Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 201 - 200: Poisonous Chicken Soup

After politely dismissing the steward, Zhu Yu took off her outer robe, washed her face with fragrant warm water, and sat on the soft bed, letting out a satisfied sigh. She then gestured for Lu Qing to wash his face and hands too, pulled out the bottle of ointment from before, and called Lu Qing over to sit beside her.

This time, Lu Qing didn’t wait for her to speak. He took off his inner clothing voluntarily and sat down with his back facing her.

Zhu Yu removed the original cloth bandage and took advantage of the bright oil lamp lighting the room to inspect the condition of the wound. Seeing that the wound had healed much better than in the previous days, she breathed a sigh of relief, quickly got to work, cleaned off the remaining ointment, and applied a new layer.

She spread the ointment evenly on the fresh scar. Her fingers still had some residue, she thought for a moment, and gently applied it onto a nearby old, hideous scar, softly rubbing it, hoping the ointment could be absorbed into the old scar.

Lu Qing felt her action and chuckled softly, "Those scars have been there for over ten years. To smooth them out, Yan Daoxin’s skills aren’t enough; only an immortal from the heavens could make them disappear."

"Over ten years?!" Zhu Yu was somewhat surprised. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She had previously guessed if those scars were from when he was practicing martial arts at Shanqing Temple, but thought just practicing martial arts wouldn’t be so severe.

Later, Yan Daoxin mentioned that Lu Qing had left runes and talisman at the temple to copy scriptures for him, while he himself traveled outside with Yan Daoxin. Zhu Yu couldn’t help but wonder if the two had encountered some danger during that time.

To her astonishment, it turned out they were from over ten years ago?

Over ten years ago...

"When you were still in the palace?" Her fingers paused in their rubbing and applying, realizing the answer in her heart.

After speaking, Zhu Yu regretted it.

Previously, whenever scars were mentioned, Lu Qing would always suddenly change topics, diverting her attention, clearly indicating he didn’t want to talk about them.

"Lu Zhang’s mother." After a brief silence, Lu Qing unexpectedly spoke up, "All the scars on my back were bestowed by her."

"Consort Zhao?" Zhu Yu frowned. Lu Qing willing to tell her this was unexpected, but for some reason, upon hearing these hideous scars were caused by Zhao Bi’s daughter, she wasn’t surprised at all.

"Yes." Lu Qing talked about this old story with no emotional ripple, saying calmly, "I previously told you, didn’t I? In my childhood, I was originally raised by the Empress.

The Empress was already weak, and later had Lu Chao. The Holy Emperor, feeling sorry for his wife, reluctant to have her exert herself, entrusted me to the care of the other concubines in the palace, taking turns.

Because there was an old wet nurse accompanying me, the concubines didn’t need to personally attend to anything. It was all peaceful, staying in each concubine’s palace for half a year before moving on, always cared for by the old wet nurse.

Until later, it was my turn to stay at Consort Zhao’s palace, and shortly afterward, one day during my nap, several Palace Attendants suddenly rushed in, dragged me from the bed, and into the courtyard.

I was dazed and startled at the time, not knowing what had happened, then saw several more rushing inside the room and shortly emerged carrying a bloody dead dog."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Consort Zhao indeed proved herself a palace woman, using such clichéd means so skillfully.

Lu Qing turned around just then, seeing her undisguised eye roll, lowered his eyes with a smile, reached for the porcelain bottle from her hand, held her hand, dipped her fingers in the ointment, and applied it onto the scar on his chest.

When Zhu Yu previously helped him apply ointment, she didn’t mind. But now, having her fingers held like this, she felt a bit uncomfortable.

As she was about to pull her hand away, Lu Qing continued, "I still didn’t understand what was happening when Consort Zhao, with several maidservants, came out, saw the dead dog on the ground, and adamantly claimed it was her most beloved pet, and that I had deliberately hidden the dog in my room and killed it."

Zhu Yu’s hand withdrawal paused at this, quickly asking, "And then?"

"Then she didn’t give me a chance to explain and ordered the Palace Attendants to hold me down and beat me." Lu Qing’s hand tightened slightly, "I was terrified at the time, can’t even recall what they used to hit me, just remember the pain of skin splitting and flesh tearing.

The old wet nurse pleaded, saying I had been in the room the whole time and had never gone out, much less touched Consort Zhao’s beloved pet. Consort Zhao asked the old wet nurse to reconsider, but the old wet nurse maintained her statement.

Then she was dragged away, and I never saw her again."

Zhu Yu held a curse in her mouth, unable to utter it, nor swallow it, could only grit her teeth and puff her cheeks in a display of anger, "What happened next?"

"Later I was beaten unconscious, when I came to, I was thrown back into the room, only having a maidservant come daily to deliver a bowl of thin soup, no one else attended to me.

I had a high fever for a few days, almost dying, but later my luck was good, the wounds on my body slowly healed, the fever subsided, although extremely weak, I managed to pull through."

"The Holy Emperor... didn’t know?" Zhu Yu asked, somewhat dubious.

"He was probably unaware." Lu Qing didn’t doubt this, "Consort Zhao was very influential in the palace back then, and her palace was tightly sealed, entirely her people, things she didn’t want outsiders to know, absolutely wouldn’t have anyone go out to report.

Coincidentally, around that time, the Empress’s health was worsening day by day, and the Holy Emperor wouldn’t visit any concubines’ palaces aside from before going to court, always keeping vigil by the Empress whenever free.

Perhaps it was precisely this unique situation that emboldened Consort Zhao."

Zhu Yu nodded.

If that’s the case, then it indeed makes sense.

At the same time, she felt this matter wouldn’t simply pass, calculating it seemed that not long after, Lu Qing was sent to Shanqing Temple: "What happened afterward?"

"Then I was on the verge of recovering, but extremely frail from this ordeal," Lu Qing wiped Zhu Yu’s fingertips on the edge of his inner clothing to clean off the remaining ointment, "One day, the maid who delivered the thin soup daily suddenly brought a bowl of chicken broth, saying it was specially stewed for me to replenish my body, and without giving me any chance, forced it into my mouth.

I was so weak at the time, I didn’t even have the strength to resist, about half of the chicken broth went down, and half spilled out."

Zhu Yu couldn’t help but roll her eyes again, "I don’t even need to guess, you mentioned before being poisoned, so it must be after drinking that chicken broth, you almost died again!"