Chapter 548: The Competition at the Birthday Banquet
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Sigh, one had to admit defeat!
As the empress dowager watched people singing and dancing in front of her, she felt emotional.
After all, she was old!
When a person was old, they had to abstain from eating too much.
She couldn’t eat this or that, which made the empress dowager lose her appetite in the end.
However, the food her grand daughter-in-law brought today looked simple and wasn’t greasy, but tasted delicious.
It had been a long time since the empress dowager had such a good appetite.
Of course, even if the food was delicious, she could not eat it without restraint.
When the empress dowager felt that her stomach was almost full, she stopped.
The emperor had long noticed the empress dowager and had been coveting the two portions of food. However, he could not snatch his mother’s food in public.
Seeing that the empress dowager hadn’t eaten for a long time, the emperor thought that she must be full, so he wanted to ask for some to try.
The emperor said, “Mother, the food in front of you seems quite delicious. Let me try some!”
The empress dowager rolled her eyes at her greedy son.
Why hadn’t she ever discovered that her son was such a glutton?
How did he remain the emperor for so many years?
“No, I don’t even have enough to eat!” The empress dowager refused directly.
The emperor, who had been rejected a second time, was indignant and immediately retorted her.
“Mother, these things will spoil after being left for too long! Instead of spoiling and wasting them, why don’t you let me try them?!”
When the empress dowager heard her son’s words, she looked at the food in front of her.
In the end, her thriftiness nature made the empress dowager less dissatisfied with her son.
“Give half to the emperor! Leave me half to eat later!”
When the emperor saw that he had obtained half of it, he immediately smiled.
When the empress dowager saw this, she was really unhappy!
However, it was a waste to leave it here now, so she might as well give it to her unfilial son!
The singing and dancing were almost over, and everyone was almost done eating, so the main event of the evening came.
The emperor sent his birthday gift first.
The emperor’s birthday gift was always either gold, silver, jewelry, or good materials, so the empress dowager was not looking forward to it at all.
On the other hand, the empress dowager looked forward to the gifts from her other sons and grandsons.
As usual, there were embroideries, scriptures, and rare treasures.
In the past, the empress dowager would have been a little interested in these things, but now, she felt that they were boring.
Of course, the empress dowager naturally would not reveal such emotions.
Every time someone sent a birthday gift, the empress dowager would look very satisfied, which shocked Li Xiaoran, who was sitting at her side.
As expected, the people in the royal family were good at hiding their emotions.
She was clearly uninterested, but she had to pretend to be very satisfied.
At this moment, Li Xiaoran sympathized with the empress dowager!
Soon, it was the crown prince’s turn to present his birthday gift.
After the crown prince stood up smugly and clapped his hands, several people pushed something in.
‘Grandma, I spent a lot of effort to get this birthday gift from the East Sea. I hope you’ll like it!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the crown prince pulled off the cloth.
A red coral more than a meter tall appeared in front of everyone.
The translucent red color was pleasing to the eye and the texture was shiny.
No one could resist the charm of a red coral.
When the empress dowager saw this birthday gift, her mood improved.
Red meant festive. Such a pot of transparent red coral would be very pleasing to the eye if placed in the bedroom.
Now, the smile on the empress dowager’s face became more sincere. There was no longer any pretense.
“Thank you, Your Highness! I like it very much!”
When the crown prince heard the empress dowager’s words, he immediately glanced around proudly, especially at Luo Cheng.
Unfortunately, Luo Cheng did not react to the crown prince’s smugness at all.
Next, it was time for the other imperial grandsons to send birthday gifts.
The second prince gave him a cloak made of white fox fur, and the third prince gave him a new western-style mirror.
The other princes offered everything rare that they could find.
Before long, it was Luo Cheng’s turn.
Everyone stared at Luo Cheng to see what congratulatory gift he would give.
Luo Cheng stood up calmly under everyone’s expectant gazes.
“Luo Cheng! Could it be the birthday gift you prepared is the same as what Seventh Sister-in-law offered just now?” The crown prince couldn’t help but add insult to injury.
Luo Cheng said with a smile, “No!” Then, he clapped his hands as well.
Soon, something even higher than the crown prince’s birthday gift was sent in by Cheng Cheng and Zi Zheng with a cart.
As soon as the birthday gift entered, it occupied a large space in the middle of the palace.
After the ministers saw the birthday gift, they started discussing it.
“Look, this is even bigger than the crown prince’s birthday gift. Could the Seventh Prince’s gift be red coral too?” An official guessed.
Another official retorted, “How is that possible? Do you think red coral is that easy to obtain? The red coral that the crown prince gave you previously is already very rare. It’s impossible to find such a big thing.”
“Could there be other rare treasures that are this big?” another official said.
When the empress dowager saw this thing, she was also very curious.
Previously, Luo Cheng had said that the birthday gift he gave was not valuable.
But what was this big thing?
The emperor said, “Luo Cheng, stop leaving us hanging. Hurry up and get your people to show everyone your birthday gift!”
Luo Cheng nodded with a smile. Then, he let Zi Cheng and Zi Zheng pull open the red cloth.
What they saw was a very large wooden carving.
A woman with a smile on her face and anticipation in her eyes reached out and placed her hand behind a little girl.
The little girl, on the other hand, had an excited smile on her face and pointed at a narrow path.
Around the path, there was a lotus pond blooming with lotus flowers.
When the empress dowager saw the huge wooden carving, her pupils dilated and she stood up.
After she walked down the steps, she arrived in front of the wooden statue.
Before she could say anything, tears streamed down his face!
She raised her hand and touched the woman’s face gently as tears streamed down her face.
When the emperor saw this huge wooden sculpture, he was stunned for a long time. In the end, his eyes turned red!
After a while, the empress dowager stopped crying and looked at Luo Cheng. “Luo Cheng! Thank you! You fulfilled my dream!”