Chapter 1094: Family Banquet

After Changle left, he immediately arranged the tasks, notifying Zhinu to make a grand costume for Ayuduo in the style of the Jiuli, and having the Blacksmiths craft jewelry for Ayuduo in the style of the Jiuli, adorned with stars and moons; it had to be luxurious, and it had to be beautiful.

At the same time, he also had someone bring over the application forms, letting Lei and the others fill in their information; after he finished filling in his own, he handed it to his father to look at, and then the commendations could be issued.

Lei was waiting outside for Changle; after all, as Changle's guard, when Changle left the Xuanyuan Tribe, he had to follow along, and he had to be ready to handle matters for Changle at any time, only he hadn't expected that this time there would actually be a share of the rewards for him, even if it was just a Collective Third-Class Merit, it was still better than nothing.

Moreover, everyone had received a Collective Third-Class Merit, which was an unexpected joy; of course, those nine people could be said to be even luckier, because the Individual Third-Class Merit and the Collective Third-Class Merit were given at the same time, and since they were also among this collective, they could not be excluded.

Lei went to handle all the procedures in high spirits; he believed that if his comrades heard this news, they would definitely be even happier than he was—happiness had come too suddenly.

When he returned home, everyone had already fallen asleep; the courtyard was quiet, with only a few servants still cleaning up.

"They have all gone to sleep, is that right?"

The servant walked with small steps to Changle and replied in a low voice: "Yes, Prince, the Princess Consort has also already gone to sleep in the main room, she is asleep."

"Alright, you all continue with your work, I will also rest for a while; remember to wake me before dinner, I am going back to eat, you don't need to worry about the others, people from the Ministry of Rites will come over."

The servant nodded slightly and watched as Changle walked into his room.

Ayuduo was sleeping very peacefully, but she didn't look like she had the past few days; before, it was truly the case that when she slept, her brows were furrowed, and it was likely that even while asleep she felt the world spinning and was very uncomfortable.

Changle just lay down beside Ayuduo and immediately fell asleep as well; Changle did not get seasick, but he was also very tired, physically and mentally exhausted.

At dinner time, the servant knocked on Changle's door on time; Changle did not hear it, so the servant had no choice but to open the door to call him—this was not a problem, the thing to fear most was delaying matters just to let Changle sleep a little longer; a Slave who did that was clearly not smart enough.

Changle also gently shook Ayuduo awake, but Ayuduo still wanted to continue sleeping: "I won't eat, you go eat, I'll sleep a while longer."

Changle felt sorry for his wife, but his father had already made arrangements, and he still had to take Ayuduo to see his mother; this matter could not be canceled, so he could only continue to call her.

"Ayuduo, this won't do; my father, and my mothers, all want to see you; this meal in a moment is very important, you cannot not go."

Hearing that it was to see Changle's mother, Ayuduo, no matter how much she didn't want to, could only get up; under the service of the servants, the two of them quickly tidied up and prepared, and also washed up simply; only then did Ayuduo recover a bit of spirit and feel less exhausted.

"What about my older brother and older sister? Are they not coming together?"

Changle held Ayuduo's hand: "No, tonight is a time for our family to eat; your brother and the others cannot come, but the people from the Ministry of Rites will arrange things for them, you don't need to worry about this."

"Mm, okay, I'll listen to you, but, will your mother...?"

Changle comforted Ayuduo: "Don't worry, my two mothers are both very good; you have already seen my father, he is so majestic and you weren't afraid, you have even less reason to be afraid of my mothers; I am here."

"I will tell you about them when the time comes; today it is just my father, my two mothers, my older brother, my sister-in-law, and their son, my younger sister—just these few people; tonight we are eating together, and it is also to let them get to know you; you have only seen my father and my brother, you haven't met the others yet."

Ayuduo tightened her grip on Changle's hand: "Alright, then let's go; is it far?"

"Not far, just a few steps and we'll be there."

When Changle arrived with Ayuduo, everyone else was already seated, and the atmosphere was very harmonious; it was mainly the women discussing the never-before-seen Ayuduo, wanting to probe Baifeng and Yulong to get some preparation.

The moment Changle appeared with Ayuduo, the environment went quiet for a few seconds, then Sui immediately stood up and said: "Changle, quickly bring Ayuduo over, let me take a good look."

"Alright, Mother."

Changle pulled Ayuduo to the large long table and bowed to the crowd; Ayuduo also hurriedly learned from Changle and did the same.

Sui calmed her emotions and sat down, while Chinv's eyes kept scanning Ayuduo; Changle was her own biological son, and she had to be more concerned.

"Alright, come over and sit down."

Once Baifeng spoke, Changle immediately pulled Ayuduo over; originally, at the dining table, there was an order of seniority, with Baifeng in the main seat, Sui sitting to Baifeng's left, Yulong sitting on the right, Chinv next to Sui, and Changle was to sit next to Yulong.

However, considering today that Ayuduo might be under a lot of pressure, Changle was specifically allowed to be with Ayuduo; once Ayuduo was familiar with things in the future, she would naturally have to sit next to Zhi; there was no help for it, since Baifeng had set the rules and established the rites, they naturally had to be followed, otherwise such a setup would be meaningless.

One could not say it was favoring men over women or feudalism; in this era, for Baifeng to do this was already incredibly advanced and incredibly enlightened, and this was also something that had to be done to consolidate Baifeng's rule.

Changle introduced them to Ayuduo one by one: "This is Father, Big Brother, this is my mother, who is also the Queen, this is my biological mother, this is my younger sister, and this is my sister-in-law."

Changle even introduced Qihu, who was preparing to climb onto the table; Ayuduo was also shocked by Qihu's physical constitution; it was rare to see a truly chubby baby in the Jiuli, and it was foreseeable that after he grew up, he would definitely be an extremely strong man.

"Alright, since you have all met, let's serve the food; Ayuduo, you don't need to be too nervous, we are all one family, you will get used to it in the future."

Ayuduo looked at Baifeng, whose aura was slightly different from the Baifeng she knew, and she was still a little afraid, so she could only nod slowly.

Sui and Chinv looked at Ayuduo and were increasingly satisfied; it was mainly because Ayuduo's status was what it was, which made them feel that she was just right to be a match for their son; as for the women of Huaxia, only someone like Zhi, the daughter of a Marquis, could be considered a match, and they felt others were a bit lacking; their own status and position had been low before, but that was in the past, and looking at it now, Changle's father was the King of Huaxia, so his son should marry the best woman.