Farm Girl's Manor

Chu Heng was indeed skilled at roasting meat, and his craftsmanship was exceptionally fine, learned during idle moments at Jingshan Villa. After removing the innards, the deer head, and other miscellaneous parts, there was still plenty of good meat left on the whole Plum Deer.

He took the two most tender and rich cuts of venison, and with the assistance of two little eunuchs from the Imperial kitchen, Chu Heng roasted them directly on the open ground. It took half an hour, and the juicy and rich venison was ready.

He had people slice the roasted meat into five plates, giving the first plate to Emperor Huian, then took three plates and distributed them to Xiao Ruiyuan, Yan Junyu, and Doctor Gui. The last plate, because of his physical condition, he could not consume deer meat, so he tasted only two thin slices, then gifted the rest to the little eunuchs who had assisted him. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

As for the more than ten brothers who were just watching... they were not within his consideration at all. As for those royal family members and civil and military ministers who were waiting to join the hunt, they had even less face to ask the Crown Prince of a country to roast meat for them.

Emperor Huian seemed oblivious to all this, declined the service of the Chief Eunuch, and did not let the poison-testing eunuch try the dish. He directly picked up a piece of fragrant venison with jade chopsticks and put it into his mouth. Before he could savor it properly, a look of joy had already appeared on his face. He looked affectionately at Chu Heng, who was full of expectation to his left, and praised loudly, "Excellent, this is the most delicious roasted venison I have ever tasted, haha!"

Chu Heng seemed very pleased, the smile on his face deepening even further, "I’m glad Father Emperor doesn’t find your humble son’s cooking skills too crude. If Father Emperor likes this venison, your son will... in the future..."

At this point, as if something had occurred to him, he abruptly stopped speaking, and the smile on his face became exceedingly forced.

Emperor Huian was well aware of the unspoken implication in his son’s words. He suddenly found the piece of juicy venison in his mouth tasteless, and difficult to swallow.

Xiao Ruiyuan remembered Doctor Gui’s words from the night before, and his expression grew ugly. He stared at the plate of roasted venison on the table and found himself unable to eat it no matter what.

Realizing he had misspoken, a look of guilt flashed across Chu Heng’s face. He picked up a pitcher of wine from the table and had someone push him in front of Emperor Huian’s Imperial Case to pour a cup of wine for him. The wine, which gave off a strange fragrance, was not the common transparent color but a striking purple-red.

Emperor Huian’s thoughts were momentarily captivated by this unusual color, and he couldn’t help but ask, "Hengheng, what is this wine?"

Chu Heng put down the wine pitcher, his face once again brimming with a gentle smile, "Father Emperor, this wine is called grape wine, also known as red wine. It is a new type of wine, said to be brewed from grapes, and its taste is quite unique, completely different from those imperial wines we usually drink."

"Grape wine? Actually brewed from grapes?" Emperor Huian’s tone held a hint of surprise. He had eaten sweet and juicy grapes before but did not know that grapes could also be used to make wine, and he grew more curious about the grape wine.

Chu Heng nodded, his gaze inadvertently caught the shocked expression of Yan Junyu, a faint smile passing through his eyes, he said to Emperor Huian, "This wine was a gift to your humble son from Huaixi, who knows best about how it is made from grapes."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Huian looked toward Yan Junyu, who was lounging against his chair in an unruly manner, and feigned anger as he scolded, "Usually, whenever you get something nice, I always remember to save a portion for you. But you, you good-for-nothing, give all the good things to Hengheng and forget about your elder here? Truly an ungrateful white-eyed wolf!"

Yan Junyu hastily got up, his handsomely delicate face carrying just the right amount of grievance, "Your Majesty, I obtained this wine by chance and got only two jars of it! The winemaker said, this wine is suitable for all ages and beneficial to health. Upon hearing it’s good for health, I sent it all to cousin, the Crown Prince! Anyway, even if I sent it to you, it would end up in cousin’s hands in the end. I simply spared Your Majesty the trouble. I didn’t expect that cousin would bring it to you after all!"