Special Birthday Gift

Palace maids dressed in dance costumes performed orderly dances in the main hall, but there were always some restless dancers who kept casting flirtatious glances at the officials and young nobles. Naturally, the three most handsome men in the Taiji Hall were no exception.

Shang Wuxin watched the dancers secretly sending him signals with a smile on his lips, but no one knew what he was really smiling about. It didn’t seem like the Crown Prince was interested in the dancers, and everyone felt that the Crown Prince’s thoughts were probably even harder to fathom than the Emperor’s.

Leng Yufeng didn’t even glance at the dancing girls; he simply drank the fine wine on the table. To him, those women were more painful to endure than the wine. If this weren’t the emperor’s birthday banquet, he would have thrown those flirtatious women out long ago.

Huan Moche looked gently at the scene in the hall but did not watch the dancing girls. He completely ignored their gazes. Suddenly, Huan Moche felt that no matter how beautiful these women were, they could never compare to the crown prince; they were simply an eyesore.

The dancers’ performance greatly lightened the atmosphere in the main hall. The birthday banquet, which had been somewhat subdued because of Consort Xin, became lively again. After all, today was the emperor’s birthday, and everyone wore joyful expressions.

“Father Emperor, your son wishes you longevity without bounds and good health!” The eldest prince, Shang Cheng, presented a landscape painting he had painted himself and respectfully knelt in the Taiji Hall. Although the painting was not breathtaking, it was valuable because it was made by his own hand.

“Mm, the Crown Prince is thoughtful!” Emperor Shang instructed Eunuch Xu to put the painting away, clearly quite pleased with it. Emperor Shang never called his children by their names, and the many ministers knew that the emperor treated all his princes equally. This had led to several factions forming within the court, and the Crown Prince also held some influence.

“Father Emperor, your son respectfully wishes you good fortune and health!” The Second Prince, Shang Lanhai, dressed in a blue brocade robe trimmed with gold thread, stood respectfully in the main hall and said, then presented a lotus flower he had painstakingly gathered. The lotus was a rare blend of purple and blue, looking both unusual and beautiful.

The Second Prince was the son of Consort Ning, who had always been a non-contentious and unambitious consort in the palace. Whether in the past or now, she lived a very peaceful life, so few other consorts harbored any resentment toward her. Consort Ning loved Buddhist rituals and usually spent her time in the Buddha hall within her own chambers. She had two children: the Second Prince Shang Nanhai and the Third Princess Shang Zhoumo.

Emperor Shang nodded approvingly at the unique lotus flower. Everyone knew that today, the emperor seemed most pleased with the Second Prince.

“Father Emperor, your son respectfully wishes you longevity as eternal as the Southern Mountains and blessings as vast as the Eastern Sea!” The Third Prince, Shang Chengying, congratulated respectfully. The birthday gift he presented was a fine jade piece, whose color alone revealed its extraordinary value. He had originally thought that today he could surely win the Emperor’s favor, but with the Empress Dowager stirring things up like this, he feared that no matter what gift he gave, the Emperor would not look at him any differently.

Including the fake prince Shang Wuxin, Emperor Shang had a total of five sons and four princesses. Shang Wuxin was the youngest child of all. Having nine children in the royal family was indeed considered pitifully few. This was also because after Empress Qiu entered the palace, the Emperor never touched those women again, which led to the royal lineage being thin. After all, in the royal family, a thin lineage could be dangerous after scheming, but Emperor Shang never cared about this.

Next, every prince and princess had already presented their birthday gifts, leaving only Shang Wuxin sitting there, continuously sampling the items on the table. When he found something he liked, he took a few bites; when he encountered something he disliked, he frowned and stopped touching it. Others might not have noticed these little habits of Shang Wuxin, but Huan Mo Che and Leng Yufeng, who were sitting beside her, saw everything clearly. Both of them simultaneously thought that the crown prince’s gluttonous behavior was indeed very cute—so cute that they wanted to treasure this image forever.

“This… the Crown Prince doesn’t seem to have presented a congratulatory gift yet!” Consort Qin said hesitantly. She had just witnessed the Crown Prince’s cruelty, and although she wanted to damage his reputation, she dared not show it too obviously. Remembering that the last time she hired an assassin to kill the Crown Prince but failed, Consort Qin increasingly felt that this Crown Prince was no ordinary person.

As soon as Qin Fei finished speaking, everyone looked toward the Crown Prince. Although they dared not be as rude as Xin Fei had just been, they were still very curious about what birthday gift the Crown Prince would present to the Emperor. After all, the Crown Prince had always hidden away in his residence and never participated in the Emperor’s birthday celebrations before.

Shang Wuxin put down the snack in his hand, then took a box from Wuwei’s hand and stood up. “Father Emperor, your son respectfully wishes you good health!”

The birthday wishes were unimaginative, or rather, seemed insincere. Everyone wondered if the Crown Prince was being too casual or too arrogant. However, the wise saw that the Crown Prince’s demeanor was extraordinary and lacked the usual hypocrisy of officialdom.

Eunuch Xu took the box from the Crown Prince’s hand and put it away. The Emperor did not look at it either, but the Fourth Prince spoke up, “I wonder what gift the Crown Prince has presented? It would be nice for us all to feast our eyes on it.” Fourth Prince Shang An Cang seemed only curious to see the Crown Prince’s gift, but in truth, he knew very well that the Crown Prince’s residence was poor and could hardly have a good birthday gift. Publicly embarrassing the Crown Prince would be a thoroughly satisfying event.

The mother of the Fourth Prince, Shang An Cang, passed away from illness years ago, but he managed to stand firm in the court by his own strength. His abilities are not to be underestimated.

“Open it!” Emperor Shang said, and under everyone’s gaze, Eunuch Xu opened the brocade box. Instantly, the congratulatory gift inside the box appeared before everyone’s eyes, but all of them were shocked, and some even stood up in disbelief.

Huan Mo Che looked at the birthday gift in the box with some concern and glanced at the Crown Prince, thinking that if the Emperor blamed the Crown Prince, no matter what, he must protect the Crown Prince this time.

Leng Yu Feng glanced at the box, somewhat puzzled about what the Crown Prince was trying to do. However, he believed that this Crown Prince would not do anything useless. It seemed that today he was paying a bit too much attention to this Crown Prince, but this Crown Prince indeed had the ability to attract people’s attention. Even his close friend Mo Che seemed to be like that; he often saw his friend glancing at the Crown Prince from time to time. Among this…

“Crown Prince, today is Father’s birthday. No matter how poor your Crown Prince’s residence is, you cannot present a few spoiled grains of rice to Father. What do you mean by this?” The eldest prince Shang Cheng Zhao scolded, and even the other princes stood together, disapprovingly accusing the Crown Prince. Although they did not appear so harmonious on the surface, they had never taken Shang Wuxin lightly before, but now Shang Wuxin was too much of a threat. Moreover, the Crown Prince position was now in Shang Wuxin’s hands, so the first thing they needed to do was to strip Shang Wuxin of the Crown Prince title.

“Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?” Emperor Shang asked, looking at the gift, his voice tinged with reproach.

“Father!” Shang Wuxin came to Eunuch Xu’s side and held the box high so that everyone could clearly see the mottled rice grains inside. “There is famine in the south now, and even rice grains like these are objects of desperate snatching by the people. In just a few months, countless civilians have died from the famine in the south. Therefore, the birthday gift I present today is only to let my elder brothers and sisters know that although the Crown Prince’s residence is poor, there are still many innocent poor people. I know Father loves the people, so I specially report this to you!”

“Bang!” The Emperor Shang slammed the imperial desk hard. “Such a significant matter, and not a single one of my beloved ministers has submitted a memorial? Fine, just as expected!”

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger!” Many ministers knelt to the ground. Some truly did not know, while others chose not to submit memorials. After all, the officials managing the southern region bore great responsibility for this incident, and in the minds of those in power, the common people were the lowest rank.

“Elder Brother, do you think this gift from me is suitable? Let Father know the hardships of the common people. Is this birthday gift too humble?” Just as everyone held their breath in silence, Shang Wuxin walked up to the eldest prince Shang Chengzhao, who was kneeling there, and looked down at the princes.

“I… I…” Shang Chengzhao was at a loss for words; he never expected that behind a few grains of rice there would be such a matter.

Shang Huang was furious for a while, then glanced at the ministers and said, “The Crown Prince already knows about this, yet you all don’t? It seems you are all confused. Now, tell me, what should we do?”

No one dared to speak, and even fewer dared to touch the dragon whiskers when Emperor Shang was so furious. Emperor Shang glanced at the ministers and softened his voice slightly, “Young Master Huan, you are exceptionally wise. Please tell us, how should we handle this famine?”