Chapter 573: Dazzling Grand View Garden

Most visitors liked to walk up the mountain, enjoying the boundless autumn scenery along the way.

Dun Garden covered nearly 600 mu, originally occupying only half the mountain, but a hundred years ago, the neighbor separated by a wall failed, and the land on the other side was sold to the Golden Horn family, which led to the Dun Garden that occupies the entire mountain today.

A small mountain, seven or eight famous scenic spots.

He Lingchuan walked all the way up, seeing waterfalls and flowing springs, pine streams and flowing clouds, and maple phoenix trees welcoming the road. Such a large, ingenious garden, which also had to look natural and without craftsmanship, required painstaking effort and labor far exceeding that of ordinary manors.

By comparison, the houses of various sizes that grew with the scenery in the garden were just embellishments.

He Lingchuan walked leisurely on the path, his feet rustling with endless fallen leaves. This garden made walking tiring, and there was endless space to squander, which was also the largest manor He Lingchuan had seen since entering the world.

Thinking about it, in the past year or so, he had traveled everywhere and had never stayed in one place for two months.

Some people are adrift, some sit on billions.

Thinking about the land price here, every inch of land is worth gold, how much is such a large manor worth? There were clever-mouthed servants in the pavilions along the way to welcome guests, pointing the way and answering questions.

Several tall buildings on the hillside were all three stories or more, separated by the sparse shadows of grass and trees, hearing voices but not seeing people.

The servant introduced that the auction was being held in these buildings at the same time, namely Hanxiang Hall, Dantai Residence, and the Tianyu Building at the highest point.

Guests could shuttle freely between these venues.

Of course, in the Hanxiang Hall at the very front, there were still hosts coming out to welcome guests.

As soon as Fushan Yue stepped onto the stairs, someone greeted him with great enthusiasm: "Your Highness, long time no see!"

This person was in a brocade robe, over forty years old, with a fair face and no beard, his eyebrows long and thin but very spirited.

"General Manager Fang, are you well? Where is the old Golden Horn ox?"

This person smiled: "The General hasn't returned to Lingxu City yet, but he has written three times to urge the auction."

"This is He Xiao." Fushan Yue turned to introduce He Lingchuan. "He Xiao, this is General Manager Fang Canran, the first-class general manager under General Golden Horn. Properties including Dun Garden are managed by him, and he is also the person in charge of today's auction."

He Lingchuan and Fang Canran exchanged greetings, and his gaze fell on his hand, startled. Fang Canran said "oh yo": "Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once; He Young Master's reputation has risen recently, truly a young man to be feared..."

Seeing He Lingchuan staring at the back of his hand in a daze, he couldn't help but ask again: "He Young Master?"

He Lingchuan then came back to his senses and smiled: "You flatter me."

Fang Canran clasped his fists, and He Lingchuan saw the red seal ring he was wearing on his middle finger.

A seal ring wasn't anything rare, but the shape, size, color, and pattern on this seal ring, He Lingchuan dared to say he had seen it just a few days ago—

This was exactly the same as Shao Jian's seal ring! No, it should be said that it was very likely the same one, because the seal ring was engraved with a conch pattern, and the conch pattern had exactly five circles.

Shao Jian had introduced the tricks of the trade to him: he had founded the chamber of commerce himself, and only the seal rings of the founders had five-pattern conchs, while others in the chamber of commerce had at most two or three patterns.

How many founders could a chamber of commerce have?

Spanning more than a hundred years of time and space, he actually saw this seal ring again.

So what was the relationship between this Great Manager Fang Canran under General Golden Horn and Shao Jian, the exile of the Yuan State from back then?

Before he could think much, Fang Canran handed each of them a fluorescent jade hand plaque: "To participate in the auction, just raise this plaque. Come, tea inside!"

Fushan Yue shook his head: "No, no, you tell me first, have the Zhongsun family or the Cen family arrived?"

Fang Canran was startled: "The eldest young master of the Zhongsun family is in Tianyu Building, and the Cen family and the Minister of Agriculture's family haven't arrived yet."

Cen Boqing had just been escorted back to the capital by the Cloud Envoy; the matter he committed was too big, and the Minister of Agriculture and the Cen family might not be in the mood to attend this auction.

Fushan Yue chuckled: "Good."

The Zhongsun family had sent someone, as if they were certain that the Anti-Aging Pill case wouldn't be traced to them.

The two walked into Hanxiang Hall.

The interior decoration of Dun Garden went without saying; it was the lecture of the capital for six hundred years, luxurious yet elegant, rich but not unrefined. He Lingchuan walked in and felt that the atmosphere was extraordinary at a glance, but he couldn't see where it was different everywhere.

Maybe it was the ancient trees in the patio that had been there for thousands of years.

Maybe it was the tiles on the eaves that were exquisitely crafted, ringing like music whenever it rained.

Or maybe it was the huge jade screen in the hall. The screen showed the rising sun, illuminating the golden peaks of ten thousand mountains. This jade screen was one and a half zhang high and six zhang wide, spanning the entire hall, with a majestic momentum.

The screen was an animated picture, with rolling white clouds and green mountains, and standing close to it, one felt a chill, as if the clouds and mist were rushing toward one's face.

He Lingchuan knew at a glance that this was the craftsmanship of the Songyang Prefecture.

The small moving screen at the Dunyu branch of the Songyang Prefecture was only the size of half a door panel, and it cost two hundred taels of silver. How much did it cost to customize such a giant screen? It was well known that the larger the screen, the greater the difficulty of the craftsmanship.

However, the Songyang Prefecture also equivalent to placing a large advertisement here; I don't know if they would give Dun Garden a discount when collecting money.

Hanxiang Hall included three halls, two rooms, several side rooms, and corridors, all displaying auction items at the moment. Of course, there were guards in front of the display cabinets, telling you with their eyes to look but not touch.

Every two hours, an auction was held in the main hall.

Guests in the hall were like shuttles, all celebrities of Lingxu City. He Lingchuan looked around and saw that humans accounted for eighty percent, chatting and laughing, with beauties like clouds.

Many guests gathered together, exchanging greetings, drinking, and whispering.

Clearly, this was also a rare social occasion.

Fushan Yue grabbed him and introduced two groups of guests, all of whom were very interested in the Baishaju incident and the war in the east.

Taking advantage of Fushan Yue's boasting, He Lingchuan quietly withdrew from the crowd and went to stroll elsewhere.

When he passed the giant painting screen of the Songyang Prefecture again, someone approached him and said softly: "He Xiao, He Young Master?"

He Lingchuan's expression remained unchanged: "You recognized the wrong person, right?"

This person smiled: "Entrusted by the Lord."

He was actually sent by Li Qingge?

He Lingchuan said "oh," and took the black iron ring handed over by the other party.

This was a storage ring. He Lingchuan probed his spiritual sense into it and found a booklet inside.

The handwriting on this was neat, recording the information of the Cen family and the Zhongsun family, including the names, ages, habits, temperaments, positions, and businesses of the family members, as well as what they had done recently, etc., which was quite detailed.

It was worthy of the handwriting of the Master of Songyang Prefecture, as attentive as ever. If He Lingchuan, an outsider, had collected this himself, it would have been time-consuming, laborious, and incomplete.

The Cen family didn't come, so He Lingchuan seized the time to read, so as to know what he was doing.

"The eldest young master of the Zhongsun family, Zhongsun Ce?" He focused on reading the information about Zhongsun Ce, finding that this guy was mixed in the upper class of Lingxu City, but had no achievements.

Looking at it this way, Zhongsun Mou was instead the most outstanding one among his peers? Hmm, he had almost dug up the lifeblood of the Zhongsun family with this move.

Fearing that Li Qingge's commission would run away, he didn't read for too long before putting away the booklet and walking toward the West Second Side Room.

At this time, the Divine Bone necklace suddenly heated up.

Hmm? What delicious thing did it take a fancy to again? This was the scene of the auction, full of treasures; for the Divine Bone necklace, wasn't it just a self-service supermarket? He Lingchuan wasn't in a hurry either, walking around the venue with his hands behind his back, pointing at the exhibits and asking questions, but actually feeling the changes in the Divine Bone necklace to determine which item it was that it wanted.

Soon, he stopped near the balcony. There was a row of display cabinets here, each containing four or five items, with a label on the display board saying:

Unknown Strange Object.

Walking here, the Divine Bone necklace stopped heating up.

"What are these?"

The servant immediately leaned over to introduce: "These are all strange objects whose uses have not yet been identified. The starting price is set by the seller, but it is generally not high. Many distinguished guests like to come here to hunt for treasures, sometimes finding gold in the sand, and can find good things."

"So that's how it is." To put it plainly, it's just opening a blind box. Indeed, many people have this addiction.

Beside the display cabinet, only two people were handling them, while a crowd was watching the fun. "Can I take it out and have a look?"

"Yes, I'll take it for you. Which one do you want to see?" It was an unknown strange object to begin with, without additional product descriptions, so if you didn't let people handle and appreciate it, ghosts would buy it?

"Look at this one." He Lingchuan pointed to something that looked like an iron cake. For the sake of caution, he didn't approach the cabinet that the Divine Bone necklace was interested in at the beginning.

The servant handed it to him, and He Lingchuan weighed it. Drink, this weight was also like an iron cake, heavy in the hand. Touching the material, it felt like cold iron, because the coldness in the hand was far superior to ordinary metal.

He felt that this thing was really like a curling stone, just missing the handle on it.

After picking it up, the iron cake was closer to the Divine Bone necklace, but the latter had no reaction.

It probably wasn't this item.

As soon as He Lingchuan handled it, people around him watched. Someone asked him: "Can you tell what it is?"

He Lingchuan shook his head. This iron cake seemed to have been broken off from some appliance, but when he probed it with true qi, there was no reaction.

Having said that, if it could be identified simply, it wouldn't be lying in the "Unknown Strange Object" cabinet.

The servant smiled: "Actually, several strange objects have been auctioned from this Dun Garden display cabinet, and in the end, they were identified as treasures. One was even an immortal relic, and the buyer had a discerning eye and bought it for less than one percent of the price, which was very cost-effective."

Someone on the side took over: "Why don't you say that more people spent money to buy useless things back?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 574 =====

He Lingchuan shook his head. This iron disc looked as if it had been pried off some implement, but when he probed it with true qi, there was no reaction at all.

Then again, if it could be identified so easily, it wouldn't be lying in the "Unknown Curiosities" cabinet.

The attendant smiled: "Actually, several curiosities sold from this Dunyuan display cabinet were eventually identified as treasures. One was even a relic of an immortal. The buyer had a discerning eye and bought it for less than one percent of its value—a very good deal."

Someone on the side chimed in: "More people spent money and bought useless things to take home. Why don't you mention that?"

(End of chapter)