Before they knew it, it was the Empress's birthday, and a grand banquet was to be held in the palace.

In the past, it was Consort Gao who led all the concubines in the harem to handle the arrangements.

Since Princess Dekang was sent away for a political marriage, Consort Gao has been claiming illness for several days and has not come to pay her respects to the Empress.

The Thousand Autumns Banquet was then handed over to Consort Xian, who was the daughter of a military family. She had given birth to a princess in her early years, but the princess died young, and she had no more children.

Pei Yuanze was engaged to the Yan family, and Consort Xian was Yan Xinyue's distant aunt.

Therefore, Consort Lin was also assigned some tasks by Consort Xian to organize this Thousand Autumns Banquet.

It's nothing major, just arranging the program for the anniversary banquet.

Lin Fei only needs to select suitable programs and arrange them in order.

Consort Lin instructed Pei Zhi to remember to prepare a gift for the Empress, which could be anything from hand-sewn shoes or handkerchiefs to other girly items.

On that day, Consort Lin was going to bring Pei Zhi to the event, and also to choose a husband for Pei Zhi.

Even without Consort Lin's instructions, Pei Zhi had already prepared the Empress's birthday gifts.

On the day of the Thousand Autumns Banquet, ladies of official rank would bring their daughters to the palace to attend the banquet.

Since the princes were not yet married, such a banquet naturally provided an opportunity for them to meet.

The ladies were eager to dress their daughters up in the most glamorous way possible, hoping to catch the eye of the noble ladies in the palace.

Pei Zhi was dressed in a light blue outfit, with only a single hairpin in her hair, making her appear very simple and unadorned.

"Why didn't you dress up a bit?" Consort Lin frowned. "Why are you dressed so plainly?"

Consort Lin disliked Pei Zhi's attire, finding it too understated.

She's planning to sell Pei Zhi today.

"My daughter doesn't like things to be too formal."

Consort Lin noticed that it was getting late, and it wouldn't be good if she were late.

"Alright, let's go, let's go."

Chunhua carried the gift Pei Zhi had prepared for the Empress and followed behind Pei Zhi.

No matter how lowly Pei Zhi's status was, she was still a princess, so her position was naturally ahead of the wives of the ministers.

After everyone was seated, the Emperor and the Empress attended the Celebration Banquet.

Consort Lin muttered, "Luckily, Consort Gao didn't come. If she had seen this, the palace servants of Mingyue Palace would have been in trouble again."

After the Emperor and Empress were seated, the eldest prince, as an example, brought his wife out to offer birthday wishes to the Empress and presented her with a gift.

The gift was a luminous pearl, nothing particularly outstanding, but the Empress accepted it with a smile.

The gift from the Second Prince was ten Buddhist scriptures that he and his wife had copied together, wishing Empress He good health and blessings from Buddha.

The gift wasn't expensive, but it showed the thought behind it.

The third prince was the empress's own son, and he presented her with a set of exquisite phoenix hairpin jewelry.

In the entire world, only the Empress is worthy of wearing a phoenix hairpin.

Although the Empress scolded the Third Prince for being too extravagant, she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

The hairpin was indeed exquisite; even the Emperor praised it.

The fourth prince sent a pot of peonies that were in full bloom.

The Empress's expression changed slightly. Who didn't know that the peony was the king of flowers?

The fourth prince sent a pot of peonies that resembled peonies. The empress was annoyed, but she couldn't say anything to rebuke him.

Consort Lin covered the smile on her face with her handkerchief. "It seems that the Empress and Consort Gao have completely stopped pretending."

The Fourth Prince must have sent this gift at the behest of Consort Gao.

Emperor Pei saw the Fourth Prince's behavior but didn't say much. He only said that the flowers were delicate and that the people in the Empress's palace should take good care of them.

Emperor Pei could not help but see the hidden meaning behind the Fourth Prince's gift of this pot of flowers.

However, Princess Dekang was sent away for a political marriage, and Consort Gao became depressed.

Even for the sake of maintaining balance in the harem, Emperor Pei was willing to give Consort Gao some face.

The gifts from the remaining princes and princesses were all unremarkable; while they were not wrong, they were not particularly outstanding either.

Consort Lin had asked early on what gift Pei Zhi had prepared for the Empress.

Knowing that it was a painting personally done by Pei Zhi, Consort Lin didn't bother to ask any more questions.

It's just a painting. Even if it's a bit ugly, the Empress won't mind in public.

Pei Zhi held the painting, knelt down to pay her respects, and then unfolded the painting she had carefully prepared.

Emperor Pei and the Empress originally intended to just gloss over the matter.

The princesses before them also gave gifts such as shoes, handkerchiefs, or handmade mascots.

But when Pei Zhi unfolded the painting, the Empress stood up in shock.

The Empress exclaimed in surprise, "What is this?"

Emperor Pei also stared at the painting in Pei Zhi's hands with some curiosity. "How did you do that? It's as if the Empress is in the painting."

Pei Zhi learned that paintings in this era were mostly done with brush and ink.

Painters who are good at using color in their paintings are extremely rare.

What's more, it was an oil painting prepared by Pei Zhi.

In the painting presented by Pei Zhi, the Empress is dressed in a phoenix robe, appearing both dignified and noble.

Most importantly, the resemblance to the Empress herself is uncanny; this technique is truly remarkable.

"Father, I figured this out when I had nothing else to do."

Consort Lin's eyes widened in disbelief. She never expected that Pei Zhi would have such abilities.

Pei Zhi personally prepared all the materials and paints used in the oil painting.

The empress lifted her skirt and stepped down from her high seat to personally view the painting.

After taking a closer look, the Empress said to Emperor Pei, "Your Majesty, come and take a look. The closer you get, the clearer it becomes."

The empress thought that if she looked closely, there would be some minor problems.

Upon closer inspection, the Empress realized that the painting was truly a masterpiece.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Pei stepped down from the platform. After carefully examining the document, he agreed, saying, "That is indeed the case."

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