Chapter 768.1
Chapter 768.1 – [ A Beauty’s Tongue? 1.1]
“Where’s your friend? Please ask her to come quickly!” Eighth Prince Wu Hai seemed to be a loyal and straightforward man.
If it were any other Heaven Rank expert, they would not be so anxious.
Moreover, even if they were anxious about their loved one, they wouldn’t show it so easily.
Yue Yang certainly couldn’t tell him that Xue Wu Xia, who could make predictions using the Book of Truth, was currently cultivating at the Gate of Life and Death inside Tong Tian Tower. Smiling, while waving his hands, he indicated that his friend wasn’t with him, and the divination would have to wait until he had time to go and visit them. There were many strange people in Heaven Realm, and they were all of different temperaments, including some of them who did not like to meet strangers and would only see their friends. Eighth Prince Wu Hai and Lord Ling Yun did not doubt Yue Yang’s words, they just felt that this strange expert, who was skilled in the art of divination, must definitely be a peerless expert that hid themself from the world. They never would have imagined that it was a human woman from Tong Tian Tower like Xue Wu Xia.
Lord Ling Yun and Tu Hai, both consoled Eighth Prince Wu Hai. They surmised that something along the way had delayed his consort’s trip, so that Eighth Prince’s beloved concubine had not yet returned home.
Using a bit of persuasion, CIty Lord Tu Hai once again invited them to a banquet.
Although Wu Hai was a bit anxious to search for his concubine, he had still come to this Rizhao City hoping to expand his search together with the power of local rankers. On the other hand, he also wanted to draw on Yue Yang’s power to find useful clues through that hidden expert who was skilled in divination.
So, he forcefully pushed down the restlessness in his heart and entered the city castle with Yue Yang and the rest.
In terms of the banquet, Tu Hai had put in a lot of effort.
All sorts of delicacies were served one after another, the last one in particular was a unique dish only found in Rizhao City, Braised Sparrow Tongues.
After the most tender and delicious parts of several thousand gray sparrows have been marinated by the most renowned chefs of Rizhao city, the bird’s tongues are cut off. These are then sculpted into various shapes, then braised in their own juices infused with honey. To finish them off, they are fried with mushrooms. The resulting masterpiece literally melts in your mouth, yet doesn’t taste greasy. A superlative dish with a well rounded taste and just the right amount of richness. A dish that has a crispy outer skin that, as soon as you bite into it, oozes with sweet juices.
“Come, all of you must try our unique specialty of Rizhao City, Braised Sparrow Tongues. This type of grey sparrow is only found in the area surrounding Rizhao City. Although it is useless as a beast of war, it is superior to other fowl in terms of the quality of its meat, and is the most suitable for consumption. The sparrow’s tongue is long and thin, tender and smooth, and is known as a ‘Beauty’s Tongue’, which makes it the greatest amongst all our delicacies. It is said that thousands of years ago, there was a grey sparrow which successfully evolved into a Grey Sparrow Beauty, and transformed into a humanoid form. Then, a few Heaven Rank experts cut out her tongue. After it had been thoroughly marinated and perfectly prepared by a famous chef, its deliciousness was rated as one of the top ten delicacies throughout all of Heaven Realm!” Tu Hai’s cousin Tudor, who was a famous gourmet in Rizhao City, recounted this while presenting the Braised Sparrow Tongues to the esteemed guests.
Of course, this specialty had been prepared to be served to Yue Yang and his companions.
This allowed Eighth Prince Wu Hai, who had come unannounced, to have the opportunity to try this local delicacy as well.
As Tudor proudly introduced this famous dish, both Tu Hai and Lord Ling Yun looked at each other and gave a surreptitious nod.
Although Tudor, who was the captain of the elite guard, usually seen as a dissipated loser, doing nothing all day but eating, drinking, and having fun. However, in terms of hospitality, he was still able to do a good job, and could be counted on to act as a barely useful host.
The “Braised Beauty’s Tongue” of ancient times could not be replicated.
But with this similarly unique “Braised Sparrow Tongues”, it could be said that they would still not lose face.
If the two esteemed guests, Third Young Master and Eighth Prince, could return home satisfied, then in the future, when Tu Hai made a diplomatic trip to Upper Heaven Realm, he would start off with some friends. At the very least, he would be able to call on the Eastern Demon Tribe… Lord Ling Yun and Tu Hai even thought that Third Young Master was most likely from the Eastern Immortal Tribe… If he could gain his friendship, his future would be brilliant and prosperous.
“Sparrow tongues?” As soon as the servant serving Eighth Prince Wu Hai removed the cloche[1], he was stunned.
In front of everybody was a Grey Sparrow Beauty.
It was made from braised sparrow tongues, which the chef had carefully arranged and stacked, one by one, to form the shape with the head of a beauty and the body of a sparrow, seasoned with honey and mushrooms.
The beauty’s head could be said to be almost lifelike.
The beauty had an intricate design and was clearly the masterpiece of a great chef who had spent many hours preparing this dish. It was so beautiful that it was almost a pity to eat it.
Tudor was very proud of the arrangement of the sparrow tongues, not to mention the cooking process, it took hours just to arrange and stack the massive number of tiny sparrow tongues. In Heaven Realm, no other chefs, except the famous chefs of Rizhao City, had ever been able to produce this dish. A dish which is aesthetically pleasing while having a wondrous aroma and mouth-watering taste. The only regret that Tudor had was that this was not the tongue of an evolved humanoid Grey Sparrow Beauty, otherwise it would have been one of the top ten delicacies throughout all of Heaven Realm.
Tudor was even more delighted to see that the guests had been charmed by this famous dish.
He appeared to be modest, but was in fact proud. He laughed, “Unfortunately, you can’t find any grey sparrows that have evolved into a humanoid or near-humanoid form around Rizhao City, otherwise, you would have been treated to ‘A Beauty’s Tongue’! Rizhao City might be in the middle of nowhere, and we have to make do with simple food, but hospitality is our forte. Our offering you a taste of the delicacies available from our countryside is a symbol of our sincerity.”
“Have any of you ever eaten a ‘Beauty’s Tongue’? I mean, a real Beauty’s Tongue? One cut off from an evolved humanoid Grey Sparrow Beauty?” Eighth Prince Wu Hai suddenly stood up and inquired.
“Your Highness, don’t worry. The tongue of a real Grey Sparrow Beauty is so hard to come by, we have never been blessed with a chance to try the real thing.” Tu Hai was deeply afraid that Eighth Prince was a gourmand[2], if he really demanded for a Grey Sparrow Beauty’s tongue right now, where could he go to find one for him? The gray sparrow was such a low-rank war beast, they rarely evolved into humanoid Gray Sparrow Beauties. Although he had been in Rizhao City for many years, he himself had never seen an evolved, humanoid Grey Sparrow Beauty. Both the Grey Sparrow Beauty and ‘A Beauty’s Tongue’ only existed in legends.
“However, this isn’t a problem!” Tudor smugly boasted, ”If His Royal Highness wants to try it, I’ll send people to search for it right away or cultivate one with magic crystals, only the latter might take more time. I think that there are tens of millions of grey sparrows around Rizhao City. There must be some evolved, humanoid Grey Sparrow Beauties amongst them. It’s just that they have been hidden away, lest the mercenaries catch them… Your Highness, you don’t know how many grey sparrows we eat in Rizhao City every year. It is absolutely not less than a million! Some hunters might have encountered these humanoid Grey Sparrow Beauties and killed some but did not report it to us. Even though I have not personally seen one, maybe there is even one in this dish…”
“I’ll kill you!” Eighth Prince Wu Hai of the Golden Crow Tribe, suddenly burst into a rage.
He flashed in front of Tudor, then reached out and grabbed Tudor by the throat, choking him as he lifted his body up from the floor, prepared to slap the pathetic frightened wretch to death.
[1] Cloche > A bell-shaped metal or glass cover that is placed over a serving dish/plate to keep the food warm or fresh. The plate is presented to the diner and the cloche lifted off to the delight of the gourmet!
Image of a fancy antique French cloche bell > http://www.brightonyourhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Cloche_argent_1_082006-768×576.jpg
Full article is here > Service Under a Bell: The Reason A Plate Is Served With A Cloche
[2] Gourmand > Someone who is extremely (and often excessively) fond of eating and drinking. (Example: Fatty Hai, if he could afford it)
Gourmet > Someone with refined tastes who enjoys (and knows a lot about) fine food and drink. (Example: Zhi Zun)