The first group to pay homage to the emperor naturally consisted of the intangible cultural heritage left by Li Yuan to the Tang Dynasty.

Li Yuan fathered twenty-two princes and nineteen princesses for the Tang Dynasty.

Although some died young, a large number survived, totaling over thirty people.

This huge crowd of people standing in the main hall gave Li Shimin a real headache; he even wanted to drag his father out of the Xianling Mausoleum.

Behind Li Yuanying and others were the princes and princesses born to Li Shimin.

Compared to Li Yuan's massive army, Li Shimin also had a considerable number of children, but he had more princesses than princes.

There were only a dozen or so princes, but there were many more princesses, nearly twenty in total.

After these people finished paying their respects, Li Jue became the leading figure of the third generation of the Li family.

Li Jue, along with Li Xiang and Li Xin, stepped forward to offer their birthday greetings to Emperor Li Shimin, wishing him a long and prosperous life.

After the Li family finished offering their congratulations, it was the turn of all the civil and military officials. They took turns offering their birthday wishes according to their rank, and it took them an hour to finish.

At this point, lower-ranking officials could return home, while only officials of the third rank or above were qualified to sit in the main hall and attend the banquet.

However, before the banquet begins, there is an important event: the gift-giving ceremony.

The master of ceremonies loudly read out the gift list, and Li Shimin would order someone to bring up and unwrap any gifts that interested him.

Because of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, only Li Er remained as the legitimate son of Li Yuan. Therefore, the lineage of princes in Li Yuan's lineage had to start with the sixth son, Li Yuanjing.

"Prince Li Yuanjing of Jing presents a pair of longevity peaches!"

"Longevity peach?"

The master of ceremonies loudly announced Li Yuanjing's birthday gift, which stunned not only the civil and military officials but also Li Shimin.

Li Yuanjing is quite frugal, he only sent me a pair of longevity peaches?

Upon thinking of this, Li Shimin immediately ordered people to bring up the longevity peaches, and indeed they were two large longevity peaches steamed with flour.

However, the plate holding the longevity peach was made of extraordinary material, pure gold, which shone brightly from afar, so bright it could blind people.

Seeing this, Li Shimin smiled slightly at Li Yuanjing.

"Sixth Brother has gone to great lengths!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanjing quickly stepped forward.

"Your Majesty is too kind!"

"Since childhood, I have been blessed with Your Majesty's favor, and my greatest worry has been not having the opportunity to repay Your Majesty. Today, I am fortunate to be celebrating Your Majesty's birthday, and of course, I must do my utmost to present birthday gifts to express my humble respect!"

Li Yuanjing's words were very well said, and not only was Li Shimin very satisfied, but the ministers present also nodded frequently.

In fact, the officials and civil servants of the court did not take these vassal kings seriously.

After all, as long as they don't rebel, no matter how serious their crimes are, His Majesty can't kill them.

However, if they can be law-abiding, dutiful, loyal and filial, it would be a good thing for the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, Fang Xuanling and others had already regarded Li Yuanjing as a model prince of the Tang Dynasty and planned to make him a role model after the birthday banquet and announce it to the world.

Some people are satisfied, while others are not.

For example, other vassal kings from Li Yuan's lineage.

Although they knew that they were only alive because of Li Er's mercy, they were, after all, the sons of Emperor Gaozu, and they despised Li Yuanjing's shameless sycophancy towards Li Shimin.

The person who despised Li Yuanjing the most was Li Yuanying. When he saw that the gold plate that Li Yuanjing presented to His Majesty weighed several dozen kilograms, he immediately cursed Li Yuanjing as a sycophant in his heart.

Didn't we just agree that we would only send longevity peaches? Why is there such a big gold plate?

Luckily, I have a talking parrot, otherwise I would have been outdone by this guy!

After Li Yuanjing, the birthday gifts from several other princes were ordinary items, which Li Shimin didn't even bother to look at.

Seeing this, the master of ceremonies quickened his pace in reading the gift list and soon arrived at Prince Teng, Li Yuanying.

"Prince Teng, Li Yuanying, presented a parrot known for its virtuous speech, along with a ruyi scepter inlaid with gold and glass!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin immediately became interested.

He was a great lover of birds. Years ago, a minister presented him with a bird, which he cherished dearly. Unfortunately, Wei Zheng found out about it and, under a pretext, came to chat with him. Afraid that Wei Zheng would see the bird, he hid it in his sleeve. Little did he know that after a long conversation, the bird suffocated!

Now that someone has presented him with a talking parrot, Li Shimin immediately thought of the one that had suffocated to death years ago.

"Bring it up so I can see it!"

"promise!"

Before long, Li Yuanying's gold-inlaid glass ruyi and parrot were carried up together. Li Shimin only glanced at the glass ruyi before fixing his gaze on the colorful parrot.

"Can this parrot mimic human speech?"

"Yes, you can!"

Li Yuanying hurriedly stepped forward and teased the parrot in the cage.

"His Majesty?"

"His Majesty……"

It wasn't until Li Yuanying led it to the third time that the parrot reflexively uttered a sentence.

"His Majesty is a decrepit old man!"

Everyone was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then burst into laughter.

"Your Majesty, this parrot can indeed talk, but its words... hahaha!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin frowned slightly, his expression showing displeasure.

"Li Yuanying, is this the parrot you presented?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanying became so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead. He kept giving the parrot meaningful glances and patting the cage from time to time.

"Learn from me..."

"May Your Majesty live a long and prosperous life!"

"His Majesty is a decrepit old man!"

"May Your Majesty live a long and prosperous life!"

"His Majesty is petty!"

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