Volume 16 Chapter 5 Optimus Pillar (6)

On the second day, it was the thirteenth day of the first month. It was the birthday of the Great Khan of Battle, and the various changes that happened in the previous two days had been pressed down by the Hurong and the two clans, as if nothing had happened. Although Yang Ning infiltrated the royal court and came and went several times, Tar Khan also felt disgraced, but only a few people knew about this matter, and among them, only Kangdali was the only one who suffered, but most of the Rong people from Olgrad down were injured. However, although Kangdali is almost bright, and the description is embarrassed, but his face is full of joy, no resentment, since there is no damage to his own family, and He Louqi has ordered him in person, so Batyl Khan gladly accepted the order, willing to be like a glutton, and resolutely did not admit that there had been such many accidents, that is, last night's martial law, and only said that this "Naadam" conference ceremony was unprecedented. The warriors of all departments should recuperate and strive to be the first. Since the three of them, Helou Guoshi, Batel Great Khan, and His Royal Highness Olgrad, naturally pretended to be deaf and dumb, and the warriors of all tribes were gearing up to compete in the finals of the Naadam Conference.

If there is anything strange, it is that Condali suddenly took a whip and drove a group of servants and slaves to the Egen River to break the ice and fish, and after a busy morning, he only caught more than 100 fresh fish, but those servants, one by one, were frozen half to death, and their bodies were covered with frost, and in the end, it was his wife, the county lord, who couldn't see it, and called him back personally, and these servants escaped the bad luck of being frozen to death, but if they really ended up like this, Condali would probably be punished for disturbing the birthday banquet of the Great Khan and the wedding of Princess Wuyunqige. Although the icebreaker fishing only ended up with a tiger tail, but the fresh fish caught can not be wasted, more than 100 fresh fish or stewed, or braised red, and the largest and fattest fresh fish was wrapped in a red cloth, held in a gold plate and sent to the main account.

In the main tent, the Great Khan of Battle is both the master and the birthday star, so he naturally sits in the center, and Olgrad is the prince of the Rong people and a coquette, so he sits first on the left. The right head is the Zuo Xian King of the Hu Department, the brother of the Great Khan of Battle, Gudulu, and the rest of the people, according to their status, the left and right geese walk, sitting in turn, but in addition, there is a very unique seat, although it is also on the left, but it is almost the same as the seat of the Great Khan of Battle, but the furnishings are not as splendid and luxurious as the master, but a black and brown bearskin mattress is spread on the Hu bed, which is the seat of He Louqi, unique, not in the same column as everyone else.

When the gold plate was presented, Battle Khan saw the fresh fish still wrapped in a thin layer of ice, and the mouth of the fish was still open, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and summoned the cook, who was a short man, who grew up in the desert. The hands are white and slender, he first bowed deeply to the top, and then put the fresh fish more than two feet long on a few cases, the left hand pressed, the right hand flipped, the palm of the hand slipped out of a dagger as thin as the wings of a cicada, lightly knifed, on the fish skin from the head to the tail fin to draw a thin white line, and then with tongs to tear off the whole piece of fish skin, from beginning to end, no blood splashed, just a faint flush on the snow-white fish meat, and then the cook took advantage of the thin ice to melt, with a dagger to cut the fresh fish into large and thin fillets, layer by layer in the gold plate, and then with the gold plate to the audience one by one to show their craftsmanship。 The Great Khan of Battle was so pleased that he instructed his cook to divide the frozen fish fillet into four portions, one for himself, one for He Louqi to enjoy, and the other two for Zoxian King Gudulu and Olgrad.

Although He Louqi came to attend the birthday banquet of Battle Khan in person, he was not dressed in a splendid costume, and he was just wearing a simple black robe, but the fabric of this robe was special, non-silk and linen, smooth and soft, and there seemed to be a faint flow of golden light between the textures, lining He Louqi's handsome face with a clear outline, and a lazy expression. But people can't help but have the idea of bowing and worshipping autonomously.

Looking at the frozen fish fillet brought by the waiter, He Louqi also showed a little smile, picked up the silver knife placed on the gold plate, gently picked it up, and had already picked up a piece of frozen fish that was almost transparent, and gently dipped the mixed condiments in the golden bowl that was served later, and then put the fish fillet in his mouth, his eyes were slightly closed, as if he was savoring the taste of the frozen fish fillet, and only said lightly after a while: "Reward!"

Before the words fell, a brown-haired and blue-eyed maid standing behind He Louqi stepped forward and said, "No!"

The cook looked relieved when he heard this, but he didn't dare to take the reward from the handmaid, and held the prepared red lacquer plate high, the beautiful maid was Lan Jun, she had already become a habit to reward on behalf of the master, and took out two gold leaves from the leather bag around her waist and put them on the lacquer plate, the cook retreated gratefully, but he knew that the national teacher of He Lou was the most honorable guest in the tent, as long as he was satisfied with his craft, then there would never be anyone to find faults, sure enough, the Great Khan of Battle, the King of Zuoxian, Gudulu, and His Royal Highness Olgrad all had rewards. The guest and the host were happy, and the cook retreated with joy.

Although He Louqi appreciated the cook, his own family was not good at appetite after all, and only tasted a few pieces, but the other Hu maid behind him was already bright-eyed and salivating, although this maid was wearing a Hu suit, but her appearance was beautiful and her temperament was pure, not as rough as Hu Rong's eyebrows. If it weren't for the fact that she lowered her head from time to time, she was afraid that she would have seen something strange to the Hu Rong nobles in the tent, and this maid was Qingping in disguise.

Qingping appeared in the main tent, which seemed a little strange, but in fact, Yang Ning, Pingyan has already complied with He Louqi's instructions, both of them went to retreat, although He Louqi's dome is comfortable, and there is a piano flute pen and ink to pass the time, but Qingping's temperament is not as demure as Lu Qi, let her be stuffy in the tent alone, I really feel out of breath, listen to Lan Jun said, today is the birthday of Hu Da Khan, not only feast singing and dancing, but also the final of the Naadam Conference, so I moved my mind and begged He Lou Qi to allow her to follow to see the excitement.

He Louqi is naturally indispensable, but it is too conspicuous to wear Han costumes, Qingping Yuan does not feel that there is anything wrong with wearing Hufu once in a while, so he borrowed a shirt from Lan Jun, it just so happens that Lan Jun is petite among Hu women, although he is still slightly taller than Qingping, he just needs to tie his clothes tighter, but he barely fits, although her appearance is very different from that of Hu Rong women, but what kind of identity He Louqi is, as long as it is not in front of everyone's eyes, even if someone sees the difference, they will know it.

Qingping begged He Louqi to take her to the banquet, although she just didn't want to be depressed, but she was surprised along the way, it was almost dusk when she entered the royal court yesterday, and she was tired, so she didn't pay attention, today in broad daylight, I saw that the king tent of the Hu Great Khan was high on a dam halfway up the mountainside of the eastern foot of Dujin Mountain. At the same time, the center of the dam is slightly higher, the ditch is dug deep all around, surrounded by a antler fence, surrounds the big tent in the middle, the felt tent is densely covered all around, it stretches for several miles, the horns are connected, the bearing is strict, it is not inferior to the camp of the Central Plains, the king tent is not inferior to the Central Plains camp, except for the back of the mountain cliff, there are exits on the left and right sides of the front, between the virtual and the real, the exit can be blocked at any time, and the troops can also be sent out to fight at any time, it can really be called both offensive and defensive.

Qingping silently calculated, but this king tent can accommodate more than 10,000 elite soldiers, if the foreign enemy to attack, the king tent elite soldiers occupy the geographical advantage, if there is a water source in the king's tent, ten days and a half months do not want to break through, and Yu Dujin Mountain is surrounded by fertile pastures, can be allowed to graze in the vicinity must be subordinate to the royal court's cronies tribe, if you see the royal court burning wolf smoke will join forces to help, when the time comes, the inside and outside should be combined, only afraid that the whole army will be wiped out is the enemy who is not self-sufficient.

Qingping looked all the way, and felt that the strength of the Hu people was really strong, and after entering the main tent, she was even more surprised, she lived in the golden-domed vault of He Louqi last night, and she already felt gorgeous and spacious, but the cowhide tent standing in the center of the royal court was even better. The tents on the grassland are mostly felt tents, that is, they are woven with wool, that is, although the dome of He Louqi is also made of cowhide, it can only accommodate more than 100 people, and it must be squeezed, but this cowhide tent is very spacious, Qingping is roughly counted, the Hu Rong nobles who drink the banquet on the left and right, the attendants who serve the banquet, the slaves and maids, or stand or stand are nearly 300 people, even so, the tent is still wide and wide, and it does not seem crowded at all, it is the golden palace where the emperor of the Han family held a great court meeting, and it may not be so broad and far-reaching. Such a large cowhide tent is only afraid to be made of tens of thousands of finely tanned cowhides, and the four walls of the big tent are Persian tapestries, and the ground is covered with tiger and wolf fur.

However, seeing that the big tent of Hu Da Khan was so luxurious, Qingping was slightly relieved, as the saying goes, born in sorrow, died in peace, even if the strength of the Hu Rong and the two clans is strong, if the upper class people are already accustomed to a luxurious life, they are not tired of eating, and they are not tired of being fine, even if the ambition to capture the Central Plains is strong, it is difficult to be concentric, but there is no need to worry too much, as long as the Central Plains heroes do not fight together, the odds of winning are still five or six percent.

Now that she has let go of her biggest concern, Qingping naturally focuses on food singing and dancing, and this frozen fish fillet, which was even appreciated by He Louqi, has become Qingping's goal, and her eyes have turned a few times, Qingping has already figured out a way, and deliberately whispered: "Sister Lanjun, have you ever tasted the dish that the national teacher likes?"

Lan Jun glanced at a few cases, and replied with a smile: "It's frozen fish fillet, you have to take advantage of the thin ice to melt and eat, if there is no knife of Ku Ding, there is fresh fish caught in the glacier, and it can't be eaten, I followed the national teacher, and I have eaten a few times on the shore of the North Sea, but look at the knife work of this cook, but it is second to none, no wonder the national teacher wants to reward him!"

Qingping said deliberately: "In fact, we have had this dish for a long time in the Han people, called fish belly, and there is a sentence in the "Book of Songs" that "drink the royal friends, boiled turtle and carp", and the "Book of Rites" also says "Soup, spring onions, autumn mustard", Cao Zijian's "Mingdu Fu" also has I have tasted several different practices in Jiangnan, but unfortunately there are many winds and rains in Jiangnan, and there is little ice and snow, but I have never seen the practice of frozen fish fillets, and I don't know what the flavor is.

Although Lan Jun is a Hu girl, she grew up in Qingtian Palace since she was a child, practicing literature and martial arts, and compared with ordinary Hu Rong women, her temperament is quite different, but He Louqi did not intend to teach, and because the customs of the Rong people are different from those of the Han people, they just read a few more books than others. However, Qingping's words were not originally said to her, He Louqi was so powerful that he naturally heard their conversation clearly, and said with a smile: "Little girl, since you are greedy, this seat will give you the rest, if you don't eat cleanly, this seat will punish you!"

He Louqi is so simple, but it makes Qingping hesitate, she has a lively temperament, if there is anything new, she likes to try it, and she did eat a few dishes of fish when she was in Jiangnan, and the methods are different, but Jiangnan cuisine is naturally excellence, and the ingredients have their own secret recipes, and the flavor is unique, who knows what the frozen fish fillets made by these Hu people and the condiments that can't be distinguished, what does it taste like, if the fishy smell is too heavy, her current body is only afraid that she can't bear it.

Although He Louqi didn't look back, he seemed to be able to see Qingping's expression, and sneered: "Is the little girl afraid, it's no wonder, you taste the fish in Jiangnan, I'm afraid that it has been cut and cut before it is served, you men in the Central Plains still want to 'gentleman far away cooking', and don't dare to see blood, not to mention the lady and lady of Jin Zunyu, today you saw the live fresh fish being cut into pieces, I'm afraid you don't dare to eat, right?"

Although Qingping is smart and clever, but the temperament is strong, hearing this, knowing that He Lou is using the method of agitation, but still can't help but rush forward, Hu people do not use chopsticks at the banquet, only use knives and fingers, the table knife He Louqi has already used, Qingping naturally refuses to use it again, the slender jade finger picked up a piece of frozen fish, dipped in the condiment and handed it to the mouth, was already ready to endure hardships, but this frozen fish fillet melted in the mouth, both fresh and cold, there was no fishy smell at all, looking at the remaining nearly half of the frozen fish fillet, Qingping couldn't help but smile.

He Louqi was happy to see her, but he was also happy, and ordered: "Lan Jun, don't let this girl rob it all, you can also share half of it." ”

Lan Jun was as careful as a hair, and when he saw many people peeking at each other, he knew He Louqi's intentions, so he also smiled and stepped forward, and Qingping competed for it, this frozen fish fillet was originally only a dozen or twenty pieces, so that soon the golden plate had bottomed out, but everyone else only thought that He Louqi gave the frozen fish fillet to his beloved maid, and after a few glances, he stopped looking over, and they laughed and argued.

Qingping hurriedly learned a few words of Hu and Rong from Lan Jun before she came, but where could she understand the noise of these many people, but she vaguely heard several people shouting "Olgrad", and the annoying Rong prince looked forward to Xiongfei on the seat, and peeked at himself from time to time, so he couldn't help but ask Lan Jun, Lan Jun said in his heart This is not a secret, so he explained: "They are saying that they will have horse racing and archery in a while, and there will be wrestling tomorrow, and I don't know if His Royal Highness Olgrad can win three yuan in a row and win the beauty." ”

Qingping was dumbfounded when she heard this, and only after a while did she say: "Isn't your Royal Highness Olgrad going to marry the princess of the Hu people, do you have to go through any competition?"