Transmigrated as the Princess's Scummy Wife - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The “Big Dog” Fuma

Behind her, the slightly warm silk handkerchief moved away from her buttocks.

Nan Qing lay limp on the stretcher, her face a mask of utter world-weariness.

“Alright, send the Fuma back to Hetian Courtyard.”

The gentle, unhurried voice rang out beside her. Nan Qing merely flicked her eyelids, looking listless as if she had seen through the vanity of the mortal world. She didn’t bother responding to this Princess who had insisted on applying her medicine.

The Princess claimed she would apply it personally, but the result was a barrier of who-knows-how-many layers of silk.

For a moment, Nan Qing couldn’t tell if she felt more relieved or disappointed.

In that split second of dazed thought, she suddenly felt her entire body become airborne.

The person carrying the stretcher was somewhat temperamental, walking with a staggered, swaying gait that nearly sent her tumbling off.

Suspicion immediately sprouted in Nan Qing’s mind.

Only she, Xuan Zhaoci, and Dong He were in the room. The one carrying her had to be Dong He.

Was Dong He really this strong?

To be able to lift her and the stretcher alone with the strength of a weightlifter like that, how could she have let her precious Princess be bullied by the original owner? It was absurd.

Just as her peripheral vision caught the doorway, Dong He set her down and called for others to help move her.

A few sparks of insight flashed through Nan Qing’s brain.

Xuan Zhaoci was indeed hiding things deep.

However, after Nan Qing’s series of “erratic maneuvers,” the Princess had been forced to show some of her cards.

First, Dong He—who appeared as frail and delicate as the Princess herself—had displayed extraordinary strength. Second, the Imperial Physician Hu, whose attitude was ambiguous, had chosen to help hide the truth. Finally, and most obviously, the two guards who beat her had used no force at all.

The only question was: was the Princess showing these flaws intentionally, or was it a slip-up?

Back in her room, hearing the footsteps recede, Nan Qing climbed off the bed, supporting herself against the wall with great difficulty.

Her legs trembled; she paused for three breaths with every step she took. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead and nose. The burning sensation of the wounds on her buttocks mingled with the cooling evaporation of the ointment, making Nan Qing draw in a sharp breath.

Once she regained her composure, she took a deep breath and began rummaging through the room.

These past few days, she had been so preoccupied with planting vegetables that she hadn’t had time to inspect her living quarters.

The information provided by the System was too superficial. Everyone’s actual situation was vastly different from the text descriptions; she was at a disadvantage.

Now, she needed to find if the original owner had any correspondence with other royal daughters or princesses—especially the Second Imperial Daughter. She also needed to find the deeds to the external residences so she could persuade those two lovers to leave, lest they bring disaster upon her later.

Late at night, most people in the Qinghe Princess Mansion were fast asleep.

Only Hetian Courtyard remained lit.

A busy Nan Qing finally collapsed back onto the bed, panting and looking utterly bewildered.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing.

No letters to any royalty, and no deeds to external residences.

She had searched everywhere, even checking inside the vases, but still found no personal records.

The fact that there was nothing at all made it even stranger.

The original owner had gone from a rural villager to a Prince Consort overnight; surely people from her village would have written to ask for favors. Yet, there wasn’t even a letter like that.

Nan Qing was more inclined to believe that the original owner had hidden them elsewhere or destroyed important documents. Otherwise, too many things didn’t make sense.

System, oh System, you’re really useless.

Apologies, Host. The System cannot identify this command. Please change your request or upgrade the System.

Nan Qing: “…”

Fine. If she couldn’t find them, she couldn’t find them. She had another move.

Her high-profile punishment of the servants earlier wasn’t just a random act of establishing authority for Xuan Zhaoci. Every action a transmigrator took had to be for the goal of going home as soon as possible.

The moment that guard had teased her, a brilliant idea had flashed through Nan Qing’s mind.

Rather than waiting for death, it was better to take the initiative.

She currently held too little information. If she continued testing the waters cautiously, who knew when she’d get home? It was better to cause a massive scene and make it known to everyone.

She would wait—wait for everyone connected to the original owner to contact her proactively.

Whether the original owner’s actions aligned with their interests would become clear through their interactions.

Nan Qing squeezed her gluteal muscles—which felt like a mix of ice and fire and drifted into a beautiful sleep.

Early the next morning.

The new shift of gate guards focused their gazes, staring in unison at a strange object at the mansion entrance.

It was a wooden board with a finger-wide hole at the front and back. A cooling mat was spread across the board, which was suspended off the ground. Some curious guards squatted down to look.

The board was equipped with four high wheels at the bottom. Unlike a typical cart where the wheels were on the outside, this cart’s wheels were tucked further underneath.

What was this for?

The guards were baffled, but their confusion was soon answered.

A few figures approached from the distance. The guards and passersby immediately knelt in salute.

“Peace be upon Your Highness.”

“Rise.”

“Thank you, Highness.”

After the spectacular show last night, everyone felt a phantom pain in their own backsides upon seeing the Princess today, and they saluted reflexively.

“You two lift the arms, A-Xiang and I will lift the legs. Three, two, one put her down.”

Dong He’s exhausted voice rang out at the gate. The Fuma on the stretcher was moved by four maids onto the wheeled board.

The cart was a bit narrow, so the Fuma’s broader shoulders hung slightly off the edges.

A-Xiang held two thick ropes. She squatted down, tying one end of one rope to the hole in the cart and doing the same with the other rope near the Fuma’s feet.

Dong He and A-Xiang each held a rope, standing at the front and back of the cart respectively.

The Princess stood beside Dong He, her pomegranate lips opening slightly: “Depart.”

With a tug of the rope from Dong He, the cart began to roll forward with a clatter-clatter. Nan Qing didn’t want to know how others were looking at her, so she simply buried her face in the cooling mat.

“Fuma,” Xuan Zhaoci’s voice was tender.

Nan Qing replied listlessly: “Highness, I am here.”

Her voice sounded muffled from being buried in the mat. Xuan Zhaoci smiled: “You will have to trouble yourself to lie on this cart for farmwork these next few days, Fuma.”

The cart rumbled through the capital’s largest marketplace. Countless curious eyes sized Nan Qing up some with teasing jest, others with mocking sneers, the former being the majority.

“Peace be upon Your Highness.” Passersby would give a quick bow and then whisper to one another.

“Who is that being pulled by Princess Qinghe’s personal maid?”

“Look at that build. Didn’t we see it last night? Who else could it be but the Fuma of Qinghe?”

“Whoa! Beaten last night and dragged through the streets today?”

“If she hadn’t bullied her wife earlier, she wouldn’t have ended up like this today…”

The general sentiment was a cheer for Princess Qinghe’s actions. Nan Qing was incredibly embarrassed; her ears turned beet red, and she didn’t dare lift her head.

Fortunately, the cart design was quite human-centric. There was a slight recess for her head and even subtle indentations for her chest so she wouldn’t feel pressed.

This body was lean and fit, perfectly filling the recesses; it was quite similar to Nan Qing’s own figure.

Nan Qing tried her best to tune out the spectators. She took a deep breath: “I understand, I will do the farmwork well. But may I make a request?”

She couldn’t be the only one in this embarrassing situation. Xuan Zhaoci had to accompany her in enduring the teasing gazes of the crowd.

“Please speak, Fuma.”

“May I request that Your Highness personally pull the rope?”

“Are you certain, Fuma?”

Xuan Zhaoci was somewhat surprised. It was no problem for her to pull it, but it would look like…

Who would have thought that while this person, Nan Qing, was unfathomable, she was also a bit simple-minded? The person on the wooden board nodded vigorously: “I am certain.”

“Dong He.” Xuan Zhaoci gave the gentle command. Dong He took out a smooth silk handkerchief, wrapped it around the end of the rope, and handed it to her with a suppressed smile.

Now everyone was embarrassed together. Nan Qing felt satisfied and lay down comfortably. Though she couldn’t see this awkward scene, she could perfectly imagine it.

A grand royal Princess holding a crude rope, accompanied by her maid, with the sound of wheels behind her—the Princess working like an ox or horse for the Fuma. Wasn’t this much more interesting?

Nan Qing laughed with her head buried.

The owner of Tianxiang Pavilion saw the same scene, but the Princess’s sleeves were a bit wide and her maid was by her side, blocking the view behind her.

As a businesswoman, even if she couldn’t see clearly, she would heap on the praise. She knelt and offered an auspicious greeting: “Peace be upon Your Highness.”

“Does Your Highness have such leisure today to walk your dog?”

She hadn’t seen what was behind, but from the Princess’s pleased yet somewhat impatient expression and the rope in her hand, she concluded with absolute certainty—there was a pet dog behind the Princess!

In all her years of business, she rarely misjudged a situation.

“This lowly one also raises dogs; we are fellow dog-owners! Hearing the dull rumble of those wheels, I can tell it’s a big dog!”

The smile on the prone Nan Qing’s face froze.

The owner of Tianxiang Pavilion was full of flattery. Xuan Zhaoci stopped her footsteps with interest. Boss Qi was used to reading faces; seeing the Princess was interested, she immediately utilized her silver-tongued eloquence.

“Raising big dogs this lowly one has plenty of experience.”

“Oh?” Xuan Zhaoci laughed softly.

“Your Highness is royalty, so of course your big dog is pampered. But listen to me, you absolutely cannot raise them to be too delicate.”

Xuan Zhaoci gave a thoughtful “Mhm.”

Nan Qing struggled to sit up, but the maid named A-Xiang lightly kicked the wooden board, signaling her not to move.

“First, it can’t always ride in a cart. You can only feed it until it’s eighty or ninety percent full. And as for hitting you shouldn’t hit it. You should cradle its dog head and use gentle influence and education. This doesn’t require Your Highness to labor personally; you can just let the Fuma do it…”

Boss Qi was incredibly talkative. The more Nan Qing heard, the greener her face became. A-Xiang hung her head, forcing back laughter; Dong He was also struggling. Finally, Boss Qi’s sharp eyes caught a glimpse of something, and she cried out:

“Oh, it’s even soy-sauce colored! Highness! Soy-sauce colored big dogs are cunning and treacherous. You should just throw this dog away—”

What soy-sauce colored!?

This is wheat-colored! Wheat-colored!

Nan Qing roared inwardly. She was so angry she lifted her upper body and cursed: “You, Boss Qi! How dare you call this Fuma a dog! You have quite the nerve!”

Before the word “away” could even leave Boss Qi’s mouth, the “dog” suddenly turned into the Fuma. The words in her throat took a sharp u-turn. Terrified, she fell to her knees, trembling: “Fuma! It is this little one who has eyes but failed to recognize Mt. Tai…”

Since the word “Fuma” followed right after her interrupted thought about the dog, it sounded like she called her a “Dog Fuma.”

Nan Qing grew even angrier, her chest aching with rage.

Just as she was about to scold her further, a gentle, water-like voice flowed into her ears.

“Fuma, Boss Qi did not do it intentionally.”

Nan Qing gritted her teeth: “Then was it Your Highness who did it on purpose?”

“Not so. I have never told the Fuma about things from my childhood.”

The great beauty gracefully crouched down and naturally handed the rope to her: “Come, hold this for me, and I shall tell you.”

Nan Qing glared at her fiercely, but her hand instinctively took the rope. Xuan Zhaoci’s smile deepened.

Boss Qi was dumbfounded.

Fuma… if this isn’t “dog-like,” what is?

Boss Qi: Based on my years of experience in the world, there must be a giant hound behind the Princess! Sunglasses.

Nan Qing: (Actively takes the rope in her mouth) Hurry up and tell the story!

Boss Qi: See?

Nan Qing: …

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