CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 80: UNDER THE MOON (PART 2)

Jiang Shaohua was amused by Cui Du’s embarrassed expression and couldn’t help but laugh: "When a man grows up, he should marry; when a woman grows up, she should also marry. There’s nothing to be shy about."

"In your current state, you can’t get married. You’d at least have to wait until your body grows into an adult’s form before talking about that."

Cui Du steadied his mind, picked up the charcoal pencil, and focused on drawing for a while.

Jiang Shaohua waited for a moment and then saw Cui Du’s response.

The drawing depicted a bountiful wheat field, with a young man with a big head and puffed cheeks lounging leisurely at the edge of the field.

So, is having a good field in this life enough? Unwilling to marry and start a family?

Jiang Shaohua chuckled: "Well, whether you get married or not is your business, as long as you figure it out yourself. I, the Commandery Princess, won’t force you."

Cui Du gave her a deep look.

Jiang Shaohua immediately understood the meaning behind his gaze: "You’re wondering if I, the Commandery Princess, will get married in the future?"

Cui Du nodded.

Actually, it was a bit out of place for two young people to discuss this topic. For some reason, his body had shrunk, although he was a twenty-five-year-old adult male, he now looked like a child.

In front of him, the Commandery Princess was not as simple as she appeared. Able to control the Prince Mansion and manage the officials, daring to lead troops to fight bandits and to kill with a gun, her thoughts were unfathomable and mysterious. Clearly, she harbored many secrets unknown to others.

Jiang Shaohua mumbled for a moment before saying: "I haven’t decided yet. Fortunately, I’m still young and have plenty of time to think it over. Maybe in ten or eight years, I, the Commandery Princess, will consider bringing a husband into the house."

Getting married is impossible, at most, I’ll just take in a husband.

Cui Du’s face flushed inexplicably again. He opened his mouth, only to realize that he still couldn’t speak. He wanted to pick up the pen, but didn’t know what to draw.

Jiang Shaohua’s brief moment of confusion and vulnerability had passed; she returned to her usual demeanor: "These are matters for the future, let’s not talk about them. It’s getting late, you should go back to your courtyard and rest early."

Cui Du nodded and finally remembered to salute before leaving.

He lived in the adjacent courtyard, next to Shen Gongzheng’s courtyard, and it took just a moment to reach. He walked a short distance and looked back, seeing the Commandery Princess leaving, surrounded by maids and personal soldiers.

The tall trusted aides entirely blocked the Commandery Princess’s figure. In this glance, he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the hem of her dress.

Cui Du stood there for a moment, sighed deeply with a sense of loss, then turned and entered the courtyard.

Meanwhile, after returning to her courtyard, Jiang Shaohua went to the cleansing room to bathe.

In the past half month, marching and battling bandits required living with the army. Every night, she could only wash up briefly and had no convenience for bathing. Today, finally back in a familiar environment, she soaked in the large wooden tub for an hour and even changed the hot water once.

After bathing, she felt completely relaxed.

Yin Zhu carefully twisted the water out of the Commandery Princess’s hair, Tu Bai brought a set of soft underclothes, serving the mistress to change clothes.

Jiang Shaohua sighed with a smile: "Leading troops to war is indeed hard and no easy task."

Yin Zhu laughed and said: "From this servant’s perspective, when the Commandery Princess leads troops to kill bandits, your might is impressive, and you don’t seem to be struggling at all."

Jiang Shaohua laughed helplessly: "Even if I’m somewhat unaccustomed, I can’t show it. Otherwise, what would the trusted aides think of me? What would Qin Zhan and Liu Hengchang think? If I want to completely win them over to my cause, I must do something to let them see."

Tu Bai and Yin Zhu exchanged a glance, then boldly asked: "The Commandery Princess issues orders, and they must follow. This servant doesn’t understand, why does the Commandery Princess work so hard?"

Jiang Shaohua replied indifferently: "There are many things I want to accomplish. I need them to recognize and follow me, and be willing to risk their lives for me. Merely following orders is insufficient. I want them to truly respect and be loyal to me."

Tu Bai couldn’t help scratching her head: "The Commandery Princess’s words, this servant does not quite understand."

Yin Zhu, much cleverer than Tu Bai, understood: "This servant understands. The trusted aides are currently loyal to the Nanyang Prince Mansion. The Commandery Princess wants them to be wholly loyal to you."

Jiang Shaohua gave Yin Zhu an approving glance: "That’s right, exactly so."

The three of them chatted idly, naturally mentioning Cui Du.

"The Commandery Princess seems to have a special regard for the little mute." Yin Zhu addressed Mr. Cui as the little mute in private: "You’ve talked quite a while with the little mute tonight!"

Tu Bai added: "The little mute cannot speak, either he gestures randomly, or he scribbles around. Fortunately, the Commandery Princess has patience."

Eventually, the two close maids felt a bit sour. In front of her two close maids, the Commandery Princess had never spoken so much, nor smiled so gently!

Jiang Shaohua chuckled: "You two have the audacity to be jealous. If you two can draw blueprints of the new type of plough and know how to farm, I can smile at you both every day."

Yin Zhu and Tu Bai blushed.

This jealousy was indeed uncalled for. Well, let’s not fuss about the little mute.

With a creak, the door opened.

Mrs. Zhang walked in with a smiling face: "This servant made a bowl of osmanthus glutinous rice balls for the Commandery Princess."

Jiang Shaohua laughed happily: "I’ve been away for over half a month, all these days away, what I miss most is Mrs. Zhang’s homemade snacks."

The osmanthus-stuffed glutinous rice balls, sweet and sticky, perfectly sized for one bite, were exceptionally delicious. Jiang Shaohua ate them, feeling thoroughly satisfied.

Mrs. Zhang hesitated but couldn’t resist saying: "Commandery Princess, the rice balls are made of glutinous rice, which is difficult to digest, so please eat less in the future."

"Mrs. Zhang is right." Jiang Shaohua said while eating, finishing the whole bowl of rice balls clean in no time. Still feeling a bit unsatisfied: "Tu Bai, bring a bottle of Hawthorn Balls, I’ll eat some to aid digestion."

Mrs. Zhang: "..."

...

Jiang Shaohua wasn’t in the habit of lying in bed for a long time, so she woke up early the next day as usual. As usual, she went to the training ground first to practice boxing and gunplay.

Song Yuan accompanied her for a spar, and quickly and keenly noticed something unusual: "The Commandery Princess’s strength has increased again compared to before."

Jiang Shaohua’s eyes sparkled, and she laughed softly: "I’ve noticed it too. It seems that the trip to subdue bandits and kill using a gun greatly benefited me."

Looking at the Commandery Princess, whose smile was as radiant as a flower, Song Yuan felt a complex mix of emotions: "Commandery Princess... in the future, let me handle such matters as killing bandits, or let the trusted aides do it."

Jiang Shaohua responded smoothly: "Alright, I’ll listen to my uncle."

But it was just to humor him verbally. Next time, she would still take action herself.

Song Yuan understood this, but was helpless. His gaze drifted as he called Qin Hu and several other trusted aides over: "You guys, take turns sparring with the Commandery Princess."

Qin Hu was a bit apathetic, pulling himself together to respond: "Commander Song, rest assured, I will hold back strength and won’t injure the Commandery Princess."

Song Yuan gave Qin Hu, who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth, a sideways glance.

Jiang Shaohua chuckled lightly, restraining half of her strength, and sparred back and forth with Qin Hu. By the thirtieth move, she used her gun to flick the long knife out of Qin Hu’s hand.

Bang!

The long knife and Qin Hu’s face both hit the ground!