The Emperor sat upon his throne, receiving tributes and birthday greetings from princes and officials. The military generals from the Ministry of War were the most concise in their congratulatory speeches, often finishing in just a sentence or two, with the most commonly heard phrase being, "Wishing our Emperor immortality," which greatly pleased the Emperor's heart.
As for the rest of the civil officials, whether to showcase their literary talents or for some other reason, they would always give lengthy, lavish speeches that went on and on. They started with claims that their achievements surpassed those of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and ended with tales of how their benevolence blessed the common people. A quarter of an hour would pass by, and if it were any other day, the Emperor would have grown impatient and interrupted, but today, he simply couldn't.
