Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 55

The words were playful, but they served as a warning, and the customers’ eyes, which were directed at Liu Yun, quickly became more reserved.

Seeing the reaction of the crowd, Liu Yun’s tightly held heart relaxed, and she cast a grateful glance at Lu Sheng, who smiled back reassuringly.

During the day, Qi Zhenshu and Zhuo Yu went together to the Lu family’s home in Deer Village.

As expected, the house had been thoroughly ransacked. The ground in the courtyard was pitted, and even the vegetable patch in the backyard had been dug with many holes.

“Looking at this, it seems someone genuinely was looking for something,” Zhuo Yu said solemnly. “This suggests that Uncle’s death might not have been as simple as being robbed by bandits.”

“Mm.”

Qi Zhenshu looked down at the ground. These holes were likely dug only a few days ago.

After going to such great lengths, she wondered if they had found what they were looking for?

If they found it, then so be it, but if they didn’t, would they come looking in the county?

“What could they be looking for? Did Uncle possess some kind of treasure before he died?” Zhuo Yu couldn’t figure out what these people were searching for at the Lu family home.

“No,” Qi Zhenshu shook her head.

Before leaving home, Lu Huacheng had gone to Qingzhou to do business with Guangfu Restaurant. To earn more silver, besides the wine from his own distillery, he had also bought two hundred shi (about 12,000 kg) of grain from the villagers to sell.

After his murder, the Lu family had already pawned all of their slightly valuable belongings to pay off the debt for the two hundred shi of grain. There was no valuable treasure left.

“It should still be related to the events in Qingzhou.”

Lu Huacheng had not been unusual before leaving home, so Qi Zhenshu speculated that the problem had occurred during that trip to Qingzhou.

“Then is everything normal at your place?” Zhuo Yu asked.

“Everything is as usual.”

No one had broken into or searched the small courtyard in the county.

“The North Street area is the busiest; perhaps they haven’t found an opportunity yet,” Zhuo Yu thought for a moment and cautioned, “But you still need to be careful.”

“Mm,” Qi Zhenshu nodded, her expression serious.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll ask the night patrol to pass by your area more often.”

The two left and walked toward the village entrance, running into Lu Huaying on the way.

“Aunt.”

“Aunt.”

Qi Zhenshu and Zhuo Yu stepped forward to greet her. Lu Huaying held her head high, looked at the two of them with an arrogant glance, and responded perfunctorily before walking away.

After walking a few steps, Qi Zhenshu pondered, “I heard that the Wang family’s case was overturned, and Old Master Wang was released.”

The Wang family was implicated in the case of Yunzhou Wang’s illegal grain trading, and the entire family had been imprisoned pending trial.

“Yes, they were released before the New Year,” Zhuo Yu’s expression also sobered when this was mentioned. “It was originally said that the evidence was conclusive, and they were just waiting for the verdict and sentencing.”

She lowered her voice and said seriously, “I heard they found a connection in Qingzhou.”

The day quickly passed, and soon the moon was rising above the trees.

Qi Zhenshu was studying in the study when she heard a series of rattling sounds coming from the courtyard.

She quickly got up and went out to the courtyard, seeing a large hole in the window of the East Wing with a large wooden box wedged in it, and an overturned stool at the foot of the wall. She quickened her pace and hurried into the East Wing.

“What happened?”

As soon as she stepped into the room, Qi Zhenshu saw Lu Sheng grasping a large wooden box, with an overturned stool near her feet.

“Qi Zhenshu, quick, help me! I wanted to put the box on the cabinet, but I didn’t hold it steady, and the box smashed into the window.” Seeing her, Lu Sheng hurriedly explained.

Helping her pull the box out of the window frame, Qi Zhenshu looked her up and down and asked, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, it’s just…” Lu Sheng glanced at her awkwardly, then turned to look at the window. The cold wind howled through the large hole in the window.

“Sleep in my room tonight,” Qi Zhenshu looked at the window and said. “I’ll find a craftsman to fix it tomorrow.”

“Mm.”

Lu Sheng glanced at the window, suppressing the triumphant joy in her heart, and replied with a voice as steady as possible.

The window frame and wooden lattice were smashed, so it would probably take three to five days to fix.

“Oh, right.” The two arrived at the main room, and Qi Zhenshu called her into the study and said to her, “I went back to Deer Village with Sister Yu today…”

After telling Lu Sheng about the situation at home, Qi Zhenshu concluded, “We don’t have any leads on this for now. For safety, you should sleep in the same room with Tangtang and me from now on.”

Since Deer Village had been ransacked like that, if the thieves found what they wanted, fine, but if they didn’t, they might come looking in the county.

Lu Sheng staying with them would be safer than her staying alone in the East Wing.

After hearing Qi Zhenshu’s words, Lu Sheng was first shocked that there was a hidden motive behind Lu Huacheng’s death, and then felt heartbroken about intentionally breaking the window just now.

If she had known this would happen, why would she have gone and broken the window?!

Fixing the window would also cost silver.

Half an hour later.

Lu Sheng happily washed up and got into bed, only to see two large and one small set of bedding neatly placed on the bed.

Um, this, this, this.

She had originally planned to quietly move over and cuddle with Qi Zhenshu after she fell asleep.

Now, with these two sets of bedding, how could she possibly move over?

Time flew by, and several more days passed.

Business after the New Year was not as busy as during the holiday, but there were still many people coming to buy wine every day.

Most of the customers were men. When they saw a good-looking woman, there were always a few who couldn’t control their eyes and mouths, often glancing and saying a few teasing words.

When Lu Sheng encountered such people, she would either use sarcasm to subtly put them down or simply shoot them a cold glare. Regular customers usually wouldn’t dare to be rude to her anymore.

But Liu Yun was naturally timid, and being talked to made her even shyer, which only encouraged those who were being overly familiar.

One day near noon, there were no customers in the shop. With nothing else to do, Lu Sheng carefully examined Liu Yun.

She was petite with a small face, apricot eyes, and willow-leaf eyebrows, and she spoke softly and delicately.

This gentle and graceful appearance and temperament indeed made her an easy target for harassers.

Back in Deer Village, it was fortunate that Village Head Lu governed strictly and the village customs were simple; otherwise, how could a woman like Liu Yun have lived peacefully with Lu Yu for so many years?

Lu Sheng did not believe that beauty was the original sin for being harassed, but in this era, a woman could only protect herself by being more cautious and self-armed.

If Liu Yun wanted to make a living in the county in the future, she couldn’t continue to be as gentle, tender, and weak as before.

A person’s character and appearance could not be easily changed, but they could start with other aspects.

Lu Sheng shared her thoughts with Liu Yun.

Liu Yun was not stupid. After being expelled from Deer Village and the harassment incidents at the eatery, she had already realized the truth of what Lu Sheng was saying.

“Then how should I change?” Liu Yun asked worriedly.

She also didn’t want to look weak and easily bullied, but her appearance was natural. She didn’t know what to do to avoid being bullied.

“Could it be that I need to become like Second Aunt?”

Liu Yun immediately thought of Huang Shi, the shrew. Would no one dare to bully her if she were as fierce and aggressive as Huang Shi?

“No, no.” Seeing that she misunderstood, Lu Sheng quickly stopped her. “Of course, you need to change your speech and demeanor, but not to become like her. You just need to speak a little louder and not be embarrassed. If you hear something you don’t like, just retort directly, don’t hold back.”

Liu Yun nodded, and Lu Sheng continued, “Also, change your makeup to make your face look sharper.”

“Makeup?”

“Yes, it means drawing your eyebrows more boldly and applying some powder here on your cheeks to make your face look more angular.” Lu Sheng gestured on her own face as she spoke.

Seeing the excitement in Liu Yun’s eyes, Lu Sheng smiled and asked, “Sister Yun, would you like to try?”

“That sounds fun,” Liu Yun nodded with great interest.

“Then I’ll go get the tools.”

Lu Sheng hurried into the room, found her rouge, powder, eyebrow pencil, and copper mirror, and bumped into Qi Zhenshu, who was about to go cook, in the kitchen.

Qi Zhenshu immediately noticed the eyebrow pencil in her hand and asked curiously, “What are you going to do?”

“Help Sister Yun with her makeup.”

Lu Sheng smiled and answered before taking the things out of the backyard.

Qi Zhenshu’s footsteps, which were heading back to the room, changed direction. She returned to the kitchen, picked up the copper kettle from the stove, and went to the front shop.

Lu Sheng pulled Liu Yun aside to sit down, and first helped her re-powder her face to make the lines of her cheeks look less soft.

“Take a look.” Lu Sheng held the copper mirror up for her.

“Indeed,” Liu Yun looked at her clearly contoured face in the copper mirror and exclaimed in surprise, “Xiao Sheng, your makeup skills are truly remarkable.”

“Next is drawing the eyebrows.”

Lu Sheng dipped the eyebrow pencil into the dark eyebrow powder, dotting her brow arch and tail. “Draw out the brow arch here, and make the brow tail a bit thicker. This type of eyebrow will look much more bold, and your whole face won’t be so delicate.”

Just as she finished speaking and was about to start drawing, she heard a light cough from the side.

Qi Zhenshu placed the copper kettle on the counter and looked at the two of them with a faint gaze, finally settling on the eyebrow pencil in Lu Sheng’s hand.

Lu Sheng wondered if it was her imagination, but she felt Qi Zhenshu’s gaze was a bit chilly.

She looked down at the pen in her hand—a very ordinary eyebrow pencil, nothing unusual about it.

“It’s a bit cold, have some hot water first,” Qi Zhenshu said.

Her voice was as flat as ever, so flat that Lu Sheng truly believed that her earlier feeling that Qi Zhenshu was in a bad mood was just a misconception.

Lu Sheng, as an outsider from another world, didn’t understand, but Liu Yun immediately did.

Drawing eyebrows might be common among sisters, but sometimes it was also an intimate pleasure between a husband and wife. (T/N: This refers to the Chinese idiom ‘Zhang Chang Hua Mei’ which is a symbol of marital intimacy and affection, where the husband draws his wife’s eyebrows.)

Since both she and Lu Sheng liked women, it was indeed inappropriate for Lu Sheng to draw her eyebrows.

Was Scholar Qi deliberately speaking up to stop it?

“Xiao Sheng, you’ve been talking for a long time, you must be thirsty. You drink first,” Liu Yun took the eyebrow pencil from Lu Sheng’s hand and smiled gently. “I’ll try drawing it myself.”

“Oh, okay.”

Lu Sheng took the copper kettle and poured water for herself. Qi Zhenshu said she was going to cook and returned to the backyard.

At noon, seeing the plain stewed turnip on the table, Lu Sheng was certain that the woman was in a bad mood.

After eating, Liu Yun took the dishes to wash them. Lu Sheng pulled Qi Zhenshu aside and quietly asked her, “Are you in a bad mood?”

Qi Zhenshu was displeased to see Lu Sheng offering to draw Liu Yun’s eyebrows, but she also knew that Lu Sheng might not be from Western Liang and might not be aware of the deeper meaning of drawing eyebrows for someone.

Since Lu Sheng didn’t know, there was no need for her to be upset.

She also felt that she was being too narrow-minded to be upset over such a small matter.

Qi Zhenshu had originally tried to reason with herself this way, so she suppressed her displeasure. Now, hearing Lu Sheng’s question, Qi Zhenshu hesitated.

“I…”

“Miss Lu, I’d like two jin (about 1 kg) of Wuliang Wine.”

Just as she uttered one word, Qi Zhenshu’s sentence was interrupted by a customer who came to buy wine.

“Hey, just a moment.”

Lu Sheng turned to look at her, and Qi Zhenshu shook her head, “I’m fine. You go ahead and attend to the customer.”

“It’s fine” again.

Hearing those words again, Lu Sheng suddenly felt a surge of irritation for some reason. She gave Qi Zhenshu a helpless look and turned to pour wine for the customer.

Coincidentally, several customers came one after another in that short time.

Qi Zhenshu was about to step forward, but Liu Yun quickly came out, wiping her hands, nodded to her, and went straight to help.

After seeing off the customers, Lu Sheng’s smiling face instantly fell, and she sat down behind the counter with a gloomy expression.

Liu Yun saw her look, got up, and brought a cup of water over, asking her, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Sheng shook her head.

She didn’t know what was wrong. Who knew why Qi Zhenshu, this quiet person, was upset.

The answer to her question was always, “It’s fine.”

It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine. If you say it’s fine, then it’s fine. Who cares about you?

Thinking of Qi Zhenshu’s cold look just now, Liu Yun asked somewhat awkwardly, “Are you two quarreling?”

“I don’t know either. Who knows what she’s sulking about,” Lu Sheng pouted, feeling annoyed.

“Could it be because of the morning incident, making her jealous?” Liu Yun tried to guess.

“Jealous?” Lu Sheng looked at Liu Yun doubtfully.

“You said you were going to draw my eyebrows, which made her jealous,” Liu Yun explained.

Hearing her say that, Lu Sheng was even more bewildered. Why would Qi Zhenshu be jealous of her drawing Liu Yun’s eyebrows?

Drawing eyebrows? Drawing eyebrows.

Zhang Chang drawing eyebrows. (T/N: Referring to the idiom in the previous note.)

Is drawing eyebrows also an intimate pleasure in Liang Kingdom?

“You think she’s jealous?” Lu Sheng’s dim eyes instantly lit up. She asked, both surprised and uncertain.

Liu Yun didn’t know how to answer this question. Whether they were jealous or not, shouldn’t a couple know best?

Thinking of this, Liu Yun recalled the rumors she had heard in Deer Village and combined them with the way the two of them interacted while she was working in the shop these past few days.

Liu Yun suddenly understood. The relationship between these two was exactly the same as the state she and Lu Yu were in before they confessed their feelings.

They clearly liked each other but couldn’t understand the other’s feelings.

Remembering Lu Sheng’s constant help to her, Liu Yun suddenly felt that she finally had a chance to help Lu Sheng in return.

“Yes,” Liu Yun endured the slight awkwardness in her heart and nodded seriously. This was the first time she had played matchmaker.

“I think Scholar Qi’s expression clearly showed jealousy.”

Qi Zhenshu was sulking because she was jealous?!

Lu Sheng was slow to react after hearing this. After a moment, the smile on the corner of her mouth grew wider and reached her eyes.

Qi Zhenshu being jealous of her drawing Liu Yun’s eyebrows—didn’t that prove that Qi Zhenshu liked her?

Otherwise, what was she jealous of?

So, Qi Zhenshu liked her?!

The vexation piled up in her heart was instantly swept away. Her mood was like the boundless blue sky outside, clear and cloudless.

Lu Sheng was all smiles and joy for the entire afternoon.

As the sun began to set in the west, Lu Sheng thought it was about time to go to the private school to pick up the little one.

“Sister Yun, you watch the shop for a bit. I’m going to the school to pick up Tangtang,” Lu Sheng said to Liu Yun, taking off her apron.

As she was speaking, Qi Zhenshu also came out from the back.

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