234: Birthday party gift

Prince Yi Bai Jin Yi's birthday banquet was naturally much more luxurious than Yan Xinnan's.

Even if the politicians of Damon Country did not take sides, they would still send gifts to offer their congratulations.

Gu Xiaoyue had already helped White Gaze prepare his birthday gift. As for her own, after much thought, she had packed the Deep Sea Giant Monster from her Yu Beast Space into a box and tied it with a cute blue ribbon.

A Heaven-tier pet beast should be a respectable gift. Its attributes didn't really matter, as Prince Yi Bai Jin Yi probably wouldn't form a contract with it anyway.

In all likelihood, Prince Yi Bai Jin Yi would simply bestow it upon some retainer who performed a meritorious service in the future.

Holding the gift box, Gu Xiaoyue arrived at the entrance of the banquet hall for the birthday celebration.

Prince Yi Bai Jin Yi's steward was busy greeting guests, while two others were registering the gift list.

"Master Gu, you've arrived! Please go inside once you've finished registering!"

Steward Yan bowed to Gu Xiaoyue before turning away to greet others.

Gu Xiaoyue just set the gift box down and said to the staff member,

"It is a pet beast egg—"

Before she could finish, a clicking sound came from behind her, followed by a sharp and acrimonious tone.

"As expected of a country bumpkin. To bring a pet beast egg as a gift for Prince Yi's birthday banquet! Well, it's not like she could produce anything decent!"

A burst of scoffing laughter came from behind. Gu Xiaoyue turned around to see that it was Kong Nanshu, the Beastmaster instructor for Bai Shengrui.

In the three-plus months since Gu Xiaoyue had moved into the Yi Wang Mansion, she had generally stayed at White Gaze's residence.

She believed she had not offended him; in fact, they had never even interacted.

Yet here at Prince Yi's birthday banquet, Kong Nanshu was picking a fight with her.

Gu Xiaoyue didn't say anything. Thinking that it was better to avoid trouble, she continued speaking to the staff member.

"This pet beast egg is a Heaven—"

Before she could finish again, the gift box was snatched from her Hands by Kong Nanshu, who began playing "catch" with his subordinates.

"Hahaha, a Heaven what? You aren't trying to say this is a Heaven-tier pet beast egg, are you?"

Kong Nanshu sneered, watching his subordinates toss the gift box back and forth. "Don't say I look down on you, but even if you could afford to give a Heaven-tier pet beast egg, let my brothers play with it for a while first! If we accidentally break it, I can afford to compensate you!"

Kong Nanshu rolled his eyes at Gu Xiaoyue; he just wanted to vent his pent-up frustration!

Young Master White Gaze was not favored, yet this instructor of his was highly regarded. Even the Second Young Master had returned from a trip with her full of praise!

He had been teaching the Second Young Master for over three years, yet the boy bossed him around while being so humble toward this female instructor!

Gu Xiaoyue watched them toss the Deep Sea Giant Monster around without showing any panic.

Seeing her like this, Kong Nanshu felt even more stifled.

He gave his subordinate a signal, and the man slammed the gift box hard onto the ground!

Even though Gu Xiaoyue had put a cushion inside the box, the impact would surely shatter the pet beast egg, and the beast itself would perish!

Although she had obtained this pet beast egg after killing Hand, the Beastmaster was the one who had committed the crime; the pet beast itself was innocent.

It wasn't that Gu Xiaoyue was a saint, but she always harbored goodwill toward pet beasts.

As long as they ended up in the right Hands and could fight alongside a Beastmaster, that was good!

Just as the gift box was about to hit the ground, to everyone's surprise, a gentle breeze blew, lifting the box and causing it to drift back into Gu Xiaoyue's Hands!

"You!"

Seeing his malicious scheme fail, Kong Nanshu couldn't physically attack her at the entrance of Prince Yi's banquet hall.

"Your scheme failed, and now you're getting angry out of shame?"

Gu Xiaoyue cast a cold glance at him, sending a chill down his spine.

Just as Kong Nanshu was about to lead his men away, to his surprise, Gu Xiaoyue unleashed several Wind Blades the next second.

With a few slapping sounds, bloody streaks appeared on the faces of Kong Nanshu and his subordinates.

Several subordinates immediately covered their faces and wailed.

"How dare you! To injure people at the entrance of Prince Yi's birthday banquet!"

Kong Nanshu also covered half his face. The burning pain only fueled his rage. Since she had attacked him, he would just go and report her to Prince Yi!

"Mr. Kong is quite interesting. You were rude to me first and even attacked the gift I brought for Prince Yi. I see that you are the one who doesn't hold Prince Yi in high regard! Taking this to Prince Yi would be fine; it would be a good chance to see how well Mr. Kong follows rules, causing trouble at Prince Yi's banquet!"

Gu Xiaoyue wasn't sure if there was surveillance here, but she had been wearing a pinhole camera on her chest the whole time.

Even if Steward Yan and the attendant were Kong Nanshu's people, she could prove that she wasn't the one who had provoked the incident.

However, she felt that Kong Nanshu wouldn't be stupid enough to actually take this to Prince Yi Bai Jin Yi.

At his birthday banquet, in front of so many guests, it would show that the retainers within the Yi Wang Mansion were at odds, causing Prince Yi Bai Jin Yi to lose face.

As expected, Kong Nanshu gritted his teeth and left with his subordinates.

However, looking at his expression, he seemed unwilling to let it go.

Gu Xiaoyue ignored him. Whether it was an open attack or a shot in the dark, she feared neither.

If Kong Nanshu truly had talent, he wouldn't be picking fights with her for no reason. With such a small perspective, his own abilities would also be limited.

Gu Xiaoyue settled things with the attendant doing the registration, stating that she was gifting a Heaven-tier pet beast egg, and entered the banquet hall only after registration was complete.

She found a seat at the far end, partly because of her status, but mostly because it was quiet here, and fewer people would come to bother her.

Official circles were mostly about fawning over the powerful and trampling on the weak; given Gu Xiaoyue's status, naturally, few people came to socialize with her.

When the banquet reached its peak, Bai Rongxuan and Bai Shengrui began to present their birthday gifts.

"The birthday gift my son presents today is two pieces of heavenly crafting stone. I wish Father good fortune and longevity!"

Bai Rongxuan ordered a servant to carry a tray covered in red cloth, upon which lay two pieces of heavenly crafting stone.

"My birthday gift is a hua yu flower. I wish Father smooth sailing in all things!"

Both brothers turned to look at White Gaze; it was White Gaze's turn to present his birthday gift next.

Even if just for show to outsiders, it should be the three brothers all together.

Gu Xiaoyue watched the ceremony calmly. It was a good thing she had swapped White Gaze's gift; otherwise, compared to the heavenly crafting stone and the hua yu flower, the suet jade and the Hundred Longevity Painting would have seemed a bit shabby.

Not to mention, they were also tampered with!

Presumably, those two fellows were already grumbling in their hearts, wondering why, after White Gaze had been carrying the suet jade and the Hundred Longevity Painting for many days, there were still no signs of any changes.

White Gaze slowly walked forward from the crowd. The pampering and etiquette training over the past few months had only enhanced his royal aura.

Compared to when he attended Yan Xinnan's birthday banquet, he carried himself with much more confidence in every gesture.

Coupled with the fact that White Gaze was more handsome than his two older brothers and had a stronger build, he couldn't help but make some young noble ladies blush and their hearts race.

He held up a purple gemstone attribute necklace with both Hands. "This is an attribute necklace I prepared for Father. It can serve as an ornament and also increase attribute combat power. It can be worn by both humans and pet beasts."

Originally, Prince Yi Bai Jin Yi had not held much hope for White Gaze's birthday gift.

He only thought that since the boy had just been brought back to the capital, he hadn't made any contributions to the Damon nation.

He had only given White Gaze a little pocket money, so he hadn't expected him to be able to find such a treasure!

"Not bad, not bad! Someone, take this to my bedchamber!"

Seeing their father's attitude, Bai Rongxuan and Bai Shengrui could clearly see that he preferred White Gaze's gift.

Both of their expressions were unpleasant, yet they had to force a smile.

Gu Xiaoyue saw their expressions and even found them somewhat twisted and amusing.