After the ceremony, the officials could return home to reunite with their families. The sons of the Imperial Family had to climb the pagoda to worship the heavens. The womenfolk of the Imperial Family went to Ci An Palace.
The Empress Dowager set up a banquet to entertain all the concubines and furen of the Imperial Family.
Because Su Yu was busy with the worship, the banquet was arranged by De Zhaoyi and Shu Zhaoyi. The two of them came from great families. Even if they were not outstanding in the arrangements of the banquet, they did not make any mistakes. The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction and gave a rare praise to the two.
In the Imperial Family of Da An, other than the sons of the Emperor and Qinwang, the rest of the sons belonged to the Imperial Family. The nobility of the Imperial Family was passed down every generation. Even if it was a junwang, after five generations, they would not have any nobility. So the women that could come to the banquet were all close relatives of the Imperial Family.
At this banquet, everyone's eyes were focused on Li Wang's family. Prince Li had recently had a son, and had already announced to the world that he was the eldest son of the Emperor. And the third concubine, whose mother's status depended on her son, had suddenly become the Qinwang Zhengfei. Now she was wearing the Qinwang Feifei title, sitting upright on the right side of the Empress Dowager.
The rank of qinwang fei was comparable to guifei. Now that Su Yu, who had the highest rank in the palace, was not present, Li Wang Zhengfei naturally had to sit at the head.
When the banquet started, the Empress Dowager said a few words and then let everyone eat. There was no need to be restrained. The women of the Imperial Family in Jing were used to the Empress Dowager's kindness and chatted in low voices as they ate.
"Are you used to living in Jing these days?" The Empress Dowager turned and asked Li Wang Fei with a smile.
"Everything is good in Jing, but I miss the child." Li Wang Fei smiled, but the look in her eyes was complicated. Wang Ye had not been home these past few days, so she had not been able to ask about the child. But because she had been given the title of Zhengfei, her days in the wang fu had become very comfortable, which made her feel much happier.
"If you miss the child, you can come to aijia and see him." The Empress Dowager naturally understood Li Wang Fei's feelings. She pointed to a dish in front of her and gave it to her. "Li Wang is filial and will chat with aijia when he is free. You can come often. If there is anything you don't understand, you can tell aijia."
Seeing the dishes brought by Aunt Lin, Princess Li is flattered and stands up to thank the Empress Dowager. She grew up by the South Sea and has never been to the capital. She is a little nervous when she sees the Empress Dowager. Now seeing the Empress Dowager so kind, she is relieved. Thinking that the Empress Dowager's sons are also cats, and there are two of them, she suddenly feels much closer. She thinks about going to the palace to talk with the Empress Dowager in a few days.
Prince Li's two concubines and their children were also at the palace banquet. However, they were concubines. Although they were not as humble as concubines, they were still far inferior to Princess Consort. They could only sit with a group of noblewomen.
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. "Her belly worked hard and gave birth to a son." The second zhengfei sneered.
"Mother, I want to eat that." Li Wang Fei's eldest son pulled his mother's sleeve and pointed to the pastries in the distance.
"Eat, eat, eat. You only know how to eat. I told you to perform well in front of the National Tutor. Why are you so disappointing?" The first zhengfei gritted her teeth.
Under the banquet, there was jealousy and intrigue among the women. However, this had nothing to do with Su Yu who was supposed to be here. He was busy preparing the offerings.
The National Tutor returned to Anguo Tower. After telling Su Yu how to prepare the offerings, he went directly to the sixth floor.
His Majesty the Emperor and the Wangye dismissed the officials and gathered on the second floor of Anguo Tower. As the sun sank into the western mountains, the heavy doors of Anguo Tower closed. The Heaven Worship Ceremony started when the moon was in the middle of the sky and lasted until sunrise. During this time, the sons of the royal family would not step out of Anguo Tower. Naturally, unrelated people were also not allowed to come close.
"This is the new tea I brought from the South Sea. Let's make a pot first." Li Wang took out an oiled paper bag from the sleeve of his gorgeous ceremonial robe. He wanted to bring a pot, but his robe was too light and thin. It couldn't fit, so he could only bring one bag.
"Let's make a pot. It's going to be hot at night." Prince Ling thought of the second half of the Heaven Worship Ceremony and couldn't help but make a bitter face. He ordered the servants on the first floor to boil water.
"Give me a cup first." Prince Su felt thirsty just thinking about the table full of dried fish. He asked the servants to make a pot to drink first.
Su Yu looked at the Wangye's appearance and didn't know what was going on. He whispered to An Hong-chul: "Emperor, I'll go to the fourth floor to prepare the offerings."
His Majesty the Emperor looked at his listless uncle and brother, then looked at the gentle and white Su Yu. He decisively took out his eldest son from his sleeve and threw it to Li Wang. He followed the stupid servant upstairs. Although he couldn't help much, watching Su Yu cook was very interesting.
The fourth floor had a separate stone room for Su Yu to prepare the offerings. There was a stove, knives, pots and pans, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
The spicy dried fish was ready-made. It only needed to be shredded. The fish balls needed to be eaten and made. The National Tutor had already explained the process to him, so he could put it aside first. The defrosted smoked fish needed to be put on a plate and sprinkled with some seasoning. These were all very simple and didn't need to be prepared. Only the fish that had just been killed this morning needed to be made into dishes. After thinking about the time of the Heaven Worship Ceremony, he sliced the fish into pieces and marinated them. He also put the broken tendons of the winning fish to the side.
His Majesty the Emperor circled around Su Yu with great interest, and then stuck to his back. He put his chin on Su Yu's shoulder and watched him shred and slice the fish neatly.
"Are you hungry?" Su Yu picked up a small piece of smoked fish, removed the fish bones, and stuffed it into the Emperor's mouth.
His Majesty the Emperor opened his mouth and ate it. The fresh fish meat had a bit of sweetness and sourness. Although he didn't like to eat sweet things, this degree of sweetness and sourness was just right for him to accept. After eating a piece, he wanted to eat another piece.
"This is a bit cold. Eat less." Su Yu had no choice but to cut another piece for him.
His Majesty the Emperor happily picked up a large piece of smoked fish and slowly chewed it. He saw Su Yu take out the soaked fins of the winning fish and began to shred them. He couldn't help but frown, "Isn't this for me to eat? Why is it used for the Heaven Worship Ceremony? "
"The National Tutor said that the fish used for the Heaven Worship Ceremony must be whole. Any part that can be eaten cannot be thrown away." Su Yu scratched his head. He originally wanted to keep these fins for his family's sauce, but after hearing the National Tutor's words, he didn't dare to act recklessly. If he hid food for the Emperor and caused the world to fall into chaos, then that would be terrible.
His Majesty the Emperor snorted. How come he had never heard that the fish needed to be whole for the Heaven Worship Ceremony? When he was young, his younger brother secretly ate half of the dried fish, but Imperial Uncle still took it to the Heaven Worship Ceremony without batting an eyelid.
Su Yu put the shark fins into the pot and simmered them over a small fire. He clapped his hands. The things that the National Tutor asked him to do were basically all prepared.
When the two of them returned to the second floor, the princes who had been sitting upright and still had long since disappeared. Their black silk robes were scattered all over the floor, and a few big cats were playing around the small kittens on the soft cushions.
On the table, there was a white porcelain water jar that was one foot long. It was filled to the brim with tea.
The yellow and white striped little fat cat crawled out from under the table. It tried to swallow the last piece of spicy fish and tried to climb up the water jar to drink some water.
His Majesty the Emperor reached out and picked up his younger brother who was about to fall into the water jar. "Stealing food again?"
The little fat cat blinked and opened its mouth to show that it didn't eat anything. There was a small piece of fish filament stuck in the gap formed by the tooth that fell out. As the cat opened its mouth, the fish filament fell out with a clatter.
Su Yu smiled and filled a plate with water for his younger brother-in-law to drink. "Your Majesty, why is there so much tea?"
His Majesty the Emperor raised an eyebrow. "After the Heaven Worship Ceremony, the offerings that have not been taken away by the ancestors must be finished before sunrise."
Finished, finished? Su Yu couldn't help but open his eyes wide.
In his opinion, the Heaven Worship Ceremony should be a sacred ceremony. It was no different from the usual Ancestral Worship Ceremony. He didn't want to waste precious ingredients, so he suggested to the National Tutor to make the fish into something else. He thought that they could eat it after the Heaven Worship Ceremony. He didn't expect that eating the offerings after the Heaven Worship Ceremony was a must!
"Do you think it's so easy to protect the country?" His Majesty the Emperor sneered.
Eating dried fish was very difficult. At first, they thought it was delicious, but after a while, they couldn't stand it anymore. The National Tutor forced them to finish it.
The moon was in the middle of the sky. When it was close to midnight, the National Tutor called everyone to go to the top of the tower.
Su Yu had only been to the fifth floor. He knew nothing about the top two floors of the Anguo Tower.
The princes put on their ceremonial robes again. Prince Li picked up the big vat full of tea. His Majesty the Emperor carried his son and Su Yu in his arms. They jumped up the stairs agilely.
The National Tutor often left the guests behind and went to the sixth floor. Su Yu had always been curious about the sixth floor. Since the National Tutor often went there, it must be a place where he deduced the Star Map or practiced his Divine Power.
After the empty practice room on the fifth floor, it was the mysterious sixth floor. The hollow hole in the middle of the Anguo Tower stopped abruptly at this floor. The National Tutor was waiting for them here.
It was snow-white. Everything was snow-white! The whole sixth floor was covered with a white plush carpet. It looked very soft and warm! In the middle of the soft carpet, there was a big bed about ten feet square. It was short and had a round top. It was covered with a thick cushion and a plain brocade quilt. It looked very soft and comfortable.
In addition to the big bed, there were two soft couches of different shapes. One was a hammock, and the other was a rocking chair …
The peerlessly handsome Imperial Preceptor just stood there quietly on the fluffy carpet, making the palace that made people feel sleepy with just one look look like an immortal.
"Let's go." The Imperial Preceptor had changed out of his extravagant long robe and put on a more normal length robe. It was still snow-white silk, but the golden thread embroidered on it was not cloud patterns, but more complicated patterns. It looked like some kind of talisman. He raised his hand gently. The mechanism on the sixth floor clicked. The round hole appeared again, and the clear moonlight poured in.
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