Son of Song Dynasty

Chapter 16 Empress Song's Gift
Zhao Dezhao really made the right calculation. Although he didn't make any big arrangements for the celebration, he received quite a lot of congratulatory gifts.

The civil and military courtiers in Tokyo, the dignitaries, and even the military envoys from various places all inevitably sent generous congratulatory gifts.

Among them, his uncle, Jin Wang Zhao Guangyi, spent the most money, with eight large boxes of gold, jewelry, rare treasures and antiques.

Zhao Dezhao couldn't help feeling secretly that his second uncle was indeed a character, with such skill and demeanor, no one outsiders would be able to find fault with him!
"Second brother, I'm very poor, but I don't have the ability to offer the same congratulatory gift as Second Uncle."

After Zhao Defang accompanied Zhao Dezhao to appreciate the congratulatory gift sent by Zhao Guangyi, she was also stunned and clicked her tongue.

Although Zhao Dezhao had released the news a long time ago, no one was allowed to come to congratulate him.

But Zhao Defang was different from others, he had to visit the door in person to congratulate and thank him at the same time, and he deserved to send a generous gift.

Because he was crowned King of Martial Arts on the same day, it can be said that he was honored by his elder brother Zhao Dezhao, who helped him beg him from the emperor's father.

But he was indeed very poor, because he was young and had not yet been appointed to serve in the imperial court. Apart from the rewards from the emperor and empress, and the regular monthly money from the palace, he basically had no other income, so it was a bit embarrassing.

Zhao Dezhao naturally wouldn't mind this, he patted his younger brother on the shoulder and said with a smile:

"Sanlang, you don't need to give me a congratulatory gift. You are also the king of the county. I have to give you a congratulatory gift later, so we two brothers will cancel each other, let's avoid each other, and save those porters. Moving the cages around and messing about."

The two brothers looked at each other and laughed.

After playing around for a while, Zhao Defang suppressed her smile, her small face became serious, she looked at Zhao Dezhao and said seriously:
"Second brother, I feel like you have changed a lot recently. You have changed so much. I feel that your words and actions are much better. Even Wang Jue can get it!"

Zhao Dezhao touched his head, and said with a smile: "Sanlang, do you really think so?"

"My mother told me so."

Zhao Defang was young, and he was even more careless in front of his brother, so he told the truth directly.

Zhao Dezhao's expression froze, and he frowned slightly.

Zhao Defang thought it made her brother unhappy, so she quickly added: "Not only the queen mother, but I also think so!"

Zhao Dezhao laughed out loud.

In the evening, after sending Zhao Defang away, just as Zhao Dezhao was about to turn around and go back to his room, Qian Niu'er hurried over and whispered in his ear, "Master, someone from the palace is here to see you."

Since it was "asking for a meeting", naturally it was not on the official mission of the emperor.

Zhao Dezhao pondered for a while, then he nodded his head slightly.

After a while, an old man hurried over under the guidance of Qian Niuer.

Although the other party was not wearing the clothes of a eunuch in the palace, but only casual clothes, Zhao Dezhao still recognized him as an eunuch from his bare chin.

In this day and age, apart from yellow-mouthed children who haven't had time to grow hair on their mouths, and eunuchs who have already lost hair, there is no man who doesn't grow a beard.

The old eunuch was brought to him and saluted Zhao Dezhao respectfully.

"The empress sent the old slave to congratulate the king. Congratulations to the king, congratulations to the king!"

"The queen mother has a heart, please tell the queen mother, my son is very grateful."

"This is a gift from the empress to the county king, please accept it."

In the past two days, Zhao Dezhao has received a lot of congratulatory gifts. The gifts are various and varied, including jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and even farms.

But the congratulatory gift from Empress Song is the simplest and clearest.

It was just a small rectangular wooden box, which looked very inconspicuous on the outside. It was held in the arms of a boy who was following the old eunuch.

Zhao Dezhao motioned for it, and Qian Niu'er hurried forward to take it.

After delivering the Queen's gift, the old eunuch did not leave immediately. Instead, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you open it and see what it is?"

Zhao Dezhao immediately opened the wooden box and found a short sword about one foot long inside.

This short sword is simple in shape and dark in color, it looks unpretentious, and it is unknown what kind of material it is made of.

Holding the sword in his hand, Zhao Dezhao immediately felt the cold air blowing against his face. He lightly flicked the sword with his fingers. The sound was neither metal nor stone.

Zhao Dezhao was full of praise: "The fetish is self-obscuring, does not show its sharpness, does not show its golden sound, it is enough to blow hair off its hair, it really is a precious sword!"

The value of this sword is worth several boxes of jewels!
Zhao Dezhao suddenly became fond of his young stepmother. It's okay for a stepmother to be so generous!

"Your Majesty has a good eye, and this old slave admires him!"

The old eunuch smiled and praised a few words, paused, and said:

"The empress asked the old slave to tell the prince that this sword has a good name, it's called 'Broken Gold'."

Zhao Dezhao thought for a while, and immediately understood what Empress Song had hinted at.

The name of this sword is Duanjin, which is not the Duanjin that cuts through jade, but "Brothers working together, their sharpness can cut through metal"!
Empress Song, his stepmother, and the queen mother in name, are very young, only one year younger than him.

Just because the two are too close in age, in order to avoid the suspicion of Gua Tian Li Xia, although he and Empress Song have the status of mother and son, they have always been deliberately alienated from each other. Although they are not hostile to each other, they are not as close as mother and son.

Conversely, Zhao Defang, Zhao Dezhao's youngest brother, had a big age difference with Empress Song, so there was no need to avoid any suspicion.

Empress Song herself did not give birth to a prince for Zhao Kuangyin. If she wanted to participate in the "robbing the chair game", she could only choose one of Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Dezhao, and Zhao Defang's nephew and uncle!
She chose Zhao Defang.

Zhao Dezhao remembered very clearly that in the original history, on the night of Zhao Kuangyin's death, Queen Song tried to support Zhao Defang to succeed him. Although it failed in the end, her support for Zhao Defang was undeniable.

But right now, Empress Song specially sent someone to present this sword named "Broken Gold", of course it was not just for congratulations.

Zhao Dezhao felt that she was not only thanking herself for obtaining a knighthood for Zhao Defang, but also reminding herself that she should be "brothers of one heart" with Zhao Defang. At the same time, she was showing her goodwill to herself, and she also showed some meaning of joining forces to form an alliance.

(End of this chapter)