While Ye Jinghe was struggling with the dough in the kitchen, several princes and princesses came and went outside the kitchen.
However, while he was making a wish in his heart, he was also busy kneading dough and was too busy to pay attention to anything else.
Ye Jinghe was definitely not the only one who wanted to make a bowl of longevity noodles for his elder brother/royal brother, but none of them got up as early as Ye Jinghe.
They were all born into privilege. Although they were still young, they had their own pride and disdained to give the same gifts as others. After discovering that Ye Jinghe was already in the kitchen, they all left in silence.
Therefore, before Ye Jingchen knew anything, he was fortunate enough to avoid the terrible fate of being stuffed to death by longevity noodles on his birthday.
After washing Ye Jinghe's hair and drying it until it was half-dry, Ye Jingchen accompanied Ye Jinghe, who hadn't had time to eat breakfast because he was busy making longevity noodles, to have breakfast together.
The kitchen staff, knowing it was His Highness the Crown Prince's birthday, prepared a carefully curated breakfast, featuring dishes with auspicious names that were sure to whet anyone's appetite.
Today is a good day, and Ye Jingchen instructed Fangfei to reward everyone in the kitchen.
While they were still eating, the emperor's gifts arrived first. Zhang Shunde personally led the way to deliver them. The list of gifts alone took half an hour to read, and the palace servants carrying the gifts couldn't even fit in the room, so they lined up outside.
Judging by the emperor's method of bestowing rewards, Ye Jingchen felt that his private treasury might soon be overflowing.
The emperor's gifts were all exquisite and charming ornaments and trinkets. The fact that he collected these things and brought them to the Western Hills Palace shows that the emperor put a lot of thought and money into it.
Following the emperor, gifts for the four imperial concubines who had come to the palace were also delivered soon afterward.
The Imperial Concubine's gift was the most practical: a sandalwood box filled with pure gold beans, each about the size of a soybean. When Ye Jingchen opened the box, he was almost blinded by the sheer brilliance.
This is a great gift. In the future, when Ye Jingchen rewards people, especially those his own age, he can just throw a handful of gold beans at them. It'll make him look good!
As if by prior arrangement, Consort Xian, Consort Wen, and Consort Liang each presented a set of writing implements, all of which were precious items, though Consort Xian's set was more valuable.
If this were in the palace, Ye Jingchen would have collected at least dozens of sets of writing implements like these today.
Among his private collection, the Four Treasures of the Study were the most numerous, and he probably could never use them all in his lifetime.
After finishing his breakfast, Ye Jingchen sent someone to invite several princes and princesses, as well as their companions.
Ye Jingshu and Ye Jingming's rooms are next to each other, so they are the fastest to get there.
Ye Jingshu gave Ye Jingchen a handkerchief embroidered with several trees.
“This is a pine tree—” Ye Jingshu said to Ye Jingchen, pointing to the tree-shaped patterns.
Those trees were crooked and twisted, with only a few leaves on their trunks. If Ye Jingshu hadn't told him they were pines and cypresses, Ye Jingchen wouldn't have recognized them at all.
"I embroidered this myself. Even my father doesn't have one yet. You're the first one!" Ye Jingshu said proudly.
"This princess is not good at embroidery, and my embroidery is not good, but you can't look down on me!" she said to Ye Jingchen.
"No problem at all! Thank you, Your Highness, I'll definitely carry it with me every day from now on!" Ye Jingchen said quickly.
Not being good at embroidery is not a big deal. Would anyone dare to laugh at the princess for it?
"As long as you don't mind, there's no need to carry it with you every day!" Ye Jingshu quickly replied.
She was still self-aware enough to know that if Ye Jingchen used the handkerchief she embroidered in public, he would be laughed at.
"Next year on your birthday, I will definitely embroider a pine and cypress tree symbolizing a gentleman's virtues for you!" Ye Jingshu promised confidently.
"Then I'll wait and see!" Ye Jingchen smiled and tucked the handkerchief into his sleeve.
The embroidery on this handkerchief might be laughable to outsiders, but if you show it off to the emperor, it might even arouse his envy and jealousy.
After all, it was embroidered by my precious daughter herself!
Ye Jingming's gift was a box of white and green jade chess pieces.
"This is my favorite set of chess pieces. I'm giving it to you, my brother, to wish you a happy birthday."
These chess pieces have a warm and cool touch, and are particularly rounded. Ye Jingming must really like them and touch them often to give them such a smooth feel.
"I really like it, thank you Jingming." Ye Jingchen accepted it with a smile.
Ye Jingming enjoys playing chess and is quite talented at it. In his recent games against the emperor, he has been able to hold his own for about 15 minutes.
He is patient, persistent, and thoughtful; given time, the emperor will be no match for him.
Perhaps the emperor already felt threatened. After winning these few games, he praised Ye Jingming to the skies, making Ye Jingyu envious and wanting to learn to play chess as well.
Unfortunately, he simply didn't have the talent, and he couldn't sit still at all, so he remained at the 'thinking' stage.
Not long after, the four little ones, Ye Jingyu, Ye Jingyan, and Ye Jingyu, arrived together.
Ye Jingyu's gift inherited the extravagance of the Imperial Concubine, but it was much more sincere than the Imperial Concubine's gold beans. It was twelve pure gold zodiac statues. Although each one was only the size of a duck egg, they were carved lifelike and vivid, and they were solid, so they felt heavy in your hand.
As soon as this gift was presented, every child's eyes were drawn to the exquisite statues. It wasn't that they were blinded by the gold; the statues were simply too lifelike.
Ye Jingyu's gift was a handwritten copy of the "Thousand Character Classic". His handwriting has always been better than Ye Jinghe's. This copy of the "Thousand Character Classic" was written with great care. Every character was neat and orderly. At a glance, not a single one of the thousand characters was written carelessly.
Upon receiving this gift, Ye Jinghe's previously smug face immediately fell. The reason was simple: until now, his handwriting was not as good as Ye Jingyu's.
Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Ye Jinghe's handwriting is actually quite good. He has only been learning for a few months and is already almost as good as Ye Jingchen's mediocre handwriting. However, it is still not as good as Ye Jingyu's handwriting.
"This gift is very thoughtful, thank you, Jingyu," Ye Jingchen praised, holding the manuscript.
Ye Jingyu immediately gave Ye Jinghe a smug smile. So what if Ye Jinghe beat him to it in making longevity noodles? He still had his calligraphy skills to be proud of.
Fortunately, after learning that his elder brother's birthday was approaching, he made several preparations!
Ye Jingyan gave Ye Jingchen a purse she made herself. The purse was light purple and embroidered with several green bamboos.
Her embroidery skills far surpassed Ye Jingshu's; those bamboo stalks had the elegance of the Four Gentlemen.
"Second Princess, you're so thoughtful!" Ye Jingchen immediately hung the purse on his waist.
Ye Jingyan gave him a shy smile.
Ye Jingshu stared at the purse for a while, then pursed her lips. She was indeed not good at embroidery. She decided not to embroider anymore to avoid embarrassing herself.
(Chenchen looks like he's going to receive so many gifts on his birthday, what a lucky little guy!)
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