The next day, the grand state banquet was held in Plumera City's imperial palace.
Besides the dishes Elara had made at the small palace banquet the day before, today's banquet also featured many dishes she had prepared in the past.
At the small palace banquet, while directing others to make new dishes and snacks, Elara had also invited the palace chefs to observe and learn.
At today's grand state banquet, all the old and new dishes were made by the palace chefs. Elara had open-air banquet tables set up on the large platform in front of the imperial hall to prepare for the feast.
When the palace attendants brought out every dish from the "Manchu Han Imperial Feast" and placed them on all the banquet tables, all officials from the nine departments who usually attended court were already present.
The grand state banquet officially began.
Elara raised her wine cup to toast the heavens and earth first, then refilled it and raised it high while standing on the platform, loudly declaring a toast to the gathered officials.
The civil and military officials raised their wine cups high and offered their respects to Elara, their unified and passionate voices echoing through the sky.
"We, your subjects, wish for the great revival of the Plumera Kingdom. We wish for the everlasting prosperity of the Plumera Kingdom. We wish for harmony and peace under heaven and earth. We wish for the eternal glory of Her Majesty the Empress."
At the same time,
other large cities across the Plumera Kingdom also held worship and celebration banquets on this day.
Officials who could not return to the capital due to local affairs participated in these ceremonies and banquets in their own regions.
This day could be considered a small holiday for the entire country.
All levels of officials, who had barely rested in over a year, finally got a bit of a break.
Two days later, after the banquets and ceremonies ended, the Plumera Kingdom resumed its fast-paced development.
The nine central departments in Plumera City continued operating in an orderly, fast-paced manner. Because the Ministry of Works had built more and more roads, connecting more cities, the departments in Plumera City could coordinate more closely with their regional offices.
From top to bottom, the capital city Plumera City began to connect with every major region, forming a tightly linked network. This helped cities in different regions grow more prosperous together.
A busy and fast-paced month passed in Anshun.
During this month, Elara received a reply to the letter she had written to Lucian.
Not only did she get a reply, but the person she wanted was also sent to her. After receiving the book on ancient mechanical techniques, she had hoped Lucian could send someone from Tiangong Pavilion to help study it.
Lucian really did send someone. It was said to be his personally trained disciple, named Octavian, who was highly skilled in all kinds of mechanical techniques. He was even capable of inheriting a branch leadership position at Tiangong Pavilion.
However, because he was obsessed with machinery and disliked socializing or management, he chose to remain a disciple instead of rising in rank.
After reading the mechanical blueprints Elara had sent, he became fascinated and applied more than ten times to go to Plumera Kingdom to study them personally.
When Lucian wrote back to Elara, he sent a Tiangong Pavilion team to escort Octavian, who delivered the letter himself.
After reading the letter, Elara looked up at Octavian.
From the letter, she had assumed Octavian was a young man around twenty or thirty, but when she saw him in person, he was much younger than she expected, just sixteen years old.
No wonder he was from Tiangong Pavilion, he was clearly a top-level prodigy on this ancient continent.
Octavian was a delicate and handsome teenager with red lips and white teeth. Because he was still underage, he still had baby fat on his cheeks, making him look both refined and adorable.
After speaking with him briefly, Elara realized he truly was obsessed with mechanical devices.
His eyes seemed to see nothing else. The first thing he did upon seeing Elara was not to greet her as the Empress, but to rush up and excitedly ask about the mechanical diagrams he couldn't understand.
Only when a palace attendant pulled him back did he return to his senses slightly. He gave Elara a quick bow, then continued asking her technical questions, his bright eyes fixed on her.
This deep obsession with mechanical work satisfied Elara.
When she wrote to Lucian, she had hinted that she wanted someone quiet and focused on research.
The Plumera Kingdom's relationship with Tiangong Pavilion needed to stay neutral, not too close to attract attention, but not too distant to seem indifferent. Octavian's nature was perfect for that, and Elara was very pleased.
With Octavian and the real Tiangong Pavilion team staying in Plumera Kingdom, those who secretly suspected their alliance might back off. It would also help with smoother business dealings when Plumera Kingdom launched new products.
After meeting him, Elara handed him a few mechanical blueprints she had prepared earlier and told him to study them first.
These blueprints were even more complex and profound than the ones she had previously mailed.
Octavian immediately clutched the blueprints and went silent, his eyes glued to them without moving, making Elara wonder if he had entered a meditative state.
After watching him for a while, Elara looked away and had the highest-ranking official from the Ministry of Works come to take him in.
Octavian would live in the Ministry of Works. The officials there would observe him for a while. If he had any problems or needs that the Ministry could meet within its technical scope, they would fulfill them directly.
Also, Elara told the Ministry of Works officials that they should spend more time talking with Octavian and learn more about the mechanical skills in his hands.
After all, he came from the Tiangong Pavilion, a world-class talent with deep knowledge in mechanics. It would be a complete waste if no one in the Ministry of Works learned anything from him.
Right now, the Ministry of Works still doesn't have a top-ranking official, but the current highest-ranking officer is a very smart person. Elara only hinted briefly, and he instantly understood her meaning. He nodded seriously and promised that once he returned, he would immediately have all the officials eagerly approach Octavian to exchange technical knowledge, so they would not let down the emperor's expectations.
After assigning Octavian, Elara would occasionally throw a few diagrams of "Ancient Mechanical Techniques" to the Ministry of Works to keep his attention there, but for the time being, she no longer interfered much.
Another half a month passed.
The team from the Ministry of Works that had been sent to the Carnation Kingdom finally returned to the country.
After more than a year, this dispatched team finally resolved two major disasters in Carnation Kingdom: the flooding of the Yipu River and the dangerous, spreading swamp miasma.
These two disasters had troubled Carnation Kingdom for over a hundred years, and now that they were finally solved, Carnation Kingdom was deeply grateful to Plumera Kingdom and the officials of the dispatched team.
When they returned, they were carefully escorted by the Carnation royal guards and five thousand elite soldiers.
In addition to providing protection, Carnation Kingdom also sent even more rare and luxurious gifts than when they first established relations with Plumera Kingdom, including all kinds of fierce beasts, fine furs, jade, jewelry, exotic fruits, plus three hundred trained war elephants, and
A breathtaking beauty said to be even more stunning, better trained, and of higher birth than Clematis and Cleome, the most favored and best-trained First Prince of Carnation Kingdom, born from the Empress of Carnation and her consort.
The lead commander of the Carnation royal guard escorting this prince respectfully bowed to Elara at the Plumera royal capital and said,
"If Your Majesty likes him, you may keep him as a plaything. His entire body and manner have already been trained to match Your Majesty's preferences. If there is anything unsatisfactory, we Carnation royals have also brought his exclusive trainer, wet nurse, and father. Just tell the wet nurse your wishes, and after some time, the prince will become whatever Your Majesty desires."
The commander's tone was extremely respectful, almost to the point of humble flattery.
After realizing that Plumera Kingdom's team managed to solve the two major natural disasters in only one year, something Carnation Kingdom had failed to do in centuries, the Carnation royal family became even more certain that Plumera Kingdom and their empress Elara were the ones foretold in their divine prophecy as the most important to Carnation Kingdom.