Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 78

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The night wind swept through the window lattice, taking away the stuffy dampness from inside the house.

Lu Sheng leaned half-lying on Qi Zhenshu’s shoulder, her fingers coiling around a strand of her hair, her voice thick and husky with affection, “Then are you going to become the Chief Clerk?”

If Qi Zhenshu became Princess Changning’s strategist, their interactions would definitely increase.

“You don’t want me to become the Chief Clerk?”

After several hours, Lu Sheng brought up the topic again. Qi Zhenshu keenly sensed that Lu Sheng seemed particularly concerned about this matter.

“No.” Lu Sheng denied, being a little contradictory.

“Little liar.” Qi Zhenshu pinched her nose and said, “If you don’t want me to go, then I won’t go.”

“So if I say no, you really won’t go?” Lu Sheng lightly scoffed.

Don’t be fooled by Qi Zhenshu’s usual quiet demeanor; she was very opinionated. Lu Sheng didn’t believe she didn’t have her own plans.

“Major family matters must be discussed with you before a decision can be made.” Qi Zhenshu said with a gentle laugh, “If you don’t approve, I naturally won’t go.”

Qi Zhenshu did have her own plans, but if Lu Sheng truly disliked it, she wouldn’t completely disregard her feelings.

If one path didn’t work, she would simply take another.

Qi Zhenshu’s answer warmed Lu Sheng’s heart.

“So good.” She tilted her neck and kissed Qi Zhenshu on the cheek, then asked, “Do you want to go?”

Subconsciously, she didn’t want Qi Zhenshu to have too much contact with Princess Changning, but if Qi Zhenshu wanted to go, she wouldn’t stop her.

After all, she trusted Qi Zhenshu.

She trusted that Qi Zhenshu wouldn’t develop a private relationship with Princess Changning.

Given the depth of their current feelings, Lu Sheng didn’t believe anyone else could steal Qi Zhenshu away.

Even if that person was the ‘official love interest’ [in the original story], it was impossible!

“Lu Sheng,” Qi Zhenshu called out, looking into her eyes, then slightly lowered her gaze, her voice low and deep, “Do you want to hear about my childhood?”

“Hmm?”

Lu Sheng didn’t understand why she suddenly wanted to talk about her childhood.

In the original host’s memory, Qi Zhenshu’s birth mother died early, and she followed her A-niang (stepmother/mother figure) to her uncle’s family. Finally, her A-niang passed away, and she was sold by her uncle to the Lu family.

That year, Qi Zhenshu was twelve years old.

“My mother was once the County Magistrate of Ningbei County in Yunzhou Prefecture.” Qi Zhenshu held Lu Sheng’s hand, recounting her childhood story slowly.

Twenty years ago, Yunzhou City was the fief of the old Prince of Yunzhou. The old Prince was greedy and lustful, extorting heavy taxes and oppressing the common people in his territory, completely disregarding the lives of the populace.

In the year Qi Zhenshu was three, Yunzhou City suffered a severe drought. The crops in the fields yielded nothing, yet the Prince of Yunzhou still demanded the full amount of tax grain.

As the County Magistrate, her mother pleaded on behalf of the people, hoping the Princely Estate would postpone the tax collection for a year. Instead, she was accused of inciting popular rebellion and was executed by the old Prince of Yunzhou.

After her mother’s death, Qi Zhenshu’s A-niang took her and traveled south, returning to Binhe County to seek refuge with her uncle’s family. However, her A-niang was overcome with grief from the death of her wife, and years of travel had already taken a toll on her health. She passed away when Qi Zhenshu was twelve.

Qi Zhenshu’s voice was calm and her pace unhurried, yet every word she spoke was like a stone striking Lu Sheng’s heart, making her feel incredibly sorry for her.

“Yunzhou is my mother’s hometown. Resolving the accumulated problems of the feudal prince’s territory is my mother’s last wish.”

Twelve-year-old Qi Zhenshu was willing to marry into the Lu family and exchange her marriage for an opportunity to study, also in exchange for a chance to one day fulfill her mother’s last wish.

Qi Zhenshu’s long fingers interlocked with Lu Sheng’s, their hands clasped tightly.

She didn’t regret the decision she made then, and she was even more grateful for it now.

“That day, Princess Changning read my Treatise on Governance. Although she didn’t show much, I think she is also in favor of reducing the power of the feudal princes, and looking at the court’s actions over the past two years…”

Qi Zhenshu paused, and said with a firm tone, “I suspect that Princess Changning is the vanguard sent by the Empress.”

“Then why did you tell the Princess you needed to consider it?”

From Qi Zhenshu’s explanation, she was clearly leaning towards taking the Chief Clerk position.

“The current Empress has only one Imperial Daughter.”

Lu Sheng knew this. The current Empress had never taken any other consorts; there was only the Empress in the imperial harem. The Empress died early and had no legitimate children.

The Empress took Princess Changning into the palace, treating her as the successor to be groomed.

As for the only Imperial Daughter, she was a child secretly born after a scheming maid used trickery to climb into the Empress’s bed.

Although the Imperial Daughter was not favored by the Empress, she was, after all, the Empress’s only offspring.

In the original book’s plot, besides Qi Zhenshu finding a way to deal with the original host, the scumbag ex-wife, the main storyline was about Princess Changning’s struggle for the throne with the Imperial Daughter, with Qi Zhenshu’s assistance.

Of course, the Princess ultimately won.

Qi Zhenshu didn’t know that Lu Sheng knew everything, only thinking that she didn’t understand the current situation, so she continued to explain, “Becoming the Chief Clerk now means choosing a side early, and it’s inevitable to get involved in the future factional disputes.”

“Even if you don’t become the Chief Clerk, I’m afraid you won’t be able to avoid getting involved eventually,” Lu Sheng thought about it and said.

According to the historical development in the book, unless Qi Zhenshu didn’t take the imperial examinations and didn’t enter officialdom, there was no way to avoid it.

“You see things more clearly than I do.” Qi Zhenshu was suddenly enlightened.

Her little aunt had mentioned to her that one of the factions vigorously supporting the Imperial Daughter was the Prince of Yunzhou and a group of other feudal princes.

She had only been focused on becoming an official, but she forgot that by supporting the reduction of feudal power, she was inherently standing in opposition to the Imperial Daughter.

Furthermore, given her little aunt’s personal relationship with Princess Changning, she would likely be automatically classified by others as belonging to Princess Changning’s faction later on.

“Listening to you, it seems you agree to me becoming the Chief Clerk.” Qi Zhenshu leaned her forehead against Lu Sheng’s, smiling.

Lu Sheng squeezed her fingers, dispelling that little bit of awkwardness in her heart, and said, “Whether you go or not, I support you.”

Qi Zhenshu had her ideals and ambitions, and Lu Sheng didn’t want to obstruct her because of her own selfish desires.

Moreover, siding with Princess Changning aligned with the political path in the book, which meant a much higher probability of winning later.

“Thank you, my wife (niángzi).” Qi Zhenshu lightly kissed Lu Sheng’s forehead.

It was clear that Lu Sheng’s support was not entirely willing, but in Qi Zhenshu’s view, Lu Sheng’s reluctance to let her become the Chief Clerk was merely her feeling jealous over something nonexistent.

With her jealousy dispelled, there were naturally no other problems, so Qi Zhenshu didn’t dwell on the matter.

Hearing the term niángzi from Qi Zhenshu for the first time, Lu Sheng was momentarily stunned, and then a little shy feeling arose in her heart.

Lu Sheng was very pleased with Qi Zhenshu’s endearment. She flipped over and lay on top of Qi Zhenshu, leaning down to kiss her on the lips.

She originally intended to kiss her and then lie back down to sleep, but as soon as she moved to get up, her neck was restrained, followed by the warm breath coming towards her.

Binhe County, Sanxiang Alley.

Liu Yun nestled in Lu Yu’s neck, smelling the faint scent of alcohol on her, steadying her breath, and slowly raising her head, looking at her, she said, “Yu’er, let’s have a child.”

Lu Yu’s closed eyes snapped open, and she instinctively frowned, “Why are you suddenly thinking about having a child?”

“Seeing Tangtang is interesting, so I also want one,” Liu Yun’s voice lowered, “And I’m not getting any younger.”

Lu Yu was getting increasingly busy now. Sometimes, when she came back in the evening, she would still carry a faint scent of perfume.

Whenever she asked, Lu Yu would say it was from socializing and told her not to think too much.

Liu Yun felt a growing unease in her heart. Asking Lu Yu for a child was partly because she genuinely felt her age and wanted a child, and another reason was to test Lu Yu’s attitude.

In the past, Lu Yu always told her that once they earned money and their life stabilized, they would have a child.

In Liu Yun’s opinion, they had already paid off their debts, and Lu Sheng even raised her wages to one and a half taels of silver this month.

Even using only her income, it was enough for them to live stably, and raising a child wouldn’t be an issue either.

She had previously urged Lu Yu to quit her job at the docks, but Lu Yu didn’t agree, only saying to wait a little longer.

But now, Liu Yun didn’t want to wait anymore. As long as Lu Yu was late coming home, she would be anxious and unable to sleep, always feeling that if they waited any longer, she and Lu Yu would never be able to go back to how they were.

“Wait a little longer,” Lu Yu patted her shoulder and said gently.

Hearing this, the panic in Liu Yun’s heart could no longer be contained. Tears instantly filled her eyes, and before long, she couldn’t help but start to sob.

“What’s wrong?” Hearing her crying, Lu Yu quickly pulled her into an embrace. “Why are you suddenly crying?”

But the more she tried to comfort her, the more Liu Yun’s crying intensified. Leaning on her shoulder, she whimpered tremblingly, “Yu’er, I’m scared.”

“Scared of what?” Lu Yu stroked her back to soothe her breathing.

Liu Yun was choked up and unable to speak.

“A child, you want a child, so we’ll have one,” Lu Yu continued to coax her, “If you want one, we’ll have one.”

Liu Yun shook her head, and choked out, “It’s not about the child.”

“You.” Lu Yu understood what she meant, and her brows furrowed again involuntarily.

“Yu’er, please stop being a warehouse supervisor, okay?” Recalling what she had heard during the day, Liu Yun’s tears streamed down uncontrollably. She said in terror, “I’m really so afraid. As long as you come back a little late, I feel terrified.”

There were quite a few regular customers in the shop who worked at the docks.

During the day, she overheard a few people talking about things at the docks and asked a few questions.

They didn’t know her relationship with Lu Yu, so they spoke without reserve about the dirty business at the docks.

Upon first hearing such things, Liu Yun was completely stunned.

After those people left, she thought it over carefully. Liu Yun chose to trust Lu Yu and mostly didn’t believe the gossip.

However, regarding Governor Peng, Liu Yun often heard people mention her. Everyone at the docks knew she wielded absolute power, was vicious and merciless, and it was rumored she had many lives on her hands.

If Lu Yu was truly working under her, how could Liu Yun feel at ease?

“Yu’er, please, please stop being a warehouse supervisor, okay?” The more Liu Yun thought about it, the more terrified she became. Clutching Lu Yu’s lapels, she pleaded tearfully, “Please, okay?”

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Duanwu Festival (Dragon Boat Festival).

Lu Sheng got up early and pulled Qi Zhenshu out. After eating zongzi at a breakfast stall, the two happily bought mugwort, a portrait of Zhong Kui, and multicolored silk threads.

They pasted the portrait of Zhong Kui on the door and hung mugwort beside it. Lu Sheng then started braiding the multicolored ropes inside the house.

As soon as Lu Sheng finished braiding one, she eagerly walked to Qi Zhenshu’s side and said with a smile, “Hold out your hand.”

Qi Zhenshu stopped writing, looked up at her in confusion, but seeing Lu Sheng’s smiling eyes, she obediently put down her brush and extended her hand.

Lu Sheng tied the finished multicolored rope onto her wrist. After tying it, she held Qi Zhenshu’s hand and turned it over and over, examining it.

Qi Zhenshu’s wrist was slender, and her skin was fair and smooth like mutton-fat jade. Even the slightly protruding bones were just right.

It made the multicolored rope look even more beautiful.

“Doesn’t it look good?” Lu Sheng held the wrist up to Qi Zhenshu’s eye level, proudly boasting, “A one-of-a-kind multicolored rope in the whole world.”

Qi Zhenshu looked where she directed. The rope was braided into the shape of small leaves, and it was indeed quite special.

“I’m not a child,” Qi Zhenshu felt warmth in her heart, but her expression was one of helplessness.

“No one said adults can’t wear them,” Lu Sheng pulled down her sleeve, ‘threatening’ her, “You’re not allowed to take it off.”

“I won’t,” Qi Zhenshu smiled faintly.

“I miss Tangtang a little,” Lu Sheng slightly furrowed her brows. “Next time, it’s better to bring her along.”

“Mhm.” Qi Zhenshu glanced around the room and softly agreed.

If Lu Sheng brought the child next time, she should buy another small couch.

After eating lunch at home, the two went out.

Dragon Boat Racing for Duanwu. There was a dragon boat race on the river south of the city this afternoon.

Just as the two arrived at the riverbank, they ran into a group of acquaintances.

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