Wang Shurong took a closer look and was also very surprised. She picked up one of the silk flowers and placed it in her hand, sincerely admiring Lin Yuanyuan: "No wonder the emperor gave you the title 'Hui'! Look at these phoenix head silk flowers, with over ten golden flowers, each one is independently carved!" As she spoke, she gently swayed her wrist, causing the golden flowers to tremble slightly, and beneath them, a few pink pearls hung down, not ordinary round and smooth ones, but rather varying in size, with a lively and dynamic feel.

  There were twelve hairpins in Wang Shurong's box, apart from the golden phoenix hairpin, there were also carvings of different varieties such as peony, red plum and gardenia. The flower patterns were all unseen before, but they were all very delicate and clever.

  Wang Shurong took them out one by one for everyone to admire. The ladies-in-waiting present were all young and beautiful, and when they saw these pretty little things, even if they didn't like Lin Yuan before, today they couldn't help but praise her. Zhao Shuyuan laughed and said: "What a pity! These twelve pearl hairpins are mainly in moon white, cyan, paired color, and carnation, which is only suitable for the Empress Dowager to wear. Even if we want them, there's no way."

  The empress dowager raised her eyes to look at Zhao Shuyu, but saw that the princess Changning beside her was staring intently at a chrysanthemum hairpin, with a face full of longing and yet not daring to reach out to take it. The empress dowager couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh, pointing at Zhao Shuyu: "Look, on this first day of the new year, she's already coming to fight with me over things!" She still instructed someone to bring fruit preserves to coax Changning, saying: "If Changning likes it, go find your wise mother, the empress, to make a few more. Choose those bright and beautiful colors that match you."

  Chang Ning let out a sigh of relief as soon as she heard this, and Zhao Shuyuan pushed back a few words with a smile on her face to Lin Yuan: "It's not that we should trouble Sister, it's just that these things are too beautiful, and we can't take our eyes off them." After speaking, she hurriedly took off the bangle from her hand and gave it to Lin Yuan, making an appointment to come and pick up the pearl flower for Chang Ning in three days.

  Lin Yan was praised by so many people for the first time, and she felt a little flattered and also a bit empty inside. After all, she wasn't a designer, and those patterns were stolen from her memories of her past life. But what mattered most was that the empress dowager liked them.

  Several concubines accompanied the empress dowager, chatting and laughing, and vying to pass around hairpins. The Longevity Palace was filled with continuous laughter for a while. Before long, all the concubines arrived one after another, and finally appearing at the gate of the Longevity Palace were the emperor's dragon carriage and the empress's phoenix carriage.

  Tuoba Hong and Empress Xiao came hand in hand, which was not unexpected. Although Empress Xiao had long lost favor, on a special day like New Year's Day, Tuoba Hong would still give her face.

  The emperor and empress were the main hosts, they came to Chang Le Palace to pay New Year's greetings to Empress Dowager, and the concubines also followed one after another to kowtow. The atmosphere was festive and grand. As the ceremony ended and everyone took their seats, their gifts were also collected by Zhi Shi one by one and presented in front of Empress Dowager.

  Tuoba Hong, as the emperor and also the Empress Dowager's own son, was in a good mood during holidays and with a wave of his hand, the Ringxiu Villa on the back mountain of the imperial palace, which occupied thousands of acres, became the Empress Dowager's. After Mu Wuwang's death, Tuoba Hong began to relax and, apart from working hard to govern the country and bring peace to the nation, he enjoyed all the luxuries without exception. To make the Empress Dowager happy, he took out one million taels of silver from the national treasury to repair the Ringxiu Villa. Of course, this is nothing compared to him being one of the more frugal emperors in the history of the Great Qin Dynasty.

  The queen took out a "Thousand Cranes Painting", the paper of the painting was slightly old, and the scent of incense could still be faintly smelled. She smiled and handed it to the empress dowager, explaining: "This is a genuine work by Wang Yong of the Han Dynasty, which my father found in Huainan last month. I know that Your Majesty likes ancient calligraphy and painting, so I dare not enjoy it alone, and specially present it to you."

  The implication of the "Thousand Cranes Picture" is self-evident. When elders in aristocratic families celebrate their birthdays, giving them paintings with auspicious themes such as "Divine Turtle Inscription" and "Thousand Cranes Picture" that symbolize good fortune and longevity is most welcomed. The painting presented by the Empress was extraordinary. Having served in the palace for a long time, Concubine Li had seen much and knew well. As she held the painting with both hands and presented it, she couldn't help but praise: "I heard that this Thousand Cranes Picture was destroyed in the war of the previous dynasty, yet I didn't expect to see it again today. Wang Yong is the founder of flower-and-bird painting, unfortunately very few of his works have been passed down, this piece is truly too precious."

  The things presented by the queen are true or false, especially the scent of the painting on the scroll is the anti-corrosion used.

  The eunuchs unfolded the painting in front of the empress dowager, who took a glance and smiled slightly, her face full of satisfaction. "The empress has put in effort," she said. Although she didn't like the empress, on this grand festival, considering the Thousand Crane Picture, she rarely praised the empress once. Wang Yong's life was over 600 years ago, his official career was bumpy and he was demoted several times, finally he was convicted and his family was confiscated. When his house was confiscated, his calligraphy and paintings were plundered and scattered all over the place, after experiencing hundreds of years, most of them were destroyed, so his true works are very rare. The empress's father could find the Thousand Crane Picture among the people, it was not easy, which shows the empress's effort.

  The gifts from the concubines were all unique, with some being as precious as carved flowers and jade, but none compared to the value of the "Thousand Crane Painting". The empress dowager accepted each gift one by one, while also bestowing generous rewards on everyone. As she grew older, during grand celebrations, she enjoyed watching her younger descendants gather around her, and the rewards she distributed were very generous, making everyone happy together. Ye Liangyu was already four months pregnant, with a visible belly, and the empress dowager favored her, specially bestowing precious tonics and jade utensils on her, as well as ordering her not to kneel when paying respects, but just sit instead. Others gazed at Ye's swollen belly, their smiling eyes hiding resentment and jealousy.

  In the end, Wang Cai's gift was indeed one of Lin Yuan's return gifts, a small and delicate jade inlaid cuff, which wasn't eye-catching among the concubines but enough to be presentable and matched her status. As she retreated, her eyes showed gratitude as she secretly glanced at Lin Yuan, who sat quietly with a smile, pretending not to notice.

  The imperial consorts finished their New Year's greetings, and the empress dowager ordered the palace maids to set out a meal, inviting everyone to join in. The entire Chang Le Palace was filled with joy and harmony, and the empress dowager enjoyed a happy family reunion.

  The New Year's Day breakfast was a feast for the eyes but not for the taste buds, with exquisite dishes arranged to form the four characters "Fu", "Lu", "Rong" and "Shou". Only after taking a bite did one realize they were just carrots and cabbage, completely flavorless. Lin Yan had only eaten a few mouthfuls before putting down her chopsticks and picking up a Thousand-Year-Old Lucky Bag to munch on instead.

  Just at the meal time, suddenly an inner attendant came in and reported: "Wei Zhaoyi's daughter has come to offer congratulations on your birthday."

  The Empress Dowager listened to this, slowly put down her chopsticks. Tuoba Hong also put down his teacup and asked those around him: "Zhaoyi was seriously ill and had just recovered, the imperial physician said a few days ago that she was still weak and could not leave the house, how did she come today?"

  Yao Fu Sheng bowed and said, "It's the first day of the Lunar New Year, everywhere in the palace is filled with joy. It's a good omen that Consort Ying has woken up. Today, on the first day of the year, she's feeling happy and her body has suddenly recovered, it's all due to the blessings of good fortune."

  Yao Fusheng is a nobody, having mixed in the palace for half his life, and yet his level of speaking is only that high.

  Tuoba Hong smiled slightly and turned his head to instruct loudly: "Please ask the imperial concubine to come in, An Gui, go and add a seat for the imperial concubine."

  As they spoke, Wei Zhaoyi had already been led in by the palace maid. She looked well, with a happy expression on her face, but she was very thin and weak. She knelt down and respectfully paid homage to the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress, saying: "Today is a grand day, I, your subject, have arrived late, I hope the Empress Dowager will forgive me."

  The empress dowager looked at her and said, "You're not well, the emperor has already excused you from paying respects. Since you've come, sit down quickly."

  Tuoba Hong also said: "Awei, quickly sit down. Your body is not fully recovered, in such cold weather, how can you go out of the house?"

  Wei Huan Zhuang smiled and sat down, her eyes scanning the concubines with a gentle wave, bowing her head and speaking softly: "I'm not so delicate, it's just that I had only recently woken up those days ago, my arms and legs were weak, so I couldn't get out of bed. I've recovered a lot now, Imperial Physician Liang said I didn't have any underlying illness, after another three months of recuperation, I'll be no different from ordinary people."

  Tuoba Hong listened with a smile: "Good. Your body is fine, that's the most important thing."

  The empress ordered the palace staff to serve Wei Zhaoyi a bowl of nourishing congee, and according to her rank, added a dish of braised dragon and gold-plated four blessings. She smiled beside the emperor: "Zhaoyi has arrived, so it's a family reunion. The queen mother is also delighted. Since the imperial physician said Zhaoyi doesn't have any underlying illness, she should focus on recuperating and give birth to another child for the emperor."

  Wei Zhaoyi's hand clenched the handkerchief in her palm upon hearing the two words "Zi Si", but she immediately put on a grateful expression and said to the Empress: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kind words."

  After finishing, she took a gift box from the hands of the palace maid behind her and presented it to the empress dowager with both hands: "The empress dowager is forever young and immortal, I don't have anything valuable, so I drew a painting myself as a gift for the empress dowager."

  The Empress Dowager was a gentle person, and after hearing this, she just smiled lightly: "It doesn't matter, during the New Year's festival, you already have a good intention." As she spoke, Concubine Heng and Concubine Yun opened the box and took out the painting from inside, unfolding it in front of everyone.

  Originally, everyone didn't pay much attention. Wei Zhaoyi had been bedridden for many years, and being able to come today was already a great show of respect to the Empress Dowager. Even if her gift wasn't expensive, the Emperor and Empress Dowager would still appreciate it. However, when everyone saw the painting scroll, they all gasped in unison, with some soft murmurs of admiration or astonishment coming from the imperial consorts.

  Tuoba Hong first stood up, walked forward to examine the painting carefully, and finally clapped his hands with a loud laugh: "Good, good, good! Ah Man really understands my and the empress dowager's thoughts, this gift is the best one I've seen today!"

  On the painting, it was indeed a map of the Great Qin's territory. However, it wasn't just the Great Qin - to the north were the Da Yue and Xiongnu, to the west were the Xia Kingdom and Tubo, and to the south were the Dali and Chenla, all incorporated into the map. Such a vast domain, with its majestic mountains and rivers, five different colors of land - yellow, black, white, red, and purple - unfolded before one's eyes. The Empress Dowager's normally calm face gradually revealed a surprised glow, and then she laughed: "What exquisite painting skills! This is the Huai River, this is the Yangtze, this is the Imperial City... it's painted so realistically!"