A few days later, it was Yuwen Ran's birthday.
Everyone in the palace has been busy since morning.
I heard that although Yuwen Ran didn't like it, he still held a banquet in the palace every year. It was the only day that the palace valued besides important festivals, and all the ministers would come to participate.
A birthday banquet is a day for giving gifts. Early in the morning, birthday gifts poured into the palace continuously.
The eunuchs in the palace were busy recording these things in a book, and then showed it to Gu Yanyue.
Gu Yanyue was always afraid of such moments. She took a quick glance and was dazzled by the names listed. No matter whether they were high-ranking officials or small clerks, they all came here today to curry favor with Yuwen Ran. The gifts they presented seemed to be of some invisible competition, and each one was more valuable than the other.
After reading the gift list, Gu Yanyue sighed in her heart that it was indeed not in vain that Yuwen Ran was the emperor, as he could receive so many gifts just on his birthday.
It was Yuwen Ran's birthday. Although Gu Yanyue couldn't bring any rare treasures, she took advantage of the time when she was sorting out the gift list to quietly slip into the kitchen, took out the ingredients she had prepared a few days ago, and planned to make a birthday cake for Yuwen Ran.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was already evening. Gu Yanyue instructed the palace maids to take all the food she had prepared this afternoon back to the bedroom. After the banquet, Yu Wenran would come back to eat, and then she would rush back to the bedroom to dress.
The maid inserted the last pearl hairpin into Gu Yanyue's hair and said with a smile: "That's enough. Your Majesty will definitely be able to outshine the other palace ladies today."
"I'm not going to select concubines, so what's the point of being better than them?" Gu Yanyue laughed, looked at herself in the mirror, took off the pearl hairpin, and replaced it with a more simple and elegant one.
The maid blinked and said, "This is a better match than the one just now."
Gu Yanyue stood up with a slight smile on her face: "Okay, don't keep them waiting any longer, let's go."
When Gu Yanyue brought her maid to the Imperial Garden, almost all the concubines in the palace had arrived. They were all dressed up and gathered in twos and threes, just like the flowers blooming in the Imperial Garden, colorful and lively.
Seeing Gu Yanyue coming, he hurriedly bowed to her. Soon, the families of the court officials also entered the imperial garden one after another. Gu Yanyue quickly found Qin Ruoruo among those families. Before she had time to talk to her, Yuwen Ran came in with the court officials.
Everyone knelt down and bowed, "We pay our respects to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor."
Yu Wenran was in a very good mood today. He waved his hand and said, "Everyone, get up! No need to be so polite today!"
Soon after the banquet began, everyone raised their glasses to congratulate Yu Wenran on his birthday. After finishing one glass, Concubine Yu suddenly stood up and said, "Today is your majesty's birthday. I specially asked someone to find a secret treasure outside the palace and brought it back to your majesty as a birthday present." After saying that, Concubine Yu clapped her hands and asked the palace maids to present the gift.
When the thing was presented, it was covered with a layer of red cloth, making it impossible to see what kind of strange treasure was inside, which raised everyone's expectations to the highest level.
The red cloth covering the item was pulled off only after it was presented to Yu Wenran. When everyone saw the treasure clearly, they all gasped.
It was an extremely rare piece of beautiful jade, completely white, comparable to Hetian white jade, and its shape was pure, bright, and noble.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Concubine Yu smiled and looked at Gu Yanyue, who was sitting next to Yu Wenran. She said sarcastically, "Today is your Majesty's birthday. I believe the Empress has also prepared an unusual birthday gift for your Majesty. How about presenting it to us so that we can open our eyes and admire it?"
Everyone looked at Gu Yanyue.
Gu Yanyue smiled faintly: "The gift I prepared for Your Majesty is not as precious as Concubine Yu's, so I won't show it to you."
She stood up and walked to Yuwen Ran's side, took the wine bowl that Yuwen Ran used to drink. The wine bowl was for men to drink, and she also poured herself a full bowl. The slightly yellow wine reflected her beautiful face.
"I am not talented and have no talents to offer to Your Majesty, nor have I prepared any precious gifts for Your Majesty. I will just offer Your Majesty a bowl of wine." As she said this, she tilted her head back and drank it.
Gu Yanyue raised her chin. She drank the bowl of wine too quickly. The wine, which she didn't have time to swallow, flowed down her neck and wet a small piece of her clothes in front of her.
This bowl of wine set the entire banquet on fire. Gu Yanyue stood up, looking at Yuwen Ran, and said to the concubines below: "I drank too much wine just now. I feel a little unwell, so I will go back first."
Just left.
As the palace banquet was coming to an end, Yuwen Ran glanced at the court officials below and was about to stand up and leave.
When he stood up, Yu Wenran glanced sideways slightly, and then glanced at Concubine Yu who was talking to other concubines, and his eyes couldn't help but darken.
He knew why Gu Yanyue had suddenly stood up and left. After all this time, Gu Yanyue's attitude towards him had finally softened to a less cold one than the previous few days. But before he could even begin to warm up to her after the banquet, Concubine Yu had already driven her away. This had forced him to spend the entire banquet rehearsing how he was going to coax her.
Instead of listening to the same congratulatory speeches every year at the banquet, it would be better to go back and coax Gu Yanyue first.
After Yu Wen Ran returned to the bedroom, the palace maid told him that Gu Yanyue was waiting for him in the pavilion after she came back.
After walking around the palace, you will see a pavilion. Before you even enter, you can smell the strong aroma of food.
Yuwen Ran paused. The moonlight was as bright as a lantern, illuminating the scenery in the pavilion clearly. Gu Yanyue, with her back to Yuwen Ran, was putting a candle on a dish of food.
Yuwen Ran saw this and took the remaining few steps to walk over. When he was one step away from Gu Yanyue, he shouted: "Ayue——"
Gu Yanyue had just finished lighting all the candles when she turned around to see that it was Yu Wenran who had returned. Her face instantly lit up with joy, "Come quickly and take a look at the birthday present I prepared for you!"
Gu Yanyue pulled Yuwen Ran and excitedly introduced it to him: "This is a cake. People who celebrate their birthdays in our place will eat this cake on their birthdays, and they will also put some candles on it. They put a number of candles on it according to their age this year. After lighting the candles, they have to make a wish. The wishes they make on their birthdays will come true!"
Yu Wenran was overjoyed. He didn't expect that Gu Yanyue had prepared so many surprises for him in secret.
Gu Yanyue didn't notice the joy on Yu Wenran's face. She was busy looking for matches to light the fire. The candles were lit and the birthday girl had arrived, but the fire couldn't be lit. What was going on?
Yuwen Ran said, "Ayue, I see that the cake you made is quite large. We can't finish it between the two of us. How about we take it back to the palace banquet?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
