Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 233 Palace Banquet

When Song Chunlin heard Gu Fengyue say that he wanted to go back, he immediately looked around and finally found Song Chunxiao, who was standing the highest among the crowd - Song Chunsheng climbed onto the carriage and lifted him up.

When Song Chunxiao saw his second brother looking at him, he immediately waved wildly with excitement. Song Chunlin also waved at him with a smile. Gu Fengyue slowed down his pace in a doting manner and turned around to wave in that direction as well.

Song Chunxiao became even more excited when he saw Gu Fengyue waving, and Song Chunsheng almost couldn't hold the little guy.

"Song Chunxiao! Don't move, or we'll fall!"

Song Chunsheng roared at his brother in a low voice, and Song Chunxiao finally stopped moving, but Song Chunlin had already left with the main force.

Grandpa Song and his companions who were standing below could only see a side profile. Song Qinshi and her daughter stood with Chen Yuer. The two did not squeeze forward, so from their position they could only see a corner of clothes.

Song Qinshi was not discouraged. She turned around and asked her youngest son, "Chunxiao, how does your second brother look?"

Song Chunxiao looked proud: "My second brother is so impressive. He even rides a big horse. That horse looks more beautiful than ours, hehe."

After hearing what her youngest son said, Song Qinshi also smiled faintly. Chen Yuer also smiled and whispered to her: "Look, Chunxiao saw it. His second brother is fine and can still ride a horse. I think he didn't suffer any injuries."

The people nearby saw them waving but could not see clearly who they were waving to. When they heard Song Chunxiao say that they were riding horses, they naturally thought that it was the people in front and kept congratulating them, congratulating them that their family would soon be honored.

Grandpa Song smiled and returned the greeting to the man: "Thank you for your kind words."

After Gu Fengyue and the others left, the Song family had no interest in staying any longer. However, there were too many people coming to watch the fun, so they waited there for a long time before taking a carriage back home.

Song Chunlin and Gu Fengyue had already entered the city. The people in the city were even more enthusiastic than those outside. Even though there were guards guarding the roadside, they could not stop the thunderous cheers they burst into when they saw Gu's army.

The Gu family soldiers walked slowly across Xuanwu Street with their heads held high. There were some bold girls and boys on the roadside who kept throwing flower handkerchiefs into the arms of some young men. Gu Fengyue kept a stern face all the way, ignoring the flower scarves coming towards him. He dodged when he could, and fought back when he couldn't, determined not to let them fall into his arms.

Song Chunlin, who was standing next to him, found his fearful look very funny. He smiled and stretched out his hand to catch a flower, then put it to the tip of his nose and sniffed it. It smelled quite fragrant.

"General Gu, go on!"

Gu Fengyue subconsciously reached out to take the flowers that Song Chunlin handed to him. Only after he took it did he realize what he had done. When he looked up, he saw Song Chunlin with a triumphant smile on his face, his eyebrows and eyes curved, like a kitten.

Then the people below saw that the stern-faced young general, who had been silent all this time, suddenly smiled!

To be exact, he smiled at the young man riding a horse next to him!

The next topic of discussion became why there was a guy next to them.

Gu Fengyue and Song Chunlin had good ears, so they naturally heard some of it. These people did not shy away from guessing about something. Some of the words were good, some were bad, but there were more bad words than good. Gu Fengyue felt uncomfortable after hearing them, and was about to stop them, but was stopped by Song Chunlin.

Song Chunlin tugged at Gu Fengyue's sleeve and pointed to the palace gate not far away, meaning that they were almost at the imperial palace.

However, the emperor did not meet these Gu family troops in the palace, but in the Taimiao. When the army returned to the capital, the emperor wanted to announce it to the world, and this world also included the emperor's ancestors.

The correct procedure was to sacrifice prisoners, but of course they did not do that because they had all been hacked to death. So Gu Fengyue just led a few key people to the front, while the emperor stood on the highest altar waiting for them.

It was not the first time Song Chunlin met the emperor, but it was the first time he met a real-life emperor.

Unlike the emperor he had imagined, this emperor looked quite... kind. Come to think of it, who wouldn't be happy after winning a battle? If the etiquette hadn't taught him not to laugh loudly since childhood, the emperor would probably have wanted to laugh out loud. Hahahaha.

But the people around saw the emperor's excitement with their own eyes. He walked forward with a smile on his face and patted Gu Fengyue's shoulder hard.

"General Gu is indeed a hero at a young age, hahahaha, not inferior to the old marquis. Now that you have returned victoriously, just ask for whatever you want. I will grant you three wishes."

"Three? Your Majesty, do you mean that I can have anything I want?"

"Well, as long as it's reasonable, I can satisfy you."

Gu Fengyue was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to express his gratitude. The people around him also knelt down. Song Chunlin was a little slow to react, but he still knelt down soon after.

It was this slow pace that made the emperor notice him. He squatted down with interest and poked Song Chunlin's little head. Song Chunlin was speechless. How could this emperor be so childish?

"You must be the young master from the Song family, right? Lift your head and let me see. Tsk tsk, you're still a child." The emperor looked at the slowly raised head and couldn't help but complain.

"..."

Gu Fengyue was also speechless. Why didn't the emperor wake them up?

Just as he was thinking this, the emperor asked everyone to stand up.

"Okay, everyone, get up. You are all tired from the journey. I have prepared a banquet in the palace to celebrate for everyone. Please come in."

Song Chunlin cheered in his heart. Very good. He liked this emperor very much. He did things promptly. Unlike the group of old men in the morning, they said a lot of polite words, most of which were actually nonsense. They just came back and knelt for a while and then could enter the palace to eat. It was really great.

With so many people in the Gu family army, certainly not all of them will go. Only those with the highest ranks will go, and the rest will all return to the barracks. The palace will send imperial chefs to prepare meals for them.

It was not the first time that Song Chunlin had seen a palace, but there was a difference between being there in person and being there through spiritual power. He felt very novel along the way. The Dajing Palace was not the Forbidden City of later generations, but it was equally magnificent, and its area seemed to be even larger than that of the Forbidden City. He didn't know if it was because of its geographical location.

The city walls here are not vermilion, but ancient and profound blue bricks. On the towering eaves sit small animal sculptures. Song Chunlin doesn't recognize them, but they look very cute. He wants to go back and arrange one on the eaves of his own house.

The palace banquet was for lunch. Song Chunlin and his friends had been traveling since early in the morning, and by now they were all starving, but no one dared to say anything. Fortunately, the imperial chefs in the palace were very helpful and served the dishes on time.

It was Song Chunlin's first time to attend a banquet in the palace. The palace servants came in one after another and brought the food in the thermal boxes. Song Chunlin was very excited when he took the first bite with chopsticks, but after two bites he found it tasteless.

It’s not that the imperial meal is not delicious, but the condiments in ancient times were not as rich as those in modern times. Song Chunlin is a man who will not compromise himself. He has prepared special dishes for himself and Gu Fengyue along the way, so his taste is naturally more picky than those of the ancients.

Gu Fengyue could tell at a glance that he was not used to the food, so she put the food that she thought was delicious in front of him and coaxed him: "This is delicious, eat some first to fill your stomach, and then you can eat something delicious when you get home."

This was the only way. Song Chunlin took a few bites of the food Gu Fengyue gave him. It tasted better. Gu Fengyun, sitting opposite him, couldn't bear to watch the two kids being so affectionate with each other.

Gu Fengyue is now a famous figure, and everyone is watching his every move. Some people saw how he took meticulous care of the young man next to him, and they immediately became sarcastic.

"Some people are so lucky that they can bring their little ones to play with at the border when they go out to fight. It's really immoral."

These words were disgusting, and the two Gu brothers' faces immediately turned cold. Song Chunlin also heard that the little thing the man was talking about was himself, and his words were all meant to belittle himself and Gu Fengyue. Song Chunlin would not tolerate him, and his murderous eyes immediately fell on the person who spoke.

The man was a civil servant. With Song Chunlin's limited knowledge, he could barely make out that he was just a minor official of the fifth rank. Normally, officials below the fourth rank were not allowed to enter such occasions. It seemed that this man had entered through the back door.

Song Chunlin's eyes became sharp, and he said crisply: "Rather than violating morals, how did you, a fifth-rank official, get into the palace banquet? Oh, you, a mere fifth-rank official, were able to get into the palace banquet, don't you have some ulterior motives?"

The man panicked when he heard what Song Chunlin said. He denied it hastily, "No, you are talking nonsense. If you, a commoner with no rank, can come in, why can't I? Otherwise, why can you, an ordinary citizen, sit next to General Gu? Didn't General Gu use his power for personal gain and bring a little kid like you in to please his lover?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there were already many suspicious looks towards Song Chunlin, and now these looks contained a bit of dirty thoughts, which made Song Chunlin irritated. Gu Fengyue was even more unfriendly as he waited for the person who had spoken with a sullen look on his face.

He snorted at the man and said, "Before you accuse me of abusing my power for personal gain, can you tell me who brought you in? Now that His Majesty is here, how can I allow you to speak foul language and pollute His Majesty's ears."

This person was still not convinced, but he could not explain clearly how he got in. He could only blush and stammer, unable to speak. Finally, he simply knelt down and apologized to the emperor while not forgetting to throw dirty water on Gu Fengyue and Song Chunlin. His words implied that Gu Fengyue did not distinguish between public and private affairs and had an unclear relationship with Song Chunlin.

"How dare you!" The emperor shouted before he could finish his words. When the emperor was angry, everyone immediately stood up and walked out and knelt down. Well, they had no food to eat now.

The emperor sneered at the officials kneeling on the ground. Those who took the lead at the beginning were just small pawns, and the real big guys were actually these civil servants kneeling on the ground. The emperor guessed that at least one-third of the civil servants were involved in today's events. He laughed in anger, stretched out his hand and nodded to Gu Fengyue and Song Chunlin, asking them to stand up.

"Come here, you who is beside General Gu, Brother Song, tell us why you are able to sit here today. Tell us clearly and let these useless people who look down on others listen to you. Are you more qualified to sit here than them?"

Song Chunlin's eyes lit up. The emperor seemed to be willing to support them, so he immediately jumped up and reached out to take the bag he had been carrying on his back.

"Um, Your Majesty, can I take it out?"

Song Chunlin asked the question in a clever way. The emperor thought he was quite cute and waved his hand, "Alright."

Song Chunlin immediately took out the compound bow from the cloth bag. This bow was a replica made by Gu's army at the border. He took out the bow and arrow, then looked around, and finally pointed at a palace lantern farthest from them and said:

"Your Majesty, can I shoot that lamp?"

The emperor looked in the direction where his finger pointed, and the others also looked back quietly. Wow, the kid was pointing at the palace lantern hanging at the main entrance of the hall. The hall where the emperor held the palace banquet was very large. The distance from where they were sitting to the entrance was at least eighty steps. How could they hit a palace lantern from such a long distance?

Just kidding.

Everyone thought that the kid would definitely miss the target, but the emperor spoke again at this time.

"Everyone, turn around and let me take a closer look."

So the person kneeling on the ground was forced to turn around and stare at the light.

Song Chunlin did not move. He stood in his seat, drew the bow, aimed, and shot the arrow. The whole process was completed in one go. Before anyone could react, the palace lantern was shot out by Song Chunlin.

Yes, it was shot out, not shot down.

Shooting it out meant that Song Chunlin hit the candle inside, which was more difficult than shooting it down directly. Everyone present gasped.

The emperor's eyes were shining as he stared at Song Chunlin.

After Song Chunlin finished shooting, he saluted to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please ask the palace people to take down the palace lanterns."

The emperor nodded to the people around him, and the palace servants immediately brought a ladder and took down the lamp. At the same time, Song Chunlin also handed over the bow in his hand.

"Your Majesty, this bow is called a composite bow. Its range is twice that of an ordinary bow, but the force required is only half of that of an ordinary bow. It is more labor-saving and light compared to an ordinary bow. I used this bow to shoot and kill thousands of Turkic and Tatar soldiers on the battlefield. That man just asked me why I could stand here. Now I want to ask him, if the number of enemy soldiers killed is counted, am I qualified to stand here? If I am not qualified, then what achievements have you made in government affairs that allow you to enter this palace banquet with a fifth-rank official position?"

The people on the ground were speechless at this moment. The palace lantern that Song Chunlin had just shot had been taken down. The bright hole on the lantern told them that Song Chunlin had actually shot the candle flame within eighty steps. The person who went to pick up the bow and arrow also came back. After hitting the palace lantern, the arrow flew another four or five feet away before falling down.

Everyone was shocked when they heard this number, and the emperor was even more ecstatic. If all his soldiers in Dajing could be equipped with this bow, how would those barbarians dare to invade!