The dancers retreated and did not see Li Shimin and Li Yuan receiving the golden melon seeds as rewards, which made Xiao Han a little disappointed.
But think about it.
Nowadays, the salaries of the officials in the court can hardly be paid. A few days ago, the palace even dismissed three thousand maids and chamberlains at once. There is nothing wrong with sparing some honorable things like rewards.
After the singing and dancing, the next step is the banquet given by the emperor.
With a crisp bell ringing, rows of maids and maids poured in from outside the palace like flowing water and began to arrange tables and meals. The already bustling hall suddenly became even more noisy.
As Xiao Han, who had eaten many royal banquets in the palace, he actually didn't care about the food in the palace at all.
Nowadays, there are so many iron pots for cooking outside, but the imperial chef in this palace still sticks to the three main techniques of "steaming, boiling and roasting" and refuses to improve even if he kills him.
You know, no matter how good the ingredients are, if there is no correct cooking method, it will not be as delicious.
Not to mention that in order to save money, Li Shimin greatly lowered the level of the banquet this time.
A pot of wine, two plates of dried vegetables, and a palm-sized piece of meat from an unknown animal. This was the first meal of the first year of Zhenguan.
After waiting for a long time, Xiao Han didn't see the waiters coming back and forth to serve him food. Xiao Han finally accepted his fate and picked up the chopsticks and plucked the dry vegetables in front of him.
Well, nice and clean!
It's definitely not like He Shen, who does "look confused, eat to understand".
This damn dried vegetable is really dried vegetable! Not only were there no delicacies hidden underneath, there were not even any oily flowers. It seemed that they were just thrown into the water, boiled, and then fished out.
"This meat? Why do you feel like it was half stolen?"
After tossing the vegetables, Xiao Han started to look at his meat again. Three sides were browned and one side was tender red. This was obviously cut in half after it was roasted!
"Okay, you stole the meat from me? Wei Xiaobao doesn't even dare to do that!"
Just when Xiao Han lost his temper and was about to go to this bold meat thief to discuss the ten tortures of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, unexpectedly, Liu Hongji next to him got angry first.
"Damn it, why is half of my wine left? Who dares to steal my wine!"
With a violent slap on the shore, Liu Hongji jumped up and grabbed the little eunuch who came to deliver the wine!
"Tell me, was it stolen by you?!"
Shaking the wine bottle in his hand, Old Liu's fierce look almost scared the little eunuch to the ground.
"Sir, please forgive me, how dare you steal something!"
The frightened little eunuch waved his hands and wanted to step back, but with his little strength, how could he be able to withstand Liu Hongji's iron pliers-like hands?
"Where's the wine?" Liu Hongji grabbed the little eunuch who was about to cry and asked.
"My lord, they are all half-potted, and everyone here is half-potted!" the little eunuch shouted with a cry.
"Fart! Your Majesty is treating a guest and you didn't even fill up the wine?!" Seeing that the little eunuch still dared to quibble, Liu Hongji cursed angrily, threw him to the ground with a strong hand, and then picked him up from Xiao Han's table. hip flask!
"Look at him, why is he... half a pot?"
When Xiao Han got the wine bottle, Liu Hongji finally realized something was wrong!
The weight of this wine seems to be exactly the same as mine!
"Maybe Xiao Han secretly drank this pot just now! Eh?"
Unwilling to give up, Liu Hongji picked up a few more jugs from the table next to him, but it was obvious that these jugs were half filled! There is no full pot!
"You...ahem! It's okay, let's go!"
Realizing that he had indeed made a mistake, Old Liu waved his hand. Of course, Old Liu couldn't say an apology, and even if he could say it, the eunuch couldn't bear it!
"Thank you, sir!"
The little eunuch who was proven innocent wiped away his tears, got up silently from the ground, packed up the scattered things, and was about to leave when a small bead was thrown into Xiao Han's hand.
"It's a reward for you. Take it back and exchange it for something good to make up for it. Don't fall down if someone pushes you."
With a casual glance at the little eunuch, Xiao Han pulled Liu Hongji to sit down again, but before he noticed, Xiao Han brought the meat and plate in front of him.
"Thank you... thank you for the reward!" The little eunuch's face turned red, and he was at a loss for a long time before he remembered to bow deeply to Xiao Han, and then hurriedly retreated.
I was scolded a few times today, and I had to change a bead after a fall. No matter how I look at it, this business is not a loss.
All this happened in a very short time, and there was a lot of chaos surrounded by tables with cloth and vegetables. Not many people really noticed this place. Only Li Shimin on the steps of the court let out a deep sigh.
"Still no money!"
Indeed, it was the beginning of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty.
Years of war have made this country extremely poor. Coupled with Turkic banditry, the total money in the entire treasury may not be as much as Xiao Han's family.
There was no food and no amount of wine, so the atmosphere was naturally a bit dull.
Fortunately, in this hall, Xiao Han is the only one who really wants to eat well.
Like other people, especially those low-level officials, not to mention vegetables and meat, even if Li Shimin went outside to pull out two grasses, they would still be able to swallow them wholeheartedly.
What we eat is noble, who cares what we eat?
In this way, the meal was gone after half an hour.
Along with the flow of people, Xiao Han followed Liu Hongji, who had been cursing for a long time because he had no chance to bring down Yuchi Gong, out of the palace.
"Grandma, you don't care whether you have enough wine or not. You can't eat enough. You don't even see a piece of meat. Isn't this too stingy?"
"Yes, it's too stingy, burp~"
"Huh? What does it smell like? Why does it smell like barbecue?"
"Ahem, are you crazy about meat? Where can I find barbecue... burp~"
"No? It just smells like meat! Xiao Han, tell the truth, is it you..."
Just when Xiao Han was sweating profusely after being stared at by Liu Hongji and didn't know how to deal with it, a sharp voice came at the right time.
"Xiao Hou, Xiao Hou, Your Majesty is looking for you!"
To be honest, Xiao Han had never thought that the eunuch's voice was so beautiful, almost like the sound of a fairy!
"Oh? Your Majesty is looking for me? Then let's go there quickly!"
Turning around suddenly, Xiao Han wanted to kiss the deacon and eunuch on the forehead!
Why didn't you think this damn eunuch was so lovable before?
"etc!"
Just when Xiao Han was about to run away from the butler and eunuch, Liu Hongji, who was full of suspicion, finally spoke up.
"Father-in-law, how many dishes will be served tonight?"
"Have you met General Liu? Are there three dishes in total tonight?" Monk Zhang Er, the deacon and eunuch, was confused when asked by Liu Hongji.
"Oh? What kind of dishes are they?" Liu Hongji squinted his eyes, and there seemed to be electric light surging in the slits of his eyes.
"Two dried vegetables and one piece of barbecue." Although the deacon and eunuch didn't understand why Liu Hongji asked this, he still answered honestly.
"Ahem, I also have three, are you missing one? I must have forgotten to give it to you!" Xiao Han said without blushing and without a beating heart.
"Then why are there four plates on your table?" Liu Hongji stared at Xiao Han and squeezed out these words through his teeth...
