Chapter 43: Little Shen May Be Naughty, But She’s a Diamond in the Rough!

In the fourth month of the first year of the Rongxing era, the third event to go down in history, besides the Imperial Examinations and the Women’s Literati Examination, occurred: General of the Left Wing, Liu Lusheng, led fifty men into an enemy camp of two hundred thousand and captured Aguli alive!

News of the Great Liang army’s victory arrived. Even by the time court was dismissed, many ministers still hadn’t come to their senses.

Despite this, Shen Yuezhuang still couldn’t successfully slip away.

Her father, as one of the few ministers who seemed clear-headed, stood up as soon as court ended and quickly walked over to her. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her aside to lecture her.

Today’s lecture was supposed to be about her not coming home the night before. But with the fuss she had caused during the morning court, the old Marquis’s attention was entirely on the accusation she had been about to make.

Mindful of the people coming and going, her father kept his voice low but strained, so much so that two prominent veins bulged on his neck.

As long as she wasn’t being hit, Shen Yuezhuang was quite accepting. She hung her head, looking like she was listening attentively to the lecture, but her mind had long since wandered.

Her father had never been able to tell when she was zoning out. She thought that if she could just get through this part, she could use the Empress Dowager’s summons as an excuse to slip away. But then the elder Lord Wen happened to pass by and deliberately stopped to remind her.

“Marquis Shen, after all, we are in the palace. Little Shen is now a Rank 5b official. All these people coming and going… it’s not ideal. Although Little Shen may be a bit naughty, she is, after all, a diamond in the rough!”

Shen Yuezhuang felt a sudden warmth in her heart. She instantly remembered what her maternal grandfather had once told her.

“When the results came out, Minister Wen praised you repeatedly in court. If you ask me, even if the Emperor hadn’t planned to put you in the Ministry of Revenue, Minister Wen might have requested you himself!”

“Minister Wen is a good man! When you get to the office, make sure you study hard under him!”

“Remember to be grateful and repay kindness. Think of Lord Wen more often. At his age, with no children, it’s not easy for him!”

Shen Yuezhuang’s eyes were filled with emotion and gratitude. But before the grateful tears could fall, Lord Wen patted her father’s shoulder and added, “Even if a piece of jade needs to be carved to become a vessel, you can still take her home to beat her!”

Shen Yuezhuang: “…”

Shen Yuezhuang watched as the immortal aura around Lord Wen gradually transformed into something more demonic in her eyes. Before she could even turn into Sun Wukong, Lord Wen waved at her again. “Oh, right! If the injuries are too severe, you don’t need to come to the office this afternoon. I’ve already approved your leave.”

Shen Yuezhuang: “!!!!!!”

Lord Wen nodded at the old Marquis with a look full of expectation and affirmation, then straightened his wrinkled sleeves, picked up his wrinkled robe, and walked away.

Seeing her father raising his hand again, Shen Yuezhuang yelled with all her might, trying to awaken whatever conscience and fatherly love the Marquis Shen had left.

“Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! I have something serious to tell you! Really! It’s a matter of life and death!”

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After much pleading and promising from Shen Yuezhuang, her usually decisive father finally let her go. “I’ll give you one sentence. What is it? Hurry up and say it!”

Shen Yuezhuang thought for a moment, then asked, “Dad, why did our family’s spice shops stop doing business with the Southern Frontier?”

If she had brought up things like spice shops or rouge powders at any other time, the Marquis Shen would have scolded her as a worthless brat!

But since she mentioned the Southern Frontier, the Marquis Shen’s expression turned serious as he looked around.

Fortunately, court had been over for a while, and with the news of the Empress Dowager’s younger brother’s great victory, no one was paying much attention to them. The eunuchs were standing far away and probably couldn’t hear them.

But even so, the Marquis Shen pulled Shen Yuezhuang a few steps further away. Lowering his voice, he asked sternly, “Who told you that?”

“I asked around myself!”

The Southern Frontier was famous not only for its poisons and gu worms, but also for its spices!

Ever since she learned that Liu Yun’s poison came from the Southern Frontier, she had visited several spice shops to ask. She didn’t mention the Ice Poison; she only said she wanted some spices that would make you smell cool in the summer.

But since she didn’t want to publicize the matter, and was worried about loose lips, she only went to their own family’s shops. Predictably, the shop managers all told her the shops had stopped trading with the Southern Frontier two years ago.

This was strange. The Southern Frontier was considered Great Liang’s only friendly neighboring state. Trade between the two countries had always been frequent. And since the Southern Frontier didn’t have many trade goods, spices were the most famous and common.

Her family had stopped, which meant she had lost her channel to the Southern Frontier. She could only come and ask her father.

Unexpectedly, her father looked unwilling to say more and warned her sternly, “Don’t get involved in anything related to the Southern Frontier lately. Don’t do anything at all. Do you hear me?”

Shen Yuezhuang, who wouldn’t normally agree so readily to something that sounded like big trouble, found herself hesitating. She wondered, if she couldn’t find contacts in the Southern Frontier, what would happen to Liu Yun’s poison?

Hearing no reply, her father’s heart sank. He took a deep breath, looking as though he had come to a painful decision. “In the past, when you caused trouble, the family could still find ways to cover for you. Now that you’re an official, if you…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, because Shen Yuezhuang’s blatant zoning out made his brow twitch with anger!

At a time like this, she still wasn’t taking things seriously! The old Marquis became enraged, leaning against the wall and starting to pull off his boot.

“I think it’s simpler to just break your leg outright. At least it will save the family any bigger trouble!”

Without any leads, Shen Yuezhuang didn’t even have the energy to dodge. But the old Marquis’s boot never landed.

A palace maid from the Longevity Palace had arrived.

“Marquis, Her Grace the Empress Dowager requests Lord Shen’s presence.”

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Having escaped a beating from her father, Shen Yuezhuang nonetheless looked utterly listless.

She was completely uninterested during the entire walk to the Longevity Palace. Perhaps it was one of those days when when it rains, it pours. She had somehow gotten a small pebble into her shoe, which was unhelpfully lodged right under the arch of her foot.

A young palace maid offered to support her while she took off her boot, but Shen Yuezhuang ignored her.

Every time she saw a palace maid from the Longevity Palace now, she was reminded of Ruixue pushing her and accusing her of causing Liu Yun’s poison to flare up.

Now, her father had also forbidden her from contacting the Southern Frontier. The person who could provide the antidote was unreachable. The two things combined only made Shen Yuezhuang’s bad mood worse. She hadn’t let anyone touch her that morning, and now she didn’t even want to look at them!

The Longevity Palace was right in front of her. Shen Yuezhuang limped inside by herself.

Liu Yun had been waiting at the Longevity Palace for a long time.

Afraid that the old Marquis might really have hit her in anger, she had sent for her as soon as she heard court was dismissed.

But seeing the dejected figure in the courtyard, Liu Yun couldn’t help but rush forward.

“Did you really get a beating?!”

Liu Yun’s expression was tense as her eyes swept over her lower back and hips.

“No, nothing.” Shen Yuezhuang leaned on Liu Yun’s arm. “I got a pebble in my shoe.”

As she spoke, she started to take off her boot. But Liu Yun, who had been overly anxious just a moment before, was rendered speechless by this. She let out a soft “humph” and turned to go back inside.

Having been brushed off, Shen Yuezhuang didn’t make a fuss, which was unusual. She stood there swaying on one foot, staring blankly at Liu Yun’s retreating back. After a moment, she staggered quietly over to support herself against the steps of the hall.

Liu Yun had expected her to stumble and cling to her, or to start yelling from behind.

Her body had even braced itself for Shen Yuezhuang to crash into her. But the silence behind her was too much. Her unnecessarily tensed muscles relaxed again, leaving an empty feeling, like punching a wad of cotton.

A seed of doubt planted in her heart, she reached the door but couldn’t help turning back to look.

Shen Yuezhuang was leaning against the steps, bent over and looking down, trying to shake the pebble out of her boot.

Under the brilliant white light of the midday sun, her red robe was as fiery as a flame, making the pale nape of her neck seem almost blindingly white.

The moment Shen Yuezhuang looked up, her eyes met Liu Yun’s ambiguous gaze. Her expression seemed slightly confused. “What’s wrong?”

Liu Yun’s probing gaze lingered on Shen Yuezhuang for a long time.

“…Nothing.”

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While Shen Yuezhuang was washing her hands inside, Liu Yun ordered the meal to be served. After giving the instructions, she looked back at Shen Yuezhuang. “The small kitchen made Furong eggs. Didn’t you say you wanted some this morning?”

Shen Yuezhuang was playing with the water in the basin. Without turning around, she replied, “I don’t have much of an appetite now. I don’t want any.”

“Then what do you want to eat? I’ll tell the kitchen to make it.”

Shen Yuezhuang shook her head. “I don’t want anything to eat. I’m sleepy now. I want to go to sleep.”

Not wanting to eat? Liu Yun frowned and stepped closer.

Even without looking closely, the disappointment on Shen Yuezhuang’s face, which could never hide anything, was completely obvious.

The way her brows were drooping now was a world away from the high-spiritedness she had shown when leaving the palace that morning!

Liu Yun didn’t know what she was so disappointed about, but with palace maids coming and going to serve the meal, she didn’t ask further. She only said, “Not eating isn’t good. Don’t you have to go to the office this afternoon?”

“Not going.” Shen Yuezhuang pulled a cloth to dry her hands, turning to explain. “Lord Wen gave me the day off to rest.”

Even though she hadn’t been beaten, a perfectly good vacation day was a perfectly good vacation day, right? Why not take it?

Liu Yun was about to say something when a palace maid announced outside that some consort of the harem had sent congratulatory gifts to the Empress Dowager, celebrating General Liu’s great victory.

This was already the second batch of gift-givers since court had been dismissed a short while ago.

News traveled fast within the palace. Liu Lusheng’s achievement was extraordinary, and everyone was eager to curry favor with the Empress Dowager, who was so close at hand.

If it weren’t for the fact that it was mealtime and there were only a few high-ranking consorts in the harem, with the lower-ranking ones not permitted an audience, the hall of the Longevity Palace would have been packed by now!

This current batch was clearly from those who had no right to an audience and had simply sent gifts.

Shen Yuezhuang didn’t understand all this, but she knew that with Liu Lusheng’s achievement, Liu Yun would be busy.

She made a move to leave. “Since you’re busy, I’ll just go home.”

How could Liu Yun let her go home looking like this?

“Don’t rush!” She grabbed Shen Yuezhuang’s wrist. “Aren’t you going to take a nap? Don’t bother going back and forth. Rest here. I’ll send word to the Marquis Manor.”

“Is that okay?” Shen Yuezhuang glanced towards the door. “Don’t you need to see them?”

Having guests outside while she slept inside, that would look terrible!

“I don’t want to see them.” Liu Yun said. “I told the maids to say I was unwell, so I haven’t seen anyone. If you leave now, you might run into them. Better to wait it out.”

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Shen Yuezhuang ended up staying the night at the Longevity Palace.

The bed curtains in the inner chamber were drawn, blocking out the glaring sun. Lying on the dim bed, Shen Yuezhuang stared blankly at the wall inside.

After an unknown amount of time, the curtains parted to reveal a gap. Then the bed behind her sank down.

Liu Yun sat down behind her, one arm propping herself up in front of Shen Yuezhuang.

Leaning over and seeing that Shen Yuezhuang wasn’t asleep, Liu Yun didn’t seem surprised. She just brought the warm egg she was holding up to her eyes.

“Close your eyes.”

Shen Yuezhuang obediently closed her eyes. The warm egg rolled over her eyelids, slightly easing the stinging sensation.

Liu Yun’s gaze became even more brazen as it rested on Shen Yuezhuang’s brows and eyes. She was silently pondering the reports from her attendants about what had happened at court. She couldn’t figure out what could have made her so disheartened.

Unconsciously, Liu Yun was almost lying on top of Shen Yuezhuang. They were so close that Liu Yun could clearly see her long, delicate eyelashes.

Liu Yun swallowed. She averted her gaze, then lowered her voice and leaned close to Shen Yuezhuang’s ear. “Among the gifts just now, there was a white-feathered parrot that can talk. It’s extremely beautiful. Your maternal grandfather will surely love it! If you ever need to ask him for a favor, you can give him this parrot. How about that?”

In Shen Yuezhuang’s mind, with her maternal grandfather’s abilities, unless he simply didn’t want to get involved, if he was willing, he could cover for her no matter what kind of huge trouble she got into, even if she had made many enemies at court.

Liu Yun couldn’t tell if Shen Yuezhuang had gotten into trouble again and was afraid of being scolded, which was why she was acting like this. She was testing her with the parrot. If she really was in trouble, the parrot could cheer up the Grand Preceptor. Shen Yuezhuang wouldn’t be so listless if that were the case.

But Shen Yuezhuang just shook her head gently. “No matter what kind of parrot you give him, he’ll just use it to swear. It’s no good.”