Back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty to be the emperor

Chapter 612 East Palace Banquet (1)

July is approaching, and it is already midsummer. With the long drought and no rain, the sky is getting hotter and hotter. It’s just too late. The temperature is already frighteningly high, even if you hide in a dark place wearing unlined clothes , and it is hard to escape the heat wave, not to mention standing under the scorching sun in neatly dressed court clothes. This kind of pain like being in a furnace is really not so easy to bear. All the ministers standing outside the gate of the East Palace Everyone was sweating through their heavy clothes, as if they had just been fished out of the water, but no one dared to move slightly, not only because Emperor Gaozong was approaching, but also because Prince Li Xian was standing in front of everyone.

It's not a joke to be rude before the emperor, and the ministers and workers didn't dare to make any mistakes in it. They just kept quiet, and the eyes of the people looking at Li Xian were full of complex expressions. There is no other reason, but because the ministers and workers not only knew, but also saw the astonishing scale of the refugee wave on Xiaoju South Street before. The ministers who were close to Empress Wu were of course gloating, but the ministers who were close to Li Xian They couldn't help worrying, but no matter what they thought in their hearts, on such occasions, no one dared to reveal the slightest bit, and could only quietly wait for the arrival of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu.

"His Majesty the Emperor and Empress Dowager have arrived!"

Waiting and waiting, until the time has come, the courtiers looking forward to the autumn water finally waited for the arrival of the imperial car, but in the midst of drums and music, a large group of Habayashi soldiers guarded a golden chrome car full of energy. The car came meandering from Zetianmen, and with Cheng Denggao's shrill and high-pitched shout, the curtain of the car was lifted, Gaozong in a bright yellow single robe and Empress Wu in a purple long skirt were already in front of the young eunuchs. After being served, he bent down and got off the carriage.

"The ministers (ministers, etc.) kowtow to His Majesty the Emperor, and the Empress Dowager."

As soon as Gaozong and Empress Wu showed up, Li Xian and the others who had been waiting for a long time did not dare to neglect them, they rushed to the front according to their ranks, and they could not keep paying respects.

"All my lovers, let's live in peace."

Although the weather was extremely hot, it did not hinder Gaozong's good mood. At this moment, facing the big ceremony of the crowd, Gaozong raised his hand emptyly with a smile on his face, and let out a warm cry.

"Thank you, Your Majesty Long En, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Now that Emperor Gaozong had called out, all the ministers and workers did not dare to be negligent, and thanked in unison according to the usual practice, and stood up and stood on both sides.

"Father, queen mother, and son-in-law have already prepared everything. Please, father emperor, mother queen, and son-in-law come in and take their seats."

After seeing the ceremony, Li Xian didn't dare to expose the frail Gaozong to the sun, so he hurriedly stepped forward, bowed his body and asked for instructions.

"Well, okay, let Xian'er lead the way."

Although Gaozong got off the carriage, two eunuchs propped up the canopy in time to block the scorching sun, but after a short delay at the palace gate, he was already suffocated by the sweltering heat Sweating profusely, he didn't want to stay here any longer, so he agreed with a smile, and accompanied by Li Xian, he went to the deep palace.

"Courtesy concubine greets His Majesty, and empress!"

"Grandpa and Grandmother please greet me, grandson!"

Gao Zong and the others had just arrived in front of Binshan's gate, but they saw Princess Zhao Qiong, Princess Mingyue, and Yanhong each leading a son to greet them, and they could not pay enough respects.

"No, no, righteousness, come, come to Grandpa Huang."

Although the people of Gaozong are weak and cowardly, they attach great importance to family affection, especially love their children and grandchildren, especially Li Chongyi, who looks like a jade carving, is the most favourite. Since February, Gaozong has not rarely announced Li Chongyi as a palace Companion, now that I see Ai Sun, how can I care about the greetings of all the daughters-in-law, and after a perfunctory sentence, he waved to Li Chongyi with a smile on his face.

"Grandpa Emperor."

Although Li Chongyi is only six years old, his mind is quite lively. When he should be calm, he is serious, and when he should be cute, he is very fierce. When Gao Zong just called out, this little guy threw himself into Gao Zong's arms excitedly. Called out coquettishly, not to mention how sweet the little mouth is.

"Hey, Xiao Yi, I haven't been in the palace for two days, do you miss Grandpa Huang?"

Gao Zong was seldom the majesty of an emperor, but now he was holding his grandson in his arms, he was like an old man, and he was in love with the calf, and regardless of the ministers waiting behind him, he laughed and teased Xiao Chongyi.

"Yes, my grandson misses Grandpa Huang every day, but the adopted son has to learn Chinese and martial arts, so he can't accompany Grandpa Huang every day."

Xiao Chongyi drooped in Gaozong's arms, raised his head, and said with regret on his face, the child's voice was clear and sweet, really cute to the extreme.

"That's right, Xiaoyi has already read a lot, so how about listening to Grandpa Huang?"

Gao Zong lovingly scratched Xiao Chongyi's nose, and asked with a smile.

"Grandpa Huihuang, Yi'er has already finished reading "Thousand Characters". The master has said that from next month, he will teach Yi'er "The Analects of Confucius", and then there will be "Spring and Autumn", "University", " "Historical Records" and so on, there are so many, Yier can't count them all."

When it came to grades, Xiao Chongyi immediately showed a proud look on his face, pointing his fingers, and muttering crisply, until Gaozong laughed so hard that he couldn't close his mouth.

"Okay, okay, my little righteous son has grown up and can read, okay, very good, come, let's have a banquet with the emperor's grandfather."

Gaozong was amused by Xiao Chongyi's innocence, he couldn't stop laughing, took Xiao Chongyi's hand lovingly, talked and laughed, and went to the deep palace. When everyone saw this, they didn't dare There was a delay, one after another started to follow, and after a short while, they arrived at Mingde Hall, but saw that several bowls and chopsticks had already been prepared in the hall, but no food was presented. Some were suspicious, but no one dared to ask random questions at this time, they could only take their seats according to their ranks.

"Xian'er, where is the feast you mentioned?"

They were already seated, but it was almost time for the meeting, but no food was brought, and others did not dare to ask questions, but Gaozong couldn't bear it anymore, so he waved his hand and called Li Xian who was standing beside him Come over and ask suspiciously.

"Father, please wait a moment, my son will order the banquet now."

Li Xian replied respectfully, then clapped his hands, and soon he saw a group of court ladies in costumes meandering in from outside the hall with food boxes in their hands, and neatly listed all kinds of dishes one by one in front of everyone. superior.

"Om..."

All the ministers and workers arrived at the East Palace early in the morning, and they had been under the sun for a long time, and their stomachs were already empty. Seeing that the dishes had been served, they were all refreshed, but looking again, Seeing that the dishes were full of dishes, they didn't know any of them, they were all weird looking things, they were puzzled, and they all started discussing indiscriminately, and the whole hall became noisy.

"Xian'er, these are some very strange things. I don't know where they are. Is it possible to enter?"

Not only the officials were at a loss, but Gaozong was also full of doubts. He pointed at the dishes on the table and asked in a daze.

"Returning to the father, these are the good seeds that the boy brought from overseas, and they were all planted by the boy himself. As for the recipes, the recipes are also made by the boy. Everything is delicious, this is groundnuts, this is roasted sweet potatoes, and this is a delicious food. There is this corn bone broth..."

Faced with Gaozong's doubts, Li Xian smiled confidently, pointed to the various dishes on the table, and explained them one by one.

"Oh? That's the case, Xian'er has a heart, but how should this thing be used?"

Hearing Li Xian's so mysterious words, Gaozong really got a little excited. After looking at the food full of food, he picked up a shelled peanut and squeezed it. He felt that it was very hard, but it was Not daring to enter the mouth easily, he asked suspiciously.

"Father, this thing is called peanuts, you have to peel off the shell before you can eat it, and Rong Erchen will demonstrate one or two."

Li Xian explained with a smile, casually picked up a peanut from the few in front of Gaozong, with a little force with his fingers, the shell was broken, and after a little pulling, two saltwater peanuts reached the palm of his hand. Without any more nonsense, I directly stuffed it into my mouth, chewed it a few times, and my mouth was full of fragrance.

"Grandpa Huang, these saltwater peanuts are delicious, Yier peels them for you to eat."

Xiao Chongyi had tasted the taste of peanuts before, so he knew the delicacy of this food. Seeing that Gao Zong was still hesitant, he immediately took a peanut and bit it with his teeth, only to hear " "Gee!", the shell was cracked, Xiao Chongyi peeled it off with his small hands, and took out the two peanut kernels inside, held them in the palm of his hand, and handed them obediently to Gaozong.

"Okay, okay, okay, Grandpa Huang just eat."

Facing the peanut peeled by Aisun, Gao Zong had no doubt about him, took it with a smile, and was about to give it to his mouth.

"Wait a minute, Your Majesty. After all, this food must be tested before it can be eaten. Come and test it!"

Empress Wu didn't like Li Xian, hated the house and Wuxia, so she didn't like Xiao Chongyi very much, she was already dissatisfied when she saw the grandpa and grandson being so happy, now seeing Gaozong listen to Xiao Chong so much The words of righteousness made him even more angry, so he found a reason and abruptly interrupted Gaozong's excitement.

"This... let's test it."

The emperor's banquet already had eunuchs who tasted the food, and every dish had to be tested before it could be eaten. Speaking of it, it was custom-made, but Li Xian had already used it before, so there was no need to do it again. Gao Zong himself didn't think about a procedure, but since Empress Wu had already opened her mouth, Gao Zong couldn't object in public. Unavoidably, there was a hint of guilt.

The matter of food inspection is not complicated, there are only two procedures, one is to probe the food with a silver needle to see if there is any discoloration reaction, this one is very fast, the eunuchs in charge of food inspection are all veterans, and the movements They are very familiar, but after a short time, they have tried all the dishes placed in front of Gaozong, and found no problems. As for the second procedure, it is not difficult, that is, people come to taste, It’s just that it’s fast to eat, but it takes a long time to wait for the reaction. Before the result came out, the crowd waited and had nothing to do except sit, so the atmosphere in the hall was unavoidable. Some children became dull.

(End of this chapter)