While everyone was eating and drinking, the old lady took Qian Ruoyu's hand, patted her hand, and spoke to her.

"Thank you for your hard work."

"If you hadn't helped arrange the birthday banquet this time, and Chu Mobai was not available, I'm afraid that my birthday banquet might not have been held."

The old lady was not joking.

The sudden and urgent situation of the border war this time was something no one had expected.

And if something really happens to Chu Mobai, there will be no one in the palace who can take the responsibility. At that time, not only will the palace be embarrassed, but even the Su Mansion will be embarrassed!

Under Qian Ruoyu's management, even if there were major events on the border, things here were still going on in full swing.

Not only were the guests happy, but even the old lady was extremely happy at this moment.

Qian Ruoyu still spoke modestly.

"That's nothing, old lady. This is all what I should do. Although Ayu doesn't have any great abilities, she should still do one or two good things."

Seeing Qian Ruoyu being so humble made the old lady very happy.

Then, the old lady looked around and asked in confusion.

"It's really strange. Where is that concubine that Chu Mobai married? Why can't we see her at all now?"

At this moment, Li Zhiyi came out from somewhere and spoke hurriedly.

"Old lady, I'm here. I've been waiting by your side."

But after Li Zhiyi finished speaking, the old lady simply snorted coldly.

"You came out only after you finished your work. Why didn't you wait until I, the old lady, returned to Duke Su's mansion before you came out?"

Li Zhiyi originally thought that the old lady mentioned her to praise her, so she ran out immediately.

But he never expected that the old lady was not here to brag about herself, but was instead here to talk about herself.

At this time, Li Zhiyi had nowhere to hide and could only stand there waiting for the old lady's next words.

"You and Ayu are both Chu Mobai's backyard people. You should help him do things when he is busy. Ayu did a great job this time. Not only did you help me arrange the birthday banquet, but you also made me look good. What did you do?"

Li Zhiyi became anxious as soon as she thought about it, and then she spoke quickly.

"This, this, this... Old Lady, I helped you receive so many birthday gifts!"

"It's not just my sister who's busy. I'm also busy with a lot of things. You can't ignore this..."

After saying this, Li Zhiyi wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief in grievance, and pretended to be about to cry, but the old lady snorted again.

"This trick of yours works in front of Chu Mobai, but do you still have to pretend to cry in front of me, the old lady? It's really your hard work to receive those birthday gifts."

"In that case, I won't say anything more to you. When the time comes, let Ayu carefully check the birthday gifts to see if there are any other omissions. If there are any, please tell me."

Qian Ruoyu nodded immediately, then turned his gaze to Li Zhiyi.

As soon as Li Zhiyi saw Qian Ruoyu's gaze and heard the old lady's words, she began to feel afraid.

After all, she never thought that the old lady would ask Qian Ruoyu to come for the inspection. Doesn't this mean that she doesn't trust the things she accepted?

At this moment, Li Zhiyi wanted to hide in the corner and didn't want to appear in front of the old lady at all.

But the old lady still spoke.

"Something is going to happen on the border now. You and Ayu cannot afford to make any mistakes. Especially, if Chu Mobai really wants to leave the palace and lead the army, the palace will become Chu Mobai's rear base at that time."

"You two must unite!"

As soon as the old lady finished speaking, Qian Ruoyu immediately nodded solemnly and spoke to Li Zhiyi.

"Don't worry, old lady. My sister and I love to cooperate and unite. There will definitely be no accidents."

Qian Ruoyu's words made the old lady feel relieved, and she turned her attention to Li Zhiyi.

Li Zhiyi then realized that it was time for her to express her opinion, so she nodded quickly like a chick pecking at rice.

"Yes... yes... please rest assured, old lady, I will definitely cooperate with my sister..."

After finishing speaking, Li Zhiyi continued.

"Oh right... although the birthday gifts have been put away, there are still some places that have not been sorted out. Let's eat and drink here first. I will go and sort out the birthday gifts."

"Please rest assured, old lady, there won't be any mistakes with these things!"

The old lady simply nodded and let Li Zhiyi leave.

As soon as Li Zhiyi left, she immediately found Dan'er and said anxiously.

"Dan'er, hurry up, don't waste time. Now, follow me back to the yard and collect all the gifts. Put the things you took out of the gifts back quickly!"

That’s right, part of the gift has been taken out by Li Zhiyi, with the purpose of coveting some benefits from it.

Now that the old lady has said this, it means that Qian Ruoyu will be asked to check those things. If there are any omissions, then Li Zhiyi will be finished.

Li Zhiyi then hurriedly took Dan'er back to the yard.

Meanwhile, in the hall, the old lady had just finished drinking a glass of wine when she immediately looked at Qian Ruoyu.

"Ayu, do you think I can drink this wine? Will it affect my health?"

It's okay to drink a little once or twice occasionally. Besides, today is the old lady's birthday party, and we are even happier, so it's okay to drink a little.

But you can't drink too much, it's harmful to your health.

After listening to this, Qian Ruoyu thought about it for a while and shook his head.

"It's okay for you to drink a little, old lady, but it's only for this time. After all, I'm by your side now."

The old lady laughed, her smile full of kindness.

"I feel relieved when you say that. It's also because today is my birthday party that I want to have a drink."

Qian Ruoyu nodded immediately, and at this time the old lady raised her wine glass and slowly stood up, while Qian Ruoyu supported her from the side.

The old lady slowly raised her glass and spoke to everyone.

"I'm grateful to everyone for coming here today. Seeing so many people gathered here really makes me feel unworthy!"

"Now that the imperial court has another border disturbance, I feel really ashamed. Therefore, everyone should go back quickly after this meal. In addition to attending my birthday banquet, I also hope that everyone can offer suggestions to the imperial court so that the border incident can be resolved."

As soon as the old lady finished speaking, bursts of applause broke out in the entire hall.