When the Son of Heaven made his southern tour, he didn't want to make a big deal of it in the fishing village.
However, how could one dare to be negligent when the most honorable ruler of the land deigned to visit?
During the journey, whenever Li Ying had some free time, she would carefully plan what kind of dishes to prepare for a banquet to entertain the Son of Heaven. She wanted to show her respect while also offering something unique.
Whenever she came up with a suitable delicacy, Lu Xunguang would immediately arrange for people to search for fresh ingredients. They would travel day and night to send the ingredients to the fishing village in advance.
Li Ying intended to personally prepare a "Hundred - Dish Banquet", and the first dish on the list was "The Nine Sons of the Dragon".
The water used for cooking this dish came from seven major water systems in the northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest, and the capital. A ladle of water was taken from each river and lake, boiled repeatedly for sterilization, and then filtered layer by layer through basalt and bamboo charcoal to remove impurities.
The ingredients for the soup base included hazel mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms from the snow - covered mountains in the northeast, snow lotuses from the peak of the Kunlun Mountains in the northwest, lilies from the sandy soil of Loulan in the north desert, nine - hole fresh abalones from the South Seas, a pinch of cordyceps from A Man's hometown, and finally, a green coconut brought by Li Ying was skillfully opened.
Using an old hen and pork shanks as the base, various mountain and sea delicacies were added, and then all the water from the world's water systems was poured in. It was then simmered over low heat for two hours.
Next, deer meat from the northeast, fish from the South Seas, horse meat from the grasslands, beef from the northwest, and yak meat from the southwest were taken. A pair of heavy iron rods were used to pound the meat repeatedly in the way of making beef balls by hand until it became a fine meat paste.
Into the minced meat, scallion - ginger water was added in batches, pepper was used to remove the fishy smell, egg liquid was added to enhance the smooth texture, and soy sauce and oyster sauce were used for seasoning. Then, the minced meat could be squeezed into uniform and round balls with the thumb and forefinger.
The nine meatballs were deep - fried in a hot oil pan until they had a golden and crispy crust, looking like full moons. Then, they were put into the simmered soup to cook.
The meatballs absorbed all the deliciousness of the soup. They were placed beside a vividly carved flying dragon made of various radishes, and then a sauce thickened with a glaze was poured over them. This dish, "The Nine Sons of the Dragon", gathered the essence of all the famous mountains and great rivers across the land of China.
The various meats blended to create a new and exotic aroma and were fully saturated with the deliciousness of the soup. Calling it the "dragon meat of the sky" was by no means an exaggeration.
Another dish that was equally all - encompassing was the "Chicken of a Thousand Flavors from Mountains and Rivers".
A free - range chicken from the South Seas that had been fed banyan tree seeds since childhood was selected. The bones were carefully removed, leaving the chicken body intact without a single break.
Then, tender lamb legs from the grasslands, cured ham smoked over a farmhouse earthen stove, golden - colored salted mullet roe, and fresh salmon caught by fishermen at sea were selected. After a little salting to remove the fishy smell, they were cut into small pieces and fried in a pan until fragrant.
Only a little sea salt was used for seasoning to bring out the original flavor of the ingredients.
Sea cucumbers from the East China Sea, scallops from the pearl - breeding island, chewy hand - made beef balls from Lingnan, red wolfberries and dates from the northwest were blanched and set aside.
Finally, there were also matsutake mushrooms and morel mushrooms from A Man's village, refreshing and sweet water chestnuts from the South Seas, soft and palatable taro, sweet chestnuts from the mountains near the capital, and fresh bamboo shoots just picked from the Lu family's bamboo forest.
These sixteen ingredients were carefully stuffed into the chicken belly, sealed with cotton thread, and the whole chicken was placed in a steamer. The steam sealed in all the natural soup of the ingredients. Mixed with the chicken juice and chicken fat that flowed out during steaming, the bulging chicken belly was full of rich essence.
A layer of honey water was then brushed on the chicken skin, and boiling hot oil was repeatedly poured over the chicken body to fry the tender chicken skin into a crispy, shiny jujube - red color.
At this moment, only a little green vegetable was needed to decorate the chicken tail to make it look like a map of the country. A "Chicken of a Thousand Flavors from Mountains and Rivers" that gathered the world's delicacies was then served hot out of the oven.
When the chicken was cut open, the special aroma of the various ingredients rushed out.
The deliciousness of the sea cucumbers and scallops, the tenderness of the salmon and lamb, combined with the sweetness of the water chestnuts and chestnuts, and the strong and exotic aroma of the mushrooms, formed a powerful punch of deliciousness that directly hit one's senses.
Seemingly just an ordinary steamed chicken, in fact, every bite captured all the most delicious flavors in the world.
Such dishes naturally had excellent auspicious meanings.
After the Son of Heaven, the Empress Dowager, and others tasted them, they all praised them highly.
If the previous day's jellyfish banquet was simple and light, today's grand banquet of mountains and rivers was rich, colorful, and extremely magnificent.
Li Ying had really exerted all her skills. Soon, the little eunuch in charge of serving the meal carefully carried in a huge winter melon.
There was also a coiling dragon pattern carved on the melon, and a lid was carefully cut out with a serrated knife.
Using the winter melon as a container, what was cooked inside were the Eight Treasures, the Four Precious Ingredients, the Three Fresh Delicacies, and the Nine Flavors.
The so - called Eight Treasures were abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, fish lips, scallops, shark fin, fish roe, and conch.
The Four Precious Ingredients were snow frogs, old ginseng, ganoderma lucidum, and wolfberries, which were commonly used in medicinal diets for nourishment.
The Three Fresh Delicacies were the sweet clams, the plump crabs, and the crunchy shrimps.
For the "Dragon and Phoenix Soup Base", a three - year - old old hen and an eel weighing more than three catties were selected. They were fried until golden and then simmered over low heat until the soup turned milky white.
The Eight Treasures, the Four Precious Ingredients, and the Three Fresh Delicacies were all put into the winter melon container, and the Dragon and Phoenix Soup Base was poured over them for steaming.
This winter melon container was by no means just a simple vessel, nor was it a gimmick to attract attention.
The sweet juice of the winter melon slowly seeped into the soup base and the ingredients during the slow steaming process, harmonizing all the flavors and giving each bite of the meat the unique fragrance of the winter melon.
For this dish, "Dragon and Phoenix Match", only salt was used for seasoning. But because of the natural freshness of the ingredients, it left a fragrant taste in one's mouth without being greasy.
Naturally, the Son of Heaven and others clapped their hands in admiration and repeatedly praised Li Ying's almost magical cooking skills.
Li Ying and a group of imperial chefs were busy until the twilight gradually deepened.
On the other side, the Son of Heaven did not forget his original intention of "sharing joys with the common people". He waved his hand and invited the fishing village villagers who were standing not far away watching to come and share the meal.
Some smart people in the village had already roughly guessed the identity of the Son of Heaven from the grand occasion.
However, influenced by the great Confucian Yan Lian, although most of the fishing village villagers had not read many books, their words and deeds were not vulgar. After some initial caution, they found that the Son of Heaven was indeed a kind - hearted and approachable wise king, so they put away their timidity.
The Son of Heaven had traveled incognito precisely because he didn't want to disturb the villagers in the fishing village, let alone see them trembling in fear as if they were afraid of losing their heads.
Now seeing that everyone was neither over - humble nor over - assertive, it made the Son of Heaven feel extremely comfortable. So he simply stopped deliberately hiding his identity.
If all the governors and county magistrates in the various prefectures of the country could educate the people on his behalf like Li Ying did, how peaceful and prosperous this era would be! As a king, he thought he could also relax a bit!
The more he looked at Li Ying's elegant and beautiful face, the more pleasing it became to his eyes.
Empress Pei observed the situation. Seeing that the Son of Heaven was in a great mood and had drunk a few cups of fine wine heartily, she finally pretended to joke and probed, "A Ying is so dexterous. No wonder Lord Lu loves his beautiful wife so much. If I were a man, I'm afraid I would also come to propose marriage!"
The Son of Heaven saw Lu Xunguang's slightly red ears, showing a rare blush of a young man. He laughed heartily and said, "Today is just the right time. I shall take charge and bestow a marriage upon you two!"
He waved and called over the Minister of Rites and asked, "When is the auspicious day for marriage?"