Chapter 396: Chapter 387: How Could Someone Like Him Have a Child
The crowd was momentarily stunned and looked at him, the shopkeeper was unsure of his meaning for a moment, "Does General Song mean he wants all of this style, or does he want other styles as well?"
"All of them," Song Tingfan said in a low voice.
The shopkeeper was so pleased that he lost his bearings, "Yes, yes, we’ll pack them right away. General Song, why don’t you continue shopping, and we’ll send them to the General Mansion later."
Song Tingfan responded with a nod.
"No, no, just one is enough," Lin Qiao was taken aback by the villain’s ’extravagance’.
Li Guifen also thought it was too wasteful, it was enough that Tingfan had the heart for her daughter, "Tingfan, listen to Qiao’er, it’s really too much."
"Madam, it’s not too much, not too much. General Song will be staying in the capital in the future, there will be frequent visits to various residences," the shopkeeper explained cheerfully.
In the end, they still bought all the clothes, and Lin Qiao couldn’t help but ask the shopkeeper, "How much is it altogether?"
The shopkeeper took the abacus and calculated for a moment, "Not expensive, not expensive, three thousand eight hundred taels."
Li Guifen and Lin Han’s faces were distorted with shock. My goodness, three thousand eight hundred taels, not eating or drinking for dozens of lifetimes wouldn’t earn that much silver.
Lin Qiao: "..."
She originally planned to pay if it wasn’t too much, but three thousand eight hundred taels was out of the question.
The villain had claimed he would buy it for her himself.
Song Tingfan responded "calmly", "Settle the bill with the steward."
"Okay." The shopkeeper wasn’t worried about him not having the silver to settle the bill, having heard that the emperor had rewarded the General Mansion with ten thousand taels of gold.
Upon leaving the shop, Li Guifen and Lin Han hadn’t yet recovered from the shock. Lin Qiao deeply sympathized; the couple were born and raised in the countryside, and earning fifty taels of silver in a lifetime was difficult enough, let alone three thousand eight hundred.
Perhaps they were so shocked that Li Guifen and Lin Han adamantly refused to let her buy clothes, but eventually, Lin Qiao insisted and bought some herself, though not as expensive. The most expensive was only ten taels, which was for Song Tingfan to wear.
She didn’t buy him black clothes.
By the time they returned to the village, it was already very late. Lin Ling was already asleep at the tutor’s house. After expressing her thanks, Lin Qiao picked up Lin Ling and skillfully patted his back to let him sleep peacefully.
Song Tingfan stood next to her, wanting to reach out, but didn’t know how to hold him, and followed her home. Watching her put the child to bed, remove shoes, and change clothes, she finally went to the kitchen to bring warm water, gently wiping his face and little feet.
His lips tightened more and more...
After Lin Qiao finished all this, she habitually gave the child’s face a kiss, then pulled over the quilt to cover him.
She turned her head and saw Song Tingfan still standing there, surprised, she whispered, "Why haven’t you gone to wash up?"
"I’ll do this in the future," Song Tingfan said seriously.
Lin Qiao glanced at him and nodded, "Okay." After saying this, she left the room.
Song Tingfan stood for a moment, then sat by the bed, looking at the little face that resembled his own, his expression softening a bit.
Sometimes, he couldn’t believe he had a child.
How could someone like him have a child...
He raised his hand but pulled it back, finally tugging at the quilt and then leaving the room.
...
For the next few days, Song Tingfan was not home during the day and returned very late.
Lin Qiao wasn’t idle during these days either, ahem, teaching Song Qin square dancing to strengthen her body.
Li Guifen, out of boredom, joined in and gradually developed a liking for it. Lin Han, unable to bear watching her dance to somewhat peculiar tunes, went out every morning at this time to chat with the neighbor uncle.
That day, in the morning
It was the first time Song Tingfan saw a few people square dancing and found it quite comical. He stood in the doorway for a moment, dazed.
Lin Qiao naturally saw him and, with a glint in her eye, "Ahem, Tingfan, come over and join us."
"Tingfan, quickly come and dance, it’ll make you feel energized all over." Li Guifen’s words weren’t false. Dancing really did make you feel energized.
If Lin Han, that blockhead, didn’t refuse to come no matter what, she would have pulled him to join as well.
Song Tingfan pursed his lips, "Okay."
Lin Qiao was initially teasing him, but didn’t expect him to agree. She was momentarily taken aback, "Ahem, then follow along and learn."
Probably because of his military background, when he danced, it was very methodical, like performing a routine, neat and precise, not bad-looking at all.
Li Guifen laughed from the side, "Still, Tingfan has strength."
After everyone finished dancing, Lin Han finally returned from next door.
Afterwards, Song Tingfan was to be married the next day, she would be married from here, and he would come to pick her up early in the morning.
This time, the marriage was arranged by someone from the Imperial Palace, so there was hardly any need for them to worry about the arrangements.
In the afternoon, the palace attendants, including the maidservants, arrived there, bustling about Lin Qiao to bathe and wash her hair.
Just these two things alone took about two hours, and she fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.
She hadn’t slept well for long when there was a knock on the door, "Madam, it’s time to get up."
Lin Qiao, groggy, looked out the window, which was pitch black, "..."
She couldn’t help but nudge Song Tingfan beside her and quietly said, "Let me sleep a little longer." After saying that, she covered herself with the quilt and went back to sleep.
"In a bit," Song Tingfan said, and the noise at the door subsided.
When Lin Qiao woke up again, it was already daylight, and Song Tingfan was no longer in the room.
As soon as she stepped out, the palace attendants hurriedly ushered her back into the room, complying with their every fuss.
When the layers upon layers of wedding attire were on her, she began to feel it was quite grand, no, too grand; she was somewhat overwhelmed. She glanced at the palace attendant next to her, "Mammy, no need to fuss too much, it’s nearly enough."
The palace attendant hesitated, "Madam, a decree is not to be trifled with, it’s organized according to the Prince’s marriage."
It showed the emperor’s regard for Song Tingfan.
She paused and then said, "Madam, in the future, you’ll be the legitimate wife of General Song. Even if he takes concubines, you have the right to sell them."
A marriage bestowed by the emperor was different from an ordinary marriage, naturally making her status more prestigious.
Lin Qiao responded with an "Oh", and as the palace attendant helped her with her hair, she said, "Madam, you’ll have great fortune and blessings in the future."
This Madam indeed was blessed; otherwise, how could she have received a marriage bestowed by the General’s military merits?
Had it been someone else, they would have taken the military merits long ago.
Lin Qiao smiled but felt indifferent inside, fearing the fortune was not deep but rather shallow.
The fussing took one or two hours, and then it began to get noisy outside. Li Guifen rushed in, "Daughter, oh my, so many people, Tingfan brought so many people to fetch the bride."
The palace attendant laughed, "Naturally, the Ministry of War dispatched a thousand soldiers."
Lin Qiao: "..."
This was too grand, wasn’t it?
It faintly felt off.
She felt a bit panicked but didn’t know what she was panicking about.
She soon found out...
No one dared to stop this marriage. Song Tingfan, in a red outfit, walked in. The woman with the red veil, her hands nervously clenched, walked over, and perhaps not paying attention to her footing, stumbled slightly.
The palace attendants were startled.
After Lin Qiao got onto the red carriage, the group that came to fetch the bride, from the start of leaving the village to completely exiting the village, took roughly two quarters of an hour, indicating how grand it was.
Swaying gently, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but fall asleep. After a long time, it finally stopped, and the palace attendant’s voice came, "Madam, you may come out now."
As she stepped out, she was immediately embraced, but she wasn’t scared at all; it could only be Song Tingfan and no one else.
She vaguely heard the anxious voice of the palace attendant, "General Song, that’s not allowed, there’s no such rule."
Lin Qiao didn’t hear Song Tingfan’s response, only knew that from entering the door to stopping took quite a while, at least a quarter of an hour of walking.
