And what was the food laid out "ten cubits square"? The empress dowager Lung Yu would have about a hundred main dishes on six tables, an extravagance inherited from the empress dowager Tzu Hsi. I had about thirty. But these dishes which were brought in with such ceremonial were only for show. The reason why the food could be served almost as soon as I gave the word was that it had been prepared several hours or even a whole day in advance and was being kept warm over the kitchen stoves. The cooks knew that at least since the time of Kuang Hsu, the emperor had not eaten this food. The food I ate was sent over by the Empress Dowager, and after her death, by the High Consorts. She and each of the High Consorts had kitchens of their own staffed by highly skilled chefs who produced twenty or more really delicious dishes for every meal. This was the food that was put in front of me, while that prepared by the imperial kitchens was set some distance away as it was only there for the sake of appearances.
After reading this paragraph, the reader can most likely conclude that the speaker feels:
• impressed by the traditions that dictate his meals.
• uncomfortable with the extravagance of his meals.
• shocked at the amount of waste created by his meals.
• self-conscious about eating his meals in front of others.