In the middle of the capital, there is the main hall of the royal palace.
This small house is as tall as one person. Song You only had to bend down to enter, but he didn't have to lower his head when he was inside. The length and width were half the size of an ordinary villager's house in Dayan. It was cold at night on the island, so a bonfire was lit in the middle of the palace hall for both warmth and lighting.
At this time, Song You was sitting cross-legged against the wall on the left side of the door. There was a banana leaf in front of him, with two small fish less than two fingers wide and exactly the same size neatly placed on it, two shrunken bamboo shrimps, and a The mice with their skins and heads and tails removed and nine thin pieces of grass, fish and shrimps were all cooked, while the mice were raw. The grass was as long as a finger, like the ones Sanhua Empress often nibbled on the roadside. kind.
The meat and vegetables are matched and arranged neatly.
Outside the banana leaf is a conch, filled with turbid water.
Sanhua Empress was sitting next to him, and she also had a banana leaf in front of her. Except for one fish and shrimp, she had basically the same food as him.
In addition, there were several cats squatting on both sides, sitting very neatly. They must be the civil and military ministers of the Li Kingdom. They all squatted upright and looked not slack at all, but they all looked at them quietly from the corner of their eyes.
There are also banana leaves in front of these cats. The sizes and shapes of the banana leaves are almost the same, and the food on them is the same as that of the Three Flower Empress. The fish and shrimp are all of the same size, and they are arranged carefully, showing the elegance, formality and rules of the Li Kingdom's palace banquet. It's also very strict.
"It's really unusual for a distinguished guest to arrive today. All civil and military officials, please don't be polite. Just enjoy the water and vegetables."
"Thank you, Lord."
After the cats thanked them, they started to eat.
"Thank you for your warm hospitality, Your Majesty." Song You also handed over to the tortoiseshell cat.
"Mr. Song, feel free to enjoy it! I know that people have much larger appetites than cats, so I have specially prepared some more for Mr. Song. If it is not enough, please ask. My imperial dining room is always on standby for distinguished guests!" The tortoiseshell cat maintains a considerable dominance. Feng Feng did not eat lightly. Instead, he lowered his head to lick the water first, then raised his head and said, "Miss Sanhua, please feel free to enjoy it, there will be good food later!"
"Thank you, Lord~"
"To be honest, I have been drifting on the sea recently. The waves are swaying, and my appetite is really bad." Song You said to the king.
"Well?"
The cat turned to look at him doubtfully.
"Hahaha……"
When the tortoiseshell cat heard this, he raised his head and laughed a few times. His voice was like that of the Three Flower Empress. Because the voice and color were different from human beings, it was naturally difficult to distinguish between men and women, but some were more female. He said cheerfully: "Then it seems that Mr. In this regard, we are somewhat similar to me. When I was young, I could still go to the sea to fish and fight, but now that I am older, I can no longer do it. If I wander at sea for half a day, I will have to vomit non-stop. If I don't come back three or five times later, I have no appetite for days. Every time I want to vomit hairballs, I will go to the sea for two days..."
Hearing this, all the civil and military officials burst into laughter.
Song You and Empress Sanhua looked at each other, and when they saw her confused look, they also smiled.
Empress Sanhua was even more at a loss.
"The king is very funny."
Song You praised them and looked at them at the same time.
Those who are qualified to attend the palace banquet at this time are naturally of extraordinary status. These cats can speak and have attained the Tao, but they have no Tao practice. It seems that they are not cultivated by themselves.
It should be due to the mysterious aura of this place.
"It turns out that my ancestors from the Li Kingdom came from the Heavenly Kingdom and had no intention of living on the sea. They were from the same hometown as Mr. Song and Sanhua Empress. I have always admired the culture of the Heavenly Kingdom." The king turned to look at Song You as he spoke. Staring, "I heard that the land of the Heavenly Kingdom is vast and boundless, almost dozens or hundreds of times larger than our land, but is it true?"
Hearing this, many civil and military officials were staring at Song You.
There was curiosity and disbelief in his eyes.
"The Great Banquet Country is indeed very big and vast." Song You answered truthfully, but did not answer carefully.
"Meow……"
The cats looked at each other, surprised.
How big of a world is that?
Empress Sanhua was even more confused. She turned her head again, her eyes were round and her pupils were round, her mouth was slightly open, and she stared at Song You.
"Sanhua Empress, please eat quickly. It's what you like to eat. Don't stare at me like this." Song You naturally has no contempt for the Li Kingdom. He just finds it interesting and wonderful, but Sanhua Empress The looks often made him want to laugh, which was very rude, so he quickly turned his head to the other side and asked the tortoiseshell cat, "This place is quite far away from Dayan. The cats in the mainland of Dayan Although I know how to swim, most of the time I don’t like water. The sea is so vast. I wonder how the ancestors of the Li Kingdom came here?”
"It is said that there is another country overseas that loves cats as much as life. So my ancestors went to sea with the people of the Celestial Dynasty to visit that country. As a result, the sea was too stormy and they unfortunately became homeless."
"I see."
Song You nodded.
Most of them were brought out of the country by merchants or official missions of a certain dynasty at that time to sell or give them to foreigners.
Then the chat continued.
Song You learned that more than ten years ago, a Dayan people's boat unfortunately drifted here, and they were treated well by the Li country and then sent away. When they left, they prepared quite a lot of supplies for them in return for those Dayan people. Then he built this palace for them and taught the monkeys in the Monkey Kingdom how to make fire. Today, the fire in the Li Country was traded from the Monkey Kingdom.
Gradually, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were enjoying themselves.
In particular, General Huang Zhuang, who had just returned from the sandbank border, ate the most delicious food, adding cup after cup of the turbid water in the conch.
Even Sanhua Empress was very satisfied with her meal.
Only the food in front of Song You didn't move much.
He had no choice but to look at Empress Sanhua for help.
However, since he had just asked Sanhua Empress not to stare at him, Sanhua Empress concentrated on her meal, and it took her a long time to notice his gaze.
"?"
Empress Sanhua was stunned again and stared at him.
Fortunately, she understood quickly.
So he crawled over from the side with his head shaking, picked up the raw mouse on the banana leaf in front of him, and then crawled back to his original position.
At this time, Sanhua Empress was like a god descending to earth.
As for the roasted fish and shrimp, Song You tasted some, but they were cooked. Although there was not much fishy smell, there was no salty taste either-thinking that the citizens of the Li Country could not transform and had no hands, no matter whether these supplies were transported or Cooking was all done with the mouth, so Song You felt that these two bites were enough. After all, he had lost his appetite after living at sea for so many days.
After that, three more dishes were served in succession.
A sea fish eye is considered a delicacy, a jellyfish, and a fish roe are more like snacks after a meal. They are all packed in shells and tied with rope. A special cat brings the rope with the rope in its mouth. Along the way, unexpectedly It doesn't dangle at all, and there is a cat beside me to help remove it and pull the rope back, and the movements are flexible.
In addition to fish eyes, Song You also tasted a little bit of jellyfish and fish roe.
The jellyfish has no salty taste and is not suitable for salad dressing.
The roe is also completely raw.
Suddenly a minister's voice came from the front:
"Sanhua Empress is unparalleled in beauty and incomparable aura. She is extraordinary at first sight. I heard from the captain sent by General Huang to report that Sanhua Empress was once the cat goddess and had magical powers. Oh, I am not doubting it, but I have absolutely no idea. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to Sanhua Empress, but we are all curious about magical powers. I wonder if Sanhua Empress can perform something on the spot to satisfy our curiosity?"
When Mao'er heard this, he immediately turned his head and looked at Song You.
"It's all up to Empress Sanhua to decide."
Song You smiled and said to Empress Sanhua.
"OK!"
Sanhua Empress stood up immediately.
Sanhua Empress almost unified the aesthetics of humans and cats. When she stood up, she not only attracted Song You's attention, but also made all the cats present stunned. It's just that in addition to her beauty, Sanhua Empress has a unique temperament. She is an otherworldly person who was once the god of cats. Every part of her body is perfect and sacred, so this group of cats can't help but feel ashamed. Dare to look more.
"It's too small here!"
Sanhua Empress said seriously and walked out.
All the civil and military officials in the court looked at each other. First the king stood up, then the prime minister followed, and then almost all the cats followed him out.
Only Song You and General Huang are left.
Song You felt that the door of the palace hall was too small and it was inconvenient for him to get in and out, so he leaned over and looked out through the door. General Huang's belly was so round that he could no longer walk. Anyway, he was sitting at the edge of the door. At this time, he was slumped, and he could see the scene outside when he poked his head out.
Then I heard an explosion——
"boom!"
A huge flame exploded in the air, lighting up the night sky.
Thanks to the flames being spitted into the sky, if it had fallen to the ground, it would probably have covered the entire palace, several courtyards and more than a dozen main halls and small halls, and also illuminated the entire capital of the Li Kingdom as brightly as day.
In an instant, countless cats were frightened.
The cats were jumping up and running away, but not just these civil and military ministers, the whole country was meowing.
"besides--"
Empress Sanhua returned to her human form, got back into the palace hall, took out her little flag from the robe beside the Taoist priest, waved her hand, and released a puff of black smoke.
The black smoke fell to the ground and turned into a tiger.
"Roar……"
It was a beautiful giant tiger that had become a spirit.
The palace hall can accommodate dozens or hundreds of cats, but there is a feeling that it cannot fit in it. It is as if it is just a palm, bigger than ordinary cats, and its huge and strong body is so majestic that almost as soon as it appears, it makes All the cats in the entire imperial city and even the capital were dumbfounded and their livers and gallbladders were split apart.
However, Sanhua Empress was still waving her flag and summoned three fierce tigers in succession. They were of different sizes, but to the cat, they were all giants.
Even the king and the general couldn't help but tremble.
These cats have never seen a tiger.
Haven't even heard of tigers.
I just thought it was a giant cat.
Like the god among cats, the legendary cat general.
"return!"
Sanhua Empress waved the flag, and the tigers all looked at her in confusion, but they all turned into black smoke and returned to the flag.
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty and the people of the capital were still in shock and doubt.
General Huang was so frightened that he hiccupped constantly.
After a long time, the King of Tortoiseshell Kingdom led the civil and military ministers back to the palace and sat down as before. However, both the civil and military ministers and the King of the Kingdom were extremely respectful to Empress Sanhua at this time.
That kind of reverence is like treating a god.
Humans are so powerful that cats don't even have the guts to look directly at Song You. Those civil servants who had previously felt that "the country treated the Taoist with delicacies and generous gifts, but the Taoist did not eat a few bites, which was a bit rude", at this time also began to think that the food culture of Li Kingdom and Dayan were different, so the food did not suit the taste of the Taoist.
"belch……"
General Huang's hiccups continued.
Song You also took the opportunity to ask the king about the Lilliputian Kingdom.
(End of chapter)
