After hearing his wife's words, Li Qiji felt a little aggrieved and didn't know what to say.

Guan Zhiyue is very busy right now. After all, she has to face these friends from overseas countries, keep an eye on their subordinates, and also manage the birthday party she organized. She has to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

"Today is the birthday banquet of the Emperor of Nanding. We have been invited to witness the splendor of our great nation. I wonder if Your Majesty the Empress has anything special to offer us?" The Persian minister asked Guan Zhiyue in his not-so-standard Nanding Mandarin.

Guan Zhiyue was quite surprised. This man had a healthy wheat-colored complexion and black curly hair, but his teeth were exceptionally white, the kind of white that reflected light.

"Who are you?"

"Your Majesty, I am Everef, the Persian envoy." The man named Everef bowed very respectfully to Guan Zhiyue.

Guan Zhiyue nodded slightly and said, "Hello, Evenif, welcome to the Kingdom of Nanding. I hope you will like our food."

So she led Li Qiji up to the high platform, stood on it, picked up a glass of wine from the table, pulled Li Qiji along, and said to everyone below, "Come, let us raise our glasses together to wish His Majesty a happy birthday and good health."

Upon hearing Guan Zhiyue's words, everyone in the audience stood up, excitedly raised their glasses, and downed the wine in one gulp.

They were incredibly excited. Many of the dishes they were eating today were ones they had never tried before, which was absolutely fantastic. In particular, the presence of such voluptuous beauties was simply amazing.

After Guan Zhiyue put down her wine cup, she followed Li Qiji back to the dragon throne and looked at the ministers below, who were all beginning to present their gifts.

Unfortunately, Li Qiji doesn't have any princes or princesses yet, so he doesn't receive any gifts from his own children. Even the little princess he adopted is still an infant. Let alone giving him any gifts, he'd be happy as long as he doesn't have to worry about anything.

Now look what happened!

He could only watch, rather bored, as the ministers below the stage presented their various gifts, which Hua Quan then registered and recorded.

About an hour had passed since the gifts were presented. After everyone had presented their gifts, including those from overseas countries, she stood up from her seat and said, "Today, on the occasion of His Majesty's birthday banquet, I have prepared a birthday cake for him. Let us all enjoy it together."

Everyone was very curious when they heard "birthday cake". What kind of novel food is this? It seems that the Queen always manages to come up with a lot of strange things. She is simply their idol!

That was a complete slap in the face to them! That's just too amazing! I've always known that the Empress is powerful, but I never realized she was this powerful. It's as if nothing can stump her.

Li Qiji also craned his neck curiously. Although he had been to Guan Zhiyue's space before, he had never eaten a birthday cake, so he was still very much looking forward to it.

Four eunuchs carried a huge cake, which slowly came into view. Good heavens, the eight-tiered birthday cake attracted everyone's attention.

"My goodness, is this the birthday cake Her Majesty the Empress was talking about?"

"It looks so delicious! Yes, yes!"

"Then I'm going to eat my fill later, me too."

"Gulp, oh my god, I actually swallowed my saliva like that, it's just too..."

The young ladies from noble families began to whisper excitedly to each other, their eyes still fixed on the cake carried in by the four eunuchs through the screen. It was simply too beautiful, and more importantly, it was so tall. It was absolutely amazing.

"Yue'er, is this the birthday cake you mentioned? Why is it so tall!"

As Li Qiji watched the cake slowly enter Zhaoyang Palace, he couldn't help but secretly swallow his saliva. He was so pathetic, how could he swallow his saliva like that!

"Yes, this is the birthday cake I was talking about. You must have a good taste of it later, it's really delicious!"

"By the way, this is a dessert. If you don't like sweets, you might not like it," Guan Zhiyue reminded her.

The entire Guan family was present at the Emperor's birthday banquet, as this was a legitimate opportunity to enter the palace and spend time with their granddaughter.

This child must have suffered so much injustice in the palace. Now, seeing her so dazzling on the high platform, Guan Hongsheng, sitting not far below, couldn't help but drink a few more cups, and his heart couldn't help but recall a trace of his sad past.

"My wife, if you are watching from heaven, you can see how proud our Yue'er is now!"

"Thank you for giving me such a wonderful child. I...I miss you." Guan Hongsheng picked up the wine glass on the table, poured wine, and muttered to himself softly, afraid that the ministers next to him would hear him and say that he was being sentimental.

He has a son and a daughter now, and they are both intelligent and successful. He is now truly fulfilled.

"Dad, try the cake I made!" Just as Guan Hongsheng was still feeling melancholy, Guan Zhiyue came over with a small plate and placed a small piece of cake in front of him. Her voice was very soft, as if she were a fairy sent down from heaven.

Her voice was gentle and soft, like a spring breeze!

Guan Hongsheng opened his dazed eyes and looked at his daughter in front of him. He was about to stand up when he accidentally kicked the small square table, knocking over a pot of wine. The wine spilled onto Guan Zhiyue's skirt as she squatted down.

Guan Hongsheng quickly picked up a hand towel from the side and wiped Guan Zhiyue's face, while constantly blaming himself!

"It's all Father's fault! Father is so useless!"

Guan Zhiyue stopped her father from wiping her hands and said to Guan Chengzhuo behind Guan Hongsheng, "Big brother, take care of Father. You all eat and drink well! I'm going to change my clothes."

Li Qiji noticed the situation and quickly walked over. He watched as Guan Zhiyue lifted her wet skirt with one hand and walked towards the side hall.

"You don't need to come over from the main hall. I'll take Bilian with me to change my clothes and then we'll be right back," Guan Zhiyue comforted her.

Li Qiji nodded knowingly and said nothing more to indicate that he understood.