Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 380: Carrying the coffin back to Beijing

Chen Ci didn't know how to answer the child's question, so he could only silently hold the child's tender shoulders. The little guy seemed to be infected by his emotions. He pouted his mouth and looked around pitifully. Finally, he stretched out his arms to Song Chunlin, the person he had been with the longest in the past two days.

"Woo, brother, hold me."

Seeing his pitiful appearance, Song Chunlin walked forward with heartache and picked up the child. The little guy immediately hugged his neck, buried his little head in the crook of Song Chunlin's neck, and his tone was particularly aggrieved.

"Brother, I miss father and mother so much. I will be obedient..."

Some of the words the child expressed were not clear enough, and the adults present did not quite understand. Song Chunlin was the same. However, he had been coaxing younger siblings since childhood, so it was no problem for him to coax a three-year-old baby. In addition, the child had been traveling for two days, and his eyelids were already drooping with fatigue. If he had not been thinking about going home to see his parents, he would have fallen asleep long ago. Now, being held in Song Chunlin's arms and coaxed, he fell asleep quickly.

Seeing the child pouting even when he was asleep, the adults all felt a headache.

"He's only three years old. Isn't it better not to tell him yet? Anyway, at his age, he can't understand what death is."

Gu Fengyun looked at Song Chunlin disapprovingly: "Don't forget, he is now the only living son of King Linyuan. Sooner or later, he will have to support this huge King Linyuan Palace. How long can you hide it from him?"

Song Chunlin was speechless, but he really didn't know how to explain to such a young child why his parents ignored him.

Gu Fengyue took the child from his arms and said, "Give it to me. You go and rest first. Chen Ci has already found his wet nurse. I'll take her over first."

After the children were settled, the palace began to welcome mourners one after another. Apart from those in the military camp, the majority of these people were officials from the city and some prominent businessmen.

Linyuan City is located on a major transportation route, with a large number of traveling merchants coming and going. Linyuan City does not have many restrictions on merchants like the capital, so there are many merchants willing to stay here to do business, and several chambers of commerce have been organized privately. When King Linyuan learned about it, he did not stop them, but only warned them that the chamber of commerce cannot violate the law, meaning that as long as they do not break the law, they can do whatever they want and pay taxes on time. Therefore, King Linyuan has always had a high status in the hearts of local merchants.

Chen Ci is responsible for receiving guests in the mourning hall. King Linyuan's funeral here is relatively simple, and the body has been embalmed. After three days of keeping the body, Gu Fengyun will personally escort it back to the capital.

When Song Chunlin heard that it was Gu Fengyun again, he couldn't help but complain to Gu Fengyue: "Does the emperor have so few people under his command? I remember there should be hundreds of civil and military officials in the court. Why is it that every time there is something going on, it is always your brother who takes care of it? Even if he is in good health now, a strong man can't stand this, right?"

General Lin also kept echoing from the side: "That's right, look at how stingy the emperor is. He always grabs a sheep to plunder, and doesn't even think of changing someone else."

Looking at General Lin's shifty look, Gu Fengyue felt a headache.

"Then why are you so leisurely? It seems that you haven't done much serious work since you came here. Maybe I should go back and write a letter to the ancestors of the Lin family to find another good match for you. What do you think, General Lin?"

General Lin was horrified: "Gu Fengyue! You have become a bad person. You two are indeed a couple. Birds of a feather flock together. I really misjudged you."

"Stop talking nonsense and go to the front to help. When I see you idle, I know something bad is going to happen."

General Lin went to the front hall crying and refused to go along with the two men.

After three days of rest, Gu Fengyun took the coffin and set out on the journey back to Beijing with King Linyuan's youngest son.

Just like when he came, Gu Fengyun came and left in a hurry. Gu Fengyue stayed in Linyuan City, waiting for the court to send someone to take over. As for General Lin...

This guy refused to go back to the capital and kept crying and shouting that he wanted to stay, which made Gu Fengyue's face turn black. Finally, it was Gu Fengyun who spoke and decided to let him stay. By the way, he could also help train the archers here. It must be said that this guy's archery skills are still very powerful, and it is more than enough to train the archers here.

Song Chunlin said goodbye to Gu Fengyue and told him that he would come again at the end of the year. Gu Fengyue said goodbye to his lover and brother with a tearful look in his eyes, then grabbed General Lin, who was still looking around excitedly, and went back to work.

In order to take care of the little one more conveniently, Song Chunlin and the child rode in a carriage, which was covered with soft cushions and bedding. The child was a little excited at first, but soon the monotonous scenery outside made the child lose interest, so Song Chunlin took out educational toys to coax him to play.

After playing for a while, the child lost interest in the toys. He nestled in Song Chunlin's arms listlessly and asked Song Chunlin in a muffled voice when he could see his parents again.

"I talked to my father, but he ignored me. The same thing happened to my mother. It's so strange. Why does the quilt on my mother cover her face? And my aunts are always sleeping. Did they eat delicious food at night without my knowledge?"

Song Chunlin listened to his childish talk, but didn't know how to explain it to him, so he just held him silently without saying anything.

Although a three-year-old child does not quite understand what death is, he will observe and feel that there is something wrong with the attitude of the adults around him. However, the young child does not know what is wrong, so he will test the people around him who are familiar to him over and over again, just to get an answer.

On the way back to Beijing, Song Chunlin tried to explain to his child what death was in another way. The child didn't quite understand at first, but after he understood a little, he showed resistance. He was no longer well-behaved, but lost his temper and cried at everyone, hoping to get his parents to appear and coax him.

But until they got close to the capital, his parents never showed up once.

After arriving in the capital, the three-year-old child stopped making trouble. He seemed to have gradually understood that his parents would never appear again.

This time when King Linyuan's coffin was returned to the capital, the emperor asked the Ministry of Revenue and the clan members to make arrangements after receiving the news. He also went out of the city in person and waited at the Shili Pavilion outside the city.

The emperor had come out, and naturally all the civil and military officials came here to guard together. They guarded for three consecutive days. Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, a huge funeral procession appeared in the distance.

The one walking in front was Gu Fengyun, behind him were soldiers carrying spirit banners, then came the coffins of Prince Linyuan and Concubine Xu, and at the very end were the carriages of Song Chunlin and the young master.

In order to transport the body of King Linyuan, they all traveled in light vehicles. When they were near Shili Pavilion, they stopped and changed everyone into plain clothes. In the carriage, Song Chunlin changed the little guy into mourning clothes. The little guy was a little bit upset and didn't want to wear the mourning hat. Song Chunlin could only comfort him over and over again.

"Be obedient. You will go to see your uncle soon. Your uncle is very fierce. If he finds out that you don't wear this hat obediently, he will punish you by making you copy your homework ten times and not letting you eat. You can't even have the dessert after dinner."

When he heard that the punishment was so severe, the little guy panicked. He had never seen the so-called imperial uncle, but under the subtle influence of Song Chunlin, he automatically imagined the emperor as a ferocious and evil villain in his mind. Therefore, when he heard that the big villain would punish him, he immediately obediently let Song Chunlin put a mourning hat on him.

After the carriage stopped, Song Chunlin got out of the carriage with the child. When the emperor saw the child for the first time, it was as if he saw a smaller version of King Linyuan. When the child came to him, he found that the child's eyebrows and eyes were slightly different from those of King Linyuan, probably because he took after his mother.

"Is this his child?"

Gu Fengyun stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, yes, Prince Linyuan and Concubine Xu have three sons. This child is the youngest and the only one we have found. He will be four years old in October this year."

The emperor leaned down slightly and said to the little guy, "I am your uncle. What is your name?"

When the little guy heard that the person in front of him was the ferocious uncle, his whole body froze in place. The emperor did not wait for his response. Thinking that he had suddenly lost his parents, it was normal for him to be timid. So he did not bother with him, but stood up straight and looked at Song Chunlin who was standing on the side.

"I heard that Young Master Song has made outstanding military achievements again this time. I read the memorial from General Chen, and he praised you highly."

Song Chunlin didn't expect Chen Ci to do this, and he tapped his toes on the ground in embarrassment.

"No, no, it's just a coincidence. I believe that no matter who it is, if they encounter that kind of situation, they will also step forward to help."

The emperor curled his lips slightly, "Let's not talk about politeness. You have done a great job in defending the city this time. If you hadn't acted in time, our Dajing would be in danger now."

The emperor did not exaggerate. Linyuan City is extremely important to the entire Dajing, otherwise the court would not have sent heavy troops to guard it all year round, and directly allocated a city to King Linyuan. Other vassal kings have more than one city in their territories, which shows their importance.

"Don't say anything else. Come, take my brother back to the city first. As for the prince..." The emperor lowered his head to look at the child who was holding onto Song Chunlin's thigh and refused to let go. It was obvious that the child was reluctant to go with him. After thinking about it, he decided to let Song Chunlin continue to take care of the child.

Song Chunlin pointed at himself with a strange expression and said, "Me? Should I take him with me?"

The emperor asked back: "Why, do you have any better suggestions?"

Song Chunlin quickly shook his head, saying that the emperor's proposal was really good and couldn't be better.

So he took his child and followed the team back to the capital. He thought he could take the opportunity to go home and assure his parents that he was safe, but he didn't expect that he couldn't go home that night. At least he had to wait until the child became familiar with the people around him and was no longer so resistant to the emperor and others' approach, then he could go back.

After Gu Fengyun sent the team into the capital and settled them in the Taimiao, he retired and returned to the Marquis' Mansion. Song Chunlin stayed with the young master and had to keep vigil with the child at night. However, only Song Chunlin and a group of servants kept vigil. The kid would fall asleep at a certain time and was not unable to sleep because of the change in environment.

Song Chunlin expressed his envy of his sleep quality, and said it would be great if he could also fall asleep whenever he wanted.

Also unable to sleep were the Song family members far away in the village. When they knew that King Linyuan's body was going to be returned to Beijing, they had been looking forward to it. Since the prince's body had been sent back, Song Chunlin should have come back with him. As a result, they waited and waited from morning till dark, but only waited for the servants from the Marquis' Mansion to come and report that Song Chunlin was accompanying the young master and would not be back for the time being.

Song Dazhuang didn't understand: "The young master doesn't have a nanny to take care of him? Why does my unmarried little brother have to take care of him?"

Song Qin also said that she didn't quite understand what this operation was, but considering that the little prince was only three years old, she thought that the child might be too young, so Song Chunlin could help take care of him, and maybe he would come back the next day.

Sure enough, the next afternoon, Song Chunlin finally returned to his long-lost home, because the young master was finally willing to approach the nanny sent by the emperor. But before Song Chunlin left, she still reluctantly pulled Song Chunlin's sleeve and asked him when she would come to see him again. Song Chunlin could only coax him, saying that as long as he was obedient, he would come to see him often.

After saying goodbye to the young master, Song Chunlin went home without stopping. As soon as he entered the house, he went straight to his room and bathroom, where he washed himself carefully from head to toe. When he walked out of the bathroom, he felt a lot lighter.

Seeing him coming out of the shower, Song Qin hurriedly called her son to come over for dinner.

"Knowing that you will definitely come back in the next two days, Mom asked your dad to order a large pig's trotter from the village butcher. It has been cooked in a pressure cooker. Try it. Does it taste good?"

Song Chunlin was chewing a piece of pig's trotter, his mouth full of oil. He did not forget to give Song Qin a thumbs up and kept praising Song Qin's cooking skills for getting better and better.

Song Qin was delighted by his praise.

After a reunion dinner, the family sat in the main room drinking tea to digest the food and listening to Song Chunlin talk about the details of the battle. When they heard Song Chunlin say that the city gates had collapsed at that time, everyone was sweating.

Song Chunxiao couldn't help but hug Song Chunlin's arm and asked him what happened back there. The city gate was broken, so did the barbarian run in as well?

Song Chunlin: "Of course they did run in, but not many of them did. We closed the gate again first, and then chased after the barbarians that ran in. We killed them all very quickly. The city gate was a bit broken, and it took a long time to repair it."

Song Chunlin did not say what they used to close the city gate, but among the adults present, except Chen Yuer and Zhou Ning, basically all knew that Song Chunlin must have used mutant vines to close the gate.