There are three beds next to each table, and according to Roman rule, guests were to sit in the upper seat, that is, in the middle or right position, while the host sat in the lower seat.

However, Constans II, as the emperor, naturally could not sit in the lower seat, so he and Empress Irina sat in the middle, while Li Ke sat on their right, as for the left position, it was occupied by a very young couple, Li Ke remembered that Ciro was the first to introduce these two people just now, and the man named Theodosius II was the younger brother of Constance, and he was also the prince of the Eastern Roman Empire, only seventeen years old this year, and next to him was his wife.

Li Ke and the others sat at the largest main table in the banquet hall, and as for the other people attending the banquet, they sat on both sides of the other tables on both sides, among which Lu Wan and the three of them were accompanied by special guests, and even the sharp-eyed Li Ke also found that the strong and mighty Wang Fangyi was already accompanied by a young Roman noble girl, and I believe that he would definitely spend a very good night tonight.

When everyone was seated, Constans II called the feast to begin, and then the relaxing music began, and the servants began to serve the food.

Similar to the banquet in the Tang Dynasty, the first thing to serve is appetizers, such as sea urchin and oysters and other seafood, all kinds of fruits, cheeses, etc., but both seafood and vegetables are all raw, with some sauce at most, and some meat sauce, which can be dipped in vegetables.

However, Li Ke and they are not used to eating raw vegetables, sea urchins and oysters have been eaten in Taiwan and other places before, but they can barely eat some, and the fruits are good. They're going to eat some. After the appetizer, the main course is served.

These entrees are served on a fine silver plate. And like the banquet in the Tang Dynasty, the main course here is also meat-based. Mainly goat meat and beef, but also a lot of game, such as the flamingo and dormouse, which are very precious in Rome, the dishes are very delicious, even Li Ke, who is used to eating the food of Li Su's mansion, is also full of praise.

In addition, Li Ke also found that the Romans really did not like meat in general, among these main dishes, the only one is called the vegetable suckling pig "vegetarian dish", this dish is to cook all kinds of vegetables, and then a suckling pig skin is completely peeled off. The vegetables are then put into the skin, and there are also a lot of shelled snails and mashed pickled fish, and the pork skin is made in the shape of a suckling pig and roasted in the oven. If this dish is placed in the Central Plains, it must also be a meat dish, but in Rome it is a vegetarian dish.

The Romans liked sweet, sour and spicy textures, so they were prepared with a lot of sugar, honey and pepper, as well as spices. Moreover, most of the three things of cane sugar, pepper and spices were transported from Nanyang and Tianzhu.

It is worth mentioning that among the gifts that Li Ke gave to Constans II, in addition to the necessary silk, porcelain and tea. There were also many miscellaneous and precious gifts, such as chili sauce, which had not yet reached Rome, and as a result, this very spicy condiment was very popular with Constans II. Some were also used at banquets, and only for a few people at their table. The others could only look at Li Ke's table with envy, while the nobles with more flexible brains were secretly asking Lu Wan and Wang Fangyi. Hopefully you can get some of this precious condiment at a high price.

Li Ke is very fond of a sauce called Garham that comes with the main course. It is said that the Romans made it from the internal organs of fish, and the production was very scarce, and it was only eaten by the nobles. However, Empress Irina seemed to see that Li Ke liked this sauce, and gave him some in her private capacity at the banquet, which made Li Ke have a great impression of this beautiful hostess, and at the same time politely expressed her gratitude to the other party.

The main course is followed by an after-dinner dessert, mainly made with honey, but also some fruit and mulled wine. Originally, in the Tang Dynasty, the banquet should have ended at this time, but for the Romans, after the dessert, the banquet was only halfway through, because the second half of the banquet was next, that is, the cocktail party.

Although the drinks never stopped at the beginning of the banquet, they were always the foil to the dishes, and it was only then that they became the protagonist of the banquet, so it was called a drinking party.

At the beginning of the reception, most of the women and children should have left, but today because of Li Ke's special status, none of them left. This is mainly because during the cocktail party, the guests no longer have to sit in front of the table, but can move around at will, the form is similar to the Western banquet in later generations, which also facilitates the conversation between people, so the final cocktail party is the best time for nobles to exchange feelings, and it is also the best opportunity to get to know Li Ke and others.

At the beginning of the reception, the song and dance performance begins, and there are also poet recitations, juggling and other programs. However, Li Ke and Lu Wan and the other four were soon surrounded by the nobles and competed to talk to them, but unfortunately, there were only two interpreters Ciro and Coris, so only a few people could communicate with Li Ke and them, but even so, most of the people still surrounded them and were reluctant to leave, until the most Constances II and his wife came to liberate Li Ke and Coris from the crowd, leaving only Lu Wan and the three of them to deal with those enthusiastic Roman nobles.

"His Royal Highness King Wu, I have heard Xi Luo say that the palace where His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty lives is several times larger than our holy palace, and the palace is also more tall and majestic, which makes me and the queen amazed, but unfortunately Rome is too far away from the Tang Dynasty, so we didn't have the opportunity to see it in person, you grew up in the palace, why don't you help us introduce the situation in the palace in detail?" Constans II took his glass and said with a smile on his face. This is a corner of the cocktail party, only the couple and Li Ke and Chris, and no one else dares to come forward to disturb them.

This morning, Li Ke and Constans II met officially, so they mainly talked about the national conditions of some of the two countries, which were more political, and much more free in the reception, so Constans II asked about the comparison between the Holy Palace and the Tang Palace as soon as he opened his mouth, and it seems that he is also very curious about each other's palaces like Li Ke.

"Marquis Ciro's words are only half right, our Tang palace is indeed larger than the Roman palace, but in terms of building area and style, it has its own advantages with the Roman holy palace. Most of our palaces in the Tang Dynasty are built of wood, so they are certainly not as strong as the Roman palace, and I am very afraid of fire, I remember that since I was a child, I have experienced several fires in the palace, and several palaces have been destroyed by fire. Li Ke said very modestly after hearing this.

In fact, really speaking, the imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty is indeed more majestic than the holy palace of the Romans, such as the Taiji Palace, the Liangyi Palace, the Lizheng Hall and other main halls in the imperial palace, and there is no comparable building in the entire Roman holy palace.

Hearing Li Ke's words mention his holy palace and the Tang Dynasty palace to the same location, this made Constans II very happy, and immediately asked some other questions about the Tang Palace, and Li Ke also answered them one by one.

"His Royal Highness King Wu is really modest, although I haven't seen the palace of the Tang Dynasty with my own eyes, but after listening to your description, I can still imagine the appearance of this majestic palace, if I have the opportunity, I really want to go to the Tang Dynasty to enjoy this beautiful palace!" At this time, Irina next to her also spoke, with a faint smile and yearning on her face, which surprised everyone who saw her, because everyone knew that Queen Irina had a relatively "old-fashioned" personality and rarely showed such a charming expression to a man.

Li Ke also smiled and said: "There will be a chance, my sixth brother once said that with the convenience of transportation, the world will become smaller and smaller, we now seem that Datang is thousands of miles away from Rome, but the sixth brother has begun to promote extremely fast steamships on a large scale, so maybe it won't take a few years to go from Rome to Datang It will become simple." ”

"I hope so!" When Irina heard Li Ke's words of comfort, the smile on her face became even bigger, and the whole person looked like a blooming flower, which made the men around her lose their minds, and even Constans II noticed the strangeness of his wife.

"His Royal Highness King Wu, the clothes worn by your female companion should be the clothes of the noble ladies of the Tang Dynasty, I don't know if there are any more in your fleet, can you give me a few?" Irina suddenly spoke again, and her eyes were full of envy when she looked at the palace dress on Coris.

In fact, this morning, she had already noticed the palace clothes on Chriss, compared to the palace clothes, their Roman clothes were extremely monotonous, for example, among the nobles attending the banquet today, both men and women wore a kind of clothing called "Hefu", which is a short-sleeved tunic with a long tunic with a small cloak on the shoulders, at most the style of the cloak and the color of the clothes have some changes, and the others are almost identical, so the exquisite palace clothes made of good silk on Chrysy naturally attracted the attention of the entire banquet women.

"This is naturally no problem, there is a tailor in my entourage, this palace costume is made by him on the road, if the queen is free, you can call him into the palace at any time, let him help you measure and customize a few clothes, in addition to the palace dress, our Datang has some other different women's clothing, which will definitely satisfy the queen!" Li Ke said with a smile. He also needed the help of Rome, so it was natural that he wanted to have a good relationship with the couple of Constans II, not to mention that the beautiful queen had always been very kind to him.

Irina was also pleasantly surprised when she heard that Li Ke was accompanied by a tailor, no woman doesn't like beautiful clothes, not to mention that this time Li Ke also gave her a lot of exquisite silk, and now she has decided to make all these silks into Tang Dynasty style clothes, especially the palace clothes on Coris, and she has to make a few more sets.

However, just as Irina was about to thank Li Ke, suddenly a not very friendly voice behind them said: "Honorable Royal Highness, I heard that the Tang Dynasty practices barbaric polygamy, I don't know what you think about this?" (To be continued......)