Fierce “Husband”

Before the roast duck was finished, the aroma of the roast lamb began to permeate. Everyone here was familiar with roast lamb, but they were also very unfamiliar with such fragrant roast lamb. Especially the Mountain People Tribe who liked to eat roasted food and the merchants of the Xianlu Kingdom, who were eager to steal some of the seasonings smeared on the meat to take it away and study how to use them.

It would take a while for the lamb to be roasted. With the large fire rack for roasting, the hall was also very warm. Since the roast duck was almost finished, Jiang Kangchen ordered the following dishes that were even more abundant. Basically, all the signature dishes of Yunlong Pavilion were brought out. 

There were also two new dishes that had not yet been launched in Yunlong Pavilion, salt-baked chicken and fried pork chop. When the dishes were ready, Emperor Yongming spoke up. “Today’s cuisine is so good, so how can there not be a good wine to accompany it? I have obtained a jar of good wine to drink with all the ministers and the guests from the two countries.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty…”

Eunuch An came out with a jar of white liquor and Jiang Kangchen scooped it out and distributed the cups. Everyone took a look at how to use such small cups and muttered. Old General Dai was the first to ask, “Your Majesty, how can you use such a small cup? I don’t have enough to drink.”

Only General Dai and Elder Weng dared (could) speak so directly to Emperor Yongming. Emperor Yongming said with a regretful face, “Old General, it’s not that I’m stingy. I’ve only got this one jar of good wine and I am sure it’s even better than the goat’s milk wine that the Old General likes. If I didn’t want to have more fun with all of you, I wouldn’t even take it out.”

When everyone heard that it was even better than the goat’s milk wine, they became even more curious. Just what kind of wine could be better than goat’s milk wine? Marquis Hengyuan squeezed his chopsticks tightly and his expression became even more ugly. If he had studied a certain period of history, he would definitely see this banquet as a ‘Hongmen Banquet.’

One small cup per person, nothing more, nothing less. When the maids placed the small glass of clear wine in front of everyone, they hadn’t drunk it yet, but the smell alone made them almost intoxicated. Emperor Yongming raised his cup and everyone hurriedly raised their cups too. Emperor Yongming said, “May my monarchs and ministers be of the same mind, and our country prosper.”

After drinking, a sound of surprise resounded through the hall.

“This wine!”

“Your Majesty, what kind of wine is this! Why is it so, so… I don’t even know what to say about it.”

“This wine burns in the throat, into the belly, and into hearts. The aftertaste is endless ah…” Speaking of delicious food… Refreshing, this wine is just a thrill. Old General Dai stared at the Emperor with eyes that said, ‘How can the Emperor hide that he had such a fine wine from this old minister?!’

Old Weng looked at the Emperor, then turned his head and looked at Jiang Kangchen again, thinking, ‘It is definitely related to Kangchen!’

Not to mention merchants of the two countries, they had already realized… What was so good about Marquis Hengyuan Mansion? They had already recognized the Emperor and Empress of the Great State of Yan.

Faced with questions from the whole audience, Emperor Yongming cheerfully asked, “How is it? Old General, how is this wine?” Old General Dai tried to stand up and righteously said, “I dare to ask Your Majesty to give me this wine!”

Emperor Yongming’s smile froze. “…”

“Your Majesty, this old minister, also has the courage to fight, huh.” Elder Weng also stood up.

“Your Majesty, your imperial uncle also dares to ask.” King Luo Rong said.

Duke Ning Guogong… “Your Majesty, where can I buy this wine? I will go buy it myself.”

With the ‘boldness’ of these four, the ministers who had enjoyed their meal all asked where they could buy the wine. Emperor Yongming coughed lightly and said, “I only have one jar of this wine and I have already divided it up. Jiang Kangchen, when will you start selling this wine?”

After Emperor Yongming kicked the ball to Jiang Kangchen, many people immediately cheered. After thinking about it, Jiang Kangchen came out and replied with a faint smile. “Old General, Elder Weng, Your Highness, Duke Ning, and all  lords, this wine is clear in color and is called ‘baijiu’. It is brewed from grain.” 

“The law of our dynasty strictly prohibits the brewing of wine from grain, so this wine was brewed by the person who brewed it from his own surplus grain, which was originally to be used for his own needs. But it was bought by this subordinate for the Emperor. As for whether there is still this ‘baijiu’ in the future, it depends on whether the person still has grain left in his home.”

The room was full of regretful voices. As an official of the court, it was natural to not want to violate court orders. Not sure if Duke Ning Guogong didn’t know or really couldn’t see the origin of this wine, or it was on purpose or not but he asked, “Where is the person who brewed this wine? This Duke likes this ‘white wine’ very much and would like to order a jar from him first.”

Emperor Yongming cringed in his heart and Eunuch An raised his hand to cover his mouth, coughed gently, and put his hand down again. Hearing this cough, Jiang Kangchen said, “Duke actually…” He was a little embarrassed, “The brewer is Eunuch An’s nephew.”

“What? Eunuch An’s nephew?” Someone was surprised. The Duke of Ning was also very surprised, was it not brewed by the person who also brewed the goat’s milk wine? Eunuch An immediately said, “I’ve made Duke Ning and all of you laugh.” But he still didn’t say who his nephew was.

Since the matter came to Eunuch An, Duke Ning couldn’t pursue the matter any further and said, “Then this Duke can only hope that this year’s grain harvest will be great, so that Eunuch An’s nephew can have spare grain to make wine.”

Eunuch An said with a smile, “Your Majesty and the Empress are blessed to have a good harvest this year.” When he said that, everyone else was wondering what it meant. Will there really be more of this white wine this year or was Eunuch An just patting himself on the back?

Jiang Kangchen spoke out at the right time. “The lamb is ready.” This palace banquet could be said to be the most satisfying meal in the life of those present. If there is any pity, it was that there was too little wine, only one glass!

There were two people who made the most of this palace banquet. One person was Jiang Kangchen, who hosted the palace banquet and the other was the brewer of the wine, the nephew of Eunuch An.

Almost all the food for the palace banquet was eaten, and the remaining roast lamb was taken away by King Luo Rong for the reason… ‘To bring back to the princess who could not come to taste it.’ King Luo Rong also asked for two more roast ducks and stressed that they should not forget to make soup for him, but it was still ‘To bring back it to the princess who could not come to taste it.’

Emperor Yongming, who was equally satisfied after eating, invited several important officials to have some entertainment… playing mahjong. Following Shao Yunan’s suggestion, Jiang Kangchen decided to set up a mahjong table upstairs in the soon-to-be-opened hotpot restaurant.