In truth, many of the guests attending tonight's banquet had a very clear purpose: to seize this opportunity to forge a connection with the Prince of Yan.
Someone immediately stepped forward and produced a pair of Dragon-and-Phoenix Jade Bangles. Though they were rare treasures, they were hardly worth mentioning to Xue Shengjing, whose collection held countless precious objects. Everyone had come prepared, and before long, the guests were displaying their treasures one after another: porcelain, goldware, bronzeware, paintings and calligraphy, unusual stones, and jade carvings-a dazzling array of every description. Most of the pieces were of considerable quality. After all, everyone knew how discerning the Prince of Yan, Xue Shengjing, was. Anyone trying to fool him with an ordinary collectible would certainly fail to catch his eye.
Xue Shengjing examined them for quite some time. Although all these pieces could be called treasures, not one stirred his heart. Partly, his standards were exceedingly high; partly, although these guests hoped to curry favor with him, none was willing to bring out the finest treasures tucked away in their collections. It was all very well if the Prince of Yan took no interest, but if something caught his fancy, would they not have to endure the pain of parting with it?
The more Xue Shengjing looked, the more frustrated he became. He had gone to such trouble to arrange this evening banquet precisely to discover treasures, yet not a single object had caught his eye. His food and wine had truly gone to waste.
Eldest Princess Xue Lingjun sighed. "So much for a princely evening banquet and a treasure appraisal gathering. Brother, it seems these people's treasures amount to no more than this. There's nothing particularly rare about them."
Just then, exclamations rose from the crowd. Zan Buliu had brought out his