Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 347 The Crown Prince’s Day Banquet

Cheng Qiao wanted to kneel down and thank him again, but was helped up by Dou Duhu and Gu Fengyue.

"Madam Cheng, no, I should call you General Cheng from now on. Go back and think about what to call your army. I'll give you half a month to arrange for people to recruit soldiers at the city gate. Give me a rough number, and I'll write a memorial and have someone send it back to the capital as fast as possible. Your military pay should be paid after the autumn harvest."

Madam Cheng didn't have high expectations for military pay. When her father was a general, the court's military pay was intermittent, with waves coming and going. In the end, it was good enough to get half of it.

Like other generals, Madam Cheng has been thinking about what side job she should do in the future to solve everyone's food problem, although she is not sure how many people will join them now.

After seeing Madam Cheng off, Dou Duhu lazily took out a wooden box and handed it to Gu Fengyue.

"Here, your husband sent this to you. I don't know how he convinced the emperor to send this thing over 800 miles with the imperial edict. It's quite heavy."

Taking the heavy wooden box, Gu Fengyue looked at the roughly made wooden box and the perfunctory lock. Just when Dou Duhu was wondering how Gu Fengyue would open the lock without the key, he casually took out a thin wire from his arms and gently poked the keyhole, and the lock was opened.

Dou Duhu, whose face was full of speechlessness, said: "..."

After Gu Fengyue finished packing, he quickly left with the wooden box. After returning to his room in the house next door, he put the wooden box on the table. His palms were sweating from nervousness. He wiped them on his clothes again and again before gently opening the wooden box.

There weren't many things in the box, just a giant power bank, a mobile phone, and a few Polaroid cameras. Each item was wrapped tightly by Song Chunlin with bubble wrap, without any scratches.

Gu Fengyue put her phone aside after charging it, picked up the Polaroid photos and began to look at them over and over again.

The Polaroids included Song Chunlin’s own photos, Gu Fengyue’s newborn nephew’s photos, and his brother and sister-in-law’s family of three. No one knew how his brother had convinced his sister-in-law to accept such a strange thing as the Polaroid camera.

Of course, he couldn't get enough of looking at a few photos. Gu Fengyue stroked his nephew's tender little face in the photo with his fingers. The child was fair and tender, and very cute. As he looked at it, he suddenly remembered something. He turned over the back of the photo, which showed the child's date of birth and his name - Gu Mingzhu.

The phone was delivered in the turned-off state, so the battery had not been drained much. Seeing that the battery was fully charged, Gu Fengyue looked for the power button. After finally turning it on, the phone showed a headshot of Song Chunlin. Gu Fengyue looked at the brightly smiling Song Chunlin on the phone screen and couldn't help but raise a gentle smile at the corner of her mouth.

The useless apps on the phone had been deleted by Song Chunlin, and there was only a clean album on the desktop. Gu Fengyue opened the album, and in addition to a photo album, there was also a whole row of videos. Song Chunlin had taken a lot of videos, not only of the young master, but more of his. Gu Fengyue saw his newborn nephew in it, and also saw the scenery along the way that Song Chunlin had taken when he returned.

Seeing the familiar scenery, Gu Fengyue couldn't help feeling a little distressed. Seeing him walking so fast, he thought that he didn't rest much on the way back. Yes, this man rarely slept, so it was not impossible for him to travel all night.

Thinking about how she had urged him to go back quickly, fearing that he would not be able to make it in time for the birth of her nephew, Gu Fengyue could not help but slap herself. If she had known that would happen, she would not have urged Song Chunlin.

In the capital city, the prince of the Yongyi Marquis's mansion gave birth to a little boy who was less than a month old. As soon as the imperial edict came down, this strange event spread throughout the capital city. However, soon, people's attention was attracted by another strange thing.

"Hey, have you heard? The emperor appointed a girl at the border, I think her surname is Cheng, as a female general. Oh, this is simply the opposite of heaven. From ancient times to the present, how can a woman be a general?"

"That's right. I don't know what these officials are thinking. There are so many generals in the court, but they can't find someone to replace that woman? They actually let a woman ride on a man's head and jump around. It's shameful."

"If even a girl can become a general in our great country, then doesn't that mean my 80-year-old mother can also seek an official position?"

When the others heard his words, they all laughed and said that this man was too fanciful.

There are voices of doubt, and naturally there are also voices of emotion.

"Alas, the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi didn't live in such a good time. I remember that the women's army of the Gu family was no less powerful than the Gu family army."

At the Marquis Yongyi's mansion, Su Fuqing held the bright yellow imperial edict, looking at it from left to right, as if he could never see enough.

When Old Madam Su walked in, she saw her son staring at the imperial edict. He didn't even notice that the child had woken up. The little guy was quite well-behaved. He didn't cry or make a fuss when he woke up. He just tried to open his eyes wide and rolled them around. No one knew what he was looking at.

Old Madam Su walked forward and gently patted her son's shoulder. Su Fuqing came back to his senses and saw the teasing in his mother's eyes. He felt a little embarrassed.

"Mom, when did you come in?"

"You've been here for a while. You have to read this imperial edict more than ten times a day, and you don't even care when the child wakes up."

Su Fuqing looked down when he heard that, and sure enough, the little guy was looking at him. Seeing that his son was well-behaved and cute, Su Fuqing felt very relieved. He reached out and touched him, oh, it turned out that he had defecated. A faint stench could be smelled in the air. Su Fuqing was speechless, and he said why was this kid so quiet, it turned out that he was taking a toilet.

After asking the servant and the wet nurse to come and take the child to change his diaper, Su Fuqing finally put away the imperial edict reluctantly.

Old Madam Su felt a little emotional when she looked at her son. On the day of delivery, when she heard that her son was giving birth to a boy, her heart felt like a weight had fallen on it and kept sinking. Although Gu Fengyun did not say much about it at the time, Old Madam Su was always worried, fearing that the Marquis would dislike Su Fuqing for only giving birth to a boy.

Afterwards, Gu Fengyun's behavior did not at all seem like he had just had a son. The joy on his face was not fake, so Mrs. Su felt relieved.

On the third day after Su Fuqing gave birth, Gu Fengyun left home early, saying that he was going to court. But Old Madam Su was frightened by his attitude, and sat in the mansion for half a day. It was not until noon that she saw Gu Fengyun coming back with the imperial edict.

Gu Fengyun casually placed the imperial edict next to Su Fuqing. It was the first time that Su Fuqing saw an imperial edict, and he was unable to react for a while. It was not until Gu Fengyun urged him that he opened the imperial edict with trembling hands. When he saw clearly what was written in the imperial edict, Su Fuqing's eyes quickly turned red and tears fell down.

Old Madam Su thought that the imperial decree was asking Gu Fengyun to divorce his wife and remarry, so she hurried forward to comfort her son.

Su Fuqing shook her head at her mother: "Mom, don't worry, I'm happy."

Old Madam Su was still confused at that time. After hearing her son's explanation, she took the imperial edict and read it carefully. Then, she and Su Fuqing hugged each other and cried bitterly.

This cry expressed all the grievances she had suffered over the years. God knew how much Old Madam Su hated her frail body. Because of her weak body, she could not stop her husband from raising her little brother as a son, and even deprived him of his own status.

Now all the hard work has finally paid off. Although his son has also given birth to a boy, this child, with the protection of his parents, will definitely live a happier life than Su Fuqing in the future.

After the little prince had his diaper changed and drank enough milk, he was brought back. Song Chunlin also came back with him. He held the child and patted his back skillfully. Soon the child burped comfortably. After the burp, the little guy seemed to be relieved and began to smile mysteriously. Everyone found it very funny to see him like this.

Su Fuqing looked at Song Chunlin who was skilled in taking care of the baby and couldn't help but teasing him, "Look at our Chunlin's attitude. If he has a child in the future, he will definitely be a very good little father."

Song Chunlin gave him a shy smile and said awkwardly, "Hey, Madam Hou, please don't tease me. I'm not married yet..."

Su Fuqing looked unconvinced: "Stop talking nonsense. Last time you secretly asked someone to rush a box to Fengyue for 800 miles. Seeing how worthless you are, it's time to put your good deeds on the agenda."

Madam Su also looked at Song Chunlin lovingly: "Chunlin, your aunt is an outsider, but she is also an experienced person. If two people are separated for a long time, the feelings will naturally fade. You are a capable person, but you must not become estranged from Fengyue because of the distance. If others take advantage of you, it will be too late."

Song Chunlin knew that they were all doing this for his own good, but he couldn't possibly tell them that he had already left a mental imprint on Gu Fengyue, and unless he didn't want Gu Fengyue in this life, there would be no chance for Gu Fengyue to get rid of him. But after all, they both meant well, and Song Chunlin didn't want to be too firm in his words. He just nodded repeatedly, saying that he knew everything, and asked them to rest assured.

In a slum outside the city gate, a dirty old man was lying quietly on the ground to rest. However, when he heard someone talking about the latest gossip in the capital, he suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were cloudy and he seemed to have difficulty seeing things, but because of this, his hearing was more sensitive. After catching the keyword "Marquis Yongyi's Mansion", the corner of the old man's mouth slowly revealed a creepy smile.

Su Fuqing, who was breastfeeding her baby, suddenly felt her hair stand on end and she felt that something bad was going to happen. But when she looked at the baby who was quietly breastfeeding and her husband who was folding clothes for the child, her originally frightened heart suddenly wasn't so scary anymore.

Who cares? Even if the sky falls, he still has a man to support him and his son. Besides, he really can't think of anything that would go wrong at this moment.

However, two months later, when the child turned 100 days old, Su Fuqing couldn't help but want to slap himself. He had been on guard against everything, so how could he have forgotten about this person!

Song Chunlin's family came to help a day in advance. The mansion was decorated with lights and colors. This was the young prince's hundred-day banquet, so naturally it had to be as lively as possible. This was the first child in the Dajing Dynasty who was named the prince before he was even a month old, and he was a little boy. His hundred-day banquet naturally had to be grand, so the mansion had already been preparing all kinds of supplies for the banquet a month in advance.

From small items like bowls, plates, cups and dishes to large items like potted plants, the entire mansion looked brand new. Even the wooden pillars and beams were all cleaned and the old ones were repainted, making it even more grand than Gu Fengyun's wedding day.

Although it was the young prince's hundred-day banquet, the prince himself did not attend. He had been staying in Su Fuqing's yard, surrounded by servants and wet nurses, like the moon surrounded by stars. There were many births in the house in the past two days, so Su Fuqing never left the child's side, for fear that she would not take good care of the child and let him get scared.

On the other side, at Xingchengfang, the highlight of the day is to make a thousand small cupcakes for the young master's hundred-day banquet. These small cakes are to be given as gifts to the guests. The cakes are not big, but they are filled with cream and decorated with a variety of fresh fruits.

In order to make these cakes, Song Amao and Song Qinshi worked together, and even Chen Yuer came over to help wash and cut the fruits. Song Dazhuang and Song Dahao were busy together, carrying various materials and firewood for the stove.

The oven in the store certainly couldn't hold so many small cakes at once, so they borrowed the oven from the Charity Bureau and started baking on both sides at the same time. After the ones from the Charity Bureau were finished baking, Song Chunsheng drove a horse-drawn carriage and took Song Chunlin back to ensure that every cake looked freshly baked.

Starting from midnight the night before, everyone worked until noon to finally assemble all the small cakes. Some of them failed to bake, but fortunately everyone prepared enough so that the cakes did not have holes.

Among so many cakes, only one hundred of them will be used to form a giant cake tower, and the others will be packed into boxes so that the guests can take them away when they leave.

Song Chunsheng and Song Chunlin delivered all the cakes to the Marquis' Mansion in several batches, and then the people from Xingchengfang assembled them in the Mansion. The Hundred-Day Banquet was a dinner party, but guests had already arrived one after another at noon. The first to arrive were naturally the close wives of officials.

Mrs. An Huaibo and her son were the first to arrive. When they arrived, they happened to see the cake tower being assembled. Looking at the giant cake tower that was taller than a person, even Mrs. An Huaibo, who was knowledgeable, couldn't help but marvel at this moment. It is true that the power of money is very strong.