowd, leaving only a pitiful amount for the secular world. So never mind the sky-high price of 130,000 taels per jar—many people have the money but still can’t buy it anywhere.

Shen Hao had only been in this world a little over eight years, and he had no channels to buy Immortal Brew either. He had to rely on one of Wang Jian’s old connections, pulling strings line after line before finally getting one.

With Wang Jian being so willing to help, Shen Hao would, of course, have to return the favor in kind—but that’s a matter for another time.

The reason for spending so much on a single jar of wine was mainly because Jiang Cheng loved to drink, especially rare liquors. Rumor had it that back in his military days, Jiang Cheng was nicknamed "Wine Jar." Once, in a particularly good mood, he even called himself an "Immortal of the Wine Realm."

Buying the wine was all about currying favor.

First, it played to his tastes; second, it was out of necessity.

Give him silver?

Shen Hao was just a Flag Officer, yet he could easily pull together a fortune of several hundred thousand himself. Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng had been both military and Xuanqing Guard Commander—how rich did that make him? Would he care about your little bit of silver?

And when it came to the things cultivators valued most—elixirs, magical artifacts, and cultivation techniques—Shen Hao couldn’t afford them, nor did he have anywhere to buy them. This was his only play.

"Flag Officer, this way. Gan Lin said the table is booked at Hong’en Hall..."

"You’re really familiar with this area?"

"Heh, you flatter me, sir. Used to mess around with a couple friends here when I was younger and didn’t know any better. After all, it’s far from home—go wild here and no family will find out."

"What, you don’t mess around anymore?"

"Hehe, not when I’m learning from you now, sir. That stuff can wait for later."

The two of them chatted idly as they walked. It was late afternoon and nearly dinnertime, so the street was busy. But there was something just like back in Li City: whether it was exquisitely dressed big shots or cocky little peddlers, when they saw Shen Hao and Wang Jian in black robes with taotie patterns on their chests, everyone gave them a wide berth.

"Flag Officer, that’s the place!"

Following Wang Jian’s lead, Shen Hao looked ahead. At the far end of the street, a few hundred meters away, stood a tower-like building—four stories tall and sticking out like a crane among chickens.

In this world, there were no modern high-rises; a four-story building was exceedingly rare. At least, in the whole Li City area, Shen Hao had never seen one that tall.

"Hong’en Hall."

"Flag Officer, Hong’en Hall is one of the three top flower houses in all of Fengri City. Besides having a fourth-grade Green Waist Songstress stationed here, its wine and food are the most famous in town—even better than the big-name restaurants."

Just as when they hosted Zhang Qian and Gan Lin in Li City, this time Shen Hao had Wang Jian book the best private room at Hong’en Hall too, called "Qingyu Stream."

Strictly speaking, with just the Trial Hundred Households rank and his post at Li City Xuanqing Guard, Shen Hao wasn’t qualified to reserve the Qingyu Stream room at Hong’en Hall. In fact, they even cut in line this time—only because the madam of Hong’en Hall heard their guest was Jiang Cheng.

But that didn’t mean any discount; not a single coin was shaved off. The room was five thousand taels a night, and with food, drinks, and songstress costs, it’d be ten thousand to twenty thousand taels easily gone in one evening.

Shen Hao and Wang Jian arrived first. After waiting just a bit, Zhang Qian and Gan Lin showed up; the group was already acquainted, lounging in the private room, sipping tea and bantering away.

Half an hour later, Jiang Cheng finally strolled in, fashionably late.

"Haha, kept you waiting, didn’t I? Got held up with some official business."

Jiang Cheng’s first words coming in were a smiling apology for being late. Even if it was just an excuse, such a manner was rare—at least, Shen Hao had never seen Tang Qingyuan act like that.

"Hah, Jiang, what are you saying? Who can’t wait out two cups of tea?"

"Exactly, you being here—no wait is too long!"

"Heh, Old Gan, Old Zhang, you two..." Jiang greeted Gan and Zhang, then sat right down at the head of the table. He turned to Shen Hao: "Shen Zongqi, have a seat too. Today we’re here as friends—no need to stand on ceremony."

As the call for food went out, a procession of dishes quickly began flowing through the door.

Jiang Cheng did look genuinely hungry, shoveling down three bowls of rice before even looking up. Zhang Qian and Gan Lin, too, ate with their heads down as if starved.

Shen Hao was baffled. Never before had he seen a drinking party start with people wolfing down food in silence, without even a single drink or word. What was this all about?

But when Jiang Cheng finally set his bowl down, he grinned and said, "Right then, now that my stomach’s got a base, let’s get drinking!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Shen Hao: "..."

So the plan is to fill up first, then go all-in on drinking?

This is one hardcore drinking party.

Looking again at Zhang Qian and Gan Lin, both unfazed, Shen Hao realized this must be some standard military drinking style.

"Jiang, you might not know—Shen Zongqi can really hold his liquor. Last time we drank in Li City, he polished off a whole jar without even turning red."

"Absolutely, and Shen Zongqi even brought a jar of good wine today. Old Zhang and I are clueless about what it is, and Shen Zongqi won’t say—maybe you can take a look and tell us?"

Shen Hao played along and signaled Wang Jian to bring out the jar of Immortal Brew.

"Bang!" The wine jar hit the table, and instantly, Jiang Cheng’s previously relaxed face changed. He leaned forward, waved his hand, and an invisible force floated the jar stably to him.

"These cloud patterns on the jar, and the seal on the cork... Shen Zongqi, don’t tell me this is Immortal Brew?!"

Shen Hao nodded with a smile. "Lord Jiang, you have a sharp eye. This is indeed Immortal Brew."

It really was Immortal Brew!

Those three words held irresistible magic for anyone who loved good drink. Jiang Cheng’s throat even started bobbing unconsciously, as if he couldn’t stop swallowing.

Even Zhang Qian and Gan Lin were startled. They hadn’t expected Shen Hao to get hold of such an exceptionally rare top-grade wine. Rumor had it a single jar could fetch over ten thousand taels on the market! Damn, this Shen Zongqi really didn’t lack for cash!

"Hahahaha! Good! Good! Good! I never thought I’d taste such fine wine again in six years—what a treat! Shen Zongqi, you really went all out!"