The sun rose to nine o'clock in the morning, and fire was in charge of burning and passion. At the entrance of the banquet, I arranged for a few people to ring the gong. When a group of people enters, they will ring the gong to signal that the guests have arrived.
There were already a few groups of guests outside the entrance. The leaders among them were dressed in simple clothes. Some of the women, children, and grandchildren were dressed in festive clothes. Some of the children even wore silver rings and green pendants around their necks.
Eunuchs led their horses away and settled them down. They followed the palace servants all the way to the courtyard. First, they passed by a gray mountain rock and a pond of lotus flowers and leaves. Then, they went around a corridor with two walls inlaid with paintings and arrived at my banquet.
The people who came probably didn't expect that I would find such a large open-air venue. Some of them were carrying birthday gifts for me. They looked like they were at most thin silk, purple bracelets, orchids, and so on.
The scale was small. I thought to myself, I've been paying the monthly bills for the past few months, and the national treasury is about to be destroyed by me. Of course, it's not just what you think. There's still a surprise to come.
The first batch of people numbered close to a hundred, and I felt dizzy. Even though I had closed myself off in Changle Palace a few days ago and painstakingly studied the appearance and clothing of the various large factions, I still couldn't remember all of them, let alone now when there were so many people. I told the people below to quickly treat us to a seat. I first sat at the round table to drink tea and observe the situation.
The first batch of people to arrive were the Ouyang Clan and the Xia Clan. The two families who had two layers of relations in the four tragedies had sent Second Master and Madam, Eldest Miss and her husband to attend this banquet.
The couple from the Ouyang family looked honest. They congratulated the palace servants of the Southern Dynasty. The eldest daughter of the Xia family did not seem to be so simple. As soon as she entered the banquet, her eyes could not stop moving. Her husband followed behind her, also looking scheming. He took off his outer coat and looked around, wanting to understand the terrain here first.
I snapped my fingers, and the palace servants opened a large cage from behind the screen. My little deer and peacock rushed straight at Miss Xia. The peacock wanted to peck at her sapphire blue sleeve. It probably thought that it had found its loved ones.
"Deer, go over there. Be good." I beckoned the deer to the children of the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Rites to please them. This trick worked. When the children saw the deer, their eyes lit up. The servants and maids around them were also amazed.
I asked someone to arrange for the first batch of guests to sit at the banquet in the south. The north side is just near the flower bed, so the children can play. When I sent out the invitation, I specially emphasized that there was no need to be restrained. It was best to bring my family along. These people really gave me face.
The second batch consisted of quite a few important families from the northern and southern borders. When I was about to hold this banquet, they were the first ones I invited. I had been looking at the sun to calculate the time, and I was a little worried that they would be stopped by some unexpected situation. But fortunately, from the situation at the entrance, what should have come should have come.
When the second batch of people arrived, they naturally sat on the west side. In a low voice, I asked someone to place the overseas jewelry that I had painstakingly bought over the past few months, such as glazed cups and cat's eye stones, on the low tables around the west side of the place where they were sitting. The extravagance of spending money like dirt was thus fully displayed.
I looked to the west from the round table. Many of the people sitting there were foreigners. There were a few female leaders who had the same temperament as the blue-eyed woman I saw on the way to Tianran Square that day. They must be from the same clan.
I lowered my head and instructed," How can you just give me tea? Go and pour them wine."
After a while, the palace servants brought me birthday gifts from the west side. I opened the lid and saw a few short knives that were bone-chilling to the touch and a few long swords that looked valiant. In addition, there were several jars of wine brewed from grapes, freshly cut beef tendons and other food.
There was an inconspicuous wooden box buried deep within the group of congratulatory gifts, but as soon as one approached it, a fragrance wafted into their noses. When I opened it, I immediately raised my eyebrows.
Wow! Wasn't this the black pearl that was engraved in the painting book that was popular in the Great Zhou a few years ago? Although it was dark now, once night fell, not only would it have the function of being as bright as day, but it could also absorb excess light and carry out a deeper color. If he brought this to the fighting arena, he could even replenish his qi and become a trump card.
You think so highly of me? I was guessing which good friend had sent this gift. He or she probably wanted to talk to me alone when they were free.
Just as I was guessing, the third batch of guests arrived. These people were mainly some of the wealthy merchants who were not controlled by others and ran around aimlessly. Don't think that they are not controlled by others. Their families are rich enough to rival a country. If it wasn't for the fact that their economic pulse could only operate in the south and that they urgently needed a stable market environment to do business, I reckon that they would have long joined the Northern Dynasty and not recognized me as the emperor. When they saw the Northern Dynasty officials wagging their tails, it was completely proof of this.
"Send them to the east." I waved my hand. Looking at them gave me a headache. However, they had to come to this banquet today because I had borrowed a lot of extra money from the money house they opened. Just the account books hidden in their house were enough to prove why I held this birthday banquet today.
After about an hour, I changed from the position of my left leg overlapping my right leg to the position of my right leg overlapping my left leg.
The last batch of people I was looking forward to hasn't arrived yet, but I still have time.
Some random people gradually gathered in the courtyard. Many officials of the Northern Dynasty looked at them and gradually recognized some of them.
"Eh? Aren't these the masters of the Blessed Hall?”
"That's right! All of you, come over and take a look. Is this the person who organized the tour that you told me about last time? To tell you the truth, last time my third brother was celebrating his birthday, he cried and asked them to come over and hold a banquet. I eagerly sent someone to invite him, and guess what happened? He was not free at all! Even a fifth-grade official personally invited him, but he didn't have time. If this wasn't a talent, then what was it?”
"That's right! What was he going to do today?”
"We still have to listen to the birthday boy!"
While the people of Blessed Hall were adjusting and preparing the instruments, I called the four groups of palace servants, which were divided into "Zhou","Er","Fu" and "Shi", to serve the main dishes for the four districts. I also asked the fireworks group to start setting off small fireworks.
The main dishes in the East District are roasted suckling pig and dried wild boar legs. The supplementary dishes are sauced belly, braised lamb, sweet tofu pudding, clear soup abalone, sweet crispy pickled melon, and glutinous millet roasted pork. They are all delicacies that are operated throughout the four seasons and are different from the usual delicacies. I guess they are very suitable for the appetite of these wealthy businessmen who are used to eating delicacies.
The main dish at South Side was a big bowl of Dongpo Pork. The Dongpo Pork was bright red, fat, but not greasy. It was amazing when paired with rice! The side dishes included fried dumplings, glutinous rice fritters, braised fish, fried bean jelly, almond tea, mutton steamed bread, glutinous rice cut cake, rock sugar cooked pear, and its own unique snack table. There were soft mutton noodles, paulownia skin noodles, salt fried noodles, shredded chicken noodles... Steamed buns included mutton steamed buns, bamboo shoot steamed buns, crab meat steamed buns, steamed buns... Sesame cakes included thousand-layer cakes, moon cakes, roasted golden flower cakes, milk cakes, vegetable cakes, Hu cakes, peony cakes, hibiscus cakes, cooked meat cakes, chrysanthemum cakes. Plum Blossom Cake…There were also flower cakes, honey cakes, glutinous cakes, bee sugar cakes, chestnut cakes, wheat cakes, bean cakes, steamed small cakes, and Chongyang cakes…The soup dumplings of the South District had thin skin and large filling. The soup flowed with oil. Just looking at them would make one drool. Children would definitely like them very much.
The main dishes in the West District were roasted whole sheep and " roasted meat ", which was also known as boiler skewers. These barbequed meat dishes would definitely suit the tastes of the people from the border. Furthermore, the onions, ginger, garlic, spices, and pepper were all sprinkled in a very complete manner, which was enough to show my sincerity. There were also stir-fried sweet potato paste, spicy soup, bucket chicken, boiled pork liver, preserved mutton, sauced chicken, butter, sour horse milk, peanut cake, sauced beef...
"Your Majesty, the northern district is still empty. Do we still have to serve the dishes at this time? Do you want to wait a little longer?"
"No need to wait. Don't make it seem like you're doing it deliberately. Hurry up and attack!”
The main course of the northern district was the bronze hotpot, which was accompanied by wild vegetables, thin slices of rabbit meat, beef, and mutton. As long as one used chopsticks to pick up the sliced rabbit meat and gently stir it in the steaming soup, it would immediately change into a cloud-like color. Then, it would be dipped in the seasoning juice made of wine sauce pepper sauce. Once it entered the mouth, the fresh and spicy taste would rush straight into the stomach. The side dishes on the table also included wine crab, roe, turkey, braised duck, stomach, chicken, kidney, eel, spicy ginger, fine powder, sugar ice and snow
And on my large round table, there was more or less a portion of each of these things. They filled the entire table, and there were two to three hundred plates in front of me. These dishes were exquisite, appetizing, fragrant, and delicious. Moreover, the ingredients were carefully selected, the main ingredients were prominent, and the original taste was emphasized. They were completely vegetarian but not bland, meat but not greasy, and sweet and salty. Normally, a glutton like me would probably die of excitement, but today, I was actually a little nervous and didn't pay any attention to this.
My eyes were fixed on the entrance, plotting my next move.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。