At first glance, Sheng Xiangju does not look like a wine shop, but like an elegantly constructed quiet village. Not only is there no such banner of wine waving in the wind, but there is not even the smell of wine and food in ordinary wine shops. The decoration of different styles divides the village courtyard into four different parts, it is called the four pavilions of spring, summer, autumn and winter, the spring pavilion is in the east, the two floors of the skillfully carved wooden building are hung, the mud of the famous calligraphy and painting is hung back to the Yan map, the warm breeze in the building is warm, the fragrance is fragrant; the summer pavilion sits in the south, it is all built by the green bamboo, the green is deep and secluded, there is a clear pond between the bamboo pavilions, and the lotus leaves made of silk float in the meantime, the beauty of the hope is overwhelming; the autumn pavilion faces west, the fragrance is overflowing, the pear wood lacquer case of one color is overflowing, with the chrysanthemum pattern carefully drawn on the wall, the dazzling beauty of the golden cantony; the winter pavilion is in the north, the plum branch should be reflected from the side of the pane, the center of the hall is placed with the bronze fragrance left over from the Han Dynasty, and behind each table, are extremely precious Xishu brocade mattress, and a delicate charcoal stove is placed next to each side as a heating for the guests during the banquet.

The gentleman is far away from the kitchen, the old owner of Sheng Xiangju is surnamed Koji, although he is only from Ku Ding, but he is well versed in the place where the kitchen is built far away from the four pavilions in spring, summer, autumn and winter, and there is a bamboo forest between them, only nine winding paths lead straight into. Whenever the dishes are made, there are pretty maidservants who take fast steps and send them to the feast outside.

Today is the first day of the year, the big family celebrates the New Year, it is the scene of traveling to the spring, so there are many guests who come today, it is not yet the time of lunch dinner, the spring, autumn and winter three pavilions have been full of overturning, only the summer pavilion is still empty, that is the night to come to the master of the house to send people to send the horse to the instructions, for the distinguished guests to stay.

It is precisely because he is the honored guest of the head of the house, although the old master of Sheng Xiangju is over the age of old, he still came to the kitchen with peace of mind and came to supervise and inspect it in person. The kitchen was already in full swing, the soup was boiling at several stoves, churning endlessly, the sound of chopping on the cutting board was the sound of chopping, some people were carefully scraping the scales of the fish and removing the bones, some people had just lifted the feathered chickens and ducks from the steaming buckets, and a few of the obviously older ones were squinting at the dough and pastry carving patterns; the little maid was half-kneeling on the ground, pulling the bellows, blowing the stove fire even more vigorously; from time to time, a maid took the freshly made dish and hurriedly turned around and went straight to the outer compartment.

A tall man seemed a little out of place with this cook, although he was wearing the coarse cloth clothes of Kuding, but he could not hide the heroic spirit between his eyebrows, and at this moment he was watching an old cook make zuò egg bills on the stove with his hands behind his back.

This is Sheng Xiangju's original dish, the raw chicken eggs are broken, the egg white and egg yolk are adjusted into a sticky and thick puddle, and then scooped up with a special copper spoon, and the inside is applied with hot oil, and the chicken eggs are heated and knotted, and then add the pre-prepared venison minced meat, and finally wrap a pinch, just like the appearance of a golden bill, take the color head of wealth and auspiciousness, it is simple to say, but it is very ingenious.

The old chef skillfully operated, and a large piece of egg basket was quickly placed on the side, and the tall man's eyes flickered, and he frequently bowed his head while looking at it, with a look of amazement.

The old master frowned slightly, a little hesitant in his heart, remembering the scene that made him feel ridiculous and unbelievable when this man first came here: it was a few days before the Chinese New Year, and this person suddenly came to Sheng Xiangju, did not drink feasts, did not eat, and directly broke into the kitchen, and came to learn to cook. If it weren't for the extraordinary popularity of this person, like the background of a good family, the old master would simply think that he was a delusional madman who came to make trouble unreasonably. At the beginning, the old master was naturally polite and politely declined, but he didn't expect this person to change hands, and then took out more than 100 gold, only said that it was a reward for him to learn the craft, and then the old master could not agree, and finally arranged for this person to be an apprentice in the kitchen, of course, nominally an apprentice, but he did not have to do the rough work of carrying the burden and picking, nor did he have to start to wash and peel the fine work, that is, let him watch and learn by himself. The old master was reasonable, but he was afraid that the son of a famous family would have quirks, so he would act recklessly, and how could he really call him a person? Looking back, it was really a big family who found him, and he couldn't afford it.

The cook on the side had already packed up a plate of egg bills, poured fragrant soup, and handed it to the maid who picked up the vegetables, and the tall man finally couldn't help but say, "Hey, why don't you try my homemade wolf peach juice, the taste must be extraordinary." ”

Several cooks glanced at him, knowing that he had a background, and did not dare to respond, but they did not pay attention to it. The tall man took out a leather bag from behind him with great interest, and was about to pour it on the other egg baskets as he talked to himself.

If it was in the past, it would be fine, but today...... The old master saw his behavior, thought about it, and decided that he should say a few words to him.

"Mr. Zhu, there are distinguished guests in the old family today, and I can't be lazy, Mr. This red soup is not savory, so I don't dare to use it rashly. "The old master tried to be as polite as possible.

The tall man's slender eyes lit up: "Hey, it's for the distinguished guests to taste it, my wolf peach juice is the only one in the world, not to see these days of Dongweng's kindness, I am still reluctant to take it out." As he spoke, a plate of egg bills was poured with red and bright soup by him, which was so beautiful that he raised the plate and sent it to the old master: "Don't believe it?

The old master looked suspicious for a long time, but he just picked up one and put it in his mouth, and suddenly his eyes widened, and several old cooks were worried, and hurriedly grabbed to help.

"Ha ......" the old master pushed away the hand he was supporting, and breathed a long sigh of relief, and his tone was surprised and happy: "Sour and sweet, refreshing and fragrant, but it is a strange taste that the old man has never tasted, this is ...... This ......"

The tall man was full of smiles and smugness: "I'll just say, it's not an exaggeration to say that this fresh juice is a rare treasure, thank you." ”

"I don't know what kind of juice this is, and how ......?" said the old master, when a servant hurried in.

"Here they came, and the lord's house and the distinguished guests came, all of them were chariots and horses, and the rumbling sound could be heard from the distance of the land. ”

The old master's face was pale, and he didn't care about talking to the tall man anymore, so he couldn't help but straighten his clothes, and urged one after another: "Hurry up, meet me in front of the door." He turned his head again and said, "Remember, within half an hour, the Xia Pavilion table will be arranged." ”

The old master and the servant hurriedly turned around and walked away, and the atmosphere of everyone in the kitchen became more tense, but the tall man still leisurely leaned in front of the old cook who made the egg bill: "Uncle, what kind of oil is this?"

※※※

Wang Boyu stepped on the back of the riding slave, and when he got off the car, he was still a little unsteady on his feet, he regained his fur brocade clothes today, but yesterday he was overindulgent, his face was still very pale, and the servant hurriedly helped him to stand, and he pretended to carry his hands deeply, and looked around Sheng Xiangju first, and the corners of his mouth showed a disapproving smile.

"Although there are four o'clock, don't have business interests, but it is vain and elegant, and it does not have frank roots. However, after all, it is a restaurant and wine store, and it is not easy to have this scene. ”

Yin Juan followed from the back and said quietly: "Bo Yu Gong is the head of the world's famous people, these vassal and elegant style naturally disdain, it is rare that the dishes here are a little vain, if Bo Yu Gong does not dislike the mountains and wilderness, he will use it, and it is always a change of flavor." ”

"If you invite you, it will be excellent. Wang Boyu nodded lightly, Yin Juan took a step forward, and stretched out his hand to the dignitaries who had just stepped out of the car and drove in a solemn manner: "Princess, please." ”

Wang Gon has been napping in the car all the way, I don't know if Shi San's effect has not passed, his head is still trembling, he is rubbing his eyes and yawning, but he found that there are many cars parked next to Sheng Xiangju, and several big men in blue and gray clothes are standing next to the carriage and horses, watching their arrival with vigilant eyes, but after seeing Wang Gon's direct eyes, these big men carefully lowered their eyes.

"The villain knocks on Lord Yin, knocks on the adults......" The old master had already led the servants out of the door, and knelt down from a distance, extremely deferential.

It's just that these dignitaries and nobles have always been arrogant, Wang Boyu didn't even see it, he didn't even nod his head, his eyes were level, and he walked past the old master who had just knelt down, and the old master hurriedly and struggled to get up: "The villain leads the way." ”

Yin Juan smiled and waved his hand: "It's okay, I'll take you all here, it's Xia Ge, right? ”

"Yes, yes, the villain has been arranged. Although Yin Juan said that he was the one who led the guests in, the old master still grabbed the head, and the servants behind him ran Zhang Luo, and he laughed while extending forward.

The dignitaries walked in as if no one was around, and the laughter and laughter in the autumn pavilion not far away came, mixed with the laughter of a woman's silver bell.

Yin Juan also noticed the carriage and horses and the big man outside the Shicai Gate, and only waited for Wang Boyu and his party to sit down in the bamboo pavilion of the Xia Pavilion before quietly asking the old master: "Lu Weng, who is the guest of this waiter?"

"Oh, it's a big family in the middle of the corner, a group of dozens of people, sitting in the Qiu Pavilion, I heard that it is the adults of the Dong family. ”

Yin Juan glanced in the direction of Qiu Pavilion, and secretly thought to himself, is it the loose cavalry attendant Dong Shao Dong Bofang and his family? He has always had a discord with Nahuan Da Sima, and he has also had a close relationship with his father, but since he returned to his hometown, he has cut off contact with the Yin family in order to avoid suspicion, and he didn't expect to bump into him here today, but this is a coincidence, and he will go to see him later.

※※※

The atmosphere in the autumn pavilion is very lively, Dong Shao, Mrs. Lu, as well as Dong Hu and Dong Yao are all present, this is after the reunion year of the Dong family, Dong Shao invited a feast for Teng Xiang, the governor of the tomb, Teng Xiang has been in Dong Zhuang for a long time, and is about to say goodbye and return to Beijing, so this feast is also a farewell banquet arranged by Dong Shao. However, taking this opportunity, the family went out together, not only to travel in the spring, but also to celebrate the New Year, and also to enjoy it.

After months of getting along, several girls have already played together, Feng Yingxiu, Cao Xiaopei's Xi case and Dong Yao Chijing are next to each other, the girl's family seems to have endless words, chattering and laughing from time to time, even their pets are extremely speculative, Xiao Mi lazily lying under the case gnawing bones, squirrel rice grains naughtily jumping around on it, suddenly, snatching up the nuts on the ground, the gray rabbit beautiful nose one by one, even learn Xiao Mi to bite the leftover meat scraps.

Dong Hu's eyes couldn't stop wandering on Xiao Pei, and he wanted to intervene in the warm conversation of the girls several times, but he was always driven out by Dong Yao half-jokingly and half-seriously.

Teng Xiang and Dong Shao are staggered, he now has the confidence, can get the funding and protection of the Dong family in Jingling, he has the capital to show his strength in the court, this trip back, immediately prepare to implement the expansion measures of the Lingwei, with this farewell banquet, he also has to finalize the details that need to be paid attention to, the laughter of the girls well covered the sound of the conversation between him and Dong Shao.

Only Ji Yao was in a trance, because he was Dong Yao's junior brother, his identity as a subordinate son was able to sit side by side with the Dong family, this honor did not even have his parents, but the qualification of Dong Zhuang's supervisor was gradually transferred from the old housekeeper Zhou Yi to his father Yao San, and it was obviously the other eye of Master Dong for him.

But these did not make him feel any joy, his father, who had always been simple and honest, became a little snobbish and contemptible after his status was promoted, and the loss of people's hearts was inevitably embarrassing.

And this is only one aspect of his distress, and another affair is the reason why he is really depressed now. He has practiced the art of knowing the heavens, he has sensed the sacrifice of several of his senior brothers, in order not to affect the mood of the senior sister, he has been holding back, only when he is alone, he cries bitterly in the bed, he really wants to go back to the Qianjia to see, maybe after this farewell banquet is the most appropriate time.

He glanced at Dong Yao secretly, Dong Yao's face was full of joy, which made him feel more and more heavy, he didn't dare to imagine what kind of scene it would be when Senior Sister heard the bad news, the only thing he was fortunate about was that among the dead he perceived, there was no Senior Brother Chi --- his name as Fifth Uncle Zhang.

In such a mood, their laughter was even more harsh, Ji Yao was not an adult after all, he felt that he was a little out of breath, under the pretext of going to the toilet, he left the noisy banquet, wanting to let the extraordinarily cold wind from the window wash away the haze accumulated in his chest.

The four pavilions are all different, the scenery is different, the autumn pavilion is beautiful, but it will only make the psychology form a greater contrast; the spring pavilion is Qingxin, this is not the place of sorrow; but the ancient style inscription of the winter pavilion may be commensurate with one or two, Ji Yao walked with his heart, but he walked to the window of the winter pavilion.

This place is also full of people, unlike Qiu Pavilion occupied by the Dong family, most of the seats here are individual guests, so the sound of conversation is only noisy and not noisy, Ji Yao is small, standing under the pane and can't see the situation inside, naturally the people inside can't see him, so he squatted on the spot, held his head, and cried fiercely.

The crying was suppressed as much as possible, tears flowed all over his face, even if he gathered less and left more, he still remembered Qianchong's Yin Yin concern very clearly, remembered Xue Yang's grimace at him, remembered Guo Qihuai's teachings, and Xing Yu's deep dimples that were similar to his own when he smiled......

Until he suddenly felt something strange, and when he looked up, he saw half of his head poking out of the pane, and a pair of gray eyes staring at him curiously.