Reprimand Li Jue?

Upon hearing this, Li Ke wished he could kick Li Yuanying to death.

This guy really dares to think that way, actually daring to get the Emperor to reprimand his own grandson...

Li Shimin was also very surprised, wondering if his little brother had lost his mind.

Who gave him the courage to compete for my favor with my own grandson?

However, considering that he had already spent so long in prison, Li Shimin was too lazy to bother with him.

"Alright, alright, I'll reprimand him in a bit!"

"Go back to the Prince's residence first. In a few days, at my birthday banquet, I will have him personally apologize to you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanying immediately bowed and thanked him happily.

"Your humble servant thanks you, Second Brother!"

"Your Majesty, I take my leave now. I will return immediately to prepare a birthday gift for my second brother!"

Li Shimin watched Li Yuanying leave in a hurry, a helpless smile appearing on his face.

Aside from being a bit mischievous, his younger brother really doesn't have any other flaws.

After all, for royal children, a good child is one who doesn't dream of becoming emperor all the time.

However, upon hearing the words "birthday gift," Li Shimin immediately looked at Li Ke with a smile.

"Li Ke, what birthday gift have you prepared for me this time?"

Li Ke smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, I have found a precious sword in the Wu region, which is said to have been forged by King Helü of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period."

"oh?"

Li Shimin immediately became interested upon hearing this.

"I'm really looking forward to it! I'll definitely have a good look at it on my birthday, hahaha!"

The inner palace of Taiji Palace.

Wu Zetian was having a headache, wondering what gift to give His Majesty.

Although she has regained the Emperor's favor, she still needs to find a way to maintain it, otherwise she might be banished to the Cold Palace by His Majesty one day.

But what should we give as a gift?

Your Majesty certainly doesn't care for gold, pearls, or jade.

embroidery?

It's best not to embroider your own work...

A horsewhip would be a good choice, but the last time I was sent to the Cold Palace, it was related to a horsewhip, so I'd better choose something else.

Just as Wu Meiniang was deep in thought, a young eunuch ran past her and threw down a note.

Wu Zetian didn't even need to look to know that it was sent by Li Zhi.

Wu Meiniang opened the note and saw that Li Zhi didn't know what to give His Majesty, so he specifically came to her for advice.

However, Wu Zetian had already considered this matter. There were some things she couldn't send, but Li Zhi could.

So she picked up a pen and wrote down a gift on a piece of paper, telling Li Zhi how to make it, and also asked Li Zhi to help her find a birthday gift.

After writing the note, Wu Meiniang casually tossed it on the ground. Soon after, a eunuch hurriedly came over, picked up the note, and ran away.

The Eastern Palace.

Emperor Gaozong was overjoyed to receive Wu Zetian's letter, and was even more delighted after reading it.

That's great!

Now I finally know what to give!

"Someone, prepare a rare stone for me!"

"Your Highness, how many stones do you need?"

"The rarer the better!"

"Oh, by the way, find me a few more skilled embroiderers..."

While Li Zhi was busy preparing birthday gifts for Li Shimin, the couple in the Prince of Wei's residence were also worrying about the same thing.

"Your Highness, what should we send to His Majesty?"

Li Tai said impatiently upon hearing this.

"Wasn't it already prepared?"

Yan Wan said with some displeasure upon hearing this.

"Are you referring to that 'longevity' character?"

"yes!"

"My father is rich and powerful, so sending him gold and jade would be useless. It would be better to send him a calligraphy of the character 'longevity' that I wrote myself."

Yan Wan secretly rolled her eyes upon hearing this.

"Your Highness, even if you couldn't write a painting depicting ten thousand longevity, you could at least write one depicting a hundred longevity. You only wrote the character for 'longevity,' how could you possibly present that to anyone..."

Li Tai, having lost all interest in vying for the throne, completely gave up. When his wife complained about him, he couldn't help but give her a small retort.

"I've fallen so low that I should be grateful if I can even send him a longevity character. If he gets really angry, I'll send him a funeral character to piss him off!"

Yan Wan's face changed upon hearing this, and she quickly stepped forward to cover her mouth.

"Your Highness, are you insane? How dare you utter such treasonous words?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tai smiled awkwardly and stopped arguing with Yan Wan. However, Yan Wan was too lazy to pay attention to him. Seeing that she couldn't rely on her husband, she could only try to raise the birthday gift herself.

I definitely need to give my husband that longevity character, but I also need to find something else with a meaningful connotation.

Yan Wan found the steward and asked if there were any shops in Chang'an that sold exquisite jade.

The steward had always stayed in the capital, and even after Li Tai and his wife were driven out of the capital, he stayed in Chang'an to look after their house.

"Your Highness, it is said that there is a newly opened shop in the East Market, which contains many rare and precious treasures."

"oh?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Wan immediately became interested and ordered someone to prepare a carriage. She then personally went to the East Market to stroll around.

"Butler, are you talking about this place?"

The butler stepped forward, looked at the plaque, and then nodded.

"Yes, this is the place!"

"Yiwu small commodities wholesale?"

Looking at the shop's signboard, Yan Wan felt as if her soul was being tortured.

What kind of place is Yiwu?

Do these small commodities seem too cheap?

Wholesale too...

Although Yan Wan felt this shop was a bit unreliable, she still gritted her teeth and went in to take a look. However, once she looked, she was immediately blinded by the light.

The shop's shelves were filled with glass ornaments of all shapes and sizes.

If it were just glass, it wouldn't be enough to move Yan Wan's heart.

But the glass in this shop was crystal clear, just like crystal, which greatly surprised her.

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