Chapter 377: Chapter 17: Homecoming (Part 2)
Susu saw the gifts delivered by the people of Heiyuan Town and thought of Liu Dongyuan. She was silently lamenting her tendency to worry when she heard a series of heavy footsteps approaching quickly.
She discreetly frowned. Judging by the footsteps, it should be a man. Which servant is so rude?
Seeing that his mother stopped speaking, Hong Feng quickly tugged at her sleeve, "Mother, what’s wrong?"
Susu shook her head, "Nothing! I was just thinking, in a while, let the steward accompany you to toast the people who came for the banquet, thanking them for coming to my birthday feast."
As she spoke, she heard someone entering the outer hall, and the gatekeepers, Zhu Zhu and Linlang, surprisingly said nothing. Just as Susu was about to go out to see, she thought of something and froze in place!
The only man whom Zhu Zhu and Linlang would allow into the main house, apart from the master of the house, could be no one else!
Susu jumped up with a start, which scared Mantou. Before he could speak, the bamboo-patterned green door curtain of the study was lifted from the outside, and Hong Sheng, who hadn’t been home for three months, walked in.
Susu looked at Hong Sheng in surprise, "Why have you come back?"
Hong Sheng’s sunburned and wind-roughened face softened unconsciously when he saw the mother and son in front of him.
Upon hearing Susu’s words, not caring about his son being present, he pulled a cloth pouch from his bosom, "I recently acquired some good material and had someone carve you a pair of bracelets. Happy birthday, my wife!"
Susu didn’t expect Hong Sheng to have learned to give gifts. Previously, he would hand over all his private savings and say three words, "Spend as you like!"
Thinking this, she reached out to take it. When she opened the cloth pouch, she was truly astonished.
The material of these bracelets was clearly seed jade from mutton fat jade, and the design was a blessing bracelet. The carving was authentic Su craftsmanship, with relief techniques, and the patterns on the two bracelets were different.
In the pristine mutton fat jade, there were a few spots of creamy yellow, which looked like a few drops of mud splashed on white paper. However, the jade carver cleverly used these spots of creamy yellow to carve several lifelike bats.
Hong Sheng took Susu’s hand and placed this bracelet on her left hand. When Susu extended her hand to look, it symbolized "Blessings before your eyes," and when it hung down, it meant "Blessings have arrived!"
The other bracelet, on its pristine white surface, had a streak of creamy yellow, which was ingeniously carved into a gourd vine.
Susu looked at it, puzzled, "Why is it a gourd vine without a gourd?"
Hong Sheng glanced at his son, who had been huddled behind Susu since he entered the room, feeling both sour and bitter. It was his fault.
When his wife and child needed him most, he wasn’t by their side, and there were things they had to handle for him in various ways.
Hong Sheng knew Susu was never one for ostentation. In the past, those birthdays were just a simple meal with family and friends. Now, in such chaotic times, why the extravagance?
Wasn’t it all to reassure the people of the Hami Guard for him?
Rumor had it that at other border guards, the wives and children of the generals had been secretly sent away, which was exposed and caused panic among the people.
If it weren’t for Mrs. Qin personally calming them down, the people would’ve fled in droves, which would’ve affected morale.
So, a few generals, despite their high positions, and even one who was the Commander, were imprisoned by Liu Dusi for disturbing military morale.
Due to a spy appearing in the barracks initially, the Liangzhou Guard suffered heavy losses. If it weren’t for Prince Ke and Hong Sheng putting on a good show in Hami, they might not have escaped disaster either.
The Commander of Liangzhou Guard wasn’t initially a spy, but his only son was taken hostage by spies in the camp.
This Commander of Liangzhou Guard was nearing forty, had one wife and eight concubines, five daughters, but only this one son.
He handled him with utmost care, afraid to hurt him. Not only did he elevate the concubine who bore him this son to the status of Second Wife, managing the household, but he also relegated the official wife and legitimate daughter to live in a side courtyard. Indeed, a son makes the mother honorable.
Few in Hami knew the truth about the Bai Family, and there were always people secretly watching the Bai Family’s women.
But no one expected that these women knew nothing about their Tartar bloodline.
Not until the real spy was exposed did those in the know realize these Bai Family women of half Han, half Tartar descent were merely pawns. Even the network of relationships they had woven over generations was meant to confuse and mislead.
The Commander of Liangzhou Guard could never have imagined that the woman who slept by his side for over a decade and bore him a son was a Tartar spy.
Now she not only threatened him with their son but also forged evidence of his collusion with the Tartars, betraying his country.
He had only two paths before him: If he chose to be loyal to Great Chu, not only would his son die, but he would also be branded a traitor.
If he chose to be loyal to the Tartars, his beautiful concubine, dutiful son, everything would stay the same, and he would have a large fortune to squander in Tartar lands.
He simply didn’t want to die!
So, supposed loyalty was just a matter of the price of betrayal being insufficient. It’s as simple as that.
Comparing these people with himself, Hong Sheng felt that he might have been a saint in a past life. Otherwise, why else would the heavens grant him a wife that was the envy of all?
Seeing Hong Sheng’s gaze on their son, whose eyes were red, willing to approach yet afraid of being rejected, Susu also felt deep sorrow in her heart. Just as she was about to speak, Hong Sheng stood tall and shouted, "Soldier Hong Feng, step out and call your rank!"
At these words, Susu watched her son instinctively take a step forward, only to pause as if suddenly realizing, then looking up at his father. The little boy shouted with all his might, "I am Hong Feng, not a sissy!"
With these words, the room fell silent, even Zhu Zhu and Linlang, eavesdropping while guarding the door outside, held their breath.
Susu, upon hearing what her son shouted, was initially stunned. Then she gently straightened the collar of his sky-blue Kesi robe, asking, "Mantou, what did you just say? Who taught you that?"
Hong Feng stared, somewhat bewildered, at his mother, "I am Hong Feng, not a sissy. My father taught me, as well as Uncle Yang, Uncle Zhang..." Despite his father’s glaring, he counted on his fingers how many uncles had taught him.
And Susu only remembered one "uncle" more hateful than the neighbor Old Wang, and he was surnamed Hong!
Hong Sheng, looking at his son, ready to involve the entire Vanguard Camp, quickly pulled a small pocket from his bosom. He poured out a tiny, creamy yellow gourd, just as if it were freshly picked from the vine.
"Mantou, look what I brought you back? This is from the same piece of jade as your mother’s bracelet!"
Hong Feng had seen such things many times. All the gifts he received each year occupied a small storeroom.
But upon hearing that it was from the same piece of jade as his mother’s bracelet, and his mother’s bracelet was a vine while his was a small gourd, something with such meaning he didn’t yet have.
However, after three seconds of consideration, Hong Feng accepted it decisively, "Thank you, Dad!"
