Zhou Fa's body just shook a little, but Yu Mengyan noticed it immediately, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong with Gongzi on Tuesday?" Isn't it unwell? ”

Originally, this sacrificial ceremony was a kind of etiquette before the banquet at that time, and the host had to toast to the guests first, and the guests thanked the host after drinking, and the host also needed to drink and return to the guests, this process was called a sacrifice. It's just that the princes' banquets often do "three offerings", "five offerings" or even more times to show grandeur. Zhou Fa heard that he was going to make a sacrificial ceremony, but it would not be over in a while, and he was suddenly discouraged and unable to control himself.

Wan Xi was beside Zhou Fa and hurriedly replied for him: "Back to Lord Yuhou, my cousin may just be hungry. He is young and tired from the journey, so he is a little out of shape. Please forgive me. ”

Yu Mengyan gently patted his forehead with his plump palm and sighed, "It's me who is confused, it's me who is confused." He turned to his subordinates and commanded, "Come, take some dried meat and preserved fruits for your distinguished guests to eat, oh, by the way, and bring the honey water as well, and pour it all up." ”

In a moment, all the people in the hall were placed in front of the lacquered wood table. Each table has two tall copper beans, one with smoked venison jerky and roasted fish jerky; The other is filled with sun-dried dates and plums.

Yu Mengyan said to Zhou Fa with a smile: "Tuesday Gongzi might as well try this deer breast first, venison nourishes qi and blood, and after eating one or two pieces, you will immediately have energy." ”

Zhou Fa took a piece of dried venison, gently tore off one with his hands and put it in his mouth, and secretly praised this dried deer in his heart not only has a unique flavor, but also has a very tough meat. A piece of deer dried into his stomach, and the hunger in his belly was indeed alleviated a lot.

At this time, someone sent a piece of copper to each person's case, and Zhou Fa took a look at it, and it contained an amber liquid. He knew that it was honey water, so he took a sip, but suddenly frowned, and asked Wan Xi quietly, "Why does this honey water have a sour taste?" ”

Wan Xi smiled lightly and replied in a low voice: "It's not the taste of rancidity - it's the dried apricots soaked in honey water, and there is a sweet and sour feeling when you drink it, which has a great appetizing effect." ”

Zhou Faxin said: Even the honey water in this Yuhou Mansion has to give birth to such a strange thing, I really don't know what else is strange.

Yu Mengyan said: "How does Childe feel on Tuesday now?" Is it okay to make an offering? ”

Zhou Fa just stuffed a small piece of dried fish into his mouth, didn't dare to answer, and nodded busily; He felt rude in his heart, so he bowed down and swallowed the food in his mouth, and then replied: "I would like to obey the orders of the Marquis Yu." ”

Yu Mengyan nodded at Yu Yan, and Yu Yan shouted to the audience: "Perform the gift of sacrificial!" ”

At this time, the musicians began to play music again, and Zhou learned that this song was called "Da Xia", which was originally used to praise the music of the Xia people of Dayu. This piece has been taught many times, so I am familiar with it every week.

And the servants in the palace of the Marquis of Yu put bronze lords in front of everyone's desks and poured wine. Yu Mengyan sat in his seat, raised the wine lord to toast the guests, Xin Jia Zhou Chang and others bowed back to the host, and then drank the wine in the jue. Although Zhou Fa did not formally learn the gift of sacrificial sorrel, he did everything according to the weekly exam, and nothing went wrong.

The wine of this Hou Mansion is more mellow than the wine that Mane Bear bought in the market in the morning, and Zhou Kao drank all the wine in Juezhong in one go, and he already had the intention of being slightly drunk. He turned his head to look at Zhou Fa, but saw that Zhou Fa's face was full of emotion, and he seemed to be very excited.

After the three dedications, Yu Mengyan had to continue, Zhou Chang and Xin Jia repeatedly excused themselves, and Yu Mengyan gave up. Then the people of Fuchu put the soup cooked during the previous sacrifice into the long ding, and added vegetables and seasonings to make "long soup" for the guests to enjoy. This soup is a dish that needs to be mixed with different dishes and condiments depending on the type of meat, and sometimes adjusted according to the season.

While Xin Jia and others were tasting the soup, the servants were still shuttling back and forth, displaying one delicacies after another on everyone's desks, which was simply dizzying. Xin Jia discussed the practice of "cannon cooking" with Yu Mengyan while eating, Yu Mengyan insisted that he must use ewes to roast, and Xin Jia thought that it was okay to use gelding rams, and neither of these two could convince anyone, so they had to drink a big jue of wine each. Zhou Chang has a soft spot for a dish called "pickling", which is to cut raw beef into thin slices, soak it in fine wine for several days, and take it out without steaming, cooking, burning, or burning, and directly dip it in a little meat sauce and plum milk to eat. Zhou Chang believes that this can best maintain the umami of beef, and it is also quite ancient.

After tasting the "liver cheek", Zhou Fa still felt that he was still unfinished and couldn't stop praising it. This liver is wrapped in dog intestine oil and roasted, and then added to rice to cook into a thick porridge, which can be said to be a nourishing product. Wan Ji saw that he liked to eat, so she gave him a share of her liver. Unexpectedly, this scene happened to be seen by Yu Mengyan, and he said: "If the son of Tuesday likes to eat liver, I will order someone to make another one." ”

According to the etiquette of the banquet at that time, if the guest thought that the host's food was not enough, it was extremely rude, and it was a great insult to the host. Zhou Fa was frightened in his heart, and hurriedly fell to the ground, saying: "The kid is ignorant, he has never eaten this thing before, and when he tastes it today, he only feels that the aftertaste is endless, so he will eat a little more." ”

Unexpectedly, Yu Mengyan didn't care at all, and only smiled "haha": "It's okay, it's okay." Unexpectedly, the son and the widow on Tuesday were like-minded. ”

Xin Jia and Zhou Chang looked at each other, and said in their hearts: Zhou Fa is just a yellow-mouthed child, you are a lot old, and you claim to be the same person as Zhou Fa, I don't know where to start.

But I heard Yu Mengyan continue: "The world talks about the world's delicious food, and every time it is a dish of dragon liver and phoenix pith, scarlet lips and bear feet; This dragon liver is still before the phoenix marrow, which shows that the liver is enough to match the delicacy of the marrow. Tuesday's son loves to eat liver, which shows the high taste. The widow has no other good, only loves food, steals that among the food, and the liver is the best, there is no one else. I've heard that horses have the best taste of liver, and I have a lot of good horses in my house, but unfortunately I don't have a cooky dish that can cook horse liver, so I've never tasted such a delicacy. This can be said to be the biggest regret of the widow's life. ”

Xin Jia couldn't help but argue: "But it is said that horse liver is poisonous, and I am afraid that it will be harmful and useless if you eat it." ”

Yu Mengyan waved his hand and said, "There are countless poisonous foods, but as long as they are cooked properly, they won't get in the way." ”

Zhou Chang cherishes horses very much, and the horses raised in Qizhou City, even if they lose some fat, he will feel distressed for a long time. At this moment, he heard the meaning of Yu Mengyan's words, and he did not hesitate to kill the horse in order to eat the horse liver, which in his opinion was tantamount to burning the piano and boiling the crane and drying the robe under the flowers. In addition, he didn't care about these trivial things of eating and drinking, so he sat and drank by himself.

Although Zhou Kao was also born in the family of princes, he had never experienced such a luxurious banquet - Yu Mengyan led his family to toast the guests one by one, and drank round after round; Whenever the wine is empty, it will be filled immediately; Before a dish is finished, it is removed and replaced with a new dish; The dance music in the hall is one after another, and it seems that it never stops. At first, he still felt some regret and shame in his heart, but after a few rounds of drinking, he only felt that his whole body was in a mess, and he did his best to keep his body from falling, and he had no time to care about anything else.

In contrast, the situation of the female guests was much better, and when Mrs. Di and Yuefei toasted, they mainly chatted, and drinking was secondary. After exchanging toasts a few times, Mrs. Di sat down beside Mrs. Jiang and said to her, "Mrs. Jiang, can today's wine and food still suit your taste?" ”

Mrs. Jiang smiled and replied, "Very good, very good." Our Xincheng is a remote and barren place, and it is difficult to organize such a banquet in our spare time. Lord Mengyu and Mrs. Di really couldn't afford such hospitality. ”

"Madam, you are too modest, I heard that Lord Shang Shou's original wife is also surnamed Jiang, and she is your sister of the same clan. After Lord Shang Shou ascended the throne, she was the queen of Dashang. For those who are as illustrious as a lady, we are still worried that we will not be able to climb high, so why worry about a small banquet? ”

Madam Jiang covered her smile and said, "I am not very close relatives with Queen Jiang - but within five suits." However, my marriage with my husband was mediated by Queen Jiang's father, Lord Shenhou. ”

"Look, it's not a close relative! Lord Shenhou personally acts as a matchmaker for you, how can ordinary people have such blessings? If Mrs. Jiang doesn't dislike it, she might as well stay in this Yucheng for a few more days, so that we can get closer and closer. Mrs. Di said angrily, "If Madame is not used to staying in the pavilion, she can come to our house, and after staying for three or five days, we will go to the court together, wouldn't it be good?" ”

Mrs. Jiang hesitated and said: "This ......, thank you Mrs. Di for your kindness, but my husband said that he will have to leave for Chaoge tomorrow, and I am afraid that he will not be able to stay for a long time." ”

Madame Di looked sorry and asked, "There are still some days left before the accession of King Shang to the throne, why is Lord Xin Jia in such a hurry?" ”

Mrs. Jiang said: "I heard my husband say that the path in the Taihang Mountains is very difficult to walk, and it is very fast to walk twenty or thirty miles a day. Besides, I don't know what will happen on the way, so I have to leave early. ”

Mrs. Di's face was in disbelief: "Are you planning to pass through Taihang Mountain from Yiguan?" The road is so narrow in places that it can only accommodate one car; In some places, it was so steep that the carriage had to be pushed up by a man. Is it enough to describe the hardships in this? ”

After hearing this, Mrs. Jiang was silent. Mrs. Di turned her mind and asked, "Why didn't Lord Xin Jia choose to take the waterway?" Wouldn't it be much faster and less troublesome to take a boat down the river from Rui to Chaoge in less than five or six days? ”

"Don't tell Mrs. Di that I don't want to take the boat. Back then, I returned to Xincheng with my husband from Yincheng, which was the waterway. That night, the storm on the river was struck, and our boat nearly capsized several times in the rough seas. To this day, just hearing the word "boat", my heart is like a drum......" Mrs. Jiang's voice trembled as she spoke, her face turned even paler, and she seemed to have a cold shiver.

Seeing this, Mrs. Di hurriedly poured another handful of wine for her, "Warm wine can suppress the shock, Madame, please drink some more." ”

Mrs. Jiang was so reluctant that she unconsciously drank all the wine in one go, and only then did she settle down. Mrs. Di then said: "I never thought that Mrs. had such an experience, and it is human nature to have palpitations. But I have a compromise, I wonder if Madame would like to hear it? ”

"A compromise?" Mrs. Jiang said in her heart, by car by land and by boat, the two must be one of the two, how can they be compromised?

Mrs. Di said: "It is the end of the year, the river is shallow, there will be no big waves, and there will be no storms......

Mrs. Jiang interrupted her and said, "You still have to take a boat, what kind of compromise is this?" ”

"Madame, don't be anxious, wait for me to speak in detail. If you go to Yiguan, starting from Yucheng, you must first go north, pass through Anyi, Tongxiang, Woyi and other towns, and then enter Taihang Mountain to the east. After passing through the Taihang Mountain and exiting the Yiguan, you can go east to Echeng. This road has been walked by the concubine, and even if there is no accident, it will probably take seven or eight days. ”

Mrs. Jiang said: "What accidents will happen by land?" ”

Mrs. Di said: "The mountain road is narrow, and sometimes a boulder rolls down from the mountain, just blocking the road, which makes people in a dilemma. Or the muddy water on the hillside slides down, blocking the road and making it difficult for cars and horses to pass. These are all unknowns, how can they be reversed? ”

When Mrs. Jiang heard this, her color immediately changed: "Then what about Mrs. Yidi's opinion?" ”

"The method that the concubine said is to go to Maojin to take a boat first, and after walking the waterway for two days, get off the boat on the north bank of Mengjin, and only need to go north for less than a day to reach Echeng. It is also to Echeng, and it only takes four days to take this road, which is always a lot faster than taking Yiguan. I don't dare to say that this method is perfect, but it is not satisfactory. I just don't know what Mrs. Jiang thinks? ”

Mrs. Jiang secretly thought that if she took the waterway, the trip would be almost halved, and she would be exempted from the pain of driving and horses, and the price she would pay would only be a two-day boat ride. She was really a little moved, and said, "Let me discuss it with my husband." Mrs. Di nodded and said, "Of course. So the two of them continued to talk about homely gossip.

Just when everyone in the hall was drunk, Yu Yan came to Wan Xi's banquet with a wine lord and said, "Miss Wan, Yu was offended a lot yesterday, and I came to make amends to Miss Wan. I sincerely hope that Miss Wan Xi can not miss the old evil and give up the old suspicions. Yu drank first as a respect. ”

Seeing his humble words, Wan Xi's previous dislike for him was reduced a little, and now that he was a guest in his house, it was not good to refute his face, so he had to accompany him to drink. Wan Xi also brought a little bit of wine at this time, she was whiter than snow, but now her cheeks were crimson, like a red plum tree blooming in the snow. only looked at Yu Yan's eyes straight, and his expression was a little demented.

After Wan Xi finished drinking, she saw Yu Yan staring at her like this, she was unhappy in her heart, and said coldly: "I have also drunk the wine, and I have paid for my sins, so please go back to Gongzi Yu." ”

Yu Yan came back to his senses at this time, and said with a smile: "Miss Wanxi, please drink again." His plan was to let Wan Xi drink it again, so that he could watch it for a while. How can Wan Ji not know about this verse? She said: "The little woman drinks shallowly, so it is difficult to accompany her. ”

Yu Yan was born from his mother's womb, and no one dared to brush him like this, and there was no way to vent his anger. He felt extremely uncomfortable in his heart, and squinted his eyes to see Zhou Kao sitting next to him in a trance, and said in his heart: This kid seems to have drunk too much, and I will persuade him a few more times, today I will definitely make him a big fool of himself, so as to relieve the hatred in my heart.

"Since Miss Wan Ji can't drink anymore, then Zhou Gongzi will do it for her." Yu Yan moved to the Zhou examination seat, picked up the wine lord and said: "Zhou Gongzi, you and I don't know each other, this can be regarded as a kind of fate." Come on, come on, please drink again. ”

Zhou Kao knew that he couldn't drink anymore, but when he saw Yu Yan coming to toast, he refused to show weakness. He staggered his hands and picked up the wine, and accidentally spilled the wine on the placket of his clothes, and he didn't realize it.

Seeing him like this, Wan Xi knew that his body was a little out of control, so she said, "Cousin, you can't drink anymore, it's better to rest for a while." ”

Her words were originally meant to be concerned, but when Zhou Kao heard it, she felt that Wan Xi looked down on him a little. Zhou Kao raised his head and drank all the wine. Yu Yan knew that if he talked about wine, he would win, but he didn't need to take advantage of him, so he drank a duke with him and said, "Okay! Zhou Gongzi is really refreshing. You and I will drink again. ”

Wan Ji knew that once Zhou Kao's temper attacked, she couldn't persuade him, so she turned to Yu Yan and said, "Young Master Yu, don't persuade your cousin to drink anymore, he's about to get drunk!" ”

Yu Yan smiled and said: "Eh, today's banquet was originally to be drunk and not return, what are you afraid of when you are drunk?" Besides, I see that Zhou Gongzi drinks a lot, how can he get drunk so easily? ”

Wan Xi hurriedly said: "My cousin doesn't drink at all on weekdays, and he doesn't know how much he drinks. Suddenly, I drink like this, I'm afraid it will damage the body! ”

Yu Yan saw that she was extremely protective of Zhou Kao in her words, and she was very jealous in her heart. He secretly thought: With Wan Xi stopping him like this, if he insists on persuading Zhou Kao to drink, it will inevitably lead to traces. I need to think of a way to make Wan Ji unable to stop it.

At that moment, Yu Yan returned to his seat without a sound. Yuefei bowed his head and saw that he looked depressed, so she leaned over and asked, "Big brother, this is the time to drink and talk happily, why are you so sad?" Isn't there something bothering you? ”

Yu Yan was thinking about his own thoughts, and replied casually: "It's nothing." ”

Yue Fei pouted and smiled, and said, "Alas, I guess, it's mostly for Wanxi's sake." ”

Yu Yan was taken aback and asked in a low voice, "How do you know?" Did your mother tell you? ”

Yuefei said smugly: "Who needs to tell me this?" As long as you're not blind, you can see that you've been fascinated by that little girl. If it weren't for your life's work, why would my father put up such a big battle? You said that you had moved your father and mother to help you, and that was a good idea. But the most they can do is to find a medium to propose marriage and perform the gift. If you want to capture Wan Xi's heart, the two elders may not be able to do it for you. ”

Yu Yan suddenly thought in his heart: Yue Fei and Wan Xi are of the same age, and the thoughts in their hearts should be very close, so only Yue Fei knows Wan Xi's mind best. So he said: "Big brother didn't expect to consult with you in advance, it's really stupid." I only think that my parents need to make decisions about marriage, but when it comes to the person who can give me advice, it is naturally my sister. ”

Yuefei ignored him, and unhurriedly picked up the wine lord and took a sip. Yu Yan begged: "Good sister, you must help the eldest brother." In the future, if you have any difficulties, your eldest brother will definitely help. ”

Yuefei said at this time: "Although you are interested in Wan Ji, big brother, I think she seems to have a good eye for that dull-headed Zhou Gongzi." ”

Yu Yan said stupidly: "That's what makes people angry!" I don't know which point is better than me in the test this week? Oh no, God must be blind! ”

Yuefei "poofed" and smiled: "You are reluctant to scold Wan Xi, but you dare to curse the heavens, and you are not afraid of retribution." ”

"If I can get Miss Wan Xi's heart to me, I will not be afraid of any retribution. I just don't know how to turn her heart around? ”

Yuefei said: "Big brother doesn't have to be anxious. Do you think, Miss Wan is just a newcomer to the boudoir, how many men can she meet? She suddenly met a handsome cousin, and a little love sprouted in her heart, which was far from the point of being happy with each other and vowing to the sea. When she sees more of the world in the future, she will know that there are many men in this world, who are a hundred times stronger than this Zhou Gongzi. So as long as your limelight overshadows this week's son, why don't you look at you differently? ”