Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 172, "Ritual and Music," discusses ranking and rules.

Actually, the emperors built magnificent palaces, the monks built towering temples, the emperors were high above, and the Buddha was sculpted to be incredibly large—all of this was done with profound intention.

The emperor used distance to establish his mystique, while the Buddha used size to demonstrate his majesty. One belongs to the worship of the unknown, and the other to the worship of the colossus. The purpose is to make you consciously or unconsciously believe that you are insignificant, trivial, and in need of submission and to prostrate yourself at their feet.

The Yun family did not have a magnificent palace or build a towering city. Therefore, Eji, Zhang Min, Feng An, and Liang Kun could only use class as a weapon to establish the Yun family's leadership position in the hearts of these people.

These people don't understand the dance 'Flowing Clouds', and that's fine. They just need to sincerely believe that they are not as good as the general or the people in the Yun family who sit on high places. Otherwise, why don't they understand it, while those people are so engrossed in it?
Yun Ce couldn't understand it either. An Ji wasn't like this when she danced in front of him before. When her skirt fluttered, she would often reveal her fair thighs. When she bent over backwards, half of her breasts would be exposed to him without any cover. Unlike now, she was dressed completely and rang the bell with a blank expression.

Those little maids she personally trained were just as rigid and lifeless, like wooden figures.

The grueling dance finally ended, and Yun Ce raised his cup to invite guests to drink. The children poured wine for the guests, but the cups were small, barely enough for a sip at a time, as if the wine was expensive and the host didn't want the guests to drink too much.

Yun Ce raised his cup three times to invite everyone to drink, and everyone rinsed their mouths three times. Then the children happily brought over the first dish, a warm egg custard. Like the wine, there was only a small bowl. Qin Shu scooped out two spoonfuls and finished it, while He Qingfang used three spoonfuls and finished it.

Then, He Qingfang saw the Yun family not far away. They were digging a little at a time, seemingly savoring the smooth texture of the steamed egg custard.

"Have we made a fool of ourselves again?"

Qin Shu laughed and said, "Don't worry about these details. We are not nobles, so we don't have to be so particular."

He Qingfang shook her head and said, "I can be crude, but my child can't be crude in the future, or he'll be laughed at."

Qin Shu asked, "Is this steamed egg custard delicious?"

He Qingfang nodded and said, "I've had steamed egg custard before, but I've never had steamed egg custard as smooth as silk."

The second dish arrived, also in a small bowl. This time, however, the bowl contained a square piece of meat, about an inch in size, amber in color, bound by two thin straw ropes. It sat trembling inside the bowl. Strangely enough, a half-burnt candle was lit at the bottom of the bowl, its flame constantly licking the bottom, causing the meat inside to sizzle slightly and release a fragrant aroma.

Under the guidance of the child, He Qingfang removed the straw rope binding the meat chunks, then gently separated the meat chunks with chopsticks, putting one piece into her mouth and leaving the other in.

The skin looked very elastic, and it melted in her mouth by accident. Then, the rich aroma of oil invaded her entire mouth. The lean meat was covered with strands of oil, seemingly unwilling to separate. It wasn't until the meat slid down her throat that He Qingfang remembered that she should have savored it properly.

She still couldn't taste the second piece and wanted to keep eating. Only a thin layer of sauce remained in the small bowl, bubbling from the candle flame.

The meat was so delicious that He Qingfang felt she could eat at least ten more pieces, but alas, they were all gone. Just as she was inwardly complaining about Yun's stinginess, Qin Shu brought over his small bowl of meat, which was missing only a small corner.

Giving Qin Shu a sweet smile, He Qingfang, under Qin Shu's doting gaze, stuffed a large piece of braised pork into her abyssal mouth. This time, she ate it clearly, the meat filling her mouth with fragrance, much tastier than the piece she had eaten before.

The third dish was mutton, served with broth. It was very delicious, and the broth was clear. She had originally planned to give it to Qin Shu if it was good, since Qin Shu loved mutton the most.

After she finished tasting it, she found that the bowl containing the mutton and soup was completely empty.

When the fourth dish arrived, He Qingfang felt her head and taste buds being constantly bombarded. Her mind was foggy when there was food, but clear when she was eating.

She was awakened by the melodious sound of a golden chime, only to realize that the banquet was coming to an end. The sound of the chime bells became melodious, ringing only once every few seconds. The women's dances also changed from being graceful at the beginning and intense in the middle to being slow now. Their every smile and gesture seemed to be inviting the guests to continue drinking and reveling.

The dreamlike banquet ended after the golden cudgel was struck. Everyone followed the boy and left the warm little courtyard of the Yun family. Just before leaving, He Qingfang noticed that there were still flowers blooming in the courtyard and some unknown fruits hanging on the trees.

"I'm not full."

He Qingfang rubbed her stomach and complained to Qin Shu.

"A banquet is not a place to eat your fill. It's about singing, dancing, music, and conversation. It's a pity that you're all focused on waiting for the next dish."

Before Qin Shu could finish speaking, Zuo Chong said helplessly, "But food is the most important thing. The general has the demeanor of a nobleman, so we can't like what he likes."

Look at those dancing songstresses, they're so beautiful, but why do I feel they're not as good as the maid who scrubs my back?
"Deputy General Qin, could you please speak to the General and give me the maid who scrubbed my back as a reward? If you do, I'll do whatever the General commands."

"Yes, yes, Vice General, please do me a favor. Those dancing beauties at the banquet belong to the General. We dare not even think about them, nor do we want them. I want the woman who scrubs my back. She's so good at serving people. If I take her home as my wife, she'll definitely be a gentle and virtuous one."

Hearing his subordinates say this, Qin Shu's eyes widened, and he grabbed Zuo Chong and roared, "What were you all doing while taking a bath?" Zuo Chong laughed and said, "With Sister Qingfang taking a bath with you, you naturally couldn't do anything. If you were taking a bath alone, I don't believe you could have resisted."

Qin Shu's trembling fingers traced across everyone's faces, then he slapped his leg hard and said to He Qingfang, "I will go and apologize to the general right now."

He Qingfang chuckled and said, "Don't you know what kind of people they are, or does the general not know? Since you do know, and you still arranged it in such a sensual way, it means that the general is rewarding them. Even if not, the general has tacitly approved of it."

If you ask the general for those women, I reckon he'll agree.

Upon hearing that their women had found a home, the group naturally began to complain about the dinner that had whetted their appetites to the extreme but left them unsatisfied.

"The last dish was rice, but I didn't have any side dishes to go with it. If I had known there was rice, I would have saved that piece of meat, shredded it, and mixed it with the rice. It would have been so delicious."

"I thought the mutton soup and meat were delicious. After I finished eating, I sucked on the bones again, and the little kid next to me even helped me poke the marrow with a skewer."

"Not full? Not full? Hey, do you think the general is full? Even if the nobles in the mansion have small appetites, the general has quite a large appetite."

"How can I sleep at night if I don't have enough to eat?"

"Get lost. It's not like you could eat your fill every day when you were under the Iron Fortress. You've had a good meal today, so go back and get some sleep. Maybe you'll have sweet dreams waiting for you."

When everyone returned to their lodgings, they found the place brightly lit, with more than a dozen large pots lined up in a row, and a dozen cooks standing behind them, busy throwing strands of white noodles into the pots.

Under a simple bamboo shed, a familiar figure was squatting on a long bench, holding a bowl bigger than his head, slurping his food.

He Qingfang rushed over and saw Yun Ce protecting his large bowl with his hand, saying, "Don't take mine, your noodles are still cooking."

He Qingfang said, "So the general didn't eat his fill either?"

Yun Ce angrily said, "That little bit of stuff is only good for feeding birds. How can it possibly feed a strong and valiant man like me?"

"Knowing they're not getting enough to eat, why don't they give them more?"

"Get lost, you bunch of shameless bastards! Do you know that my wife started preparing ten days in advance when she heard you were coming, treating you with the highest honors among nobles? It seems like all her efforts have been wasted."

"We can't get our hands on those nobles' things. General, please treat us as your subordinates from now on, instead of being so polite as to treat us as guests."

Yun Ce sucked the noodles in his mouth and swallowed them before looking around at the people around him. He said in a deep voice, "It is only right that someone who has fought the Japanese to the death for many years under the Iron Enclosure Pass, without a name or surname, be a guest of honor of the Yun family."

Alright, enough of this unlucky talk. Let me tell you, what you ate at the banquet couldn't even compare to a bowl of oil-splashed noodles from the Yun family!

When the cook poured the scalding hot vegetable oil onto the noodles with a sizzling sound, a bowl of flavorful oil-splashed noodles was ready. It was obvious that Qin Shu was a connoisseur of food. He first snatched a bowl and put it in He Qingfang's hands, then grabbed another bowl for himself. He squatted on the long bench opposite Yun Ce, and under Yun Ce's direction, he mixed the noodles, then picked up a chopstick and put it in his mouth.

Then, he never spoke a word to Yun Ce again.

Yun Ce felt that he had achieved all his goals for the day, especially the last bowl of oil-splashed noodles, which was the finishing touch. When people are hungry, what they need most is a bowl of oil-splashed noodles. Only such a sufficient amount of carbohydrates can satisfy the body's craving for food.

"Does the general want us all to stay?"

After finishing his noodles and drinking the broth, Qin Shu rinsed his mouth and then began a serious conversation with Yun Ce.

"As you can see, this place is still a mess in its early stages. Both I and this place need you to stay."

"When the general was at Ghost King Mountain, he said he wanted to build this place into an advance base for the brave men to raid the Ghost Kingdom?"

"Yes, not only that, I also hope that this place can become the second line of defense after the Iron Enclosure Pass to stop the Japanese from entering the Great Han."

　There is more to come.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)