Chapter 6：The Madame's Birthday

The prince finally left and how relieved I was. I really want nothing to do with the Wu Clan. All I want is to leave this place. Seriously, just leave this and go back to where my poor pup is waiting for me.

"Ah! Sis Ling, I forgot to remind you."

"What?"

"A week from now is Madame's birthday."

OMG! I totally forgot because of the prince intrusion this court. Well, not that I would have remembered anyways. I was too busy thinking of plans on how to escape anyway.

"Hao'er, where can I find wood?"

"Sis, you can find it in the kitchen, but why do you need it?"

"It's the Madame's birthday, of course I have to have it made by me. I want to show my sincerity to her."

"Sis! I'm sure she will be very happy!"

"I hope so..."

We left to the kitchen to find the wood I needed.

"Mistress, you don't need to enter the kitchen, I can get it for you."

"It's okay. You don't know which wood I want, so I can pick it by myself."

"Alright, but please be careful."

"Hao'er you don't need to worry about me that much. Hehe... I'm not that fragile."

"But Mistress, no matter how many times I think it over, I have never seen a concubine entering a kitchen. In fact they hate it. If they want something, they would order their servant to give it to them instead."

I ignored that last sentence, because after all, I'm not from this time, nor this world. Going inside the kitchen, I got many weird looks, but its to be expected. Nobody expects to see a woman of a wealthy man in a kitchen especially when she is beautiful. The more beautiful she is, the more she is less likely to step inside of a kitchen.

Going to the wood pile, I found the perfect wood to make my present for the Madame. I'm just doing this to gain recognition from the second lead. He really liked talents, that's how the female lead was able to attract the his attention. As long as I can present to the Madame such a perfect, he will definitely notice me.

A week passed by like nothing because of the time I spent making the present. On the day that we were to present the presents, I was more than ecstatic. This is my second time seeing him. The first time was in an unfavorable situation, but this time, if I show off my talents, he will definitely glow his eyes for me.

Walking to the main hall for the Madame's birthday, I discovered that I would have to bow many times. Too many times. We the concubines already bowed 4 times before even reaching the main hall. And now, we are bowing another to an art that the emperor gave to Madame for her birthday.

After finishing bowing to that, we were finally lead to the main hall. We were to sit in our respective seats until it was our turn to present our gifts. After presenting out gifts, we would go back to our seat and wait until the rest were done presenting their gifts.

Once the presentations were done, the concubines would leave back to their courts. I didn't because as long as Shu Xienghao saw my art, I would more than happy. This was the first reason why I putted so much effort into making this present. The second reason be because naturally it is the Madame's birthday, but normally, I don't think I would have putted so much effort.

The prince first presented his gift. It was a tea set. The tea set was beautiful with its glass blown job. Whoever made it was a very creative and artistic person with lots of skills. Of course, I could have made it better, but it's much better to not show all your skills to the world.

Then, the rest of the concubines presented their gifts. I can tell that all they made sure of was that the presents were expensive and beautiful to try and gain the Madame's favor, but they really put straight out there. I feel like the woman in these days are very, what should I say 'dumb'.

I was finally the only one left to present. It would have been better if the female lead's present was presented before me, but since I put so much effort into, I am hoping it will give me extra marks.

"Bring it in!"

Everybody presented their presents just by waving their maid forward, but this girl, she commands. What is she presenting me that needs to be carried in?

Once the covered item was brought in, Zhao Ling grabbed the cover from the item. Removing the cover, it showed to everyone a table. Not any table though. It was a three-legged table with a fresh scent plus another scent, most likely plum blossoms. There was a golden phoenix carved into that looked so real it could come to life. There were also words carved there 'Peace, Longevity' and was painted gold.

Goodness, I can finally breathe. I was so nervous about this that I could have fainted any moment. I was about to go back to my seat seeing that the Madame was happy. Of course, she would be happy. Her son gave her a tea set and I gave her a very beautiful table that collaborated with each other. Who doesn't like to show off?

When I finally took a step Shu Xienghao stood up and asked me, "The poem here, how did you ingrave it?"

He must be talking about the barely noticeable poem that ingraved. "I carved it in with a needle."

"A needle would break with the pure force..."

"When I was small a friend of mine taught me how to cultivate, I was able to use my spirituality to make the needle more than strong enough to make carving on the table."

"What poem? Gugu, go look at the poem for me."

"Yes, Madame. Would you like me to read it?"

The Madame nodded at this. This young girl is definitely different from the rest. They all bought the most expensive to gift me, but hers was handmade. She has such golden hands.

"Plants, flowers, trees, they all end up at different points, but they all blossom every season. They all wither at some point, but they lived an infinite life of prosperity and beauty, being swayed by the wind, but landing in the same spot they've been living for years, starting the cycle again"

This talented young girl! To be able to make such a beautiful poem. She is clearly wishing me what she can not say out loud. You could sense the sincerity from the poem itself.

Now that I think about it, Bai Xiangxiu has a good personality. While I was analyzing the concubines, I could see that she upon entering she purposely kept a low profile and not only that, she even took her appearance to importance, but no matter how much she tried to hide it, she is a natural beauty, so she could hide that other than make it a little tiny bit duller.