"I am ashamed and thank you for your grace." Zhu Ping'an bent down and stuck out his butt to thank Emperor Jiajing.
"Shame on you, shame on you... How come I can't see where you're ashamed?" Emperor Jiajing glanced at Zhu Ping'an and scolded him with a smile, "Okay, get up, you're just an eyesore lying there..."
"I thank you for your grace."
Zhu Ping'an thanked him again and then stood up with a look of gratitude on his face.
"Huang Ban, please have someone deliver this boy's clumsy work to Master Tao as quickly as possible, so as not to delay Jianyuan Yue's schedule." Emperor Jiajing turned his head and whispered to Huang Jin.
"I obey your command." Huang Jin nodded in response, walked up to Zhu Ping'an, folded up the couplet that Zhu Ping'an had just written, handed it to a young eunuch, whispered a few words in his ear, and then patted him on the shoulder.
The young eunuch took the couplet, lowered his head, bent over, and backed out of the inner hall.
"Tell me, why did you come from Taicang to see me?" Emperor Jiajing sat on the dragon throne. He waved his sleeves, half of his Taoist robe was draped on the dragon throne, he leaned back, looked at Zhu Ping'an and asked indifferently.
"Your Majesty..." Zhu Pingan answered with his hands clasped. He had just said one word when his stomach started to growl uncontrollably...
Coo coo coo...
There were not many people in the inner hall, especially with Emperor Jiajing sitting there. It was so quiet that one could hear a strand of hair falling on the pillow. Therefore, the sound of Zhu Ping'an's stomach rumbling could be clearly heard in the inner hall.
Coo, coo...
The unique structure of the inner hall makes the sound of your stomach growling echo.
WTF
Zhu Ping'an's face turned green at that time. Why was his stomach not cooperating? He didn't feel that hungry, but why was it growling
Is this a disrespect in front of the king?!
This kind of thing can be a big deal or a small matter. It is not impossible to make a big deal out of it. Although Emperor Jiajing would certainly not do that, Zhu Ping'an also felt extremely embarrassed. His face turned green and he felt very hot.
To Zhu Ping'an, the gurgling sound was embarrassing, but to Huang Jin, it was heavenly music. Emperor Jiajing had not eaten or drunk anything for a day, and Huang Jin was worried about how to get him to eat. Now, when he heard Zhu Ping'an's stomach growling, Huang Jin couldn't help but smile.
To Huang Jin, Zhu Ping'an's stomach growling was like a pillow thrown in the face when he was sleepy - just in time.
"Hehe, Your Majesty, listen to this, the number one scholar's stomach is rebelling. I am afraid that if we don't appease his stomach, the first number one scholar to starve to death in our Ming Dynasty will appear." Huang Jin suggested to Emperor Jiajing with a laugh.
"I have lost my manners..."
Listening to Huang Jin's teasing, Zhu Ping'an looked embarrassed and at this moment he really wanted to hang himself.
"Haha... I can't stand being called a tyrant." Emperor Jiajing smiled and shook his head, then instructed Huang Jin, "Order the meal to be served, and give my hungry beloved minister a seat to eat here. Also, have the imperial kitchen prepare meals for the ministers outside."
soon
The ministers who were waiting in the outer hall heard the eunuch in the inner hall shouting in a pinched voice, "The emperor has ordered the meal to be served," and then the waiting eunuchs continued to shout, "The meal shall be served."
What's going on
How did the meal come about
Why didn't they punish Zhu Ping'an and just served the meal?! Was there a mistake
Yan Maoqing, who was waiting in the outer hall, was stunned when he heard this. He felt as if he saw the sun rising from the west. He was completely confused. This was not at all what he had imagined. He even began to doubt his life.
The dinner in the imperial kitchen had been prepared long ago and was being cooked over a low fire. As soon as the order for meal was given, dozens of young eunuchs in neat and clean clothes lined up in two teams with white sleeves on their sleeves. They walked in from outside, carrying seven dining tables of different sizes and dozens of gilded food boxes and lacquer plates. They came in in an orderly and silent manner, like masters of the imperial palace, without making any sound when they walked.
Dozens of young eunuchs walked into the inner hall in an orderly manner, holding food boxes in their hands, and knelt on the side of the dining table in front of Emperor Jiajing.
Emperor Jiajing had not eaten or drunk anything for the whole day, so Huang Jin had specifically ordered that today's dinner be much more sumptuous than usual, with a total of 66 delicacies from land and sea, 36 hot dishes, 16 cold dishes, and the rest were cakes, snacks, and fruits.
"Serve the meal!" Huang Jin shouted.
The young eunuch in white sleeves opened the food boxes one by one and placed plates of delicacies from land and sea on the dining table.
Portions of delicious and fragrant dishes were served and placed on the table in front of Emperor Jiajing.
There is a silver plate on the dishes and serving plates to prevent the food from being poisonous.
When the young eunuch was serving meal to Emperor Jiajing, Zhu Ping'an was kneeling in front of a table which was empty.
In fact, Zhu Ping'an didn't want to look at first, but the imperial meal smelled too strong and he was really hungry, so when the eunuch served the meal, Zhu Ping'an just looked up a few times.
Spicy live rabbit, live shrimp under ice, stir-fried lamb tripe, goose gizzards, steamed and fried fish with willow branches, winter bamboo shoots and old duck soup, whitebait feet sparrow... ... and many other delicacies that I can't name but look extremely appetizing. It's so dazzling that it's dizzying.
Then I got even hungrier.
Coo coo...
The fragrance went straight into Zhu Ping'an's nostrils, causing his stomach to growl again.
"You are so promising... You don't need to remind me anymore. Go and give him some dishes, so that I won't be branded as a minister who starved to death." Emperor Jiajing glanced at Zhu Ping'an, cursed him with a smile, waved his hand, and asked the eunuch who was serving the meal to Zhu Ping'an.
"Thank you, my Lord, for your grace." Zhu Ping'an bowed in thanks.
Soon, more than a dozen dishes were placed on Zhu Ping'an's table, including eight meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, a soup, a plate of pastries and two plates of fruits.
This is too sumptuous. Didn't His Majesty just say that we should have a few dishes? There are already more than a dozen dishes, right?!
Zhu Ping'an was slightly surprised. When he looked up, he saw Huang Jin, who was serving Emperor Jiajing. He smiled at him kindly, and his admiration was evident in his smile.
"The top scholar is the great hero of today, you must take good care of him." Huang Jin smiled kindly at Zhu Ping'an, then lowered his head and whispered to the young eunuch beside him.
For Zhu Ping'an, who could read lips, Huang Jin's whispers could not be heard more clearly.
After the meal was served, Huang Jin pinched his throat and shouted, "Break the bowl lid."
Then, the eunuchs in white sleeves took off the silver covers from the dishes. Each dish had a eunuch responsible for tasting it to prevent it from being poisoned. After the eunuchs tasted the food for two or three minutes and confirmed that it was fine, Huang Jin went to Emperor Jiajing, bowed and said, "The food is ready. Please enjoy, Your Majesty."
After this, we can finally have our meal.
After Emperor Jiajing sat down, he did not say a word, but glanced at the table. Huang Jin had an excellent eye and quickly and accurately moved the dish that Emperor Jiajing liked in front of him. Emperor Jiajing stretched out his chopsticks, picked it up and took a bite.
Finally I've waited for you...
Zhu Ping'an had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
How could a minister dare to eat without the emperor taking the first bite? The dishes were almost cold when the emperor finally started eating. After the emperor took the first bite, Zhu Ping'an also picked up his chopsticks to eat the food in front of him.
Zhu Ping'an did not talk while eating or sleeping, his movements were gentle, and the cutlery and dishes made no noise, but he did it frequently and efficiently.
Zhu Pingan was so absorbed in the food that he soon finished the pile of bamboo shoots and deer tendons in front of him...
Emperor Jiajing had only taken a few bites when he looked up and saw that the two plates in front of Zhu Ping'an were empty. The hand holding the chopsticks of Emperor Jiajing was stunned for a moment...
Looking at Zhu Pingan again, he was so absorbed in his eating, devouring the food with relish, a little oil dripping from the corners of his mouth. Without even looking at it, he used a handkerchief to accurately wipe off the oil from the corners of his mouth, and with his right hand he seamlessly put a piece of venison into his mouth. It seemed as if one could see the moment when the meat was torn apart by his teeth...
Why did this kid seem to be eating so happily? It seemed as if his appetite had also been stimulated. Emperor Jiajing could not help but also have a good appetite and ate a lot more.
Your Majesty has used one more bowl of rice...
Huang Jin, who was serving on the side, was so happy that he almost cried. My number one scholar, you have really made a great contribution today. He had been serving beside Emperor Jiajing, so he naturally knew what was going on. The look of admiration in his eyes was even stronger when he looked at Zhu Ping'an.
He even thought that he should support Zhu Ping'an more, take care of him more, and say more good things about him in front of the emperor.
From now on, if His Majesty has a poor appetite again, inviting Zhu Ping'an to have a meal will be more effective than any panacea.