Chapter 1130 Gift Giving
The other ministers didn't notice anything, but Wei Zhi and Old Lord Tang, who knew the inside story, frowned slightly, then silently returned to their seats, bowed again, and sat down.
Manbao and Baishan also raised their heads and looked at King Yizhou. This was the first time they saw King Yizhou after knowing their life stories.
They thought they would show hatred, but when they really saw the King of Yizhou, they didn't feel much. They looked at the King of Yizhou standing there with their bright eyes without much emotion.
The King of Yizhou didn't pay attention to them, after all, so many people were watching them.
The empress dowager held his hand and sat in the middle seat. Today was the birthday girl, so she sat in the middle. The emperor sat slightly to the side, but from a distance, it seemed that the seats of mother and son were almost the same.
After the Queen Mother sat down, she patted the King of Yizhou's hand and said with a smile, "You should sit down too. Let your wife and the others sit with the Queen. As for Xin'an, let him come over."
The Prince of Xin'an, who was lagging behind, immediately stepped forward with a smile, bowed deeply, and called out "Grandmother Emperor".
"Okay, okay," the Queen Mother smiled, taking his hand and saying, "Go sit with your brother, the Crown Prince. Later, help Grandmother look at the gifts presented by the courtiers."
Prince Xin'an agreed with a smile.
The prince glanced at his father, then silently stood up and moved up, letting his cousin sit below him.
The Second and Third Princes: ...
The Fourth Prince and his two younger brothers didn't care about this. After all, they were just fighting among gods, and as long as it didn't bring disaster to them, it was fine.
The emperor looked happy and didn't seem to care about these things at all. After they sat down, he raised his hand to signal the birthday banquet to begin.
Then comes the gift-giving part.
The birthday gifts that could be brought up were naturally not the unknown and shoddy gifts from Manbao and the others, but the emperor's gift first.
He picked out the two best ones from his imperial farm and gave them to the empress dowager, and the queen gave the empress dowager a jade Buddha.
The Queen Mother believed in Buddhism.
Manbao sat next to Mingda and ate a grape from the fruit bowl in front of him. This is something that is hard to find outside.
Seeing that everyone's gifts were very expensive, Manbao quietly asked Mingda, "You only gave something you embroidered yourself. Is that okay?"
Mingda leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I'm still young and unmarried, so I don't have much money. What's most important to us is the thought. When I get married, gifts like this won't be acceptable."
Manbao nodded and saw that the King of Yizhou gave the Queen Mother a coral tree that was taller than her. The coral tree was bright red and as clear as jade. Manbao, who had never seen the world, was stunned.
Even Mingda couldn't help but take a second look and whispered, "Uncle Emperor is truly generous. There's no coral tree like this even in the palace."
Manbao thought to himself: This is all the hard-earned money of the people of Jiannan Road, especially the people of Yizhou.
The emperor also looked at the coral tree several times.
The Queen Mother was so happy that the wrinkles on her face deepened with her smile. No matter what the ministers thought, they all followed the Queen Mother's wishes and praised the King of Yizhou for his filial piety.
After the King of Yizhou, it was the turn of other princes to present gifts. After all the uncles had presented their gifts, the Crown Prince began to present the first gift of his generation.
Man Baomu stared blankly at the rare treasures that he had never seen before, and some that he had never even heard of, flowing towards the empress dowager like water. Gradually, he figured out how much money the empress dowager had to make for her birthday.
Manbao turned around and asked Mingda, "Does the Queen Mother celebrate her birthday every year?"
Mingda was stunned for a moment and shook his head. "No, in previous years, birthdays were always family banquets. Even the emperor's uncles and his family rarely came to the capital. They only happened like this for major birthdays. I was still young the last time my grandmother celebrated her birthday, so I don't remember much."
Manbao breathed a sigh of relief.
Mingda finally said, "But this year is not the Royal Grandmother's birthday. It's just that the Royal Grandmother said that her health is not very good, and she wanted to take this opportunity to have a family reunion dinner, so the Royal Father celebrated the birthday for Grandmother."
Manbao looked up carefully at the Queen Mother's face. She was sitting not far away, so he could see and hear clearly. After listening to her words, Manbao whispered to Mingda, "Don't worry, the Queen Mother is in good health."
Mingda: ...
Of course she knew that the Empress Dowager was in good health, at least better than her mother, but...
She glanced at Manbao and said, "Don't say it out loud."
Manbao looked at her, blinked, and seemed to understand a little.
There were not many ministers who could carry the gifts into the hall. The gifts prepared by everyone were very valuable, except for two people.
One is Wei Zhi and the other is Yu County Duke.
Wei Zhi was really poor, so he gave the empress dowager a box of pens. It was a gift from his son, and he had always been reluctant to use it. He was still very sad to give it to the empress dowager.
However, the Queen Mother was already at this age and seldom wrote anything anymore, so she smiled and asked someone to accept the gift without looking at it any further.
Even less valuable than Wei Zhi's gift was the one given by the Duke of Yu County.
Manbao thought so because County Lord Yu wrote a birthday greeting to the Empress Dowager.
She thought the Queen Mother would not like it very much, but she was very happy, and her happiness was genuine. She even leaned forward when Prince Xin'an went to receive the gift.
She took the letter and opened it to take a look. A bright smile appeared on her face, and she thanked Yu County Magistrate with admiration.
Seeing the puzzled look on Manbao's face, Mingda smiled slightly and whispered to her, "Mr. Yu is a famous writer. The Empress Dowager loves to read his articles and poems. He is also very long-lived. He wrote a birthday letter to the Empress Dowager. This is something that even a thousand gold coins cannot bring."
Manbao understood at this moment, "What the teacher said is indeed right. Studying is good, but making money is just a matter of whether you want to or not."
Mingda thought about it and realized it was true.
The two looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.
After the Duke of Yu County presented his gifts, it was the turn of the unmarried little princess.
Everyone gave something they had made themselves. Mingda gave an embroidered longevity character, and Changyu gave a scroll of handwritten scriptures...
The Queen Mother was also very happy and accepted it with a smile. Because it was Mingda and the others' turn, everyone's eyes could not help but focus on them. The King of Yizhou then noticed that Zhou Man,
He frowned and didn't want to mention this matter. After all, mentioning it in public would be equivalent to making her famous. But he held back, and when he saw Bai Shan and Bai Cheng sitting behind the fifth and sixth princes, he couldn't help it.
He smiled and said to Princess Mingda, "Mingda, who is the young lady sitting next to you?"
Mingda glanced back at Manbao and saluted before replying, "Uncle, she is my good friend."
The King of Yizhou asked, "I wonder which family this young lady is from, to be able to sit at the table of our Li family."
Mingda paused and said, "Her last name is Zhou. My sixth sister and I both get along well with her, so we asked her to sit next to me. My father and mother had no objection."
She looked at the Queen Mother and said coquettishly, "Grandmother, I want to sit with my friend, is that okay?"
The Queen Mother also liked Mingda. She glanced at Zhou Man and found that she was a little girl who looked not much different from Mingda, with a round, fair and tender face. She smiled and nodded, "Of course you can. You are weak, so don't stand for too long. Go back and sit down."
The next update will be around 4:00 PM
(End of this chapter)
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