The Emperor's banquet, though it sounds quite grand—a gesture that in the past would have been considered a very high honor and still counts as high-level treatment even now—was all just for appearance's sake.
The dishes, though sumptuous and extravagant, were still far inferior to the divine feast Chen Yu once enjoyed when invited by the Inari God.
Furthermore, while the Emperor's position may be exalted, ultimately he's merely a mortal king, and he has long since lost any real power, reduced to nothing more than a symbolic puppet. Not to mention, even in the era when imperial authority was at its zenith, no human ruler ever dared to claim they were more noble than a demigod.
Thus, even though he attended the Emperor's banquet, Chen Yu didn't feel anything particularly special about it.
However, after finishing the dinner, Emperor Reiwa took Chen Yu to the reception room and finally began discussing the main matter.
