Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 36

The wheels rolled, and the sun reached the top of the sky.

“Whew~” Qin Feiyan’s voice rang out again, “We’ll rest here for half an hour before setting off.”

The people from the escort agency moved quickly. By the time Lu Sheng stretched and got out of the carriage, they had already set up a simple stone stove.

Qin Feiyan expertly set up the pot to stew the dishes. When she stood up and saw Lu Sheng walking towards her, she asked with a smile, “Are you not used to the bumpy ride?”

“It’s fine,” Lu Sheng replied with a smile.

Lu Sheng had taken ox carts, horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, constantly sputtering tractors, off-road vehicles climbing mountain roads, and trains on winding tracks with varying elevations while on missions. She was completely unbothered by the occasional bumpy ride of the horse-drawn carriage.

The pot was bubbling with small bursts of steam. Lu Sheng glanced at it—cured meat, potatoes, cabbage, tofu, green beans, and about seven or eight other vegetables in total.

As expected of escorts who are constantly on the road, they were well-equipped with both ingredients and utensils.

“It will be ready to eat after stewing for a little longer,” Qin Feiyan said with a smile.

“I didn’t expect to be able to eat such a hearty meal while traveling,” Lu Sheng said, giving a thumbs up.

“Haha, we travel outside all year round, so we need to be well-prepared.”

Not far from the large pot, the cloth-clad maid had set up a small pot. She and the coachman worked together, one stoking the fire and the other watching the pot.

Lu Sheng took a quick look. The maid’s knife skills were quick and precise, and though the coachman looked thin, the muscles under his half-rolled sleeves were solid, and he moved the stones with ease and steady strength.

These two were definitely not ordinary attendants without any martial skill.

With this thought, Lu Sheng shifted her gaze to the distant carriage, the curtain of which was still tightly sealed, not revealing the slightest gap.

Lu Sheng slightly raised an eyebrow, vaguely feeling that the owner inside the carriage was somewhat unusual.

“Sister Yan, have you met that employer miss?” Lu Sheng asked.

“I have. She’s the only daughter of Boss Liang from the tailor shop on North Street. Boss Liang passed away unexpectedly last month, and with no one to rely on in Binhe County, she is preparing to go live with her aunt in Qinzhou.”

Noticing Lu Sheng’s doubts, Qin Feiyan also looked at the maid and coachman not far away, slightly narrowed her eyes, and lowered her voice, “The maid and coachman are said to have been sent by her aunt. From what I see today, they seem to know some martial arts.”

She had been following her father as an escort since her teens and was very accurate at judging people, instantly being able to distinguish someone who practiced martial arts from others.

The escort agency took on this kind of ordinary moving job five or six times a year, and some people would hire two strong guards to accompany them in addition to the escorts.

So, when Qin Feiyan saw the two of them this morning, she wasn’t too surprised. After all, it was certainly safer for Miss Liang, traveling alone with her family wealth, to have two martial arts-savvy guards with her.

Seeing that the dishes were almost done, Lu Sheng went back to the carriage to get the roasted chicken and sesame pancakes she had prepared and shared them with the escorts.

During the meal, the group talked and laughed, and Lu Sheng got to know everyone. Besides Qin Feiyan, there were five escorts, including a pair of dragon and phoenix twins, Yang Huan and Yang Le, whose uncle, Old Yang, was the coachman.

The other two male escorts were Yan Hua, who was not very talkative, and Miao Fang, who was extremely garrulous.

Miao Fang was not only garrulous but also a sucker for good looks. Upon seeing Lu Sheng and Qi Zhenshu, he called them “sister” for a while. However, when he learned that the two were already married and had a daughter, he lamented and cried out in pain that all the beautiful girls were married.

He was finally forced to beg for mercy after being kicked by both Qin Feiyan and Yang Huan, and he voluntarily took on the task of fetching water and scrubbing the pots and bowls.

After the meal, the convoy set off again.

The weather in the mountains changes like a child’s face. After less than two hours of travel, a sudden mountain wind rose, and dark clouds rolled in.

Seeing that heavy rain was imminent, Qin Feiyan quickly used her experience to find a large rock to shelter under.

The heavy rain and strong wind came and went quickly, but the mountain road became muddy after the downpour, slowing down their progress.

What was originally a half-hour mountain journey took nearly two hours.

The plan to reach Huayang County before dark was disrupted, and Qin Feiyan reluctantly led everyone to an abandoned relay station for the night.

The relay station had been abandoned for a long time, and the roofs and walls of the houses were broken and collapsed, making them uninhabitable. Fortunately, the courtyard wall was still relatively intact and could defend against wild beasts that might come out at night.

After settling them in the empty space of the courtyard, Qin Feiyan led the escorts to move some stones and rebuilt the collapsed corner of the courtyard wall.

With nothing to do, Yan Hua and Miao Fang went and caught two wild chickens and a nest of rabbits. A little later, Yang Huan and Yang Le dragged in a ten-meter-long large snake, laughing and asking Qin Feiyan to help them skin it to stew a soup.

Lu Sheng and Qi Zhenshu went out to gather firewood. As soon as they entered the gate, they saw so much wild game. Lu Sheng happily helped them process it.

Qi Zhenshu started a fire. When she looked up and saw Lu Sheng rolling up her sleeves and quickly helping Qin Feiyan skin the snake, she froze in place, utterly shocked, until the burning stick in her hand dropped and nearly scorched her skirt before she came back to her senses.

She hastily stamped out the sparks at her feet but still stared wide-eyed at Lu Sheng’s movements, watching as she skillfully chopped the large snake into segments with a knife.

Her deep brown pupils trembled repeatedly until they became increasingly dark and deep, then gradually settled.

What kind of person would skin a ten-meter-long snake without changing their expression?

A cook? A snake catcher? A hunter? An escort? An executioner?

Recalling the look in Lu Sheng’s eyes in the carriage earlier, Qi Zhenshu dismissed these guesses.

A soldier who had been on the battlefield? Or an assassin?

Lu Sheng, who exactly are you?

Compared to Qi Zhenshu’s shock, the escorts, who had always traveled north and south, were only slightly amazed by Lu Sheng’s courage before shifting all their attention to the mixed seasonings she had brought.

When they roasted things, they usually only added some salt and had never thought of grinding and mixing various spices to season the meat.

An hour and a half later.

“The weather is too cold tonight. Have a bowl of snake soup to warm yourself up,” Lu Sheng said, handing a bowl of stewed snake soup to Qi Zhenshu.

Qi Zhenshu’s expression paused. She only withdrew the complicated and turbulent thoughts in her mind, then shook her head in refusal.

Lu Sheng carefully observed her expression.

Lu Sheng had already woken up earlier in the carriage when she gripped Qi Zhenshu’s wrist. She clearly saw Qi Zhenshu’s shock, but at the time, she didn’t know how to explain it, so she used a feigned state of bewilderment to gloss over it.

She pretended to turn over and sleep, but her mind was perfectly clear.

As early as that day outside the Tianyin Pavilion, when Qi Zhenshu asked her if she remembered who she was, Lu Sheng already knew that a clever person like Qi Zhenshu must have already noticed that something was amiss with her.

That day, she walked around outside for a long time. One reason was to figure out how to apologize to Qi Zhenshu for her recklessness. The other, and more important reason, was that she didn’t know how to face Qi Zhenshu. She was afraid that Qi Zhenshu would directly ask her, “Who exactly are you?”

The days she had spent in this body were the most relaxed and comfortable time Lu Sheng had experienced in the past ten or so years. She didn’t know how Qi Zhenshu would react if she revealed her identity.

As an ancient person, would she believe in soul transference?

Would she be regarded as a lonely ghost possessing a corpse?

Would she be tied to a stake and burned alive?

Or, even if Qi Zhenshu believed her story?

Would she allow someone of unknown origin to stay in her home?

That night, when Qi Zhenshu asked her if she had anything else to tell her, she hesitated for a moment, wanting to reveal her identity, but she was also timid about revealing who she truly was.

Even if Qi Zhenshu could accept that she was a lonely soul, could she accept that she was a person with hands stained with blood?

So, even if she dared to admit who she was, she was afraid of fully confessing her past.

Since she still had to hide it, it was better to say nothing at all.

Lu Sheng had made up her mind that as long as Qi Zhenshu didn’t expose her, she would pretend to still be the original Lu Sheng.

But the human heart is fickle, and greed is insatiable.

After noticing Qi Zhenshu’s gradually changing attitude toward her and feeling her care, Lu Sheng herself began to feel dissatisfied with the secrecy.

The desire to let Qi Zhenshu understand the real her began to emerge like a thin cocoon in her heart, growing wildly day by day without stopping.

She wanted to take a step further with Qi Zhenshu, not just be her wife in name.

While pretending to sleep, she thought for a long time. She decided it might be a good idea to use this trip to let Qi Zhenshu understand more of the real her.

She could also use this to observe Qi Zhenshu’s reaction.

Therefore, just now, even though she knew her act of killing the snake would shock and surprise Qi Zhenshu, she still followed her heart and helped Qin Feiyan make the snake soup.

With Qi Zhenshu’s intelligence, she must have already guessed that her original identity was not ordinary, right?

Sensing Qi Zhenshu’s resistance, Lu Sheng sighed inwardly, withdrew the bowl she had offered, and then pretended to be normal, saying, “Then I’ll get you some sesame pancakes and roast…”

“I’ll get it myself.”

Qi Zhenshu stood up, interrupted her, and walked toward Qin Feiyan and the others.

Lu Sheng’s eyes darkened. She lowered her head to look at the snake soup in her hand, then resignedly started eating it herself.

Qi Zhenshu came back with the pancake. After thinking for a moment, she still sat down beside Lu Sheng.

The two were silent for a while, each quietly eating the food in their hands.

The bonfire burned brightly, occasionally making crackling sounds. The red firelight leaped, consuming the remaining firewood.

Lu Sheng somewhat regretted the decision she had made in the carriage.

How could a person like Qi Zhenshu, who studied the books of the sages and was full of integrity, accept someone from the darkness, covered in mud and blood?

Lu Sheng gripped her chopsticks, enduring the dryness in her throat, and swallowed the last bite of snake soup.

What should she do next?

Should she tell Qi Zhenshu directly?

Or should she wait until they return to Binhe County?

It was as if she had a snake gall in her mouth; a bitter taste spread through her oral cavity, corroding the taste buds on Lu Sheng’s tongue.

“Sister Sheng.” Miao Fang walked over to the bonfire with a chuckle and said to Lu Sheng, “Old Yan just caught another wild chicken. Would you please help us roast it again?”

“Aye.” Lu Sheng smiled, stood up, and replied.

“Sister Yan’s technique is too poor. The rabbit she just roasted was inedible.”

“Miao Xiaofang, are you asking for a spanking again!” Qin Feiyan threw a small stone at Miao Fang.

Miao Fang dodged it with a quick move. Qin Feiyan then held a wooden fork and walked toward them. Miao Fang quickly ducked behind Lu Sheng, avoiding her movements.

He dodged left and right a couple of times. Miao Fang was triumphantly making a face at Qin Feiyan when Lu Sheng suddenly squatted down and slipped out from between the two of them.

Qin Feiyan seized the opportunity and directly hit Miao Fang’s buttocks with the fork.

Miao Fang let out a howl, rubbing his butt and jumping around.

Lu Sheng and Qin Feiyan exchanged glances and then burst into laughter, holding their stomachs.

In front of the bonfire, Qi Zhenshu withdrew her gaze, narrowed her eyebrows, and returned to the carriage.

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