jia zhen began the event with a toast delivered in chinese , of which laurence understood only enough to blush still more for his own audacity , and which temeraire unfortunately saw fit to comment upon in perfectly audible whispers , such as `` - the generosity of heaven in bestowing upon our humble outpost the presence of the most noble celestial lung tien xiang and the emperor 's son lao-ren-tze - that is a particularly nice turn of phrase , laurence , the generosity of heaven in bestowing , do you not think ? ''