The Self-cultivation of a Salted Fish Concubine

Chapter 327 Giving Gifts

Xie Run raised his eyes and looked for a moment before he realized it was Wu Baolin.

She came in a hurry, her face was still a little sweaty, and her hair was a little messy, which was quite rude.

Xie Run glanced at the people from Xia Chao across from him and said to Dan Tao nonchalantly, "Find a way for Wu Baolin to find a place to get dressed again."

It was not for Wu Baolin, but for Yu Chao's face and the Queen Mother's birthday banquet.

Today's birthday banquet is hosted by the Queen herself. If there is any mistake, it will be embarrassing for both parties.

Dan Tao was her personal maid, so it was naturally impossible for her to do this personally.

She found a young palace maid and secretly took Wu Baolin to change clothes.

After waiting for a while, Wu Baolin appeared at the banquet after dressing up again and sat quietly at the back seat.

Dan Tao leaned over and whispered in Xie Run's ear, "Your Majesty, someone pretended to be someone from the Empress's palace and told Wu Baolin they were telling him the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet would be held in Mingyue Pavilion instead. Wu Baolin went to the wrong place, and that's why he's so late."

Xie Run is a favorite concubine, and coming later is more in line with her status.

Wu Baolin is a little Baolin, and now the lowest-ranking concubine in the emperor's harem.

It was rude of her to come so late.

Xie Run listened without any expression: "Send the news to the people in the Queen's palace."

She had already helped clean up the mess and didn't want to get involved any further.

This kind of thing was nothing more than a conspiracy by someone, who wanted Wu Baolin to make some mistakes at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet so that he would be punished.

There are many little tricks to bully people in the palace.

Xie Run didn't care. She was just afraid that if she left it alone, it would damage the emperor's reputation and also implicate her.

After a while, someone was heard shouting that the emperor, empress and queen mother had arrived.

Xie Run was helped by Dan Tao to stand up and salute.

The people on both sides also squatted down and saluted.

The empress dowager stood beside the emperor, supported by Matron Liu, her face full of joy and pride.

Logically speaking, although the empress dowager is not old, she has a higher generation and should dress in a mature and stable manner.

But the current empress dowager is different. She doesn't pay much attention to the restrictions of secular ethics.

On the contrary, she felt like she had endured for decades and finally became the most noble woman in the harem. She couldn't wait to wear her most luxurious clothes and the most dazzling and precious jewelry in the world.

The Queen Mother was dressed too brightly and dazzlingly, which made the Queen beside her look too simple and elegant.

It’s not that the queen is not well dressed.

The queen is very well-behaved, not out of the ordinary but not too dazzling either, and she exudes propriety in every way.

But standing next to the empress dowager, her brilliance was suppressed by the pearls and jade on her head.

If the Queen Mother were ten years younger, people who didn't know her would think she was the Queen.

Xie Run secretly glanced at the emperor's expression out of the corner of his eye.

Well... not so good.

Xie Run lowered his head silently, and as the Emperor and the Empress Dowager's voice fell, he stood up and sat down.

The Queen Mother also knew that today was her birthday party and would not deliberately embarrass others. She smiled and said many festive words.

"The emperor is filial, and I am indeed blessed."

"From now on, I only hope that the former dynasty will have good weather and good harvests, and that the harem will have many children and be blessed. Then I will be able to put my worries to rest completely."

The queen had a faint smile on her face, but she was actually a little disgusted in her heart.

The Queen Mother is still the Queen Mother.

When saying polite words, he had to disgust her.

Hoping for many children and happiness in the harem?

Given the Empress Dowager's personality, even if the Empress Yin and Yang couldn't give birth to children, she would probably blame the Empress for being incompetent and jealous, which led to the lack of children in the Emperor's harem.

The emperor also smiled faintly, maintaining the same expression as the empress, while holding her hand. "Your Majesty, rest assured. You can spend your remaining years in peace in the Cining Palace. I have General Hua and Prime Minister Mu to assist me in the front court, and Empress Zhao Shufei to look after me in the harem. I am very relieved. I will work tirelessly to restore the prosperity of the Great Yu Dynasty, so that I can be filial to you and let you enjoy happiness every day."

The empress dowager was full of words, but they were choked by the emperor's words that she should rest assured and enjoy her remaining years in the Cining Palace. She suddenly felt a tightness in her chest and didn't want to say a word.

All we can say is that there is always someone better.

Then the emperor and empress gave speeches of congratulations and presented gifts to the empress dowager in turn.

The gift from the emperor was a jade statue of Guanyin Buddha.

It was heard that a fine piece of jade had been found in Fangzhou, so it was sent to the capital at a gallop of 800 miles. Ten craftsmen then worked day and night for a hundred days to meticulously carve out the face of Guanyin, which was then enshrined in the Huguo Temple for 9981 days.

This thing is not only valuable, but also shows the emperor's filial piety.

The empress dowager liked it very much and instantly forgot the upsetting words the emperor had just said. She accepted it with satisfaction and praised the emperor a few more times.

Next was the Twelve Longevity Girls Screen presented by the Queen. Each screen was embroidered with exquisite craftsmanship. The wood, silk thread and craftsmanship were all world-class.

The Queen said calmly, "This screen was embroidered by Concubine Jing with the help of me. Every stitch is a token of my filial piety to my mother. I only hope that she will be healthy and live a worry-free life to a hundred years old."

The Queen Mother nodded slightly: "I appreciate your filial piety."

He didn't even take the opportunity to find any fault with the Queen.

However, Concubine Jing below widened her eyes.

How can there be twelve screens?!

She had been trapped in Fengyi Palace embroidering every day for the past month, and had only just managed to finish a folding screen.

The queen only moved a stitch or two occasionally, and it seemed that she was not embroidering at all.

In order to take revenge on the Queen, Concubine Jing did some tricks on the screen before leaving yesterday.

Who would have thought that the Queen would present not one screen, but twelve?!

The remaining eleven sides were definitely not embroidered by the queen, so they could only have been embroidered by the embroiderers in the palace embroidery room.

Thinking about it this way, doesn’t the Queen use her as an embroiderer?

When Concubine Jing thought of this, she became so angry that her blood boiled in her chest.

After the Queen presented the gifts, it was Xie Run's turn.

Xie Run gave a pair of white jade vases, which were flawless and exquisitely carved.

It is precious, but it doesn’t show much thought.

After all, there are plenty of such precious things in the Empress Dowager's Palace, so they are not that rare.

Next is Concubine Jing.

Logically speaking, since Concubine Jing helped the Queen embroider the screen, she didn't need to offer any more gifts. However, she hated the screen so much and didn't want to take any credit from the Queen, for fear of being implicated by her.

In order to distance herself from the Queen and please the Empress Dowager, Concubine Jing spent a large sum of money to purchase a red coral tree that was half a person's height.

The tree is decorated with gold and jade carvings and hung with various gems, which is truly priceless.

This money definitely did not come from Concubine Jing's pocket. I'm afraid the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion put in a lot of effort.

When Concubine Jing's gift came out, not only did it make Xie Run's gift look dull, but the gifts that came after it were also overshadowed.

The Queen Mother looked at the coral tree in front of her, and the smile on her face finally became more genuine. She indeed found Concubine Jing more pleasing to the eye than before.

After the concubines, princes and princesses in the harem have presented their gifts, it is the turn of the royal family members to attend the birthday banquet.

Finally, the sixth prince of the Xia Dynasty stood up and presented a golden Buddha to the Queen Mother on behalf of the Xia Dynasty. He also said that it had been enshrined in the Huguo Temple of the Xia Dynasty for many years and that he had brought it from thousands of miles away.

The Queen Mother said, "The gift is small, but the sentiment is great. I accept your kindness. Please also give my regards to the Queen Mother of the Xia Dynasty."

Xie Run was drinking the tea in his cup with his head down, and he almost laughed out loud when he heard this.