The Little Officials of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 81: Yelu's dinner

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Yelu clasped the reins tightly with both hands, and his head became more and more dizzy.

Since entering the border of the Song Kingdom, Yelu has been uncomfortable everywhere, and at this moment, the grievance has reached its peak.

-Why did you send me an ambassador!

At this moment, Yelu Yalu, who was troubled by the unacceptable soil and water, had completely forgotten the incomparable excitement in her heart when she learned that she could travel with the embassy on public expense in the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, the embassy had already arrived at Chen Qiao and had a round with the people who came to receive the reception from Song.

Yelu struggled to see the envoy, the ambassador of the Song State, the reception officials of the Kaifeng government and other reception officials salute and greet each other, opening and closing their mouths and talking endlessly.

"Ah, come down?"

Companion called Yelu curled shoes.

Yelu turned her head and glanced at him, "I, I can't do it anymore..."

Saying that, Yelu crooked his body and fell off his horse.

His last thought before he lost consciousness was: Damn, no one picked me up.

Yelu woke up in the warmth, opened his eyes, and found himself wrapped in fur, with gauze wrapped around his head, next to the medical officer in the mission.

The doctor saw him and blinked, "How are you?"

Yelu sat up and looked around, "Where is this, have we arrived at the inn?"

"No, this is still Chen Qiao, Chen Qiao's long pavilion," the medical officer explained, "because you can't move for the time being, the envoy will take everyone to the post first, leaving me and two guards to take care of you—oh, and Two people from Kaifeng Mansion."

Yelu turned his head and saw a figure sitting at the door. He was very thin. Even in thick clothes, he didn't look bloated. It was completely different from their Liao people.

"Oh..." Yelu scratched his head, "I'm hungry."

Of course hungry, he passed out from morning to afternoon as soon as he fainted.

The medical officer only had dry food. This was the territory of the Song Kingdom. Naturally, what they wanted was to go to the officials of the Song Kingdom. This was also the reason why the people of the Song Kingdom kept the Kaifeng people.

The medical officer walked to the door and used Song dialect to express his needs to the boy.

He needs a little food, and it's for a sick patient, so it's better to be gentle.

"Oh." The young man answered and took out a bamboo cup from his arms. The weather was cold, and there was firewood in the long pavilion for people to keep warm. The young man raised his head and shouted, "Zhan Guard."

A person jumped down from the top of the pavilion, making Yelu jump.

The man took out the lamp and started the fire. Then the young man warmed the food in the bamboo cup, inserted the spoon, and brought it to Yelu.

"Thank you." Yelu Yalu thanked him in an awkward Song dialect. The nobles of Daliao and Liao had basically studied the culture and language of the Song Dynasty since childhood, but he really had no talent for language, and he always failed in this one.

Looking at the bamboo cup again, the light black glutinous rice is dotted with red dates, red beans, peanuts and other things, steaming hot air, mixed with sweet fragrance.

Yelu curled up in surprise, feeling a warmth flowing into her heart, and her eyes became moist.

They have the custom of Daliao, they will cook glutinous rice and eat it on the day of Zhengdan. In Yelu's memory, the bowl of glutinous rice before and after Zhengdan is the sweetest memory of childhood.

It has been almost two months since I came to Song from Daliao. During this period, I fell ill due to unacceptable conditions. Today is December 27th. Yelu is really homesick.

No wonder this bowl of glutinous rice forced his tears, and choked up to the boy: "Thank you, thank you..."

Yun Yanhui looked bewildered, looked back at Zhan Zhao, and said hesitantly, "I've seen diners who cried because they were so delicious. There are many in Kaifeng, but this is the first one who cried without eating."

Zhan Zhao: "… "

Yun Yanhui felt a sense of long-term knowledge. Seeing that the tall and majestic Liao people ate the Eight Treasures Rice while babbling, his face became much better, and he felt a little more relieved.

When this person fainted, the officials in Da Song were a little nervous, afraid of what would happen, so when they kept people, they kept him and Zhan Zhao. People keep too much exaggeration, and if they keep too little, they are afraid that they will do things and will not be enough. The combination of Yun Yanhui and Zhan Zhao, one can meet their normal needs, and the other can hold it.

Yunyan recalled the past and took the bamboo tube, but the Liao people held his hand.

Yunyan replied: "??"

Liao people: "What's your name?"

Yun Yanhui looked at his warm eyes and felt very inexplicable. It was just a bowl of rice with eight treasures, and it didn't save his life. As for being so enthusiastic, "Yun... Yun Yanhui."

"I remember," Yelu Ciaolu said with a sincere face, "I, Yelu Ciaolu."

Yunyan returned slightly drunk: "...Okay."

On the way back, Yun Yan went back and forth to inquire with the medical officer, only to find out that they have such a custom in Daliao, and he was relieved. He was still afraid that this person had no plans. It’s good to have a reason. It turned out to be because of illness. When I was fragile, I ate sticky rice.

Yun Yanhui and Zhan Zhao took them into the post house in Bianjing and handed them over to the people in the post house.

At this time, it was already nightfall, and it was already past dinner time. The imperial feast given by the official family was swept away by more than 100 people in the envoy, leaving only some leftovers. There are no more of these people.

When the envoy who was in charge of receiving the Liaoning embassy saw it, he felt bad and forgot to leave a meal.

Moreover, he has done his homework for anyone with a certain status in the embassy. This person is a painter who is deeply loved by the emperor of the Liao Kingdom. So, don't wait any longer.

This embassy is from Honglu Temple, and I thought about it for a long time. How can I say that when I arrived on the first day, I didn't have the royal banquet. It's very rude. Should I buy it now or ask someone to do it? It doesn't seem rich enough...

The embassy ambassador thought that Duting Xiyi seemed to be entertaining the Xixia embassy who also came to Beijing today, and it was not far away, so he asked people to hurry up to see if there was any food, or to ask their cooks to make some now. He remembered that the chef of the public chef of Kaifeng Mansion was cooking.

Because there is a royal banquet here, there is no chef at all today, only a few apprentices who are responsible for hot dishes and wine.

The people sent by the embassy's embassy really brought back five dishes and a few fruits and wine from Duting Xiyi, plus some fresh fruits left here, it was enough to entertain. The ambassador personally apologized, sniffled, and sat down cheekily, "I'll accompany you for a drink..."

Then I asked someone to add a set of cutlery.

Although the Liao people felt that the ambassadors were inexplicably enthusiastic, and even came to accompany the wine, they were not important figures such as official and deputy ambassadors, but they could not be shameless, so they silently accepted.

These people were all entering the embassy for the first time. They had never eaten the imperial banquet, nor the reception meals of other embassies. After seeing a few dishes on the table, they were also interested in asking what they were.

Although the embassy ambassador was in charge of the Liaoning mission, he had seen the menus of other inns, but he had never tried it, so he forced himself to introduce to them: "This is crispy char siu, which is made from roast pork, sweet and salty. Delicious. There is also Hehuayu Sansi Soup, which is made of Hehuayu from Daxiangguo Temple, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, ham, etc. Hehuayu is raised in the rice fields, and it is born by eating the fallen water and flowers without fishy smell. . If you eat, you need to 'kiss first, then strip', the mouth of this crocodile fish is very sweet..."

I don't know if it was Yelu's delusion, but he always felt that the ambassador was talking, so he took a sip.

"There is also this dish, this dish is amazing... Fresh in Chinese characters means fish and sheep, and this dish is made of fish and mutton, hence the name No. 1 Fresh. Its meat is fresh and tender, without any smell of fishy mutton. In normal weather, the fish and sheep soup is the most suitable for drinking, hehe, come on, let's drink a bowl of soup first and talk while eating."

The embassy ambassador couldn't bear it any longer, so let's talk about a bowl of soup first.

So, everyone filled a bowl of the first fresh soup, ready to wait for the embassy ambassador to continue to explain.

As soon as this soup entered the mouth, several people were amazed. As expected, as the ambassador said, it was fresh! This word is about to be nailed in their minds!

The minced mutton flowed into the mouth along the soup, warm and melted, and after biting it, it was incredibly tender.

The Liao Kingdom usually eats all kinds of meat and rice noodles. They also eat a lot of mutton, but they have never tasted such dishes that are almost as tender as fish and without any mutton smell.

The embassy ambassador also felt relieved in an instant, and said lazily, "There is also this shredded beef with lights, which is said to be popular in Sichuan and Chongqing... Ai, I'll take a bite first."

I don't know why, but the ambassador has changed from introducing to eating with everyone, to eating first.

When you bite into it, there is a hint of sweetness in the spiciness. The thinly torn shredded beef is roasted dry, the red oil is shiny, and it is decorated with sesame seeds. It looks very appetizing, not to mention the taste is so appetizing.

After the ambassador took two bites, he couldn't help taking another gulp of soup.

Several members of the Liao mission were taken aback for a while, and they were also taken aback for a while. It is no wonder that so many people in the country are rushing to come up with an ambassador to Song Guo. It turns out that the food served by Song Guo is so delicious!

Yelu Yalu even thought of the bowl of glutinous rice in the daytime. Although it was all glutinous rice, the taste was much richer than what he had eaten at home.

But the weird thing is, they eat and eat, and there are more people around without knowing it...

Originally, I didn't avoid people, but one or two people who passed by or followed the fragrance in the room all stopped to watch, but it made people a little bit unable to eat.

Yelu swallowed a mouthful of food and couldn't help but say, "Didn't you eat it before?"

Everyone bowed their heads in shame, yes, they had eaten, and they were very full, but, for some unknown reason, seeing the people at this table eating, they were hungry again...

Ah, is this going to leave a bad impression on Song people

However, who made you eat so deliciously, so greedy...

Yelu Yaolu suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis. He looked around, took part of each dish into his bowl, then stood up and said, "I'm not feeling well, I'll go back to my room first."

Yelu, who hurried to the door, looked back and saw that the table was drowned with the voices of "I'll try this" and "Give me something to eat".

Yelu's heart lingered in fear, and she couldn't help but fantasize.

Da Song has always treated different countries differently, and their treatment in Da Liao is generally the best. If even the dinner of the Western Xia embassy is so delicious, what kind of dishes were served at the previous imperial banquet? It's a pity he didn't even eat it!