Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 100.1

The autumn exam results were announced at the end of September. Qi Zhenshu rested at home for two days, and then resumed her duties at the yamen (government office).

After dinner, Lu Sheng sat at the desk, accompanying the little one in practicing calligraphy, occasionally looking up towards the courtyard.

Princess Changning was in Binhe County, and some of the routine miscellaneous tasks of the prefecture were handed over to Qi Zhenshu and Ruan Peng to handle. Qi Zhenshu was often busy until late at night before she could return home.

It wasn’t until the sky was completely dark and the silver moon hung high that she heard familiar footsteps outside the door.

Qi Zhenshu was about to raise her hand to knock on the door when she saw the courtyard door open from the inside.

“Why are you so late today?” Lu Sheng pulled her inside. “If you hadn’t come back soon, I was thinking of going to look for you.”

“There were quite a few things, so it took a little longer to deal with them,” Qi Zhenshu said while rolling up her sleeves.

Lu Sheng bent down and scooped a ladle of water from the water vat, helping her wash her hands. “Has the matter in Binhe County not been resolved yet?”

A few days ago, Lu Sheng heard Qi Zhenshu say that Princess Changning was about to return, and Lu Sheng thought that if she returned earlier, Qi Zhenshu could also relax a bit.

“The Princess has already returned from Binhe County,” Qi Zhenshu explained while washing her hands. “We discussed some things, which is why I came back late.”

After rescuing Lu Yu on the mountain that day, Lu Yu was taken to the county yamen for interrogation. Lu Yu admitted that she had mixed two batches of pig iron into the military provisions when she was the granary supervisor, and also confessed that those two batches of pig iron were delivered to the wharf granary by Lu Hualiang.

She also pleaded guilty to ordering A-Kun to murder Zhou Dan and the other two.

With Lu Yu as a human witness, Princess Changning quickly arrested the Lu Hualiang brothers.

After being detained for only one night, before even being interrogated, Lu Hualiang immediately confessed everything he knew.

Wang Haoyong and Liu Chaoyun cooperated to smuggle grain, selling it outside the pass through Yunzhou City, the territory of the Prince of Yunzhou. Half of the profit was equally divided between Wang and Liu, and the other half was used to purchase pig iron and transport it to the Qinzhou military camp.

Wang Haoyong secretly purchased pig iron from Maizhou, mixed it into the military provisions in the Binhe County granary, and the subsequent matters were arranged by Liu Chaoyun in Qingzhou.

In addition, Princess Changning also learned from Lu Hualiang the purpose of Wang Haoyong’s trip to the back mountain that day.

The pig iron mines in Maizhou were controlled by the government. The pig iron dug from the mines each year, in addition to the portion handed over to the imperial court, a small part would circulate to civilian blacksmith shops to make some agricultural or household tools.

However, to purchase pig iron, one had to first obtain a permit (que zhuang) from the Maizhou Iron Smelting Department and then take the permit to the mine to purchase the pig iron.

The Wang family, as grain merchants, did not have the qualification to obtain the permit from the Iron Smelting Department. It was Liu Chaoyun, under the convenience of being the president of the Hengchanglong Chamber of Commerce, who, under the guise of helping iron shops within Qingzhou uniformly purchase permits, bribed an official in the Salt and Iron Department (Yan Tie Si Tie Cheng Guan) to secretly purchase an extra permit.

After the grain smuggling case came to light, the Wang family was raided, Wang Haoyong disappeared, and the permit he held was also missing.

“Liu Chaoyun bailed out the Wang family just for that permit?” Lu Sheng asked, puzzled.

Since Liu Chaoyun could secretly buy an extra permit, even if the original one was lost, he could just buy another one. Why go to such lengths to bail out the Wang family?

After Qi Zhenshu finished washing her hands, Lu Sheng pulled a towel from the wooden shelf next to her and handed it to her.

“The purchase of the pig iron permit requires not only the approval of the Iron Smelting Department but also a review by the Prefecture Yamen,” Qi Zhenshu saw through her thoughts, smiled, took the towel, wiped her hands, and replied.

Now the Transport Commissioner of Jiangnan Dao is Princess Changning. Liu Chaoyun was already scrambling to clear his relationship, so how would he dare to openly buy another pig iron permit?

“Furthermore, after each purchase of pig iron, the mine supervisor would write down the purchased amount on the back of that pig iron permit and stamp it with the official seal,” Qi Zhenshu further explained.

Account books could be faked, but a permit stamped with an official seal could not.

That permit truthfully recorded every purchase of pig iron, and it was the most compelling piece of evidence.

“Was the permit hidden by Wang Haoyong?” Lu Sheng asked while walking towards the stove.

Princess Changning did not find the permit on Wang Haoyong when she located him.

“Wang Haoyong originally planned to hide the permit in the cemetery on the back mountain of Lu’er Mountain,” Qi Zhenshu replied.

According to Lu Hualiang, Wang Haoyong had arranged to bury the permit near Lu Huacheng’s grave. Lu Huacheng’s grave was a newly dug earthen mound, so digging a pit nearby wouldn’t attract attention.

After the Wang family members were released, they specifically sent people to look for the permit, but they didn’t dig up the permit at the originally designated spot, which is why they even dug up Lu Huacheng’s grave to search.

“When we went to the back mountain that day, we didn’t see any newly turned soil there,” Lu Sheng recalled and said.

“Indeed, there wasn’t any,” Qi Zhenshu nodded. “He must have hidden the permit somewhere else.”

Qi Zhenshu guessed that Wang Haoyong encountered the old woman (Gu Po) in the back mountain. After pushing her down the mountain, he didn’t dare to hide the permit there anymore.

“So now only Wang Haoyong knows where the permit is?” Lu Sheng asked.

“Yes,” Qi Zhenshu responded with a nod.

“Let’s not talk about this, let’s eat first.”

Lu Sheng turned and walked towards the stove, reaching out to lift the rice and dishes that were being kept warm in the pot. The moment the pot lid was opened, the rising steam dispersed.

The bowl that had been kept warm was hot. Lu Sheng had just taken the bowl out of the pot when she put it down, blowing on her fingers.

“Did you burn yourself?” Qi Zhenshu followed behind her, placed the towel aside, and grabbed Lu Sheng’s hand.

Her finger hurt only a little. Lu Sheng rubbed it, smiling as she pressed her burned finger onto Qi Zhenshu’s earlobe, mischievously saying, “This way it won’t be hot anymore.”

Qi Zhenshu’s earlobe was thick and soft to the touch. Lu Sheng couldn’t help but reach out and pinch it. Qi Zhenshu gave her a playful look, then used a cloth pad to take the bowls of rice and dishes and placed them on the table.

Lu Sheng took out a pair of chopsticks and handed them to her, smiling as she sat across from her, watching her eat.

Qi Zhenshu took a mouthful of rice, remembered something, and said, “Once that permit is found, this case can be closed. Currently, we can only try to get it from Wang Haoyong…”

“Don’t talk while eating,” Lu Sheng said with a straight face, mimicking the tone in which Qi Zhenshu had spoken, not wanting her to talk about official business even after coming home.

After she finished speaking, she winked at Qi Zhenshu.

Qi Zhenshu had a very good memory. Lu Sheng’s words were clearly what she had said to Lu Sheng at the dinner table a long time ago.

“You little miser,” Qi Zhenshu reached out and tapped Lu Sheng’s head, raising an eyebrow as she continued eating.

A few more days passed.

The sky was filled with morning glow, and the horizon glowed a faint gold.

Lu Sheng opened the courtyard door, preparing to light the fire and cook breakfast. The moment she stepped out of the room, she was momentarily blinded by a bright red flash.

‘Sister!’

Accompanied by a frantic bird call, Lu Sheng’s face was instantly enveloped by a large mass of bird feathers, her nose bumped by a hard gem.

Lu Sheng speechlessly pulled away the parrot that was hugging her face, surprised, “Why are you in Qingzhou?”

When she left Qingzhou, she had entrusted the bird to Liu Yun’s care.

‘Sister, I finally found you!’ Feather Plume (Yu Ling) hugged Lu Sheng’s arm, whining pitifully, ‘Little White, Little White was captured by bad people!’

Lu Sheng’s expression darkened when she heard this. “Where was Little White captured?”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Before the parrot could speak, someone started knocking on Lu Sheng’s courtyard door.

‘Sister, the bad people are chasing after me!’ Feather Plume quickly burrowed into Lu Sheng’s arms, yelling exasperatedly, ‘Sister, quickly capture them and save Little White!’

The knocking sound woke up Qi Zhenshu, who was reading in the room. She frowned slightly, put down her pen, and walked into the courtyard.

Seeing Feather Plume in Lu Sheng’s arms, she was surprised. “Why is it here?”

Lu Sheng shook her head. The knocking continued relentlessly, mixed with a familiar voice. “Xiao Sheng, Xiao Shu, are you awake?”

“Sister Yan?”

Lu Sheng looked at Qi Zhenshu, who nodded and walked towards the courtyard door.

Creak~

“Xiao Shu,” Qin Feiyan saw Qi Zhenshu and quickly asked, “Have you seen a parrot fly in?”

“Why is Sister Yan looking for that bird?” Qi Zhenshu asked.

“That bird has clues to the permit on it,” Qin Feiyan didn’t hide anything and directly said.

“Clues to the permit?” Qi Zhenshu was puzzled. How could Feather Plume have clues to the permit?

“A few days ago, we saw that parrot in Binhe County, Qingning she…”

Realizing her slip of the tongue, Qin Feiyan cleared her throat and changed her words, “Princess Changning found that the chain the parrot was wearing was a bit strange, it seemed to be Wang Haoyong’s.”

“Nonsense!” Feather Plume poked its head out from Lu Sheng’s arms, indignantly mimicking human speech, “That’s clearly a token of love Little White gave me!”

“So there really is a parrot that can speak human language,” Qin Feiyan turned her head, surprised.

She had traveled extensively and had heard of a type of parrot from overseas that could speak human language, but this was the first time she had genuinely heard and seen one.

Seeing the parrot hiding in Lu Sheng’s arms, Qin Feiyan guessed, “Is this parrot yours?”

“Yes,” Lu Sheng took two steps forward and nodded.

“Sister!”

“She’s the bad person!”

“It was her who captured Little White!”

“Quickly save Little White!”

Feather Plume flapped its wings and shook its head in Lu Sheng’s arms, complaining. Qi Zhenshu couldn’t stand it anymore and reached out to pull it out.

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