"When giving gifts for my sister's birthday, it's either for good luck or for something unusual; there are only two kinds."

"That being said, it is not an easy thing to do."

The Crown Princess naturally understood what Li Youran was saying, but what constituted good fortune and what was rare...

Every year, the emperor would receive many rare treasures as tribute from outside the capital; he had seen all sorts of rare things.

In previous years, on the Emperor's birthday, the Third Prince had found a stone resembling the character for "longevity" in the Southern Mountains and presented it to the Emperor, but the Emperor never seemed particularly pleased. Thinking of this, the Crown Princess felt even more troubled.

"Sister, don't be troubled. Let me think about it."

Li Youran didn't have the leisure to send gifts to the emperor, but she really couldn't bear to see her sister troubled by this matter.

As she spoke, she hurriedly stepped forward to massage the Crown Princess's temples, her mind racing as she pondered what gift to give.

The older people get, the more they hope to live a long life. The longer an emperor sits on the throne, the more reluctant he is to leave it.

Li Youran believed that the only things that could make the emperor happy were longevity and a prosperous empire.

"Sister, I have a suggestion, I wonder if it would be feasible?"

Li Youran suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and an idea popped into her mind. She looked at the Crown Princess and said.

"Since it is the Emperor's birthday, let's give him a good omen. On his birthday, we'll perform a magic trick to bring him good fortune in everything he does. Then, we'll combine the magic trick with a magic trick to steal a peach from the sky for him, so that he will be happy."

Upon hearing Li Youran's words, the Crown Princess suddenly opened her eyes, which had been closed. She turned around and looked at Li Youran with an expression of agreement.

“It is indeed a good idea. I have also heard people mention that there is a folk tradition of descendants stealing peaches to give to the elderly for their birthdays. However, such a magic trick is not an easy task to perform. Nowadays, time is tight, and it is really difficult to find such a master to complete this magic trick in a short period of time.”

Although the Crown Princess agreed with Li Youran's idea, it would be difficult to implement. After all, people who can perform magic tricks are very rare, and she had only heard of them before, and she couldn't even be sure if they really existed.

"Don't worry, sister, leave this to me."

Li Youran patted his chest, making a guarantee, and said to the Crown Princess.

"Right now, the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince are at loggerheads over business matters, so he has no time to care about us. Let's take action on the Emperor's birthday and catch him off guard."

As the Third Prince spoke, he pointed at the map on the table with his finger, looking determined to win.

"Your Highness, please feel free to act boldly. We are confident of victory this time."

The Protector General bowed to the Third Prince and said that he was very confident of success in this operation because the Crown Prince trusted him greatly, not only providing him with military support but also secretly promising him an inexhaustible supply of provisions.

"Lord Wu, please rest assured, I will not wrong you. After I succeed, I will promote you from the Grand General Protector of the Nation to the Grand General Who Unifies the Three Armies. At the same time, I will also appoint your son-in-law, who is a top scholar, as the top scholar."

The Third Prince was in a great mood. He laughed loudly and said that the General Protector of the Nation, who was kneeling on the ground, also looked delighted.

Although Lord Wu inherited the title of Protector of the Nation from his grandfather, he was not respected because he had no military achievements, and his position in the Wu family was very precarious.

He is now a trusted man of the Third Prince, and for the sake of the Third Prince's bright future, he has endured the situation and married his daughter to Tian Alang in order to gain the Crown Prince's trust.

The Third Prince is about to launch a rebellion. If the Third Prince can defeat him in one fell swoop, he will become the founding minister.

At the same time, even if the Third Prince fails, he has already found a way out and will not be implicated.

Just when Li Youran thought that the price of lemon iced water would drop even lower, she was surprised to find that the price of lemon iced water actually returned to its original price.

Just as Li Youran was surprised, she saw a banner hanging uniformly in all the Mixue Ice Cream shops.

"Drinking good, expensive drinks, lemon iced water is a symbol of status."

Just when Lemon Ice Water and Mixue Ice Cream were fighting tooth and nail to squeeze their profits to the minimum, Lemon Ice Water unexpectedly turned around and took a high-end approach, restoring the price to its original level of more than ten yuan per cup.

Li Youran didn't know whether to praise Hu Qinqin for playing her cards well or to say that Hu Qinqin was too blindly confident.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it was the Emperor's birthday.

During the family banquet, men and women sat separately. The Crown Princess, as the eldest daughter-in-law, was responsible for bringing Hu Qinqin to the banquet, while Li Youran sat with the princess and the county princess.

The Crown Princess walked in front, with Hu Qinqin behind. The pregnant Crown Princess walked carefully, her pace neither particularly fast nor slow.

But Hu Qinqin seemed to be doing it on purpose. She took big, quick steps, and before she knew it, she stepped on the Crown Princess's dress. If it weren't for the quick reflexes of the maid beside her, the Crown Princess would have fallen flat on her face.

"Your Highness, I'm sorry, it's all my fault for not having my eyes covered when I walk."

The Crown Princess turned around and saw Hu Qinqin speaking to her with a forced smile and no sincerity.

The Crown Princess glanced at Hu Qinqin and didn't continue the topic. She naturally knew that Hu Qinqin was doing it on purpose.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!