novelraw Chapter 859: Who Wants to Be the Crown Prince? Me? How Come I Didn’t Know? You All Knew!!
Chapter 859: Who Wants to Be the Crown Prince? Me? How Come I Didn’t Know? You All Knew!!
An Wuyang raised his cup.
Eunuch Liu hurriedly followed suit, raising his orchid fingers with both hands holding the cup. There was nothing effeminate about it; it was a rule ingrained in his bones, displaying effortless elegance and comfort.
"Your Highness, what kind of talk is this? It's all what this old servant should do. I should be the one offering you a toast."
Some words he only kept in his heart.
If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gained the respect of someone like Grand Duke Lu.
Someone as lowly as me would actually have such a day.
At this moment, Eunuch Liu felt that following An Wuyang was worth everything. No matter how bitter or exhausting, he was no longer afraid.
An Wuyang sighed inwardly.
He pondered.
Should I ask Eunuch Liu later if he's willing to go to Great Han with me?To avoid someone targeting him here after I leave.
The things An Wuyang planned to do later were all major undertakings, seeking revenge on those people one by one. Although not all of them deserved to die, the majority who did were in the majority.
This was tantamount to turning Great Jing upside down.
By then, those who held grudges against him would inevitably be numerous. It wouldn't be good if Eunuch Liu got implicated.
After all, An Wuyang only had a good relationship with Eunuch Liu here.
Cups were pushed back and forth during the banquet.
There was false courtesy and genuine politeness, all expressed through the wine.
White Eagle wasn't asking Lu Ding for anything specific for now, just coming to get familiar and build connections for easier future interactions.
Although Lu Ding drank, he also watched his words and actions.
To summarize, it was: matters for the future can be discussed later. Today is only for drinking and eating.
If you want me to handle something, fine. Submit a formal request to the higher-ups with the conditions. If it passes the higher-ups, I'll take a look. If I'm satisfied, then business is business, and personal... there is no personal. All actions follow orders, but all orders must first align with my personal willingness.
The appetizers were almost finished.
Zuo Lan spoke up, "Grand Duke Lu, I have prepared a surprise for you this time."
Lu Ding put down his wine cup, "Don't bring out anything too valuable. I'm the type who, when faced with temptation, tends to get drunk and act crazy."
He didn't have the bad habit of readily accepting things.
Zuo Lan smiled, "Please take a look first. It might help sober you up."
With that.
She clapped her hands.
Several subordinates in tailcoats were seen approaching, carrying covered serving trays.
No mystery was made of it.
They opened them one by one.
Inside were various preparations of golden pheasant.
Even before tasting it, just from the aroma, Lu Ding recognized it. This golden pheasant was from the Third Circle.
It wasn't that this thing only existed in the Third Circle and not the Second. The Second Circle had them too, but the flavor was different. The living environment in the Second Circle was too good. Chickens of the same breed, from birth, were already on par with adult golden pheasants from the Third Circle.
After further growth, their grade became higher, their texture improved, but the flavor... wasn't that flavor anymore.
It was like a wanderer far from home. No matter how much they tried to replicate their mother's cooking process, they could never recreate the taste of mom's cooking.
It perfectly reflected that saying.
I wish to buy osmanthus and carry wine with me, but in the end, it's not the same as the travels of youth.
Lu Ding picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. It was still that taste. At this moment, he was rarely somewhat sentimental, "Little did I know time flies like a galloping horse whipped forward, the sun and moon... like fallen flowers and flowing water. So, it has already been this long."
This sudden statement instantly left everyone present frozen in place.
Everyone knew Lu Ding liked wearing scholar-warrior sleeves. The martial side was displayed to the fullest, but the scholarly side had never been shown. Today's unexpected line directly maximized the atmospheric vibe.
Especially Prince Zhao. He originally thought Lu Ding's definition was similar to his own, but Lu Ding was actually this cultured!!!!
An Ning, sensing her father's mood, picked up some food and placed it on Prince Zhao's plate, "Dad, eat your food."
Prince Zhao looked at the food on his plate, "Truly good food..."
Up front, Lu Ding looked at Zuo Lan, "Found through Feifan?"
Zuo Lan nodded gently, "As expected, nothing can escape Grand Duke Lu. Investigator Yan said your favorite foods, first, are none other than hotpot, and second, are none other than this golden pheasant."
"But hotpot can't be eaten casually, because every time you eat hotpot, something always happens, disturbing your refined mood."
"Although you, Grand Duke, have no taboos, we lack your boldness and dare not violate the taboo Investigator Yan spoke of. So, we hope you forgive us for not preparing hotpot for you."
"We only prepared this golden pheasant."
Pleasant to listen to and knows how to handle things. This person is good.
The sharpness in Lu Ding's eyes noticeably diminished somewhat, "This thing is a rarity in the Third Circle. Not easy to find. Acquiring this many must have cost a great deal of financial and material resources."
You could eat this if you had money, but if you wanted to eat this many, you'd have to arrange for a large number of treasure hunters to search mountain by mountain.
Zuo Lan didn't dare claim credit falsely, "Grand Duke Lu, you may not know this. These golden pheasants weren't found by us."
"They were raised by Investigator Yan and Investigator Bai."
Lu Ding was taken aback upon hearing this, "They're raising chickens now?"
And thus, a topic emerged.
Smart people never let the atmosphere turn cold. Zuo Lan chose to bring out the golden pheasant at this moment precisely to have more conversation with Lu Ding.
She said with a smile, "Yes. Investigator Yan said you like eating this. He was afraid the Second Circle ones wouldn't suit your taste, and the Third Circle supply couldn't meet demand, so he raised a lot. At first, these little ones weren't willing to eat."
"But Investigator Yan has something you gave him that can manage food. So, raising these is practically his professional specialty."
Lu Ding remembered. The Kitchen God's tablet—wasn't that for managing food?
Never expected it to have this kind of use.
It must be said, although the Kitchen God's tablet originated from the Third Circle, even in the Second Circle, having met so many people, Lu Ding had never seen anyone who could produce a mystical artifact similar to the Kitchen God's tablet.
Perhaps.
That couldn't even be considered an artifact anymore.
It should be said, it was a treasure rarely seen even in the Second Circle.
And it probably wasn't an ordinary treasure either.
As for exactly what level, Lu Ding had never seen a treasure, so he wouldn't comment.
Just thinking about Yan Feifan and Bai Hemen raising chickens made him want to laugh.
He asked, "What were they doing when you went to find them?"
The moment Zuo Lan thought about what she was about to say next, she couldn't help it. Sorry, Investigator Huangfu.
"When our people went, Investigator Yan and Investigator Bai were treating Investigator Huangfu's injuries."
Lu Ding was somewhat curious. Although that Zhang Wei guy was a bit annoying, always using a chicken feather as an arrow of command—what era was this, still dreaming of being emperor? Their first meeting wasn't pleasant either. But as they slowly interacted afterward, he found this person was actually not bad.
More crucially.
His skills weren't poor.
Someone actually managed to injure him.
"What happened?"
"Investigator Huangfu had some unpleasantness with the Demon Lord Shen from our Third Circle. The two agreed to a one-on-one duel. The Demon Lord Shen had his horn broken, and Investigator Huangfu got injured."
"But it's not serious, don't worry. The chickens you're eating now were all personally caught by him from the chicken coop. He also told us not to tell you."
"You absolutely must not say we told you."
Lu Ding laughed. This was exactly the kind of thing he would do.
But based on his understanding of Huangfu Lingyun...
"He's someone who cares so much about face. He didn't go voluntarily, did he?"
Zuo Lan was somewhat surprised, "How did you know? Investigator Bai threatened him into going."
That's more like it.
Procedure correct.
As for why Bai Hemen didn't go himself, this honest kid, when living with his grandmother as a child, was pecked plenty by the family's big rooster and big goose. Basically, he was one of the archetypes of the left-behind children in rural hearts.
This led to Xiao Bai having a bit of resistance towards these two things. Not fear—he could kill them, but catching them alive? No way.
Being able to raise chickens with Yan Feifan was already a huge effort for him.
As for catching these things.
As long as Huangfu Lingyun was around, it absolutely wouldn't be Yan Feifan's turn to handle it.
Lu Ding could already picture the scene.
Xiao Bai to Zhang Wei, who was bandaged up: "Go catch chickens."
Zhang Wei: "Me!? The Chosen One! Catch chickens!!?"
Xiao Bai: "What are you yelling for?" (Rolls up sleeves and approaches quickly)
Zhang Wei: "Did I say I wasn't going!!? I'll go!! I'll go, alright!!?"
Thinking of this, Lu Ding's teeth felt a bit warm. Taking advantage of eating the chicken, he exposed them to air them out.
An Wuyang, watching from the side, felt tempted.
He swallowed saliva, "Hehe... Lu Ding, you have such a big plate. Give me a piece, will you? Back down there, I didn't get to eat any before coming up. Let me taste what it's like too."
At this moment, he had quite the ingratiating vibe of Zhu Bajie wanting to eat the Ginseng Fruit, trying to coax Brother Monkey into picking some more.
Lu Ding turned his head.
An Wuyang was stunned, "What, are you guarding your food?"
Lu Ding: .......
"Go on, go on. Hurry up and eat your delicacies from land and sea. Eat more to build strength. Later, you still have to deliver the final decisive blow for your Crown Prince position."
The final decisive blow for the Crown Prince position wasn't settled, but the heavy hammer in Lu Ding's words smashed hard onto An Wuyang's head.
The smile on his face stiffened, disappeared, and his voice rose several pitches.
"Crown Prince!!!!?"
"Who!!!?"
An Wuyang stood up, pointing at himself incredulously, "Me???"
"No... it's not..."
He then scanned his surroundings, feeling the puzzled gazes from all directions, as if saying, 'You didn't know?'
An Wuyang was dumbfounded, "You all knew?"
Since he didn't specifically ask one person, everyone nodded in unison.
An Wuyang looked at Lu Ding again, "No one told me!? When was this decided???"
"How come I don't know? How come I'm only finding out now? And what's this about a final decisive blow? What kind of decisive method? What happened? What are we doing later? No... wasn't it about settling scores and grudges?"