CHAPTER 1140: CHAPTER 1119: GIVING GIFTS

Other ministers didn’t notice anything amiss, but Wei Zhi and Lord Tang, who knew the inside story, slightly furrowed their brows, then silently returned to their seats, bowed once again, and sat down.

Manbao and Bai Shan also looked up at the Prince of Yizhou; this was their first encounter with the Prince of Yizhou since learning about their own origins.

They thought they would feel hatred, but upon actually seeing the Prince of Yizhou, they surprisingly felt very little, their sparkling eyes emotionlessly observing the Prince of Yizhou standing above them.

The Prince of Yizhou did not pay attention to them, as there were many eyes on them after all.

The Empress Dowager, holding his hand, sat in the central seat, since she was the birthday star today, thus sitting in the center with the Emperor slightly to the side, but from a distance, their seats looked almost the same.

After the Empress Dowager sat down, she patted the Prince of Yizhou’s hand and smiled, "You should sit as well, let your wife and the Empress sit together; where is Xin’an? Have him come over quickly."

The Commandery Prince Xin’an, who was behind, immediately approached with a smile, bowed deeply, and called out, "Imperial Grandmother."

"Very good, very good," the Empress Dowager’s eyes crinkled with laughter as she pulled his hand and said, "Go sit with your Crown Prince brother, and later, when the court ministers present their gifts, help your grandmother inspect them."

The Commandery Prince Xin’an responded with a smile.

The Crown Prince glanced at his father, silently stood up, and shuffled forward a bit, allowing his cousin to sit next to him.

The Second Prince and the Third Prince: ...

The Fourth Prince and the two younger brothers below didn’t care about this at all; as long as the immortal battle didn’t affect them, it was fine.

The Emperor was all smiles, seemingly unconcerned about these affairs, and only after everyone was seated did he raise his hand to signal the start of the birthday banquet.

Then came the gift-giving segment.

The gifts that could be presented were naturally not obscure gifts like those from Manbao and others; first was the Emperor’s gift.

He picked two of the best items from his imperial estate to give to the Empress Dowager, while the Empress presented a jade Buddha to the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager believed in Buddhism.

Manbao sat next to Mingda and plucked a grape from the fruit plate in front of her to eat, a rarity outside this setting.

Seeing that everyone’s gifts were very valuable, Manbao quietly asked Mingda, "You only gifted something you embroidered yourself, is that okay?"

Mingda leaned close to her ear and explained softly, "I am still not of age and unmarried, without much money, so for us, the most important thing is the sentiment. Once I am married, the gifts cannot be like this."

Manbao nodded, and saw the Prince of Yizhou gift the Empress Dowager a coral tree taller than herself, the brilliant coral tree, translucent like jade, left the inexperienced Manbao dumbstruck.

Even Mingda couldn’t help but take a few extra glances, whispering, "The prince’s gesture is truly grand; even the palace doesn’t have such a coral tree."

Manbao thought to herself: This is all from the sweat and blood of the people from Jiannan, particularly those from Yizhou.

The Emperor also looked at the coral tree several times.

The Empress Dowager was overjoyed, smiling so much that the wrinkles on her face deepened, and regardless of what the courtiers thought, they all followed the Empress Dowager’s lead in praising the filial piety of the Prince of Yizhou.

After the Prince of Yizhou, it was the turn for other princes to present their gifts, and only after the uncles had presented their gifts did the Crown Prince start off their generation’s gifts.

Manbao woodenly watched the rare treasures, some of which she had neither seen nor even heard of before, flowing toward the Empress Dowager, slowly realizing how much money the Empress Dowager must be making from this one birthday.

Manbao turned to Mingda and asked, "Does the Empress Dowager celebrate her birthday every year?"

Mingda was taken aback and shook her head, "Not every year, in previous years the birthday celebrations were family feasts, even the uncles would not often come to the capital, only on milestone birthdays would it be like this. I was still young during grandmother’s last milestone birthday, I don’t remember much."

Manbao sighed in relief.

Mingda said, "But this year is not the great birthday of the imperial great-grandmother, it’s just that she said her health is not good, and she wants to take this opportunity for the family to have another reunion meal, so father is celebrating her birthday."

Manbao then carefully looked up at the Empress Dowager’s face. She was sitting not too far away, so she could see and hear clearly. Then, hearing her speak, Manbao whispered to Mingda, "Don’t worry, the Empress Dowager is in good health."

Mingda: ...

She of course knew that the imperial great-grandmother was in good health, at least better than her own mother, but...

She glanced at Manbao, wishing she wouldn’t say it out loud.

Manbao and she exchanged looks and blinked, sort of getting the hint.

There were few ministers who could bring gifts up to the great hall, and everyone’s gifts were quite precious except for two people.

One was Wei Zhi, and the other was County Duke Yu.

Wei Zhi was really poor, so he gave the Empress Dowager a box of pens, which were originally given to him by his son, and he had been reluctant to use them. It was truly painful for him to pass them on to the Empress Dowager.

But the Empress Dowager was of such an age, she seldom wrote anything anymore, so she simply smiled, had the gift taken away and did not look twice.

Even lighter than Wei Zhi’s gift was that from County Duke Yu.

Manbao felt this way, as County Duke Yu wrote a celebratory statement for the Empress Dowager.

She thought the Empress Dowager wouldn’t like it much, but to her surprise, she was genuinely delighted, and even leaned forward when Commandery Prince Xin’an came to accept the gift.

She opened the statement and upon seeing it, a radiant smile spread across her face, and she respectfully thanked County Duke Yu.

Seeing the puzzled look on Manbao’s face, Mingda slightly smiled and quietly said to her, "County Duke Yu is famous for his writing. The imperial great-grandmother enjoys reading his writings and poems, and besides, he is long-lived. Writing a celebratory statement for her, it is something priceless."

Manbao then understood, "The teacher was right, being well-read means making money is only a matter of choice."

Mingda thought about it and agreed.

The two exchanged glances and couldn’t help but smile.

After County Duke Yu presented his gift, it was the turn of the young, unmarried princesses.

Everyone gave something handmade. Mingda gave an embroidered ’longevity’ character, and Changyu gave a scroll of hand-copied scriptures...

The Empress Dowager was also very happy, smile beaming as she accepted them, and since it was Mingda’s turn, everyone’s gaze naturally focused on them, and the Prince of Yizhou then noticed Zhou Man sitting beside her.

He frowned slightly, not wanting to bring up this topic because mentioning it in public would be equivalent to making her famous. However, he couldn’t resist when he turned and saw Bai Shan and Bai Cheng sitting behind the Fifth and Sixth princes.

He smiled and said to Princess Mingda, "Mingda, who is the young lady sitting beside you?"

Mingda turned to look at Manbao and replied with a bow, "Replying to uncle, she is my good friend."

The Prince of Yizhou asked, "May I know which family’s young lady she is, able to sit at our Li family’s seats?"

Mingda paused before answering, "Her surname is Zhou. Both my sixth sister and I get along well with her, so we invited her to sit beside me. Neither father nor mother objected."

She looked towards the Empress Dowager, a bit playfully, "Imperial great-grandmother, I would like to sit with my friend, may I?"

The Empress Dowager liked Mingda a lot. She glanced at Zhou Man, noticing a little girl not much different from Mingda, her face round and fair, and she nodded with a smile, "Of course, you are frail, don’t stand too long, go sit down."