Hu Lanfang's eyes were firm, her fighting spirit full, and she said,
"It won't be difficult for me. I want to make her consider me a best friend within an hour!"
As a respected community cadre, her specialty was ideological work. Chatting with the Princess Consort was precisely her forte, and it certainly wouldn't be difficult for her.
The two decided to go immediately, changed into neat clothes, and descended the mountain.
On the mountain, Gu Qingcheng couldn't help at this moment and could only hope that her mother and father would bring good news.
To pass the time, Gu Qingcheng took Kele and Wangcai for a stroll outside.
After the temperature rose slightly, Wangcai resumed its habit of going out for a walk.
Its old fur had shed, and its new fur had grown into a thick layer to cope with the cold. Ample nutrition made its new fur exceptionally dense and glossy, like a yellow blanket, making Gu Qingcheng can't help but want to pet it.
Although Kele was a cat, because it lived with Wangcai, its behavior was very dog-like, and it also liked to wander outside.
Qingcheng let them out, and they happily rolled, ran, and played wildly outside.
Gu Qingcheng let them go wild on their own, as they couldn't run far anyway. With nothing else to do, she took out a shovel to clear the snow.
Mi Guo also came to help.
Shoveling snow was too easy for them. Holding shovels, they dug and shoveled, quickly piling the snow to the sides.
Gu Qingcheng even built a snowman.
The snowman's eyes were two black grapes, its nose was a carrot, its mouth was a red pepper, and it wore a broken bamboo hat on its head. Its round body was stuck with a broken broom. It was extremely cute.
Gu Qingcheng rummaged through the mountain cat supermarket and found a Polaroid camera, calling Mi Guo to take a photo.
Under Gu Qingcheng's direction, Mi Guo took a photo of her with the snowman.
Looking at the film spit out by the Polaroid, as Gu Qingcheng slowly developed in the picture, Mi Guo was so frightened that he almost dropped the film and exclaimed,
"Sister, this is soul-capturing, isn't it? How did you get inside?"
Gu Qingcheng burst into laughter.
After much effort and her explanation, Mi Guo was finally no longer afraid of the camera. Then, she took a photo with Kele and Wangcai in her arms.
Wangcai and Kele had seen their two little masters taking photos from the side. Now, with a dog-like and cat-like demeanor, they were serious. Held in Gu Qingcheng's arms, one stuck out its tongue, and the other widened its eyes, looking at the lens.
"Look at me, 321, click!"
Mi Guo pressed the shutter, capturing the happy figures of Gu Qingcheng and her pets.
After Mi Guo overcame his fear, Gu Qingcheng also took many photos of him.
To be honest, Mi Guo was completely captivated by the act of taking pictures.
At noon, Mi Guo made beef brisket stewed with potatoes, stir-fried garlic hollow-cabbage, sea clam and pork rib soup, and rice, taking good care of everyone's stomachs.
After eating, Gu Qingcheng went for a nap.
When it's going to rain, a mother is going to marry, worrying is useless. Anyway, the worst that could happen is becoming bandits at Heifeng Village!
After sleeping, Gu Qingcheng went to see Xue Sheng.
Infants at this age just eat and sleep, sleep and eat. As long as their basic needs of eating, drinking, and defecation are taken care of, they are easy to look after.
Coupled with Aunt Qian's meticulous care, Xue Sheng's face had become much plumper and fairer during this period, making him very endearing.
Teasing Xue Sheng and seeing his cute, adorable appearance, Gu Qingcheng's烦闷 (fánmèn - annoyance, vexation) was greatly alleviated.
By the time it was almost dark, Gu Zhaobei and Hu Lanfang had returned.
Seeing the relaxed expressions on their faces, Gu Qingcheng knew it was settled.
"Dad, Mom, you've worked hard. How did things go?"
"No problem. As soon as Prince Xia heard what I said, he immediately told us not to worry. He summoned Deputy Commander Huo directly and reprimanded him severely for not properly disciplining his son and for humiliating the benefactor's daughter."
"Yes, that Huo guy's father was extremely subservient in front of Prince Xia, he didn't even dare to fart. You weren't there to see it, you would have been overjoyed!"
Hu Lanfang felt greatly relieved.
She knew there were many twists and turns among the powerful families, but she also believed that Prince Xia wasn't just putting on a show for them.
The reason Prince Xia was so enraged and took this matter so seriously was that, in Prince Xia's heart, their Old Gu was far more important than Deputy Commander Huo!
To put it plainly, there were a thousand people who could replace the official surnamed Huo, but Old Gu was irreplaceable.
Prince Xia's life was saved by Old Gu. If Old Gu hadn't acted back then, Prince Xia would be dancing on his grave now.
Having experienced near-death, Prince Xia regarded Old Gu as his life-saving trump card.
So, was his own life more important, or was the matter of the Huo family wanting to marry a daughter-in-law more important?
Prince Xia wasn't stupid!
Gu Zhaobei had grasped a keyword in this matter: equal wife!
Wasn't the Huo family humiliating his Gu family?
Even if they were commoners, they were daughters from good families. How could they be married off as concubines for nothing?
This matter made the Huo family seem unreasonable.
Because no matter what, the Huo father and son owed Gu Zhaobei two lives!
An equal wife?
Treating the benefactor's daughter like this?
It was too unreasonable!
Prince Xia also seized this point and berated Deputy Commander Huo.
Deputy Commander Huo knew he was in the wrong, so he naturally didn't dare to say anything. He quickly stated that he would never let Huo Yu harass the Gu family again and that he would punish him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall for a whole night when he got home!
Gu Qingcheng breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this matter was settled.
Indeed, the only thing that could restrain powerful authority was even greater authority!
As long as Deputy Commander Huo wanted to preserve his life and property, he would not use the Gu family to challenge Prince Xia's bottom line again.
Gu Qingcheng asked with a smile,
"Dad, Mom, things were resolved so smoothly, why did you come back so late?"
"Oh, the Princess Consort insisted on keeping me and chatting with me. I told her some knowledge about prenatal care and fetal preservation. She was very interested and chatted with me for a long time, and before we knew it, a lot of time had passed."
Currently, knowledge about pregnancy and fetal preservation for women was scarce. Hu Lanfang came from an era of information explosion, and she had the experience of being pregnant and giving birth to a daughter. This series of experiences was enough to equip her with comprehensive prenatal care knowledge. A little bit of it shared with the Princess Consort would leave her stunned and amazed.
When Hu Lanfang was about to leave, the Princess Consort rewarded her with a lot of gold and jewelry and asked her to visit her frequently. She was almost about to form a sworn sisterhood with her.
Seeing that the matter of Young Master Huo's proposal had been successfully resolved, Gu Qingcheng's hanging heart finally settled.
The crisis resolved, the family happily had a hot pot feast. Gu Qingcheng also "generously" took out a bottle of 82-year-old Maotai for her parents to drink to their heart's content.
The next morning, while they were still sound asleep, Mi Guo, who had woken up early to cook, was startled by a disturbance.
Outside the courtyard, there seemed to be the sound of neat military boots hitting the ground.
Mi Guo nimbly climbed onto the watchtower like a monkey and saw a column of soldiers appearing outside the courtyard. He was so frightened that he hurried to the house to wake everyone up, shouting,
"It's bad! They're here to kill!"
Gu Qingcheng and the other two quickly put on their clothes and came out, asking,
"What's going on?"
"Could it be that the Huo family is enraged and wants to kill us to silence us? I see a column of soldiers outside. Why don't you escape quickly? I'll cover your retreat!"
Mi Guo's face was full of determination.