Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 39

The sky was high and wide, the vast blue expanse wiped clean.

For a moment, Lu Sheng was stunned, and then Qi Zhenshu had already let go of her.

“Yan Hua!”

Miao Fang’s gasp of surprise instantly pulled Lu Sheng back to her senses.

Yan Hua’s left hand was cut by a big man in black, and the profusely flowing blood stained his entire sleeve. Miao Fang blocked in front of him, defending against the attacking men in black with both hands.

The people from the escort agency and the men in black were still locked in a fierce battle. Although they were outnumbered, their martial arts skills were mostly superior to the men in black.

Especially the coachman, Old Yang, who was remarkably skilled, fighting multiple opponents at once and even killing two of the men in black. The escort agency was gradually gaining the upper hand.

Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter.

A cacophony of hoofbeats approached from afar.

Everyone looked up at the sound, and a troop of armored cavalry was galloping quickly towards them.

“Retreat quickly!”

The leader of the men in black shouted, leading his group to scatter and flee in all directions.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Over ten arrows broke through the wind. Before the men in black could run far, they were all shot dead.

In the blink of an eye, the situation completely reversed, leaving everyone somewhat unable to react.

Qin Feiyan was the first to regain her composure. Based on their attire, she recognized this troop to be the garrison cavalry of Qinzhou.

Fortunately, they had encountered the cavalry; otherwise, they might not have escaped so easily today.

After a brief thought, she walked towards the leading young general, intending to cup her hands in thanks.

Before Qin Feiyan could approach, the young general spurred his horse and rode straight past her.

The young general held his head high, his expression arrogant, not sparing Qin Feiyan a glance.

Seeing his attitude, the crowd, who had just relaxed, immediately tensed up again. They vigilantly watched the young general, unsure if he was friend or foe or what his intentions were.

At the same time, the cloth-clad maid pushed aside the grass and slowly walked out, supporting Miss Liang. They walked leisurely towards the carriage.

Miss Liang wore a moon-white embroidered long dress, covered by a light cyan cloud-patterned silk cotton cloak, and a white light-gauze veil hat.

She appeared elegant and refined, yet thoroughly graceful and beautiful.

As she passed Lu Sheng and the other person, she glanced at them, her veil hat nodding slightly, and then she walked with a dignified demeanor to the front of the carriage.

The young general dismounted only upon seeing her, kneeling on one knee and bowing respectfully.

“Wei Yuan, Deputy Commander of the Qinzhou Prefecture Mounted and Infantry Forces, is late to the rescue. I ask the Princess to forgive me.”

Everyone was astonished and perplexed by the words.

This person was clearly the daughter of Boss Liang from the tailor shop, so how did she become the “Princess” in the mouth of Deputy Commander Wei?

Qi Zhenshu frowned slightly. In a moment, he matched the Princess before them with the person in the rumors.

Princess Yongning, the sole paternal niece of the current Empress.

Princess Yongning was the posthumous daughter of the Empress’s full brother, Prince Rui. Having lost both parents, she was raised in the palace from a young age. It was said that despite her poor health, she was exceptionally intelligent and, because she bore a strong resemblance to the Empress, was deeply favored.

In the 16th year of Yuanxing, the sixteen-year-old Princess Yongning participated in the imperial examination under a false name and won the top scholar position in the palace examination, making her famous throughout the land.

Emperor Cheng’an was overjoyed and appointed her as an editor in the Hanlin Academy.

In five years, Princess Yongning had risen from a small editor of the Hanlin Academy to the Junior Vice Minister of the Central Secretariat.

Earlier this year, Qi Zhenshu had heard classmates in the academy mention that the Empress had appointed Princess Yongning as the Commissioner of Transportation for Jiangnan Circuit, responsible for inspecting the prefectures and counties of the circuit.

“Deputy Commander Wei arrived just in time. Why speak of guilt?”

Her voice was calm and tranquil, but the innate majesty in her words was unmistakable, giving people an intangible pressure.

After Princess Yongning spoke, she did not tell him to rise. Instead, she turned to look at the people from the escort agency.

After the fight just now, everyone from the escort agency had suffered more or less some injuries.

Princess Yongning spoke sincerely, “I am grateful for everyone’s utmost protection on this journey, which allowed Yongning to arrive safely. Today’s incident happened because of me, and you were injured protecting me. Please all come with me to the posthouse to recuperate.”

Among them, except for Old Yang, who was the most senior, the rest were all young people in their early twenties. They had not been on escort missions for long, and the highest official they had ever seen so far was the magistrate of Binhe County.

Upon suddenly realizing that the ordinary ‘Miss Liang’ had transformed into the noble Princess Yongning, they were momentarily unsure how to speak or interact with her. They all looked collectively towards Qin Feiyan, who was in front.

Qin Feiyan had been traveling with her father on escort missions since she was eight. She had traveled extensively and was more knowledgeable than her fellow apprentices and disciples. It was not the first time she had encountered someone concealing their identity on an escort mission.

Although this was the first time encountering such a prominent person, her temperament was ultimately more composed and seasoned. After only a brief moment of surprise, she calmed down.

She bowed, cupped her hands, and nodded to Princess Yongning, “Thank you, Princess.”

“No need for formalities,” Princess Yongning said. Her gaze lingered on her for a moment before turning to the kneeling Wei Yuan, speaking in a light tone, “Deputy Commander Wei, please lead the way.”

“Yes,” Wei Yuan’s eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness as he rose to his feet.

First, she deliberately didn’t tell him to stand up, then she completely ignored him to speak with others, and finally, even her address was extremely brief. The words she spoke treated him like a servant, without any respect.

This Princess Yongning simply did not take him, the Deputy Commander of the Qinzhou Prefecture Mounted and Infantry Forces, seriously.

The group traveled for less than an hour more and arrived at their destination, Qinzhou City.

With the Princess’s earlier instruction, they all stayed with the Princess at the Qinzhou posthouse.

The prefectural posthouse was a government inn specifically set up to host officials traveling to and from various places. It was located less than a hundred meters outside the Qinzhou Prefecture Yamen, with strict security, and entry and exit required a special pass.

After entering the posthouse, they were arranged in the guest rooms in the front courtyard, while the Princess Yongning and her two attendants stayed in the main courtyard of the inn.

Wei Yuan left two of his personal soldiers after seeing them to their rooms and then left on an excuse. In less than a quarter of an hour, the Qinzhou Prefect rushed over upon hearing the news.

In Qin Feiyan’s room in the guest quarters.

“Sister Yan, didn’t you say you had met that Miss Liang? How did she suddenly become a Princess?” Miao Fang couldn’t help but ask first out of curiosity.

“How would I know that?” Qin Feiyan shook her head, confused. “This business deal was taken by my father. He told me this person was Miss Liang from the Liang family. How could I know she turned into a Princess?”

“Master took it?” Miao Fang questioned.

Generally, an escort agency would investigate the client’s identity before taking an escort mission to avoid unexpected troubles, such as the sudden appearance of the assassins this time.

Qin Si had been an escort master for many years; he shouldn’t have failed to discover the suspicious identity of this Miss Liang.

Could it be that Master knew the Princess’s identity but intentionally concealed it?

Thinking of this, everyone frowned.

According to common sense, no matter how special the Princess’s identity was, even if Qin Si concealed it from others, he shouldn’t have hidden it from Qin Feiyan, the escort leader.

Thinking of this, Qin Feiyan turned her head to look at Old Yang. Although she was the escort leader for this trip, Old Yang was the most skilled.

Originally, Qin Feiyan suspected that Qin Si had specially arranged for him to travel with them.

“Uncle Yang, do you know?”

Old Yang shook his head, pondering, “He told me to come to Qinzhou to negotiate a business deal with the Tongfu Guild Hall. Now that I think about it, he must have been worried about you all and specifically asked me to come along. The business deal with the Tongfu Guild Hall was just a pretext.”

In the battle that afternoon, if Old Yang hadn’t been present, they would have probably been overwhelmed long ago. How could they have waited for the cavalry’s support?

Since they couldn’t figure out a conclusion, they could only plan to ask Qin Si for a clear explanation once they returned to Binhe County.

Just before heading out, Miao Fang suddenly seemed to recall something and analyzed with a serious expression: “Sister Yan, you were treating the Princess like that yesterday. Would that be considered insubordination?”

Qin Feiyan was taken aback by the question.

Yesterday, after the doctor confirmed that Princess Changning was temporarily fine, Qin Feiyan didn’t linger and returned to her room.

But as she lay down on her bed in her room, she inexplicably recalled the feeling of their four lips meeting just moments ago.

Although it was an urgent necessity at the time and she had no improper thoughts or intentions of being disrespectful, Qin Feiyan just somehow remembered that sensation.

This morning, Qin Feiyan had specifically gone to find Miss Liang, first to see how she was and if they could set off today, and second to apologize for the lapse in manners yesterday. However, when she reached Miss Liang’s door, she was stopped by the maid in plain clothes, who said the Princess was not fit to receive guests and that the travel schedule would continue as planned.

The refusal to meet was quite obvious in her tone.

The situation yesterday was indeed awkward for Miss Liang. Qin Feiyan simply thought she did not wish to bring it up, so she let it go and stopped asking about it intentionally.

“They all say that royal etiquette is very strict. Do you think this Princess might take you as her consort because of yesterday’s incident?” Miao Fang propped up his chin and teased Qin Feiyan.

Qin Feiyan immediately pulled out the soft whip from her waist and gave him a smack on the backside, raising an eyebrow and smiling crossly, “Stop talking nonsense here. Is the Princess someone you can casually discuss?”

“And look at where we are right now!”

“Ouch, I was wrong, I was wrong, I won’t say it again!”

Having had such close contact with ‘Miss Liang,’ Qin Feiyan’s heart, which had been calm for twenty years, was stirring for a rare moment. However, this flicker of feeling subsided after the rejection this morning.

Now that she knew she was Princess Changning, Qin Feiyan had no further thoughts. She only wished that what happened yesterday be treated as if it never occurred.

She also hoped that Princess Changning knew her actions were only to save a life and wouldn’t take it to heart.

Compared to the escort agency members, Lu Sheng was not overly concerned about Princess Changning. Seeing that it was already getting late today, she discussed with Qi Zhenshu that they would take the letter of introduction given by Lin Shuqing to Xianlin Villa early tomorrow morning.

This would allow them to complete their purchases before the Chrysanthemum Festival the day after tomorrow, and they would also have time to enjoy the famous Qinzhou Chrysanthemum Festival with Qi Zhenshu.

As was the case yesterday, Lu Sheng and Qi Zhenshu slept in the same bed again. Compared to the complete discomfort of yesterday, Lu Sheng was slightly more accustomed to it but still found it difficult to fall asleep.

Her mind repeatedly replayed the scene of the two of them embracing during the day.

Knowing that Qi Zhenshu was already asleep, Lu Sheng casually turned over, secretly opening her eyes a moment later.

Qi Zhenshu was lying on her back, her hands neatly folded over her chest.

This person was so proper even in her sleep.

The moonlight was like water, gently flowing into the room, and the soft, cool light subtly outlined the lady’s perfect profile.

Following the light and shadow, Lu Sheng carefully examined her side profile: her forehead was smooth, her eyelashes curled, her eyes deep-set, her nose straight, her thin lips gently closed, and her jawline was distinctly contoured yet held a unique feminine softness.

After watching for an unknown period, Lu Sheng finally closed her eyes with satisfaction and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, as they had important business to attend to, Lu Sheng and Qi Zhenshu woke up early, had breakfast at the inn, and then headed out.

In the golden autumn, the chrysanthemums were fragrant, blooming all over the city. Yellow flowers were prevalent across the land, but the Qinzhou chrysanthemums were the most famous.

When they first entered Qinzhou City yesterday, Lu Sheng had already noticed that the streets were lined with chrysanthemums of various colors and styles.

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