Zhaoyang raised a glass of wine and said, "The old minister is here to have a toast with you first, I wish our Chu country eternal prosperity, and the king is blessed with all the heavens!" The ministers all responded to Zhaoyang's proposal and toasted together.

Zhaoyang took the lead and took a sip of the wine, and the ministers were not ambiguous and dried their own wine. Zhaoyang said: "Today's banquet, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also drove here, and I was equal to the fun, and he also specially brought the music and dance experts of the Prince's Mansion, and later to perform for us, let us feast our eyes." ”

Zhaoyang said, raised his glass again, and said: "The old minister is here to salute His Royal Highness the Crown Prince with the ministers with a glass of wine, and wish His Royal Highness the Prince a long life and Tianqi!" ”

Prince Mihuai also smiled at this time, he picked up the wine glass and drank with Zhaoyang. Zhang Yi heard Zhaoyang's congratulations, and said in his heart: "Zhaoyang still knows etiquette very well, I wish the prince a long life, don't you just hope that he can keep his health healthy, and when he is healthy, he can wait for the old Wang Yan to drive and ascend to the throne?" ”

After Zhaoyang completed his own etiquette, he invited the prince to come and perform the etiquette. I saw the prince Mihuai pick up the wine jug and wine glass on several cases, and said: "In previous years, I had a symbolic toast with the ministers, which seemed insincere, but this year I have a special one, I want to personally toast with each of you alone, what do you think?" ”

At this time, the courtiers were in an uproar, and Jing Chi and others discussed: "The prince is very humble, he thought of having fun with his subjects, rare, rare." Most people immediately realized that the crown prince Mihuai intended to win people's hearts, because the old king was not in good health, and the prince's accession to the throne was only a matter of day and night.

Qu Mu even shouted loudly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and I are drinking, it is the glory of our waiting, and the good thing that we can't wait for!" ”

Hearing the affirmative answers of the ministers, Mi Huai was very proud, he first shared a drink with Zhaoyang, and then took the wine glass and wine jug, and went to toast from the west side to the seat.

At this time, Steward Zang and others in the Yin Mansion, as well as the prince's personal entourage named Jin Shang and others, where could they still sit still, they rushed to follow, took the wine jug and wine glass in the prince's hand, and bowed down to serve the prince.

The crown prince Mi Huai quickly toasted Zhang Yi's seat, because he was also arranged in the honorable seat in the west, sitting in the east, not far from the prince's seat.

Zhang Yi looked at the prince, very nervous, and he thought about what he should say over and over again.

Waiting for his turn to finally come, Zhang Yi hurriedly bowed and saluted, raised the wine glasses on several cases with both hands, and said in his mouth: "Prince Hongfu, Shoubi Nanshan, grass people Zhang Yi can get wine from the prince, it is an honor." The grass people have no eyes, and many of them have offended the prince, and they also ask the prince to be lenient with a sea of hearts. ”

Zhang Yi's words were very well prepared, and although he spoke quickly, he spoke clearly and appropriately. The prince was still unhappy at first, but after listening to Zhang Yi's words, his eyes softened a lot.

Mi Huai said: "My country can get the favor of Mr. Zhang Yi, it is also a blessing for the country, I hope you can adapt to the life of Chu and stay happy." ”

Zhang Yi heard Qi Huai's gentle words, and his tense nerves were greatly relieved, and he thought to himself: "It seems that the tense relationship between himself and the prince still has a chance to reconcile." ”

Because he was grateful for the forgiveness of the Huai, he drained the wine in the cup and did not leave a drop. He nodded, and took a symbolic sip of the wine in his glass.

Seeing this, Zhang Yi felt that there was nothing wrong with the prince's actions, and he should have made a polite toast, and he said in his heart: "If you toast to every minister, you may have to drink how many glasses." ”

Zhang Yi was relieved to talk to the prince because of his gratitude, so he relaxed and toasted each other with the surrounding Chu courtiers, introduced himself to everyone, and said some good words by the way, even that Qu Mu was no exception.

For a while, Zhang Yi was immersed in the atmosphere of the banquet, feeling that the hall was happy, and he agreed very much with this summer banquet in his heart, and felt that this was really a good way to unite people's hearts.

Since Zhaoyang had invited the ministers to drink to their heart's content, everyone was not welcome, and soon most of them entered a state of drunkenness, and the weather was already hot at this time, and the courtiers were sweating profusely because of the excessive drinking.

Zhaoyang was also hot enough, he took the lead and took the initiative to take off the robe outside, and wore a white middle coat casually, loose and loose on his body, looking very comfortable.

He took off his robe himself, not to mention, but also persuaded the other ministers around him to take off their robes, and soon, one after another, the vast majority of people in the hall followed suit.

Zhang Yi's body is also hot, he is a northerner, and he can't stand the humidity and heat in the south, when the wine comes up, he is hot and sweaty. Seeing the ministers around him take off their robes, Zhang Yi thought about it, but did not follow suit.

At this time, the housekeeper of Ling Yin's Mansion came to Zhang Yi and persuaded him: "Mr. Zhang doesn't have to be restrained, the summer banquet of our Chu State is extremely relaxed, you can be casual." ”

Zhang Yi looked at Steward Zang with a wry smile, he shook his head and said, "I feel very uncomfortable taking off my coat, so I don't want to take it off." ”

Steward Zang didn't give up, he stood beside Zhang Yi and persuaded him vigorously, saying that he was looking at him sweaty and worried about poor hospitality. Zhang Yi still didn't take it off.

Later, Steward Zang persuaded again: "Mr. Zhang spent the night like this, we are afraid that you will suffer from heat stroke." When the weather is hot and you drink a lot of alcohol, the heat in your body cannot be dissipated, and you are not guaranteed to get seriously ill. ”

When Zhang Yi heard Steward Zang's words, she also muttered in her heart, worried that she would really suffer from heat stroke, and it seemed that if she didn't take off her robe, Steward Zang would have to persuade her vigorously.

In desperation, he slowly untied his straight jacket and took off his coat. At this time, Steward Zang saw that Zhang Yi was wearing a gray middle coat made of linen, and there were two patches on it.

Steward Zang secretly laughed in his heart, thinking: "It turns out that this Mr. Zhang Yi has a bright appearance, and when he takes off his outer robe, the middle coat inside reveals his original shabby appearance. It's no wonder that it is not easy for a poor scholar like him to afford a glamorous coat, and he usually uses it to decorate the façade, but he can't take care of it so much. ”

really guessed it right for Steward Zang, Zhang Yi was indeed embarrassed to take off his coat, because the middle clothes of other ministers were generally made of ayaluo, and no matter how bad it was, it was sewn from fine kudzu cloth, but his own middle coat was burlap.

Moreover, there were already two big holes in the shoulder, and Mrs. Yao Yue was reluctant to throw them away, so she carefully made two patches on them, although the stitches were fine and the stitches were well stitched, the patches were still very conspicuous.