Yan An's appearance and temperament were already eye-catching, and the fact that the Empress Dowager praised him made many of the sons of officials present envious.

"To celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday with this fruit wine, Princess An is truly impressive."

Yue Xiyuan's aura was extremely cold, but looking at the person in front of him with a bright smile, as radiant as spring flowers, his eyes were full of doting affection for her. Her An'an didn't want him to get his hands dirty for those damned people, but that didn't mean An Si's hands couldn't be dirty.

The Empress Dowager, lacking martial prowess and engrossed in fine wine, didn't hear, but Su Jingzhan did. How could he possibly agree to this involving his junior sister! Besides, Yue Xiyuan was currently like an ice cave, though of course, he wasn't afraid of Yue Xiyuan…

Su Jingzhan is a disciple of the Divine Physician Jiugu. Having inherited his true teachings, he can be considered a divine physician among the four kingdoms. All four kingdoms hold Su Jingzhan in high esteem. Moreover, he is also a friend of Yue Xiyuan, so he is able to attend today's palace banquet.

"When did wine brewed with water from the Tianshan Mountains become considered something that can't be served in a formal setting?"

"Jingzhan said this fruit wine is brewed with water from the Tianshan Mountains?" The Empress Dowager was very surprised; her daughter-in-law was truly a treasure.

"Your Majesty, did I ask the Regent for a cup of wine at the Regent's residence before? Jingzhan can tell just by smelling it," Su Jingzhan replied, rising and bowing.

"Good, good, good, my daughter-in-law is truly amazing. Bring me one of my phoenix bracelets. An'an, come here quickly." The Empress Dowager said, trying to slip the bracelet onto Yan'an's hand, but An'an's hands were already covered by the silver bracelet.

“Aunt, this was given to me by Master An’an. I can’t take it off since I put it on. I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you this time.”

Some people in the audience were gloating, while others were praying for Yan An, as refusing the Empress Dowager was truly unprecedented.

"It's alright. What Venerable Bai Qing gave me is certainly not something from the mortal world. I'll just keep this phoenix bracelet for An'an. It's all An'an's anyway." The Empress Dowager placed the phoenix bracelet in Yan An's hand.

"Thank you, Auntie."

The phoenix bracelets were originally a pair; one has already been given to Yan An, and the other will probably be given to the future empress.

Liu Xuening, sitting in the audience, rubbed the handkerchief in her hand, her eyes filled with hatred. "Yan An, I will make you die! The Phoenix Bracelet is mine! The Regent is mine too!"

"Everyone says that the water of Tianshan is a sacred object, yet Miss Zhou finds it so worthless. Or is it that the water of Tianshan is nothing more than that in the eyes of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?" The speaker was none other than Qi Yanyan, the person Yan An had rescued when he entered the city that day.

Qi Hongchen had already told his sister about Doctor Luo. In fact, Qi Yanyan's health had already recovered, but Prime Minister Qi and Madam Qi were very distressed and let her recuperate for several months. If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's birthday today, which would require her to recuperate for a few more days, Qi Yanyan would have gone to the General's Mansion to find Yan An long ago, given her personality.

"Minister Zhou, today is the Empress Dowager's birthday. Everyone here is in high spirits, so please don't spoil the mood," the Emperor said calmly.

"Your humble servant dares not." He could not bear such a crime, and Minister Zhou was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground.

"Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Vice Minister Zhou returned to his seat, glaring at his daughter beside him with a warning look in his eyes.

Yan An smiled slightly at Qi Yan Yan to express her gratitude. That single smile made Qi Yan Yan's heart bloom; her benefactor was smiling at her again! Her benefactor was so beautiful!

"Aunt, An'an's birthday gifts haven't been delivered yet," Yan An said coquettishly, tugging at the Empress Dowager's sleeve.

An'an then asked Bai Tao to bring over three boxes. One box contained four glasses, and the other two boxes contained Tianshan Snow Green.

“Aunt, these four glass cups are even better when paired with fruit wine.”

Glass cups are rarely seen in the royal family, so to bring out four of them all at once, especially to accompany fruit wine, could only be done by Princess An.

"Excellent, excellent, this glass cup is truly beautiful," the Empress Dowager praised again.

"Aunt, what's in these two boxes...?"

"Tianshan Snow Green!" Before Yan An could speak, the emperor sitting to the side couldn't sit still any longer. After all, it was Tianshan Snow Green that even the four kingdoms couldn't find more than an ounce of.

"Your Majesty is wise. This bottle is fresh and will only last a few days, while this bottle is dried."

The eyes of the people in the audience lit up instantly. It was Tianshan Snow Green, and it was even fresh! These few cans must weigh at least two or three pounds. Who wouldn't be envious? Who wouldn't want it? But no one dared to.

Even the emperor standing to the side was extremely envious, but because of his status as emperor, he couldn't bring himself to ask for it.

"Hahaha, today is the most joyous birthday I've ever had! Let the feast begin!"

The Empress Dowager wanted to pull Yan An to sit beside her, but the fourth prince kept staring at her, as if he wanted to see through her. So she let go of Yan An's hand and let her return to Yue Xiyuan's side.

"May the Empress Dowager live a long and prosperous life!"

"Okay, okay!"

At the palace banquet, everyone drinks from this cup together, and the banquet begins.

Yan An could see clearly that Liu Ruyan was not wearing a veil at the moment. Her face was as delicate as warm jade, and she did not look disfigured at all. A slight smile appeared on her lips.

"Yue Xiyuan, what method do you think she used to make her face look like a peeled egg?" Yan An was indeed a little curious.

"Want to know? But why doesn't An'an think of me when she has something good? Could it be that An'an has changed her mind?" Yue Xiyuan drank a glass of wine, his brows furrowed slightly, a hint of jealousy in his expression.

"Does Your Majesty think the jealousy is a bit too strong today?" Yan An chuckled softly.

"It has already been prepared for you and is here. I wonder if our Regent would be willing to take some time out of his busy schedule to come and collect it later?"

Yan An raised his arm and suddenly moved closer to Yue Xiyuan. His warm breath touched Yue Xiyuan's earlobe, which turned completely red in an instant.

"Cough cough cough..." Yue Xiyuan was trying to cover up the truth.

"Has the fourth prince caught a cold?" The Empress Dowager asked, sounding a little worried when she heard Yue Xiyuan coughing lightly beside her.

"Mother, I'm fine, I just choked on the wine."

"Yesterday, Liu Xuening spent fifty taels of silver to buy a box of 'Beauty's Intoxication' from Yunlai Pavilion, and put it into a rouge and powder box. She gave it to Liu Ruyan under the pretext of the assassin incident at the ancestral hall, saying that she felt guilty and had specially sought it out. Liu Ruyan is somewhat clever but not very clever. She tried it on her maid and thought it was good, so she used it on her own face."

Yue Xiyuan scoffed, "Such a fool is utterly disgusting; he's not even worthy to carry my brother's shoes."

Beauty Intoxication is a banned drug, commonly known as "Quick Beauty." When applied to the skin, it has an immediate effect, making the skin fair, clear, and as white as jade. However, prolonged use will lead to dependence. If you stop using it, your skin will age rapidly. If you continue using it, you will not have much time left. Of course, the drug's cycle is also long, about three months from use to death. Once you become dependent, there is no cure.