Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 187 - 186: Numb

Lu Qing came to the window and gently opened a small gap.

Through that gap, a white jade waist card was handed in. Lu Qing was momentarily stunned upon seeing the card. He opened the window a bit more and saw a figure, like a phantom, crouching on the narrow window frame outside, dressed in black.

The person in black was wearing the clothes of a Chifu Guard, which Lu Qing recognized.

With one hand holding onto the protrusion on the outer wall, it was naturally impossible for him to salute Lu Qing. He nodded slightly as a gesture to Lu Qing. With his free hand, he pulled down his mask slightly so that Lu Qing could see his features, and then hid his face back under the black mask.

It was a face he had never seen before.

Moreover, it was the first time someone in Chifu Guard attire had voluntarily removed his mask in front of him.

Lu Qing suppressed his doubts, keeping his expression neutral, and took a Mechanical Box from the person’s hand.

He recognized the item, so upon seeing this unfamiliar Chifu Guard holding such a thing, he had a vague idea of what was going on.

After handing over the item, the stranger in Chifu Guard uniform did not linger. His figure flickered and leapt into the night, disappearing without a trace.

Lu Qing looked out at the quiet window, as if no one had ever been there.

A moment later, he closed the window tightly again and returned to the bed, sitting beside it.

This inn room didn’t even have a table, so he had no choice but to sit by the bed to dismantle the Mechanical Box.

The Mechanical Box looked like a solid piece of wood on the surface, and it was hard to find the seams unless you felt it carefully with your hands.

Lu Qing almost didn’t need to look as he skillfully felt one corner of the box, using his fingers to push a small wooden strip halfway, revealing a small protrusion inside. He then pulled out that protruding wooden block. What seemed to be a solid piece of the Mechanical Box suddenly disintegrated into a pile of small wooden pieces.

A thickly folded piece of paper fell out, along with a silver whistle.

Lu Qing picked up the paper and carefully unfolded it.

The paper was filled with a reduced character zither score, but there was no title for the piece.

Lu Qing carefully studied the score, and the slight frown on his brow eased. He then examined the silver whistle for a moment, carefully tucked it along with the music score into his bosom, collected the scattered wooden pieces by the bed, and skillfully reassembled them into the original solid wood appearance.

He placed the Mechanical Box aside, lay down fully clothed, and lay on the bed.

Beside him, Zhu Yu was sleeping soundly, completely unaware that a Chifu Guard had come by earlier. She lay on her side, slightly curled up, breathing steadily. Perhaps she was dreaming, as her eyelashes trembled, and she muttered something indistinctly before turning over, falling back into silence.

Lu Qing also turned over and closed his eyes.

Previously, he was unwilling to be a victim of others, a mere fish on the chopping block, wanting to forge his own path, either succeeding or perishing.

Now—next to his cheek, Zhu Yu’s loose strands carried the faint scent of bath beans—he only wished to win.

Zhu Yu had a restful sleep that night. When she woke up the next morning, it seemed as though she had a pleasant yet unremembered dream the previous night, leaving her in inexplicably good spirits.

She gathered the quilt around her, suddenly feeling something resting against her neck and shoulder, quickly opened her eyes, and looked down—

It was an arm. Even through the fabric of her clothes, she could feel the firm muscle. A hand, with long, slender fingers and prominent knuckles, was relaxed, the palm slightly open, and she could vaguely see the calluses on it.

She was quite familiar with these calluses, as they were on Lu Qing’s hand.

And the weight at her waist, she didn’t need to look to know it was another arm.

Zhu Yu’s previously hazy mind suddenly cleared.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to react naturally without feeling awkward.

Even though they were separated by clothes and the quilt, such an intimate position was somewhat uncomfortable for her.

"If my lady is awake..." While she lay there awkwardly on her side, afraid to move, Lu Qing’s voice, still tinged with the faintness of sleep, came from behind her, "this husband of yours...my arm is a bit numb."

Zhu Yu hurriedly sat up. Although her cheeks were slightly red, she tried to maintain a composed expression.

Lu Qing glanced at Zhu Yu’s blushing profile and couldn’t bear to tease her. While flexing the arm that had indeed gone numb, he used his other hand to retrieve the Mechanical Box from the previous night and handed it over. "See what this is."

Zhu Yu reached out to take it, looked down, and thought Lu Qing was still groggy from sleep, handing her just a block of wood.

But when she turned to look at Lu Qing, seeing that he didn’t seem to be teasing her, she guessed there must be something special about the wooden block.

So she tried pressing here and pushing there, but after a few attempts, she couldn’t find any mechanism.

Lu Qing told her the secret, and Zhu Yu, curious, tried it, successfully turning it into a pile of small wooden pieces. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Where did this come from?" she asked, a bit surprised as she fiddled with the pieces.

Lu Qing didn’t answer, only took out the sheet of paper from his bosom and handed it to her.

Looking at the music score on the paper, Zhu Yu didn’t quite understand this reduced character score. When she was pretending to be ill in the Prince Mansion, feeling bored, Lu Qing had specially taught her.

She tried to read the score the way Lu Qing had taught her, and soon realized something wasn’t right.

Not only was the finger positioning too complex for her to understand, even the melody part, when she tried to hum softly, it wasn’t just a matter of whether it sounded good—it couldn’t even be called a "piece."

She suddenly understood, raising her eyes to Lu Qing: "Is this not a music score, but a letter?"

"Mr. Mo had someone deliver it," Lu Qing nodded.

"Whose idea was this?" Zhu Yu asked, somewhat curious.

"It has been many years," Lu Qing said, using his fingers to smooth Zhu Yu’s loose hair over her shoulders, skillfully twisting it into a Taoist bun on top of her head. "When he was young and unwell, he was also sent to Shanqing Temple.

Back then, I didn’t know anyone outside Shanqing Temple, let alone anyone around the same age, and neither did he.

So we quickly became familiar with each other. We would be watched by the master, studying, practicing calligraphy, and practicing martial arts together at Shanqing Temple, which was a companionship of sorts.

Later, when he had to return to the palace, circumstances changed.

Our master was happy to see us getting along well, but those people in the Capital did not want to see us form any bond.

So we used music scores as our secret code, developing a mutual understanding that others found hard to decipher, thinking we were merely exchanging music skills. Over these years, we have indeed evaded many watchful eyes."