The dog Emperor actually prepared a birthday gift?
She took it, the box had some weight to it—and what could be inside? It was probably just those precious jewels.
She opened the box without any expectations and saw a wooden hairpin lying inside, identical to the one the dog Emperor had given her on her fifteenth birthday.
She picked up the hairpin and examined it closely—the body of the pin was polished smooth, and the plum blossoms were lifelike.
The Empress, holding the hairpin, looked up at the Emperor, "Why did Your Majesty think to gift your concubine a hairpin?"
"I just wanted to see if, after so many years, a hairpin exactly like the old one couldn't be carved out. Lingling, how do you think this hairpin compares to the previous one?"
The Emperor looked at the Empress with full expectation. The reason he carved this wooden hairpin was that he hadn't seen the Empress wear one for a year, so he wanted to gift her a new one.