Except for a few Fanguo envoys like Park Hee Kim who have just entered the Central Plains, in fact, most people are familiar with this repertoire, which is a hundred operas - cup halberd dance.

In addition to the two hundred opera performers, there is also a musician who holds a string of wooden planks in his hand, there are more than ten pieces, all of which are the size of palms, and they are connected in sequence in a stepped shape. This is the instrument clapper of the genus Wood. The musician holds one end of the clapper, hangs the clapper, and when he flips his hand, it makes a "pop" sound.

Although Baiqu is not as important and orthodox as court music and dance, it is very popular. At this time, all the guests stopped feasting and drinking, and concentrated on watching the show. When the two men heard the sound of the board, they each danced two plates, the plate in the left hand was thrown upwards, and the plate in the right hand was also thrown instantaneously, and then each of the two hands went to catch the plate thrown by the other hand and threw it again, and so on.

Dance two plates, and the speed of the player's hand is equal to the speed at which each plate lands. As the clapping speed up, the two men quickly grabbed the third and fourth plates from the case in front of them. This is equivalent to the moment each plate lands, and each hand accurately catches both plates and throws them upwards again.

Some of the guests were already clapping, and Park Hee-Kim was clapping to the rhythm of the clapping. Bai Man, the envoy of Qiuzi, smiled disdainfully and said: "This kind of technique is in our Qiuci, even second-rate tricksters can play it, and it's just pediatrics." As he spoke, he drank by himself, and as soon as a glass of wine was in his stomach, he suddenly heard the sound of the clapping becoming more and more abrupt, and when he looked up, he was surprised. It turned out that in addition to the four plates flying in the hands of each servant, three cups were added in an instant. If the addition is three plates, the total has reached a staggering seven. At the same moment, each hand can hold only one each, that is, there will be five plates hanging in the air at the same time. It is equivalent to the moment when each plate is thrown to the moment it lands, and each hand has to go through the hair of three or four plates. The real difficulty, however, was that the three cups were not identical to the previous four, but cups of unequal size and weight. In this case, the feel is completely different, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty.

Who knows, this is not the most difficult, the two servants turned around, and the cups and plates in the air suddenly changed their tracks, no longer dancing separately, but forming two circles and staggered together.

Everyone was holding their breath and concentrating, and suddenly the clapping stopped abruptly, and the performance ended, and the plates flying in the air fell into the hands of the performers, and the cups were held on them, without the slightest bump. All the guests, including Bai Man, breathed a sigh of relief and cheered in unison.

Compared with the nervousness of other spectators, Shu Yan was more worried. Xiao Mo saw that he relaxed from his tense expression, and asked, "This piece must have been rehearsed countless times, do you still have anything to worry about?" ”

"Absolutely. These jugglers, when they reach a level where they can play steadily, constantly pursue a higher level of difficulty, and what they present to everyone is often the highest level that represents them, rather than the relatively lower level that they can fully control. Just like this cup halberd dance, the level of rehearsal at the beginning was only seven plates, and then it was upgraded to four plates and three cups, and finally upgraded to cross each other, and I just had a little confidence in the stage performance. How can I not be worried? ”

Xiao Mo nodded, "I see." But fortunately, the performance was successful, and the string of planks was neat and neat, which matched this hundred operas, which was really suitable. ”

"Although this clapper music is not as rich as the chimes and not as tactful as the flute, it is short and neat, without aftersound, and not at all muddy, which is the most suitable for this rhythm."

"Everyone was nervous just now, and I'll have a delicious dish to suppress everyone's shock."

"What's the food?"

"Charcoal-roasted deer breast."

"Deer breast has been a delicacy at the banquet of the princes of the Son of Heaven since ancient times, and ordinary people are not qualified to eat it. The cooking method is mainly boiling and stewing, and I have never heard of charcoal roasting. ”

"Venison is a good nourishment, and deer breast is a semi-mature meat made from the most chewy part of the deer's body. In general, charcoal grilling is fresh meat. The deer breast is charcoal-roasted, and even the princes of the Son of Heaven have never eaten it. I also remembered their cooperation to match your wood instruments. Thread the deer breast on a wooden stick and burn it with charcoal underneath. There is only wood in the whole process, and there is no contact with gold and stone. ”

The waiter walked past Shu Yan with charcoal-roasted deer breast, and the fragrance of oil wafted into his nostrils. At this time, Shu Yan had a question: "After pickling, the deer breast is no longer fresh, the color has become darker, and the hue should be very poor due to charcoal burning, why does the charcoal deer breast you make look so yellow and tender, not black at all?" ”

"I use the finest fragrant pine charcoal. When this charcoal is burned, it produces a special rosin fragrance, but does not produce black smoke. In addition, deer breast is not as good as fresh meat, and most of its moisture has been lost, and if it is grilled directly, it is easy to burn and blacken. So before roasting, I soaked the deer breast in water and oil for half a day, so that it was moisturized with water and protected by grease on the surface, and of course it would not be charred. ”

"Ahh

The two of them were talking, and suddenly they heard someone screaming, and they hurriedly followed the sound to look, it was the voice of the Hun envoy Liu Mang. Xiao Mo thought that there was something wrong with the food he made, and hurriedly walked over there.

Liu Mang was pointing to the "Yuwen Raid" next to him in surprise: "Why are you?" ”

Shu Yan was afraid that they would make a loud noise, startle the holy driver, and disturb other guests, so he hurriedly walked over there and said: "You and Brother Yuwen, one is from the Xiongnu, and the other is from Xianbei, both of them are envoys of the Northern Fan Kingdom of the Great Jin Dynasty, and the two of you are usually close to each other, so it is more appropriate to arrange the two of you together, what are you making trouble?" ”

"But he's not ......"

"Not? What not? Shu Yan walked closer, only to see that the "Yuwen Raid" was still dressed as usual, but he just pressed his mouth against the plate, and his hat was pressed very low, and he didn't see anything else.

"Look closer."

Shu Yan bent down to look, but the "Yuwen Raid" twisted his head to the other side. I don't want to be looked at by Xiao Mo.

"Yikes!" Xiao Mo was also surprised, "It turns out that you are hiding here!" As he spoke, he reached out and took off his hat.

Biyu knew that she couldn't hide, so she had to raise her head.

Shu Yan was very annoyed: "At such a critical moment, we are all busy worrying and laborious, but you are lazy and enjoying here." ”

"I don't want to, but how can I have the opportunity to taste these delicacies except for this occasion at this moment?" Biyu is at a loss, but he still quibbles quietly.

Listening to Biyu's obvious reason for not paying attention, Shu Yan remembered what Xiao Mo had just said to himself - "I left you a copy of every dish", knowing that Biyu did not have this treatment. Sympathy, the anger disappeared by half, and when he saw Biyu's outfit, it was funny and strange, and asked, "Why did you put on the clothes of the Yuwen envoy?" Where did he go personally? ”

It turned out that Biyu knew that at today's Yuanzheng Conference, Xiao Mo would have fresh dishes to be served, so he was itchy and unbearable, but he didn't have a chance. When playing "Jiangnan Can Pick Lotus", Biyu heard Liu Mang and Yu Wenxi's words about coveting court dancers, and secretly remembered them in her heart. Soon, Yuwen attacked out to relieve himself. He suddenly came up with a plan, so he also secretly followed, and told Yuwen Raid about the strategy - he wanted to exchange clothes with Yuwen Raid, Yuwen Raid put on his clothes and temporarily found a place to hide, and he himself pretended to be Yuwen Raid to eat a banquet.

Of course, Yuwen did not agree at first, but Biyu proposed a return condition at this time, promising to find a court dancer to be a concubine for him after the matter was completed. Hearing this quid pro quo, Yuwen Xi gladly accepted it and decisively agreed to the deal.

Biyu wore Yuwen's clothes and secretly returned to the banquet. lowered his head, just buried his head in eating, and did not talk to Liu Mang. Liu Mang also only cared about eating, drinking, watching music, and enjoying himself, and didn't notice that Yuwen Xian around him was a fake. Seeing that Liu Mang was concentrating on the stage, and there was still half of it on the plate, he secretly took the half of it to his plate, but Liu Mang saw it and saw through it at a glance.

Although Biyu was recognized, he did not leave the table, and begged everyone to keep quiet and want to continue to disguise. Shu Yan knew too much, but he was afraid that he would make a big fuss and be known by the emperor, which would ruin the atmosphere, and things would not be beautiful. Anyway, Biyu couldn't help herself, so she didn't care about him anymore and continued to host food and music with Xiao Mo.

Next is still a hundred operas, a heavyweight performance - "The Giant Elephant Walks the Milk". Because the elephant is too huge, it cannot be rotated in the main hall, and can only be displayed outside the hall. The guests were all curious, and under the leadership of the emperor, they left the table and ran outside the palace to watch.

With a mighty roar, a huge elephant with a golden brocade followed the elephant trainer slowly from His Highness, stepping on the big stone road and making a clanging sound. No matter what the occasion is today, the elephant is not stage frightened at all, and still takes a steady step. No matter what kind of prince you are, in its eyes, you are all the same small and magical clothed beasts.

Xiao Mo looked at the golden elephant and smiled at Shu Yan: "It turns out that the Yuanzheng Conference is really a festival celebrated by the whole world, not only people, but even elephants have new clothes to wear. ”

"That's nature. However, you only know one thing, but you don't know the other. Don't look at the elephant garment, which cost ten people, but it is very necessary. ”

"What's the use of it other than to set off the festive mood? Keeping warm? ”

Shu Yan smiled and said secretly: "Although it is necessary to set off the festival and keep the elephants warm, this is just the appearance, and there are still many secrets hidden in it." ”

Ruan Shan blew the gourd sheng and led the elephant brother around the hall in a circle. Although it is also a wind instrument, the gourd sheng is not vertically like the flute, but is vertically curved, and several bamboo pipes of different lengths run horizontally into a long-necked gourd cavity, and the long gourd neck serves as a natural blowpipe. When playing, you can control the orifices of each bamboo tube with your fingers to produce a variety of different tones. The timbre is not as clear as the flute, as if it is only half released, low and soft, very unique and restrained. m.

All the guests had heard about the show in advance. But I wondered in my heart: I heard that this title is "The Giant Elephant Breastfeeds", which must mean that the elephant breastfeeds the baby elephant, but why do you only see the elephant but not the baby elephant?

was suspicious, only to see the elephant's body move slightly, and suddenly a baby elephant emerged from the side, like a child, sometimes shaking its head and tail, four hooves moving, sometimes drilling into the elephant's belly to eat milk, a good and cute state, successfully provoked everyone's love.

Xiao Mo was also amused: "This little elephant must be played by a water girl?" It's really presentable. ”

"The spectators only knew that it was fun, but they did not know that this piece was the last to be determined, the date was the most urgent, and the Nguyen siblings and elephant brothers were completely unfamiliar with this play. For this reason, they have paid several times the hardships of others to achieve today's results. ”

"In this way, your water sister must be very hard, shouldn't you love her well afterwards?"

Hearing Xiao Mo's words, Shu Yan ignored him.

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