Chapter 74
In order to achieve the best results, Li Yu used red carps for all the fish in the array. That was his only request. In addition, no one was allowed to watch the practice of the array. King Jing did not object. Although the fish that were selected for the array were not as expensive as the koi fish in the palace, they still looked very festive.
Just practicing was not enough. Li Yu also asked King Jing to write the word “longevity” as a reference for the fish array. At first, King Jing thought that it would be fine even if it did not succeed. He thought that it would be fun to coax Xiaoyu. However, when he saw that the fish array was in order, and that the “longevity’ characters were exactly the same as his handwriting, King Jing was both shocked and deeply touched. Xiaoyu was probably the only person in the world who could do something like this.
In the following days, the fish were so busy practicing that they forgot to eat and sleep. King Jing vaguely felt that his fish had become thinner. He prepared a lot of fish food for the fish. The humanoid fish also fed a lot of tonics, but Li Yu only ate a little each time and consciously put it down.
What a joke. The fish also had to be on the stage. Its body shape could not be too different from the other fish. Li Yu did not realize it before. Now that he was with the fish, he finally knew what a celebrity’s body shape was like.
However, although Li Yu did not eat much, he thought that the fish food and tonics that King Jing fed him were too delicious. He could eat more after the Emperor’s birthday.
While he was practicing the fish array, the person that King Jing sent to spy on Prince Six came back and reported that Prince Six had bought a lot of paper lanterns. Li Yu understood. It seemed that he was right. Prince Six had prepared the light and shadow according to the original novel for this kind of plot that did not have much to do with the original plot.
However, if they were watching Prince Six, would Prince Six also be watching them?
Li Yu recalled Prince Six’s cold eyes and shivered for no reason. He decided that he could not let his guard down. This person could never be underestimated.
Considering the possible flaws in the fish array, Li Yu also made some other preparations in advance.
Soon, it was the day of the Emperor’s birthday.
King Jing was going to enter the palace early in the morning. Li Yu was afraid that if he transformed into his human form now, he wouldn’t be able to do so when he entered the palace if something unexpected happened. Therefore, he had discussed with King Jing the day before yesterday and had Young Master Li take a day off. King Jing took the crystal bottle and the small fish into the palace first, while Wang Xi led the guards to transport the other fish into the palace.
Because they were afraid that others would notice, these fish were all placed in large fish tanks covered with cloth. To the outside world, it was said that these were King Jing’s congratulatory gifts to the Emperor.
That day, the Emperor held a banquet in the Hall of Preservation and Harmony to receive the congratulations of the hundreds of officials. The congratulatory gifts from the various provinces and counties had already arrived one after another in the Palace a month ago. There were also many commoners who came to the Imperial City to celebrate the birthday and to observe the ceremony. The Emperor ordered that colorful canopies be set up along the way to receive them.
Throughout the Hall of Preservation and Harmony, Li Yu followed King Jing and broadened his horizons. If there was only one word to describe the Emperor’s birthday, it would be extravagant.
Just the number of gifts presented by the princes, dukes, and ministers was so large that even several rooms in the Hall of Preservation and Harmony couldn’t be piled up. The value of the gifts was so high that any one of them could become an ordinary person’s family heirloom.
The Emperor was very happy and drank a few cups of wine with several important ministers and ministers of the Six Ministries. It was the princes’ turn to present their gifts. According to age, Marquis An, the Second Prince, was at the front of the line. The Emperor allowed him to enter the palace on a special day to celebrate the birthday. However, Mu Tianzhao failed to live up to expectations. His mind was still muddled and he didn’t recognize the Emperor when he saw him.
The Emperor couldn’t help but feel sad when he thought of the elegant Second Prince from the past.
Soon, this sadness was diluted by the other princes. The Third Prince, Mu Tianming, was also allowed to enter the palace. The Emperor saw that Mu Tianming was much more humble and nodded his head. The Third Prince presented a gift that he had carefully selected. It was a Buddhist bone relic that he had spent tens of thousands of gold coins to purchase. The Emperor was touched and felt that the Third Prince was filial. However, the relic must have a place to be enshrined.
Because it was a joyous occasion, the Emperor did not show any dissatisfaction. He only thought deeper. Before, the Third Prince had been under house arrest. Usually, he could only read and copy books. How could he have obtained something as valuable as the sarira?
The Emperor left a question in his heart. The Third Prince repeatedly said that he would repent after he realized his mistake, but the Emperor wanted to investigate the Third Prince’s background.
Li Yu also saw the relic that the Third Prince gave in the crystal bottle. It was pitch-black and he couldn’t tell what shape it was. Regardless of whether the Third Prince bought the real thing or not, most relic were actually refined from the bones of monks. Li Yu was instinctively afraid of this kind of thing.
King Jing sensed Li Yu’s nervousness and covered him with his sleeve.
Li Yu looked through the gap in the sleeve and felt much more at ease.
The two young princes, the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince, each copied scriptures for the Emperor and were led by their mother to kowtow to the Emperor.
The Emperor liked to see the young faces of his younger sons. He had an illusion that he wasn’t old and that he was still young.
When it was the Sixth Prince’s turn, Mu Tianxiao first bowed his head and apologized. He said that he was poor and couldn’t prepare a decent gift. He could only use the light and shadow in the hall to present a gift to the Emperor.
He said this to keep the Emperor in suspense and also aroused the Emperor’s pity. The Emperor was also curious about what the Sixth Prince wanted to do, so he ordered the Sixth Prince to do his best.
Li Yu screamed in his heart: He’s coming, he’s coming. Then, he stuck to the crystal wall with a whoosh.
At the Sixth Prince’s request, half of the candles in the Baohe Hall were extinguished and a few more lamps that the Sixth Prince sent were hung up. The Emperor looked up for a while and felt that these lamps were very ordinary. However, the Sixth Prince asked him to look at the floor.
He saw that there were many shadows of different shades on the golden bricks of the Baohe Hall.
After careful observation, they were actually the characters for longevity. The Emperor was pleasantly surprised. “Tianxiao, how did you do it?”
Mu Tianxiao curved his lips and explained to the Emperor in detail. It turned out that after the Sixth Prince bought the paper lamps, he pasted many pre-cut characters for longevity on the inside of the paper lamps. After lighting the lamps inside, he hung them up high and the light could project the characters on the floor.
Mu Tianxiao modestly said, “It’s just a small trick. I’ve made Imperial Father laugh.”
The Emperor clapped his hands and laughed. “I know it’s not easy for you. You’re very considerate.”
When the Sixth Prince presented the gift, the Third Prince was on the side. Mu Tianming was very confident in the Sarira he sent and hoped that he could rely on it to make a beautiful comeback.
However, he saw the Emperor’s attitude towards him and the Sixth Prince. So in the Emperor’s eyes, the Sarira he bought with thousands of gold coins was actually not as good as the Sixth Prince blindly messing around with a few lamps?
The Third Prince’s heart was filled with panic. At the same time, he was puzzled. Didn’t the Sixth Prince always take the initiative to help him? Why did he steal his limelight on such an important day?
The Third Prince glanced at the Sixth Prince suspiciously. The Sixth Prince softly said, “Third Imperial Brother, don’t be angry. You’re still under house arrest. I’m also thinking that if I can speak in front of Imperial Father, I can help Imperial Brother get away.”
The Third Prince was slightly stunned. The Sixth Prince’s words seemed to make sense, but was it really so?
After the Sixth Prince retreated, Steward Luo came forward and whispered a few words to the Emperor. King Jing’s Eunuch Wang had begged him in advance and asked him to announce King Jing’s gift at the end. Luo Ruisheng did not have to do much to get a favor, so why not? Therefore, when the Emperor praised the Sixth Prince’s gift repeatedly, Luo Ruisheng mentioned King Jing at the right time.
The Emperor smiled and looked at King Jing with slight surprise. ‘Tianchi, I heard that you’ve also prepared an unusual gift this time?”
King Jing usually wrote his own calligraphy. If even King Jing had a surprise, it would be unprecedented.
King Jing stepped forward and presented the calligraphy he had written, as well as a scroll of painting to him.
The Emperor smiled knowingly when he saw King Jing’s calligraphy. Some people had done this for many years, and it could also be considered a form of persistence. When he opened the scroll, the Emperor was instantly filled with joy.
“So you’ve actually asked for Tang Yin’s birthday painting?”
Tang Yin was the artist’s name. This artist was praised as the “Painting Deity” among the people.
The Emperor also admired him very much and had once wanted to recruit him. However, Tang Yin’s personality was eccentric. He did not like money or officials, and he rarely painted for others.
Unexpectedly, he made an exception for the Emperor’s birthday.
The Sixth Prince would personally say that it was not easy for him. King Jing only presented his painting and did not mention a word about how he persuaded Tang Yin. However, when Tang Yin’s painting was displayed, one could tell how much effort he had put into it.
After the Emperor appreciated the painting, he satisfactorily ordered Luo Ruisheng to take it and hang it in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Emperor wanted to look at this painting more often.
The Sixth Prince’s words on the ground were much more vulgar in comparison, so the Emperor did not pay attention to them anymore.
After King Jing presented the painting, he still stood motionless. The Emperor asked curiously, “Do you have something else to give?”
King Jing gently nodded and gestured for the Emperor to go ahead.
The Emperor was in a good mood and was willing to listen to King Jing. He moved in the direction King Jing pointed. King Jing led the way in front and led the Emperor to the side of the Imperial Liquid Pond.
Luo Ruisheng supported the Emperor and looked into the pond together. They saw patches of red dancing in the pond. When they looked closely, they saw that there were many red carps swimming in the pond.
These red carps swam continuously and gathered in front of the Emperor. They did not disperse for a long time.
Luo Ruisheng understood that this might be the reason why King Jing led the Emperor here. He smiled and said, “Your Majesty, look. These fish are congratulating you.”
The Emperor smiled and nodded. The school of fish was very pleasing.
The Sixth Prince followed behind the Emperor with a smile on his face. However, he was somewhat disdainful in his heart. What was this? As long as he sprinkled fish food into the pond before the Emperor arrived, the fish would gather. This was no better than an insignificant trick.
How could it be compared to his light and shadow longevity words?
The Emperor was looking at the fish in the pond when he suddenly realized that the fish seemed be in a formation. Some were horizontal, some were vertical, and they looked very much like strokes.
Luo Ruisheng had already figured it out. He exclaimed excitedly, “Are these fishes arranged in a Chinese character?”
The Emperor took a step back and looked at all the red carps. The patches of red connected to each other and formed an extremely spectacular and neat word.
– – The word longevity.
It was his birthday, and it was also the birthday that King Jing had written for many years.
Luo Ruisheng was shocked and almost cried with joy, “Your Majesty, this is the Red Carp Birthday Offering!”
The Emperor first received Tang Yin’s painting of the Immortal Crane and Flat Peach, and now the Red Carp Birthday Offering. He was very happy. Luo Ruisheng immediately took the lead and said auspicious words to the Emperor. After a basket of different auspicious words, the school of red carps still did not disperse!
The crowd had never seen such a scene before, so they all rushed forward to watch the fun.
The Emperor was most satisfied with King Jing’s gift and praised King Jing profusely, but he did not ask how King Jing did it. There was no need to talk about the beautiful scenery, so the Emperor just treated it as a spectacle.
Mu Tianming looked at all this angrily. When he saw that Mu Tianxiao was also watching, he mocked and ridiculed, “I can’t compare to your ingenuity, and you can’t even compare to a mute.”
The Sixth Prince just smiled and said, “Fifth Imperial Brother’s gift is extraordinary. I’m indeed still far from it.”
Mu Tianming saw that he would only be a foil if he continued, so he hurriedly excused himself.
Mu Tianxiao was all smiles from beginning to end, and no one could find anything wrong with it.
The Emperor had been appreciating the red carps for a long time, but the red carps were still there. The Sixth Prince’s heart was moved.
He knew that King Jing must have done something to the water since the carps could arrange the word longevity, but he did not know how King Jing did it. However, if he could destroy the fish array, King Jing could no longer be so proud.
It did not take long for the Sixth Prince to find a flaw. He asked the eunuch nearby, “Is there any fish food? I’ve never seen such a scene before. I really want to feed these fish.”
The Sixth Prince was not stupid. He would not poison the fish right under the Emperor’s nose. He just wanted to feed the fish. There must be a reason why these fish could arrange the word longevity. However, fish were fish. How could they have brains? As long as he threw a handful of fish food, the fish would immediately fight for it.
In such a situation, most of the onlookers would want to feed the fish. The Sixth Prince’s action was not abrupt. Even the Emperor heard it and said, “Yes, even I want to reward them.”
King Jing’s heart was in his throat for a moment. However, he remembered Xiaoyu’s warnings and repeated assurances that he could not ruin Xiaoyu’s plan. King Jing forced himself to calm down and stared at the fish.
The Sixth Prince smiled proudly. He took the fish food from the eunuch and threw a large handful of it.
The red carps rushed over to fight for the food, and the huge “longevity’ word disappeared in an instant!
The Emperor realized something and felt a little regretful. However, just as the red carps were dispersing, he saw a silver koi fish with gold on its bottom slowly swim up from the original position of the ‘longevity’ word.
This koi fish had a lotus in its mouth. Its golden fins cut open the blue waves of the Imperial Liquid Pool. It swam to the Emperor’s feet and elegantly turned a circle.
The Emperor, “!!!”
The Emperor had never been more surprised in his life than at this moment!
“Tianchi, these are …… the fish you raised!”
The Emperor quickly recognized King Jing’s fish pet.
King Jing nodded and looked dotingly at the fish that still wanted to do the seaweed dance in the water.
The Sixth Prince was up to no good. Fortunately, Xiaoyu was prepared.
