sjar Chapter 720 New Year's Banquet Gift 5
Chapter 720 New Year's Banquet Gift 5
The palace banquet hosted by the Empress arrived as scheduled, and ministers of the fifth rank and above entered the palace with New Year's gifts and their families.
Jiang Xiaoqi had originally planned to bring her grandfather along, but then she realized that she already knew the palace banquet wouldn't be peaceful, so she decided not to let the old man take the risk.
Finally, she asked her own mother, but Lin Yueniang wasn't interested either.
Master Ouyang Zheng was even less likely to come, since the Empress Dowager would also be attending the palace banquet.
Jiang Xiaoqi could only attend the palace banquet alone, not counting Eleven who was with her.
They originally wanted to bring Li Mo along, but Li Mo was a little intimidated by such a big event.
Eleven didn't know what fear was, and wanted to learn more about it, and also wanted to protect Jiang Xiaoqi.
Although he doesn't possess the martial arts of this world, the system that has evolved to his level has its own powerful means to protect its host.
Jiang Xiaoqi and Eleven followed the crowd into the palace banquet area.
The palace was brightly lit, and the ministers and their families were seated, chatting in twos and threes, creating a fairly lively scene.
But what they were thinking at that moment, only they themselves knew.
After the emperor, empress, empress dowager, and princes arrived, the table was filled with delicacies and fine wines.
The Empress sat regally in the main seat, exuding majesty, yet her eyes revealed a sharpness that was difficult to detect.
The emperor and the empress dowager, being a loving mother and son, exchanged a few words of concern.
The New Year's banquet is incomplete without singing and dancing. Although the Emperor was not in good spirits, he still hoped that the New Year's banquet would be lively and festive.
After consulting with the emperor, the empress meticulously arranged a song and dance performance.
This was Jiang Xiaoqi's first time watching palace dance and music; he had almost never had the opportunity to see a live performance like this in his previous life.
It's not that I don't have money, it's just that I'm too busy to work. When I finally get a day off, all I want to do is go home and lie down.
Although there is only one day off every ten days in Da Zhou, it is really not as intense as the 996 work schedule.
Moreover, he is currently the supreme commander of the glass workshop, and all he needs to do is issue orders; he doesn't have much actual work to do.
After all, the craftsmen are very professional, and if there are problems they can't solve, they only need to offer verbal guidance.
It wasn't that he was lazy; it was that the supervisors and craftsmen below wouldn't let him do the work.
Whether it was due to doubts about his practical skills or his official position, Jiang Xiaoqi never had the chance to practice despite his itching to do so several times.
After the opening dance, the emperor, as in previous years, gave some words of encouragement to his officials.
Jiang Xiaoqi felt as if she were back in the company's year-end ceremony, where the chairman's speech encouraged employees to work even harder in the coming year.
However, those present were all high-ranking officials of the fifth rank or above, looking energetic and spirited, while those below the stage were mostly oxen and horses with dark circles under their eyes.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
Fortunately, Jiang Xiaoqi's lapse in concentration wasn't too severe, and he caught up with everyone else, kneeling down and shouting "Long live the Emperor!" after the Emperor finished speaking.
After the emperor's speech, the princes would present the New Year's gifts they had prepared to the emperor.
As expected, the Crown Prince's coral tree caused a sensation as soon as it appeared, and even the emperor, who was used to grand occasions, couldn't help but widen his eyes.
He didn't really care about these external things, but such a large coral tree was truly rare.
Most importantly, he realized that the coral tree might have been transported back from the other side of the sea by a ship, which made it all the more significant.
Thinking of the Crown Prince's fleet going to Japan to seize silver mines after spring arrives, the Emperor could no longer hide the smile on his face.
"His Majesty seems to really like the New Year's gift from the Crown Prince. It is indeed very beautiful and valuable. However, the other princes are also waiting to present their gifts to His Majesty."
The Empress Dowager offered a reminder: she did not object to the Emperor showing favoritism, but he should not do so too obviously in public.
"Yes, Your Highness, this gift is very nice. Your Highness is very thoughtful."
"It is an honor for both your son and this coral tree to be favored by the Emperor."
After the Crown Prince came the Fourth Prince, Zhao Hongsheng, who stood up and stepped forward carrying a box.
The palm-sized box was opened, and inside lay a jade pendant, entirely emerald green, symbolizing peace and tranquility.
This jade pendant is obviously priceless. Interestingly, the Crown Prince presented a bright red coral tree, and the Fourth Prince immediately followed up with a bright green jade pendant.
The imagery of red flowers paired with green leaves is striking. In terms of size, the fourth prince doesn't overshadow the crown prince, but you can't say that the New Year's gifts are cheap or lack sincerity.
The emperor did indeed offer a few words of praise, but it's unclear whether he truly liked the jade plaque.
The Fifth Prince also came up with a scroll of his own. When he opened the scroll, it was a picture of "Ten Thousand Blessings". It didn't look very valuable, but the ten thousand "blessings" characters were all different in shape and font, which made it very rare.
May the Emperor enjoy boundless blessings.
The New Year's gift, which cost no more than one hundred taels of silver, was successfully accepted.
The sixth and seventh princes are usually inseparable, so who would have thought they would even send New Year's gifts together?
The two were originally going to be apart, but after learning about the New Year's gifts prepared by the Crown Prince, they changed their minds at the last minute.
The two abandoned famous paintings and calligraphy and rare stones, and spent a lot of money to jointly buy rare goods that were transported to the Great Zhou by overseas merchants.
Unlike the fourth and fifth princes, who carried their own gifts, the two had a small, openwork wooden box brought up by two eunuchs.
The young eunuch quietly placed the wooden box down and withdrew, and the sixth and seventh princes then opened the box together.
"What is this? This is a glass bottle?! It is indeed radiant and crystal clear!"
It's truly remarkable that the Sixth and Seventh Princes were able to find such a large glass bottle!
The ministers whispered among themselves, while the emperor's expression was rather intriguing.
For some reason, the emperor turned his gaze to Lord Jiang, not Minister Jiang, but the excessively young Vice Minister Jiang.
The sixth and seventh princes presented glass bottles as gifts. Why did the emperor look at Jiang Shaoqing?
The secret behind this is probably known only to a few people. Even the Grand Eunuch Wang had to pinch his thigh hard to control his expression.
It's not for any other reason than that I've seen too many exquisite glass pieces in the past few days. This piece is indeed large, but its workmanship, clarity, and even color are really far inferior.
Not only can you see the impurities and bubbles on it from a distance, but the color is also not right.
I don't know why, but it just feels off, like a fake product made by a small workshop as a hobby.
"Well, this bottle is quite nice. You two have put a lot of thought into it."
The emperor was at a loss; with so many people watching, he couldn't very well leave the two of them hanging. However, since he couldn't find any words of praise to offer, he decided not to make things difficult for himself.
The sixth and seventh princes were clearly dumbfounded. This was completely different from what they had imagined their father's reaction. Had the selection of the emperor for the year failed after all?
"Sigh, if only we had given them calligraphy or paintings by famous artists or rare stones," they both thought at the same time.