"Although Shimizu is a junior, he is telling the truth."
As Princess Qingshui spoke, she pursed her lips, glanced at Li Youran, and continued speaking to the Sixth Princess.
"Sixth Aunt, you can't side with Princess Jiahe just to please the male concubine!"
Princess Qingshui's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and the princess and the county princess sitting nearby could hear it clearly.
"Qingshui, you can eat anything, but you can't say anything carelessly."
When the Sixth Princess heard Qingshui say this, she knew that Qingshui harbored resentment and was deliberately trying to embarrass her, so she put on a stern face and said to Qingshui.
"Auntie, I'm not making this up. Anyone who asks around knows about your affairs. Can't I even say anything?"
The sound of clear water grew louder, and the Second Princess, sitting in the distance, couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.
"Sixth Sister, keeping male concubines is nothing to be ashamed of. Just let her be. Why bother?"
The Sixth Princess blushed deeply, but she was speechless, since her affair with Kong Qi was a fact.
However, she felt really uncomfortable being talked about like this, after all, Kong Qi was a special person in her heart, and the two of them even had the idea of getting engaged.
"I just don't understand why Sixth Sister is trying to curry favor with your male favorite instead of doing so directly. Why is she defending Princess Jiahe here instead? Could it be that Princess Jiahe and your male favorite have some kind of relationship in private?"
The Second Princess's words were truly thought-provoking, and the princesses sitting to the side all looked at Li Youran with schadenfreude.
"Second sister, you're so old, yet you still don't have any manners. Do you really think everyone is like you?"
The Sixth Princess was often teased by the Second Princess, especially when she was unable to conceive. The Second Prince once joked that she was an old hen that couldn't lay eggs. So when the Second Princess provoked and insulted Li Youran again, the Sixth Princess simply turned her back on her.
The second princess coughed twice awkwardly and remained silent. After all, it was her father's birthday, and it would be unreasonable for her to start a fight with the sixth prince.
Seeing that the two parties involved were in a lull, the others didn't want to join in the fun, so they quietly waited for the banquet to begin.
On the surface, it seemed that the matter had been resolved, but unbeknownst to many, after the banquet, rumors began circulating in the capital that Li Youran had a relationship with a male favorite…
First, the Empress led the way in offering birthday wishes, followed by a group of concubines from the harem presenting birthday gifts to the Emperor.
Although it was innovative and well thought out, it wasn't a particularly memorable gift, so it didn't cause much of a stir until the Crown Prince and Crown Princess presented their gift.
There was an elderly man with a white beard and hair carrying a large bamboo basket filled with a stack of ropes. He was leaning on a cane and accompanied by a little boy with heart-shaped hairpins, who looked to be no more than six years old.
After the old man came up, he first bowed to the emperor with his hands clasped, but did not kneel down.
The emperor didn't seem to care that the old man hadn't knelt, and looked at the grandfather and grandson with great interest.
The old man placed the bamboo basket he was carrying on the ground, then took out the end of a rope from the basket, placed it on his cane, and then used the cane to prop the rope up high.
The previous actions seemed perfectly normal, but when Laozi took away the cane, the rope seemed to be fixed in place, with the end of the rope pointing upwards, and the entire rope was suspended in the air. The royal relatives and nobles present looked at the rope with disbelief.
Immediately afterwards, the old man poked the rope with his cane, and the rope shot upwards with a whoosh.
The emperor's birthday fell on a full moon. Under the moonlight, the rope slowly rose into the sky and finally disappeared into the night.
"Grandson, climb up this rope and pick the biggest peach from the Queen Mother of the West's Peach Garden."
The old man spoke to the six-year-old boy beside him. The boy then climbed up the rope with a grin, moving up quickly, like a nimble little monkey.
To everyone's astonishment, he disappeared into the night, and in no time at all, a huge peach fell from the sky.
The old man reached out nimbly and caught the peach falling from the sky with perfect accuracy. The peach was as big as a washbasin, bright in color, and had green leaves attached.
"Grandson, come down quickly."
The old man looked up at the sky and shouted loudly, but no one responded. He shouted again, but still no one answered.
Immediately afterwards, children's arms and legs fell from the sky. Although people could not see clearly in the darkness, they could tell that they were human limbs.
"Good heavens, this is too terrible! How can such a horrible thing be performed on the Emperor's birthday?"
"Your Majesty, I am afraid."
For a moment, all the concubines present were terrified, and several of them even rushed into the emperor's arms. The emperor stared at the old man with wide eyes.
"Grandson, don't be afraid, Grandpa is coming to save you."
The old man then reeled in the rope, placed the unidentified object that had fallen from the sky into the basket, and closed the lid.
Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed intently on the old man's bamboo basket, hoping for a miracle.
As expected, in no time at all, the lid on the basket was pushed in, and the little boy jumped out of the basket.
"I never expected that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess could perform such a magic trick. They really put their hearts into it."
The Empress, sitting to the side of the Emperor, spoke to him in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft. The Emperor did not speak, but simply stroked his beard and nodded.
"Grandson, quickly present these peaches to the Emperor."
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