Chapter 344: Saving Face
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Wei Tiande was following her, and Mingzhu had no intention of hiding anything from Yuwen Chu, so she said, “I went to see how Ban Jian is doing and then picked up a few pretty pebbles by the river.”
Yuwen Chu sternly called out, “Zhang Kun!”
Zhang Kun hurriedly ran over, kneeling at the door with a slap, not saying anything else, straightforwardly admitting his mistake, “Your Highness, whatever punishment you give, I accept it!”
Mingzhu couldn’t help but look at Zhang Kun with a gloating expression. Look at this, a tough guy like this with such a gossipy mouth! I’ll let you look down on me! Then she glanced at Yuwen Chu, wondering what kind of people he had under him. Have they all gone mad from being locked up here for so long?
Yuwen Chu ordered, “Raise your head.”
Zhang Kun muttered, “I dare not.”
“What are you afraid of?” Yuwen Chu lightly tapped the table twice, “When I tell you to raise your head, you raise your head.”
Zhang Kun finally raised his head, and Mingzhu saw that his eyes and nose were red, as if he was about to cry. So she stopped teasing him. In the eyes of these people, how high was Yuwen Chu’s status that just a casual remark could make them so sad and upset!
Yuwen Chu pointed to Mingzhu and instructed Zhang Kun, “Look at her.”
Mingzhu was puzzled. Why should he watch her?
Zhang Kun really started crying, “I dare not.”
“I told you to watch, so watch!” Yuwen Chu’s tone was firm, not open to negotiation.
Zhang Kun shyly and timidly glanced at Mingzhu, his face blushing again uncontrollably, and then he started crying again, “I didn’t mean to.” He really didn’t have any thoughts about this woman! It’s so unfair!
“Remember, she is my Wangfei. She participated in the making of the bed crossbow. Therefore, she came along to guide Ban Jian this time and dressed up like this for the sake of convenience.” Yuwen Chu didn’t care about his blushing face again, but said seriously, “From now on, if you see her again, you must remember to protect her with your life.”
“Yes.” Zhang Kun wiped away his tears and solemnly and respectfully bowed to Mingzhu, kowtowing three times, “I was disrespectful to Wangfei before. Please punish me, Your Majesty. I have no complaints.”
Yuwen Chu saved face for her, made her famous, so she naturally had to continue. Mingzhu adjusted her expression and said very solemnly and kindly, “No need for formalities. Ignorance is not a sin, and you were just worried about His Highness. But as a man, being so gossipy behind the scenes is really not good.”
Zhang Kun looked regretful, wishing he could open up his belly to reveal his true intentions.
“Alright, you may leave,” said Yuwen Chu. Some things needed to be clarified, and there couldn’t be any rumors detrimental to him and Mingzhu. Anyway, everyone here was a trusted loyalist, so there was no need to worry about secrets leaking out.
After Zhang Kun left, Fu Mingzheng smiled and buried himself in eating, too lazy to pay attention to the subtle exchanges between Mingzhu and Yuwen Chu. Left and right, it was all the same. One pretended to be generous in front of his subordinates but felt sour inside, secretly proud that his wife was so beautiful; the other acted naturally, thinking, “You tell me where to go, and I’ll go. What are you staring at? Who’s afraid of who?”
He really went to great lengths for them! Fu Mingzheng pushed his bowl aside. “I’m done eating. I’m going to see how Yang Dianjun and the others are doing with their preparations.”
As soon as he left, Yuwen Chu settled accounts with Mingzhu, “I heard you smiled at them?”
Mingzhu denied it vehemently, “Who said that? Call him out!” How dare he forbid her from smiling! She refused to admit it and looked around the room. From the corner, she ruthlessly dragged out Wei Tiande, who pretended not to be there, and said with a smile, “Wei Tiande! You’ve been following me all along. Tell me, did I smile at them?”
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Wei Tiande wanted to scratch the wall but didn’t dare to look at Yuwen Chu’s expression. With a straight face and a guilty conscience, he said, “No.” Between a reasonable Wangye and an unreasonable Wangfei, it was better to go along with the Wangfei. After all, it was just a matter of whether she smiled or not, not a major principle.
As expected, Mingzhu proudly raised her chin at Yuwen Chu, “See, I said I didn’t.”
Yuwen Chu sighed, “Alright, you said you didn’t.” But he didn’t confirm that she really didn’t.
Understanding his implication, Mingzhu gracefully changed the subject and smoothly served him a chicken leg, “It’s delicious, eat up and nourish your body.”
Yuwen Chu accepted her kindness and let the matter slide.
On the way back after the meal, the team stopped when they reached the Narrow Sky Pass. Yuwen Chu’s expression turned serious as he walked near the pass, carefully inspecting it, and then had a lengthy conversation with someone who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Fu Mingzheng whispered to Mingzhu, “The intruders last night followed us. They took advantage of the guard shift to kill someone and then broke in. However, there’s a system in place here to prevent accidents, so they were discovered before they could uncover the secret of the bed crossbows.”
As he was speaking, Yuwen Chu returned. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction, and he spoke in a low voice, “The intruders should all be dead.”
Mingzhu didn’t know how he came to that conclusion. She turned to look at the person who had talked with Yuwen Chu, only to find that he had silently disappeared again.
While queuing to cross the Narrow Sky, Fu Mingzheng clarified her doubts: “Hunters in the mountains chase wild animals relying on tracking skills. The top hunters can determine the gender, size, strength, and even the number of wild animals based on their tracks. The military also has such skilled trackers who can make precise inferences based on the traces left by the enemy.”
So Yuwen Chu had all kinds of people under him. These people weren’t subdued overnight; how much preparation did he do before this? Mingzhu looked at Yuwen Chu’s back, becoming more and more curious. In the previous life, who was the ultimate winner? Could it be this hidden Ying Wang?
Ah, whatever, why think about it? Just go with the flow. Mingzhu took a few steps forward and quietly held Yuwen Chu’s hand. Yuwen Chu turned back and smiled at her, firmly holding her hand and whispered, “Tired?”
Mingzhu seized the opportunity to act coquettishly, “So tired, almost exhausted. Your Highness, will you carry me?”
Yuwen Chu wanted to save face in front of his subordinates, but after hesitating for a moment, he said, “Alright.” Then he really crouched down.
Mingzhu quickly held him back, “Just being a little spoiled, I’m not really unable to walk.” He saved face for her in front of others, so she had to do the same for him. Being spoiled was just another way of expressing oneself. She didn’t want others to say he was a henpecked husband or someone who desperately tried to please the Fu family just to get their help.
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