In the middle of the capital, there is the main hall of the Royal Palace.
This small house is as tall as one person. Song You only had to bend down to enter. There was no need to lower his head inside. The length and width were half the size of an ordinary villager's house in Dayan. It was cold at night on the island, but it was actually hot in the middle of the palace hall.
A bonfire provides warmth and lighting.
At this time, Song You was sitting cross-legged against the wall on the left side of the entrance. In front of him was a banana leaf, on which were neatly placed two small fish less than two fingers wide and exactly the same size, two shrunken bamboo shrimps, and a
The rats with their skins and heads and tails removed and nine thin pieces of grass, the fish and shrimps were all cooked, while the rats were raw. The small pieces of grass were as long as fingers, like the ones that Empress Sanhua often gnawed on the roadside.
kind.
The meat and vegetables are mixed and arranged neatly.
Outside the banana leaf is a conch, filled with turbid water.
Sanhua Empress was sitting next to him, and she also had a banana leaf in front of her. Except for only one fish and shrimp, the food was basically the same as his.
In addition, there were several cats squatting on both sides, sitting very neatly. They must be the civil and military ministers of the Li Kingdom. They all squatted upright and looked not slack at all, but they all looked at them quietly from the corner of their eyes.
There are also banana leaves in front of these cats. The size and shape of the banana leaves are almost the same, and the food on them is the same as that of the Three Flower Empress. The fish and shrimp are all of the same size. They are arranged carefully, showing the elegance, formality and rules of the Li Kingdom's palace banquet.
It's also very strict.
"It's really strange that a distinguished guest has arrived today. All civil and military officials, please don't be polite and just enjoy the water dishes."
"Thank you, Lord."
After the cats thanked them, they started to eat.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your warm hospitality." Song You also handed over to the tortoiseshell cat.
"Enjoy it, Mr. Song! I know that people have much larger appetites than cats, so I have prepared more for Mr. Song. If it is not enough, please ask. My imperial dining room is always on standby for distinguished guests!" The tortoiseshell cat maintains a considerable dominance.
Feng Feng, did not eat lightly, but lowered his head to lick the water first, then raised his head and said, "Miss Sanhua, please enjoy it, there will be good food later!"
"Thank you, Lord~"
"To be honest, I have been drifting on the sea recently. The waves are swaying, and my appetite is really bad." Song You said to the king.
"Well?"
The cat turned to look at him doubtfully.
"Hahaha……"
When the tortoiseshell cat heard this, he raised his head and laughed a few times. His voice was like that of the Three Flower Empress. Because the voice and color are different from people's, it is naturally difficult to distinguish between men and women, but some are more female. He said cheerfully: "It seems that Mr.
In this regard, we are somewhat similar to me. When I was young, I could still go to the sea to fish and fight, but now that I am older, I can no longer do it. If I wander at sea for half a day, I will have to vomit non-stop. If I don't come back three or five times later,
I have no appetite for days. Every time I want to vomit hairballs, I will go to the sea for two days..."
Hearing this, all the civil and military officials burst out laughing.
Song You and Empress Sanhua looked at each other, and when they saw her confused look, they also laughed.
Empress Sanhua was even more at a loss.
"The king is very funny."
Song You praised them and looked at them at the same time.
At this time, those who are qualified to attend the palace banquet are naturally of extraordinary status. These cats can speak and have attained Taoism. However, they have no Taoism and do not seem to have cultivated it themselves.
It should be due to the mysterious aura of this place.
"It turns out that our ancestors of the Li Kingdom came from the Kingdom of Heaven and had no intention of living on the sea. They were from the same hometown as Mr. Song and Empress Sanhua. I have always admired the culture of the Kingdom of Heaven." The king said as he turned to look at Song You.
Staring, "I heard that the land of the Heavenly Kingdom is vast and boundless, almost dozens or hundreds of times larger than our land, but is it true?"
Upon hearing this, many civil and military officials were staring at Song You.
There was curiosity in his eyes, but also disbelief.
"The Great Banquet Country is indeed very big and vast." Song You answered truthfully, but did not answer carefully.
"Meow……"
All the cats looked at each other, surprised.
How big of a world is that?
Empress Sanhua was even more confused. She turned her head again, her eyes were round and her pupils were round, her mouth was slightly open, and she stared at Song You.
"Sanhua Empress, come on, eat it. It's what you like to eat. Don't stare at me like that." Song You naturally has no contempt for the Li Kingdom. He just thinks it's interesting and wonderful, but Sanhua Empress
The looks often made him want to laugh, which was very rude, so he quickly turned his head to the other side and asked the tortoiseshell cat, "This place is quite far away from Dayan. The cats in the mainland of Dayan
Although I can swim, most of the time I don’t like water. The sea is vast. I wonder how the ancestors of the Li Kingdom came here?"
"It is said that there is another country overseas where people love cats as much as their lives. So my ancestors went to sea with the people of the Celestial Dynasty to visit that country. As a result, the sea was too stormy and they unfortunately became homeless."
"I see."
Song You nodded.
Most of them were taken out of the country by merchants or official missions of a certain dynasty at that time to sell or give them to foreigners.
Then the chat continued.
Song You learned that a ship of the Dayan people unfortunately drifted here more than ten years ago. They were also treated well by the Li country and then sent away. When they left, they prepared quite a lot of supplies for them in return for those Dayan people.
Then he built this palace for them and taught the monkeys in the Monkey Kingdom how to make fire. Today, the fire in the Li Kingdom was traded from the Monkey Kingdom.
Gradually, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were enjoying themselves.
Especially General Huang Zhuang, who had just returned from the Shazhou border, ate the most delicious food, adding cup after cup of the turbid water in the conch.
Even Empress Sanhua was very satisfied with her meal.
Only the food in front of Song You didn't move much.
He had no choice but to look at Empress Sanhua for help.
However, since he had just asked Sanhua Empress not to stare at him, Sanhua Empress concentrated on her meal, and it took her a long time to notice his gaze.
"?"
Empress Sanhua was stunned again and stared at him.
Fortunately, she understood quickly.
So he crawled over from the side with his head shaking, picked up the raw mouse on the banana leaf in front of him, and then crawled back to his original position.
At this time, Sanhua Empress was like a god descending to earth.
As for the roasted fish and shrimps, Song You tasted some, but they were cooked. Although there was not much fishy smell, there was no salty taste either. Thinking that the citizens of Li Country could not transform and had no hands, no matter whether these supplies were transported or
Cooking is all done with the mouth, so Song You felt that these two bites were enough. After all, he had lost his appetite after living at sea for so many days.
After that, three more dishes were served in succession.
A sea fish eye is considered a delicacy, a jellyfish, and a fish roe are more like snacks after a meal. They are all packed in shells and tied with rope. A special cat brings the rope with the rope in its mouth. Along the way, unexpectedly
It doesn't dangle at all, and there is a cat beside me to help remove it and pull the rope back, and the movements are surprisingly flexible.
In addition to fish eyes, I also tasted a little bit of jellyfish and fish roe.
The jellyfish has no salty taste and is not suitable for salad dressing.
The fish roe is also completely raw.
Suddenly a minister's voice came from the front:
"Sanhua Empress is unparalleled in beauty, and she is extremely majestic. She is extraordinary at first glance. I heard from the captain sent by General Huang to report that Sanhua Empress was once the cat goddess and had magical powers. Oh, I am not doubting it, but I have absolutely no doubts about it.
I don’t mean to be disrespectful to Sanhua Empress, but we are all curious about magical powers. I wonder if Sanhua Empress can perform something on the spot to satisfy our curiosity?"
When Mao'er heard this, he immediately turned his head and looked at Song You.
"It's all up to Empress Sanhua to decide."
Song You smiled and said to Empress Sanhua.
"OK!"
Sanhua Empress stood up immediately.
Sanhua Empress almost unified the aesthetics of humans and cats. When she stood up, she not only attracted Song You's attention, but also made all the cats present stunned. But in addition to her beauty, Sanhua Empress also has a unique
His temperament was the otherworldly quality of being the god of cats, and every part of his body was considered perfect and sacred, which made these cats feel ashamed and did not dare to look at him.
“It’s too small here!”
Sanhua Empress said seriously and walked out.
All the civil and military officials in the court looked at each other. First the king stood up, then the prime minister followed, and then almost all the cats followed him out.
Only Song You and General Huang are left.
Song You felt that the door of the palace hall was too small and it was inconvenient to get in and out by himself, so he leaned over and looked out through the door. General Huang, on the other hand, had a round belly after eating and could no longer walk. Anyway, he was sitting there.
Sitting slumped at the edge of the doorway, he could still see the scene outside when he poked his head out.
Then I heard an explosion——
"boom!"
A huge flame exploded in the air, lighting up the night sky.
Fortunately, the flames were shot into the sky. If they had fallen to the ground, they would probably have covered the entire palace, several courtyards and more than a dozen main halls and small halls, and also illuminated the entire capital of the Li Kingdom as bright as day.
In an instant, countless cats were frightened.
The cats jumped up and ran away, but not just these civil and military ministers, the whole country was meowing.
"besides--"
Empress Sanhua returned to her human form, went back to the palace hall, took out her little flag from the robe beside the Taoist priest, waved her hand, and released a puff of black smoke.
The black smoke fell to the ground and turned into a tiger.
"Roar……"
It was a beautiful giant tiger that had become a spirit.
The palace hall can accommodate dozens or hundreds of cats, but there is a feeling that it cannot fit in it. It seems that it is just a palm, bigger than ordinary cats, and its huge and strong body is so majestic that almost as soon as it appears, it makes
All the cats in the entire imperial city and even the capital were dumbfounded and their livers and gallbladders were split apart.
However, Sanhua Empress was still waving her flag and summoned three fierce tigers in succession. They were of different sizes, but to the cat, they were all giants.
For a moment, even the king and the general couldn't help but tremble.
These cats have never seen a tiger.
Never even heard of tigers.
I just thought it was a giant cat.
Like the god among cats, the legendary cat god.
"return!"
Sanhua Empress waved the flag, and the tigers all looked at her in confusion, but they all turned into black smoke and returned to the flag.
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were still in shock and doubt among the people of the capital.
General Huang was so frightened that he hiccupped constantly.
After a long time, the King of Tortoiseshell Kingdom led the civil and military ministers back to the palace and sat down as before. However, both the civil and military ministers and the King of the Kingdom were extremely respectful to Empress Sanhua.
That kind of respect is like treating a god.
People relied on the power of cats, and there were not many cats who dared to look directly at Song You. Those civil servants who had previously felt that "the country presented delicacies and delicacies to the Taoist with generous gifts, but the Taoist did not take a few bites, which was a bit rude", now began to
I think it may be that the food culture of the Li Kingdom is different from that of Dayan, so the food is not in line with Taoist tastes.
"belch……"
General Huang's hiccups continued.
Song You also took the opportunity to ask the king about the Lilliputian Kingdom.