Almost imdiately, Zhao Xi guessed what the gift Song Wei was talking about might be. The calm expression on his face began to crack, turning into disbelief.
Song Yuanbao’s eyes widened even more, "My father, he..."
A minister next to him leaned over and asked, "Little Yuanbao, do you know what’s inside that?"
Song Yuanbao shook his head quickly, "I don’t know, I know nothing."
"Then why are you so nervous?"
"I... I’m excited."
"..."
Song Yuanbao found the man sowhat familiar and asked Zhao Xi in a low voice, "Your Highness, who’s the gentleman on our left?"
Zhao Xi glanced at him and said slowly, "Cloud General, Ye Hongjiang."
Song Yuanbao’s mind buzzed, and his breathing beca a bit uneven, "Are you sure?"
He hadn’t said anything wrong just now, right? His performance was decent, wasn’t it? Did he make a good first impression on his future father-in-law?
Zhao Xi looked away, unwilling to humor his nervous deanor.
Everyone’s attention was on the twelve chests being carried in by Song Wei’s n. They were all of a set, half-human in height, placed neatly in the hall, exuding a trendous presence.
Emperor Guangxi half-closed his eyes, saying nothing.
Wen Wan asked Song Wei, "Is this the gift you ntioned preparing for the Emperor Uncle?"
Song Wei nodded.
"Twelve chests, almost like a dowry of a small family," Wen Wan laughed.
Song Wei smiled faintly, "This is more interesting than a dowry."
Wen Wan lifted the corners of her lips, "Then I will watch with interest."
Princess Consort Qi was full of curiosity, "Minister Song, what exactly do you have in these chests, so mysterious?"
Song Wei stood up and walked to the center of the hall, bowing towards Emperor Guangxi, "Though it’s a surprise prepared by His Highness leading the entire Divine Soldier Bureau for the Emperor, I suppose the Emperor has already guessed what it is."
Princess Consort Qi couldn’t help but look at Emperor Guangxi.
Emperor Guangxi stroked his beard.
Previously, he hadn’t thought about it, but as soon as the twelve chests entered, he quickly realized: it’s chanical beasts.
The Divine Soldier Bureau had been researching chanical beasts for eight months. Besides the chanical masters left by the late Emperor with Old Marquis Lu, Song Wei gathered craftsn knowledgeable in these chanisms from everywhere. In the Divine Soldier Bureau’s governnt office, over a hundred people participated, and everyone involved in the creation of chanical beasts had so knowledge of chanisms, not completely ignorant.
Emperor Guangxi knew that with Song Wei’s ability, he would eventually be able to create the most unique divine weapon for him. But he didn’t expect that day to be at his own birthday banquet.
It was indeed a surprise, both astonishing and delightful.
"Song Wei, stop being mysterious, hurry up and open it for to see,"
When Emperor Guangxi said this, he did not conceal the joy and anticipation in his tone and even held a hint of pride.
Yes, it was pride.
Regarding chanical beasts, no one from the Divine Soldier Bureau was allowed to reveal a word to outsiders, which was the requirent before completion.
Emperor Guangxi had said that once completed, he wished to share this joy with the world; it was the pride of every citizen of Great Chu.
Coincidentally, today’s Longevity Festival invited officials, and in such a setting, revealing the chanical beasts in the form of birthday gifts could only imagine how much shock it would bring.
Song Wei took the key from the Black Clerk, opened the first chest bent low.
The chest door opened from the side. Song Wei’s tall figure covered most of the door by slightly squatting, so nobody saw what he did. In a blink, a scorpion about three feet long crawled out from inside.
A nearby princess, seeing it, turned pale with fright, "My heavens, what is that?"
Soone else exclaid, "It’s a scorpion! How can a scorpion be that big?"
"It looks so strange, it seems it’s not a living scorpion."
"It’s wood, made of wood."
"How can wood move? It’s just too amazing!"
"The pincers are very sharp, and there’s sothing on the tail that keeps spinning, so quickly. If you put a finger in, it might be ground to mush instantly."
"To create such a masterful work of ingenuity, Minister Song is truly remarkable!"
Inside the entire hall, except for those who had been inside the Divine Soldier Bureau, everyone else saw a chanical beast for the first ti. They were all stunned and, once recovered, erupted into exclamations of amazent.
Princess Consort Qi watched for a long ti but couldn’t discern the purpose of this thing, so she asked Song Wei, "Is this the birthday gift from your Divine Soldier Bureau to the Emperor?"
Song Wei nodded, "Exactly, a set of twelve, each different."
"Is there any special significance?" Princess Consort Qi asked again.
It’s novel, yes, but who would present a scorpion at a birthday celebration? It might seem inauspicious.
Princess Consort Qi recalled earlier Song Wei said that this was a gift from Zhao Xi leading the Divine Soldier Bureau for the Emperor, and she beca a bit worried, looking towards her son.
Zhao Xi pursed his thin lips while his eyes remained on the scorpion, his expression unreadable.
Princess Consort Qi tilted her head slightly, only to see Emperor Guangxi’s eyes dark and unreadable, making her heart leap.
This son of hers, she didn’t know whom he took after, was always the type to remain unbowed even struck by thunder since a young age. Half a month ago, she had already prepared the birthday gifts and let him choose one to present to the Emperor today. Who knew he would refuse to choose, saying he was preparing sothing himself.
When Princess Consort Qi asked what he had prepared, he didn’t respond.
If she had known earlier that it was such an inauspicious thing, she should’ve forced him to bring one of the gifts she had picked.
While Princess Consort Qi was lost in thought, Song Wei had already opened the second chest, revealing a fierce tiger. This tiger had even more chanisms, with sharp iron claws on its limbs, appearing more ferocious than the scorpion.
As there was no one to operate them, the scorpion and tiger each took a short walk and then stopped.
Only then did everyone dare to stretch their necks to look, discussing as they did.
Facing the curious gazes of everyone, Song Wei explained unhurriedly, "This thing is called a chanical beast. What you see now are only models; the completed products are in the warehouse of the Divine Soldier Bureau. Considering their large size is inconvenient to transport, we could only bring the smaller versions for the audience to view."
Soone asked, "If these are just models, how large are the completed versions?"
Song Wei replied, "For the finished ones, a single chanical beast requires at least four people inside to operate it simultaneously."
"Heavens, that’s incredible!"
The sounds of amazent from the crowd stirred Emperor Guangxi’s blood. He looked at Song Wei with bright eyes, "A complete set of twelve, all made?"
Song Wei shook his head, "The complete set in models; we only finished six of the actual versions. Firstly because ti was limited, second due to limited materials, to ensure quality, we dared not skimp or cut corners."
"Good!" Emperor Guangxi clapped, "Very good! With chanical beasts in hand, why should Great Chu fear a small West Yue?"
Only then did everyone realize, the chanical beasts weren’t just for viewing but divine weapons crafted for warfare!
With the models so impressive, the complete products must be incredible!
Song Wei took advantage of the excitent, "Actually, what His Highness gives the Emperor includes not just this, but also the design blueprints for another set of chanical beasts."
With that, he looked at Zhao Xi.
Zhao Xi received the box from Song Yuanbao and walked slowly to Emperor Guangxi, having no idea that the chanical beasts were halfway completed, let alone that Song Wei had prepared such a significant gift for his father today.
Zhao Xi then t the eyes of Mr. Cui, took a deep breath, borrowed strength, and opened the first chest with a forceful push.
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