Chapter 70 The Feast at Hongmen
Jiangnan, Lin'an Prefecture.
As the most prosperous land of fish and rice in Dagan, even though it has suffered a once-in-a-century flood, this ancient city still retains some of the extravagance of "singing girls who know nothing of the sorrow of a fallen nation".
After experiencing a shipwreck, falling into the water, and surviving in the wilderness, Shen Jin and Jiang Mianmian finally managed to knock on the gates of Lin'an Prefecture using Shen Jin's waist token.
However, instead of revealing the full retinue of the "Regent," they moved into the residence of Liu Deshui, the prefect of Jiangnan, in a disheveled manner, claiming to have "traveled incognito and met with misfortune."
Night falls in the back hall of the prefectural government office.
The lights were bright, and a warm fragrance filled the air.
If you ignored the ragged beggars on the street outside, the furnishings inside the house would make you think you were in a royal palace.
"Oh dear! Your Highness! Your Highness! This humble official deserves to die!"
A middle-aged fat man in official robes, with a large belly, knelt down with a thud, crying so hard that tears streamed down his face. "This humble official was unaware of Your Highness's arrival and has failed to greet you properly! I heard that Your Highness encountered danger on the river, and my heart... feels like it's being fried in oil!"
This man was none other than Liu Deshui, the prefect of Jiangnan.
While crying, he secretly peeked at Shen Jin and Jiang Mianmian with his small, beady eyes.
Although the two had changed into clean clothes, they looked travel-worn and had few companions with them. More importantly... they heard that the large ship loaded with disaster relief funds and grain had sunk.
It's good that it sank!
Liu Deshui was overjoyed. With the silver and grain gone, there would be no way to prove the embezzlement. Moreover, the regent was now a lone commander; in this Jiangnan region, even a dragon had to coil up and a tiger had to lie low!
"Please rise, Lord Liu."
Shen Jin sat in the main seat, his face pale and his expression weary. "I was fortunate to be taken in by Lord Liu during this ordeal. But the relief funds..."
"Your Highness, rest assured!"
Liu Deshui immediately patted his chest and said, "Although the imperial funds are gone, I will sell everything I own to entertain Your Highness! Someone! Bring a meal! To calm Your Highness and Princess's nerves!"
At his command, a group of maids dressed in sheer, tattered veils entered, carrying exquisite platters, like a flowing stream.
Jiang Mianmian sat next to Shen Jin, who was starving.
[Eating? Sure, sure!]
[I'm starving! I spent the whole night drifting on the river and only ate a few pieces of compressed biscuits. I could swallow a whole cow!]
Although Fatty Liu looks sleazy, he's actually quite proactive in arranging the meals...
However, when those lids were lifted one by one...
The light in Jiang Mianmian's eyes went out instantly.
Instead, there was an unprecedented chill and murderous aura emanating from the depths of one's soul.
The first dish: Steamed Yangtze River shad. This fish is extremely difficult to catch and is known as the "King of Fish," with a price higher than gold. Only the tenderest middle section is used, and the rest is discarded.
The second dish: braised bear paw. The bear paw was thick and wide, drizzled with rich, dark sauce, and exuded an enticing aroma of meat.
The third course: Premium Blood Bird's Nest. Each piece was a translucent, deep red, clearly the finest of the finest.
The fourth dish: Crab-stuffed orange. An orange is filled with the roe and fat of a whole hairy crab and then steamed – an extremely luxurious dish.
Following that were deer antler, shark fin, abalone... a total of thirty-six dishes, filling the huge round table.
This table of dishes is worth at least several thousand taels of silver.
At this very moment, right outside this wall, on those flooded streets, countless people are fighting tooth and nail over a bowl of moldy, stale rice porridge, some even resorting to cannibalism.
Liu Deshui rubbed his hands together, his face full of flattery as he introduced:
"Your Highness, Your Highness, Jiangnan has suffered a disaster, and supplies are scarce. My household is so poor that we can't even afford to eat, and we really have nothing good to offer you. These... are all things I've saved up from my own meager resources. Please don't find them offensive and make do with them."
So poor they can't even afford to eat?
Saved from between your teeth?
Will you just eat something?
Jiang Mianmian looked at the table full of delicacies, and her hand holding the chopsticks began to tremble violently.
[Fuck your grandpa!]
[Liu Deshui, you call this poverty? You call this making do?]
This plate of shad is enough to feed a hundred disaster victims for a month! How many bags of rice could this bowl of bird's nest be exchanged for?
"Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste; on the road, frozen corpses lie." I'd only ever read this line in books before, thinking it was an exaggeration. Today… I've witnessed it firsthand!
As someone who came from the apocalypse, Jiang Mianmian, though gluttonous and greedy, has one absolute bottom line—
Respect food.
Respect life.
In the apocalypse, people would kill each other for half a piece of moldy bread. Every grain of food is earned with lives.
And now, this corrupt official, who spouts righteousness and morality, is crying poverty while squandering these life-saving resources on this so-called "welcome banquet," and even taking pride in it.
Feeling nauseous.
Looking at this table full of meat, I have absolutely no appetite; I just want to vomit.
[And... he wanted to kill someone.]
[Shen Jin, I want to shove his fat, bloated head into that plate of braised bear paw! I want to pour that bowl of piping hot bird's nest soup down his nose!]
Why doesn't this scum die? Why didn't the flood wash him away?
Shen Jin sat beside him, holding a wine glass in his hand, his expression still indifferent.
But his fingers, gripping the wine glass, had turned white from excessive force.
He heard it.
He heard the overwhelming anger and undisguised murderous intent in Jiang Mianmian's heart.
Normally, she would drool and exclaim "So delicious!" when she saw something tasty. But today, faced with this table full of top-quality food, she felt like killing someone.
Because she knows what hunger feels like.
Because she has a bottom line.
This Liu Deshui has clearly crossed her bottom line, as well as Shen Jin's bottom line.
"Your Highness?"
Seeing that neither of them was touching their chopsticks, Liu Deshui felt a little uneasy. "But... is this dish not to your liking? Or... should I have it removed and remade?"
Should we undo and redo it?
Wouldn't that mean wasting another table of food?
"Smack!"
Jiang Mianmian slammed her hand on the table, the crisp sound particularly jarring in the quiet hall.
Liu Deshui trembled in fright, his fat face shaking violently: "Your...Your Highness?"
Jiang Mianmian slowly stood up, her usual playful smile gone, replaced by a chilling indifference. She picked up the priceless steamed shad and held it in her hands.
"Lord Liu said this was saved up from between his teeth?"
Jiang Mianmian's voice was very soft, yet it was like an ice dagger.
"Yes...yes..." Liu Deshui wiped away cold sweat, "This humble official is incorruptible..."
"May your whole family be honest and upright!"
Jiang Mianmian suddenly erupted, flipping her wrist.
"Smack!"
The plate of shad was dumped directly onto Liu Deshui's oily face!
The scalding soup flowed down his collar, burning him so badly that he screamed like a pig being slaughtered: "Ah—! It's hot! It's burning me to death!"
All the maids were so frightened that they knelt on the ground.
Shadow One's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, ready to strike at any moment.
But Jiang Mianmian wasn't finished yet.
She grabbed the braised bear paw and shoved it directly into Liu Deshui's wide-open mouth, silencing his screams.
"Eat! Give me some!"
Jiang Mianmian's eyes were bloodshot, like an enraged mother leopard. "Don't you like to eat? Aren't you poor? This bear paw is enough for your whole family to eat for a year, right? Swallow it!"
[Scum! Degenerate! Parasite!]
The silver and grain that I painstakingly saved are meant to save the lives of the people, not for you, a beast, to squander!
Today, on behalf of those innocent souls who starved to death, I will feed you properly!
Liu Deshui choked on the bear paw until his eyes rolled back, and he struggled desperately, trying to vomit it out.
"Your Highness... save... save me..." he mumbled incoherently.
He sat calmly in his seat, slowly picked up a handkerchief, and wiped his hands.
He looked at the princess who was being "physically fed," his eyes showing no reproach, only a kind of... indulgent pleasure.
"If the princess tells you to eat, then eat."
Shen Jin spoke calmly, his voice like that of a judge in the underworld, "Spit out even a little bit, and I'll chop off one of your fingers."
"Whenever the princess is happy, then... that's it."
At this moment, the murderous aura emanating from the couple was surprisingly consistent.
This is—the Feast at Hongmen?
That's right.
However, this was a trap set for Liu Deshui.
Looking at the corrupt official who was choking and almost suffocating, Jiang Mianmian's anger finally subsided a little.
Whew...that felt good.
However, this is only interest.
Give back what you took from me, Liu Deshui. Your good days are over.
Outside the window, thunder rumbled, signaling an even bigger downpour was imminent.
And this purge of the Jiangnan officialdom will begin with this murderous banquet.
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