IACF [QT] Chapter 66.1

The birthday celebration was approaching, and a banquet was held in the palace.

The Shen family was poor, and the Second Master Shen’s official position was not high enough, so they were not qualified to enter the palace to present gifts.

Master Su got the last seat, and the table was set outside the hall. He sat behind a low table, stretched his neck to look into the distance, and felt dazzled. He couldn’t even see the Emperor’s face, let alone his appearance, or whether he was sitting on the throne.

“Brother Su, what are you doing?” Someone beside him asked puzzledly.

Master Su laughed it off but felt deeply moved in his heart. The royal family was so magnificent and majestic. Who could have thought that he would soon become a relative of the emperor?

The gifts from the officials had already been presented, and only a gift list was presented to the Emperor. The Chief Eunuch announced it loudly in front of the hall.

If the Emperor heard any that agreed with his wishes, he would say ‘reward’. If the Emperor was really pleased, he would ask the eunuchs to present the gifts and let him appreciate them.

However, His Majesty has always been strict and self-disciplined, and in order to avoid the tendency of officials to compare with each other, he rarely shows any preference.

Therefore, when they heard the Emperor suddenly say ‘Present it here’, not only the officials sitting at the back, but even the officials at the front also did not react for a moment.

They looked at each other secretly, wondering: Whose gift was just reported? What kind of gift could arouse His Majesty’s interest?

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on one place. Then they saw a colorful bird, with its head held high and chest puffed out, swaggering in the birdcage, and being brought in by the eunuch.

All the officials were in a daze.

Didn’t His Majesty hate people wasting their time on trivial things?

When did he develop such a hobby?

The Emperor looked at the bird. His eyes twitched slightly. He would rather the Su family really presented him with a steamed bun rather than a bird that just shook its head and tail and showed off its wings.

But what could he do?

No matter how unbearable it was, he could only say with a lenient face: “This little bird looks quite clever. Where is Master Su?”

As the announcements were made, Master Su quickly stood up from the last seat, straightened his clothes, walked quickly with small steps, and kowtowed in front of the Emperor.

The officials were discussing the matter. The Duke Anguo Mansion had been forgotten for many years since the death of the late Anguo Duke. How come there was suddenly an opportunity today?

Looking at Master Su kneeling in the hall, many ministers subconsciously touched their beards.

Thinking back to those days, they were all made to look like wooden lumps in comparison with the young Duke Anguo. It could be said that as many young men in the capital were obsessed with Duke Anguo’s sister, as many girls were obsessed with Duke Anguo.

Even now, there were countless ministers’ wives whose faces turned red and looked coquettish when the name of Duke Anguo was mentioned.

The ministers did not think that it was because of their own incompetence that their wives saw other men. They just thought that Duke Anguo was either a decent man or a monster.

Looking at him again many years later, it was not the case. He was neither good at literature nor martial arts. A real man should be upright and self-reliant. How could they be like him?

Humph, he just had a face that women liked. He still had delicate skin and tender flesh despite his age, and he knew some unconventional tricks. He was good-looking but useless. It was only because women were long-haired and short-sighted that they were dazzled by his appearance.

Superficial, how superficial!

It must be said that Master Su had some capital to fascinate the princess to marry him. Just like now, among a group of court officials of the same age, they had wrinkles and beards on their faces, like dried bacon, which made him look fresh and lively.

The Emperor saw him kneeling there and thought that he did look a bit like the bird showing off its feathers. No wonder people say that pets resemble their owners.

The Emperor opened his mouth and said something like he missed the late Duke Anguo and lamented his youth.

Everyone couldn’t help but cast envious eyes at Master Su.

No matter how His Majesty suddenly became interested in a bird today, then wanted to invite Duke Anguo to meet him, and then began to reminisce about the past, they all knew that after His Majesty was done reminiscing, he would definitely reward the descendants of his old ministers.

If Duke Anguo could grasp it well, he might even get a sinecure because of it, which was simply a pie in the sky.

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