On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, every household in Luoyang City put up a New Year couplet, everyone took off their old clothes, the sound of firecrackers was deafening, the lights and candles were blazing, and there was a scene of joyful singing in the prosperous world. In the palace, countless palace lamps are hung between the glazed gold tiles and the vermilion columns, reflecting the palaces like heavenly palaces.

At the dawn of the first day, the Baihua lantern was lit in the Taiji Palace, and the ministers came to the outside of the Taiji Hall to congratulate the Son of Heaven. Taiji hall is 30 zhang long, 20 zhang wide, a main hall in the middle, there are more than 10 side halls on both sides, it is the largest palace in the palace. The main hall is the main place for monarchs and ministers to discuss politics and hold ceremonies. On the side of the main hall, at this time, the case has been arranged, the cup is placed, and the scenery is set up to make the final preparations for the convening of the Yuanzheng Conference.

At sunrise, Sima Yan wore a crown of twelve crowns to the sky, dressed in the dress of the twelve chapters, just like the costume of the ceremony of sacrificing to the heavens, came out of the inner hall, was guided by Tai Changqing, and ascended to the throne. The auspicious time has arrived. The bells and drums were played, and the salute songs were played, and the officials once again bowed to the court. The drums stopped, and the officials rose.

The kings of the Sima family and the Zhulu clans offered their respective salutes in turn, and the ministers of the rank of more than 2,000 stone were eligible to go to the palace, kneel into the Shangshou wine, and play the Shou song. Although Shu Yan and Biyu are only Xiaolang officials of 400 stones, thanks to their special status today, they are also listed in the court with the Juqing.

Taile Cheng saw that the hundred officials had finished greeting, and immediately knelt down and asked: "Play food and music."

The formal feast begins.

Although he went through many days of rehearsals, when the real test came, Shu Yan was still a little nervous, for fear that he would not be able to do it well. Anxiety made his hands sweat as he held the two rolls of bamboo slips. On the other hand, Biyu looked relaxed and didn't care at all. The authentic works of these two volumes of "The Book of Music" were originally intended to wait for the end of the Yuanzheng Conference before letting Biyu treasure it in the secretary's pavilion, but Shu Yan considered that he was going to preside over the Yuanzheng Conference wholeheartedly, and Biyu didn't care about anything, so he simply returned the two bamboo slips to Biyu first, and asked him to keep them properly. Of course, Biyu also knew the importance of this rare and authentic artifact, so he properly caged it in his sleeve.

The more you worry about accidents, the more accidents will happen. When Sima Yan instructed the feast to begin, Tai Le Cheng was supposed to recite and sing the song of food and lifting, but when he stepped down the steps, perhaps because of nervousness and excitement, he suddenly felt dizzy and stepped on the air, Shu Yan hurriedly stepped forward to support him, although he did not fall, but he obviously couldn't return to normal for a while.

Saving the scene is like fighting a fire, not to mention the emperor's field, it must not be delayed. The food and the music must be sung immediately. But this song is as many as a few hundred words, it is a very long movement, it took a lot of effort to write it down, others are not prepared, who dares to save this scene?

Fortunately, Shu Yan had inadvertently read this song before. He knew that he couldn't count on anyone, so in desperation, he took the lyrics, quickly skimmed through them from beginning to end, handed Biyu the music book with the lyrics, and prepared to sing it himself. This sudden little change made Biyu a little nervous, and scolded in a low voice: "Didn't this old thief mean it? He understood what Shu Yan meant, unfolded the song book, and was ready to remind Shu Yan when his recitation was not smooth.

With a sound, Shu Yan began to sing: "Huanghuang Qiyao, heavy and bright." I have a guest ......" The chime also rang at the same time. The chimes are nominally only a single instrument, but in fact they include hundreds of bronze bells, large and small, and are a set of super musical instruments weighing thousands of pounds. The complete set of chimes also includes chimes, drums and other combinations, but this music, Shu Yan only wants the guests to appreciate the unique charm of chimes.

The chimes are also distinguished by ranks, the emperor's chimes are the largest, the number of bronze bells is the largest, and the four hangings are arranged, that is, they are surrounded by a circle, twelve frames, each of which is divided into three layers according to the size, the smallest of the upper layers, and the timbre is short and clear; The lower layer is the largest, and the tone is dull and long. When playing, it is done by a multi-person cooperation, and the whole process is mainly based on the small mallet striking the small bell in the upper middle layer, and then according to the rhythm, from time to time the big hammer is used to hit the big bell below. In this way, in the continuous crisp and pleasant music, it also reflects the sense of majestic atmosphere.

After a long bell rang, Shu Yan seemed to slow down his speech a little. Biyu noticed that he might not be familiar with the words below, so he quickly glanced at the music book, and with an idea, he pointed with his hand to the west, and then to the guide. Shu Yan immediately remembered, and then continued to recite: "The West Brigade offers mastiffs, and Funan serves the ......" until the whole music song is finished.

Sima Yan had already seen the whole process in his eyes, and when Taile Cheng fell, he was also shocked, worried that this important link would not be able to continue because of this accident, so as to embarrass himself in front of the civil and military officials, especially the envoys of the Fanguo. I can't help but feel a little unhappy, and it's not good to get angry, so I can only watch the changes. The ministers also waited and watched, some were worried about Shu Yan and others, and some were gloating. Unexpectedly, this accident allowed Shu Yan to save the past perfectly, and all those worries and jealousies turned into admiration for him.

In fact, most of the envoys of the Quartet did not notice the changes. They were only interested in the majestic and turbid chimes.

Bai Man said: "We are good at singing and dancing, and there are many musical instruments, but we can't make this kind of atmospheric sound anyway. Compared with this chime, it is too small. ”

Moreño said: "What's more, it's you, I've come all the way from Daqin, thousands of miles, and there are dozens of countries passing by, and I have never heard such a majestic music, this music is really amazing to the world!" Except in the palace of His Majesty the Emperor, I think there is no second place in the world. ”

Liu Mang smiled: "This is wrong. Although the chimes only exist in the Celestial Empire, they are not exclusive to the royal family, and the princes' houses also have them, but the specifications and shapes are much worse. ”

When the envoys heard this, they all exclaimed: "It turns out that the princes of the Celestial Empire are all stronger than our monarch!" ”

The sound sounded, and at the end of the song, a little bead of sweat oozed from Shu Yan's forehead.

A handkerchief was handed over, "Not only do you never forget the ten lines at a glance, but you are also not surprised, Brother Shu, you are really good!" At this time, the hundred officials had returned to their original positions, and the imperial wine was given, Xiao Mo led the imperial kitchen to serve the food, and happened to see Shu Yan singing the food and music song instead of Taile Cheng.

Shu Yan breathed a sigh of relief and was wiping his sweat, and Biyu also smiled happily: "It's also thanks to my guidance." ”

Xiao Mo scoffed: "Don't be reckless here, you do this, why don't you go up?" ”

Biyu was speechless.

Shu Yan said to Xiao Mo: "At this time, you are not in the imperial kitchen, and you still have time to come here?" ”

"Of course I'm coming. I'm going to see for myself how our food and music pairs are generated. ”

Shu Yan smiled: "What is there to witness this, I will tell you the process when I have time in the future?" For such a large-scale royal banquet, can you really put your mind at ease? ”

"Don't wronged people, I didn't do anything to be the shopkeeper, everything was arranged there, and the imperial chefs only did it according to the predetermined arrangement under the leadership of Ah Bing. And I told them a long time ago, whoever dares to mess things up, just ask whoever is this group of birdmen? So I'm relieved. In addition, I can also stop by to find out how people reacted to the dishes, which is very important. ”

The eunuchs who served the dishes lined up in a row, each holding a plate with a dish in the middle of the plate. Xiao Mo made a gesture, and the eunuchs brought in the dishes one by one.

Yan, Bi, and Mo all have tasks on their bodies, and although they are also in the Taiji Hall, they can only watch and watch, and they do not have their seats.

"What kind of food is this?" Shu Yan asked.

"Sanyang Kaitai."

"The instrument I used in my first song is a chime, which is gold, and the food you serve is Sanyang Kaitai, is there anything special?"

Xiao Mo first announced the name of the dish in a loud voice so that the emperor and all the courtiers could hear it, and then said to Shu Yan: "The instrument used in your first song is gold, and the cooking utensils used in my first dish must also be related to gold." As everyone knows, iron pots are metal, and most of the food is made of iron pots, so this link is still very easy for me. However, although there are a wide range of options for cooking in iron pots, you can't just pick up a dish and serve it. This dish of mine is made of mutton, lamb tripe, lamb loin as the main ingredients, supplemented by bamboo shoots, winter melon, garlic cloves, etc., put in sesame oil, pepper, and stewed over fire......

Smelling the tempting fragrance, Biyu's eyes were attracted at this time, where did he still have the heart to listen to the origin of this dish. However, he can only watch others enjoy it, which is a very torment for him, who covets Xiao Mo's cooking skills day and night.

From the salutation song and the birthday song before the feast, to the food and lifting music song at the beginning of the feast, after these inherent music songs are played, the next repertoire can be arranged by Shu Yan at will.

Although the above pieces are indispensable and fixed repertoire, they are all monotonous and boring. Next, Shu Yan immediately arranged a song "Jiangnan Can Pick Lotus". This song is a famous song of Han Yuefu, and the rhythm is relaxed and bright. It is also accompanied by a relaxed and bright instrument - the chime.

Chimes are often listed on the side of chimes and are indispensable supporting instruments for chimes. The chimes of the Son of Heaven are also like chimes, with as many as 12 chimes, each of which is divided into two layers, and each layer is hung with eight stone chips. These stone flakes look similar, but they are actually different in size and thickness, so they can produce completely different tones.

Most of the lotus pickers in the lotus pond are young women from the countryside, so for the dance of this song, Shu Yan selected the young and innocent female dancers in the palace music workshop. The crisp chime sounded, and a group of girls with bamboo baskets and green Luo skirts walked up to the stage, and suddenly dispersed, all in the shape of picking lotuses. Although he twisted his waist and shook his hands in anticipation, it was extremely natural, and there was no sense of floating waves.

A woman led the way and sang: "Jiangnan can pick lotus, lotus leaves He Tiantian." Between the Lotus Leaves of the Fish Play - "Then the women sang in harmony: "The Fish Play Lotus Leaf East, the Fish Play Lotus Leaf West, the Fish Play Lotus Leaf South, the Fish Play Lotus Leaf North......"

Jia Gong sat next to Shi Hui. He knew that Biyu had done the teaching of this Yuanzheng Conference, so he flattered Shi Hui and said: "This dance is like a girl picking lotus, and it is like a fish playing in a lotus pond, it is really graceful." ”

Shi Hui listened, nodded incessantly, and said: "Sure enough, it is back to basics, vivid and lively, and it makes people suddenly return to the countryside!" ”

The Xiongnu envoy Liu Mang was a womanizer. He didn't care what the dance meant, but lingered on the dancers.

"The Chinese woman is really charming and gentle." Liu Mang's eyes did not leave the dancing girl, "Brother Yuwen, I want our Hu girl, born in a reckless and bitter cold place, most of them are wild and fierce, even if they are women from high-ranking and aristocratic families, how can they compare to these female tricks?" ”

Yuwen Xun also said: "Brother Liu is very right, if you are lucky enough to be able to taste this woman in the future, it will not be in vain to come to the Central Plains to see it." ”

The words of these two Hu people made the people around them look sideways. Xiao Mo didn't bother to pay attention to them, only glared, and waved his hand to the second dish.

Some people died, but not completely......