Chapter 680 - Inspiration for DIY
Despite his confusion and doubts, Zhu Junxi, this hapless child, honestly explained how he and ‘General Mu’ got to know each other. This was the story of a beauty rescuing a hero. During an operation to eliminate bandits, a young general, who had just been transferred to the southwest, fell into the enemy’s trap and got lost in the deep mountains because of his unfamiliarity with the dangerous and mountainous environment of the southwest.
The dense forest, miasma, poisonous insects, and mysterious enemies caused the young general, who was a superb military commander, to fall into a dilemma. Just when he had run out of supplies and driven into a corner, General Mu led a group of elite soldiers, like a god descending from the heavens, and saved the young general from the dangerous situation…
“Just because General Mu saved your life…you and the general…” Princess Consort Jing gnashed her teeth as she imagined General Mu’s, the fellow who liked men, ‘crime’ of taking advantage of the life-saving grace. She inwardly swore at this perverted general.
Recalling the scenes of the past, Zhu Junxi chuckled foolishly and said, “It was indeed Mumu who expressed interest in me first. At the beginning, I was afraid that others would say that I got my military merits through connections, so I rejected the confession. But, later…”
A virtuous maiden was afraid of a pestering man, and it was the same when the roles were flipped. Han Xiaomu had grown up in the military camps and developed a straightforward personality. She had always been open to expressing her feelings to the man she liked. There were naturally many young military officials under General Han who were interested in Han Xiaomu. Seeing that this beautiful and resourceful sweetheart, who was also skilled in martial arts, had actually fallen in love with this foreign wolf, all sorts of open and covert attacks were directed at Zhu Junxi.
Han Xiaomu was aware of the ‘conspiracies’ of these people and helped Zhu Junxi many times to overcome the ‘schemes’ of his colleagues. In the next few battles, the two became increasingly compatible, and they worked seamlessly together. They accumulated great military achievements by repeatedly defeating the enemy troops with a force inferior in number. When faced with the undisguised admiration of Han Xiaomu, who was jokingly known as ‘General Mu’ among the troops, Zhu Junxi could no longer remain calm, and he gradually fell for her.
When Zhu Junxi joined the army, he hid his family background. There were few in the army who knew about his identity as the second young master of Prince Jing’s Estate. However, his surname was ‘Zhu’ and he had the generation name of ‘Jun’. There was no way that he could hide his background from General Han, who was known to be an old fox. He pondered over the sons of the imperial princes. The only one who matched his age and appearance was the second son of Imperial Prince Jing.
His father spoke highly of Imperial Prince Jing, saying that he was upright, selfless, good-natured, and capable. Thus, General Han was quite happy with his daughter’s choice.
General Han had quite a headache with his only daughter. General Han was deeply in love with his wife. After his wife passed away while giving birth to their daughter, General Han never planned to get married again. General Han had always doted on his daughter, who was looking more and more like his wife. She didn’t want to stay in the capital, so he bought her along and raised her by his side.
But, as a military official, how was he supposed to raise a delicate young girl? He had inadvertently raised his daughter into a tomboy who was a capable and crafty ‘little fox’ with superb skills in military operations. Seeing that his daughter was already twenty years old yet she still didn’t seem to be interested in romance and only knew about fighting, General Han felt very worried. He felt that it wasn’t a good idea for his daughter to stay in the military camps with a group of rough men! He should send her back to the capital and let her grandfather worry about her!
General Han’s wife had passed away for many years, and his youngest son, who was over thirty years old, didn’t even have a wife yet. There wasn’t a mistress at home to manage the household. Old General Han had invited a senior servant, who used to work in the Imperial Palace, to teach his granddaughter etiquette and rules.
At the borders, Han Xiaomu was just like a wild horse that had never worn a harness. When it suddenly had to put on a rein and a saddle, it would feel unaccustomed as if it was tied with a thick layer of shackles. This child had always been an independent thinker, so while her grandfather wasn’t paying attention, she left a letter and ran back to the borders. After that, no matter what General Han said, she never left the borders and the garrison.
General Han had wanted to find a good husband among his talented subordinates. However, his daughter treated them like her brothers, colleagues, and comrades in arms. She completely ignored the expression of interest of many of the young generals. The young generals didn’t dare to frequently approach her because Han Xiaomu liked to get others to spar with her. She was highly skilled in martial arts, so if they weren’t careful, they would get beaten up. It would be so embarrassing to come out looking battered.
General Han was so worried that his hair had turned white, and his beard was almost completely pulled out by him. At this time, Zhu Junxi, who had transferred over, appeared in front of the father-daughter pair.
After Zhu Junxi was saved by Han Xiaomu, he was often coerced into practicing martial arts with her under the pretext that she had saved his life so he should be grateful and repay her. Although Zhu Junxi’s martial arts skills weren’t as good as his devilish younger brother’s, he had studied hard with the martial arts expert hired by the estate. Coupled with his years of experience at the borders, his skills could be considered extraordinary.
Because Han Xiaomu was a girl and his life savior, and for fear that she would feel embarrassed, Zhu Junxi always went easy on her and pretended to lose when they practiced together. Han Xiaomu had challenged nearly all the military officials in the garrison and had rich experience in actual combat, so how could she not see his yielding? Instead of being grateful, she was furious. She thought that Zhu Junxi didn’t show his true strength because he didn’t respect her and looked down on her. So she pestered him every day, like a shadow!
With no other choice, Zhu Junxi used some of his real skills and defeated the bothersome young maiden. Unexpectedly, the more frustrated Han Xiaomu was, the braver she became. She viewed him like a boss and challenged him every few days. After repeated practices and battles, the youth and maiden developed good feelings for each other. Their feelings gradually warmed up, and they came together naturally.
With their harmonious combination and good teamwork, they obtained many military merits in the southwest. Han Xiaomu was respectfully known as ‘General Mu’, but she wasn’t an official member of the army. Thus, their achievements were credited to Zhu Junxi. This was one of the reasons why he was promoted to a fourth-rank official so quickly.
Imperial Prince Jing interrupted his son’s recount, pondered briefly, and asked, “Is this General Mu that you’re talking about the granddaughter of Marquis Zhongwu, Old General Han? The daughter of General Han, the commanding general of the southwest troops?”
“Uh? General Mu is a woman?” With a slightly opened mouth, Princess Consort Jing stared at them round-eyed.
Imperial Prince Jing and Zhu Junxi: …
“In reply to Lord Father, you’re right! Lady Mother, of course, Mumu is a woman. Did you think that your son will find a man as his wife?” Zhu Junxi had imaginary black lines on his head. He hadn’t expected that his lady mother would think that he was gay. Even if he fell in love with a man, he wouldn’t foolishly bring ‘him’ back to see his parents and marry ‘him’!
Princess Consort Jing’s expression changed very fast, and she said with a smile, “That’s good, it’s good that she’s a woman! Second Son, it’s all your fault. You didn’t make it clear at the beginning and gave me a false alarm! So, based on what you’re saying, the lass also came back to the capital with you? Why didn’t you bring her back for me to see?”
‘So, it’s my fault now! Lady Mother is always thinking about all these nonsense, yet Lord Father isn’t doing anything about it!’ Zhu Junxi felt very helpless ah!
“Mumu also came with Old General Han to attend Younger Brother’s wedding yesterday. At that time, Lady Mother was busy greeting the guests, so I didn’t introduce her to you guys. Mumu said that she would pay a visit on another day. Lady Mother, what day would you prefer?” She was indeed worthy of being the descendent of a family of generals. She was straightforward and generous, and she didn’t act coy at all. She had already felt a good impression in Princess Consort Jing’s heart.
“How about…tomorrow?” Princess Consort Jing couldn’t wait to meet the female general, whose bravery wasn’t inferior to that of a man. How capable was she, to be able to subdue her second son?
Zhu Junyang, who had acted like a background for a long time, suddenly spoke up, “Tomorrow is the day that my wife and I go back to visit her maiden home…”
Princess Consort Jing really wanted to say, ‘You guys can just go, and I can meet my second daughter-in-law.’ But, when she saw that Xiaocao had a face full of curiosity as if she wanted to join in the gossip, she held back her words and said, “Then…the day after tomorrow!”
Zhu Junya looked at Xiaocao. Then she looked around and said, “Second Younger Brother and Miss Han have mutual affection for each other, but the two families have yet to meet. If we just invite her to our house like this, would the Han Family think that we have slighted them?”
Princess Consort Jing thought about it carefully and also felt that it was somewhat improper. Then she casually asked her daughter, “Then what do you think is the appropriate way to handle this matter?”
“Lady Mother, don’t you often hold flower appreciation gatherings, garden parties, and so on? Why don’t you organize a food tasting banquet? You can invite the noble maidens of the capital to tour the garden and try some pastries. At that time, you can also send an invitation to Miss Han. In this way, wouldn’t you be able to see her without being too obvious?” As Zhu Junya said this, she looked at Xiaocao.
Of course, Zhu Junyang could tell what was on his older sister’s mind. He pulled a long face and said unhappily, “What does the food tasting banquet have to do with my wife? It wouldn’t be that you guys want my newly wedded wife to work hard to make pastries for you guys, right? No way, I don’t agree!”
“It doesn’t matter if you agree or not. What matters is whether Third Sister-in-law agrees!” Zhu Junya knew very well that her youngest brother was just a paper tiger in front of Xiaocao. As long as her youngest sister-in-law spoke up, her youngest brother’s opinion could be ignored.
Yu Xiaocao thought about it, and then said with a smile, “We can build several big ovens in the garden. We’ll prepare the materials for making pastries in advance, so that noble maidens who are interested can make pastries themselves.” In her previous life, DIY chocolates, cakes, and cookies were very popular among young men and women. There was a sense of achievement when one ate the pastries made by oneself!
“That’s a great idea, Third Sister-in-law! But, I’m afraid that those noble maidens who have never done any chores will make a complete mess when making the pastries!” Zhu Junya was a terrible cook herself. After hearing the plan, she was eager to try it out herself. However, she still had some concerns in her heart.
Yu Xiaocao also had a sudden flash of inspiration. She wondered if she should set up a DIY pastries workshop in the back courtyard of her family’s pastries shop. If this food tasting banquet was successful, then it would be the same as promoting her new project! Why not go ahead with it when it could kill a few birds with one stone?
She ignored her man’s long face, and said excitedly, “On that day, I’ll select a group of apprentice pastry chefs from the pastries shop to come assist them. For the simple pastries, as long as the ingredients are properly prepared, even if the appearance isn’t very good, the taste won’t be affected!”