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Chapter 27 Consideration
After finally getting down the mountain, Zhu Yu's physical strength, which was still sufficient during the autopsy, was completely exhausted. He leaned against the carriage and dozed off in a daze. He woke up halfway, lifted the curtain and looked outside, only to find that they were not going back to Qingshui County, but were heading towards the post station where they had stayed before.

"Are we going back to the post station today?" She was a little surprised.

Lu Qing had just been looking out the window, holding up the curtain with one hand. It was unclear what he was thinking. When he heard Zhu Yu's voice, he retracted his gaze and nodded at her: "The inn is crowded and inconvenient. The post station is better. After all, it is the government's territory."

After a while, we arrived at the post station. There was still only the old postmaster guarding the place, and it was very quiet.

Fu Wen Fu Lu was afraid that the old postmaster could not handle it alone, so he followed him to the kitchen to boil a few buckets of hot water for Lu Qing and Zhu Yu to bathe, and then he started to cook.

After Zhu Yu had packed up, he went to find Lu Qing and told him what he had learned from the autopsy in the cave today.

At that time, he was at the entrance of the cave. On the one hand, he was not sure whether someone would suddenly come over, and on the other hand, it was really smelly. Even though Zhu Yu considered himself an experienced person, he was still too irritated to speak.

"There are five corpses in the cave. Two are already reduced to bones, one is half-rotted, one was found in the Ghost Fairy Temple, and the other is the one that was just treated and swollen like a drum."

She said to Lu Qing, "I've roughly looked at the teeth of the three bodies that have rotted beyond recognition. They should have been in their prime when they were alive. The one found in the temple is the oldest.

There's no way to trace the two skeletons, but the half-rotten one and the one in the ruined temple both have puncture holes in their waists and abdomens. So, perhaps those two skeletons had the same injuries in the same places before they decayed."

"Then why did only one person swell up like that? Why didn't the villain pierce him and let the blood?" Lu Qing asked.

"I was also confused at first, but after checking, I found that the man had broken ribs that had penetrated into his heart and lungs.

With this kind of injury, blood will accumulate in the chest cavity and the person will die in a short time.

When a person dies, the blood stagnates. I guess the villain also knew that the dead cannot bleed, so he didn't waste his energy.

It was precisely because there was no hole through which the foul air and rotten water could escape that the corpse swelled into such a horrible appearance."

Lu Qing raised his eyebrows slightly, then changed the subject and asked suddenly, "Madam, can you lend me that set of tools?"

Since she had taken it out and used it today, Zhu Yu didn't plan to hide it anymore. She got up and went back to her room to get the things.

Lu Qing spread the cloth bag on the table. The cloth was just ordinary coarse cloth with several small inner pockets sewn inside. Each inner pocket was filled with something. They were all forged from black iron and emitted a dark soft light.

Lu Qing's hand passed over the hollow tube that Zhu Yu had just used and had now been cleaned, and picked up a small knife next to it.

The knife was exquisitely crafted, with a slender long handle and a willow-leaf-sized blade at the front. The blade was very thin, with a thin silver wire embedded in the side.

"Why does Madam carry such a set of things with her when she goes out?" Lu Qing put the knife back into her inner pocket.

"Maybe she married far away in Jin Country, and brought some local specialties with her to comfort her and ease her homesickness." Zhu Yu answered calmly, with a tone that was half true and half false.

“I’ve heard people say in the past that the Shuo Kingdom’s craftsmen had incredible forging skills, and the swords, spears, and halberds they crafted all shone with a cold, unstoppable edge.

I thought they were only good at making big things, but I didn’t expect they could also have such delicate craftsmanship.”

Lu Qing pulled out another thing, played with it for a few moments, and then put it back. He glanced at the dried stains on the cloth bag and said, "I'll have someone make you a leather one based on this one. You won't have to worry about it getting dirty."

Gone?

Zhu Yu glanced at Lu Qing suspiciously.

There was clearly some curiosity on his face just now. I thought he would ask some more questions, and I was still racking my brains for how to respond, but... is this the end?
Of course, she only muttered this doubt in her heart and was not stupid enough to ask others. You know, telling a lie requires a hundred more lies to cover it up.

Now that Lu Qing doesn't ask, it is the most worry-free and labor-saving thing for her.

After a while, Fu Wen and Fu Lu came back. The two of them helped the old postmaster and prepared some food. Although we couldn't expect them to have any cooking skills, the food could only be described as simple and plain. Fortunately, it was hot and tasted good.

After eating, Zhu Yu went back to his room to rest, and Fu Lu followed him.

"Second Master," he changed his address carefully after leaving the room, "Master asked me to give this to you. Wear this when you go out tomorrow."

After handing the things to Zhu Yu, he quickly returned to Lu Qing's room.

After seeing Zhu Yu off, Lu Qing was sitting at the table, writing something very quickly on a small piece of paper that was less than the size of a palm.

After finishing writing, he stood up and walked to the window, opened it a crack, took out an exquisite jade whistle from his arms, put it to his mouth and blew it.

The whistle was very soft, like a bird flying across the roof.

After a moment, a dark shadow flashed outside the window. Lu Qing handed the note out, and the shadow flashed and disappeared again.

Lu Qing closed the window again and sat back at the table. Fu Wen hurriedly filled his teacup for him.

"Master," he said to Lu Qing in a low voice with a hint of worry on his face, "Are you sure you want to bring your wife along to investigate like this?
Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”

After he finished speaking, he saw Lu Qing looking up at him, and he hurriedly added: "Fu Wen knows that Madam is so courageous that even his subordinates are ashamed of themselves.

But the current situation... doesn't seem to be as simple as a ruined temple and a few lives.

If I were to involve my wife as well, I really don't know if it would be appropriate."

"She is the Princess Xiaoyao, whom His Majesty has arranged to marry." Lu Qing picked up the teacup and looked at the unclear tea inside. "If the entire Xiaoyao Palace collapses, how can the eggs in the overturned nest remain intact?

Do you think that by that time, Shuo Wang Zhu Cheng alone will be able to protect her?"

Fu Wen shook his head without hesitation: "Although it may be a bit offensive to say this, we all know what kind of reputation I have outside.

After receiving the imperial decree to grant marriage, the daughter who was sent to him was probably not a treasure in Zhu Cheng's eyes.

If that day ever came, he would immediately disassociate himself from his daughter to ensure his family wouldn't be implicated. How could he possibly go to such lengths to protect his wife?

"So, this situation is no longer something she can decide whether to join or not."

Lu Qing put the teacup back on the table. The indifferent smile on his face during the day had long since disappeared. "If she was just an ordinary mediocre woman, it would be fine. Perhaps it was fate. No one would have thought that in Shuo Country, which least values ​​girls, there would be such a genius among Zhu Cheng's concubines.

If her skills can help me, I won't have to worry about the future.

If the Xiaoyao King's family is in trouble, I will let her stay with me as a man before that happens. Few outsiders know the true identity of the Xiaoyao King's wife, so it will be convenient for her to hide her identity and find a way to survive."

(End of this chapter)