Longevity Festival.
With tributes arriving from all directions, the entire Great Zhou Dynasty rejoiced.
Many foreigners have entered the capital.
The Third Prince snatched the prestigious task of entertaining the envoys, and thanks to him, Chu Yun rekindled her relationships with many women from merchant families.
She straightened her back again, and today she wore a gold filigree flower and butterfly headdress and a pomegranate red satin jacket. She looked elegant and noble, like a flower in full bloom.
When Chu Xinxin first saw her at the gate of the Prime Minister's residence, she thought she was dressed too formally.
Upon arriving at the palace gate, she found that almost all the women were dressed like this, making her light blue outfit stand out quite conspicuously.
"Holy crap, system, they all conspired to wear red and gold without telling me."
Sister, I told you this a long time ago, but you're just being irresponsible and didn't take it to heart at all.
The system shouldn't be blamed for this.
"You told me?"
[Yes, I told you the day the list came. I thought you dressed like this on purpose today.]
Chu Xinxin: ...No.
Chu Xuan seemed to notice that Chu Xinxin's clothes were a bit off and her headdress was too simple, and his expression immediately turned sour.
This matter can be considered a big deal or a small deal; to put it bluntly, it is disrespectful to the Emperor.
But it's too late for Chu Xinxin to go back and change her clothes now.
Thinking that Chu Xinxin and Liu Shi could only sit at the back anyway, Chu Xuan had no choice but to swallow his anger and tell Chu Xinxin to stay close to Liu Shi so as not to cause him any trouble.
Chu Xinxin: "Oh."
Unfortunately, plans can't keep up with changes.
Emperor Zhou suddenly became very interested and had the future princesses and princes' wives sit in the front, saying it was to show the envoys the elegance of the noble ladies of the capital.
Of course, the main attraction is the charm of Chu Yun and Zheng Ying, the daughter of Minister Zheng.
The palace maids added a seat next to the Second Prince and the Third Prince. As for Chu Xinxin, since Zhou Huaichuan had not yet returned, she had a seat all to herself, which made her look particularly noble.
Amidst the clinking of glasses and the exchange of toasts, the banquet was in full swing when the Second Prince took the lead in presenting congratulatory gifts to the Emperor.
He presented a golden jade Buddha statue, claiming it was personally consecrated by the abbot of Lingshan Temple.
Emperor Zhou nodded in satisfaction.
The third prince presented Emperor Zhou with a painting of a hundred longevity symbols embroidered by all the people, praising Emperor Zhou as the people's ideal and a sage emperor for all ages.
He flattered the Zhou emperor until he was beaming, as if he could truly see the people of the world kneeling before him.
He immediately bestowed a pair of jade ruyi upon the Third Prince and Chu Yun, and the Second Prince's expression immediately turned sour.
The imperial relatives and ministers below followed suit, bringing up the popular sentiments, the emperor's name, benevolence, and respect for the virtuous in everything they did. After going around in circles, the emperor had long forgotten about the second prince's golden jade Buddha statue.
"Now, please welcome the envoy to present..."
The Second Prince interrupted Eunuch Su halfway through his sentence.
"Hey, Eunuch Su, what's the rush? We still have one person here who hasn't presented a gift to His Majesty yet."
The second prince raised his wine cup and toasted Chu Xinxin, who was sitting opposite him.
"Damn, this second brother is full of bad ideas too." Chu Xinxin tried her best to suppress the urge to roll her eyes.
"That's right, thank goodness you have me, sister."
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Chu Xinxin calmly took out the brocade box that the system had just conjured for her from her sleeve and handed it to the little eunuch next to her.
The young eunuch presented it to him.
Eunuch Su took it and then opened it for Emperor Zhou.
Upon seeing what was inside, he was so shocked that he knelt down and exclaimed, "The true dragon has appeared! The true dragon has appeared!"
Everyone craned their necks to knock, and those who were close enough could see that inside the brocade box was a perfectly round, transparent, and extremely precious glass bead!
That's not the point. The point is that there's a lifelike eight-clawed golden dragon swimming around inside the glass bead!
The second prince knocked over his wine cup, and the osmanthus cake that the third prince was holding fell to the ground. The envoys dared not utter a sound.
Someone started shouting, "The true dragon has appeared, God blesses the Great Zhou!" Everyone knelt on the ground and shouted it three times.
Emperor Zhou was so excited that his hands trembled, and he shouted "Good!" three times before telling everyone to rise.
"Xin Xin, where did you find this?" Emperor Zhou asked with a loving expression after calming his excitement.
"Your Majesty, I dare not take credit for this. This object is a dragon pearl, which was discovered by His Highness Prince An when he was controlling the floods."
Chu Xinxin stood up and bowed, saying calmly, "His Highness sent people to deliver this item back overnight. Because it is the Emperor's birthday today, His Highness's people cannot enter the palace, so he told me. I then took the initiative to present it to His Majesty, wishing His Majesty good health, prosperity of the nation, and longevity."
The Zhou Emperor felt completely relaxed after being patted on the back, and rewarded Chu Xinxin with a pair of jade ruyi scepters bestowed by the late Emperor, as well as the title of County Lady.
The title of "County Lady" is one rank lower than that of "Prefectural Lady" but one rank higher than that of "Village Lady".
“Your Majesty,” Princess Pingyang suddenly spoke up, “taking this opportunity, I would like to add another joy to the County Lady’s life.”
Emperor Zhou's interest was piqued: "Oh? What does my elder sister intend to bestow upon the county magistrate?"
“Xin Xin and I hit it off immediately, and our bond only grew stronger with each subsequent meeting. Therefore, I would like to adopt her as my goddaughter!”
The princess's words shocked everyone.
Putting aside the obvious, Princess Pingyang's adopted daughter might be far more valuable than any unfavored princess in the palace!
Emperor Zhou was also somewhat puzzled.
An Yi suddenly stood up, a bright smile on her face: "Uncle, Grandmother, Mother is pregnant again!"
Emperor Zhou and Empress Dowager were taken aback at first, but after they realized what was happening, they smiled.
The eldest princess stroked her belly and said, "This joy is a gift from Xinxin. I will now humbly ask His Majesty and the Empress Dowager to bestow a title upon Xinxin."
A county lord with an official title and a county lord without an official title are two completely different things.
Emperor Zhou stroked his beard and made a decision: "Then bestow upon him the title of Anru."
An Yi, An means peace and happiness, Ru means as you wish. This title given by Emperor Zhou seems to indicate that he was very satisfied with Chu Xinxin.
Chu Xinxin immediately bowed and thanked him.
The banquet continued.
Envoys from various countries presented their gifts, but with Chu Xinxin's jewels as a precedent, apart from the beauties presented by the Western Regions, no matter how precious the other gifts were, they always seemed to lack something.
As the banquet was about to end, Chu Xinxin's limelight remained unchallenged. The Second Prince and the Third Prince exchanged a glance, and seeing in each other's eyes that their thoughts were aligned, the Third Prince stood up.
"Lord Anru, this prince toasts you."
Chu Xinxin also raised her glass in a toast.
The Third Prince finished his cup, then patted his head as if he had remembered something. He turned to Emperor Zhou and said, “Father, why did you and my aunt only give her a title but not any rewards? Look, our Lady Anru is dressed too plainly for the birthday banquet.”
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhou glanced at Chu Xinxin.
Chu Xinxin wore a light blue jacket, had her hair styled in the most ordinary way, and wore a jade hairpin and a pair of earrings, but no other accessories.
Second Prince: "Yes, Prime Minister Chu must have taught the County Lady how to dress for different occasions. How come she always messes up on the Emperor's birthday?"
These words make it sound as if Chu Xinxin was deliberately being disrespectful to Emperor Zhou.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com