After experiencing a small turmoil in Qingmen, the group finally arrived at the official residence of Zhengxi Mansion without any danger, and successfully reached their destination under the arrangements of Guo Tong and Guo Zhang.
Xia Houxuan did not see Guo Huai directly, which was also expected by Xia Houxuan. Before Xia Houxuan could ask, Guo Tong explained:
"The prince of the Gaochang Kingdom in the Western Regions brought a group of Western merchants and wanted to open some shops in the Western Market in Chang'an. This matter involves the Western Regions countries and is of great importance. Therefore, my father was busy dealing with the matter and did not greet the guests in person. Governor, I hope the Governor will forgive me."
Xia Houxuan didn't know whether what the other party said was true or not, so he just smiled and nodded.
Guo Zhang added:
"My father specially held a banquet at Shuangfeng Palace in the west of the city to welcome the Governor. At the end of Shenshi today, I hope that the Governor will move his jade toe slightly to enjoy the feast."
Xia Houxuan nodded his head in a neither humble nor overbearing manner and replied:
"At that time, I will go to the banquet on time."
When the Guo brothers saw that everything had been arranged, they left.
Seeing that the two of them were far away, Li Sheng shook his head and said:
"Taichu, I'm afraid that today's banquet will be a genuine Hongmen Banquet."
Xia Houxuan nodded, pondered for a long time, and arranged a task for Li Sheng:
"Gong Zhao, I want to know who are attending the banquet tonight and their identities. I wonder if you can complete this matter?"
Li Sheng smiled confidently and said:
"I will handle it."
An hour later, Li Sheng returned to Zhengxi Mansion again and brought Xia Houxuan a list of people to attend the dinner party. Xiahou Xuanlan looked carefully and saw that the people on the list, except for the two cousins Guo Tong and Guo Zhang, and Wang Hun, the governor of Liangzhou, the rest were all big families in Yongliang and Liangzhou: the Lu family in Fufeng Lu Zhi, the governor of Tianshui County, Huang Hua, the head of the Huang family in Jiuquan, Duan Zhuo, Duan Xiuren, the governor of Yongzhou, the head of the Duan family in Dunhuang, Zhang Jiu, the governor of Jincheng County, the head of the Zhang family in Dunhuang, and Panyang, the head of the Fan family in Dunhuang.
Xia Houxuan was shocked after reading the list. He had heard about all the people attending the banquet tonight. These people all have outstanding reputations in the two northwest states. Not only that, some of them hold military power, some are governors of prefectures and counties, and there are even ruthless people who rebelled during the reign of Emperor Wu but were not executed. See The banquet tonight is indeed a Hongmen Banquet.
Xiahou Xuan understood that tonight's banquet was a serious banquet, and it was very likely that the banquet would not be a good party or a good meeting, so he arranged for Huigu to have dinner early and asked Huigu to rest early. , don’t wait for yourself.
Not only that, Xia Houxuan also went to Li Dangzhi's residence and asked for some magic medicine for hangover. Li Dangzhi specifically emphasized that this medicine cannot really cure hangover, it just delays the onset of alcoholism until the next day, so it is still not allowed to drink excessively. Xia Houxuan kept this in mind and took the medicine given by Li Dangzhi in advance.
At the end of Shen Shi. It was almost dusk, and it was the time for every household to eat dinner.
When Xia Houxuan took Yu Huan, Xia Houfeng, and a few others to the Shuangfeng Que outside Zhicheng Gate in the west of the city, the sun just happened to slant to the top of the mountain in the west.
He is always on time.
However, everyone present at the meeting today seemed to be more punctual than Xia Houxuan. Because as soon as Xia Houxuan went up to the tower, he saw seven or eight pairs of eyes that were like cold electricity, all directed towards him.
This scene would probably make anyone tremble with fear. But they forgot that Xia Houxuan was also a ruthless man who could burn his clothes with thunder and fire without changing his expression.
Among the crowd, except for the Guo brothers, who were slightly lower in rank, and Lu Zhi, the extremely well-educated prefect of Tianshui, who stood up to greet them, the rest of them only said perfunctorily, "I have met the governor," but they did not move. Move half an inch.
Wang Hun, the governor of Liangzhou, had no ill feelings towards Xia Houxuan. In addition, his son Wang Rong often mentioned Xia Houxuan's magnanimity and character in front of him, so Wang Hun even admired Xia Houxuan very much. But the group of old brothers with lower status than him around him did not move away. As a governor of a state in charge of half of the sky in the northwest, it was naturally difficult for him to stand up and greet him.
Faced with the crowd's intimidation, Xia Houxuan naturally refused to be outdone. Originally, as a junior, when he saw many seniors in the meeting, he should bow and salute, but Xia Houxuan responded with violence and saw that everyone was not polite, so he simply became wild and attacked Wang Hun, Lu Zhi and Guo. After the brothers returned the courtesy, Xia Houxuan went to the table peacefully without even looking at the others.
Everyone who originally expected to see Xia Houxuan furious and in chaos was now a little confused by Xia Houxuan's anger.
Before the banquet even started, the two sides were already at war with each other. At this moment, Guo Tong, the eldest son of Guo Huai, picked up a bottle of wine, stood up and came to Xia Houxuan's side with a smile:
"Today's banquet is specifically for the reception of the Marquis of Changling before he takes office in Chang'an. My father is busy with official matters today and cannot come in person, so I would like to give you a bottle of honor for my father!"
Guo Tong directly carried out his father Guo Huai. Xia Houxuan naturally had to give him face. He picked up the wine bottle in front of him and brought it to his mouth. Suddenly he smelled an extremely strong aroma of wine. Xia Houxuan had tasted this kind of wine in Luoyang. , this is Liangzhou’s specialty liquor - Qianli Zui.
When they were young, Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi once drank secretly from a jar of Thousand Miles Drunk collected by their father. As a result, they collapsed after drinking and slept for a whole night and a half before sobering up.
Today's Xia Houxuan has good internal skills and his drinking capacity is naturally much better than when he was a boy. However, facing this thousand-mile drunkenness, Xia Houxuan can't help but hesitate a little. Tonight's banquet is undoubtedly a Hongmen Banquet. If you get too drunk, nothing good will happen.
Fortunately, Li Dangzhi gave him the hangover medicine he had taken in advance. Xia Houxuan calmed down, picked up the wine bottle and drank it all in one gulp. Everyone present was shocked when they saw Xia Houxuan's unflinching arrogance while drinking strong wine.
It seemed that Xia Houxuan was not an embroidered pillow as they had heard.
After Guo Tong honored Xia Houxuan with a bottle of wine in the name of his father, he talked endlessly about his admiration for Xia Houxuan. He couldn't have a complete stalemate with them, and he couldn't show any weakness at all, otherwise he would either be constrained everywhere in Yongzhou, or be manipulated by others. Thinking of this, Xia Houxuan showed no fear, and raised his bottle and drank it all in one gulp.
Then Guo Tong offered Xia Houxuan a third bottle of wine. Xia Houxuan just smiled and drank the wine.
Guo Tong, who already felt his throat was dry, returned to the seat and winked at his cousin Guo Zhang. Guo Zhang understood and raised the bottle in front of Xia Houxuan. Xia Houxuan was determined to fight violence with violence today, so there was no With a little bit of fear, he and Guo Zhang's wine vessels kept touching each other, and they drank five bottles of each other in an instant.
Guo Zhang, who always prided himself on being a drinker, couldn't believe his eyes when he looked at the boss in front of him who had an unchanging expression and looked like a fairy. Guo Zhang, who was slightly dizzy because he drank a little too fast, had to admit defeat for the time being.
Wang Hun, the governor of Liangzhou, and Lu Zhi, the governor of Tianshui County, did not have much hostility towards Xiahou Xuan. After they paid a symbolic tribute to Xiahou Xuan, they returned to their seats and continued to have dinner.
Huang Hua, the rear general, looked coldly at Xia Houxuan who was eating calmly. A look of arrogance flashed across his eyes. He smiled and said to Xia Houxuan:
"Great Governor, today's cocktail party is full of elegant people. Only I, Huang Hua, am a rough man with a military background. I don't know how to recite poems and compose poems, but I only like Liubo, Ai Pu and other small tricks. Today, I am like the Great Governor. If you don’t mind these little tricks played by Huang, how about you and I play two games of Aipu?"
After hearing Huang Hua's words, Xia Houxuan smiled and replied:
"The play of drinking pheasants and cattails in Hulu is no different from throwing pots. It is a pleasure that is enjoyed by both refined and popular people, suitable for all ages. How can General Huang call himself vulgar? Since General Huang has such an elegant hobby, then Xuan Feng will do it."
After hearing Xia Houxuan's words, Huang Hua's resentment towards him was mostly eliminated. He took out five wooden chess pieces from his arms with a smile and talked about the rules:
"In that case, let's stick to the old rules of Aipu chess, throw five chess pieces at a time, you and I will compete for 12 games in a row, and the loser will drink a bottle after losing a game, how about that?"
Although Xia Houxuan doesn't usually play the games of Liubo, Aipu, Shefu, and Hidden Hook, he doesn't reject it, so he readily agreed.
Yu Huan, who was not usually exposed to these games, was very curious about what Ai Pu was. Xia Houfeng, a noble son of Luoyang who had been idle for many years, immediately explained enthusiastically:
"Tiger, look, each of these five chess pieces is painted with black and white sides. Among the black sides, four are engraved with calf patterns, only one is engraved with the night owl pattern, and all the white ones are engraved with pheasants. Pattern. If this handful of chess pieces is thrown down and all five chess pieces are black facing up, this is called 'Lu', which is the most winning piece; if there are four black and one white, this is called 'Pheasant', which is the second winning piece. By analogy, three black and two white are called 'calf', two black and three white are called 'sai', one black and four white are called 'scatter', which is the last level."
Yu Huan suddenly realized, but he soon had doubts:
"But if two people throw exactly the same number of black and white chess pieces, is it considered a draw?"
Xiahou Feng smiled and said:
"That's natural, but if one side's black chess has an owl symbol, then the one who gets the owl is the winner."
After listening to Xia Houfeng's explanation, Yu Huan finally understood how to play Aopu chess. At this moment, Xia Houxuan and Huang Hua have competed ten times in a row. Huang Hua is a master of Qi Pu chess, and his control of hand strength is extremely good. However, Xia Houxuan has been practicing martial arts since he was a child. The control is also very extraordinary, so the two competed ten times in a row, and they were evenly matched. The two drank while competing, and each drank five large bottles in one breath. Huang Hua was old and had a bad ability to drink. He was already slightly drunk at the moment. Therefore, in the last two games, Xia Houxuan played mostly black pieces and won two games in a row.
Xia Houxuan saw that Huang Hua was already drunk, so he picked up the remaining bottle of wine and drank it all with Huang Hua.
Huang Hua, who had always been dissatisfied with anyone, even rebelled against Emperor Wu, was completely impressed by the young man's magnanimity, drinking capacity, and chess skills in front of him, and he actually felt a sense of regret for meeting him late.
Governor Duan Zhuo, Jincheng County Magistrate Zhang Jiu, and Western Region Chief Shi Fanyang saw that Xia Houxuan was not as aloof and arrogant as the rumors said. Instead, he was innocent and heroic, without the slightest hint of coquettishness, so they all felt anxious in their hearts. In this way, a carefully planned Hongmen banquet turned into a banquet of wine and conversation. The few people changed their indifferent attitude at the beginning and now drank wine with grapes from the Western Regions and beef and mutton while talking loudly. So lively.
However, Guo Tong and Guo Zhang, who were Sima Yi's direct nephews of Guo Huai, were still hostile to Xia Houxuan. Guo Zhang, who had always boasted of his excellent martial arts skills, stood up and said:
"The Governor, Zhang recently learned a new set of swordsmanship. I heard that the swordsmanship of the Governor's family is excellent. Therefore, Zhang would like to ask the Governor to give me some advice, and also to help the princes have fun. I hope the Governor will give me permission."
Xia Houxuan thought to himself that he was not drunk yet, and he was determined to completely establish his prestige and did not intend to refuse:
"That's fine, but you and I are both tipsy, so we can't use sharp weapons."
"I will obey the orders of the Governor!"
Guo Zhang was well prepared, clapped his hands, and the man in the queue went up to the tower with two wooden swords in his hands. Guo Tong held the sword in his hand, saluted, and attacked directly without replying. Xia Houxuan, with quick eyes and quick hands, took the wooden sword and swung it smoothly, blocking Guo Tong's sweep.
Guo Zhangxin had learned a set of extremely fast swords, so he wanted to take advantage of Xia Houxuan's drunkenness to kill Xia Houxuan with lightning speed and his majesty. But he never expected that after Xia Houxuan took Li Dangzhi's magic medicine, he was not even drunk for the time being, and his reaction was still as fast as lightning.
In this way, the two of them fought fast. Xia Houxuan even used the "Looking Up at the Stars and Moon and the Clouds" from the family's traditional swordsmanship "Yan Ge Xing". Guo Zhang was able to withstand a few moves from the enemy at the beginning, but after a few more moves, Afterwards, I felt dizzy, then my right arm went numb, and the wooden sword fell to the ground.
Everyone on the tower burst into laughter. When the Guo brothers saw this, they naturally no longer dared to provoke Xia Houxuan easily.
Not long after, the cool moonlight filled the Shuangfengque attic, and everyone except Xia Houxuan was drunk. Although Xia Houxuan used the elixir, he drank too much and was half drunk at the moment. In a daze, Xia Houxuan suddenly discovered that Lu Zhi at the dinner table looked very much like the same person.
Xia Houxuan held Lu Zhi's arm and boldly expressed his thoughts:
"Brother Shiying, I think you are very similar to a friend of mine."
Lu Zhi was quite drunk at this moment. He asked with a smile:
"Oh? But I don't know who Taichu thinks is similar to me?"
"It's a coincidence that this person is also named Lu, and he is also from Fufeng in Guanzhong. He is called Lu Zhongxiong."
After Lu Zhi heard this, his expression changed drastically. He who was already drunk suddenly became sober.
