"This... the prince seems to have not presented the gift yet!" Concubine Qin said hesitantly. She had just witnessed the prince's cruelty. Although she wanted to humiliate the prince now, she did not dare to show it too obviously. Thinking of the last time she hired a killer to kill the prince but failed, Concubine Qin felt that this prince was not simple.
As soon as Concubine Qin finished speaking, everyone looked at the Crown Prince. Although they did not dare to be as rude as Concubine Xin just now, they were still very curious about what birthday gift the Crown Prince would give to the Emperor. After all, the Crown Prince had always hidden in the mansion and did not attend the Emperor's birthday parties in the past.
Shang Wuxin put down the snacks in his hand, took a box from Wuwei's hand and stood up, "Father, I wish you good health!"
The birthday greetings were unoriginal or had no intention at all. Everyone thought that the prince was too casual or too arrogant, but smart people felt that the prince had an extraordinary demeanor and did not have the hypocrisy of officialdom.
Eunuch Xu took the box from the prince's hand. Emperor Shang did not look at it, but the Fourth Prince spoke up, "I wonder what gift the prince will present? Let us all feast our eyes on it." The Fourth Prince Shang Ancang seemed to just want to see the gift presented by the prince, but in fact he knew very well that the prince's mansion was very poor and how could there be any good birthday gifts. It would be a very gratifying thing to make the prince lose face in public.
The mother of the Fourth Prince Shang Ancang died of illness a few years ago, but he was able to stand in the court on his own. His ability should not be underestimated.
"Open it!" said the Emperor Shang, and Eunuch Xu opened the brocade box in front of everyone. Immediately, the gift in the brocade box appeared in everyone's sight, but everyone was shocked, and some even stood up in disbelief.
Huan Moche looked at the birthday gift in the box and glanced at the prince with some concern, thinking that if the emperor blamed the prince he would protect the prince this time no matter what.
Leng Yufeng glanced at the box and didn't quite understand what the prince wanted to do, but he believed that the prince would not do anything useless. He seemed to have paid too much attention to the prince today, but the prince had the ability to attract people's attention, even his good friend Mo Che seemed to be the same. He always saw his friend looking at the prince from time to time, and there was something in it...
"Crown Prince, today is Father's birthday. Even if your Crown Prince's Mansion is so poor, you cannot just give Father a few bad rice grains. What do you mean by this?" The eldest prince Shang Chengzhao scolded, and even the other princes stood together to accuse the Crown Prince of disagreement. Although they were not as harmonious as they appeared on the surface, they had never taken Shang Wuxin seriously because he was incompetent, but now Shang Wuxin was too threatening, and now the position of Crown Prince was in Shang Wuxin's hands, so the first thing they needed to do was to deprive Shang Wuxin of the position of Crown Prince.
"Prince, what does this mean?" Emperor Shang asked as he looked at the gift, with a hint of blame in his voice.
"Father!" Shang Wuxin came to Eunuch Xu's side and lifted the box high so that everyone could see the mottled rice grains inside. "There is famine in the south right now, and even rice grains like this are snatched by the people. However, countless people have died in the south due to famine in the past few months, so I presented this birthday gift today just to let my brothers and sisters know that although the Prince's Mansion is poor, there are still many poor and innocent people. I know that father cares about the people, so I specially reported it to you!"
"Bang!" Emperor Shang slammed the imperial table hard. "Such a big thing, but none of my beloved ministers wrote a letter to the emperor? Good, it's really good!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Many ministers knelt on the ground. Some of them really didn't know, while some ministers refused to write a letter. After all, the officials who managed the south had a huge responsibility when something like this happened. In the eyes of those in power, the common people were the lowest.
"Brother Emperor, I wonder what you think of this gift from me? It lets my father know about the hardships of the people. Is this birthday gift too shabby?" Just when everyone was holding their breath and keeping silent, Shang Wuxin walked up to the kneeling eldest prince Shang Chengzhao and looked down at these princes.
"I...I..." Shang Chengzhao was speechless. He had never expected that there would be such a thing behind a few grains of rice.
Emperor Shang was furious for a long time, then looked at the ministers and said, "The Crown Prince knows everything, but you don't. It seems that you are confused. Now, tell me what we should do?"
No one dared to speak, and no one dared to touch the dragon's whiskers when the emperor was so angry. The emperor looked at the ministers and said in a slightly gentler voice, "Master Huan, you are very wise. Tell me what to do about the famine."
(End of this chapter)