Chapter 45: Western Painter

  That red-whiskered, green-eyed foreigner saw Jiang Zhen and laughed in a half-sour, half-bland Beijing accent: "Big fatty Jiang has actually come out to entertain guests himself today. It seems these are indeed noble guests."

  It seems that this barbarian is quite familiar with Jiang Zhenzi.

  Jiang Zhenzi stood up, walked to the side of that person, put his arm around his shoulder, and asked intimately: "Mister Stubborn, you haven't come for many days, are you running to that place of romance and pleasure again, to experience the culture of our heavenly dynasty?"

  "No, no," Namis hastily explained. "I've been busy helping the emperor with his portrait these past few days and had no time to come over."

  Three people burst out laughing

  "That's a damn strange name, Mistuboshi."

  Miss Todd heard Mr. Cow say, turned around and said to Mr. Cow: "Miss Todd is the language of my Great Britain, it means 'my mother is very beautiful', not strange at all."

  Everyone heard it and burst out laughing.

  When the laughter of the crowd subsided, Jiang Zhenzi pointed at Mistoffelees and said to Yue Fei: "Let me introduce you. This is the royal painter of Western painting in the imperial court today, with the surname Bo, named Tan Ma Shi."

  Yue Fei wanted to tease that barbarian a bit, so he intentionally asked: "Is it the Bian River with three points of water or the Bo River without any water?"

  Tan Musi was delighted to see Yue Fei ask such a question, and with an expression of meeting a kindred spirit, he replied: "This place is Bianjing, I love this place, at first I wanted to change my surname to Bian, which has water. But later on, as a Western-style painter, I value realism and the rules of line drawing, as the saying goes, 'no rules, no square circle'; In the 'Shang Shu - Gu Ming', it says: 'Lin Jun Zhou Bang, Shuai Xun Da Bian', here the word Bian can be interpreted as law or rule. So I used the surname Bian without water to show the rigor of my Western-style painting."

  Tan Ma's words had just fallen when Yue Fei and his brothers were greatly surprised. This barbarian's Chinese was too good, and he even understood the nuances of the language!

  Jiang Zhenzi chuckled and said, "This Mistuo has been in China for thirty years. He originally came to Hangzhou's Wansong Academy to study, where he was praised by Mr. Dongpo. Ten years ago, he was discovered by Cai Taishi and presented to Emperor Huizong as a birthday gift. Mistuo is skilled in Western painting, which has a style vastly different from Chinese painting, and it deeply pleased the emperor. Now, Mistuo is a favorite of the emperor."

  Tan Musi heard Jiang Zhenzi say so, shook his head repeatedly and said: "The emperor's writing and painting are much better than mine. I am now a student of the emperor and I will study hard to graduate as soon as possible."

  The people around heard this and secretly took a cold breath. The emperor's eldest disciple should be an official of several ranks.

  Jiang Zhen pointed to Yue Fei and introduced him to Tan Ma Shi, saying: "This gentleman's surname is Yue, with a single name of Fei. He is the top martial arts scholar from Huang County, Daming Prefecture, as well as an instructor at the Imperial Fist Institute, and he is also the number one disciple of Zhou Tong, the greatest hero in the land."

  When Jiang Zhenzi said this, the white-browed old man beside him, who had been silent all along, flashed his eyes and measured Yue Fei with a glance. Yue Fei knew how formidable his divine consciousness was, but he didn't make a sound. He just bowed to the two of them.

  "Tan Ma Shi said with a bow: "The 'Shuowen Jiezi' says: Yue, refers to a great mountain. The imperial garden where the emperor goes on tour. The 'Book of Songs' says: A high and respected mountain is called Yue. It is said that benevolent people enjoy mountains, wise people enjoy water; with lofty aspirations and majestic scenery, Yue is a symbol of perseverance and eternity..."

  It seems this foreigner is not just a bookworm, but also a chatterbox.

  "Mr. Jiang pointed at the old man with white eyebrows and introduced him, 'This is Mr. Zhong from the palace, sent by His Majesty to accompany Master Tammasi...' "

  Jiang Zhenzi hadn't finished speaking when Niu Gao whispered on the side, "Palace people? Aren't they eunuchs? How can they still have whiskers?"

  Jiang Zhenzi's face turned white in an instant.

  Mr. Zhong's right hand swung, and a pair of chopsticks appeared in front of Niu Gao's mouth in the blink of an eye. Before he could react, two fingers suddenly appeared in front of Niu Gao, pinching the chopstick. It turned out that Yue Fei had made his move.

  Yue Fei said to Mr. Zhong, "I am ignorant, please calm down first, sir. My master once told me that in his younger years, he was undefeated in Bianjing City, whether it was against the brave warriors of the Liao State or other challengers, even Li Xian, who was known as the number one warrior on the northwest border at that time, were all easily defeated by him. There is only one person who made him deeply apprehensive, and that is Mr. Zhong from the palace. Mr. Zhong is known as 'Tinghai Shen Zhen', with a golden needle that never misses its mark."

  Yue Fei, as a disciple of Zhou Tong, had a high reputation in the Jianghu. These words struck a chord with Mr. Zhong's heart. Mr. Zhong's anger dissipated, and he smiled, saying: "The number one move under heaven, bestowed by the Emperor himself, is not something I can match."

  Ladies and gentlemen, according to historical records, there was indeed a eunuch in the Song Dynasty who had a long mustache, and that was Tong Guan. As for why eunuchs could still grow beards, an explanation will follow later.

  Jiang Zhenzi was a clever person and hastily said, "Since we're all our own people, let's sit at the same table. The hometown dish is only left with one plate, making another plate will take more than an hour."

  Tan Musi immediately pulled Zhong Dashi over and said, "Good, good. I'm like an old friend with Yue Ge, eating together is even more enjoyable."

  Yue Fei found it strange, and Jiang Zhenzi explained: "There is a famous dish in our restaurant that has a great origin. In Bianliang City, only our family has this dish. Mi Situobo had eaten it with the emperor several times in the palace and couldn't forget it. One day he accidentally ate this dish at our restaurant. From then on, every time he left the palace, he came to our place to support us, bringing a lot of popularity to our restaurant."

  As they spoke, a plate of extremely thinly sliced meat was brought up, golden in color, shining brightly, and looking very appetizing.

  Jiang Zhenzi invited everyone to taste, saying: "This is our store's signature dish - hometown southern meat. This meat is absolutely not greasy, please enjoy it and refresh your mouth."

  Everyone picked up their chopsticks and took a bite of the meat, and it was indeed refreshing and delicious, earning unanimous praise.

  Yang Zai asked from the side: "Didn't the shopkeeper say that this dish has a great origin? Quickly tell us."

  Without waiting for Jiang Zhenzi to react, Tan Musi introduced: "This is our Hangzhou dish. The method of making it is: first take the large pieces of pork marinated in Nan flavor and soak them in water for an hour to remove some saltiness, then add the original soup to stew, before eating, slice into thin slices, lean meat is bright red, fat meat is white and clean, fragrant and savory, fresh and salty. The Northern Wei Dynasty's Jia Sixie's "Essential Techniques for the Common People" recorded various methods of curing meat in the "Dried Meat" chapter. This hometown Nan meat is the best among cured meats."

  Tan Ma Shi's Chinese is excellent, and he speaks as if telling a story, so everyone listens with great interest.

  Tan Musi finished talking about the method of curing meat, picked up a piece of meat, put it in his mouth and chewed it with relish. After swallowing, he slapped his chopsticks on the table, shook his head and told another anecdote.

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  Thank you zhuxyhh01, beautiful girl 007 and Tan Ruoshenfeng for your reward.