Chapter 192: A Gift Battle in the Birthday Ceremony

The Emperor’s birthday, as its name showed, was the festival to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor. As usual, people would have three-days off for this festival. On the exact day of the Emperor’s birthday, the celebrations were livelier. In an important sense, the ceremony for the Emperor’s birthday was more important than the ones for the Empress Dowager’s birthday and the Empress’s birthday.

However, the Emperor was tired of superficial things. The more he stayed on the throne, the less he liked to show his face in public. What was more, the Emperor and others were living in Mount Dizi for the summer vacation now. The place over here was smaller than the palace in the capital, which meant that there might not be enough room for various activities. Hence, every year, the Emperor would decree an order to go through the motions, showing his “care” for his people.

However, it was not his call.

This year was his 40th birthday, and more importantly, the ceremony was a stage for the future Crown Prince. For this reason, his “care” for his people would not be realized.

It was known for a long time that Prince of Qi and Prince of Yan have been preparing their birthday gifts. It’s the time to show their care and love for the Emperor. They definitely would not let the ceremony be shabby.

For this reason, the ceremony for the Emperor’s birthday was bigger than the previous ones combined.

As soon as they leaving the Fangfei Pavilion, the crowd could feel the mountain breeze hitting on the face and smell the strong scent of jasmine.

Once inside the Summer Palace, it was even more like stepping into a sea of flowers. In addition to countless seasonal flowers, there were also a wide variety of rich vessels, royal ceremonies and decorations. Without the palace maids guiding the way, this palace would have been like a maze to people who used to be able to walk around here with their eyes closed.

Princess Yang led the crowd into the main hall where the banquet was being held today. A number of people had already arrived first.

Because it was a celebration at the palace, everyone was dressed in gorgeous, bright and colorful clothes. As far as the eye could see, it was so colorful!

After sitting down, Qiu Yelan took a look around and immediately noticed several very unfriendly lines of sight. It was Princess Shou’an and others. She shrugged her shoulders, waited, and waited… Princess Yang had already greeted a few noblewomen nearby. Yet, Qiu Yelan didn’t see the Gu Family coming over to make trouble. When she looked again, she noticed that Gu E’nuo and the others were already talking to themselves.

With a little thought, she knew that they wanted to come over her, making trouble for her. Yet, they hadn’t done this because they must be afraid of Empress Jiang.

“A strong backer is key to leisure!” Qiu Yelan secretly lamented. She finally understood why Jiang Yadan could speak freely in the court back then.

Only when she thought of Jiang Yadan, she saw Jiang Qizheng accompanying a woman in green towards her. Princess Yang reminded her promptly, “That one in green is the eighth young lady of the Jiang Family, Tao Qianbin. They must be here for you.”

This is the first daughter-in-law of the Jiang Family’s fourth branch, and Qiu Yelan dared not to give her a cold shoulder. When noticing that they reached a short distance away and confirming they were coming for her, she got up to welcome them, “Your Highness, are you here for me? And this is?”

“This is our eighth sister-in-law,” Jiang Qizheng smiled. “She hasn’t seen you before. She asked me to accompany her to meet you before our aunt commands us at any minute!”

Qiu Yelan bowed her head slightly to show her shyness. She remembered Qiu Jinglan and Ruan Ciyi’s advice. They advised her against changing the calls before she got married. Therefore, she only smiled and called her “Sister Tao” before inviting them to sit down. After that, she poured tea and served snacks with a sweet look on her face. Her action and attitude surprised Madame Tao Junior, who thought to herself, “I was told she is a tough girl. She even made Yashuang jump to his feet out of anger. But now, she doesn’t look like a girl they told me.”

Princess Yang cursed under her breath, “The little bitch is so good at pretending!” But on the surface, she had to say something to liven up the atmosphere, “It has been a few days since I’ve seen you, Tao. How are you? You look good!”

Tao Qianbin smiled slightly, “Thanks for asking. I am fine. The cook recently made a new green bean and lily soup that is very appetizing. Perhaps because I drink this often.”

“That’s true. Green beans and lily soup are both good for clearing heat and calming the mind. Drinking this in the middle of summer is the best for our health…”

Both of them were senior noblewomen and were very familiar and skilled with the conversation. After a few moments, the atmosphere was very lively.

Taking this opportunity, Jiang Qizheng pulled Qiu Yelan aside, “Didn’t you ask who has beautiful flowers these days and want to exchange them for a few to plant in the Green Villa? There are various flowers in the palace today! Once everyone is free to walk around during the feast, you follow my maid, Mengtao, and ask her to take you to choose two pots. When we leave, we carry the flower pots directly to the carriage!”

Qiu Yelan was stunned, “Can we?!”

“Anyway, if you don’t take some, the maids and servants will take them down the mountains later anyway,” Jiang Qizheng said dismissively. “It’s not easy to walk with so many flowers around! Don’t worry, we have reported to my aunt. And you’re not the only one taking it. It is normal that some of the pots are damaged when they move them down the mountains.”

It was only a few pots of flowers that were worth nothing. Qiu Yelan didn’t think it was fine to do so…

Qiu Yelan was tempted to refuse but when she looked at Jiang Qizheng’s face, which showed, “Look, I remember your business and I care about you,” she hesitated and nodded, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Not a big deal,” said Jiang Qizheng. She walked back and stood beside Tao Qianbin. Seeing Jiang Qizheng had done her talk, Tao Qianbin ended her talk with Princess Yang with some empty words. And then they took their leave.

Princess Yang and the others looked at Qiu Yelan. The Jiang Family had obviously come over to speak to her in private. But, as for what exactly they said, they were eager to know. Yet, just considering Qiu Yelan’s personality and seeing that she didn’t have the intention to say anything, they kept silent.

Not long after, a maid came in to tell the crowd that the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress would be coming soon. People promptly checked each other’s clothes, stopped gossiping and were ready to welcome.

A few moments later, a eunuch spoke in a lengthened tone to announce the arrival of the Emperor, the Empress and the Empress Dowager. Everyone stood up to bow down in unison and kowtowed to welcome and greet them. When the three were seated, the Emperor instructed everyone to stand up. The crowd stood up and then kneeled again. The kowtow for the second time was for the Emperor’s birthday. In the end, the crowd kowtowed for thirty-three times, which made Qiu Yelan very depressed.

Finally, the Emperor once again spoke out to let the crowd stand up. And then, on behalf of the crowd, Premier Xue Chang served the Emperor with a wine cup, wishing the Emperor a long life. The Emperor gave him a cup of tea… After these ceremonies were done, the crowd was allowed to return to their tables.

It was only then that Qiu Yelan noticed that not only the Emperor, the Empress and the Empress Dowager were present in the palace today, but also several concubines were present.

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But there were not many concubines presenting. The first one next to the Empress resembled Princess Shou’an Gu E’nuo, but she was older. She wore traditional Chinese clothes. Based on her clothes and appearance, she must be a Noble Consort from the Gu Family. Princess Shou’an was a pretty girl. So did this Noble Consort. Since she had been living in the palace for many years, she nurtured a gesture of noblewoman. Although Empress Jiang got a powerful presence in the hall, the Noble Consort was sitting next to her gently and quietly, making her a qualified Noble Consort.

But the crowd might notice that Noble Consort Gu was not in the mood for this occasion, which inevitably seemed a little off-putting for today’s ceremony.

“Empress Jiang might bully her of late.” Empress Dowager Gu could do nothing about Empress Jiang, let alone the concubines. The concubines were behaving like white obedient rabbits in front of the Empress. Thinking about the upcoming battle for the status of Crown Prince, Qiu Yelan thought for herself, “As the Empress can do nothing about Prince of Yan’s supporters, Empress Dowager Gu will definitely vent her anger on Prince of Yan’s birth mother, Noble Consort Gu…”

The woman next to Noble Consort Gu was a 16 or 17-year-old girl with a goose-egg face and a topknot. She had a pretty face and limpid eyes. In terms of beauty, she was above Empress Jiang and Noble Consort Gu and as pretty as Qiu Yelan.

Qiu Yelan knew this one too. She was Fair Concubine who was appointed not long ago. That was right, the previous Fair Concubine, the one the coward Emperor had begged the Empress for four months, had an affair with Jiang Yadan. Although Empress Jiang helped cover the whole story for his niece, the Empress Dowager knew the whole thing… So, the Fair Concubine “died out of something” two years ago suddenly.

Because of this, the Emperor grieved for a long time. In the end, Empress Jiang got impatient and had someone find Yin. As expected, Yin, whose beauty was not inferior to the previous Fair Concubine, quickly comforted the Emperor and was promoted to the position of the Fourth Concubine in less than two years.

Apart from these two, there were three other concubines present. Qiu Yelan speculated that if the Empress was bringing them out based on their positions, they must be Virtuous Concubine and Worthy Concubine, as well as Lady Zhen.

But none of them were saluted by the crowd, she was not sure if her guess was right.

At this time, Empress Dowager Gu, as a royal representative, had greeted Xue Chang, the representative of the crowd. It was time for presenting gifts. The gifts the Empress Dowager and the Empress gave to the Emperor were similar to the ones in the previous years. Anyway, they did not need to please the Emperor. What they needed to do was just go through the motions.

It might be the Empress Dowager or the Empress’s idea that the part for concubine offering gifts was passed and went directly to the part that princes and princesses offering gifts. And the first one, Prince of Qi!

The atmosphere turned serious immediately.

Even Empress Dowager Gu’s attention was drawn by the gift list.

“The gifts presented by Prince of Qi include thirty-three crystal mirrors, thirty-three bronze mirrors, three pairs of white deer, a pair of seven-foot coral and jade trees with inlaid beads, two pairs of emerald caskets, ten pairs of dangling cranes…” The eunuch who was responsible for reading out the gift list recited aloud. In the first place, the crowd listened to the list quietly. But after he read the list for a long time, the crowd began to whisper…

“Prince of Qi is so generous!”

“After all, he is the favorite one of Her Majesty… Can’t believe he can get three pairs of auspicious white deer… ”

“The most generous one must be Prince of Qi this year!”

“Shh, the next one is Prince of Yan. Don’t jump to conclusions too soon!”

“You’re probably right… This gift list has been reading for a long time, hasn’t it? I wonder when the reading will be finished?”

“I wonder what Prince of Yan will offer?”

“Must be no less than Prince of Qi. Look at him. He is serious but not showing anxiety.”

With the whispers, the eunuch finally finished the reading of the list. He obviously lost his voice when he read the last items.

A new eunuch had to come up when it was Prince of Yan’s turn. As expected, although Prince of Qi was generous, Prince of Yan was not less generous than him. Apart from the usual items, something new such as fire cicada cotton, meditation silk, a curtain to protect against wind chill that surprised the crowd were read out loudly.

Qiu Yelan listened to the gossip for a while. There were different opinions on which one was better, Prince of Qi or Prince of Yan. She thought it was more or less the same. Or how could there be a battle between them?

After the two princes, the rest princes’ gifts were moderate. Everybody knew that the Emperor’s birthday was the beginning of the fight for the status of Crown Prince. No one intended to steal the future Crown Prince’s thunder.

After the presentation of the gifts and empty speeches. The Kabuki girls came in for dancing. This marked the beginning of the feast. With the disguise of singing and dancing, the atmosphere was relaxed, and everyone spoke a little more boldly.

Qiu Jinzhu then whispered and asked Princess Yang, “The congratulatory gifts of the two princes… Will the Emperor’s warehouse big enough for them?”

“What are you talking about?” Princess Yang smiled. “What a shadow girl! You think that the Emperor has no room for so few things?”

Qiu Yelan had little interest in the gifts. She interrupted, “Aunt, why did all concubine…?”

“Her Majesty doesn’t like people to mention them when she is present,” said Princess Yang in a low voice. “When Her Majesty is present, you should treat concubines as decorations. Don’t talk with anyone of them!”

“What she does deserves the position of the Master of the Imperial Harem!” Qiu Yelan’s mouth twitched, “If the Jiang Family fails the battle, the family must be tortured to death definitely!” They were just like concubines bought for a few taels of silver by an ordinary family rather than concubines who lived in the palace!

As for the Jiang Family, there was only one option. That was to do what they were doing now. Anyway, Qiu Yelan did not care about the result. As the saying went, “If you want to be rich, you must undertake risks.” There was no such thing as getting something for nothing.

Seeing Qiu Yelan was obsessed with something, Princess Yang tried to take this opportunity to establish a good relationship with her. Unexpectedly, a maid in pink rushed over here and tugged lightly on Qiu Yelan, “Your Grace!”

Qiu Yelan turned around and saw that it was Jiang Qizheng’s maid, Mengtao. She was stunned and asked, “The feast has begun already?”

She had barely been to feasts before. But she knew a feast could be called a good one after some dishes had been removed. But now, she just picked up her chopsticks!