Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 141 - 140: Elixir

Early the next morning, before dawn, Zhu Yu was indeed awakened by Lu Qing. The other personal soldiers were still sound asleep. Zhu Yu got up, put on her soft armor and outer robe, and re-tied her half-loosened hair bun, ensuring no flaw was visible.

Before long, the others also gradually woke up. By the time drums and horns were sounded in the camp, they were already fully dressed and began their routine patrol, inspecting the morning drills of the military officers and soldiers.

This allowed Zhu Yu to secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

She had initially worried that Situ Jing’s personal soldiers would have to train like the other soldiers in the imperial guard, practicing with weapons and such, which she had no clue about. It wasn’t a problem to endure some fatigue, but she feared blending into the ranks might expose her and bring trouble.

Early in the morning, she followed Lu Qing and the other personal soldiers from her group on an inspection round, also paying attention to see if there was anyone suspicious around.

Fortunately, everything appeared normal, and there was no sign of anyone displaying obvious symptoms of poisoning, like Miao Dashuan, which allowed her to relax a little.

However, this relaxation only lasted until after breakfast.

Following breakfast, everyone in the camp needed to start their training, which Situ Jing’s personal soldiers could not avoid.

Zhu Yu considered herself to have decent stamina, but after a morning of exertion, she felt as if every bone in her body was about to fall apart, and every muscle was unbearably sore.

From the outside, she seemed to be muddling through the training alongside the imperial guard soldiers. Without knowing, one might think she had been beaten up.

Lu Qing could also see it. By noon, Zhu Yu was so exhausted that her appetite had diminished. Although she tried to act as if nothing was wrong, her fatigue was evident in every step and movement.

He initially intended to have Zhu Yu stay by Situ Jing’s side during the day to avoid such high-intensity training, but Zhu Yu refused.

"I’m not that frail yet, don’t worry." She declined Lu Qing’s plan. "Eating and training with the others is the only way to catch any anomalies early.

Besides, I’m hoping to find opportunities to chat with others."

Seeing her so insistent, Lu Qing said no more, only secretly slipping her a pill.

Zhu Yu guessed this must have been given by Yan Daoxin to Lu Qing, as before meeting Yan Daoxin, Lu Qing never carried elixirs with him.

She swallowed the pill, and although by afternoon her fatigue wasn’t completely gone, she felt much better.

However, her plan to train and then chat with others didn’t proceed smoothly.

The ordinary imperial guard soldiers in the Li State camp weren’t very defensive, especially seeing her in the attire of Situ Jing’s personal guard. They were mostly inclined to flatter her, afraid of speaking wrongly and offending someone close to the Commander.

But the personal soldiers around Situ Jing were truly well-trained.

Even though they knew that these two newcomers were inserted by their general and weren’t suspicious, their attitude towards Lu Qing and Zhu Yu was polite yet distant.

On the surface, in front of others, these personal soldiers showed no sign that Lu Qing and Zhu Yu were recent additions to their ranks, as if they had always been part of the team.

But when alone, that sense of vigilance was starkly apparent.

Zhu Yu made several attempts to strike up conversations with the other personal soldiers, but their attitude remained cold, clearly not interested in idle talks, whether official or personal.

Seeing that, Zhu Yu had no choice but to give up, while secretly admiring Situ Jing’s keen judgment in personnel matters, she shifted more of her focus to the imperial guard soldiers.

In the following days, Lu Qing gave Zhu Yu a pill from Yan Daoxin daily, helping her relieve fatigue and recover energy.

Whether it was due to the effectiveness of the pills or the improvement of her constitution from a few days of training, she didn’t feel as exhausted as she did the first day.

This continued for five days. During these five days, intermittently, a few others showed signs of poisoning, all quickly detected by Lu Qing and Zhu Yu. Situ Jing then ordered his personal soldiers to escort the poisoned individuals out of the camp under the pretext of seeking medical treatment from a doctor, sending them directly to the post station for Yan Daoxin.

During these few days in the camp, they frequently saw Zhou Kang, who daily patrolled the camp and then seized the opportunity to inquire with Situ Jing about those previously "possessed" and whether the Divine Doctor found by Situ Jing had any solutions to quickly control the "strange illness" spreading in the camp.

Every time Zhou Kang inquired about these matters, there happened to be many soldiers practicing around, and when he spoke about these issues, his voice was not too high nor too low, just enough for those around to hear distinctly.

With his daily inquiries and daily reports of poisonings, the previously tranquil imperial guard camp began showing signs of unrest.

Yet, Situ Jing neither firmly rejected nor accepted Zhou Kang’s proposals, maintaining a vague attitude, leaving those around baffled.

The Commander had only been in his position for two months. While his noble background and initial display of decisive command had won him some respect, his current hesitation and confusion stirred doubts about whether his abilities were merely superficial and lacking in substance.

Rune returned on the fourth night, looking utterly exhausted, but he brought back the type of waist card without markings that Situ Jing had wanted.

"Sire, General." He placed the items on the low table in Situ Jing’s tent. "To avoid arousing suspicion or alerting anyone, I rode to a nearby blacksmith’s workshop in a nearby state and ordered these to be crafted meticulously."

Situ Jing picked them up to examine closely, finding Rune’s work impressively thorough. Not only were these fake waist cards devoid of the distinguishing bumps like the originals, but even their color and texture were incredibly similar.

"You’ve done an excellent job!" Situ Jing exclaimed with joy, handing a small Silver Ingot to Rune. "This errand was a painstaking one! Once this matter is resolved, use this to warm yourself a drink and reward yourself well!"

Rune, however, respectfully placed the Silver Ingot back on the table beside the waist cards. "There’s no need for formality, General. I merely did my duty as instructed by my master, nothing noteworthy."