The Great Tang Dynasty's Trans-Dimensional Conference: Little Rhinoceros Arrives

Once all the ingredients and tools were ready, Lin Fan directed the guards to set up the three ovens. Then, he had someone bring out several sets of tables and chairs from the side hall.

Not long after, the Imperial Kitchen staff brought three whole sheep that had been prepared in advance to the outside of the main hall, accompanied by several people who each carried a cleaver and cooking utensils.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress, and greetings to the three princesses." The people from the Imperial Kitchen bowed respectfully.

Empress Zhangsun said, "You may all rise above your formalities. Today, you will all follow the instructions of this young man. Do whatever he tells you to do."

"Yes, sir!"

Looking at the neatly arranged ingredients on the table, Mingyue came to Lin Fan's side and asked in a low voice, "Young master, shall we begin now?"

Lin Fan nodded and said, "Okay, let's begin. First, chop the vegetables and meat, and tell them what they need."

"OK."

Preparing ingredients is a very simple matter for the people in the Imperial Food Bureau; they understood it as soon as Mingyue explained it.

Lin Fan turned around and cleaned the racks inside the oven. To make it easier to use water, Empress Zhangsun specially ordered someone to bring over three large vats.

After tidying up the shelves, Lin Fan directed the chefs from the Imperial Kitchen to begin marinating the three lambs.

He took out modern marinade and had them apply it evenly to the lamb before tying the marinated lamb to the barbecue grill.

An hour later, all the preparations for the banquet were completed.

In addition to the food prepared by Lin Fan on site, the Imperial Food Bureau also prepared some food separately, but Lin Fan didn't need to worry about that.

Seeing that it was almost time, Lin Fan was just about to start grilling when Li Shimin strolled back to the Lizheng Hall.

"Hey kid, you've prepared all this stuff?"

As soon as he walked over, Li Shimin saw the oven for roasting whole lamb.

"What's this metal box for?"

"Oh dear, this is roasted lamb!"

"Can you roast lamb in here?" Li Shimin had never seen this kind of oven before; he had only seen those simple grills for roasting and grilling.

"That's right, Your Majesty, this kind of oven is specially designed for roasting large foods," Lin Fan explained with a smile.

"How do you grill it like this? Don't you need firewood and charcoal?"

Lin Fan didn't say anything, but simply opened the cover on the oven, revealing a lamb smeared with seasonings inside.

"Huh, there's no fire in here."

"Haha, Your Majesty will find out soon enough."

Lin Fan had Chang Le bring out a power strip from inside the hall. He plugged the oven into the power supply and then turned on the switch to test it.

Upon seeing the sheep in the box spinning automatically, Li Shimin's eyes widened instantly.

After confirming that there were no problems, Lin Fan had the guards carry the sheep down and then put on smokeless charcoal to start a fire.

Li Shimin had seen whole sheep roasted before, but this novel roasting method was a first for him.

Once the charcoal was burning, Lin Fan had someone lift the sheep out and put it inside, and finally covered the oven with the lid.

Lin Fan clapped his hands. "Alright, Your Majesty, now we just need to wait patiently."

"Kid, how long do you think it will take to bake this?"

"About three or four hours?"

"Huh?" Li Shimin was still unaware of the timekeeping rules of later generations.

"It will take about two hours."

Lin Fan shook his head. "No need to worry about it. Just check the heat halfway through."

"Wow, that's simple. This thing is really good." Li Shimin looked at the oven and had some ideas in mind.

The two chatted for a while when a guard came to report: "Your Majesty, the Duke of Su requests an audience."

Duke of Su? Lin Fan knew that Cheng Yaojin had arrived as soon as he heard the title.

"Hmm." Li Shimin nodded and waved his hand. "Bring that simpleton over here!" Just from this way of addressing him, you can tell how good their relationship is.

Cheng Yaojin could smell the aroma of roasted meat from afar. He smacked his lips and muttered to himself, "What's that smell? It smells so good."

Upon hearing this, the guard turned his head and whispered, "His Majesty has ordered a banquet to be prepared tonight."

"A banquet?" Cheng Yaojin's eyes lit up, his face beaming with excitement. "Haha, does this mean we'll be drinking again?"

Li Shimin did not tell him about Lin Fan in advance today, but only told him to enter the palace at a certain time. However, he was in a hurry and came over before the appointed time.

"I, Lao Cheng, pay my respects to Your Majesty! And greet the three princesses."

A strong voice rang out from behind them, and Li Shimin and Lin Fan turned around at the same time.

A burly man with a full beard walked over with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Hanzi, why are you here so early?"

"Hehe, I just received His Majesty's order and thought I'd come over early to chat with Your Majesty and relieve your boredom."

Li Shimin glanced at Cheng Yaojin, immediately seeing through his little scheme: "You old rascal, you don't actually want to chat with me, I think you're thinking about my bar!"

Cheng Yaojin didn't say anything, he just kept scratching his head and grinning foolishly.

Lin Fan already knew in advance that the person in front of him was Cheng Yaojin, after all, he was a legendary figure with a great reputation in history!

As Cheng Yaojin greeted Li Shimin, he looked Lin Fan up and down, his big eyes darting around.

"This person looks like a Han Chinese, but he's dressed in such strange clothes and has such short hair. He shouldn't be from our Great Tang Dynasty!"

Thinking of this, Cheng Yaojin turned to look at Li Shimin.

His meaning was quite clear: Your Majesty, won't you introduce me to someone?

Li Shimin could certainly understand Cheng Yaojin's meaning, and then very affectionately put his hand on Lin Fan's shoulder.

"Zhijie, this is Lin Fan, my newly adopted son!"

"Uncle Cheng, this is Lin Fan~" The little princess took Lin Fan's hand and introduced him again.

"Young man, I suppose you already know who he is, but I still want to introduce him to you. He is the Duke of Su of our Great Tang Dynasty, Cheng Zhijie."

Lin Fan quickly clasped his hands in greeting to Cheng Yaojin: "This junior greets Duke Su!"

After Lin Fan finished greeting him, Cheng Yaojin was still a little dazed.

Adopted son? Those two words from Li Shimin carry considerable weight!

However, no one had received any information about this before.

Cheng Yaojin was a little confused. He wondered if Li Shimin meant that this adopted son should be registered in the clan, or if it was just a simple title.

Seeing Cheng Yaojin standing there dumbfounded and silent, Li Shimin seemed to have guessed what he was thinking.

"Zhijie, you are the first person, apart from a very few, to know about this. He is not only my adopted son, but also holds a position equivalent to Chenggan!"

As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, Cheng Yaojin shuddered. Coming to his senses, he immediately returned the greeting to Lin Fan: "Greetings, Your Highness... uh... Your Highness."