newbobooks Chapter 367: Golden Platform for Appraising Treasures, Yueluo was shocked on the spot!
Chapter 367: Golden Platform for Appraising Treasures, Yueluo was shocked on the spot!
"Tu Zao obeys the order! Open the door!!!"
Tu Zao shouted at the top of his voice, and the waiter who was waiting in front of the door slowly opened the door of Qianjintai. In an instant, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, and the Cheng of the Taifu Temple entered first.
Dozens of gatekeepers filed in behind him, some carrying or holding exquisitely decorated wooden boxes, causing the onlookers outside the gate to stretch their necks to look, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the national treasure of Dali.
At this moment, there are seats arranged on the left and right sides of the hall, and under the high pavilion, there is a treasure appraisal table that is more than ten feet long and five feet wide, which is specially used for treasure appraisal today.
It is worth mentioning that Liu Yue did not leave after writing the plaque for Qianjintai, but sat with Lingsu in an inconspicuous seat in the northeast of the lobby.
He had seen through Baili Dongjun's junior brother when he used magic to create flying snow. He didn't leave this time because he wanted to see why these guys went to so much trouble to pretend to be immortals.
Tu Zao saluted one by one to the officials and eunuchs who came to present treasures. The other servants also stepped forward to take the wooden boxes from the doorman and placed them on the treasure appraisal table in the order of entry.
"Your Majesty, Cui Yinsheng, a doctor from the Dali Ministry of Rites, presents three national treasures: the Qilin Stepping Cloud Sceptre, the Phoenix Perching Golden Hairpin, and the Nine-Transformation Exquisite Jade. Please examine them!"
"My Lord, Luo Longwen, the Junior Minister of the Honglu Temple of Dali, has come to present two national treasures: the Guixu Jade Flute and the Yushu Jade Slips. Please examine them!"
"Zuo Songling, the Minister of the Dali Imperial Court, has come to offer a pair of precious national treasures, a pair of jade vases with golden threads, a sea beast heart-locking mirror, a piece of Hetian white jade, and a bundle of twisted dragon jade belts. Please accept them, Immortal Lord!"
"I, Jin Luo, the Second-in-Command Eunuch of the Imperial Household's Imperial Ceremony, have come to present twelve items, including the national treasures of the Blood-Ivory Seal and the Chiwen Golden Cup, in compliance with the decree of His Majesty Emperor Tai'an of Dali. Please examine them, Immortal Lord!"
The ceremonial officers of each department reported the treasures they brought one by one, and the maids in charge of supporting the Qianjintai also led the heads of each department to their seats in the lobby.
The chief officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple looked at each other with a stern expression. They then gazed at the pavilion in the distance. However, the deputy chief official of the Imperial Household Department's Ceremony Supervisor had a wandering gaze. He didn't look directly at the third-floor pavilion where Wen Yanzhao and his four companions were. Instead, he surveyed the Qianjin Terrace from top to bottom.
The four people sat down on the platform from left to right, with Wen Yanzhao at the head, Baili Dongjun next, Yin Luoxia next, and Sikong Changfeng, who was ready to make a move, at the end.
Wen Yanzhao glanced down and saw that the six ministries and the imperial palace were the first to present treasures, so he turned his head slightly and whispered to Baili Dongjun:
"Xiao Baili, your cousin is worse than you in terms of martial arts, but when it comes to antique treasures, he's definitely not as good as you. Now that the good stuff is right before our eyes, it depends on your discerning eye to pick out how many of the best goods you can bring back to Xueyue City in exchange for silver!"
Baili Dongjun raised his eyebrows and said complacently, "Of course, cousin, don't worry. As long as I, Baili Dongjun, take action, I guarantee that what is left behind will be priceless top-grade items!"
Yin Luoxia raised her bare hand and pointed at the eunuch Jin Luo, who was sitting next to her downstairs, and whispered, "Uncle Sikong, did that man just mention the Blood Tooth Seal?"
Sikong Changfeng looked confused and said, "It seems there is such a thing. Is it valuable?"
Yin Luoxia nodded and gave a brief account of its origins word by word:
"Very valuable! And... this thing was the favorite seal of the previous emperor. It's said that the emperor didn't care about the country or beautiful women, but only about mountains and rivers, and indulged in calligraphy, painting, flowers and birds! Whenever he created a masterpiece, he would put that seal on it. I heard someone say on Luoxia Peak that a piece of paper with the seal on it is worth a hundred taels of silver!"
"Damn! What kind of thing can be worth a hundred taels of silver just by being covered with white paper?" Baili Dongjun rarely cursed.
Seeing this, Yin Luoxia pursed her lips and smiled, then continued, "Indeed, this item is different from ordinary gold, silver, and jade. First, the blood-cut ivory is inherently valuable. Second, many posthumous works of the previous emperor have been passed down. In Western Chu, where Beili and Nanjue had already been destroyed, many famous scholars and great Confucianists competed to collect them, which drove up the value of this item! My father once encountered a gambler who looked like a Confucian scholar in his casino. He lost all his money and finally took out a scroll of the previous emperor's original running script as gambling money. However, his luck was too bad and he ultimately lost to my father..."
Wen Yanzhao became interested when he heard this: "How much silver was that scroll of cursive script worth at that time?"
Yin Luoxia remained silent upon hearing this and just stretched out four fingers.
Baili Dongjun: "Four thousand taels?"
Yin Luoxia shook her delicate head slightly.
Sikong Changfeng's eyes widened: "Could it be forty thousand taels?"
Yin Luoxia still shook her head slightly.
Baili Dongjun was a little uneasy and stammered, "Fairy Sister, is it really four hundred thousand taels?! How can a piece of scrap paper with a few words written on it be so valuable!"
Yin Luoxia put away her fingers and smiled brightly, "Many things are naturally worthless in the eyes of us warriors, but in the eyes of those literati and scholars, they are worth a fortune! Speaking of which, the calligraphy of Junior Master Baili's master, Senior Ruxian, is also very valuable!"
Hearing the words "Confucian Immortal," Baili Dongjun's heart skipped a beat. He asked, "My master's calligraphy? How much is it worth?"
Yin Luoxia didn't respond, but simply pointed at His Excellency Gao and whispered, "Alright, alright, let's talk about this later. The Ministry of Rites, the Honglu Temple, and the Imperial Palace are still waiting for us. Junior Master Baili, it's up to you now!"
Wen Yanzhao also said, "Xiao Baili, don't be fooled. They might be trying to fool us by selling inferior goods!"
Baili Dongjun suddenly stood up, his snow-white brocade robe fluttering without wind. He touched the ground lightly with his toes, spread his arms, and flew down from the balcony!
"It is as bright as snow reflecting the morning sun, and as clear as ice crystals emerging from the cold abyss.
Her figure is graceful, her sleeves fluttering in the frosty wind, her crown adorned with the brilliance of cold stars, her pendants emitting the melody of shattered jade!"
Among the crowd at the gate of Qianjin Terrace, there was a young man dressed as a scholar. He was amazed by the fairy-like appearance of Baili Dongjun flying down from the high pavilion, and he muttered these lines of poetry unconsciously.
Baili Dongjun, with that illusory face on his face, felt a surge of bitterness in his heart when he heard these words:
"What the hell are you mumbling about? You're just praising me for being so handsome. Humph, scholars are troublesome!"
After muttering inwardly, his gaze swept over the Junior Minister of the Honglu Temple, the Doctor of the Ministry of Rites, and the eunuch Jin Luo, finally landing on Tu Zao's face:
"Since they're willing to offer treasures, let's open it and see if we can find the giant clams we've been searching for for so long!"
Tu Zao hurriedly bowed and nodded in response, saying, "I will obey the orders of the Immortal Lord!"
On the treasure appraisal table, more than ten world-famous treasures were lined up.
The Hetian jade bi is as white as cream, the phoenix walks on the jade is lifelike, and the Guixu jade flute is shaped like fresh bamboo...
Baili Dongjun swept his eyes over the dazzling treasures on the treasure appraisal table one by one. He was born in a marquis's mansion and of course had a lot of knowledge.
But the world-famous Blood Tooth Seal looks so inconspicuous next to these dazzling treasures!
"What Sister Fairy just mentioned, could it be this tattered-looking seal? It seems to be nothing special..."
Baili Dongjun thought to himself, raised his forearm and released his internal energy, and the seal suddenly came into his hand.
The seal was only the size of a teacup, blood-red in color, and covered with cracks on the surface. However, the eight characters "The Emperor's Treasure of Kuizhang Pavilion for Ten Thousand Years" were engraved underneath.
Baili Dongjun was so absorbed in playing with the seal in his hand that he didn't notice that among the people watching outside the door, there was a woman in a goose yellow silk dress with a plain gauze on her face, staring at his illusory face with tears in her eyes!
"Gu...Gu Chen? But you're clearly over 70 years old, how could it be?! How could you look like you did decades ago?"
The woman was none other than Yueluo, the master of the 32nd Pavilion of the Music Bureau.
……