Zhao Ziliang and Irina approached the main hall side by side, and said to her: "Herod's Antipa Palace has been the residence of the chief executive here for hundreds of years, so it cannot be compared with the real palace in terms of decoration. ”

Irina turned her head to the ornaments, architectural layout and decoration on the left and right sides, "No, it's very good here, it is this kind of scene that has not been specially decorated to perfectly present the original appearance of the architectural style of Herod's era hundreds of years ago, it seems so simple here, at a glance you know that it has been precipitated by time and history, this kind of heaviness is not something that any craftsman can express, it is not easy to preserve it so well!" ”

Zhao Ziliang was a little surprised that Irina could say this, "I didn't expect Her Royal Highness the Queen to have such a profound study of architectural art, it seems that Her Royal Highness is a learned woman, which is really not easy in this era of male supremacy!" ”

Irina showed a hint of joy in her eyes, but she only smiled faintly: "Thank you Your Highness for your compliment, I heard that His Highness relied on war horses, swords, bows and arrows to win the world and establish the Western Qin Kingdom, but His Highness's conversation was not rude at all, but like an elegant gentleman!" ”

Zhao Ziliang smiled, and while speaking, the two of them and the ministers and generals between the two sides came to the main hall where the banquet was arranged, and the dwarfs were neatly placed, and there was a passage in the middle leading to the innermost, and there were also two low tables in front of the innermost screen, and all the low tables were full of food and wine.

Zhao Ziliang and Irina walked to the innermost, led her to the right, and then walked to the right and said to Irina: "Her Royal Highness the Queen, please take a seat, you're welcome!" ”

An entourage who was well versed in the interests of the East whispered to Irina: "Your Royal Highness the Queen, in the East, the host invites guests to a banquet, and the guests must take their seats first, showing respect for the guests, and wait for the guests to sit down, the host can sit, you have to sit cross-legged!" Later, the king of Xiqin will invite you to dine, but you can't move the tableware first, you can't take the knife until the host takes the knife or chopstick! ”

Irina immediately sat down cross-legged as she was told, a position that made her feel a little awkward and uncomfortable. Taking advantage of Zhao Ziliang's time to greet the civil ministers and military generals from both sides to the table, Irina asked the waiter in a low voice: "What is the chopstick?" ”

"Chopsticks are chopsticks, you see there are two bamboo sticks on the table, this is chopsticks, chopsticks are the name of the Oriental folk, the official written name is chopsticks, Oriental people use chopsticks to get food! But you've never used a chopstick, and you probably don't like it, so you can use a knife and fork," the waiter explained.

Irina nodded, she was completely unfamiliar with the form of Oriental banquets, and she didn't understand the etiquette of Oriental banquets, so she felt a little panicked, if it weren't for such a waiter who was proficient in Oriental etiquette to guide her, she would really be a little overwhelmed.

At this time, the civil and military ministers of both sides had already entered the table, and the armor soldiers around them who were wearing armor and holding weapons did not move at all, which did not have the slightest impact on the banquet, and from time to time waiters came to serve dishes and wine.

Zhao Ziliang greeted every waiter who knelt at the table to serve: "Come, fill Her Royal Highness the Queen and all the guests with wine!" ”

The kneeling waiters picked up the wine jug and poured wine into the wine cup on the table in front of the ministers of civil and military affairs on both sides, and as soon as the wine was poured out, the whole hall suddenly smelled of wine, and many people couldn't help but sniff, and the officials and generals of the Western Qin Dynasty all looked calm, obviously they had already drunk this kind of wine.

Zhao Ziliang picked up the wine glass and said to Irina: "Your Royal Highness the Queen, the West advocates drinking wine and beer, while we drink white wine in the East, since Her Royal Highness the Queen and the accompanying Eastern Roman officials have come to the Lone King, the Lone King will invite Her Royal Highness and your subordinate officials to taste the Oriental liquor, please drink this cup!" ”

Irina picked up the wine glass under the guidance of the waiter, and the other ministers and officials who accompanied her also raised the wine glass after seeing it, and drank it all in the same way as Zhao Ziliang.

A glass of white wine entered the throat, and the strong stimulation instantly burned from the throat like a fire, and the crimson color on Irina's beautiful cheeks instantly appeared.

Zhao Ziliang saw Irina's expression and appearance, and said with a smile: "Your Highness may feel too irritating when you drink baijiu for the first time, it doesn't matter, you will get used to it after drinking it a few more times, our Eastern and Western cultures are different, when you drink this wine, you should feel that the taste of this wine contains mellow and strong, and we also have a sweet and long wine!" Come, Your Highness, please eat and suppress the wine! Your Highness may not be used to using a chopstick, you can use a knife and fork! ”

Irina listened to Zhao Ziliang's words but was a little unconvinced, what's so difficult about these two bamboo sticks? She immediately picked up the chopsticks and followed Zhao Ziliang's example to pick up the dishes, but she didn't expect that she couldn't pick them up, she didn't use her strength at all, and it was extremely awkward.

The waiter couldn't hold back a smile next to him, picked up another pair of chopsticks and put some dishes in the exquisite porcelain plate in front of Irina, and whispered: "Your Highness, let's use a knife and fork!" ”

At this time, Zhao Ziliang saw it and said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness, using chopsticks is a technical job, you don't have a habit of using it, of course you won't use it, if you keep competing with it, you are afraid that you won't be able to eat a few mouthfuls of food at this banquet!" ”

"Okay!" Irina gave up anyway, put down her chopsticks, picked up her knife and fork and began to eat.

"Well, it tastes good, this dish is so delicious?" Irina felt like she couldn't stop after a few bites.

As she ate, she asked, "Your Highness, why is it that your chef can make such a delicious dish with the same ingredients?" ”

Zhao Ziliang smiled: "This has something to do with our culture, in the East, chefs can use the same ingredients to make many dishes with different tastes and dishes!" If you go to the East, you can eat different dishes every day, and you can't finish it for ten years! ”

"Oh God, it's amazing!" Irina exclaimed in surprise.

An official of the Eastern Roman Empire asked, "May I ask His Royal Highness the King of Western Qin, why do you Orientals use bamboo to make tableware?" Wouldn't it be better to use a knife and fork? ”

Zhao Ziliang said with a smile: "This is related to the cultural differences between our two sides, our oriental dishes are to cut the food into slices or blocks, strips, filaments to cook, after cooking, there is no need to use knives to cut again, as long as you are proficient in the use of chopsticks, you can easily ingest food into your mouth, and the use of chopsticks is very safe, will not be accidentally cut by the mouth or hands, at the banquet, knives, forks and tableware are excellent tools for assassination!" ”

These words made Irina and the ministers of the Eastern Roman Empire feel that it was really not safe to use knives and forks, they were all upper-class people, and they were the most desperate for their lives.

However, there were still officials from Eastern Rome who said: "His Royal Highness the King of Western Qin, why does a person of such a noble status as you still use porcelain tableware to entertain guests?" As far as I know, porcelain is only used by ordinary civilians, and the tableware used by the royal family and nobles of our Eastern Roman Empire is silver, silver can be tested for poison, as long as the food is poisonous, the silver tableware will change color, so as to prevent people with ill intentions from poisoning! ”

Zhao Ziliang said with a smile: "My lord, porcelain is widely used in our East, whether it is a royal family or an ordinary commoner, the difference is that the porcelain is exquisite or rough, for ordinary people, of course, they don't have to worry about someone going to poison them, and for the royal family and nobles, we have always used a silver needle to test the poison or directly use the servants to test the poison before the meal." In addition, the royal family and nobles also used ivory spoons, which can also be tested for poison! ”

Irina was even more surprised: "God, you still use servants to test poison? ”

Zhao Ziliang said indifferently: "Of course, because some poisons cannot be checked out by silver and ivory!" ”

Irina thought that some poisons were indeed not detected by silver and ivory, and she also wanted to wait until she returned to prepare a servant in the court to test the poison.

Irina felt that she had never eaten such delicious food, the food she had eaten before was so unpalatable compared to the delicious food on the table in front of her, she really didn't know how she could eat such unpalatable food.

The banquet lasted for a while, and Zhao Ziliang said to Irina: "Your Highness, King Gu has ordered people to prepare some programs, please invite Your Highness and your subordinate officials and ministers to eat and drink while appreciating!" ”

After listening to the translation, Irina smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness, I'm looking forward to it!" ”

Zhao Ziliang clapped his hands, and soon saw some musicians walking in with musical instruments, sitting down on the stools that had been prepared, and began to play musical instruments, these musicians were local Jews, they played their own folk music, in the sound of ancient music, a group of beautifully dressed Jewish girls lined up in a special formation from the gate and began to dance to the accompaniment of musical instruments.

After the Jewish maidens finished dancing, another group of Persian maidens entered the main hall and danced the Persian dance with the accompaniment of musical instruments, Irina was very interested in Persian dance, Jews were all over Europe, Irina had also seen people dance in Constantinople, but had not seen Persian dance, so she forgot to eat for a while while watching.

Next, a song of King Qin's breaking formation made the officials of the Eastern Roman Empire in the main hall change color one after another, and they all stood up in shock, feeling that they were on the battlefield, and the sound of swords, swords, and swords and killings were intertwined.

Someone played the mountains and rivers again, and everyone was fascinated by the listen, and even the nervous Elena was at peace at this time, immersed in the artistic conception of the song.

This banquet lasted until dusk in the afternoon, and Zhao Ziliang sent Yelena to the gate of the palace, "Your Highness, the place we have prepared for you to stay is in the Herod Palace, I hope you can enjoy it and have a good night's sleep tonight." Tomorrow, if you don't have any plans, I think I can give you a guide to visit many of the city's monuments, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a holy place for Christians! ”

Irina hurriedly saluted: "I don't know the life here, then thank you Your Highness!" So I'm coming here tomorrow morning to find you? ”

"How can that be? Or I'll go to Herod's Palace to find His Highness! ”