His lifelong wish is to open his own business all over Tianyuan Country and make a lot of money. It would be best if he could sleep on a mountain of gold and silver every day. That is what he longs for most.
Therefore, he was jokingly called the King of Shang by the common people.
Gu Jian was not ashamed of this, but rather proud of it, and often called himself the "Shang King" and was very proud of it. He even went before the emperor and asked him to give him the title "Shang" in the future.
But the emperor was so angry that he chased him and beat him, calling him a devil.
Therefore, the emperor was annoyed when he saw him, "Why did you come now? The banquet is almost over. Why don't you just not come?"
Gu Qian was also a bachelor. Hearing this, he was not at all frightened. He even smiled and said, "Father, I am so lucky that I still miss you after getting such a good thing. But you don't like me at all. If that's the case, I will take my leave."
Pretend to leave.
Emperor Mingde sat firmly at the jade table and watched him perform.
Gu Qian touched his nose awkwardly. Since his father didn't accept the challenge, he couldn't continue acting.
Emperor Mingde said disdainfully: "Aren't you leaving?"
Gu Qian found a way out for himself: "If I really leave, you will definitely regret it."
The Queen Mother laughed and said, "Well, you monkey, what treasure did you get? Take it out and show us."
Gu Qian was just waiting for this sentence. As no one responded, his enthusiasm for presenting his treasures dropped a lot.
"Little Flag, come on, present your things."
Xiaoqizi's surname is Wu and his name is Qi, so he has a given name and a surname, but Gu Qian just likes to call him that, and he can't help it, right?
Wu Qi took a few quick steps forward and presented an exquisitely wrapped gift box.
Pang Jing'an, the chief eunuch standing at the foot of the jade steps, took the gift box, opened it, and when he saw that there were cakes and pastries inside, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
He turned around, took a few steps forward, and gently placed the gift box on the jade table in front of the emperor.
The Empress and the Queen Mother, who were sitting on the left and right of Emperor Mingde, all leaned over to look.
When they saw what was inside, the three bosses were speechless.
I thought what the good stuff Gu Jian was talking about was, but it turned out to be just a few cakes? There are all kinds of delicacies in the palace, so why treat a few pieces of snacks as treasures?
The queen covered her lips with a handkerchief to suppress the smile on her lips. To avoid the emperor getting angry, she also said something to smooth things over: "After all, it is the child's sincere love. Your Majesty, please don't be angry."
Gu Xian was quite calm, looking as if he had everything under control.
Emperor Mingde looked at him, picked up a piece of cake and tasted it.
After eating one piece, he immediately picked up the second piece, his movements were neither hurried nor slow, and there was no special expression on his face.
The Queen Mother couldn't help but ask, "Emperor, is it delicious?"
"Your Majesty, please try it." Emperor Mingde took a piece and put it on a small plate with some pain. Pang Jing'an immediately bent down and handed the small plate to the empress dowager.
"Not bad." The Queen Mother commented modestly after finishing the meal.
Gu Qian grinned. It must be good, otherwise the Queen Mother wouldn't have eaten the whole thing. If it was an ordinary pastry, she would be lucky to have a bite.
Seeing that the mooncakes he presented won the favor of the two bosses, he credited his subordinate who presented the mooncakes.
Every move of the top people is watched by the people below.
The Sixth Princess Gu Yi ran to the jade platform with her skirt lifted up, and knelt down beside the Queen Mother, "Grandmother, what delicious food are you eating with your granddaughter on your back?"
I guess only she, the legitimate princess born to the Queen, would dare to speak to the Queen Mother like this.
The Queen Mother held her in her arms and asked, "What's the name of the gift your fifth brother presented to you?"
"Mooncake." Gu Qian said at the right time.
"This mooncake is very different from ordinary mooncakes. If you want to eat it, go find your father." The empress dowager looked at the emperor with some sarcasm.
Don’t think he didn’t notice it. If she hadn’t asked, the emperor would have wanted to eat alone.
The emperor was about to order Pang Jing'an to put away the mooncakes: "..."
Being looked at by Gu Yi with curious eyes, the emperor couldn't show too much stinginess, so he could only pretend to be calm and said: "Xiao Anzi, share these mooncakes, let the prince and others have a taste too."
The emperor deliberately emphasized the words "taste it". Pang Jing'an, who had served him for decades, immediately understood what he meant and cut the already small mooncake into eight pieces. Each prince and princess received a small piece as big as a fingernail, which was not even enough to fill the gaps between teeth. It was really just a taste.
Among the concubines, only the empress and the imperial concubine have a share, while the rest of the concubines can only watch helplessly.
As for those royal relatives from the side branches, don’t even think about it.
Everyone smiled on their faces but cursed in their hearts at the emperor's stinginess.
The mooncakes are delicious to begin with, and since only a tiny amount is given to everyone, everyone who has been lucky enough to try them feels that it is not enough.
The Queen Mother asked, "Xiao Wu, who made this mooncake?"
Gu Qian said, "It was sent by one of my subordinates. He said that the mooncakes first appeared in Langcheng, and those rich families were scrambling for them. My subordinate also had to spend a lot of money to buy a box from someone else."
When the place name Langcheng came out, everyone present looked confused.
Even the emperor couldn't match it with any location on the geomancy map.
There is no other reason. The territory of Tianyuan Empire is so vast, and there are countless place names, big and small. How can one remember them all?
Tianyuan is roughly divided into five blocks according to the region: the central Tianlong Domain, the eastern Muling Domain, the southern Fengyu Domain, the western Qilin Domain, and the northern Black Turtle Domain.
The Tianlong Territory alone has jurisdiction over eighty-one states, and each state has a few to dozens of cities.
The Muling Territory has fifty states under its jurisdiction.
Fengyu Territory has jurisdiction over twenty-eight states.
The Qilin Domain has thirty-six states under its jurisdiction.
The Black Turtle Territory has jurisdiction over forty-nine states.
The Tianlong Domain is located in the center, guarded by the other four domains, and the imperial capital Juntian City is located in the center of the Tianlong Domain.
There are a total of 244 states in the world, and the cities under their jurisdiction are countless. Even if there are not 10,000, there are at least 8,000. Langcheng is really insignificant among them.
In addition, Langcheng is located in a remote area, and there are no scenic spots, celebrities or delicious foods. It can be said that it has no characteristics and will be remembered by people even less.
The emperor didn't think it was a big deal that he hadn't remembered a small town. He couldn't remember it, but at least someone knew it.
He cast his gaze towards the fifth seat in the first row on the left, where sat a thin, pale-faced man who looked like a male version of Lin Daiyu.
It was the famous sick prince Gu Ke in the palace, who was the fourth among the princes.