Xiao Jiu was already drowsy, but the person next to her suddenly woke her up.
With his eyes still half-closed, he wanted to find his mother. Although everyone at the banquet was very well-behaved, it was still a bit noisy. At that moment, he instinctively wanted to find the protection he relied on most.
"Mother is here." Consort Yi said with a smile, and then had someone bring him over and hold him in her arms. Sitting above her was the Empress Dowager, who also smiled broadly when she saw Xiao Jiu coming over—she was still not very familiar with Manchu, let alone Chinese.
So from the beginning of the banquet she just smiled, but her expression was indifferent, until she saw Xiao Jiu and Consort Yi and the others she smiled happily.
This made the other concubines envious. Not only did she have such a beautiful appearance, but she also won the emperor's favor and the empress dowager's favor. They really couldn't compare to her!
But upon closer reflection, the path Consort Yi took was truly impossible to replicate. They didn't have the ability to give birth to princes and send them to the Empress Dowager for upbringing, nor did they possess the skill of giving birth to two princes in succession—a rare feat even in the palace!
Tongjia clan had been keeping an eye on Niohuru clan, and she felt that Niohuru clan must be very dissatisfied with Consort Yi.
She wanted to see if she could stir up a conflict between the two so she could reap the benefits, but it seemed that Niohuru hadn't paid much attention to Consort Yi from beginning to end!
She was incredibly annoyed by today's banquet! She still didn't want to let herself steal the spotlight!
What are you pretending for?
During the first birthday celebration, a circle was formed with a fence, and a red cloth was placed in the middle. Various items carefully selected by Consort Yi were displayed on it, and later, other concubines and the Empress Dowager added their own items as a way to bring good luck and share in the blessings. This was a long-standing tradition in the palace.
The people at the banquet sat on the sidelines, almost all there to watch Xiao Jiu's first birthday celebration.
At this moment, Jingrou was standing beside her maternal grandmother—as a member of the Aisin Gioro clan, Hesheli was naturally also attending the banquet. Jingrou looked at her little cousin with a bit of nervousness, hoping that nothing would happen to her in a moment.
Then, one by one, everyone put the things they wanted to add on it, and gradually there were more and more things on the red cloth.
Jingrou was already a little dazzled by the choices, not to mention that Xiao Jiu would be selecting one from them in a little while.
Yinreng and the others also released him, after all, he was their youngest brother.
Jingrou had placed books, calligraphy brushes, and the amulet she had gotten for her younger brother from the temple with her grandmother. The amulet itself wasn't the most important thing; the most important thing was the amulet she had placed on her brother.
Yinreng placed a fine jade pendant on it, engraved with auspicious patterns.
Yinzhi placed a small, unsharpened jade knife.
As the elder brother, Yinqi simply filled a small box with silver notes!
When Consort Yi saw this, she glared at him fiercely.
However, in order to bring good luck, these things were all placed there on the spot. With so many people in front of her, Consort Yi couldn't say anything. But this fifth prince was really too irresponsible. Why did he put silver notes in during his younger brother's first birthday celebration?
She felt a sense of relief. As his biological mother, Consort Yi knew roughly how much wealth the fifth prince had. Underage princes like them had very little money in their hands. Even the money bestowed by the emperor was mostly utilities that couldn't be sold.
Moreover, they were underage and hadn't left the palace in the morning, so of course they couldn't acquire their own property. The silver notes they had were either given to them by their mothers or sent by the Empress Dowager...
Anyway, this brat has probably only saved up these silver notes by now, but he stuffed them all into his younger brother's hands. Just for this thought alone, Consort Yi was happy, but this thing was really inappropriate!
Yinqi smiled. His elder brother and the Crown Prince all had their own ideas and had presented appropriate gifts, but as Xiao Jiu's older brother, he definitely needed to do something different!
But he racked his brains for many days and still couldn't think of what to give as a gift. So he simply gave away all the most valuable things he had at the moment, those silver notes were practically his entire fortune!
Other concubines also placed their prepared items early on, a wide variety of things, each carrying an auspicious meaning.
"Then I'll also ask for a lucky charm..." she said with a smile. The Empress Dowager had a small box placed on the table. According to the palace maid beside her, this box contained part of the Empress Dowager's dowry—a piece of grassland in Mongolia.
This immediately caused a huge uproar, and the Empress Dowager's dowry was, of course, extremely generous!
She was brought to the capital from Mongolia with a grand wedding procession! After all, she was marrying the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Those who married from Mongolia before her were probably princes or nobles of the Qing Dynasty. Even if they married into the emperor's harem, they might become concubines. But the empress dowager was the empress!
However, it would be very difficult for her to produce such a dowry, let alone a grassland, not a few hundred taels of gold or any gold and silver jewelry!
As the Empress Dowager grew older, she became increasingly nostalgic. She liked to take out her old things and look at them over and over again. She rarely gave them away. The things she had accumulated in the palace over the years were enough to keep her in a daze, so there was no need to give away her things from her early days in Mongolia.
This is... a little brat who's not even an adult yet, only a year old, and already owns a piece of land?!
You should know that no matter whether the Ninth Prince actually gets his hands on these items, it's considered as if they've been given away!
Consort Yi was also taken aback. She knew the Empress favored Xiao Jiu, partly because of her own influence and partly because of the Fifth Prince, but she never expected the Empress Dowager to go to such lengths for Xiao Jiu. This was a piece of land; this was blatant support for Xiao Jiu. Consort Yi was deeply moved, but her plan to remain discreet today was probably out of the question…
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