Chu Hengyuan watched Aran pouring him wine and enthusiastically recommending the local delicacies. He thought to himself that the little thing had some conscience after all, and his long trek of thousands of miles had not been in vain.
The meal was lively and spirited, quite different from the royal banquets Chu Hengyuan attended in the palace. At those events, ministers would first have to kowtow and offer endless flattery to the Emperor, followed by the Emperor's hollow words of empathy for his officials. By the time the meal officially began, even the most exquisite dishes had long gone cold. No one was foolish enough to arrive at a palace banquet on an empty stomach.
Only when his mother was still alive, back when he would visit her from the princes' quarters, had he experienced this kind of feeling. Since she passed away, he had never enjoyed a proper meal; he was either sitting alone, finding the food flavorless, or navigating the treacherous, social dining tables of officialdom.
Chapter 49