Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 94

Seeing her poor complexion, Lu Sheng did not specially go over to greet her, but walked directly past the alley entrance and entered the wine shop.

There were customers in the shop, and the new assistant was dispensing wine. Lu Sheng exchanged a greeting with her and went to the back courtyard.

As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, Lu Sheng smelled a strong scent of herbal medicine, as if a medicine pot had been smashed and spilled.

Recalling Lu Yu’s expression just now, Lu Sheng guessed that the two of them must have had another falling out.

Ever since Liu Yun’s miscarriage, she had not given Lu Yu a kind face, and the two had not reconciled until Lu Sheng left for Qingzhou.

It was inconvenient to take the child inside, so Lu Sheng placed the little one on the stone stool in the courtyard and said with a smile, “Mommy bought a gift for you, precious.”

“Huh? What did Mommy buy for me?” The little one craned her neck and looked at Lu Sheng’s package with anticipation, very happy.

Lu Sheng smiled and took out a small booklet from the package, handing it to her: “This is what your Mommy asked me to bring to you, so you can read it when you have leisure time.”

The little one’s small eyebrows, which had been raised high a moment ago, immediately drooped. She reluctantly took the booklet from Lu Sheng’s hand and said in a low voice, “Thank you, Mommy, thank you, Aunty.”

She should have expected that her Mommy wouldn’t buy her any gifts other than books.

Lu Sheng was amused by her expression and stroked her little head, “It’s a storybook, oh.”

Xiliang Miscellaneous Stories is a book of folktales, mostly containing allegorical short stories with philosophical meanings. The phrasing is not complicated, it is easy to understand, and it belongs to the Liang Kingdom’s children’s primer stories.

“Is it a storybook?”

Lu Sheng had a habit of telling her child bedtime stories, and the little one loved listening to them. As soon as she heard it was a storybook, her face immediately cleared up, and she impatiently opened the book she had been so dismissive of a second before.

The book bought by Qi Zhenshu was a beginner’s booklet mainly composed of illustrations. The illustrations were woodblock prints, and the little one, seeing such a book for the first time, was captivated as soon as she opened it.

“Precious, sit here and read. Aunty is going to see your other aunt.” Lu Sheng re-packed her belongings and instructed Tangtang.

“Okay.” The little one sat on the stone stool and replied happily.

“Be careful with your hands.”

“I know, Aunty.”

Lu Sheng turned and walked inside. As she was about to reach the door, she saw Sixth Aunt coming out of the room.

Sixth Aunt was the wet nurse Lu Yu had hired specifically to look after Liu Yun during her confinement after the miscarriage.

She held a winnowing basket in one hand and a broom in the other. Seeing Lu Sheng, a troubled expression on her face broke into a forced smile, “Miss Lu is back.”

“Mhm.” Lu Sheng glanced at the broken pottery shards in the winnowing basket and quietly asked, “Did they argue?”

“Sigh!” Sixth Aunt heavily sighed, “They quarrel every other day.”

She had been here for seven days, and they had already argued three times. After each argument, Miss Lu would leave, and Miss Liu would cry for a long time.

“Miss Lu, please talk to Miss Liu. A miscarriage is already damaging to the body, and she keeps worrying herself, I’m afraid it will make things worse.”

“Alright, I’ll go talk to her. Thank you for your trouble.” Lu Sheng nodded and walked into the room.

Liu Yun was leaning against the head of the bed, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with a silk handkerchief. Lu Sheng knocked on the door. Liu Yun steadied herself and looked towards the door.

“Why are you back so soon?” Liu Yun restrained the sadness on her face, and when she spoke, she felt a little ashamed, “It’s all my fault.”

If it weren’t for her miscarriage, Lu Sheng wouldn’t have to rush back and forth like this.

“Xiao Sheng, thank you so much this time. I feel much better, and I’ll be able to go back to work in a few days.” Liu Yun apologized.

“What are you saying?” Lu Sheng pulled a stool and sat down by the bed, “You just need to rest well. You can go back to work after you’ve fully recovered next month.”

Having spent more than half a year together, Lu Sheng already considered her a friend.

“Xiao Sheng.” Hearing Lu Sheng’s words, it would be a lie to say Liu Yun wasn’t moved.

“Don’t cry anymore. You must take good care of yourself. When I leave for Qingzhou next month, the shop will be entirely entrusted to you.” Lu Sheng didn’t want to engage in emotional sentimentality, so she said it semi-jokingly.

“Mhm.” Liu Yun, with red eyes, nodded, and a slight smile appeared on her face, “I will definitely be better next month.”

Seeing her spirits improve, Lu Sheng thought for a moment and decided to ask, “What are your plans for you and Xiao Yu?”

Although she was an outsider, Lu Sheng was still a little worried about their current situation.

At the mention of Lu Yu, the joyful expression on Liu Yun’s face faded again, and her voice was pale and weak, “She’s been lying to me.”

The borrowing of money was fake, the price for selling the house was fake, and not to mention leaving the dock—that must also be a lie.

Liu Yun told Lu Sheng about what Lu Yu had done, and Lu Sheng was also startled upon hearing it.

In just half a year, Lu Yu not only earned a monthly salary of five liang of silver but also acquired a house worth over a hundred liang.

“Where did she get so much money!” Liu Yun said anxiously.

Every time she thought about these things, she felt both sad and alarmed.

Especially after Lu Yu was arrested last time for alleged murder, Liu Yun became more certain that even if Lu Yu didn’t genuinely have that kind of relationship with Governor Peng, she must have helped him with something shady.

“Xiao Sheng, what do you think I should do?” Liu Yun’s eyes were red, but she felt her eyes were dry. She had cried many times these past few days, and her tears were almost dried up.

Liu Yun could no longer forgive Lu Yu, but after all, they had lived together for over ten years. Even if she didn’t want to continue living with Lu Yu, she would still worry and feel sad for her.

Lu Sheng tried to comfort her in the room for a while. Sixth Aunt then brought in a bowl of medicine, and Lu Sheng took her leave.

The next morning.

Just as the sky was faintly lighting up, Lu Sheng was woken up by a series of chirping bird sounds.

Upon raising her head, Lu Sheng saw a bird’s behind covered in white feathers. With a swipe of her hand, she ruthlessly swatted the bird, which was disturbing her sleep, off the bed.

“Sister, Sister, you’re awake!”

Yu Ling fluttered its wings and flew back onto the bed, landing directly on Lu Sheng’s chest.

“Sister, I haven’t seen you for a long time, I miss you so much.” The parrot said, even sticking out its tail feathers to rub against Lu Sheng’s neck.

“Shut up!” Lu Sheng directly held down the bird’s head to prevent it from making any more noise.

These continuous “Sister” calls and the rubbing against her neck immediately reminded Lu Sheng of Qi Zhenshu the night before last.

The same actions and words applied to a parrot were truly hard for her to look at.

Yu Ling squirmed out from under her hand and jumped onto Lu Sheng’s hand, chirping discontentedly, “Bad Sister, my beautiful feathers are all squashed!”

The parrot twisted its neck, preening its feathers. The sunlight from outside shone in, hitting it perfectly.

Lu Sheng couldn’t sleep because of the noise, so she had no choice but to open her eyes.

The red light made Lu Sheng’s eyes blurry. She sat up halfway, avoiding the dazzling refracted light.

It took a while for her eyes to adjust, and Lu Sheng finally saw a large gold chain studded with a ruby around Yu Ling’s neck. The gold chain wasn’t very thick, but wrapped several times around the bird’s neck, it looked especially flashy.

Lu Sheng grabbed the parrot again, picked up the pendant on its chest, and looked at it. The gemstone was real, and the gold setting was also real. However, the necklace and setting didn’t look like the style from Xiliang; it seemed more like foreign craftsmanship.

“Where did you get this…”

Before Lu Sheng could finish her sentence, Yu Ling flapped its wings and flew to the foot of the bed, shielding the gem on its chest with its two small wings, as if afraid Lu Sheng would snatch it away.

“This was given to me by Little White.” It said, unable to resist showing off. Its puffy little chest swayed. It bobbed its head towards the eagle perch at the door and said proudly, “Little White is so amazing. It’s not afraid of the dark at all. Little White also…”

The gyrfalcon on the perch, which was completely white and as tall as three parrots stacked together, arrogantly turned its head to glance at the bed, then turned its head back to look at the sky outside the door.

Ever since that gyrfalcon was kept here, the parrot had been circling around it daily, constantly talking about how great Little White was.

Initially, Lu Sheng thought the parrot was just experiencing maternal affection.

However, one day she accidentally saw the parrot pinning the gyrfalcon beneath it and performing indescribable actions. Lu Sheng then realized that this creature wasn’t raising a chick at all; it was clearly finding itself a ‘child bride’ (tóngyǎngxí).

“Where did Little White get this chain?” Lu Sheng was genuinely suspicious that Yu Ling had incited the eagle to steal something from someone’s house.

Yu Ling flew towards the gyrfalcon. The gyrfalcon spread one wing, allowing it to perch. Yu Ling pecked at the feathers on the gyrfalcon’s neck and shoulder a couple of times, chirping.

“Back mountain.” The gyrfalcon turned its head and let out a low cry toward Lu Sheng.

Gyrfalcons often hunt in the back mountain, so it was normal for it to pick up something there. However, the craftsmanship of this item was truly unusual.

Lu Sheng felt like she had forgotten something, but she couldn’t quite recall what it was at the moment.

Seeing that the sky outside was getting brighter, Lu Sheng stopped trying to sleep, put on her clothes, and got out of bed.

“Sister, I want to eat roasted melon seeds.” Yu Ling flew back to Lu Sheng’s shoulder, “And roasted rice.”

Little White could pick wild fruits for it, but they were birds and couldn’t go buy roasted melon seeds. It had been craving them for days.

Her eyes were once again caught by the necklace on the bird’s neck. Lu Sheng distastefully pushed it away, “This thing of yours is too conspicuous. Just wear it at home, don’t go out and get robbed of your wealth and your bird.”

This parrot was already valuable, and with the gold chain and gem, Lu Sheng was genuinely worried that this ostentatious bird would be captured, chain and all.

“No, Little White will protect me.”

Finding herself being shown affection by a bird was truly exasperating for Lu Sheng.

You really are capable of flaunting your power with the help of an eagle!

Lu Sheng went out to light the fire and prepare breakfast. The parrot continuously chattered on her shoulder. Exasperated by the constant nagging, she roasted some rice for it in the large wok.

After making breakfast, Lu Sheng wrote a letter to Qi Zhenshu, telling her about Lu Yu’s situation and asking her for advice on whether she could help.

After eating, Lu Sheng took the child to Lu Zheng’s house again and asked Zhuo Yu what kind of person Governor Peng of the Cangchang Wharf actually was.

Qingzhou, Prefectural Yamen.

The Prefect of Qingzhou handed the confession in his hand to Princess Changning, “These are the confessions of the two grain merchants.”

Based on the clues they had uncovered last time, they accurately located the two batches of grain hidden with raw iron. The prefectural government had dispatched constables to arrest the people from Binhe County and bring them to Qingzhou for interrogation.

Princess Changning quickly reviewed it, her brow furrowed tightly.

In the confessions, both individuals completely denied having handled raw iron, saying they only transported grain.

After carefully questioning the two people’s movements, the Prefect dispatched constables to Binhe County to verify. Indeed, they could not find any trace of them having traveled to Maizhou or having any dealings with people from Maizhou.

The list investigated last time had a total of eight transporting merchants, but only two remained in the granary, so they only arrested two people for questioning.

Moreover, judging by the performance of the two grain merchants during questioning in the hall, the Prefect felt they truly seemed to be unaware of anything.

Princess Changning had a faint suspicion in her heart. She handed the confession to Qi Zhenshu. After Qi Zhenshu finished reading, she asked, “What do you think?”

“Has the Princess sent people to investigate the other six merchant firms?” Qi Zhenshu asked after reading the confession.

“No abnormalities were found there either.”

As early as yesterday, Princess Changning had received a message from the secret agents in Binhe County, which was identical to the confession received today, with absolutely no clues linking them to Maizhou.

The only suspicious point was that three of the businesses were introduced by the Wang family. The introducer was none other than Wang family’s nephew, Lu Hualiang.

“This is truly strange,” the Prefect mumbled, stroking his small beard, unable to figure it out, “The raw iron couldn’t have flown into the grain by itself.”

Qi Zhenshu lowered her eyes and pondered briefly, then speculated, “If these people are innocent, it’s highly likely that the raw iron wasn’t in the grain from the beginning but was mixed in later.”

“Then the most likely place is the wharf,” the Prefect suddenly realized, clapping his hands, “Chief Clerk Qi’s thoughts are indeed meticulous.”

The most convenient way to transport grain from Binhe County to Qingzhou is by water. Goods transported by water must pass through the wharf and granary for both loading and unloading. If something were to be mixed into the goods, the wharf and granary would be the most convenient locations.

When transporting military grain, the dates are fixed. Grain merchants transporting goods from Binhe County would certainly not divert the goods elsewhere mid-journey.

This would also indirectly guarantee that the raw iron would definitely be sent into the granary, and not cause unnecessary trouble by being mistakenly sent elsewhere.

“It should be the Binhe County Wharf,” Qi Zhenshu confirmed.

Compared to retrieving the goods, which only requires unloading from the ship, when goods are delivered to the wharf and granary, especially large quantities like grain, they need to be warehoused a day in advance. Then, the granary supervisor coordinates and arranges the transportation ships and berths for the cargo.

Therefore, it is much easier to mix in raw iron in Binhe County than at the Qingzhou Wharf. Coupled with the letter Qi Zhenshu received the day before, she was even more certain that the Cangchang Wharf in Binhe County was definitely not clean.

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