Although Li Yuanying was full of grievances, the birthday banquet proceeded as scheduled.

"The King of Wu presented a sword from the Spring and Autumn Period, which is said to have been made by King Helü of Wu!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin hurriedly ordered his men to bring the gifts up. Then, he eagerly walked down the steps, personally took the ancient sword out of the box, and twirled it in his hand.

"This sword has an ancient and simple design, and is made of exquisite materials. It seems to be an authentic piece!"

Among the officials in the court were many connoisseurs, and among the princes, Li Tai was an expert in antique appraisal.

Upon seeing the ancient sword from the Spring and Autumn Period, before Li Shimin could even speak, they all crowded around it and began to critique it.

"Judging from the shape of the sword hilt, it is indeed from the Spring and Autumn Period!"

"The material is similar too; it is indeed an ancient bronze sword!"

"But this sword is too new, and the blade is still so sharp, it makes me a little unsure about its nature..."

Li Tai took the sword from his father and examined it, then looked at Li Ke standing to the side.

"Third Brother, was this sword retrieved from an underwater tomb?"

Li Ke looked surprised and doubtful upon hearing this.

"Fourth brother, how did you know?"

Li Tai smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"It will dry for a thousand years, wet for ten thousand years, and in a state of neither dryness nor wetness, it will last at most half a year!"

"Your sword is so well preserved; it must have come from an underwater tomb!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ke immediately showed admiration.

"Fourth brother is truly a divine being!"

"Reporting to Father Emperor, this item was seized from a group of tomb raiders I apprehended in my fiefdom."

"According to the tomb raiders, they did find this item in an ancient tomb at the bottom of a lake. They intended to melt it down and exchange it for copper coins, but before they could even make a move, I took it!"

Li Shimin burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"Thank goodness you intervened, otherwise this treasure would have been ruined by those petty thieves, hahaha!"

"Li Ke presented me with a precious sword, which I greatly admire. I hereby bestow upon Li Ke five hundred bolts of brocade!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ke immediately knelt down.

"Your son thanks Your Majesty!"

After Li Ke's birthday gifts were presented, it was Li Tai's turn next.

When Li Tai heard the master of ceremonies announce his name, he was so embarrassed that he wanted to disappear into the ground.

After all, he had just casually written the character "寿" (longevity) as a birthday gift.

"The King of Wei presented a longevity character and a pure glass dragon!"

"Pure Glazed Chi Dragon?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tai glared angrily at Yan Wan.

He's been spending all his time with Li Jue lately, so how could he not know that all the glass ornaments in the Tang Dynasty were made by this grandson?

Why did my wife have to give me glass? Isn't this just asking to be laughed at?

Li Shimin naturally knew where the glass came from, after all, the spies he had planted around Li Jue had already thoroughly investigated the details of Sanglin Village in Xianyang.

He just didn't expect that his second son would also give him a piece of glass...

"Okay, okay!"

"Qingque has always been frugal. Although the gift is simple, her filial piety is undiminished, which pleases me greatly."

Upon hearing His Majesty praise the King of Wei in this way, the official in charge of rites immediately inquired.

"Your Majesty, shall we bring up Prince Wei's gifts for us to see?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin quickly waved his hand.

"No need!"

"I'll enjoy it at my leisure after the banquet is over!"

Li Tai secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his father say that. He was really afraid that his father would order someone to bring up the gifts, otherwise he would really want to disappear into the ground.

Following that were gifts from Prince Li Yin of Shu, Prince Li Yun of Jiang, and others, which were nothing more than glassware and rare stones.

Li Shimin only became interested when the gifts presented by Crown Prince Li Zhi were read out.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has presented a meteorite with a longevity character pattern!"

Meteorites are stones that fall from the sky.

This stone is extremely hard, making it very difficult to carve any words on it.

Therefore, such naturally patterned stones are very precious, and they are even more rare if they display auspicious characters.

"Bring it up, I want to have a good look at it!"

"promise!"

Before long, four Imperial Guards, with great effort, managed to lift up a meteorite weighing over a hundred pounds.

Before the stone was even brought up, Li Shimin went down the steps to greet it personally. When he saw that the jet-black meteorite actually had a faint "longevity" character pattern, he immediately burst into laughter.

"good!"

Seeing His Majesty say this, everyone stepped forward to join in the fun.

"Your Majesty, this is an auspicious omen from heaven, signifying that Your Majesty will live to a ripe old age!"

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince must have put in a lot of effort to find this stone. Please reward His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"You've really had a tough time, Zhi Nu!"

"Guards, bestow upon the young servant a thousand bolts of brocade..."

Just as everyone was marveling at the strange rock, Li Tai and Li Jue gathered together again.

"Nephew, do you think this thing is real?"

Li Jue shook his head upon hearing this.

"It's hard to say about this!"

"Such a large size, it couldn't have been produced by my workshop, but the principles of making this thing should be similar."

"oh?"

"Nephew, do you have a way to tell the difference?"

"certainly!"

"Just test it with an alkaline substance like litmus to find out if it has been acid-washed."

"I'll go find some litmus and try it!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jue quickly grabbed Li Tai to prevent his fourth uncle from ruining things.

"Fourth Uncle, let's not sabotage each other, shall we?"

"Nephew, are you stupid? What good will it do you to receive your grandfather's reward?"

"Uncle, you may not know this, but I've sold quite a few unusual stones in the last few days..."

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!