The other royal family members arrived one after another, and most of them were familiar faces. However, what surprised Nan Wusi was that Song Jingxue appeared in the same class as the Seventh Prince, Xiao Jing.
When Song Jingxue saw Nan Wusi, she smiled slightly, but did not come over to talk to him. The Seventh Prince kept talking to Song Jingxue, but she did not seem very happy.
Seeing the two in this state, Nan Wusi did not go forward to disturb them. Ever since she learned that Song Jingxue planned to follow her family's advice and marry the Seventh Prince, she had rarely contacted her, and she also rarely went to Mengyifang anymore.
However, this did not stop Nan Wusi from observing the two of them. She still wanted to try to verify her guess and carefully observe the Seventh Prince's character.
After the other princes arrived, Xiao Mu helped Ouyang Jiangli slowly walk into the banquet hall. Ouyang Jiangli's belly was already slightly protruding, and it was clear that she was pregnant, so everyone around her was very careful around her.
The position of Crown Princess for Xiao Mu is still vacant, so Ouyang Jiangli remains the only female head of the Eastern Palace.
The noble ladies around him had their eyes light up when they saw Xiao Mu, like foxes that had been starving for a long time and suddenly saw meat.
However, Xiao Mu ignored these burning gazes and instead played the role of a doting wife.
Ouyang Jiangli seemed to enjoy being pampered by Xiao Mu, but Nan Wusi couldn't quite understand what Xiao Mu's purpose was in doing this.
Xiao Yi arrived after Xiao Mu. As soon as he arrived, he seemed to sense something and accurately found Nan Wusi's location. However, after glancing in Nan Wusi's direction, he did nothing else and found a place to stay.
The Northern Huan envoys arrived after Xiao Yi. After their arrival, they were clearly separated from the ministers in the capital. The two groups were far apart, and the envoys did not have any direct communication with any of the ministers.
Nan Wusi had been secretly observing the envoys from Bei Huan, but found that their behavior was perfectly normal, which made it difficult for her to find a breakthrough.
Shortly after the arrival of the Northern Huan envoy, a eunuch came to inform His Majesty the Emperor that he was about to arrive.
So everyone found their assigned spots and waited quietly for the emperor's arrival.
Emperor Xiao Teng and the Empress Dowager arrived together, and everyone present bowed in unison.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager!"
"Rise, my beloved subjects," the Emperor said to the crowd after he and the Empress Dowager took their seats.
After the banquet began, the gift-giving began, with ministers presenting their gifts in turn.
These gifts were mostly gold, silver, and jade artifacts, or rare local items; the more valuable ones included luminous pearls, jade, and coral. However, while the Empress Dowager smiled outwardly, she was clearly not satisfied with any of the gifts.
Some ministers, knowing that the Empress Dowager liked to worship Buddha, presented her with jade and jewelry that had been blessed by famous temples, which earned the Empress Dowager's slight approval.
There were also opportunists like Ouyang Jiangli, who presented a thick handwritten Buddhist scripture, claiming that he had copied it to pray for the Empress Dowager's well-being. He then uttered a series of blessings, which made the Empress Dowager praise him repeatedly for his thoughtfulness.
Ouyang Jiangli was naturally delighted, and Xiao Mu's face couldn't hide his pride, as if he had surpassed the other princes in the matter of gift-giving.
The gifts from both Xiao Yi and the General's Mansion were quite ordinary, so they didn't cause any sensation. After Ouyang Jiangli received praise, she even gave Nan Wusi a disdainful look.
This puzzled Nan Wusi. What was there to be proud of? He really couldn't understand Ouyang Jiangli's thought process.
After the ministers had presented their birthday gifts, a palace attendant stepped forward to read out the emperor's birthday gifts. The attendant was holding a long list of gifts, and it took almost an hour just to read it out.
These birthday gifts were all auspicious gifts that the emperor had collected from various places over the past few years, totaling more than eight hundred items.
Just after the palace attendants finished reading the emperor's gift list, the envoy from Beihuan stood up and bowed to the emperor and empress dowager.
"Your Majesty the Emperor, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, on the occasion of Your Majesty's 80th birthday, our Prince of Beihuan has prepared a special birthday gift, which we would like Your Majesty to appreciate." With that, the Beihuan envoy took out a long and exquisite box.
His movements were very slow, so everyone at the banquet focused their attention on his hands. Even the emperor and empress dowager were very curious about what this special birthday gift mentioned by the Northern Huan envoy was.
Nan Wusi also craned her neck, wanting to see clearly what kind of birthday gift Bei Huan had prepared. She was genuinely curious about what kind of gift could shock everyone present.
With the slow movements of the Northern Envoy, he finally opened the box, and a red light filled the entire hall.
Some people were blinded by the bright light and unconsciously closed their eyes. When they opened them again, they saw the messenger holding a feather.
That's right, it's feathers!
However, this feather was extremely peculiar; it resembled a burning flame, yet the messenger was not burned when he held it. This feather seemed to contain an energy that transformed the entire hall into a crimson world.
"This may be the feather of a legendary divine bird, which we discovered deep within the territory of the Northern Huan," the envoy said, holding up the feather.
However, no one spoke up; they all stared at the feather in shock, seemingly unable to believe it.
"This...this, is this a phoenix feather?" a minister asked hesitantly.
"My God, this is a miracle!"
Everyone present was shocked, including Nan Wusi, who was screaming in her mind.
"Little Eight, Little Eight, is this a phoenix feather?"
"Xiao Ba, is the phoenix really real?"
"Xiao Ba, come out quickly!"
"Little Eight, Little Eight?"
Nan Wusi kept shouting, feeling that the world was becoming somewhat surreal, but Xiao Ba ignored her and seemed to have disappeared at that moment.
"Host, you must obtain this phoenix feather at all costs. Once you have it, the system can grant you any request."
"What?" Nan Wusi was shocked again. This was a birthday gift from Bei Huan to the Empress Dowager. How could she possibly receive it?
"What do you need this for?" Nan Wusi asked.
“This is a command issued by the main system and must be executed,” Xiao Ba replied.
"What if we don't carry it out and don't get what we want?" Nanwusi asked rhetorically.
"..." Xiao Ba remained silent for a long time before replying, "We will both die."
Nan Wusi didn't expect Xiao Ba to answer her like that, so she remained silent.
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