This was Qian Jiujiu's first formal meeting with the Queen Mother. They didn't even have time to talk the last time, and even the gift Qian Jiujiu prepared was passed on to Concubine Qing.
The Queen Mother looked at Qian Jiujiu and was very dissatisfied with her, but on such a good day, she felt that she should not make things difficult for this junior.
So the Queen Mother's expression was still very good: "Get up."
Qian Jiujiu then stood up: "Thank you, Grandmother."
The Queen Mother no longer cared about Qian Jiujiu, nor did she look at Concubine Qing, Mu Yexiao and the others. She only looked at the Queen, and then she heard the eunuch's voice: "The Emperor has arrived."
Everyone knew that the emperor had arrived and was going to a banquet, so they all looked at the empress dowager with bright eyes, hoping that she would let them accompany her to the banquet.
When the Emperor saw Concubine Qing, he walked straight towards her. The Empress happened to be standing beside Concubine Qing and looked at the two of them: "Let's go to the banquet."
Huang He and Concubine Qing looked at each other, then looked at the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother looked at Concubine Qing, her face darkened for a moment, but soon recovered and she walked forward angrily.
The virtuous concubine also had a sullen face. It wasn't that people couldn't go to the banquet if the emperor didn't bring them along, but people who were brought along by the emperor himself were naturally the favored ones in the harem.
The Queen Mother was walking in front, but suddenly stopped and looked at Consort Xian: "Consort Xian, come over and help me."
The emperor frowned. His mother was really senile. She knew that the Liu family was his enemy, but she was still thinking about giving face to the enemy.
The Queen Mother had no idea that because of her increasingly pretentious behavior, there had been some estrangement between her and the Emperor. The Queen Mother's palace was not far from the banquet venue, and the group arrived there in a short while.
And today, it was Qian Jiujiu who pushed Mu Yexiao again, following the emperor to the Hall of Supreme Harmony where the dinner was held.
The eunuch shouted loudly: "The Emperor has arrived, the Empress has arrived..."
Qian Jiujiu listened to the eunuch calling everyone to come one by one without even taking a breath, and couldn't help but admire the eunuch's lung capacity.
It is not easy for a eunuch to do this. The eunuch just saw Princess Xiao looking at him, but he didn't know the reason and couldn't help but feel curious.
But Qian Jiujiu had already walked over, so he didn't dare to think about it anymore, and just stood there obediently. The emperor sat on the dragon throne in the middle.
The empress dowager was sitting on the chair on the left, while there were two chairs on the right, one for the empress and one for Concubine Qing, while the other concubines were sitting in their own seats.
Mu Yexiao also took Qian Jiujiu to their seats. After everyone was seated, the ministers stood up and knelt down, "Long live the emperor."
"Live a thousand years, Queen Mother. Live a thousand years, Queen..."
"Everyone, please stand up."
After everyone stood up and sat down again, the Queen spoke: "Today is the Queen Mother's birthday..."
Qian Jiujiu couldn't help but curl her lips when she heard the emperor speaking. Holding such a banquet every year really wasn't tiring at all. She sighed, but found that it was soon time to present birthday gifts.
Naturally, the birthday gifts for the concubines were not presented here, but for the descendants. First, the emperor presented a jade Buddha, and then the third prince stood up.
"My grandson has met the Royal Grandmother. I know that she likes beautiful things, so I spent a lot of money to buy a beautiful red coral."
Qian Jiujiu watched with interest as the Third Prince Mu Yesheng presented a red coral as a gift. It was really generous. She glanced at Mu Yexiao and said, "My Lord, what is your gift?"
Come to think of it, Qian Jiujiu never thought of asking Mu Yexiao what gift he had prepared
When the Queen Mother saw the red coral, her eyes sparkled with great satisfaction. She looked at Mu Yesheng with a more and more kind look and said to him, "Sheng'er is still filial."
When the emperor heard this, his expression changed. Next was the gift from the fourth prince Mu Yezhe. He was not a person with bad intentions, so he stood up and looked at the empress dowager.
"Grandmother, I have also painted a picture of Guanyin for you and presented it to you. I hope you will have a happy life like this every year."
Looking at the picture of Guanyin, the Queen Mother just hummed and said, "Zhe'er is thoughtful."
The fifth prince Mu Yexing is a fool. The empress dowager never thought about what gift he would give her, so when she saw Mu Yexing come out, she was a little surprised.
"Xing'er, do you have a gift for the Imperial Grandmother?"
Mu Yexing nodded, then handed the night-shining pearl in her hand to the empress dowager: "This is for the royal grandmother, she likes it."
Seeing that night-shining pearl, it also looked very good, and he was satisfied. He looked at Mu Yexing and said, "Xing'er is a good child. Go down first."
After Mu Yexing left, it was Mu Yexiao's turn to come out. Mu Yexiao was naturally pushed out by Qian Jiujiu: "Hello, Grandmother. The birthday gift that your grandson prepared for you is a scripture."
Scriptures? The Queen Mother glanced at Mu Yexiao, then at Qian Jiujiu. Qian Jiujiu smiled at the Queen Mother and said, "Grandmother, this is the handwritten copy of the Buddhist scripture given to you by your granddaughter-in-law. It is the Ksitigarbha Sutra."
As soon as the three words Ksitigarbha Sutra came out, everyone in the field was surprised. Qian Jiujiu looked at the empress dowager with a smile: "Grandmother, Prince Xiao has spent a lot of energy on this Ksitigarbha Sutra."
"The several copies of the Ksitigarbha Sutra that we found were incomplete, so my granddaughter-in-law sorted them out and finally compiled them into a complete Ksitigarbha Sutra."
When the Empress Dowager heard this, she looked at Qian Jiujiu and Mu Yexiao with a smile and said, "You are so thoughtful. I will accept this Ksitigarbha Sutra."
Seeing that the Ksitigarbha Sutra was about to be taken away by the Empress Dowager, one of the ministers finally couldn't help but stand up and looked at the Empress Dowager: "Your Majesty, can I take a look at the Ksitigarbha Sutra compiled by Princess Xiao?"
Qian Jiujiu looked at the minister who was speaking. It was a cabinet minister, but Qian Jiujiu didn't know him. She glanced at Mu Yexiao, and Mu Yexiao smiled at Qian Jiujiu.
He signaled her not to worry about it. This elder was also a person who liked to study the scriptures. When Concubine Xian heard someone standing up and wanted to see, she finally couldn't help but speak.
"That's right, Queen Mother. If they say it's the Ksitigarbha Sutra, then it's the Ksitigarbha Sutra. You still have to be firm. Otherwise, someone might pass off a fake one as the real one, which is not good."
Qian Jiujiu couldn't help but raise her eyebrows when listening to Concubine Xian's words. Such words were spoken in such an occasion. Was she completely disregarding any scruples
Or is she completely brainless? Unable to figure this out, Qian Jiujiu looked at Mu Yexiao, but Mu Yexiao looked at Concubine Xian with a sneer on his face.
"So according to Concubine Xian, the gifts that the prince and princess brought out were fake?"
Xian Fei was questioned by Mu Yexiao, and of course her face was somewhat unwilling: "I didn't say it was fake, why did Prince Xiao come out and say it now? Are you worried?"
Mu Yexiao smiled and said, "What is this prince worried about?"
"No matter how the princess arranges this gift, it is a token of my heart, and I will not allow it to be distorted by the virtuous concubine."
The virtuous concubine had an unpleasant look on her face: "Humph, it's not the Ksitigarbha Sutra, but you insist on saying it's the Ksitigarbha Sutra. That's really twisted."
The cabinet minister obviously did not expect that he just asked to borrow the Ksitigarbha Sutra, which would cause a big fight between Mu Yexiao and Concubine Xian.
Imperial Concubine Qing was listening at the side and snorted coldly, "What is Concubine Xian doing? Are you bullying my son just because you are the elder? It doesn't matter if this is the complete Ksitigarbha Sutra or not."
"It was the Ksitigarbha Sutra compiled by the princess. It was written with sincerity. How could it be distorted? Can you explain it to me?"
The emperor watched things develop into this state, and then looked at Qian Jiujiu's expression, which was indifferent. It seemed that he had an idea in mind.
He glanced at the cabinet minister and said, "Mother, since Lord Li wants to read it, you can borrow it for a while."
When the Empress Dowager heard what the Emperor said, she naturally did the same thing and asked someone to take the Ksitigarbha Sutra to the cabinet minister, Lord Li. Lord Li took the Ksitigarbha Sutra.
I started flipping through the pages immediately, not caring where I was. The more I read, the more surprised I was. Some of the previously connected and different parts also suddenly became clear to me.
After Lord Li had read through the Ksitigarbha Sutra, he held it up with both hands and looked at the emperor: "Your Majesty, this should be the last complete Ksitigarbha Sutra in the world."
"But with this copy, I will have more Ksitigarbha Sutras in the future."
When Concubine Xian heard this, it was undoubtedly proved that the thing sent by Qian Jiujiu was actually real. Then didn't her previous behavior just slap her in the face
When I think about the Ksitigarbha Sutra that has been destroyed for so many years, who knows if it is real? Looking at Lord Li: "I wonder how Lord Li is sure that this is the complete Ksitigarbha Sutra?"
"How come this palace remembers that there is no complete copy of the Ksitigarbha Sutra left in the world?"
Lord Li frowned. Was Concubine Xian saying that he was also lying? He looked at the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, when I was young, I was a little girl."
"I studied the Ksitigarbha Sutra with my grandfather. At that time, I had the opportunity to read the entire Ksitigarbha Sutra. Later, I also tried to write the complete Ksitigarbha Sutra."
"It's a pity that I can't remember many parts. Today, I read Princess Duxiao's Ksitigarbha Sutra and verified it. So I can confirm that this is the complete Ksitigarbha Sutra."
The emperor hummed and said, "I naturally believe in you, my dear minister. Hahahaha, today a Buddhist treasure like the Ksitigarbha Sutra can actually be returned to the hands of my royal family."
"This is also a good thing. Princess Xiao is really thoughtful."
Qian Jiujiu just smiled faintly: "Father is praising you, and I just want to show my filial piety to my grandmother and make her happy."
When the Queen Mother heard this, she naturally laughed. Although she was unhappy in her heart, she still had to praise Qian Jiujiu: "Princess Xiao is thoughtful."