The Manchu and Han Banquets in Qing Dynasty

It's a blessing or a curse. "Cheng Li shook his head helplessly, he didn't understand what attracted the emperor about Zixiu, and made the emperor admire him so much.

"It's a blessing, not a disaster. It's a disaster that can't be avoided. Master, why do you think so much?"

"Tsk tsk, you see more clearly than I do, that's all, this is your own business, so you can take care of it yourself."

"Hehe." Zixiu smirked twice, thinking it was quite good.

Before Youshi, the two of them prepared a table of dishes, then set up a big table in Zixiu's room, and passed the dishes up.Rong Ruo stared blankly at the table full of dishes, every dish smelled so delicious, much better than the cooks in his house.

Rong Ruo got a jug of wine from somewhere, Zixiu wondered, this kid must have become an alcoholic at a young age, right?But at times like this, having wine is better than no wine.

As soon as Youshi arrived, there was a knock on the door suddenly, and Zixiu was overjoyed, thinking that the emperor had finally come.

He hurriedly ran to open the door, but found a little eunuch standing at the door with his head bowed. Zixiu was taken aback, and just about to ask who to call, but he heard two voices of "Auspicious, Your Majesty" from behind.Zixiu's eyes widened, and only then did he realize that the person in front of him was actually Kangxi.He didn't know whether it was moved or helpless, he felt that Kangxi was so difficult that he pretended to be a little eunuch just to come over.

"You still won't let me in?" Kangxi roared in a low voice, Zixiu said "oh", let him in sideways, and then quickly closed the door.

Kangxi glanced at Rong Ruo and Cheng Li, full of resentment, he thought that Zixiu had only invited him alone, who knew he was incidental.But because of his face, he couldn't complain on the spot. He just had a dark face, and he didn't know who to show it to.

Zixiu didn't know that he made Kangxi depressed again, so he asked Kangxi to sit down and set the tableware for him.

"Your Majesty, I... didn't expect to cause you so much trouble, I'm really sorry." Zixiu also saw Kangxi's complexion, so he took the initiative to admit his mistake.

Kangxi's face was slightly hesitant, and he said: "Forget it, what are you talking about now, today is your birthday, so don't be formal."

Zixiu smiled, took the wine jar next to Rong Ruo, and the aroma of the wine immediately escaped as soon as it was opened.He poured wine for Kangxi first, then the master, then Rong Ruo, and finally himself.Zixiu, who was not good at observing, didn't notice that Kangxi and Rongruo had already fought face to face for several rounds, and it was not yet clear who won or lost.

Cheng Li noticed it, and he groaned inwardly, and suddenly felt that it was a mistake for Zixiu to invite these two people at the same time.But what surprised him was that Rong Ruo dared to confront the emperor. Did he forget that he was punished not long ago and could not eat for three days?

"Why don't you eat anything, do you think it's not tasty?" Zixiu put down the wine jar, and felt that the atmosphere was a bit weird, so he asked.

"Why? The food made by Zixiu is the best." Rong Ruo praised, and then picked up the chopsticks to pick up the dishes.

Cheng Li blocked it and said, "Please use it first, Your Majesty."

Kangxi said: "There's no need to stick to the etiquette. This is Zixiu's birthday. Everyone can do whatever they want."

Zixiu said: "That's right, everyone eats, don't waste it."

Cheng Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he thought that this apprentice was really not smart, why couldn't he see that something was wrong with the atmosphere at the table?But after Zixiu said this, Kangxi and Rongruo stopped confrontation, and everyone started to eat food, and the atmosphere eased a little.

After eating for a while, no one spoke, Rong Ruo picked up the wine glass and said, "Zixiu, I wish you a happy birthday, every year has today, and every year has today." Suddenly, his face changed, and he said: "I forgot Here's a present for you."

As he spoke, he took out something from his pocket and handed it to Zixiu. He said embarrassedly, "It's not something expensive. I carved it myself. Do you like it?"

Zixiu took it over and saw that it was a wooden figure. The figure was carved very meticulously, even the details such as hair and eyebrows were noticed, which shows the level of care of the sculptor.

Zixiu stroked the villain and said, "I like it very much, thank you." As Rongruo said, this is indeed not a precious thing, but it is very memorable.I don't know how long it took Rong Ruo to carve such a small figure.

"As long as you like it." Rong Ruo smiled and took a sip of the wine, full of joy.

As for Kangxi, his face became more and more gloomy.

He also brought presents, and they were specially selected from a pile of treasures, but at the moment, it seems that this treasure of his is probably not as good as this little wooden figure.

Kangxi pinched the things in his arms, but didn't take them out.

At this time, Cheng Li also took out his own gift. What he gave Zixiu was a book, which was the essence he summed up after studying cooking for many years.Zixiu took it like a baby, wishing he could start watching it now.

Kangxi's face became gloomy again. He thought for a while and said, "I came here in a hurry today, so I didn't bring you a present. I'll make it up for you tomorrow."

Zixiu smiled and said, "The emperor's coming is the greatest gift for me."

Kangxi's face brightened a bit, he knew that Zixiu would not lie, Zixiu must have thought so in his heart when he said that.But how could he lose to these two people?As a gift, he must give it.

But what should you give?He felt a headache again.

"Anyway, Zixiu, I would like to toast you first." Kangxi raised the wine glass, and everyone took it up with dignity, and then drank it all down.

Zi Xiu wanted to say something, but when he saw Cheng Li lay down on the table with a "boom", he was startled, Rong Ruo pushed, and found that Cheng Li was drunk.Zixiu had never had a drink with his master, so he didn't know how much he could drink, but he had only had three drinks so far. He wasn't drunk yet, but the master was actually drunk.

"I didn't expect Mr. Cheng to drink so badly, Zixiu, what should we do?" Rong Ruo asked.

"You guys eat first, I'll send Master back and I'll be right back." Zixiu went to help Master, but found that it was very heavy, and he couldn't lift it by himself.Seeing this, Rong Ruo immediately gave his hand, and the two tremblingly helped Cheng Li up, and it took a lot of effort to send him back.

Hearing the door close, Cheng Li opened his eyes, and said in his heart, disciple, I'm sorry Luo, master has to avoid it first.

The two went back to the room and saw Kangxi drinking alone, Zixiu felt very embarrassed, he is a birthday star, it is really bad to leave the guests like this, but you can't leave the master here.

He scratched the back of his head and said, "Your Majesty, I'm really sorry."

Kangxi glanced at him, smiled, and said, "I'm sorry for what? I didn't blame you."

Zixiu: "Then...it's not very good after all."

Kangxi: "You know it's not good, then punish yourself with three cups, and I will forgive you for punishing yourself with three cups."

Zixiu felt dizzy for a while, he knew how much he could drink, if he drank three glasses in a row, he might be lying on the table like his master.However, he dared not stop drinking. It was the emperor who made the request, and he himself was seeking forgiveness.

Zixiu struggled for a while, and finally picked up the wine jar and poured wine into the glass.

He had just filled the glass, but Rong Ruo took the glass over, Rong Ruo said: "I will punish you, I know how much you drink, you won't be drunk right away after these three glasses?"

Zixiu wanted to say no, but Rong Ruo refused to return the wine glass to him. Zixiu looked at Kangxi and found that Kangxi had a calm face, showing no signs of getting angry, so he couldn't help but feel relieved.

Unexpectedly, Kangxi said: "Since Rongruo wants to drink, then I will drink with you, but there is a condition, whoever falls down first will not be allowed to see Zixiu for a month."

Zixiu was stunned for a moment, not understanding why Kangxi proposed such a condition. He is not a big shot, so why can't he see him?Rong Ruo understood Kangxi's meaning very well, he only thought for a second and agreed.

"This...then..." Zixiu didn't know what to say, and he didn't say this for a long time.

Kangxi said: "Zixiu, you can act as a middleman on the sidelines, so you can't be biased."

Rong Ruo said: "Yes, no one can help."

Zixiu said: "Okay then, but you all drink less..." Then he thought, Kangxi was talking about who will fall first, that means at least one person will be drunk.He felt that the matter was a little tricky, but it would be easy to handle if Rong Ruo was drunk, but if the emperor was drunk, what should he do?

"Don't worry, I won't get drunk." Kangxi smiled.For some reason, Zixiu immediately felt relieved. Since Kangxi said so, he would not be drunk. His trust in Kangxi had reached its peak, and he would believe whatever Kangxi said.

Rong Ruo groaned, "Don't worry, Zixiu, I won't lose."

Zixiu licked his lips, but didn't speak.

His act of distrust made Rong Ruo very depressed, Rong Ruo said: "Let's start when we are ready, Your Majesty."

Kangxi hooked the corner of his mouth and said: "If you lose, don't be reckless. You won't be allowed to see Zixiu for a month, not even an hour less."

"I know!" Rong Ruo said dryly.

So the two started drinking.

Zixiu said: "Don't drink all the time, eat some food, or it will be a waste."

Kangxi and Rongruo glanced at him, then picked up chopsticks to eat, but they couldn't eat a few mouthfuls and started drinking again.The two drank one cup after another without speaking much.As soon as the glass was empty, he signaled Zixiu to fill it up, and after a while, the jar of wine was finished.

Kangxi asked Zixiu to go to the imperial dining room to bring two more jugs, so as not to have to go get them after finishing drinking later, Zixiu thought to himself, whether you can finish another jug ​​is still unknown.However, he still brought two altars according to what Kangxi said.

This time the two didn't let Zixiu pour the wine, they each held a jar and poured it for themselves.

In the end, the two of them were mechanically repeating the action of pouring wine and drinking. Zixiu persuaded him for a long time to no avail, so he simply sat aside and watched coldly.this