Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 202 - 201: Covering Up the Lie

"Indeed, but this time I was lucky. On that day, Empress was in good spirits and realized she hadn’t seen me for a long time, so she worried about me and wanted to call me over. The Holy Emperor sent someone to Consort Zhao’s palace to find me, and that’s when they discovered I was on the verge of death. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The Holy Emperor sought the best Imperial Attendant from the Pharmacy Bureau to examine me, but he couldn’t find any clues. He told the Holy Emperor that unless the Qi Yun Mountain People from Shanqing Temple intervened, my life might not be saved.

So the Holy Emperor immediately sent someone to carry me to Shanqing Temple. My master pulled me back from King Yan’s grasp, helped me recover, and taught me kung fu and literature.

In those years, I ventured out for training with Yan Daoxin, gaining much and living far more happily than in the palace.

At sixteen, I was summoned back to the palace by decree, granted the title of Prince Xiaoyao, opened a residence, and had talisman runes with me.

Since then, nothing major has happened again."

"So how did Consort Zhao die later?" Zhu Yu asked curiously.

She knew Consort Zhao was another unfortunate beauty, having died young, unable to see Lu Zhang grow up.

Originally, she pondered to herself, Emperor Jin truly had a hard life. An empress and an imperial concubine both departed early. If one were to say there was heavy evil energy, one would say it belonged to him.

But due to this preconceived impression, she thought that Zhao Bi’s eldest daughter, the once very prominent Consort Zhao, might also be a frail beauty with only the charm to please Emperor Jin but not a good constitution.

Yet, hearing Lu Qing recount that past, it was evident Consort Zhao was not what she had imagined, being neither weak nor delicate, but quite ruthless.

"I don’t know," Lu Qing shook his head honestly. "At that time, I was in Shanqing Temple and didn’t know about the palace affairs.

It was later when Lu Chao was sent to the temple to recuperate that he told me. He said Consort Zhao had suddenly passed away. The palace claimed it was a sudden illness, yet they couldn’t specify what kind of illness.

It was said that the Holy Emperor had not yet recovered from Empress’ passing, and Consort Zhao’s departure left him heartbroken. He disliked anyone around him mentioning this matter.

Duke Yan was also deeply pained by his daughter’s premature death, convalescing at home for a long time before he could attend court again.

Apparently, after this incident, Duke Yan’s hair turned white overnight, and he has since taken extra care of Lu Zhang, leading to the current situation."

Zhu Yu felt perplexed, harboring a suspicion that there might be something mysterious about Consort Zhao’s death.

Meanwhile, she couldn’t figure out the extent of the enmity between Zhao Bi’s family and Lu Qing. It was truly bewildering.

Suppose Zhao Bi now suppresses and excludes Lu Qing at every turn in the court, and privately forms cliques to trip him up; this might be because Lu Qing is an obstacle on Lu Zhang’s path to high rank. Though it seems far-fetched, it can be somewhat explained.

But over a decade ago, Lu Qing was just a helpless child. Though raised in the palace, the only person who cared for him with genuine kindness was Empress, who was herself as fragile as a candle in the wind, struggling to take care of herself, let alone Lu Qing.

Away from Empress, in the vast imperial palace, young Lu Qing had no other support, drifting among various concubines. Who would care about a child known to be not of Emperor Jin’s blood?

Why would Consort Zhao, with no support and no foundation, ruthlessly try to kill him?

However, on second thought, perhaps it’s fortunate that Consort Zhao, deeming herself of noble birth, wanted to keep some decency to cover her methods and didn’t simply kill the young Lu Qing outright.

Or perhaps, it was because of Lu Qing’s great fortune that he survived his severe injury and recovered on his own, forcing Consort Zhao to abandon her last veil and send him a bowl of poisonous chicken soup.

Even so, Lu Qing still received Heaven’s favor, won the approval of the Qi Yun Mountain People, and managed to save his life!

Any slight deviation, and there would be no Prince Xiaoyao in the world now...

Zhu Yu felt an indescribable sadness, about to sigh deeply, when she suddenly felt Lu Qing gently rub her brow, snapping her back to reality, and she realized she had been frowning.

"What are you thinking about?" Lu Qing asked, seeing her relax her brow, as he withdrew his hand, got up, changed into clean underwear, and tied the belt, continuing to ask.

Zhu Yu thought it inappropriate at this point to dig deeply into why Consort Zhao did not target Lu Chao, who posed a greater threat to her own son’s prospects, but instead was so cruel to Lu Qing.

Lu Qing’s past experiences truly stirred emotions in her. Zhu Yu wanted to comfort him, but didn’t know how to begin, so she said, "I was just thinking that if one day your children or grandchildren see the scars on your back and ask about them, you shouldn’t tell the truth. The truth isn’t grand enough.

If that day ever comes, just tell them those scars are from fighting bandits or beasts during your adventures outside. That will sound more heroic!"

Lu Qing paused in tying his belt, nodded, likely smiling as he spoke: "Whatever my lady thinks sounds more heroic, I’ll go along with it.

I’m truly grateful that my lady is so considerate for me. When the time comes, I must ask you to help perpetuate this lie."

Zhu Yu had casually made the suggestion, not expecting this response from him, and suddenly felt shy, pretending to be composed, she nodded, "Sure, no problem."

"It’s getting late, and we have to rise early tomorrow. Applying that fake skin will take some effort, so it’s best to sleep early tonight." Lu Qing looked around, finding that in this main room, aside from a bed, there was only a round table and a few round stools, with no couch like in their residence, then looked back at Zhu Yu.

"Let’s treat this like Situ Jing’s personal soldier camp." Zhu Yu tried hard to look calm and collected, placing a soft pillow on the left and another on the right. Fortunately, the bed was wide enough, with a foot’s distance between the large soft pillows.

She pointed to one of the pillows: "I’ll sleep on this side."

With that, she quickly lay down, covered herself with the blanket, and turned over.

Lu Qing looked at her and silently laughed, turning to blow out the oil lamp.