"Donating one string of cash when your family possesses ten thousand, and donating everything when your family has only one string-though both are good deeds, their significance is entirely different."
"Old sir, you fully deserve this plaque."
As he spoke, Liu Xie took the plaque from a nearby Feathered Forest Guard and personally placed it in Shi Delu's hands.
The surrounding commoners watched with boundless envy. This was a plaque bestowed personally by the Son of Heaven!
Those nobles from the great aristocratic clans had donated tens of thousands of shi of grain and fodder to receive one, yet now the Son of Heaven had bestowed one on an ordinary old blacksmith!
"This humble commoner, this humble commoner..."
Holding the plaque, Shi Delu was so overwhelmed that he did not know what to do with his hands and feet. Tears shimmered in his cloudy old eyes. He knelt before Liu Xie again and wept. "Thank you for your boundless grace, Your Majesty!"
His little Sun Tzu beside him stared longingly at the gleaming gold lettering on the plaque and swallowed. "Grandpa, is that gold? How much could we sell it for?"
Everyone around them burst into laughter.
"You little rascal! What nonsense are you spouting?"
Startled, Shi Delu hurriedly scolded him. "This is a plaque bestowed by His Majesty himself! We wouldn't trade it for ten thousand pieces of gold. From now on, it's our family heirloom!"
"Hurry up and beg His Majesty's forgiveness!"
How could money possibly measure this plaque's value? An object bestowed by the Son of Heaven was simply a priceless treasure in his eyes!
"It's all right. A child's words know no taboos."
Liu Xie smiled, then reached out to pat the boy's head. "Your name is Shi Bao, isn't it?"
Since he was Shi Delu's