Qian Jiujiu swallowed her saliva. She was almost thirty years old and was still being asked this question. It was a bit embarrassing. However, it was so difficult when she gave birth to the twins.
Mu Yexiao really didn't plan to let her have more children, and she even developed a harmless contraceptive pill that men could take. She coughed and said, "Well, two children are enough."
The Queen Mother looked at Qian Jiujiu without saying a word. She understood everything and shook her head with some regret: "You are so smart, and Mu Yexiao is not bad either. I am still counting on you to have more children!"
Qian Jiujiu blinked her eyes and said, "Give birth to more children and let the emperor and queen come."
In fact, compared to the past, their generation did have fewer children. Mu Yesheng and He Lu Feifei only had one child because there was no Gu King left in the world, and it was very rare to refine one.
Qian Jiujiu did have one, but Mu Yesheng and the others didn't know, and Qian Jiujiu didn't know whether they were going to have a baby, so they delayed it. As for the Xian Wang couple, it was because it was not easy for the Xian Wangfei to give birth, and she was injured by a difficult birth.
Originally, if they had found Qian Jiujiu, the disease could have been cured, but they didn't know whether Qian Jiujiu had the ability to do so, and they didn't plan to continue having children, which made the royal family look like it had few offspring.
Qian Jiujiu continued with a smile: "Besides, with so many children surrounding you, you still don't think it's lively enough. Today is your birthday, everyone is here!"
Qian Jiujiu did not stop her movements while speaking, and quickly dressed up the Queen Mother. She looked at the Queen Mother and nodded with satisfaction: "My mother is beautiful."
The Queen Mother was so amused by these words that she couldn't close her mouth: "You, I just love to hear you talk."
The Queen also laughed at the side: "Speaking of which, I should be thankful that my sister-in-law didn't stay in the capital forever, otherwise the Queen Mother would have no regard for her daughter-in-law."
The Queen Mother looked at the Queen with a smile: "You, you also know how to tease me. Jiuer has come back, and everyone has learned bad things."
Qian Jiujiu and the Queen each supported the Queen Mother and walked out. Mu Yexiao and others were waiting outside. When they saw the Queen Mother come out, they followed suit and saluted.
"Greetings to the Queen Mother/Empress Dowager, may the Queen Mother/Empress Dowager be blessed."
The Queen Mother waved her hand: "Everyone, get up."
Seeing so many people, the Queen Mother was still happy. This was a big reunion for the royal family. At this time, the Emperor also came over, accompanied by Gu Xiangning: "Mother, we are ready, let's go."
Today's Imperial Garden is magnificent and hung with lanterns, and is very lively. The banquet is held in a hall on the Imperial Garden side. The main entrance faces the Imperial Garden, and you can see the beautiful scenery of the Imperial Garden.
It is still deep winter now, just after the Chinese New Year, but the Imperial Garden is decorated with colorful ribbons and icicles with printed colors, which look very beautiful.
At this time, almost all the civil and military officials were already waiting in the hall for the arrival of the Queen Mother and others: "The Emperor has arrived, the Queen Mother has arrived..."
Qian Jiujiu heard the eunuch calling all of their names non-stop without even taking a breath, and couldn't help but say to Mu Yexiao: "This eunuch has a really good lung capacity."
Mu Yexiao's mouth twitched: "Maybe it's because I keep shouting. It's because I practice it."
Qian Jiujiu thought it made sense. The emperor and the empress dowager had already taken their seats. Qian Jiujiu and Mu Yexiao also found their own seats and took their seats. The others followed suit.
After everyone was seated, all the civil and military officials stood up and knelt down: "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long live the empress dowager..."
It was another string of names, and Qian Jiujiu once again held back the urge to laugh. It had been a long time since he last laughed, and he suddenly felt that this situation was so exaggerated.
After sitting down again, the emperor spoke: "Today is my mother's birthday. I have a gift for her. I hope she likes it."
As he spoke, the emperor had someone bring up a glazed jade Guanyin: "My mother likes to worship Buddha, so I give this glazed jade Buddha to her. I hope she likes it."
The Queen Mother looked at the glazed jade Guanyin on the main hall and her eyes widened in surprise. This jade Guanyin was so beautiful. She looked at the Emperor and said, "I like it very much."
After the emperor presented his gift, it was Mu Yexiao's turn to present his gift. Mu Yexiao smiled and said, "Mother, your son and Jiu'er will jointly present you with a gift. Please don't despise it."
As he spoke, he asked someone to bring up the gifts, which were covered with a large red cloth, making them look mysterious. You know, these couples have all good things in their hands.
The Queen Mother also looked at the things in the field with anticipation, and said with a smile: "No matter what the things you two have made, I like them all."
Qian Jiujiu laughed and said, "Thank you, mother."
Then he stood on the other side of the red cloth and untied it with his hand: "Look, mother, this is a red coral tree. I fished it out of the sea and gave it to you."
After hearing that it was salvaged from the bottom of the sea, everyone looked at the red coral tree curiously. It is red all over and it glows. It looks dazzling and really beautiful at first glance.
Everyone was fascinated by the red coral tree. It was so beautiful. Mu Yesheng and He Lufei looked at each other. Logically, it was their turn to present the gift. However, they were a little embarrassed because they had no position.
And most importantly, the things they gave out were not so good. The King of Idleness was also struggling, their things were not so good either.
The Queen Mother looked at the red coral tree with fondness and said: "These are all your kindness to me. I like them and am happy."
As soon as she was happy, she asked someone to send the red coral tree to the Queen Mother's palace so that she could see it every day. Qian Jiujiu couldn't help laughing. The Queen Mother suddenly said, "I have received a gift that suits my heart. Let the people below come up and dance."
So the Queen Mother also understood that no matter what other gifts were given, they would pale in comparison to this red coral tree. It would be better not to give it out, which would help them out.
Beibei pouted when she heard this: "But Grandmother, I have prepared a gift for you as well. Don't you want to take a look?"
Seeing Beibei pouting and looking aggrieved, the Queen Mother immediately felt distressed: "Oh, isn't this my dearest love? What have you prepared for me?"
Beibei was naturally happy that the Queen Mother wanted to see it, so he took his gift with a smile and came to the Queen Mother: "Grandmother, look, I wrote this stroke by stroke! It took me a long time to write it!"
When the scroll was opened, there were four big characters on it: "Live as long as the Southern Mountains". Each character was composed of a character for longevity. Beibei smiled and said, "Does the Royal Grandmother like it? Each character is composed of a small character for longevity! I hope the Royal Grandmother will live as long as the Southern Mountains and be a hundred years old."
The Empress Dowager's eyes were moist, and she touched Beibei's head and said, "Beibei is very thoughtful. The Imperial Grandmother likes it very much. Someone, please hang it on the head of my bed. I will look at it every day."
Beibei was naturally satisfied when he heard this and returned to his seat. The emperor looked at the queen mother and said, "Mother, why don't you take a look at other people's gifts?"
The Queen Mother, however, had no mood to watch: "No, put them all away. I will watch them later. Now let's start the show."
The emperor had no choice. Yin'er had been preparing a gift for today's event for a long time! Nan Nan suddenly stood up and looked at the empress dowager: "Since the royal grandmother wants to see the performance, then the grandson will perform a show for the royal grandmother to celebrate her birthday."
He also prepared a gift for the Queen Mother, but it was not made by hand. Compared with Beibei, it seemed that he was not putting enough effort into it. Now that he has the chance, he might as well put on a show.
The Queen Mother also became interested: "Okay, then what will Nan Nan perform?"
Nan Nan thought for a moment and said, "Grandson, please play a song for the Royal Grandmother. I don't know anything else."
The Queen Mother didn't believe that he didn't know anything else, but she nodded anyway: "Okay, then you start."
So Nan Nan took the lead and performed a set of military boxing directly. This was the training that Qian Jiujiu required him to do every day for physical exercise, and he did it very skillfully.
The Queen Mother watched with great interest. The other children, looking at Nan Nan, were also inspired and wanted to perform one by one.
Everyone realized that although the royal children were small, each of them was very capable. The ministers also gave gifts, but they were all registered by the palace maids.
After the royal dolls finished their performance, the professional performers in the palace came up to perform. But today, it seemed that because Nan Nan started it, the others were also interested in performing.
Just now, the daughter of a minister suddenly expressed that she wanted to perform on stage. The girl who spoke was only thirteen years old and was a pretty girl.
Qian Jiujiu looked at the pretty girl and couldn't help but take a few more glances: "Who is this girl? She actually came up to perform sword dancing. She is really brave."
Hearing this, Mu Yexiao shook his head: "I don't know him, why don't you ask him?"
When Ziyuan heard what her princess said, she turned around and asked about it. She found out the answer quickly. After all, there were so many people discussing it, it was hard not to know.
"Princess, this lady is Yuan Chun, the younger sister of Concubine Yuan. She is the daughter of General Yuan, so she is quite good at wielding spears and clubs."
It's true. The royal family members seem to be good at martial arts. And because of Mu Yexiao, the Great Zhou Dynasty respects people with strong martial arts. Of course, it does not ignore the literati. It is good to give equal importance to both civil and martial arts.
Watching Yuan Chun dancing with the sword, which was very smooth and free, without any affectation, Qian Jiujiu nodded: "This girl is not bad."
Mu Yexiao glanced at his wife and was very curious: "Are you sure you don't like her because she's pretty?"
Qian Jiujiu's love for beautiful things and people has never changed.