Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character's Revenge

"Long live your majesty!"

Amidst the welcoming cheers of the crowd in the hall, Yue Zeyuan arrived at the central seat at the head of the table and sat down, lifting the hem of his robe.

"Everyone, get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The first thing Yue Zeyuan did after sitting down was to glance at Qi Ning in the seat to his right.

It has been almost half a month since they last met.

She was dressed exquisitely today, wearing a palace gown woven with cloud silk brocade, and her face looked radiant, indicating that she had been in a good mood lately.

Yue Zeyuan thought to himself that she was probably relieved to know that Shen Yixiao was not in mortal danger.

After glancing at it, he looked away.

Eunuch Xu bowed and whispered in Yue Zeyuan's ear, "Your Majesty, the Chu envoy who came to offer birthday greetings has not yet arrived."

Yue Zeyuan didn't believe that the Chu envoy had come simply to congratulate him on his birthday; he was more likely aware that there were other motives.

For example, it is related to their princess who was sent to marry a foreign ruler.

Not only that, they dared to be late on the Emperor's birthday, which shows that they were not sincere in their wish to offer their congratulations, so there was no need to give them any face.

"Since they haven't arrived yet, tell them not to come," Yue Zeyuan said coldly.

"Yes, this servant understands," Eunuch Xu quickly replied.

After giving these instructions, the banquet officially began.

First, the imperial relatives and ministers offered their birthday wishes and toasts to Yue Zeyuan.

When it was the turn of an elderly duke with white hair, he stood up with his wine cup in hand.

He first offered some auspicious birthday wishes to Yue Zeyuan, and then earnestly said, "Your Majesty, you have been on the throne for some time now. The continuation of the royal bloodline and the succession of offspring are of paramount importance to our dynasty."

As soon as he started speaking, Yue Zeyuan knew what he wanted to say.

It must be because the memorial urging the selection of talents had not received a response for a long time, so they took this opportunity to urge him to hold the selection in person.

As the old duke finished speaking, he glanced, intentionally or unintentionally, in the direction where Qi Ning was.

He said meaningfully, "For royal offspring, the purity of bloodline is especially crucial."

The implication behind this statement is quite clear: Consort Ning was a princess sent by the Chu Kingdom for a political marriage. If she were to conceive the imperial heir, her bloodline would be impure. Only the imperial heirs born to the concubines of the Yue Kingdom would have pure bloodlines.

Although it is said that His Majesty does not particularly favor this princess who is being sent to marry a foreign ruler, she is the only consort in the palace and is very likely to conceive a royal heir.

Upon hearing this, Qi Ning let out a sarcastic smile.

Upon hearing this, Yue Zeyuan glanced at Qi Ning, only to see her looking completely unconcerned, picking up a wine glass from the table and drinking.

The old Duke was still rambling on, "Your Majesty, please forgive this old minister for speaking so much, but I hope that Your Majesty will consider the imperial heir and start the selection of consorts as soon as possible to fill the harem..."

"I understand what you mean."

Yue Zeyuan said somewhat impatiently, "Sit down."

The old Duke was interrupted by Yue Zeyuan before he could finish speaking, and his expression stiffened slightly.

Looking more closely at Yue Zeyuan's expression, it didn't seem particularly good, as if he was being scolded for talking too much.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The old Duke dared not offer any further advice and sat down.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit stiff, Princess Rongchang quickly smiled and tried to smooth things over.

"Your Majesty, today is your first birthday celebration since your ascension to the throne, which is no ordinary occasion. I have prepared a special gift for Your Majesty. I wonder if Your Majesty will like it?"

As she spoke, Grand Princess Rongchang gestured to the maid behind her, instructing her to present the prepared congratulatory gifts.

The maid presented a tray covered with a red cloth. When the cloth was lifted, a glittering gold filigree ruyi was revealed.

Yue Zeyuan glanced at it and nodded slightly: "Aunt is very thoughtful."

Hearing Yue Zeyuan call her aunt in front of everyone, Princess Rongchang was very happy: "It's good that I can win His Majesty's favor."

"Besides the birthday gift I prepared for Your Majesty, my daughter Tian'er also prepared a birthday gift for Your Majesty. Her gift is much more thoughtful than mine, and Your Majesty should like it."

As she spoke, she patted Chen Tian's hand beside her: "Tian'er, why don't you quickly present your congratulatory gift to His Majesty?"

"Yes, aunt."

With a blush of shyness on her face, Chen Tian stood up and had the congratulatory gift she had prepared brought out.

It is a screen embroidered with a magnificent landscape painting, the design is grand and the stitching is very fine.

"Your Majesty, this is a screen that I embroidered myself, stitch by stitch. I present it to Your Majesty as a birthday gift, wishing Your Majesty's empire eternal stability," Chen Tian said, standing beside the screen.

Many people nodded in approval as they looked at the screen.

That screen was indeed a masterpiece. Qi Ning could tell at a glance that such a large screen would take at least one or two months to embroider, even if one worked day and night. It seemed that Miss Chen had indeed put a lot of thought into it.

However, it seems her efforts were somewhat in vain.

Yue Zeyuan glanced at it briefly and said only two words: "Not bad."

After saying that, he gave Eunuch Xu a look, and Eunuch Xu had the screen taken away, without giving Miss Chen a chance to say more.

Miss Chen even wanted to show off her finger that had been pricked by a needle.

"Your Majesty, I..." Chen Tian looked dejected, hesitant to speak.

"Tian'er, come back."

Seeing Yue Zeyuan's reaction, Princess Rongchang quickly stopped Chen Tian, ​​who then reluctantly returned to her seat.

Following that, the others present also presented their congratulatory gifts.

The items prepared by the young ladies from prominent families were all carefully chosen, including all sorts of rare treasures, calligraphy, paintings, weapons, and exquisite embroidery, which were no less impressive than the screen prepared by the Chen family's young lady.

Yue Zeyuan looked at each gift one by one, his expression remaining indifferent, as if none of them had touched his heart.

He held his wine glass, listening to the people below introduce their congratulatory gifts, but his gaze unconsciously drifted towards Qi Ning.

Everyone knows about giving gifts, but she remained as still as a mountain, even admiring the gifts others gave her with great interest, while she herself didn't give anything, as if she hadn't prepared anything at all.

Yulan stood behind Qi Ning, looking slightly embarrassed.

She had reminded her many times beforehand, but not only did the Empress not prepare the gifts herself, she even said no need when she suggested picking one out of the storeroom.

With so many people present, it was rather inappropriate for their empress to arrive empty-handed without any preparation.

Qi Ning, however, seemed oblivious, sitting comfortably and occasionally tasting the food and wine on the table.

Actually, her mind wasn't on that at the moment; she was thinking about something else.

Qi Ning knew the next step of the process: after they finished presenting their gifts, it would be the turn of the envoys from the smaller countries to offer their birthday greetings.

Even if the Chu envoys were putting on airs, they should have shown up by now.

It wouldn't be appropriate for Qi Ning not to attend today's banquet; it would make her seem guilty.

But if she comes and is seen by the Chu envoy, wouldn't her identity be exposed?

Therefore, Qi Ning planned to make an appearance before Yue Zeyuan today and then find an excuse to leave before the Chu envoy arrived.

She had already instructed the system to keep an eye on the Chu envoys and remind her in advance before they entered the palace.

However, the system failed to issue a warning for a long time, which made Qi Ning feel a little strange.

"System, has the Chu envoy entered the palace?"

"Host, the Chu envoys are at the palace gate. They want to come in, but Yue Zeyuan has ordered them to be stopped at the palace gate and not allowed to enter," the system replied.

Oh? The Chu envoy can't get in.

This is certainly a good thing for Qi Ning, as she no longer needs to hide.

However, Qi Ning asked again, "Where is Yun Jing?"

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