As soon as the hour came, the neatly dressed Empress Dowager was surrounded by the palace people and sat on a golden lacquered chair in the middle of Tianyi Palace. At this time, people who came to celebrate her birthday began to come forward one after another to put their

Presentation of gifts: Renzong, who was the first to come forward, presented Taizu in a picture of "Taizu Cujue". The Taizong brothers led two teams to play with the ministers, and everyone was in high spirits; this painting was made by

Renzong's son painted it by hand, with delicate brushwork and vivid characters. You can tell at a glance that it is a treasure in the painting.

The next person who came forward was the King of Changyi. The birthday gift he presented was a palace ornament the size of a basin carved from a whole piece of fine mutton-fat white jade. This object was taken from the scene carvings in "Han Yuefu. Jiangnan"

Cheng. The poem goes: Lotus can be picked in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are fields of lotus leaves. Fish play with lotus leaves to the east, fish play with lotus leaves to the west, fish play with lotus leaves to the south, and fish play with lotus leaves to the north. Looking at this thing again, I can only see the carp on it.

All of them are plump and plump, and the carvings are extremely fine; even the scales on the fish are meticulous and well-proportioned. On top of the fish are lotus leaves made of fine jade polished into thin slices; the fish are agile and the lotus leaves are light and thin.

Not only is the material of this object very precious, but the carving is also extremely exquisite and full of elegance. It is truly a rare treasure!

The Princess of Lu State who came forward to present a gift next presented a string of shining, smooth, round, and black pearls. This thing is called black pearl. It is native to the South China Sea. Because it grows in the extremely deep seabed, it can be seen by the world.

It is extremely difficult to get one as big as the belly of your little finger; but a bunch of beads as big as dove eggs is rare in the world; and what is particularly precious is that there are carvings on these one hundred beads.

There are one hundred "longevity" characters of different shapes written by Renzong himself. Although the birthday gifts for both of them are very precious, the empress dowager always sits on the high chair and only smiles.

Receive them one by one.

Immediately following were Princess Changyang and Duke Wei Shi Shouxin. Among them, Princess Changyang presented a huge coral plant that was half a person tall. However, Duke Wei did not wait for the gift to be given, and only said, "Sister-in-law of the Emperor."

!' already made the Empress Dowager grin from ear to ear with joy. This Shi Shouxin was not only sworn brothers with Taizu back then, but also played the greatest role among the founding heroes. After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, he was the first to hand over military power.

Enjoying a pastoral life, it can be said that he is the most caring and trusted person of Taizu. In addition, there are many young people in the court now. How can the Empress Dowager not be overjoyed to meet old friends? The birthday gift presented by Wei Guogong is also very impressive, that is

A picture of the Eight Immortals' Birthday Blessings carved from a giant clam. In the picture, Han Zhongli shakes a fan, Zhang Guolao rides a donkey, Han Xiangzi plays the flute, Cao Guojiu holds the yin and yang board, and blue

Caihe is playing the bamboo flute, Lu Dongbin is carrying a sword...all of them are surrounded by lifelike figures; He Xiangu in the middle is stepping on lotus flowers and holding a huge longevity peach in her hand. The Empress Dowager was overjoyed and stood up to take it in person.

Give it to the palace servants to keep.

Then the gifts from each vassal state were various; there were the queen's phoenix crown made of pure gold and inlaid with gems, satin ornaments and fabrics woven by skilled women, and rare birds and insects that are rarely seen in the world; the most precious among them are

A white deer was sent personally by Li Yuanhao, the leader of the Great Xia Kingdom. This animal was slightly smaller than the average elk, but it was completely white without a trace of hair. For a time, the Tianyi Palace was filled with so many rare and precious treasures that it was dizzying...

Soon after, when the auspicious time came, the people from the Palace of Ceremonies would guide them, in the order of first the emperor's relatives, then the envoys from various countries, and finally the civil and military officials.

After the ceremony was announced, the Tianyi Palace was renovated by the palace staff, with new carpets and seats placed. Then the palace staff began to serve dishes one by one.

Due to the large number of people who came to celebrate their birthdays, except for some royal nobles who stayed to dine in Tianyi Palace, the rest were invited to dine in the side hall. Zhao Weiming could have stayed in Tianyi Palace to dine, but he saw Duan Siping and Li Yuanhao both

After being arranged to the side hall, he followed them to the side hall. Because he was very familiar with Duan Siping and Li Yuanhao, Zhao Weiming specially found a table to sit alone with the two of them. When noon came, the Queen Mother announced

After the banquet started, everyone started to eat. During the banquet, Zhao Weiming and Duan Siping kept shouting like brothers, and together with Li Yuanhao and Duan Siping, they drank a lot. After a while, they had finished drinking.

When Li Yuanhao was still calling the palace servants to get the wine, Renzong personally brought two pots of wine and came closer. After filling the three glasses one by one, Renzong raised the wine glass to Li Yuanhao and Duan.

Si Ping said, "Thank you to the two kings for taking the time to come here for the birthday of the emperor's grandmother. It's not respectful to drink too little wine!" After saying that, he drank first as a token of respect. After drinking three glasses of wine, Li Yuanhao still refused to give in. Renzong still wanted to

When he was drinking, Zhao Weiming stopped him and said, "My imperial brother has a heavy state affairs, so he should take care of the dragon body. The rest of the wine will be drank with the next generation." Only then did Duan Siping and Li Yuanhao realize that the man in front of them who they had cherished in the past was

The gangster is actually the younger brother of the current Emperor of the Song Dynasty!

The two of them couldn't help being shocked, and hurriedly said in unison, "That's good, that's good!" Then they stopped pestering Renzong, and just exchanged cups with Zhao Weiming and started drinking together. In the mood to drink, Li Yuanhao suggested

Find another secluded place to drink again. When he was about to leave, Li Yuanhao stared at a plate of dishes on the table and murmured, "Although I eat delicacies from the mountains and seas every day in Daxia Kingdom, they are not as good as those eaten by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty."

So exquisite!' That is a 'set of four treasures'. This dish is made from quail, pigeons, wild geese, etc.; first remove all the bones of the ingredients, then pour the seasonings into them; then put the quails into the pigeons.

The stuffed pigeon is then put into the belly of the wild goose, and finally steamed together in a pot. The meat is tender and chewy, with a long aftertaste. It is the most fresh and delicious taste in the world! Seeing that he has a special liking for this dish, Zhao Weiming decided to cook it.

After picking up the plate of "Set of Four Treasures" and ordering the palace servants to fetch several jars of fine wine, he led the two of them to the back garden of Tianyi Palace, found a flat corner and spread out a tablecloth, and they sat on the ground to eat and drink.

.

During the dinner, when they talked about the drinking fight with Li Yuanhao outside Chang'an City and the incident of going to the Black Tiger Gang alone to borrow troops, Li Yuanhao was shouting happily, and soon the few jars of wine he brought had been finished, and several people

They began to chat. But before they could say a few words, Li Yuanhao, who was very interested, proposed to join Duan Siping to renew their sworn vows. Seeing that the three of them had no objections, they immediately went to swore a vow under the iron tree nearby.

Among them, Duan Siping is the eldest and the eldest brother of the three brothers; Zhao Weiming is the second brother, and Li Yuanhao is the youngest, and Tian is the third of the three brothers. As soon as the ceremony was over, Renzong, who got the news, also hurried over to greet him.

The three of them congratulated each other. When they saw Renzong, Zhao Wei suddenly remembered something and asked Duan Siping, "Brother, what happened to Wang Yuanheng, the emperor of Nanzhao, what my brother told me? Please let me know." (To be completed.)
Chapter completed!