As soon as she finished speaking, the Queen Mother walked in from a corner, with Princess Fuqing and the Fourteenth Princess supporting her on her left and right.

When Emperor Jingming saw the Empress Dowager arrive, he hurriedly stood up to greet her, and the Empress followed silently.

"Mother, please slow down." Emperor Jingming reached out to support the empress dowager, and the Fourteenth Princess obediently stepped aside to make room.

The Queen Mother was very pleased with Emperor Jingming's action. She smiled and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to do this. I can still walk."

Emperor Jingming smiled and said, "Of course, your mother is in good health, but your son just wants to help you."

Seeing Emperor Jingming carefully helping the empress dowager walk up to the platform, everyone in the hall was moved: The emperor has been as filial to the empress dowager as ever for decades.

The elderly princes and imperial eunuchs could not help but nod their heads, secretly envying the good fortune of the empress dowager.

Even if it was an ordinary family, an adopted son's sincere filial piety to his adoptive mother was worthy of praise, not to mention that the person was the emperor.

For a woman to become a queen mother is to make her life worthwhile and it is a blessing that she has accumulated over many lifetimes.

The Queen Mother walked up to the platform amid countless envious and respectful gazes, and slowly sat down with the help of Emperor Jingming, looking down.

Everyone in the hall stood up and saluted, saying, "Congratulations to the Empress Dowager on her longevity—"

The Queen Mother nodded slightly, and when the situation calmed down, she smiled and said, "We are all family, you don't have to be restrained, just be casual."

The Queen Mother spoke, and everyone took their seats.

As the music started playing, a group of dancers in colorful costumes came out and began to dance barefoot on the brocade carpet. The silver bells tied to their ankles tinkled, which blended with the music and made the atmosphere in the hall gradually rise.

The Queen Mother smiled and nodded at the Queen: "I am sorry for the trouble, Your Majesty."

The Queen raised her cup and said, "It is an honor for me as your daughter-in-law to celebrate your birthday. I wish you a long and healthy life."

The Queen Mother also raised her cup and lightly touched her lips.

Next, the royal family members came out in a predetermined order to present gifts to the Queen Mother in congratulations.

First came the people of the same generation as the empress dowager, then the generation of Emperor Jingming, and when all of them had their turn, it was the turn of the grandchildren.

Among the grandchildren, a few princes naturally came out first to congratulate the birthday, and this year's princes were more eye-catching than in previous years.

There is no other reason. The position of crown prince is vacant, which is a major issue that everyone is paying attention to.

The first to stand up were the King and his wife.

The Prince of Qin was the adopted son of Emperor Jingming. Even though he had no hope of becoming emperor, he would always rank ahead of other princes in such situations.

Many people glanced at the King of Qin and then lowered their eyes to drink.

There is no point in putting him in the front, because the position of crown prince has nothing to do with the King of Qin anyway.

The Qin King and his wife presented the Queen Mother with a pair of white jade longevity peaches.

Among countless rare treasures, a pair of white jade longevity peaches are not very expensive, but they are exquisitely crafted. The longevity peaches look like they have just been plucked from the branches.

The Queen Mother smiled, praised it twice and accepted it.

Next came the King of Qi.

The scriptures presented by the King of Qi were copied by himself. What was rare was that the scriptures were secret scriptures from overseas, which even many eminent monks of the Great Zhou Dynasty had not read.

The Queen Mother naturally accepted it with joy.

Yu Jin stared at Jiang Si across the aisle, his eyes full of contempt.

The fourth son was indeed a poor fellow who had spent his wife's dowry, and the birthday gift he gave to the empress dowager was just a broken Buddhist scripture.

I copied it with my own hands, so it didn't cost me any money, after all. As for the overseas scriptures, maybe the fourth brother memorized them secretly after reading them and then memorized them. Anyway, it didn't cost me any money.

If you hate someone, you naturally don't like him or her. Yu Jin expressed his utmost contempt for King Qi's opportunistic behavior.

Jiang Sihui smiled and blinked gently.

Before A-Jin made fun of the King of Qi, she didn't even think about who was paying for Erniu's salary...

Perhaps it was a telepathic connection, Yu Jin understood what Jiang Si meant from the blink of an eye, and his handsome face suddenly darkened.

What's wrong with him spending Erniu's salary? He was the one who raised Erniu!

The next gift from the King and his wife of Lu was not fancy at all; it was a pair of red corals half a meter high.

It is not fancy because red coral is the most common gift. But to be honest, this pair of red corals is the most practical. At least it is much more expensive than the white jade longevity peaches and Buddhist scriptures.

It was the turn of the King of Shu and his wife to come forward. The birthday gift they presented to the Queen Mother was quite formal, and the Queen Mother accepted it with a smile.

The King of Shu returned to his seat with some regret in his heart.

He could have given a birthday gift that would please the Empress Dowager, but his mother asked him to back off for the time being, so he had no choice but to keep a low profile.

Concubine Zhuang, who was sitting quietly in a corner on the high platform, nodded imperceptibly, feeling very relieved that her son listened to her.

Then Yu Jin and Jiang Si stood up from their seats and walked to the center of the venue to congratulate the Queen Mother.

"The grandson (grandson's wife) respectfully congratulates the Emperor's grandmother on her longevity."

A small and exquisite box was taken by the eunuch, opened and presented to the Queen Mother.

Lying in the box is a string of agarwood Buddhist beads.

The moment the Queen Mother saw the congratulatory gift, her pupils shrank immediately and her expression changed slightly uncontrollably.

Emperor Jingming was most concerned about the Empress Dowager. Noticing that the Empress Dowager looked strange, he curiously asked Yu Jin, "Seventh Brother, why did you want to give your grandmother a Buddhist bead bracelet?"

The Empress Dowager had a string of agarwood Buddhist beads that she often wore. Emperor Jingming was deeply impressed by the beads.

When Yu Jin heard Emperor Jingming ask this, he said frankly, "I think the Empress Dowager will like it."

Emperor Jingming laughed: "Such a rosary——"

He wanted to say that the Queen Mother had a string of similar ones that always stayed with her, but he swallowed the rest of his words as soon as he opened his mouth, and his eyes subconsciously drifted towards the Queen Mother's wrist.

At some point, the rosary on the Queen Mother's wrist was gone.

Strange, when did the Queen Mother take off the rosary?

That day it was announced that the seventh child would be registered under the Empress' name, and he had clearly seen it when he went to inform his mother.

As doubts flashed through Emperor Jingming's mind, the Queen Mother spoke up: "I really like this kind of rosary. You are really thoughtful."

Yu Jin looked up at the Queen Mother and smiled slightly, "As long as you like it."

Having said that, he and Jiang Si retreated.

The subsequent gifts continued, but the Queen Mother's heart was disturbed by the rosary.

Emperor Jingming was also in a state of confusion.

It was just a rosary, there was no need to worry about it, but why did the Queen Mother look so strange? Could it be that there was a reason why the Queen Mother did not wear the previous rosary?

For some reason, thinking about the time when the Empress Dowager took off the agarwood Buddhist beads bracelet, Emperor Jingming felt inexplicably unhappy, but this gloom was soon dispelled by the liveliness in the hall.

The banquet was still going on, and the atmosphere was getting more intense.

The people, who were a little drunk, became less restrained and began to toast each other frequently.

Different from being ignored in the past, many people surrounded Yu Jin today. It was obvious that his identity as the Queen's son made him different from before.

The Prince of Xiang was so angry that he thought to himself for the umpteenth time: If my father had chosen him that day, he would be the one these people are trying to curry favor with today!

A hand patted his shoulder gently.

When the King of Xiang turned around, he saw the King of Qi raising his glass to him: "Eighth brother, I toast to you."

King Xiang drank the wine in his cup and walked towards Yu Jin.