Speaking of Kong Zhang Sheren, this name is known to everyone in Kyoto.

But what is surprising is that there are also legends about Kongzhang Sheren everywhere in Tianxiang Kingdom, and the legends are getting more and more outrageous. Some people say that she is not actually a mortal, but a god who came in dreams to help His Majesty ascend the throne.

It sounds outrageous no matter how you listen to it!

As for the little stories about Kongzhang Sheren, there are countless of them.

It would have been fine if Su Wan didn't ask, but after she did, she felt completely numb.

Is that still her?

Of course, Xie Pei’s “contribution” was part of this, as many storytellers added fuel to the fire and deliberately made the story sound miraculous.

It didn't matter in the past, but these common people from all over the world brought the news of Kong Zhang Sheren directly to the vicinity of Yuhua Palace. They would train together when they had nothing to do, and then chat about gossip from all over the place, and naturally talked about Kong Zhang Sheren.

Anyway, in the end, everyone had great respect for Kong Zhang Sheren.

Su Wan could only pretend not to hear. She was preparing Mid-Autumn Festival delicacies in the Shangshenjian.

This Mid-Autumn Festival was not a night banquet, but started in the morning. Xie Pei announced the start of the Mid-Autumn Hunting Banquet, followed by the army's unique sword dance, equestrian performances, and a bunch of miscellaneous things, all arranged by the Ministry of Rites.

At noon, a banquet was held in the open-air autumn hunting ground. Xie Pei was seated at the front, with civil and military officials, royal relatives and nobles on both sides, and then at the back were the strongmen who were specially invited to the banquet.

Not to mention the performers, there were more than a thousand people attending the banquet alone, which shows how large the scale was.

Therefore, you must be extra careful about your diet and prepare in advance.

The menu has been prepared, and all of it is the original recipes from the palace. Although everyone just needs to follow the instructions, with so many people eating, every dish cannot be sloppy, which is a challenge for the head of the Imperial Food Bureau.

Not to mention preventing accidents from happening.

Who made it possible for three foreigners to attend this Mid-Autumn Hunting Banquet?

Generally, there must be mutton at banquets, and it is a very important dish at palace banquets. The three foreign tribes are very good at cooking mutton, so the whole roasted lamb at this banquet is the top priority.

If you don't bake it well, you will definitely be laughed at by the Shiyi clan.

They were obviously here to cause trouble, so how could they not cause trouble?

So no matter whether it was the Minister of Rites or the Director of the Imperial Food Bureau, they would naturally hand the matter over to Su Wan. With her cooking skills, there would be no problem in roasting a whole lamb.

But the banquet must not only have roasted whole lamb, but also steamed lamb and hand-pulled lamb, at least one of them.

In addition to mutton, the banquet also showcases the excellence of Tianxiang Kingdom’s cuisine.

Food, clothing, housing and transportation are all important in life, and the food used for entertaining is extremely important.

Which family would not prepare a sumptuous meal when entertaining guests? If someone gives guests a few mixed cold dishes or some stir-fried vegetables and tofu, it would be a sign of disrespect.

Whether a guest is important or not, and whether he is respected or not, can be seen from the food he eats.

Although the Ujiyoshi clan was a foreign tribe, they lived near the Tianxiang Kingdom and were naturally assimilated by this kind of thinking. After arriving, they would definitely give high praise to the food.

Although Shangshisi is confident in its food, it still has to panic.

If we fail to do it well, it will be a loss to the national dignity.

Li Rongrong, who was in charge of the steamed dishes, was so worried that she couldn't sleep for several days. She originally thought that it was just an autumn hunting banquet. They were all family members and His Majesty was not a harsh person, so everyone was relieved.

But what the hell is the Shigi clan coming, making everyone nervous.

Su Wan comforted him several times before he managed to calm down. He had attended banquets of all sizes, so why was he afraid of this?

Besides, their cooking skills are obvious to all, and anyone who comes to eat will be smiling from ear to ear.

Su Wan's calmness soothed many people's hearts.

As for the roasted whole lamb she was going to make, it was not difficult. She had already made the roasted whole lamb before, and now she just had to be more meticulous in the steps.

I have been involved with sheep recently.

Ultimately, it is because the country is weak, otherwise it would not be so cautious.

Su Wan chopped the mutton in her hand and made some hand-pulled mutton in advance for everyone to try. If it tasted good, she would replace it with the lamb that had not been steamed yet.

Li Rongrong was in charge of the steamed dishes, so Su Wan couldn't interfere.

But the taste of the steamed food was just average, so I had to change the dish.

While others were anxious, Su Wan was already preparing mutton, the unique Tan mutton of the northwest, especially the castrated ram, which was an eight-month-old ram. The taste was particularly delicious.

Su Wan originally only knew that Northwestern mutton was delicious, and she guessed that it was because the grasslands there were fertile, but she still didn't know the specific reason.

When I talked with Xie Pei, I learned that the fertility of the grasslands in the northwest is not something that can be summed up in just these two words. There are large tracts of high-quality pasture, and the sheep and horses eat wild licorice, sedge, bitter beans, etc. There are also saltwater lakes, and the water they drink is slightly brackish, as these animals also need to supplement salt.

Therefore, the cattle, sheep and horses grazing there are raised particularly well.

The best forage grass can only be produced in specific places, and only in specific places can you raise mutton that is not fishy but rather sweet.

I used to think that piece of land must not be lost. After learning the reasons carefully, I felt that it must not be lost!

The castrated rams needed for hand-pulled mutton can be slaughtered after eight months of being fanned and chopped into large pieces weighing about two kilograms.

Then put it in water and cook it. In addition to traditional seasonings, apricots and dried orange peels are indispensable. These seasonings make Northwestern hand-pulled lamb different from that in other places.

Lamb is good in itself, and with the right cooking method, the taste will definitely be amazing.

Generally, it is stewed over gentle heat or fried over high heat, and it can be served when it is almost cooked.

There are many requirements when cutting. You must look carefully and make sure the cut meat is a mixture of fat and lean meat, otherwise it will not taste good.

As for the seasoning, it depends on your preference. Garlic paste is indispensable. The taste of hand-pulled lamb dipped in garlic paste will be even better.

After Su Wan finished making this dish, everyone knew that it would be a perfect substitute for Li Rongrong’s steamed lamb. Her cooking skills were impeccable.

The mutton had just been cut and taken out of the pot, and everyone wanted to eat it quickly regardless of the heat.

The result was that my mouth was so hot that it felt uncomfortable, but I was reluctant to spit it out.

Who wants to spit it out?

You have to finish this delicious meat! Dip it in some mashed garlic, fermented bean curd or pickled chives, and it will be delicious.

The fragrance attracted all the palace people passing by.

The mutton is so fragrant.

As the delicious dishes were prepared one after another, Shang Shisi felt relieved.

Isn't it just cooking?

They certainly can!

The court was preparing countermeasures.

The kitchen is preparing meals for the day.

The hunting grounds are practicing diligently, just to bring glory to the Tianxiang Kingdom.

At that time, the competition will be divided into several events, such as wrestling, lifting huge weights, martial arts performances, and finally horse riding and archery, etc.

The highlight is hunting, to see who can catch more prey and whose prey is more ferocious.

This certainly cannot be done in modern times, but this is the Autumn Hunt, which is meant to inspire the bloodiness of the soldiers. Many times, the Autumn Hunt is their stage.

It also allows the emperor to select outstanding talents from among them.

This large hunting ground has a very wide open space in the middle, with banquets, singing and dancing, and tents of various families all nearby.

On the side is a hall that is usually empty, but now it is occupied by hundreds of people.

Further north of the hunting ground is a dense forest. Although it has been cleared several times by the guards, at least the very large animals have been driven away.

They came here to hunt, not to kill.

But this is not absolutely safe. Although most wild animals are very smart and will avoid such scenes, there are too many strange people.

But the reason why wild beasts are wild beasts is that they are uncontrollable, so it is normal for accidents to happen in hunting grounds. For many people, the forest is a place of death.

The victory or defeat depends on the amount of prey caught, so the hunters become extremely popular among the crowd.

Many hunters are taciturn and don't like to talk to people.

It can be called the social phobia in ancient times, but now the social phobia people are surrounded by people who are trying to curry favor with them.

They are hunters! They have experience! If we follow them, we may not win, but at least we can survive. Besides, with their strength and experience, we might get a good ranking!

Even though we are not allowed to enter the forest now, it should be okay to ask the hunters for advice, right?

The socially anxious hunters didn't want to talk at all, but thinking about the Shigi clan who were about to find trouble, they actually felt like sharing their knowledge with them.

Originally, those young masters were too lazy to come over and talk, but now they became more and more interested the more they listened. Even some young men and women who studied literature in Yuhua Palace came over.

Who made this place so lively?

Su Wan looked at the hundreds of people gathered here, and nearly half of them were young people, and was afraid that they would cause trouble.

Fortunately, with Lu Yi by General Xu's side, no one dared to act rashly.

In this case, Su Wan sent fruits and vegetables several times in the name of Xie Pei, which made people appreciate His Majesty's kindness even more.

Meanwhile on the other side.

Having finally received the approval document, the Yoshiyoshi clan immediately set out excitedly.

The Shigi clan was excited.

The other two innocent tribes, the Mu Yan tribe and the Beijun tribe, were helpless.

In fact, they vaguely discovered that the situation had changed. For example, the strength of Tianxiang Kingdom was not as good as before, and the Shiyi clan was extremely ambitious, and they had annexed more and more small tribes in recent years.

The two families are different. The Mu Yan clan is also quietly annexing others. Although they are not as arrogant as the Shi Yi clan, the pasture area has been increasing.

To annex a tribe does not mean simply turning those tribesmen into slaves. After annexing them, their lands must also be annexed. Otherwise, what is the point of wasting time and effort?

So even though the Mu Yan tribe looks unhappy now, they have actually packed up and set off.

Only the Northern Army tribe was the most slow.

They were also unlucky. To the east were the two ambitious Shiyi and Muyan tribes. To the west were two other tribes that were heading west without stopping. Judging from what they said, it seemed that the land in the west was good.

So the Northern Army tribes wavered left and right.

It's really pointless to involve them this time because of the mentality of the Northern Army tribe. They live very stably in their own oasis and develop slowly. It's not easy for them to keep pace with the other two tribes.

The leader of the Northern Army tribe looked at the two families that had already set off, so he sighed and set off with his son.

There is no danger in going to Tianxiang Kingdom, it's just troublesome.

Moreover, the Shiyi clan went there with an aggressive attitude, and it looked like they were looking for trouble, while the Muyan clan seemed to be trying to play tricks on them.

What about him?

He just wanted to take his son to see the prosperity of Tianxiang Kingdom. In the future, their oasis would be built like that!

It’s a pity that if the east-west trade routes were opened, they could have developed better.

Of course, the leader of the Northern Army tribe also has his own little thoughts. He naturally has no intention of invading the land of Tianxiang Kingdom, but he also wants to test how strong the current Tianxiang Kingdom is.

This will affect his future stance.

If the Tianxiang Kingdom remains powerful, he can develop peacefully and safely without forming an alliance with the Shiyi Clan and the Muyan Clan.

If they could be defeated by the Shiyi clan, there would be chaos on the grassland, so they had to prepare early.

The Tianxiang Kingdom mentioned at this time was defeated, and chaos would occur in the grassland. This was related to the previously mentioned order of heaven and the order between the suzerain country and the foreign countries.

If the suzerain state is stable, it will force the subordinate states to be stable

If a large tribe bullies a small tribe, that is under the jurisdiction of the suzerain state, which can help the small tribe resist attacks when necessary.

Or if the suzerain state is attacked, it can ask the foreign state to send troops to fight. In Su Wan's time and space, many envoys went to the tribes to borrow troops, and this principle was used.

But the prerequisite is that the suzerain state is stable and strong. If you can't even take care of yourself, how can you talk about other things?

The Tianxiang Kingdom is not very powerful nowadays. Although it seems to have many younger brothers, they did not help when several younger brothers were bullied before.

So the other brothers naturally became alienated.

Fortunately, Tianxiang Kingdom has a good relationship with several large grassland tribes, and for the time being, only the small country is in trouble.

However, after annexing the small tribes, they naturally turned their attention to the fat piece of meat called Tianxiang Kingdom.

For them, Tianxiang Kingdom is the fattest piece of meat.

Just one bite is enough to keep them going for a long time.

What if you swallow it all?

The Northern Army tribal leaders didn't even dare to think about it.

Anyway, he was reluctant to pack up and leave. His son didn't want to leave. He had been studying how to grow barley in the oasis recently. It would be great if he could succeed.

But the matter is of great importance at this time, and any carelessness will change the relationship between Tianxiang Kingdom and the grassland.

This time, both father and son had to go, and since the leaders of the two tribes were going, they had to go.

People from the three tribes set out one after another, and rode as fast as they could on the road because this matter was so urgent.

The father and son from the Northern Army tribe, along with the envoy, hurried on and finally arrived at Yuhua Palace on the night of August 13.

Fortunately, I arrived in time and early, so I thought I had done my best to be polite.

However, the leader of the Northern Army asked, "Where are Leader Mu Yan and Leader Shi Yi? Do we live together?"

In fact, what I am asking is how to arrange things. Although the three of them are on the grassland together, my relationship with them is not that good, so it would be best if they do not live together.

The official from the Honglu Temple who was in charge of receiving them replied: "You are the first to arrive. The other two tribal leaders are still on their way."

These words made the Northern Army leader and his son look at each other in bewilderment.

They are the last two to leave, but the first to arrive?

What do those two want to do?

Soon they knew what the Mu Yan and Shi Yi tribes wanted to do.

The Mu Yan tribe arrived at the Yuhua Palace late at night on August 14, causing a lot of trouble for the people from the Honglu Temple.

However, the Ujiyoshi clan, who were the first and most excited to set out, were still late.

On the morning of August 15th, banquets were already prepared in various places. All the soldiers and generals of Tianxiang Kingdom had even changed their clothes. Xie Pei was wearing the black dragon robe for the banquet. The civil and military officials were even more ready. They waited until the morning time, which was around nine or ten o'clock, to start the Mid-Autumn Hunt.

It's already this time, but the people from the Shiyi clan haven't arrived yet.

Others didn't know, but Xie Pei and Su Wan knew that they were riding horses towards here from the outskirts of the city.

It's obvious that he's going to be late, but he's deliberately slowing down. Isn't the purpose clear?

He will only come when the banquet has started.

Otherwise how can we explain that the Ujiyoshi clan set out the earliest and arrived in Kyoto the latest, and even after arriving they were still very leisurely. This was the first attempt to show their power.

Usually the most important ones arrive last.

The Ke clan must enter the scene after His Majesty the Emperor Tianxiang appears. The meaning is clear as day.

The Mu Yan tribe was the second to set off and the second to arrive. They also wasted time on the road. I don’t know if it was intentional, but they were quite thoughtful.

Only the military state remained relatively peaceful.

Although it is just the order and time of arrival, it is enough to convey a lot of information.

Xie Pei said coldly: "Don't bother."

"If they arrive when the banquet begins, let them wait at the gate of Qiushou. If they dare to force their way in, they will be treated as assassins."

Treated as an assassin?

Is this a direct kill?

After saying this, the hardliners around him all wanted to persuade His Majesty not to do so.

But Xie Pei was tough in his attitude. When the Grand Secretary of Dongge asked Su Wan to pass the message, Su Wan also felt that they should not be given face.

Since you did this on purpose, are you going to go soft?

You don't behave yourself even when you come to their territory, what else do you want?

The Tianxiang Kingdom is weak, but not so weak that it would throw its face to the ground and be stepped on by others.

In the end, Su Wan refused the offer on the grounds that she was very busy.

She was indeed very busy, busy cooking! Busy preparing meals for the Shangshenjian.

In addition, we have to deal with the matters in the side hall.

There are about four to five hundred people in the side hall, and the number has increased a lot recently.

But generally they can be divided into those selected from the common people and those selected from the children of officials.

They are not on good terms with each other on a daily basis and look down on each other. The longer they spend together, the more conflicts they have.

Today they even had a fight over a horse.

Generally speaking, there are more than a hundred horses in the stable at the autumn hunting ground, provided for everyone to learn riding and archery.

This number is definitely not enough, so everyone has to line up to learn.

This was laughed at by the young masters who all owned horses, and he even deliberately showed off his superb riding skills in front of them.

Because of these things, everyone usually has conflicts, and this time they broke out directly.

The cause was simple. A young man named Zhou had just got a wild horse. He tried to tame it every day, but he always failed.

This time, he was tired from training the horse, so he had someone tie up the horse while he went to rest.

Who knew that when he came back, he saw the fierce horse being ridden by another farmer. The farmer was strong and agile, and he managed to tame the fierce horse!

The farmers were happy, but Master Zhou was dumbfounded, and then became extremely angry.

The farmer named Xia was puzzled. After Master Zhou explained clearly, he realized that this was not a public horse and apologized repeatedly.

But forget about other horses, this is a fierce horse that he couldn't tame, but someone else tamed it! Mr. Zhou naturally refused to give in.

Xia Zhuanghu's temper wasn't that good. He was wrong and he apologized sincerely right away. Isn't that enough?

The result was that the two sides started fighting directly. One side had strength and the other side had skills, and the two were evenly matched.

But gradually Master Zhou ran out of strength and was obviously about to be beaten.

Su Wan felt helpless when she went there.

You know what day it is today, don't you?

When she went over, the two men had already been pulled apart by the people around them, but both of them had bruises on their faces.

Su Wan was originally in charge of the affairs of the side hall, and now she had to take care of it even more, but she still asked: "Where is the doctor? Has the doctor seen it?"

Unexpectedly, they both said no in unison.

We are all martial artists, so this injury is nothing.

Su Wan held her forehead with her hand, but seeing their cross-eyed expressions, Su Wan was too lazy to say too much, and only said: "Twenty-two years ago, during the autumn hunt of Tianxiang Country, all the leaders of the eighteen tribes on the grassland came together and settled in Kyoto a month in advance. They were no match for the men of Tianxiang Country in archery and horseback riding."

"After the competition, everyone humbly asked for advice and bowed their heads to serve as a minister."

"Twenty-two years later, still in this hunting ground, still in autumn hunting, only three tribal leaders came."

“Although the time is tight this year, one arrived two days early.”

"The other one arrived late last night."

"There is another one who is walking slowly on the road, waiting to embarrass Tianxiang Country."

"What about you?"

"What are you doing?"

After Su Wan said this, she pointed to the large kitchen next to the side hall and said, "I have to go back to prepare for today's banquet."

"For this banquet, countless palace servants made great efforts in advance and worked together to win a little face."

"You can do whatever you want to do."

These words stunned everyone.

Those who originally wanted to watch the fun were dumbfounded.

They were just watching for fun, so naturally they didn't really try to persuade them. One could imagine that there were still two tribal leaders living in Yuhua Palace at that time, but they were fighting among themselves before the banquet started, and they were sweating profusely for a while.

Seeing that they didn't say anything, Su Wan left quickly. If she wanted internal unity, she had to find an external conflict.

Sure enough, not long after she left, news came.

Mr. Zhou said to Mr. Xia, "The fierce horse is given to you."

Such a good horse? Just give it to him?

Just as Xia Zhuanghu was about to refuse, he heard Master Zhou sigh and say, "I don't want to give it to you, I do it for face."

As they spoke, the two whispered something, and then they turned into Xia Zhuanghu in horror.

"That's the reason. The matter has become a big deal and there will definitely be some evidence. We might as well turn it into a good story. It will become a story of heroes appreciating heroes, no friendship without fighting, and a BMW given to heroes." Master Zhou said with no desire to live.

His horse!!!

Why is it not tamed?

For the sake of the overall situation, you have to give it to others!

But only in this way can this matter be put to rest.

When someone brought it up later, they would talk about the fight between the two before the autumn hunt and the story of domestic discord in Tianxiang.

Rather, it is a passionate and joyful story that everyone will applaud and praise.

Xia Zhuanghu was given some advice, why had he never thought of this?

Xiao Songsheng, who was deep in thought beside him, took out a book of military strategy from his arms and said, "This was given to me by the young master of the Li family a few days ago. I think we can take a serious look at it."

This is where they suffer the loss.

You can learn, you can learn, there is still plenty of time.

When the news of this matter reached Yuhua Palace, of course there was only a story about two people fighting for a good horse, and in the end, heroes appreciated heroes, and Master Zhou gave the good horse away out of kindness.

Young Master Zhou felt like his heart was bleeding when he heard the compliments from the people around him.

He doesn't want to be so generous!

But he had no choice!

Mr. Zhou's father was a civil official in the court. He was originally a little unhappy with his son's love of martial arts, but when this happened, he praised him several times.

Good, he is worthy of being my son.

When the words reached Master Zhou's ears, it seemed that it was not bad?

Su Wan wanted to laugh when she heard this. Fortunately, everything was going well.

Just waiting for the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.

Su Wan also had to change her clothes and attend the banquet. As an eighth-rank female official, she naturally sat with the people from the Ministry of Rites.

Today's banquet must be very interesting, she will definitely go to watch the fun!