The Three Spirit Stones

On New Year's Eve, the imperial palace would hold the annual New Year's Eve dinner banquet. In addition to civil and military officials, envoys from various countries and vassal states would also attend.

In the brightly lit Daqing Hall, Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng, wearing a Tongtian crown and a crimson gauze robe, sat on a high throne. Next to him was Crown Prince Zhao Shouyi, and below him sat all the civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty.

As the eunuch Zhou Huaizheng loudly proclaimed,

"Call all the envoys into the palace~,"

A group of envoys appeared in front of the palace.

The first to enter the hall were the Liao envoys. Dozens of men and women surrounded a man and a woman. The man was called Yelu Xiunu and the woman was called Yelu Yuan. They were Liao Shizong's cousins, ninth in line, and were known as the Ninth Princess.

Emperor Shizong of Liao employed many Han scholars and officials. One of Yelu Yuan's teachers was a Han Chinese. She admired the culture of the Song Dynasty very much and came here specially to see it.

After the Liao envoys came the Dali envoys, followed by envoys from Jiaozhi, Wa, Goryeo and other countries.

After the envoys from various countries entered the palace, the envoys from various vassal states came in, headed by Xixia to Qingtang, followed by various small vassal states.

After the envoys from various countries and vassal states were seated, Zhao Heng gave a New Year's speech drafted by the Zhongshu Sheren. After finishing his speech, he announced the feast. Then the palace maids held plates and brought dishes to the hall. After the dishes were served, everyone raised their glasses and drank.

Afterwards, Zhou Huaizheng read out the imperial edict in return to the envoys from various countries and vassal states.

The gifts that the Song Dynasty gave back to envoys from various countries and vassal states were far more valuable than the tributes they had contributed.

Cheng Yu, who was sitting among the ministers, twitched his lips when he heard this. He always knew that Zhao Heng was a man of few courage, otherwise he would not have paid money to seek peace and signed the humiliating "Chanyuan Alliance" during the war against Liao when the Song Dynasty still had the military advantage.

He thought, luckily Ah Cai is not here, otherwise he would be furious.

Ah Cai was also here tonight. These ladies from outside the royal family were attending the New Year's Eve dinner hosted by the Queen in the harem.

Knowing that she could go to the palace to have New Year's Eve dinner, she was so excited!

But the people from Cheng Mansion and Cao Mansion were as if they were facing a formidable enemy!

In addition to giving her numerous instructions and teaching her various etiquettes, he also sent a message to Concubine Cao in the palace in advance, asking her to be careful at the banquet and try not to let Acai get into trouble, otherwise who would be able to take responsibility for ruining the Queen's dinner?

But this time she was unexpectedly well-behaved. From the moment she entered the palace until the meal was served, she just watched and ate without saying a word, which made Yuechan and the others feel relieved!

In fact, it's not that she is obedient, but her attention is attracted.

The first time she entered the harem, the treasures there were so numerous that it was like entering a museum without anti-theft devices.

She was dazzled by the exquisite ceramics and jades, whole corals, and various gold and silver objects inlaid with gemstones.

Those concubines and noble ladies dressed in luxurious clothes and with their hair adorned with pearls and jades were like walking living cultural relics!

She was like Liu Lao Lao entering the Grand View Garden, looking left and right, with an expression of amazement on her face, just like a country woman who had never seen the world!

Liu E, who was sitting at the top, had noticed her a long time ago. Ever since the last incident with the angel of imperial decree, Liu E had specially asked someone to investigate her. Later, the prince mentioned her again when he returned to the palace, so she carefully observed Ah Cai tonight.

She found that she was different from all the noble ladies she had met before. She acted as if everything she saw was new to her, but her behavior was not rude at all, and she only tasted a little of the delicacies on the table.

The way one eats is the best indicator of a person's upbringing.

In ancient times, logistics were underdeveloped, food was scarce, and cooking methods were monotonous. Even the food eaten by the royal family and nobles was far less rich than that of ordinary people today.

The New Year’s Eve dinner in the palace must have been of the highest standard at that time. The table was filled with fine wines and delicacies, and those noble ladies who usually behaved in a dignified manner ate with their mouths full of oil, and they were having a great time!

But Ah Cai ate more than the braised bear paws and fish maw, and hardly touched the other dishes.

There are indeed many dishes tonight, and the ingredients are very precious, but the weather is cold and many dishes get cold after a while.

Especially the plate of boiled pork, with a layer of white oil floating on the soup, which made her lose her appetite. There was only one plate of green leafy vegetables that didn't look fresh on the whole table of meat, and there was a smell of sulfur. However, this dish was eaten up as soon as it was served, and only the ones at their table were left untouched.

In ancient times, there were no greenhouse vegetables and there were not many varieties. It was very difficult to eat fresh vegetables in winter.

The royal family has several hot spring villas near the capital, and the leafy vegetables for the New Year’s Eve dinner are produced in these villas, so the vegetables smell of sulfur. The output of these vegetables is very small and can only be supplied to the royal family. Sometimes if the emperor rewards some to his ministers, then the minister will be very happy.

Since he made transparent glass, Cheng Yu built a small glass shed near the soap factory to grow vegetables. Many of the vegetables in the shed are seeds brought back from the south. The quantity is small but the variety is great. In winter, they use earthworms to keep the shed warm. Ah Cai and her friends can still eat all kinds of fresh vegetables in winter, so they are naturally not interested in the precious green vegetables at the banquet.

The palace banquet was being held in great excitement, but the atmosphere in the Daqing Palace was not so peaceful.

Cheng Yu is a little angry now!

In addition to the super-cheated return gift at the beginning, there is also the show that is being performed now,

The reason was that the Liao envoys brought two huge strong men with round waists and thick arms. They performed sumo wrestling at the banquet. This sport was called "jiaodi" or "zhengjiao" in the Northern Song Dynasty and was very popular.

The beginning was indeed very exciting, attracting cheers from the crowd, and Zhao Heng even rewarded them with a few pieces of gold.

After their performance, they asked to compete with the Song people. This was actually nothing, as sports competitions have existed in every era. However, what Cheng Yu did not expect was that the rules of the competition were so unfair.

The palace specially raised a group of sumo wrestlers, called Nei Dengzi. After the Nei Dengzi came on the field, they were the first to fight against the Liao strongman. The two fought back and forth for several rounds. The Liao man punched him, but the Nei Dengzi did not dodge and was hit on the temple. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and he fell to the ground and died.

Then the second, the third... and so on.

In the eyes of the royal family and nobles, the lives of these inferiors were as insignificant as ants.

Sacrificing the lives of a few ants to please the Liao people is not a big deal.

After these two Liao warriors killed nearly ten of the inner guards, they still slapped their chests like gorillas and walked around the field in a show of force.

One of them was walking in front of Cheng Yu. He raised his hand and a dish of soup was placed right on the Liao man's head.

With a bang, the plate fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Everyone looked over.

I saw the Liao man standing there with a few vegetables hanging on his head and soup dripping down. I wonder how funny he looked?

Except for Liaoren, everyone at the scene couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The Liao warrior finally reacted and his face immediately turned purple. He pointed at Cheng Yu and angrily cursed him in Liao dialect.

But Cheng Yu just looked at him and smiled faintly, saying in a joking tone, "Your hand slipped."

This is clearly a lie!

Even if his hand slipped, the plate could not possibly fly over someone's head from such a distance. Those were the Liao people, the people the government feared the most. It was obviously a trick on them. How could the government deal with this?

Everyone at the scene was very surprised. Zhao Heng frowned. Li Di, one of the ministers, was about to stand up and speak, but Kou Zhun next to him held his hand and asked him to look first. Wang Qinruo, Ding Wei and others exchanged glances and prepared to watch the show.

At this time, another Liao warrior came over and pointed at Cheng Yu and shouted angrily,

"Your Majesty, your subjects deliberately bullied our warriors. How will Your Majesty deal with this?"

Liao historian Yelu Xiunu stood up and said to Zhao Heng,

"Uh! This..."

It would affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries. If it was someone else, Zhao Heng would have taken him down with a wave of his hand.

But who is Cheng Yu?

The son-in-law of the immortal family, who saved half of his life and would make countless wealth for him in the future, was in a dilemma when Cheng Yu stood up and bowed his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I was wrong just now. I am willing to accept the punishment."

Then he turned to Yelu Xunu and said, "Dear Liao envoy, may I ask how these two strong men can calm their anger?"

"Okay, that's refreshing,"

Yelu Xunu and the two men exchanged a few gibberish, then smiled strangely and said to Cheng Yu, "Two of our warriors want to challenge you in a martial arts contest, regardless of life or death."

As soon as this statement came out, the whole audience was in an uproar!

It's obvious that he wants to kill Cheng Yu!

These two strong men were specially selected by the Liao people from among thousands or even millions of people. Their bodies were like two mountains of flesh. Although Cheng Yu's body was considered tall among men, he was not as good as these two. Moreover, he had gentle manners and handsome appearance, and did not look like a fighter at all.

Li Di could no longer hold back. He was already furious after watching the performance tonight. Without waiting for Zhao Heng to speak, he stood up and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, no matter if they are Liao warriors or the imperial servants, they are of humble status and are only there to entertain the public. But the Loyal and Brave Marquis is different. He is an official appointed by the court and a serious scholar-official. He just slipped and knocked over a plate by accident and he wants to compete with these warriors in martial arts. Is this reasonable?"

After this was said, most of the Song officials nodded in agreement. Several ministers stood up and said to Zhao Heng, "Your Majesty, we agree with Prime Minister Li. These two wrestlers are well trained for wrestling, but the Loyal and Brave Marquis is not a full-time wrestler. It is unfair for him to compete with these two."

"Yes, I also think it is inappropriate."

Several other ministers came out and said,

Although Zhao Heng knew that Cheng Yu was skilled in martial arts, he had an instinctive fear of the Liao people. He did not believe that Cheng Yu could defeat these two strong men, so he said to Yelu Xunu, "Envoy Yelu, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery was just careless just now. I will ask him to apologize!"

After hearing this, Yelu Xunu bowed to Zhao Heng, and then said to the two men, "Your Majesty, our warrior said that he doesn't need to compete in martial arts, but he must kneel down and apologize to them!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar again!

A man's knees are made of gold. If Cheng Yu really kneels down to these two people, will he still be able to stay in Bianjing City in the future?

Ding Wei and a few others looked at Cheng Yu with glee. They wanted to see whether he wanted to live or to face.

At this time, Kou Zhun spoke up. He said solemnly, "Your Majesty, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery is a great minister of the Song Dynasty. It is natural for a scholar-official to kneel before heaven and earth, before the emperor, and before his ancestors. But kneeling before two lowly foreign wrestlers is a disgrace to a minister of the Song Dynasty!"

Kou Zhun was a highly respected prime minister of the time, and his words were powerful and everyone held their breath to listen to him continue.

"So as a token of apology, I would like to give these two strong men some money and property as a reward. Please grant me your permission."

Zhao Heng also thought this method was feasible.

He always felt that there was nothing that money couldn't solve, and if it couldn't be solved, it must be because there was not enough money.

He nodded and was about to speak, but Cheng Yu didn't want to let things go quietly. He was going to kill the two Liao people tonight.

He immediately bowed to Zhao Heng and Kou Zhun and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Kou, and all my colleagues, I have caused this disaster, how can I let others clean up the mess for me? A man should take responsibility for his own actions. I, Cheng Yu, accept this challenge!"

As soon as he said this, people were shocked again. Some raised their thumbs to praise him, some shook their heads and sighed, and some did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Kou Zhun had a good impression of Cheng Yu.

He had been in officialdom for less than two years, and had brought potatoes and other crops to the Song Dynasty and invented new agricultural tools. He was a rare young talent, and it would be a shame if he was beaten to death like this!

So he immediately said to Cheng Yu, "Lord Zhongyong, please don't act on impulse. Money is a minor matter, life is more important!"

Cheng Yu felt warm at heart when he heard this, and thought to himself, although the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty was not very brave, many of his ministers were still humane. It was worth it that I had given so much to this dynasty!

He smiled and said to Kou Zhun, "Thank you for your concern, Kou. I am not talented, but I have learned some boxing skills. If the two sides fight, I will not lose."

After saying this, without waiting for Kou Zhun to continue persuading him, he called a eunuch to hold the official hat and robe he had taken off for him, and walked tall and slender to stand in the center of the hall!