As the biggest boss, Li Shimin naturally waited for everyone to arrive before making his final appearance. However, tonight it was not Li Shimin himself. He was accompanied by a lady in a phoenix crown and garland. Zhang San guessed that it was Aunt Changsun Chong and Queen Changsun.
Everyone stood up and saluted Li Shimin and Empress Changsun to say hello, "Everyone loves you."
"Sit!" Xu Huang shouted next, and everyone sat down one after another.
Zhang San was quite curious about this way of eating one meal per person at a small table. He had only seen it on TV before, but he didn’t expect to experience it himself.
The maids in the palace filed in and put the meals and wine on the small table. Zhang San raised his head and looked around, and saw that everyone was sitting upright and very serious.
"Damn, isn't this a dinner party? At this time, we shouldn't exchange glasses for each other. Why do we want to be so serious?" Zhang San complained in his heart.
Li Shimin looked up and found Zhang San sitting there with his legs crossed and looking around as if he had hair on his body, "Uncle Zhang, you are uncomfortable sitting there. I see you looking around. Do you want to sit somewhere else?"
When everyone heard Li Shimin's question, they all squinted in the direction of Zhang San. Zhang San was like a transparent person. Even Fang Xuanling passed by him without even looking at him. At this time, Li Shimin suddenly saw him.
The roll call left Zhang San speechless for a while. There are so many princes and ministers, why are you paying attention to me alone?
"I don't dare, it's very comfortable here. It's my first time to attend such a banquet. I'm curious, please forgive me, Your Majesty." Although Zhang San complained to Li Shimin in his heart, he didn't move slowly at all. He stood up quickly and replied.
Zheng Xuan, who was sitting in the first place on the right, raised his eyes and glanced at Zhang San with disdain.
Li Shimin also deliberately teased Zhang San and waved his hand for Zhang San to sit down.
After Zhang San sat down, he became honest. He waited for Li Shimin to tell him to eat, tasted the delicacies in the palace, and then went to the Xingsheng Trading Company to take a nap.
"Dear ladies, the Queen and I are hosting a banquet for you all tonight to thank you for your contribution to our Tang Dynasty over the past year. Come, let me have a drink with you all!" Li Shimin raised his glass and said.
"Congratulations on the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty!"
As if they had rehearsed, everyone except Zhang San shouted and drank the wine in one gulp.
After Li Shimin finished speaking, Zhang San raised his neck and drank the wine. Later, he found that he still had to say his lines, so he could only pretend to hold up the glass and drink the air in embarrassment.
The party was about drinking and eating, and naturally there was singing and dancing. As the dinner officially opened, there was an opening dance, and then the palace maiden and singer played the harp.
At this time, Zhang San saw a hint of the company's annual meeting. Many familiar officials were talking to each other in the distance, and from time to time someone laughed loudly.
Li Shimin sat on it and watched with great interest. Zhang San felt out of place here. First of all, the people he knew were all elders, and Fang Xuanling, Cheng Yaojin, Wei Zheng, etc. were all big bosses, so they sat near the front.
Regarding the location, I couldn't even talk to him.
So he had to keep his head down and fight hard, spitting out a bone from his mouth from time to time, or picking up the wine glass and taking a few sips of wine.
Just when Zhang San was eating enthusiastically, Li Shimin suddenly called Zhang San's name again: "Uncle Zhang had a serious illness some time ago. I wonder if he has recovered now?"
There was still a piece of mutton in Zhang San's mouth that had not been chewed. Hearing Li Shimin call his name again, he swallowed it quickly and almost choked to death, "Hiccup!"
An untimely burp came out, which immediately shocked all the ministers. Fang Xuanling, Cheng Yaojin and others even looked worried.
Sure enough, an unknown official stood up and shouted: "Brother Zhang, you are so disrespectful to the Emperor when I ask you a question. I respectfully ask the Emperor to drive out this disrespectful thief."
"What?" Zhang San yelled in his heart, he can even impeach me. Needless to say, this guy must be an official.
"Damn Xipi, what's wrong with the hiccups while eating? You old boy farted just now. Should I kick you out too?" Cheng Yaojin immediately helped.
Li Shimin felt happy, this three was really a bad move, and they were going to fight again.
"Okay, I have said tonight that everyone should have a good time and have a good time. If we don't talk about business, please sit down." Li Shimin stopped him at the right time.
"Humph!" Cheng Yaojin glared at the official before sitting down.
Li Shimin turned a blind eye to Cheng Yaojin's behavior. The famous official did not dare to confront Cheng Yaojin. He turned around, glanced at Zhang San, and sat down.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am in good health." Zhang San bowed and replied.
"That's good. I heard that you had some conflicts with Zheng Shicai some time ago. You young people are just impetuous and must not fight anymore. You are all the future pillars of the Tang Dynasty. If you have those thoughts of fighting, you might as well serve the common people of the Tang Dynasty.
Do something practical!"
Zheng Xuan's mouth twitched as he sat there, and Zhang San was speechless in his heart. Aren't you trying to make me hate you? Do you think I've been too relaxed these past two days? Find something for me to do?
"Mr. Zheng, why didn't Shicai come today? I haven't seen him for a long time. I miss him so much!" Li Shimin said to Zheng Xuan again.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I will bring the world to the palace to pay my respects to Your Majesty another day." Zheng Xuan wanted to say in his heart, do you think he didn't die soon enough?
"Your Majesty, I heard that County Uncle Zhang is quite talented in poetry, how about asking him to recite a poem for everyone on the spot?" Cui Dian stood up and said.
Zhang San stood there speechless. What are you doing with me? You think I'm a singer, and I'm going to recite poems to you and make you smile.
Zhang San didn't think Cui Dian had any good intentions when he praised him, maybe he was digging a hole for himself.
"I have heard of it a lot. After reading the song "The Road Is Difficult", I also liked it very much." Queen Changsun suddenly spoke, which made Zhang San helpless for a while. It seems that he can't escape without writing a poem today.
"Haha, the queen does have some talent, so let this kid compose a poem on the spot to add to the fun." Li Shimin said with a smile.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the Queen's love. However, this poem cannot be written all at once. I am afraid that if I don't do it well, I will ruin the elegance of the Emperor and the Queen." Zhang San said quickly.
"What? Is County Uncle Zhang timid? Or was he just trying to gain fame and reputation? There are many lies in the rumors after all." Cui Dian said with a smile.
Everyone was talking in low voices, and an official from the Zheng family even laughed and said, "Maybe his poems were written by someone in advance!"
Zhang San is also surprised. Why are you holding me and not letting me go? If you have the ability, go and do Li Shimin. He was the one who took the lead.
If Li Shimin hadn't mentioned the conflict with Zheng Shicai earlier, none of this nonsense would have happened.
Seeing all the officials looking at him with half-smiling faces, Zhang San felt very angry.
"Why, Uncle Zhang, don't you want to compose poetry or can't do it?" Li Shimin saw the excitement and asked again without taking it too seriously.
"Back to the Emperor, I was just a humble minister, but I didn't expect to provoke such a big reaction from Cui Shilang and others. May I ask what kind of poem the Emperor wants to hear? Does it have a theme?"
