The leader of the secret guards suddenly understood after hearing this: "Thank you, Eunuch Zhou, for your guidance."

Zhou Jushan gathered a group of people and went to the Cining Palace to invite the empress dowager and Hou Xiaoxiao over.

A large iron cage covered with red cloth was moved into the imperial study.

In the imperial study.

Hou Xiaoxiao pointed with the gold-threaded Shu-embroidered fan in her hand: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this is the Mid-Autumn Festival gift I found."

When the Empress Dowager heard Hou Xiaoxiao talking about giving gifts, her eyes lit up instantly.

"My dear granddaughter-in-law, you have already given me and the emperor a lot of gifts during your time in the palace. How can I have the nerve to let you spend more money?"

The Queen Mother looked at the two-meter-high iron cage, her smile widening. "What on earth is this huge gift?"

Hou Xiaoxiao clapped her hands.

The two guards immediately pulled down the red cloth.

There was a iron-eating beast in the cage!

The Empress Dowager and the Emperor were frightened by the iron-eating beast in the cage at first, but when they saw that the iron-eating beast was holding a brush in its hand and painting on rice paper, their fright turned into surprise.

"The iron-eating beast can actually paint? Could it be a spirit?"

Hou Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "I've heard that the barbarians on the grassland are very arrogant, but they are just vulgar people, and they have no knowledge at all."

"Your Majesty, why don't you hold a painting session at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet and have representatives from both sides come and paint?"

"Then we'll send this iron-eating beast to paint. I'm sure the paintings it creates will be more elegant and beautiful than those of the grassland man!"

Hou Xiaoxiao was so excited when she spoke that Emperor Qingning became more and more excited the more he listened.

"The arrogant grassland people can't even paint as well as I can, Dasheng, a bird of prey. If this gets out, people will definitely laugh their heads off, and it will also dampen their arrogance!"