When King Zhou heard this, he didn't believe it: "There is no one like him in the world. Is that a bit exaggerated? No matter how good he is, can he be better than the imperial cook in the palace of a few people?"
When Emperor Xin was young, he was famous for his intelligence and bravery. Not only was he talented, but he was also born with supernatural powers. He once supported others and won the praise of many courtiers at the time, and he was awarded the position of the Eastern Palace.
And he was also the most arrogant king of his generation. He conquered the Eastern Yi and pacified the four directions. He was unparalleled in his literary, Taoist, and military strategies. In addition, the only one who could control him was Wen Taishi, Yuan Futong, and other princes who had not returned to the court for more than ten years.
Let him gradually become proud and complacent in his prime, and gradually become arrogant and licentious.
Since he has the greatest power in the world, he thinks that he should also have the best enjoyment in the world.
Therefore, the royal chefs in the palace are all the best cooks of this era. They have a clear division of labor and their own strengths. The various sumptuous banquets on weekdays are enough to prove this.
In fact, if Qi Yuan had not arrived, no one would dare to say that he could surpass these imperial chefs in cooking skills.
But now, many civil and military ministers are willing to send their own cooks to learn cooking skills from Qi Yuan, and they can spread such a great reputation for him, which is enough to say a lot.
"How dare I deceive Your Majesty?"
You Hun had a flattering look on his face: "Your Majesty, you don't know that this person is now well-known in the imperial court. Anyone who has tasted the food he cooked will praise him. The imperial court has sent its own chef to learn the cooking skills from the old man.
There are quite a few ministers here. This matter is absolutely true. If your Majesty doesn’t believe it, you can ask King Wu Cheng.”
King Zhou looked at Huang Feihu: "King Wu Cheng, are you serious about what You Hun said?"
Seeing King Zhou's question, Huang Feihu, who was standing at the head of the generals, gave You Hun a fierce look.
Qi Yuan is now famous in court songs, and his name as a sage is widely praised. However, if You Hun, a treacherous villain, comes to recommend him like this, what if King Zhou randomly summons him to the palace and treats him as an ordinary cook?
It is an insult to the virtuous name, and I am afraid that both the government and the public will be very dissatisfied with King Zhou.
Only a treacherous minister like You Hun would only care about pleasing King Zhou in order to please him without caring about other things.
But there was no way. King Zhou had already asked, so Huang Feihu had no choice but to go out and report: "Report to your majesty, it is indeed true. This person's name is Qi Baimei, and his cooking skills are worthy of being unparalleled in the world."
"In that case."
King Zhou nodded and said casually: "Then summon him to the palace to prepare royal meals for the widow and my beloved concubine."
"Your Majesty, you must not do this."
Before You Hun could agree, Huang Feihu hurriedly stepped forward and advised: "Your Majesty, you don't know that Mr. Qi is highly respected and is called a sage by people. Your Majesty must not treat him as an ordinary cook at will, otherwise, I'm afraid it will arouse the people's support."
dissatisfied."
"Um?"
King Zhou was surprised.
I just summoned a cook, I didn't expect it to be such a big trouble.
He raised his thick black eyebrows and looked at Huang Feihu: "Why, what achievements did this person make to be called a sage? How come I haven't heard of it?"
Huang Feihu thought to himself: You stay in the harem every day and haven't paid attention to court affairs for a long time, so of course you don't know.
However, he did not dare to express his dissatisfaction, and said with cupped hands: "Lao Qi came to Chaoge not long ago, but he has traveled alone in the wilderness for decades, just to find more edible things for our human race.
After coming to Chaoge, he was even more willing to pass on his superb cooking skills to the people without charging any fees. There are many people in Chaoge City who have benefited from him."
Reputation is very useful in this era.
People are willing to respect people with good reputations, and few are willing to offend them.
Even Xibohou Jichang escaped from danger because of his virtuous reputation, but was imprisoned. Unlike Dongbohou Jiang Huanchu and Nanbohou E Chongyu, who were directly killed on the order of King Zhou.
"That's it."
King Zhou nodded: "Then invite him over tomorrow. I would like to see if he has the ability you mentioned."
…………
The next day, Qi Yuan was brought to the palace by the palace servants.
Yesterday, after Huang Feihu went to court, he made a special trip to tell you about You Hun's recommendation to King Zhou.
Huang Feihu naturally didn't want Qi Yuan to go to the palace. After all, King Zhou was very different from before. He neglected government affairs and was extravagant. He also instituted many cruel punishments. If Qi Yuan offended King Zhou somewhere, then
It won't end well.
However, Qi Yuan is not too worried about this.
Because he had long thought that his behavior would attract the attention of King Zhou sooner or later, and he had even thought of several escape routes for this. As long as he did not seek death and did not go out of his way to provoke King Zhou and Su Daji, nothing would happen.
.
Anyway, his job is to be a cook, so King Zhou could not have summoned him for some military or state affairs, he just needed to be recognized by King Zhou for his cooking skills.
Qi Yuan, who was well prepared, got up early in the morning to wash up, tidied himself up, and put on a brand new white robe. In addition, he had made some achievements in Qi training recently, so he looked quite good, with a white beard.
His white hair makes him look a bit like a hermit.
He asked several disciples to bring their usual cooking utensils and follow them. They would definitely not be able to enter the palace without a message, so they were asked to wait outside the palace gate. Qi Yuan himself was led into the palace by his attendants. After the message,
Enter the main hall to meet King Zhou.
The civil and military ministers lined up on both sides of the hall, kneeling on straw mats, creating a solemn atmosphere in the entire hall.
Although they knew that King Zhou did not want to talk about state affairs today and just wanted to see Qi Yuan's craftsmanship, the ministers rarely saw King Zhou once on weekdays, so they all came anyway.
"The common people have white eyebrows and pay homage to Your Majesty."
Qi Yuan respectfully bowed his hands.
In this era, when visiting the king, there is no etiquette of kneeling down, otherwise he will fall to the ground.
"No need to be polite."
The rich voice of King Zhou came: "I heard yesterday that a great sage came out of Chaoge City. He is not only highly virtuous and respected, but also has unparalleled cooking skills. So I want to see him, so I summoned you here."
Qi Yuan looked up and saw that King Zhou was very majestic. It was completely different from the drunken and drunken look he had imagined in his mind. Not only was he majestic in stature, but his appearance also looked righteous, which surprised Qi Yuan.
Next to King Zhou sat a beautiful woman dressed in rich clothes. She was born with the beauty of the country and was extremely beautiful. Her eyes were filled with all kinds of charm and amorous feelings.
"This should be Su Daji, right?" Qi Yuan thought to himself, she is indeed a generation of witches who brought disaster to the country and the people.