Mathias, who was picking vegetables, gently shook his hands dry, wiped them with a cloth, then tidied his robe and was about to walk over to the two people at the door. From deep inside the kitchen, Elara walked out after finally finishing baking a cake. Seeing the situation in the kitchen and the two people at the door, she raised her eyebrows and asked, "What are you doing?"
After learning the reason Clematis and Cleome had come, Elara didn't pay much attention and simply called them into the kitchen too. She told them to take out the beast meat they were carrying, bring the fruits to the backyard of the kitchen, and place them with the fruits she had already prepared.
Then she told them to stay in the courtyard and help wash and cut the fruits. The two had been nervous and unsure, but after hearing Elara's instructions, they finally relaxed a little. Their delicate and beautiful faces showed a bit of relief and attachment.
Thankfully, Her Majesty didn't blame them for leaving the palace without permission. Instead, she even let them join the activities with her and the others. Feeling moved that Elara let them join in, the two relaxed, and their handsome faces lit up with grateful smiles.
They earnestly washed the fruits and arranged them nicely into fruit platters as instructed by Elara. After a while, Senior General Duanmu and General He, who somehow heard the news, also came to the palace. Each carried a large jar of wine that was said to have been buried for over ten years, and hesitantly approached the imperial kitchen door.
"Your Majesty, everyone... These are wines that Commander Shu personally buried in the Northern Frontier years ago. The Commander isn't in good health. After hearing that you and the others were busy in the kitchen, he asked the two of us to deliver them..."
Senior General Duanmu and General He, two tall and strong military generals, each held a jar of plum wine while standing in front of the kitchen door. Watching the many men inside busy cooking, they felt something indescribable stir inside them.
No wonder the Commander suddenly sent them to deliver the wine... everyone was actually here... Elara glanced at them and immediately understood that this must have been Commander Shu's idea. Her royal uncle truly was clever.
Even while inside the imperial palace, he could still contact Senior General Duanmu and General He, who were far away at the military department. Fine, as long as he didn't do anything that betrayed her or Plumera Kingdom, the rest didn't matter.
After delivering the jars of plum wine, Senior General Duanmu and General He were naturally kept behind by Elara as two more helpers. When the evening banquet was finally ready, the table was filled with hot pot, dry pot, roast lamb, suckling pig, spicy chicken stew, Plumera roast duck, roasted duck and goose, teppanyaki and other feast dishes.
Elara asked the servants to bring out milk tea, yogurt, rice wine, fruit wine, fruit vinegar, as well as the cheesecake and big cake she had baked using special tools made by the Ministry of Works. This evening wasn't a grand national banquet for the whole court, just a small palace feast she made because she wanted to cook.
So that night, there weren't many officials from Plumera Kingdom. Once the feast was prepared, Elara had it sent to the back garden and only invited Francis and the Qi family, Mathias, Maurice and the Pei family, Damon and his trusted people from business and the military, Mr. Gong, Kristof and his trusted people from the Ministry of Justice, Cleome and Clematis, Oswyn and his people from the medical ministry and Valley of Divine Healers, Scholar Fu, Ju Haochen, who had learned palace etiquette recently after being taught by Elara, and also Senior General Duanmu and General He.
Before officially starting the feast, Elara still had Senior General Duanmu and General He go to the Ning Shou Palace to ask the "Retired Emperor" Commander Shu whether he wanted to join the banquet. Elara had thought he would just stay in the palace resting his weak body.
But unexpectedly, Commander Shu agreed and soon came to the back garden in a wheelchair, covered in a thick white tiger-skin cloak with a white fox fur collar, pushed by his personal attendants. Elara: ...Great, now everyone is really here.
While waiting for Commander Shu to arrive, Elara thought for a moment, then called a palace servant and told them to go to the kitchen. She wanted three portions of every dish from that evening's banquet packed separately.
One to be sent outside the imperial palace to Emory and his senior Morin at the Bai Family's Business, one to be delivered to Leif at the Zhaiyun Pavilion headquarters, and one to Imani at the Yuyan Tower. Since everyone inside the palace was already here... she didn't want to leave out those outside either...
After Commander Shu was seated, Elara pulled Uno over and forced him to sit beside her, not allowing him to move. Then she raised a cup of fruit wine, glanced over everyone's faces, said a few symbolic words casually, and the relaxed and pleasant little palace banquet officially began.
The little banquet that evening lasted until late at night. Perhaps the rice wine and fruit wine Elara personally brewed were a bit too strong, so as the evening progressed, everyone became more and more relaxed, finally letting loose and enjoying themselves.
Oswyn and Kristof somehow started arguing and snapping at each other again. Francis and Damon were urged by others to compete in drinking. Cleome and Clematis had been a bit cautious and reserved at first, but seeing everyone so relaxed and harmonious, they gradually loosened up too, often laughing at what was happening at the banquet.
General He and Senior General Duanmu were pulled aside by curious guests asking about things in the Northern Frontier. Commander Shu held a cup of milk tea in his hand, his pale cheeks surrounded by the white fox fur ball, slightly flushed for once, probably from drinking.
Mathias sat to the side with a cheerful smile, propping his face with one hand while watching everyone at the banquet. Maurice sat next to Mathias, his elegant face also flushed from the wine.
He seemed a bit drunk, chuckling now and then, half-leaning on the table near Mathias's hand. He glanced at Mathias and the other men at the feast, then looked toward Elara in the main seat, murmuring softly from time to time, "So nice... mm... so nice..."