Chapter 29: A Proud Birthday Banquet
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
A few days later, it was finally the day of Ye Gu’s birthday banquet.
Early in the morning, Ye Lingyue changed into a pale blue silk dress with orchids of the same color embroidered onto the skirt. Her long black hair was also braided into a Wishing bun, and that made her look energetic, bright, pretty, and playful.
Under Ye Lingyue’s insistence, Ye Fengyu agreed to attend the birthday banquet, so she did her best to dress up and put on some makeup.
When Ye Fengyu was done, Ye Lingyue’s eyes widened until they were perfectly round.
From her point of view, ever since her mother drank the Hundred Fruits Wine, her complexion had improved greatly. The way she dressed up that day made her skin look even fairer. She looked like a pretty Empty-Valley orchid.
Staring at the mother and daughter, Aunt Liu sobbed happy tears. Ever since Little Miss became clever, Young Miss started to smile more, too.
Thank the Gods for not abandoning this pair of pitiful mother and daughter until the end.
Ye Lingyue held her mother’s hand with Squeaky in tow as they arrived at the main hall to greet the birthday celebrant.
Because it was the Master’s birthday, they decorated the whole Ye family manor with the word ‘Longevity.’ The words were even made from gold foil. Swaying with the wind, lanterns hung from everywhere, and in the backyard, where Pine trees and Cyprus trees stood, ninety-nine tables were set up for the happy banquet as well. Even an opera performance was set for the event, too.
The birthday celebrant, Ye Gu, looked perfectly healthy and flushed as he stood at the door in his long birthday robe. He happily welcomed all the guests in.
The moment the Ye mother and daughter appeared, the noisy backyard instantly hushed down.
The two were great beauties. When they walked in together, their beauty shone and attracted the attention of several people.
“Those two… When did we have such beautiful people in Autumn Maple town?”
“That is the Ye Third Young Miss and her daughter. I never thought that they would attend today’s birthday banquet, too.”
“Could she be the famous one in Autumn Maple Town back then? If so, then wouldn’t the person next to her be the Great Xia Hong Family’s—”
Some of the guests’ discussions trailed into Ye Lingyue and her mother’s ears. As Ye Lingyue listened, she could feel her mother freezing on the spot for a moment. But she then directed a glare towards those talkative guests.
They hurriedly hushed themselves. In the Ye family, any word related to that family, even if they were homonyms, shouldn’t be mentioned at all.
“Third Sister, you’re here… Lingyue is here, too.” When Ye Fengyun saw Ye Fengyu and her daughter, he couldn’t help but nod.
Although Ye Gu remained quiet, his eyes couldn’t help but glance towards Ye Fengyu and her daughter every few moments.
“Oh, it’s no wonder why the magpies had been crying non-stop the moment I woke up this morning. It turns out that Third Sister is here.” Ye Fengcheng walked over with his family.
Ye Qing looked outstanding amongst his family in his bright outfit. When he saw Ye Lingyue, he glared ruthlessly at her.
Ye Fengcheng arrived in front of Ye Gu and respectfully greeted the latter. He was also holding a gift box.
“My dear Father, Fengcheng brought my family to greet you with a happy birthday.” With that said, he passed the gift box he was holding to his father.
Ye Gu opened the gift box and saw a red silk box inside. In it, there was a piece of dark iron ore the size of a fist. The surface of the dark iron ore was so smooth that it sparkled.
“A 50% pure dark iron ore?” Ye Gu’s expression turned bright with happiness. The piece of dark iron ore that Ye Fengcheng gave him was the first 50% pure dark iron ore that the Ye Family had extracted.
If they had 50% dark iron ore, it meant that the Ye family’s position in mining rose even more. This was a piece of great news!
“Yes, Father. It took three days and nights to extract this piece of dark iron ore, with the help of our mining masters.” Ye Fengcheng looked arrogant. Compared to Ye Fengcheng’s gift, the birthday gifts the other Ye family men gave seemed like nothing now.
Suddenly, the fourth son took all of the attention at the birthday banquet.
Most of the guests had arrived and the gifts came streaming in.
“Third Sister, where is your gift? It’s Father’s birthday and everyone prepared a gift. Third Sister, did you come empty-handed?”
Ye Fengcheng suddenly said and pointed the arrow towards Ye Fengyu.
A gift… Ye Fengyu slightly froze. Her daughter was the one who had convinced her to come, and in their rush, she didn’t manage to prepare a birthday gift.
“Fourth Uncle likes to joke around. Of course, my mother prepared a gift. This jar of wine is what my mother specifically prepared for Grandpa,” Ye Lingyue smartly said as a jar bottle of wine appeared in her hand.
Her voice was bright and sweet as she called out ‘Grandpa.’ It was so sweet that it entered Ye Gu’s heart in an instant.
1Ye Gu’s eyes seemed to water a little.
It was Lingyue’s first time calling him grandpa! Suddenly, Ye Lingyue watched her grandpa turn around slightly to wipe his eyes with the back of his hands. He then turned back around.
“Good. Lingyue is indeed filial and knows that Grandpa likes good wine.” Ye Gu hurriedly took the jar of wine.
Ye Lingyue found out that her grandpa had no other hobbies apart from liking wine and weapons.
The Ye family even built a special wine cellar and treasure pavilion.
“It’s only a jar of wine. She probably bought it from the town’s restaurant.” Ye Fengcheng hummed coldly. It was merely a jar of wine and should probably cost only half a silver tael at most. Meanwhile, his dark iron ore was made from the efforts of countless people and was worth at least 10 golden taels.
The moment he finished speaking, Ye Gu had already opened the cap.
All he saw was a slightly yellowish but clear liquid, and a whiff of fragrance filled his senses. Just a few whiffs of that particular wine was enough to make one happy with life, and even the fragrance permeated the air.
All the guests in the background swallowed intently. Even a fool could smell that the jar of wine the Ye family Third Young Miss gave was not an ordinary one.
“This is? Could it be the legendary Hundred Year Monkey Wine?” Ye Gu’s eyes sparkled as he shed all of his strong aura as the Ye family master. He instead looked like a drunkard possessed him.
“It is Hundred Year Monkey Wine. For Grandpa’s birthday, Mother went into the mountains and searched for it for three months, but she only managed to find this one jar.” Ye Lingyue blinked as she comfortably lied. Didn’t Ye Fengcheng say that it took three days and nights for that useless piece of iron? In that case, she’ll just exaggerate it and say that it took three months instead.
This supposedly Hundred Year Monkey Wine was made by extracting the concentrate of a jar of Hundred Fruits Wine thrice.
Monkey Wine was a rare find, not to mention a Hundred Year Monkey Wine.
“Congratulations Ye Master. Hundred Year Monkey Wine can lengthen your life and help with improving your cultivation. It’s a rare and precious treasure! Even the Xia emperor in the Capital might not even be able to drink it, yet the Master can. You’re really lucky!” The boss of the local restaurant, present as a guest, hurriedly went forward and congratulated Ye Gu.
“Good. Very good. This is the best gift I have received today.” The moment Ye Gu heard it, his face flushed healthily as he praised the wine several times. His voice even trembled slightly as his gaze on Ye Fengyu and her daughter softened even more.