After Dong Xiyun finished her filial speech, she opened the box held by the maidservant behind her.
Once it was opened, everyone could not help but suck in a breath of cold air.
This Young Lady Dong was… really generous!
The gift to the Empress was actually a bright moon pearl. Although it was not an unusually big one, the pearl had always been precious. Such a valuable pearl…
Everyone was a little annoyed. The Empress was never ostentatious. It had been many years since she last celebrated her birthday. They had never thought that she would give a gift!
This young lady of the Dong family…
The act of giving this bright moon pearl shone brighter than the pearl itself!
The Emperor had always doted on the Empress. When he heard this news, he would definitely praise Young Lady Dong. Even the Fourth Prince would benefit from it, right?
“It’s rare for you to have such intentions.” The Empress did not seem to be surprised or happy. She asked someone to put the thing away.
After accepting the gift, in order to express her satisfaction, she had to give something back. The Empress thought for a moment and gave Dong Xiyun a set of gemstones.
Dong Xiyun smiled and then glanced at Xie Qiao.
“This humble one is a fool. I want to make the Empress happy, but I can’t think of any good ideas. Unlike Young Lady Xie who is smart and intelligent. If she knew it was the Empress’ birthday, the gift she would give would definitely be much better than mine.” Dong Xiyun obediently thanked the Empress and she did not forget to praise Xie Qiao.
Of course, on the surface, it was a compliment.
When these words were said, it was inevitable that people would secretly compare them.
They were both people who wanted to be the daughter-in-law of the royal family. Dong Xiyun had remembered the Empress’ birthday, but Xie Qiao did not.
Now that she found out about the Empress’ birthday, she would definitely have to give her a gift as well.
A gift that could surpass Young Lady Dong’s bright moon pearl must be extremely expensive. The Xie family was not as rich as the Dong family.
Xie Qiao smiled at Dong Xiyun. “You are right. The gift I’m giving is naturally better.”
Dong Xiyun was stunned. She suspected that Xie Qiao must be crazy right? Subconsciously, she asked, “Could it be that Sister Xie has also prepared a gift?”
Xie Qiao calmly stood up.
“I did bring something to offer to His Majesty and the Empress today. I was just afraid of scaring others, so I placed it in the palanquin. I’ll have to trouble my maidservant to get it,” Xie Qiao said.
She performed divination before going to the imperial palace today. She found out that she was going to lose money.
She was going to the imperial palace. It was strange that she had to lose money.
So she did some careful calculations. The divination indicated that an important item was going to be lost today.
Therefore…
She did bring something here today.
The Xie family’s carriage stopped at the entrance of the imperial palace, but there was also a palanquin at the imperial palace. As the future Princess Consort, it was no trouble for her to get someone to watch over the things for her. Moreover, she entered the imperial palace with Zhao Xuanjing.
What Xie Qiao said made people very curious.
Including Zhao Xuanjing.
At this moment, Xie Qiao definitely could have given her a peach wood sword or some dharma instrument… What could it be?
“Young Lady Xie, don’t make things difficult for yourself…” Dong Xiyun looked as calm as ever.
How could it be so coincidental? Xie Qiao also prepared a gift in advance? The Empress’ birthday was coming soon. It was not today! She would not have done what she did!
Not long after, Chun Er brought over a large package.
It was quite strenuous to bring it over.
The package was dragged on the ground until it was deformed. It looked… quite shabby. She would… offend someone to be giving such a gift…
Xie Qiao was also helpless.
The item was too valuable. If it was placed in a box, it would be too conspicuous. If it was robbed by someone else, she would be so sad that tears would fall.
Therefore… The more valuable the item was, the less it should be exposed. It was safer to use a rag to wrap it.