"Xiang Yang of the Divine Constable Gate pays his respects to the Third Prince and Seventh Prince."
After entering the room, Eunuch Deng, the old eunuch who had been following Xiang Yang, silently drifted behind Li Hong and stood there quietly like a shadow. With lowered brows and an obedient expression, he truly looked like a servant rather than a formidable Celestial Being, making people unconsciously overlook his presence.
Xiang Yang, meanwhile, cupped his fists and offered a polite salute. Though there was a distinction between ruler and subject, Li Hong and Li Meng were merely princes, not the Emperor. Nor was Xiang Yang an ordinary official, but a master of martial arts, so there was naturally no need for him to kneel.
"Constable Xiang, please take a seat. Li Hong had long ordered wine and dishes prepared. Every quarter-hour, the table was replaced, ensuring that all these delicacies were freshly cooked and richly flavored."
When Li Hong saw Xiang Yang, he remained seated cross-legged where he was, merely returning the fist salute and gesturing for Xiang Yang to sit behind the long table opposite him. At the same time, he made clear the effort he had gone to, showing how highly he valued Xiang Yang.
Generally speaking, after food had sat for some time, both its taste and other qualities would decline to varying degrees. Even the finest delicacies in the world would become like chewing wax.
Thus, since he had not known when Xiang Yang would arrive, Li Hong had ordered a fresh table of wine and dishes brought in every quarter-hour. One could say he had put considerable thought into it.
Of course, from Xiang Yang's lowborn perspective, it was simply pure wastefulness, the idleness of someone with nothing better to do.
What a joke. A table