CHAPTER 201: CHAPTER 201: RETURN

After a night of wandering through the lantern festival, everyone was carrying two or three lanterns.

From time to time, vendors sold food, such as chicken feet and duck heads stewed in hot brine, small bowls of hot yuanxiao, candied hawthorn skewers on grass sticks, or soft osmanthus cakes.

In terms of taste, they were actually quite ordinary, not comparable to the skills of the Prince Mansion’s chefs. However, the enjoyment of such snacks lies in their charm.

Jiang Shaohua held snacks in both hands, while Cui Du eagerly offered to carry the lantern for the Commandery Princess.

As for Chen Sheren’s lantern, naturally, Ma Sheren carried it for him.

Yin Zhu also guessed lantern riddles twice tonight and won a rabbit lantern. Meng Sanbao stepped forward eagerly, "Silver Vermilion, let me carry the lantern for you. Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll go buy it for you."

Yin Zhu, unceremoniously, pointed a finger, "I want to eat marinated food."

Meng Sanbao immediately went to buy a bag and handed it to Yin Zhu.

Qin Hu watched, feeling so jealous his teeth almost ached.

Actually, Sun Guangbai and Sun Zelan had returned to the Prince Mansion before the New Year. However, they returned to the military camp after the fifth day of the New Year. He saw Miss Sun twice, but she was cold and didn’t pay him any attention.

Qin Hu’s passionate heart was doused with cold water again and again.

Even his father, Qin Zhan, couldn’t help but advise him privately, "Miss Sun has high aspirations to become a famous doctor of Da Liang. In my view, she truly has no interest in you. You’d best give up early. I’ll have your mother find you another match. Among the trusted aides’ families, there are many good girls of suitable age..."

He retorted simply, "Whether they’re good or not, what’s it got to do with me? I just like Miss Sun."

Qin Zhan was so angry he slapped him, "Of course, I know Miss Sun is good. Her background is good, her appearance is good, her character is even better. But she doesn’t care for you, what can you do?"

"Do nothing. Either way, I just like her. I’ll wait for the day she wants to marry."

Qin Zhan snorted, "Miss Sun stays in the military camp all day, treating and healing a bunch of soldiers, seeing one man’s body after another, and during treatments has to touch them here and there. Ask your conscience, can you really bear it?"

Of course, he was very jealous. Thinking about Miss Sun’s coldness towards him, it was because of this.

If he wanted to marry the one he loved, he had to change his petty jealousy. But first, Miss Sun needed to give him that chance!

Thinking of his beloved, Qin Hu couldn’t help but be distracted.

In that moment of distraction, his personal soldier Sun An excitedly came to report: "Commandery Princess, Commander Song has returned."

Jiang Shaohua’s eyes lit up immediately, ordering without hesitation, "Return to the Prince Mansion at once."

...

Half an hour later.

Jiang Shaohua quickly entered the main hall of the Prince Mansion.

A tall man, travel-worn, couldn’t hide his excitement as he bowed, "Greetings to the Commandery Princess from this humble servant."

Jiang Shaohua extended a hand to help Song Yuan up, "It’s been months, Uncle, you’ve had a hard journey. Don’t bother with formalities, sit down and talk."

Then she turned her head and instructed, "It’s already midnight, Chief Historian Chen and Chief Historian Feng must be resting. Let’s not disturb them..."

Before she finished her words, a familiar voice sounded at the door, "Commander Song has finally returned."

"We’ve been eagerly waiting."

Chen Zhuo and Feng Wenming had indeed gone to rest, but upon hearing that Song Yuan had returned, they couldn’t sleep and got up immediately.

Jiang Shaohua was full of joy and smiled brightly, "Since everyone is here, let’s sit down and talk."

Chen Jinyu, Ma Yaosong, and Cui Du all thick-skinned sat down.

Jiang Shaohua carefully glanced at Song Yuan, sighing, "These days, thank you for your hard work, Uncle."

Song Yuan, having traveled for months, was tanner and thinner, but his spirits were good, and he smiled at her words, "This humble servant feels that this journey was eye-opening and quite rewarding."

"Tell us about it," Jiang Shaohua said with interest.

Song Yuan smiled, "This humble servant led over a hundred elite soldiers on the road, and even bandits had to avoid us. The journey was quite smooth. After reaching Nanhai County, this humble servant went straight to the dock."

"I saw the sea for the first time in my life, truly vast and boundless. The sea vessels going out to sea were very large, and the dock was bustling with ships, many of which were involved in sea trade, waiting in the market outside the dock."

This humble servant specifically divided the people into twenty teams, six people per team, to watch for sea vessels arriving daily. Any food crops brought by these vessels, regardless of type, were all purchased.

After waiting for over a month, I finally got the corn and sweet potatoes Cui Du mentioned."

"The corn and sweet potatoes from that sea vessel were all bought by this humble servant. The sea trader was cunning, seeing my eagerness to buy crops, he deliberately raised the price by five times. This humble servant didn’t say a word and paid the full amount."

"Afterward, I loaded the crops onto carriages and had them escorted back to Nanyang County. This humble servant stayed behind with twenty people, quietly tailing the sea trader. The sea trader was quite shrewd, depositing the silver at a bank and keeping the silver note close. After five or six days, feeling relaxed, he went to the brothel. On his way back, he met a group of ’thieves’, and his guards were all beaten down,"

"The bank at the dock recognized both the silver note and the person. Just robbing the silver note was useless, so we forced him with knives to go to the bank. He dared not refuse, but when we arrived, he tried to act clever and was stabbed in the left arm by me and didn’t dare make a sound."

Everyone laughed at this.

"Did you take all the trader’s silver?" Jiang Shaohua asked with a smile.

Song Yuan laughed; "Not at all. This humble servant took the extra fourfold silver he charged, not touching the rest. The sea trader realized he’d met tough opponents and didn’t dare utter a word. As this humble servant was leaving with the silver, he gave me a jade token. He said if I were to buy goods at the Nanhai County dock again, I should look for him, and he promised not to overcharge again."

Everyone laughed again.

Song Yuan took out the jade token to show Jiang Shaohua.

Jiang Shaohua looked it over slightly, noticing the intricate patterns and a square "Dai" character on it, clearly a secret mark of some family.

Chen Zhuo thought for a moment, "There are several major sea traders in Da Liang, one of them is surnamed Dai. This trader is likely a member of the Dai family."

"Since we’ve forged this goodwill, it might be useful in the future."

Upon hearing the words "goodwill," Jiang Shaohua smiled, "Chief Historian Chen speaks sensibly. Uncle should keep this jade token!"

Song Yuan smiled and accepted, then turned serious, "Now that the corn and sweet potato crops are secured, it’s up to you, Cui Du."

Everyone turned their eyes to Cui Du.

Cui Du looked confident, "Rest assured, Uncle, and also the Commandery Princess. As long as there are seeds, I can grow crops."

"Where are the seeds? I’ll go check them now."