Greeted by the expectant gazes of the three, Li Shuchen concisely said, "One hundred taels of silver per month for each of you, ask Yan Jiu for it."
The Yunying's assets spanned the three nations, so they were not short on money. On the other hand, the three had gone through hardships with him, so they deserved generous treatment.
After he finished speaking, Yan Wu and Yan Qinghe hoisted Xiu Wen's arms on either side and swiftly carried him towards the Yunying Caravan.
Their hearty laughter still echoed in the wind.
Qi Huan was also delighted for them. She could receive the one hundred and eighty taels of silver with a clear conscience.
With a gentle wave of her hand, she stored the three boxes on the stone table into her space. She liked the practical birthday gifts from the three men. However...
"Shuchen, since you told them I like silver, you're not going to give me silver, are you?"
"No."
The reason he told Yan Qinghe and the others that was simply to avoid being upstaged.
Li Shuchen went back into the house and brought out two large chests in two trips.
"Open and take a look."
Standing in front of the chests, Qi Huan obediently nodded.
Upon lifting the lids, she saw: one chest contained headdresses and jewelry, while the other held dresses and robes.
"Thank you, Shuchen. I love them."
"I'm glad you do."
Seeing her smiling like a blossoming flower, Li Shuchen contentedly curved the corner of his lips.
On a certain day before the palace coup, he went to pay respects to his royal mother and happened upon her admiring some jewelry. She said one of the chests would be kept for the future Crown Prince's Consort.
At the time, he had taken a cursory glance and somehow remembered the designs of some of the jewelry.
Later, those pieces were all destroyed in the fire that engulfed the Phoenix Feather Palace along with his mother.
After getting together with Huan, on a whim, he sketched the designs he recalled and had Yan Jiu find craftsmen to recreate them, passing them on to Huan on his mother's behalf.
Her delight brought him joy as well.
Under his tender gaze, Qi Huan shamelessly stored the two large chests into her space, placing them on the shelves.
This was the first birthday gift Shuchen had given her.
After putting them away, she noticed the dog food on the shelves and took it out, planning to let Heizi try some.
She poured the dog food into Heizi's bowl. Heizi came over, sniffed it, licked up a few pieces to taste, and seemed to find the flavor agreeable, devouring it heartily.
Qi Huan crouched beside Heizi, watching him eat with great interest, while Li Shuchen stood by her side, eyes filled with adoration as he gazed at her.
Around noon, Yan Qinghe and the others returned with lunch, followed by Lu Yueming.
Running up to Qi Huan, Lu Yueming took out a spirit bow from behind her back and excitedly said, "Huan, this bow is light and nimble. When fully drawn, the feathered arrows it shoots can shatter stone within a hundred paces. I'll teach you archery someday so it can protect you for me!"
Qi Huan was grateful for her kindness.
However, after glancing between her and Xiu Wen, Qi Huan took her into the room, set the bow and arrows aside, and softly asked, "Wasn't that red robe Xiu Wen is wearing given by you? It's the first time I've seen him in such a vibrant color."
Towards her close friend, Lu Yueming spoke frankly, "He's my master, so it's not surprising for me to gift him a robe."
"Aren't Yan Wu and Yan Qinghe your masters too?"
"......"
After a moment of silence, Lu Yueming uncharacteristically fidgeted and said in a small voice, "Last time I saw you and Lord Li wearing the same color robes, it looked really good."
Qi Huan understood.
So, during the meal, she discreetly pushed Lu Yueming to sit beside Xiu Wen.
At the table, the two of them in deep red robes looked as if they were about to be married.
As for Li Shuchen, before the meal, he had slyly gone back to change into a bamboo green robe, sitting beside Qi Huan like a perfectly matched pair.
Yan Qinghe glanced at his own pale purple robe, then nudged Yan Wu with his elbow, "Why do their robes look like they match, while only the two of us look out of place?"
"Just you."
Yan Wu looked at Heizi basking in the sun by the door, nodding towards it, "See, at least I have Heizi to keep me company."
"......"
After the meal, Qi Huan returned to the room to avoid Yueming and took out a mahjong set from her space.
"Since you all have monthly allowances now, how about one tael of silver per round?"
After Yan Qinghe agreed, he added a condition, "But Shuchen can't play."
Li Shuchen shot him a cold glance and sat down behind Qi Huan.
Lu Yueming followed suit, moving her chair beside Xiu Wen. Even Heizi was called over by Yan Wu to lie at his feet.
In an instant, Yan Qinghe was dumbfounded.
Why was he the only one left alone?!
Fueled by anger, he won quite a bit of silver.
After the mahjong session and another meal, Qi Huan went back to her room and retrieved some fireworks, planning to invite them to set them off together. But Li Shuchen had brought the horses over.
"Huan, I have one more birthday gift for you."
Qi Huan curiously asked, "What is it?"
"I'll take you to see it."
With that, Li Shuchen swiftly mounted his horse, pulling her up onto the saddle and holding her in his embrace, with two wooden boxes strapped to the horse's rump.
The inquisitive quartet hurriedly followed.
Not wanting to be left out again, Yan Qinghe enthusiastically invited Xiu Wen to share his horse, failing to notice Lu Yueming's gloomy gaze.
Bathed in moonlight, the group galloped through the night.
Two quarters of an hour later, Li Shuchen, who was at the front, reined in his horse and sent a signal into the sky.
After dismounting, the horses leisurely grazed on the fresh wild grass.
Standing by the moat, gazing at the rippling water, Qi Huan cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted into the evening breeze, "Thank you all, I'm so happy today."
Mimicking her, Yan Qinghe also shouted, "Happy birthday, Huan!"
"Happy birthday, Huan!" Lu Yueming yelled even louder, as if competing with him.
After shouting, the group exchanged smiles.
Yan Wu smacked his lips and remarked, "It's just missing some wine."
While Yueming was distracted, Qi Huan went to the wooden boxes on the horse and retrieved some grape wine, bringing it over.
"I've got it!"
Seeing the wine box, Yan Wu's eyes immediately lit up.
Qi Huan then pretended to take out the picnic mat she had previously obtained from the wooden box, spreading it on the ground and blowing up the accompanying balloons to decorate the area.
She then tore open the wine box and declared boldly, "We're not leaving until we're drunk tonight."
To Lu Yueming, these strange and peculiar items were quite curious. Were these left behind by Qi's widely accomplished father as well?
At the moment, that wasn't the key point.
The key was that she had to quickly sit beside Xiu Wen before Yan Qinghe could.
Next, Qi Huan took out the corkscrew from the box and popped open the bottle. With no cups available, she drank straight from the bottle.
"Come, let's toast!"
Glancing at the bottle of red wine in his hand, Yan Qinghe corrected him, "Qi Huan, it's 'bottoms up.'"
"...Alright, bottoms up."
The bottles clinked together, and the wine flowed down their throats.
The red wine had a slight bitterness at first, but a sweet aftertaste that was irresistible. One didn't notice it at first, but the kick came after savoring it.
At that moment, Yan Qinghe leaned against Yan Wu's back and pointed towards the distant river, exclaiming in surprise, "Hey? The river's on fire."
The slightly tipsy Yan Wu replied impatiently, "You're drunk, you fool. How could the water catch fire?"
"My alcohol tolerance is superb, I don't get drunk after a thousand cups, and certainly not after just a few. It's clearly fire! How can there be fire on the water, hahaha."
After saying this, he tilted his head and passed out on the grass.
Yan Wu took a closer look and seemed to notice a glimmer of light. Could he be drunk too? Worried that they might get hurt from the fall, he lay down on the ground too.
Gazing up at the bright moon, he saw a double moon.
Maybe he was indeed drunk? He closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber.
The evening breeze blew, and Qi Huan, concerned that they might catch a cold, purchased a blanket from the system and covered the two with it.
Strangely, the system kept repeating, "Good deed +1, points +1."
"Good deed +1, points +1."
"Good deed +1, points +1."
...
