After a while, she let out a long sigh, and the corners of her slightly upturned mouth curved in a helpless and self-deprecating arc.

"That's right...his woman is Chiba Sanako..."

…

…

For Qingteng, "standing up for Suzune" is just a trivial daily episode, just like "buying a bunch of grilled squid on the roadside."

After saying goodbye to Suzune, he and Echigoya Bunzaburo went to the reserved private room one after another - all the guests had arrived.

With Qingdeng's arrival, today's banquet can finally officially begin.

Qingdeng sat in the main seat as he should.

The guests, headed by Echigoya Bunzaburo, took their seats on the left and right sides of Aoto in order according to their status.

To put it bluntly, the lineup of guests in this room is really jaw-dropping.

Even the person attending the last table was a well-known big shot in the Edo business circle.

However, Qingdeng had a calm face, showing neither timidity nor frivolity.

Sitting there, he was like a strong pine standing there, unable to be bent by the wind or knocked down by the rain.

Such occasions...even more top-notch and more fascinating occasions than this, Qingdeng participated in countless times in the past year and eight months.

Whenever this happens, others will intuitively feel that this young man who had nothing to rely on except the knife in his waist is now a hero who can influence the trend of history!

What Ryotei provides is generally Kaiseki cuisine.

Kaiseki cuisine or banquet cuisine was originally born in the social occasions of the upper class, and soon gradually influenced the generally more affluent civil society.

Kaiseki cuisine was originally supposed to be "tea kaiseki cuisine" and is closely related to the final formation and development of the tea ceremony.

The word "Kaiseki" comes from Buddhism, mainly the etiquette practice of Zen Buddhism.

During the 12th and 13th centuries of the Kamakura period, Zen Buddhism was officially introduced from China to Japan through the hands of Einishi, Dogen and others.

At the same time, the strict rules of Zen and the precepts of Zen monks were gradually established in Japanese Zen temples.

In terms of diet, not eating after lunch has almost become an ironclad rule among Zen monks.

However, sometimes from the afternoon to late at night, the continuous practice of chanting sutras often makes some monks physically exhausted and unable to support themselves.

So some people put preheated stones into their arms to ward off their hungry stomachs.

Such stones are called "warm stones".

Later, the rules in the temple were relaxed, and some people made some light food to temporarily satisfy their hunger. Such plain and simple food was called "kaiseki", which was roughly similar to snacks, but more Zen-like.

At first, kaiseki cuisine was used at tea parties as snacks when drinking tea. Although the dishes are relatively small and there is no fat or fat in the delicacies, they are actually quite particular about the selection of materials and cooking. In the eyes of Japanese people,

It is still a kind of upper-class diet.

In this way, Kaiseki cuisine gradually entered the upper class society.

Whether they are shoguns, local daimyo, upper-class samurai, urban wealthy businessmen, or literati, they all take pride in eating kaiseki cuisine.

Kaiseki cuisine has a relatively fixed set of dishes and etiquette practices.

The first thing that is brought out is a meal plate with a soup bowl, a rice bowl and a small plate with sashimi or sashimi... that is, a food plate, and then the rice and soup are served.

Then take out the appetizers and wine on the plate and pour the wine three times. This is called the first offering of wine.

Next, the grilled fish or birds are served, and the wine is poured three times with a wine flask. This is called the "second offering".

Then the soup bowl and rice bowl are removed, high-grade clear soup is served, which is called "suction" in Japanese, and wine is poured three times, a total of "three offerings".

Then add pickles, hot water bucket, etc., and wipe the bowl clean.

After eating the last fruit, the guests went to the tea garden outside to rest for a while, and then went to the tea room to drink strong tea.

The prototype of Kaiseki is a simple food used by monks to satisfy their hunger... so you can imagine its taste.

To use a more vulgar term, it means "fading out like a bird".

Whether it was vegetables or soup, it was as if no salt had been added. Qingteng couldn't even tell the difference between vegetables and fish - they were all the same tasteless.

Qingdeng prefers food with strong taste and more common taste.

Rather than eating this so-called high-end cuisine at a high-end restaurant, he would rather drink soju with vinegared octopus in an izakaya, or eat a 16-cent bowl of buckwheat noodles at a soba restaurant with two extra crispy fried celestials.

burro.

But there is no way, no matter how unpalatable kaiseki cuisine is, it will always be the upper-class diet of the Edo period. If you want to deal with dignitaries, you can't avoid it.

In order to socialize, I can only make some necessary sacrifices.

Qingdeng never forgot the threat of punishing the party.

He killed the Rakshasa, severely damaged the Qingshui clan, disrupted the production and sale of Huanfu Lake, and caused a lot of trouble for the Fa Punishment Party.

If it was said that the Party had forgiven him for what he had done... Qingdeng would definitely not believe it.

God knows what methods this gang of extreme lunatics will use to retaliate against him in the future.

Therefore, in order to protect himself and the relatives and friends around him, Qingdeng continued to improve his own strength while maximizing the use of the resources at hand.

The identity of "a side member and an employee of the imperial government" is a huge "treasure". It is like a sponge that absorbs water. With just a pinch, you can easily squeeze out the wealth called "people connections".

Countless people are trying to have a relationship with Qing Teng.

And Qingdeng is also happy to deal with powerful people from all walks of life.

He is a person who is very good at making friends and enjoys making friends.

Before he soared into the sky and became the "Minister of the Military Aircraft Department", Qingdeng had friends all over the government, business, military and other industries.

During this long period of one year and eight months, Qingdeng has been working hard to manage his connections.

Through his unremitting efforts, he has accumulated a relatively valuable network of resources.

Qingdeng is always ready for a battle with the Fa Zun Party.

However...the other party never took any action.

Not only did they not take revenge on Qingdeng, but all other activities also disappeared.

Neither the Calabash House nor the shogunate has collected any information about the next move of the Punishment Party, and the silence is eerie.

Thanks to this, Qingden's life has been extremely peaceful since the Qingshui clan was severely injured... so peaceful that it made his heart tremble.

The process of the banquet progressed slowly.

Although the food was so unpalatable that he wished he could throw it up on the spot, Qingdeng still activated his talent "Emperor's Technique" and tried to keep his expression calm, pretending to be calm and indifferent, and silently swept the food on the plate.

About half an hour later, it was finally the last step of the banquet - we all moved to the tea room to drink tea.

This is the highlight of today's dinner.

This is probably an unwritten rule in the Edo period - don't talk about business while eating.

Talking while eating is both inefficient and inelegant.

When you eat, eat well. Leave the business to the tea room and discuss it slowly.

In the tea room of Yoshikawa Ryotei, Echigoya Bunzaburo holds tea spoons and tea bowls in his hands and prepares matcha for everyone.

[Note: Tea whisk: A cylindrical bamboo brush is made by cutting bamboo into fine brush shapes.]

By the way, matcha in the Edo period is completely different from the "matcha toppings" commonly found in milk tea shops in the 21st century.

Although it is just a personal taste deviation, Ainoto still wants to say: the matcha in the Edo period was really terrible!

It's so bitter that the water from Souji tastes better than it.

"Master Tachibana, please use it."

After a while, Echigoya Bunzaburo pushed the prepared matcha to Aoto's knees.

Qingdeng nodded, then held the tea bowl with both hands, held his breath, and drank the tea in the bowl in small sips with the consciousness and momentum of drinking Chinese medicine.

Everyone sat together, drinking tea and chatting, talking about common topics that were neither salty nor light.

However, without warning, Echigoya Bunzaburo gradually led the topic to serious content without leaving any trace——

"Lord Tachibana, it is said that a war is about to break out in the Gyeonggi region. Do you have any reliable news here?"

*******

*******

There are 8,000 words today!

What a long-lost chapter! Can’t you think that Leopard Leopard is too short today? (Leopard Leopard Head weeping)

Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a recommendation vote! (Leopard Head Cries)
Chapter completed!