Tonight was Han Wangan's birthday.
On such a grand occasion that was comparable to a festival, a grand banquet would be held in the palace.
When night was about to fall, the summer cicadas shrieked mournfully. Because they were afraid of disturbing the feast, the dead leaves fell to the ground under the deliberate attack of many eunuchs and servants.
One had to know that for this birthday banquet of King Han, the people in the palace had already prepared for several weeks, trembling in fear that things would not be done well.
"Pass, pass, pass"
"Hey, it's you. Open the bag and take a look.”
"This knife can't be brought into the palace!”
"Sir, I also wish to congratulate the king on his birthday…"
Hundreds of Han guards stood guard at the entrances, carefully inspecting all the guests 'invitations.
Outside the palace, there was a huge crowd. More and more officials, nobles, and merchants from both the country and foreign countries were heading towards the Han Palace.
This situation had been like this since early morning. The main roads in Zheng City were blocked and filled with people.
Under such a lively situation, Chu He also set off from the Purple Orchid Pavilion. He sat in a carriage and leisurely headed towards the Han Palace.
The coachmen outside the carriage were Ximen Chuixue and Li Xunhuan. There was probably no one in this world who had received such treatment!
Both of them didn't have to do anything today and were specially escorting their master.
However, it was likely that in the past, there was an additional beautiful woman in the carriage.
"Lord Marquis, do you really want to bring this servant into the palace?”Nongyu held the young man's arm tightly and asked in a delicate voice.
"Of course, I'll bring you out of the Purple Orchid Pavilion to play.”Chu He nodded slightly.
Now that Chu He had given Violet Girl a lot of money and booked all of Nongyu's time, she didn't need to pick up any guests. She only needed to accompany him.
As for redeeming her, it wasn't that he hadn't tried it before!
However, Violet Maiden said that if they didn't cooperate with them, they could forget about it.
"Lord Marquis, you're so good to me." Nongyu hugged the youth tightly.
She leaned her cheek on the other party's shoulder, and a hint of happiness appeared on her face.
Chu He felt the warmth of the other party's body and his hands moved uncomfortably.
Forget it, it would take a long time to enter the palace anyway. I'll play with it to pass the time first!
Thinking of this, the young man bluntly entered the other party's clothes and carried out some extreme actions.
One had to know that he had been spending time with this beauty for the past two days. This kind of behavior was naturally common.
Nongyu sensed the other party's actions and did not resist. Instead, she took the initiative to welcome him. She opened her pink mouth slightly and breathed out a warm fragrance into the ears of the person before her.
"Sit here." Chu He looked at the beauty and immediately ordered.
A moment later, a woman's soft and pleasant voice came from the carriage.
After half an incense's time, because of King Han's personal order, Chu He and the others had priority in clearing the palace.
"Duke An Le of the Qin country has arrived…" A loud voice rang out.
Chu He and Nongyu walked into the square in the Han Palace that was specially used to hold banquets and looked around.
The two sides of the square were brightly lit, and the wall was a white wall built on the water. It was about two meters tall and covered with black tiles. The wall was built into the shape of undulating waves. In the main hall, there was a red door in the moon hole that was left ajar. The sound of zither music and music could be vaguely heard.
Around the square surrounding the palace, there were already flowers that looked like inverted bells. The calyx was white, and the bone porcelain was emitting a translucent luster. The top of the petals was a circle of light purple of different depths, as if it was dyed by nature.
Chu He nodded slightly and looked at the densely packed civil and military officials coming and going.
Of course, there were also countless beautiful women dressed in outstanding clothes, competing for beauty.
Perhaps it was the first time she had seen such a grand scene, Nongyu let out a gasp of surprise. She held the young man's hand tightly and looked very excited.
"Lord Marquis, look!"
Chu He smiled but did not say anything. Fortunately, not many people here knew him. Otherwise, just the etiquette of toasting him would have made him feel good!
Han Wangan was indeed a person who knew how to enjoy life.
The scale of this birthday banquet was unprecedented. It was said that there were as many as 5,000 people attending the banquet, and the decorations were luxurious.
The main color of this banquet was the Golden Dragon. On each table, there were golden plates and bowls, and there were eight dishes from the inside out. In the middle of the road, there are four pine canopy fruit covers (with green apples inside).
On each side was a flower vase (with flowers inside), on the second side were nine high bowls (for candied food), on the third side were nine bent waist bowls (for desserts), and on the fourth side were two red carved lacquer fruit boxes (with ten fruit cups inside). From the fifth to the eighth road, there were 40 dishes of cold meals, hot meals, and group meals.
If one looked carefully, they would find that the dishes were mainly made from Kanto goose, wild boar meat, venison, mutton, fish, pheasant, roe deer, and so on.
In the middle of the banquet table near the seats were golden spoons, gold-inlaid ivory chopsticks, and small golden cloth plates.
Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, Chu He didn't find his position so quickly.
With two peerless experts leading the way, he held Nongyu's hand and walked slowly with great interest.
They looked at the left side of the cutlery, where there were milk cakes, milk skins, and dry and wet snacks. On the right side, there were side dishes with sauce, water-soaked vegetables, burial vegetables, green sauce, and other seasonings.
On the ground level, there was a king's back seat on the left side of the Golden Dragon Banquet Table. There was a high table with a curtain on the east and west. On the table were also golden plates, bowls or yellow bowls with dark cloud dragons. Thirty-two dishes of cold, hot and group meals, sixteen dishes of meat and sixteen fruits were placed on the table.
After Chu He walked half a circle around the large square, he gained a lot of knowledge.
Right at this moment, a dull horn sounded and drums rumbled.
Everyone present reacted and revealed a happy expression.
Obviously, Han Wangan was about to enter.
Right at this moment, music was played in the square to welcome King Han to his seat. Many civil and military officials, commoners, and elders bowed.
During the banquet, every time tea, wine and food were served, music was played and saluted.
In the time it took for half an incense stick to burn, the banquet officially began after Han Wangan's speech.
The crowd surged, and in the center of the square, there was a celebration dance that was very unique to the Han country, including the Yang Lie dance and the Xi dance.
After the dance, the flute was blown, and the palace music was played. Then, the music and dance of all ethnic groups in Han Country and the common acrobatics in the market were played.
This banquet was the largest, with more than 3,000 elderly people attending. Furthermore, after Han Wangan's repeated orders, many civilian elderly people without official positions were able to attend the banquet.
Before the banquet began, under the command of the prime minister of the outer kitchen, the tables were arranged in advance according to the level of the official position of the banquet. There were obvious differences between containers and dishes.
The banquet tables were divided into first class and second class.
The first class was for princes, first-grade and second-grade ministers, and foreign envoys. The second class was for third-grade to ninth-grade officials and soldiers and civilians without official ranks.
Under the guidance of a young eunuch, Chu He and Nongyu quickly sat down. He was a marquis, and with his status as an envoy, he naturally sat at a second-class banquet table.
The first-class table was equipped with two hot pots, one silver and one tin hot pot, one plate of pork slices, one plate of mutton slices, one plate of deer tail roasted venison, one plate of mutton fork, four bowls of meat dishes, one plate of steamed food longevity, one plate of stove food longevity, two plates of snail box side dishes, two ebony chopsticks, and another shredded meat soup rice.
As the saying goes,'amber wine, jade goblet, golden goblet, jade plate, food like a painting, wine like a spring, zither clink, bell jingling', as expected, wine and meat stink at the vermilion gate.
From Chu He's point of view, this banquet not only focused on the dishes, but it also stipulated extremely strict etiquette. At the same time, music, cutlery, dance, acrobatics, and so on were also integrated into the grand banquet.
It even pushed Han's unique food culture to a peak.
......
......
(To be continued.)
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