Reborn as a Sickly Child: The Emperor's Beloved

After everyone was seated, a eunuch's sharp voice came from outside the hall: "The Empress Dowager has arrived!" The Emperor, Shen Yanyan and others stood up and respectfully welcomed the arrival of the Empress Dowager.

Normally, the Empress Dowager lives in Ningshou Palace and rarely shows up. But today, the Empress Dowager will definitely attend His Majesty's birthday banquet.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the Queen Mother walked into the palace with a dignified manner. She was wearing a gorgeous phoenix robe and a dazzling phoenix crown. Although the years had left traces on her face, her eyes were still sharp and majestic.

Xiao Jingzhan and Shen Yanyan took the lead and stepped forward, bowing and saying, "Your son pays respect to the Queen Mother, may the Queen Mother be well." The Queen Mother nodded slightly and signaled the Emperor to stand up. Afterwards, everyone also bowed and greeted the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother glanced at everyone, then looked at Xiao Jingzhan and said slowly: "Please sit down. Today is His Majesty's birthday. There is no need to be polite." Upon hearing this, everyone sat down.

The Queen Mother looked at Shen Yanyan's attire without any change on her face, but she felt extremely uncomfortable in her heart. She hadn't become the Queen yet, but she was wearing the Queen's attire. Shen Yanyan was really capable to be favored by Her Majesty.

Yes, a woman who can take herself into account, how can she be a simple person? Even if there are ten people with brains like Yuan Hanshuang, they can't beat her.

After the Queen Mother arrived, everyone in the palace had gathered. Xiao Jingzhan glanced at Li Defu, and the latter understood what Her Majesty meant.

Following Li Defu's order, the palace maids and eunuchs in the palace began to get busy. They carried exquisite dishes and fragrant wine, shuttled between court officials and foreign envoys, and the birthday banquet officially began.

Dishes were served one after another, with delicious colors, aromas and flavors, making people salivate. Fine wines were also filled one after another, with aromas that made people intoxicated.

The court officials raised their glasses and offered their most sincere blessings to His Majesty. The foreign envoys were not to be outdone and expressed their respect for His Majesty and their wishes for friendly relations between the two countries in their own languages.

At the banquet, after three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere gradually became heated.

The Queen Mother smiled and presented a huge coral first. The coral was bright and eye-catching, like a treasure from the seabed, which was amazing. Xiao Jingzhan gladly accepted it and expressed his gratitude for the Queen Mother's gift.

Then, Shen Yanyan came forward, holding an exquisite jade in her hand. The jade was warm and smooth, and the carving was fine, showing superb craftsmanship. Shen Yanyan said softly: "Your Majesty, this is a little gift from your concubine, I hope your Majesty likes it." Xiao Jingzhan nodded and smiled. He liked Shen Yanyan's gift very much. There were all kinds of things in the palace, but he liked her gift especially. Just because it was given by her.

Afterwards, Rong Fei and other palace concubines also presented their gifts. Some brought precious paintings and calligraphy, some brought handmade clothes, and some brought rare jewelry. Each gift was a rare item, and Xiao Jingzhan only took a look at it and asked someone to keep it.

The concubines below gritted their teeth. The gifts everyone gave were equally valuable, but His Majesty was so fond of Shen Yanyan. It was really biased.

Concubine Rong had an indifferent expression as she looked at Shen Yanyan, who was dressed in gorgeous brocade robes. A smile flashed in her eyes with an ambiguous meaning.

After the ladies from each palace presented their gifts, the gift-giving ceremony for envoys from various countries finally began.

The first to come were the Beilin envoys, who were on good terms with the Li Kingdom. They were dressed in distinctive costumes and walked in neat steps. Holding precious gifts in their hands and with friendly smiles on their faces, the Beilin envoys expressed their respect and blessings to the emperor of the Li Kingdom.

"Beilin Zhonglichuan and Zhongli Xiyue wish the Emperor a happy birthday!" The Zhongli brother and sister stood in front of the envoy and bowed.

"Second Prince, the Fourth Princess greets you." Xiao Jingzhan nodded.

Immediately afterwards, the envoys from Xiliang also came forward to pay their respects and present gifts. They brought gifts with Xiliang characteristics, showing Xiliang's unique culture and exquisite craftsmanship.

Finally, the envoys from Beidi also presented gifts.

The main purpose of these people was to get food. Now that there was no hope for food, none of them were very interested. After giving the gifts, they sat in their seats and kept a low profile.

Murong Yao glanced at Prime Minister Gao's position unintentionally, then looked at Shen Yanyan who was sitting at the top. He was planning to find an opportunity to meet Prime Minister Gao after the birthday banquet and then leave Beijing. He had to go back and make some careful plans.

Helian Fu's eyes would occasionally fall on Shen Yanyan. Looking at her in a red robe, she looked elegant and bright. He felt that if she wore the traditional costumes of Beidi, she would definitely be stunningly beautiful.

As the banquet came to an end, Xiao Jingzhan announced a big news. According to calculations by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, October 8th was a good day, and a ceremony to crown Shen Yanyan as queen would be held on that day. As soon as Xiao Jingzhan finished speaking, a loud noise was heard in the hall.

The court officials and concubines in the palace all looked at Shen Yanyan in shock, knowing that she would ascend to the throne sooner or later, but they didn't expect it to be so soon. His Majesty didn't even want to wait a few days, and held the ceremony of crowning the queen together with the envoys from other countries who were still in the capital.

All of a sudden, congratulations were heard everywhere. Shen Yanyan stood up under the gaze of everyone, thanked the crowd and returned to her seat.

She had a smile on her face, but her heart was in turmoil.

Madam Yuan looked at all this with a sullen face. She clenched her fists. Why could her daughter be so favored when she was sent to the cold palace? Seeing the Queen Mother at the top and the Marquis beside her, who had no intention of objecting, Madam Yuan looked at Shen Yanyan resentfully. Her daughter was sent to the cold palace because of her, and she would never let it go.

Helian Fu raised his lips slightly when he heard this. It seemed that this matter was not easy to handle.

Murong Yao originally wanted to return to Xiliang early and make early plans, but today something like this happened. It seems that he will have to stay in the capital for a while longer. This is also good. Anyway, living in the palace, he will have more opportunities to meet the imperial concubine.

At this time, the banquet was coming to an end. After the Queen Mother stood up, all the ministers and envoys also stood up to say goodbye. A grand birthday banquet came to an end, but the struggle in the harem had just begun...

Yaohua Palace.

Shen Yanyan brought Xiao Jingzhan back to Yaohua Palace and prepared some surprises for him.

She had been worrying about his birthday gift. He was the emperor and had all kinds of precious things, so it would be better to give him a birthday and celebrate it alone.

As an emperor, even his birthday banquet was a state affair. He almost had no living space of his own, and all his affairs revolved around the country and the people. Today, she just wanted him to be an ordinary person and have a simple birthday like an ordinary person.

She had asked Xia Zhu and Dong Xue to come back and arrange everything in the inner room. Now there was no palace servant in Yaohua Palace, so Shen Yanyan took the initiative to hold Xiao Jingzhan's hand and pull him into the inner room.

Xiao Jingzhan looked at her mysteriously, feeling somewhat curious. She was always full of tricks, so what was she doing today?