Mysterious mirror hanging high

Just as Jing Yu said, when the birthday banquet was about to start, he saw his fifth brother Zhao Minglou following Emperor Zhao, the Empress, and two imperial concubines into the Yonghe Palace.

In fact, all seven heirs of the Zhao Kingdom are good-looking, but Jing Yu has to admit that Zhao Minglou's appearance is definitely the undisputed number one among the seven. In Jing Yu's opinion, although the fifth prince has no destiny, he can be regarded as a "stunning beauty" without any charm just based on his appearance!

It's a pity that it's just an embroidered pillow...

"Father (Your Majesty)!" Emperor Zhao himself arrived, and the royal officials waiting at the seats naturally stood up to greet him.

"Haha, thank you all for your courtesy!" Zhao Minglou tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and winked at the princes and princesses who were bowing.

This idiot... Jing Yu bowed his head and saluted, secretly criticizing him in his heart.

The ministers and the heirs of the throne are paying their respects to the emperor. Why are you agreeing to this? Who is the emperor?

Fortunately, Emperor Zhao also knew what kind of person his fifth son was and did not blame him. He just drove Zhao Minglou to his seat and ordered the banquet to begin!

Jing Yu lowered her eyes and glanced at the VIP seats. The Queen naturally sat below Emperor Zhao, followed by two imperial concubines. There were only these three concubines in the harem who were qualified to attend the birthday banquet. Concubine Yu, the mother of the fourth prince Zhao Mingcheng, and Concubine An, the mother of Jing Yu, were not of high rank and could not even enjoy this meal.

On the other side, the first person sitting in the VIP seat was a white-bearded old man who looked to be at least eighty years old. It was said that he was a leading figure among the great scholars in the literary world. He was not only well-known in Zhao State, but also had great prestige in several neighboring countries. Now he was even invited by the Emperor of Zhao.

Adjacent to this old scholar is an old man with a yellow beard and a perfect spirit. His name is Wu Juecheng, and he is the undisputed number one master in the martial arts world of Zhao State. Now he is less than sixty years old, and because of proper maintenance, he is barely in his prime. Jing Yu estimates that if they fight to the death, he and this martial arts master are probably about evenly matched.

----

"The roast chicken in the imperial kitchen has deteriorated a bit..."

Jing Yu was currently holding a half-eaten chicken leg in his hand, silently practicing the Bitter Crossing Sutra, refining the essence in the chicken leg for his own use. The meat of this kind of ordinary poultry and livestock was almost ineffective in improving his physical cultivation, but no matter how small a mosquito leg was, it was still meat, and Jing Yu didn't despise it. The mortal world was not like the world of immortals, and he could only accumulate it like this day by day.

"Feifu County Magistrate Lin Zhao presented a top-grade luminous stone..."

Jing Yu was cheered up because it was time for his favorite treasure presentation!

Lin Zhao himself had some impression of this. Five years ago, when Emperor Zhao celebrated his 50th birthday, he gave him a spiritual jade. It was said to be a treasure from the immortals, but in fact it was just a piece of white jade of good quality.

After this thing was collected, it was thrown directly into the royal secret library. Jing Yu used the earth escape technique to take it out from the secret library. From time to time, he took it out to play with it, trying to absorb some body refining essence from it. Five years later, this spiritual jade was shrunk by Jing Yu.

"Wang Yi, the Magistrate of Mulin County, presented a hundred-year-old red fruit..."

Hundred-year-old red fruit?

When Jing Yu looked up, he was surprised to see a bright red, round fruit in the box.

It really is a red fruit!

"But how can it be a hundred years? Judging from its quality, it's only thirty years at most!" Jing Yu had seen the world and couldn't help but curl his lips.

The Zhu Fruit is a genuine treasure for ordinary martial artists. Eating one can increase one's strength by at least ten years. It is also useful for immortal cultivators. It can barely be considered an auxiliary medicine for refining certain elixirs, or a precious medicine for some body cultivators. However, this thirty-year-old Zhu Fruit cannot be sold at a high price, just one or half a spirit stone.

If it is really a hundred-year-old red fruit, it would cost at least ten spirit stones.

This thing is not only useless but harmful to someone like Emperor Zhao who has never practiced martial arts. He will definitely not be able to use it. I am afraid that it will end up in the royal secret library, or simply be rewarded to some master of the palace.

As for martial arts masters like Wu Juecheng, they most likely won't be able to use it. After all, for a martial arts master, he has already developed his mortal body to the extreme. Taking this red fruit would be like overflowing water, which is not a good thing.

However, for Jing Yu who is practicing the Bitter Crossing Sutra, it is a rare and precious medicine for body refining!

"This thing is destined for me!"

"If I refine this red fruit, maybe the [Bitter Crossing Sutra] can break through to the third level..." Jing Yu watched eagerly as the red fruit was taken away to Yonghe Hall by an old eunuch. He thought it should be directly put into the warehouse. He planned to wait until the birthday banquet was over, and then pretend to be a thief again tonight and go to the royal secret warehouse to buy some goods.

As the birthday gifts and congratulatory messages from various countries and local officials were presented one after another, Jing Yu saw many good things that he could use. Some of them were also very much liked by Emperor Zhao, and most of them would be kept for himself. The rest of the birthday gifts were put into the royal secret treasury and gathered dust. In line with the principle of not wasting, Jing Yu accepted them on behalf of his father with a smile.

"Your son also has a birthday gift to present to your father." The fourth prince Zhao Mingcheng stood up from his seat and said respectfully.

Here it comes! Jing Yu thought secretly.

The next part was the royal heir's birthday tribute. Generally speaking, there was no fixed order of seniority, and it all depended on self-consciousness. This happened at every birthday banquet, but Jing Yu felt that he was still underage at fourteen and could barely sit at the children's table, so he didn't prepare any birthday gifts.

The eunuch who was offering the gift shrieked, "The Fourth Prince presents a piece of Shoushan stone."

Jing Yu smiled. This gift was so conventional that it was boring, which was very much in line with Fourth Brother's style.

Emperor Zhao, sitting upright in the main seat, simply twirled his short beard, expressionless, and said calmly, "Mingcheng is thoughtful."

The tone was even more perfunctory than Zhao Mingcheng's birthday gift.

"Father, I also have a birthday gift to present!" Seeing that his fourth brother was the first to present a gift, the fifth prince Zhao Minglou became a little impatient. He took out a jade box with intricate patterns, which was obviously of great value, from the table and handed it to the young eunuch beside him as if he was presenting a treasure.

When the young eunuch opened the jade box, his face was reflected in a golden color!

Within the jade box lay a golden tripod-shaped cup, its outer wall engraved with precious flowers, the stamens of which were primarily pearls, rubies, and sapphires. On either side were two deformed dragon ears, each with a pearl on the head. All three legs were elephant-shaped, with slightly smaller ears, long tusks, and a curled nose. Jewels were also inlaid on the forehead and between the eyes.

Four seal characters "金擯永固" (Golden Ou Forever) are engraved in the middle of the front of the cup.

"This cup was made by skilled craftsmen from all over the world after a year of effort. It is named [Golden Bowl Forever Cup], which means that our great Zhao country is like a golden bowl, without any flaws!" Zhao Minglou held his head high and chest puffed out, looking around with a look of pride.

What a lasting golden bowl!

Jing Yu looked at the golden cup with shining eyes, and at this moment he had only one thought in his mind.

Can Ku Du Bao Ti absorb the energy from this cup?