Chapter 93
Chapter 93
Shengsheng Zhou did not know whether their friends down below were doing well. She certainly was not.
“Are you coming down yourselves, or do I have to send people up to catch you?”
Xiujuan’s voice rang out, heavy with malice.
Shengsheng glanced at Zhiyu Jiang beside her and considered the chances that calling down a bolt of lightning would frighten them away.
Before she could put any concrete plan into action, however, another group of people arrived outside the courtyard gate.
“Outrageous! Release her at once, by order of this general!”
The full-throated roar resounded throughout the courtyard, drawing the attention of all three women sprawled across the roof.
Shengsheng was the first to recognize the newcomer.
Zhiyu’s father–the master of this residence.
Xiujuan’s shoulders jerked in fright. She dropped to her knees and had only just opened her mouth when Dehuai Jiang strode over and kicked her through the air.
By sheer coincidence, she slammed into the wall beneath the three women.
Thus, Dehuai’s eyes met those of his disaster of a daughter.
Zhiyu had clearly seen him before. At Shengsheng’s prompting, she called, “Father.”
Normally, the sight of her sprawled so gracelessly on a wall would have earned her a savage rebuke. This time, Dehuai said nothing. He merely nodded, his face stern.
“Xiyuan, are you hurt?” Dehuai personally untied Xiyuan.
One hand stroked gently up and down her back.
Newly freed, Xiyuan broke out in gooseflesh. If the timing had not been so poor, she would have loved to smack this man upside the head.
After climbing down from the roof, Shengsheng’s gaze drifted uncontrollably toward Dehuai’s lower body. Without meaning to, she recalled something Xiyuan had shouted before: “Yours isn’t even as big as mine, and you dare force yourself on me?”
Awkward.
Shengsheng snatched her gaze away and tucked in her head, once more becoming a little quail.
Now that Dehuai was here, they would certainly be safe.
Aside from power and profit, there was almost nothing this man cared about.
And Xiyuan, having just won the Noble Consort’s favor, happened to represent a heaven-sent opportunity for him.
After all, rumor had it that the emperor had recently begun to tire of Dehuai.
Once he had given Xiujuan and the others a severe tongue-lashing, peace finally returned to Xiyuan’s little courtyard.
Dehuai acted as though he could not have been more solicitous, yet the display inexplicably disgusted Shengsheng.
If he truly cared, why had he not even asked what Xiujuan and the others wanted? Why had he not ordered these servants, who had dared attack their mistress, beaten to death on the spot?
Instead, he had handed down a few meaningless scoldings. Not one of them had even been caned, and he had not so much as mentioned the mistress of the main household.
Shengsheng lowered her face, her expression cold.
Dehuai was just about to press his advantage and stay when Xiyuan said icily, in front of everyone, “General, this concubine’s monthly courses have arrived. You should return to Madam’s room.”
Then she assumed an unmistakable posture of dismissal, leaving Dehuai momentarily at a loss for words.
At last, his face livid, he flung out, “You don’t know what’s good for you,” and swept away.
Only after he left did Shengsheng raise her head. Her gaze toward Xiyuan was exceedingly complicated.
Come to think of it, was that not the very excuse heroines in old-fashioned novels always used when refusing the advances of their local husbands?
Faced with Shengsheng’s complicated gaze, Meiren Liu’s bashful one, and Zhiyu’s bewildered stare, Xiyuan blinked. “Why are you all looking at me like that? I really did get my period. Want me to take off my pants and show you?”
Shengsheng fell silent. Absolutely ducking not.
During their search, the servants had paid special attention to the room where Shengsheng had spent the previous night, turning it completely upside down.
Shengsheng felt exhausted at the sight of the room’s utter devastation.
If she did not straighten everything up, she could forget about sleeping well.
She might as well give the place a thorough cleaning while she was at it.
Or so she thought.
After finally finishing, Shengsheng stood in the room holding a broom and abruptly froze.
Holy crap!
As though remembering something, she dropped the broom and lunged toward the little dressing table in the corner.
She felt around for a long time. Sure enough, there was nothing.
The hairpin Fusheng Duan had given her was gone!
One of those maids must have pocketed it under cover of searching the room, Shengsheng thought furiously.
It was already late. Going out now would be inconvenient, so she would simply have to wait until tomorrow.
Was that what you thought she would say?
Ha. What a joke. She was Shengsheng Zhou.
After no more than a second’s deliberation, Shengsheng strode out with murder written across her face.
The last person who dared steal from her now behaved as meekly as a lamb whenever she appeared.
She thought of Dafu Zhou Jewelry, which had recently materialized in the capital without a sound yet caused a tremendous sensation, and of the envelope stuffed with thick stacks of banknotes that a certain anonymous individual had sent her. Her mood instantly improved.
So next…
She ought to consider how best to bite this little thief to death.
Standing in the courtyard, Shengsheng drew a finger across her throat and let out several low, sinister chuckles.
Hidden in a secluded corner, doing her duty with all her heart despite not having appeared for many chapters, Rong “the Recorder” Li silently added another line to the stack of paper already thick enough to publish as a book.
*Dark night, high wind. Zhou plots murder.*
*Come forth, A-Pang, my darling baby.*
Shengsheng called out to him.
A-Pang slowly crawled into view. *Shengsheng, have you noticed? Whenever you call me, either you’re in danger or someone else is about to be.*
Shengsheng bared her teeth. *Which do you think it is this time?*
A-Pang sounded dispirited. *Go on, then. Which unlucky wretch are we dealing with this time?*
One A-Pang hereby submitted a petition written in blood, begging the author to rename this book.
He had already come up with the alternatives.
It could be called–
*Transmigrated into a Book: Shengsheng Zhou and Her Wretched Little Thieves.*
Or:
*Transmigrated into a Book: Which Little Thief Is Acting Up Today?*
*Shengsheng, please confirm exchange for the package “Search for Him a Thousand Times” and…*
*I refuse!*
Before A-Pang could finish, Shengsheng rejected it with the sternest possible conviction.
What a joke. She had been little back then, so having no shame was one thing.
Now she was a maiden in the flower of youth. She had dignity!
A-Pang was silent for a moment.
*Then how about the package “Search a Thousand Miles” and “Growing Stronger Every Time I Wander”?*
Shengsheng fell silent.
Search a Thousand Miles was an old acquaintance of hers. What sort of monster was Growing Stronger Every Time I Wander?
A-Pang did not know either. He had never used it. Only after Shengsheng tried it herself would they discover what it did.
To be safe, Shengsheng deliberated for a while. In the end, the importance of the hairpin Fusheng had given her won out.
What a joke. If she lost it and that petty, lazy bastard Fusheng Duan found out, he would skin her alive!
Even deep in sleep, Fusheng himself heard that thought, but he was too lazy to peck her anymore.
Truth be told, he had once found taking the form of a bird terribly humiliating. But ever since discovering he could curl up inside Shengsheng’s sleeve and sleep whenever and wherever he pleased…
Well, being human was not all that wonderful.
He was only a bird. Even if he loved sleeping, no one could fault him for it.