I Own a Garden with One Hundred Herbs

  Chapter 376 Ninety-nine birthday gifts are extravagant

Zhe Yu's complexion was indescribable, and he said quietly: "Da Yan ruled the world with filial piety. According to the customs of the Da Yan court, the emperor and empress dowager, starting from the age of sixty-six, are counted as 'big birthdays' every new year, and they need to be celebrated. That is, It is said that when the empress dowager's sixty-sixth, seventy-seventh and eighty-eighth birthdays are approaching, the emperor will present a very high-standard 'ninety-nine birthday gift'."

  Baicaoshi's small mouth opened into an Ou shape in surprise: "So, I want to give ninety-nine and eighty-one birthday gifts, it's really...very, very extravagant."

  However, what Zheyu said next surprised Baicaoshi, and she had to sigh that poverty still limited her imagination.

"'Ninety-Nine Birthday Gifts' does require that there be nine categories of birthday gifts, and each category must contain nine pieces—but this is only for one day. In Dayan, when the Taizu founded the dynasty, the national power was insufficient, and the Queen Mother only had sixty-six birthdays. It was given away for one day. But in the period of Emperor Taizong, on the sixty-sixth birthday of the Empress Dowager, the Emperor Taizong gave a total of 486 pieces of "ninety-nine birthday gifts" for six consecutive days;

  Baicaoshi began to snap her fingers, but it wasn't enough. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Yu Bao, your empress dowagers of the Great Yan Dynasty live a long life!"

  Zhe Yu scratched her upturned little nose, and said with a smile: "Let's say this behind closed doors, otherwise the supervisors will hear it and think you are cursing the Queen Mother for a short life!"

  That is impossible. Baicaoshi thought that Zhe Yu was raised under the empress dowager's knees in the past, and she has a deep affection for the empress dowager. "What does His Majesty mean by what to give?"

Zhe Yu shrugged, "Our Majesty, decided to be the shopkeeper. The matter of gifts fell on my head. He said, Zhe Yu, you can collect birthday gifts from local governments in my name. Furthermore, I heard that Wanzhou under your rule is rich and prosperous, so let Wanzhou donate more."

  The eyelids twitched and the corners of the mouth twitched. This is the perception of Baicaoshi. Why? Why let Zhe Yu bear it all? Zhe Yu has only been in office in Wanzhou for a few months, even if he tried his best, he didn't give enough time. Economic development and urban infrastructure do not start in a day or two.

   "Isn't the birthday gift from the treasury?" Baicaoshi asked her own doubts.

   Folding Feather tapped his knuckles on the table, this was his action when he was thinking. "It is estimated that the national treasury was emptied by him. Before the old seven forced the palace, he sent people to intercept and kill the concubine Si and the little prince. The guards and mothers were all dead, and the concubine escaped with the little prince. Our Majesty, I guess Feeling guilty, I decided to build a palace on Longevity Hill."

   "Palace?" Baicao Shi was shocked when he heard it. The decline of a dynasty did not start with the construction of mausoleums and embroidered palaces. Look at Qin Shihuang, and then look at Sui Yangdi.

   "This is a knot in his heart. Twenty years ago, he wanted to practice in the Longevity Mountain Palace." Zhe Yu said lightly, his eyes froze through layers of time and space.

   "Could it be that you wanted to hide your beauty in a golden house at that time? But there was no concubine Si at that time..." Baicaoshi suddenly covered her mouth. What did she think of? She got the answer from Zhe Yu's eyes.

   "That's right, he wanted to build it for my mother at first, but my mother strongly rejected it. She was imprisoned all her life, in her Zhao Palace, and she didn't go anywhere."

  Baicaoshi covered Zhe Yu's hand, trying to give him some comfort. "Did the ministers not persuade you?"

"Doctor Yushi was the first to persuade the land, and was dismissed. His Majesty asked Yi Zhaoxian to oversee the work. If anyone dissatisfied, he will be killed!" Zhe Yu thought about the scene in the court, an obsession of more than 20 years, it is not so easy give up. Besides, Emperor Yanwu had just dealt with the two princes, and the momentum was in full swing, how could anyone dare to go up against the wind?

   Regarding Yi Zhaoxian, Zhe Yu used to evaluate him as "good at martial arts", but later, he was unfathomable.

   "Yi Zhaoxian is a martial arts champion, can he still fail in architectural design?" Baicaoshi asked.

  Yi Zhaoxian is not limited to the champion of martial arts, Zhe Yu thought. "Someone recommended Bu Zhan, and also mentioned the Liuli Palace of Kunming Academy, so the engineering design has to be handed over to Bu Zhan. He will come back from Wanzhou soon."

   "Bu Zhan is indeed a talent, and he is at the level of the Minister of Industry." Baicaoshi has long positioned him.

   Zheyu looked at Baicaoshi with strange eyes. She mentioned it in a letter before, but this time she said it directly. As a husband, it is inevitable that it will taste delicious. "Bu Zhan has such a high status in your heart?"

   It’s a bit sour.

  Talents, Baicaoshi still cherish talents. She even thought about going to sea one day and giving in to Bu Zhan as a tour guide. But when you say it, it's a rainbow. "No matter how tall it is, it can't be higher than Yu Bao. Yu Bao is my heaven."

  Zhe Yu pinched Baicaoshi's slender waist, and hugged her in his lap, with burning eyes. He pecked at the corner of her mouth, but was not satisfied, and tilted his head again.

   Kiss from the sky.

   "Yu Bao, I can hardly breathe." Taking advantage of a gap, Baicaoshi said with a blush on her face.

  Zhe Yu hugged her, very quiet. "However, there is good news. Other countries will also send diplomatic envoys. I just don't know who Northern Qi will send."

  Baicaoshi's cheap father is back? It doesn't matter whether he comes or not, the key is the mother and younger brother. It's been a few months, and I miss it a lot.

  **

  Baicaoshi can now freely enter and leave the palace. This is a privilege given by the Queen Mother, and Emperor Yanwu also acquiesced. She planned to sound out the news and help Zhe Yu think about the birthday ceremony, so she and Zhe Yu rode into the palace together in a carriage.

   There is chrysanthemum tea in the small basket.

  At the gate of the palace, the two separated, Zhe Yu took the middle road, and Baicaoshi walked the west road alone.

  When they saw her maids and eunuchs, they all avoided her, knowing that they were people that the empress dowager and the emperor also valued.

  While passing by Fusi Palace, I happened to meet Concubine Si who was out to bask in the sun. "Long time no see Shishi." Concubine Si took the initiative to greet her.

  Baicao Poetry blessed the body, "I have seen the empress."

"Okay, you, the celebrity around the queen mother, don't be polite to me." She warmly came over to hold Baicaoshi's hand, and whispered, "When you see the queen mother, come and sit in my palace , we haven't met for a long time."

  Baicaoshi pondered for a moment, and replied, "Okay."

  After separating from Concubine Si, she went straight to Changle Palace and met Eunuch Qin.

   "The girl is here, the queen mother was still thinking about you just now."

   "I've been busy drying chrysanthemums these days, so I'll come here to pay my respects to the Queen Mother as soon as I'm free."

  The Empress Dowager was reading a book in the hall, holding something like candied fruit, "Shishi is here. It's better to come early than coincidentally. I haven't eaten a few of this 'lychee fried' yet, so I just share it with you."

  Baicaoshi saluted, put down the small basket, and sat down beside the Queen Mother. "Queen Mother, is this fried lychee? Shishi didn't know her before, and she had never eaten it before. Please tell me if it's good. I'll make it for Yu Bao later on."

  (end of this chapter)