Chapter 400: Birthday Presents
Different from the others, the various countries’ emissaries have been in the great hall since the beginning. Letting them spectate the entire process wasn’t necessarily not a way to show off one’s might.
After Jing Wan and them said their congratulations, they just took their seats. Qian Chen Hall, as the place where the court sessions were held, its layout, compared to other places, differed to some extent. The east and west side both had wide enough space. Of course, even so, to be able to enter and immediately sit, it was still just a portion of people. Even if there was more space, if one’s status is not high enough, then there’s still no place for one to stand.
Richly decorated carved pillars erect within the hall, and at this very moment, orderly seats were arranged in between, ten rectangular tables, three each to the east and west, and two each to the north and south. The tabletop was relatively low, and after taking one’s seat, it was no different from sitting while kneeling. This can be considered quite the challenge towards one’s etiquette. Arranging this kind of seat, how was it not necessarily for the sake of seeing certain countries make a fool of themselves.
The princes needed to present the birthday presents one by one. Thus, everyone all took their seats first.
Qi Yuan didn’t have a crown prince. Kang Qinwang was both the di-born and the eldest, so the princes presenting their presents, starting from him, there was nothing to criticize.
Speaking of which, because the Empress’s health was lacking, Kang Qinwang has been relatively low-key recently, for the most part, no longer acting impulsive and disregarding the consequences, conscientiously working, not standing out as much as possible, and the entire faction all very rarely caused trouble for the other factions. It was more than enough to see just how important the Empress was for the entire faction.
The Empress didn’t have the energy, so the birthday present this time was prepared by Kang Qinwang himself. Of course, although it’s said to be prepared by himself, in reality, it was still the outcome of gathering various opinions. However, the Empress had been informed about that present in advance. Although she didn’t see the actual thing, but after hearing the description, the Empress for once praised Kang Qinwang.
Although between this pair of mother and son, there was also quite the barrier, in fact, Kang Qinwang was even aware that he was just a pawn in his own mother’s hand, but in the end, they didn’t thoroughly fall out. After all, they both needed one another. At present, there was no room for internal dispute. Unanimously fighting against the outside was the most crucial right now. As such, for Kang Qinwang to be able to obtain his own mother’s affirmation, he still couldn’t help but feel happy inside.
A half a person tall chest got carefully lifted in. After opening, a blue and white porcelain jar[1] that was as tall as the chest was extracted from between the soft padding.
The porcelain jar as a whole didn’t appear that prominent, but under careful examination, one would discover that this thing definitely wasn’t simple. Its body was thick, the inside fully glazed, white base with blue calligraphy, the calligraphy each having its own uniqueness, but it was all the same character——寿(longevity). The character’s size curved and stretched along the jar’s shape, both structured and natural, charming and elegant. The character’s form had circles, squares, and triangles, further having it drawn into the shape of an immortal peach, or having the upper half of the ‘寿(longevity)’ character formed into little mountains, the meaning nothing more than just ‘having longevity comparable to the southern mountains’. There were also ones with winding and complicated lines, meaning ‘living a long and continuous life’.
(T/N: Below are examples of how the character 寿 can be written in different ways. A lot of it is actually ancient script that’s not used in modern times anymore.)
“Imperial father, this is a ‘Ten Thousand Longevity Vessel[2]‘. Along the top of the mouth, there’s two circles of longevity patterns, each circle having seventy-seven characters. Along the side of the mouth, and along the outside of round foot[3], each circle has forty-eight characters. On the body of the vessel, there’s seventy-five vertical columns and a hundred and thirty horizontal rows, summing up to exactly ten thousand characters. Long live the Emperor for tens of thousands of years.”
(T/N: My brain crashed multiple times trying to translate this line, but I added the numbers to double check and it does add up to ten thousand. Also I happened to find this exact vessel, it’s an actual historic artifact.)
As the heavenly Emperor, receiving this kind of present on one’s birthday, without a doubt, greatly improved one’s mood, brightly smiling as he praised a few words. Then, looking again at the expressions of the various emissaries, either amazed, or astonished, or envying, his mood couldn’t help but improve more.
One has to know, firing such a large piece of porcelain required an extremely high level of skill, such bright and beautiful blue and white color required the highest quality material, and such varied and elaborate forms of the character ‘寿(longevity)’ further required having deep knowledge in the written language. Furthermore, such extraordinary planning further manifest his son’s reverence towards him. Regardless of what, it all very much gave him face.
Qi Yuan’s various silk fabrics and porcelain wares have always been favored by the other countries, and it was probably just Former Wei that was capable of competing with Qi Yuan’s craftsmanship. However, judging from the somewhat unsightly complexions of the few from Former Wei, one practically can conclude that this porcelain’s level of craftsmanship, perhaps even Former Wei was unable achieve.
“My son has heart, quickly rise. ———Reward.”
Kang Qinwang got up, “Thanks imperial father.” His inner delight practically couldn’t be concealed. During this period of time, he’d continuously been suppressed, watching certain people jump around in front of him. Now, he was finally able to raise his brows and snort. His line of sight intentionally or otherwise swept over his younger brothers, carrying a faint provocation.
In reality, there really weren’t many among the various princes that maintained a calm expression. Even their consort mothers all started to worry along with, secretly hating on the inside. They probably never thought that Li Hong Yi would bring out such a treasure that was full of auspicious meaning. One has to know, in past years, the things Li Hong Yi sent out have always emphasized on being steady, neither standing out, nor making a mistake, yet how come this year he just used up all his thoughts?
Quite a few people’s thoughts spun around and immediately just figured out the key within. With the Jiangnan matter in front, it was precisely Kang Qinwang that suffered the most disastrous losses, and afterwards, with the Empress falling heavily ill, this faction of theirs was like as if losing its main pillar. Under this kind of circumstance, naturally it was needing to think of ways to win back the emperor’s favor, so it’s no wonder for there to be such a meticulously clever item.
Next, it was the third prince Rui Qinwang, Li Hong Ming’s turn. Comparatively speaking, he was actually very calm, seemingly unconcerned towards the ‘Ten Thousand Longevity Vessel’, and seemingly also possessing exceptional confidence towards his own thing. As such, it inevitably made certain people’s complexion worsen yet again.
Li Hong Yi took his seat, and Li Hong Ming got up. Their line of sight converged in midair, one calmly smiling, one smugly smiling. In that instant, their eyes exchanged several blows.
Li Hong Ming bowed and then clapped his hands. His present also got lifted in, seemingly a cage, the outside covered in red silk. Everyone was bewildered inside. From the looks of it, this should be a living creature?
Li Hong Ming didn’t keep everyone in suspense either, directly having the red silk lifted. Seeing the thing inside, quite a few people all inhaled a cold breath.
That was a white tortoise, roughly the size of a millstone. Tortoises have always symbolized longevity. This kind of white tortoise was further a rarity among rarities, an auspicious sign. It’s no wonder Rui Qinwang was this calm and composed. Since one ‘Ten Thousand Longevity Vessel’ can be made, then certainly a second can be made as well, but this auspicious sign wasn’t the same. One may not necessarily be able to encounter one in a thousand years.
“Wishing imperial father boundless longevity.” Li Hong Ming neither heavily nor lightly spoke, his bearing increasingly calm.
This present surpassed Li Hong Yi’s, and this speech and conduct, from the looks of it, also further surpassed. Quite a few officials all couldn’t help but nod, inwardly praising.
“Good——–” Le Cheng Emperor’s smile was increasingly obvious, “Reward!” Although his words were few, his mannerism already explained everything.
This time, Li Hong Yi’s complexion also turned green along with the others, his fist tightly clenching, ruthlessly cursing Li Hong Ming on the inside. However, he was also glad that he’d gone first.
The only one feeling strange inside was probably just Jing Wan, a sickly tortoise…………
Gong Qinwang, unfortunately, wasn’t that lucky. Recently, because Shu Consort Qin was in charge of the phoenix seal, he can be said to have been very lively. However, now, with the two in front, his thing just appeared insignificant.
Sure enough, what Gong Qinwang prepared was a ‘hundred longevity embroidered screen’. Although it was a doubled-sided embroidery, and under normal circumstances, it was also pretty good, but now, heheh………..
[1] 青花瓷 – Blue and white porcelain, or blue flower porcelain, is a very specific and traditional style of porcelain ware. I’ve added picture examples below.
[2] 万寿纹尊 – 尊(zun) in this context is referring to an ancient wine vessel. Below are examples of its shape.
[3] Round foot is the technical term for the base of the vessel. It’s the literal translation of 圈足.
T/N: Finally reached chapter 400, only 200+ more chapters until the end. TBH I really want to finish by the end of this year, but I’m at the mercy of the author’s word count.
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