The greatest fear at palace banquets was cold food. Fortunately, it was autumn now and the weather was warm. When the Inner Court began preparing the menu, Zhao Hanzhang had said she hoped her subjects could eat well at the palace banquet.

A palace banquet was, frankly, a company gathering. Since the superior was being generous for once, naturally good dishes should be prepared to entertain everyone.

Dance and music were important, but the food was more important – especially in this era when most people couldn’t eat their fill or eat well.

Not every official had the money to dine at Taotie Tower.

With Zhao Hanzhang’s order, the imperial kitchen racked their brains, even running to Taotie Tower for advice. Finally, they prepared three menus to submit.

Wang Huifeng and Tinghe first reviewed and modified them before submitting them to Zhao Hanzhang for approval.

Late into the night, Zhao Hanzhang pulled Fu Tinghan to discuss for ages, thinking about what they both liked to eat.

“What I like to eat, the military generals will like. What you like to eat, the refined scholars with light tastes will surely like too. So as long as one menu satisfies both you and me, it basically satisfies them.”

Thus, this menu was also carefully selected.

To ensure dishes were served quickly without being prepared too early and growing cold, Fu Tinghan had specifically ordered construction of an additional room in the imperial kitchen with platforms built inside, with fire dragons running beneath.

The heat generated from cooking would warm the water on the tail stove. The tail stove’s boiler was specially made with left and right baffles.

Once the water boiled, lifting the left baffle would allow the boiling water to enter the pipes.

The pipes led to the back room where completed dishes could be placed. The platform was warm, so dishes placed on it wouldn’t grow cold even after five or six hours.

Most wonderfully, after the water flowed through the room, it could flow back outside. Fu Tinghan had iron pipes made with galvanized coating, combined with cast cement pipes to guide the water out. Turning the tap produced hot water.

People in the imperial kitchen could wash vegetables and meat with hot water.

If not for the fact that renovating the palace required too much money, Fu Tinghan would have wanted to extend hot water into the palace for underfloor heating and showers.

Luoyang’s winters were still too cold – underfloor heating would be much more comfortable.

Steamed lamb, steamed deer tail, roast duck, roast goose, braised pork, braised bamboo shoots, red and white meatballs, longevity fish, peony swallow dish, and more.

Palace maids entered carrying dishes in orderly files. One group would descend, another would ascend, their movements graceful and orderly. The service was swift and efficient – every dish steaming hot, just looking at them stimulated the appetite.

For the enthronement ceremony, everyone had controlled their eating since morning, fearing unseemly incidents might occur midway.

After the Heaven Worship ceremony ended, though they could leave the palace to change clothes, because they were entering the palace and feared emergencies might arise, all officials still only tucked a few flatbreads into their sleeves in case they grew very hungry and needed a bite.

It could be said that throughout the day, everyone had eaten only cold food. Suddenly seeing such steaming hot dishes, everyone couldn’t help but feel their appetites stirred, their stomachs rumbling with hunger.

Zhao Hanzhang was hungry too.

Every dish on this table was one she loved. If not for limited table space, limited budget, and current limitations on available ingredients, she would have wanted one serving of every dish from the Menu Recitation.

Everyone was hungry, yet no one dared move. They all looked up at Zhao Hanzhang, hoping she would quickly give her speech so everyone could eat.

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but smile. She picked up her chopsticks and first placed a bite of rice in her mouth before saying, “I know everyone is hungry. I won’t waste words – let’s eat.”

The officials laughed aloud, cupping their hands and smiling in response before taking up their chopsticks.

Two newly arrived dishes Zhao Hu had never seen – both golden in color, appearing similar yet served on different plates.

After observing for a moment, he picked up a piece of meat from the left plate and looked toward Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang had originally wanted to eat meatballs, but suddenly catching his gaze, she thought for a moment, then turned her chopsticks to pick up a piece of roast duck. She dipped it in the sauce beside it, then brought it to her mouth.

Seeing this, Zhao Hu immediately imitated her – first dipping in sauce, then eating.

The golden skin was crispy on entry, but the meat inside was tender and juicy. Mixed with the sauce, it was salty with a hint of sweetness – truly delicious.

Zhao Hu’s eyes lit up.

He reached for a piece from the other plate, then looked at Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed helplessly and could only pick up a piece of roast goose, lightly dipping it in another sauce dish…

Zhao Hu followed suit – another different flavor. The outer skin was similar, but this meat wasn’t as tender as the previous piece. However, it wasn’t greasy, and paired with this slightly sweet and sour sauce, it was another kind of taste entirely.

The officials weren’t fools either. They had been watching the Emperor and noticed the interaction between the grandfather and granddaughter, following suit to eat this dish.

Ji Yuan was more straightforward. After eating, he beckoned an attendant over and asked, “These two dishes have different meat qualities – what are they called?”

The attendant bowed and replied, “In response to the Chamberlain, this is roast duck, and this is roast goose – both prepared according to recipes given by Your Majesty.”

These two dishes referenced Cantonese methods. During the trial preparations, Zhao Hanzhang had eaten them several times. It was now the eighth lunar month – the season when ducks were fattest, so the roast duck was most delicious.

After caring for Zhao Hu, Zhao Hanzhang finally picked up her long-awaited meatballs.

These were meat dumplings – meat and flour mixed in an ideal ratio, combined with some spices – the perfect texture for Zhao Hanzhang.

Fu Tinghan found them slightly tough, not tender enough, but the meat was firm. Zhao Hanzhang loved them, as did Wang Shi and Zhao Erlang, who wasn’t in Luoyang.

All three members of their family preferred this texture.

Zhao Hanzhang suddenly remembered something and turned to look. Sure enough, Wang Shi had already finished both meatballs and seemed to want more.

Zhao Hanzhang separated the meatballs, taking only half, then looked at Tinghe.

Tinghe came forward and carefully carried the small bowl to Wang Shi.

Wang Shi was delighted. She glanced at her daughter before eating this half meatball.

Fu Tinghan handed over his two uneaten meatballs to Fu’an.

Fu’an was about to take them to Zhao Hanzhang when Laiqing quickly stepped forward to receive them. The two competed silently, and Laiqing ultimately prevailed, forcibly taking the bowl and delivering it to Zhao Hanzhang with an ingratiating smile. “Your Majesty, this is from the Imperial Consort.”

Zhao Hanzhang paused, glanced at Laiqing, then nodded.

She looked at Fu Tinghan sitting not far away and asked, “Which dish do you think is best?”

Fu Tinghan replied, “All are good. The peony swallow dish is best.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, scanned the table, then used the communal chopsticks to pick out a portion of braised bamboo shoots. She had it sent to Princess Hongnong.

She used the communal chopsticks to pick out a portion of fish meat, then had the longevity fish sent to Zhao Song. The remaining roast duck went to Zhao Hu…

Every important meritorious official was acknowledged. Seeing Tuoba Yilu enjoyed the braised pork, she picked up one piece and had the rest sent to their table.

Sigh, being Emperor was actually quite tiring – one had to spread favor evenly.

Zhao Hanzhang finally placed one of the two remaining meatballs in her bowl and had it sent to Prince An.

Amid the lively atmosphere, musicians from the music hall came forward to perform. There were female performers offering music and male performers offering dance. After watching two performances, Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze passed through them to look at the father and son Tuoba seated not far away.