Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!

Chapter 682 - 681: Vengeance

When Lu Qing finished speaking, he also read the last few lines of Lu Zhang’s letter. He placed the letter on the table and discovered Zhu Yu was silently watching him, causing him to pause slightly before guessing what she hadn’t said out loud.

"I’m fine." He reached over to pinch Zhu Yu’s cheek, "You don’t need to look at me so tensely."

"If it were me, I would certainly wish that one day it would be set in stone, and then personally execute my enemies.

Deep down, the two of us are similar, so I presume you originally held such desires.

Now, with the entire Zhao Bi family dead, you haven’t had the opportunity to personally seek revenge and see them confess to the sins they committed back then; this must be quite regretful.

Lu Zhang’s letter undoubtedly confirms our previous speculations and also, in a way, opens your old wounds... so..."

"So you think I would be furious, sad, or displeased?" Lu Qing laughed and let out a gentle sigh, "The dead cannot come back to life, moreover, my family has been dead for over twenty years.

Even if the heavens granted me the chance to take Zhao Bi to my family’s grave and execute him there, letting his blood spill on the tombstone, what then? Those who have departed are destined not to return.

So rather than being angry over something worthless, I think Lu Zhang’s letter came at just the right time.

He told us the sequence of events, which bears some similarities to what the fake castle master specifically set up and told us back in Fan Country, but there are also significant discrepancies.

What fascinates me now is this matter."

Zhu Yu suddenly realized, of course she remembered the "story" the fake castle master passionately told Lu Qing at the Great Priest Mansion before.

Before meeting the fake castle master, they had actually already heard snippets from others in Fan Country, saying that the senior disciple of that sect, in order to satisfy his ambition to rank among the ministers, violated sect rules, used the most vicious poison, and was therefore expelled, indirectly causing the sect to fall apart.

And that senior disciple, under Emperor Jin’s secret orders, used the blood poison of the most vicious Jade Snowbird to kill Lu Qing’s entire family, merely to eliminate kin that could threaten his throne.

In the whole affair, Duke Yan Zhao Bi played the role of an accomplice to the emperor, helping Emperor Jin conceal this scandal back then for his own desires and position.

Yet Lu Zhang’s letter didn’t mention Emperor Jin implicated at all; instead, it straightforwardly stated that his maternal grandfather Zhao Bi instigated the whole thing, assisted by the sect master himself, with the senior disciple infiltrating the Lu Family plotting a secret move.

Considering the time in the South Study Room when Emperor Jin personally told Lu Qing that the sect master’s head was hung at the city gate for three days as a warning.

And the senior disciple and second disciple escaped in chaos, only incomplete skeletal remains were found, and their faces were unrecognizable.

The biggest difference between these two versions lies in who the true instigator is, and whether those fleeing were subordinates of the senior disciple, or the senior and second disciples.

Both versions have reasonable points but also places that raise skepticism.

"Who do you believe more?" Lu Qing noticed Zhu Yu was deep in thought and waited a moment before asking.

"Lu Zhang’s." Zhu Yu had also deliberated this matter and gave her answer straightforwardly, "Just now I was thinking, in Fan Country, not to mention the common people, even King Fan has become a puppet addicted to medicine, so all those tales we heard in town were naturally deliberately spread to prepare the groundwork and increase the credibility of their claims.

The version told by the fake castle master ultimately aimed to direct all the hatred and conflict towards Emperor Jin, including his relentless efforts to sow discord between you and Emperor Jin’s adoptive father-son bond; the purpose was the same.

At that time, Duke Yan had not yet fallen; given the longstanding enmity between you and Duke Yan, even if provoked, the chances that you could harm Zhao Bi were slim.

On the other hand, although Emperor Jin is far more respectable than Zhao Bi, as Prince Xiaoyao and as Emperor Jin’s adopted son, getting close to Emperor Jin, even assassination, the difficulty would be much less.

And you? What do you think?"

"Does that even need asking? Didn’t you say earlier, we are the same kind of people." Lu Qing smiled and nodded, "I agree with Duchess Yan.

The matters the fake castle master told us were all based on calculations and schemes from him and his backing forces, and thus were told with their own objectives.

Lu Zhang is different. All along, apart from his maternal grandfather, he had no other support. At a time like this, if he wished to play tricks, the wisest approach would be to completely hide this past and never mention it.

Yet, upon learning about the deaths of Zhao Bi and his entire family, after much deliberation he decided to tell me about the events of the past. From his personal interest perspective, I choose to believe in his sincerity."

"Actually, you can see from another matter that Zhao Bi is indeed the mastermind behind this. Their attempt to frame Emperor Jin was merely trying to use you to gamble." Zhu Yu said, "Combining the two versions, indeed Lu Zhang’s is more credible, especially since once you’ve failed to harm Emperor Jin, they aimed all the blame towards Zhao Bi.

If you trace back further, many things over the years have been aimed to push Zhao Bi into the limelight.

For instance, the Headdress and Shoes Workshop in the Capital has evidently not solely acted as a setup for the final Flowing Clouds attire.

The aromatic scent that first caught our attention not only exists in the palace, but Zhao Bi also had it on him, and he got it because his wife burnt it at home, spreading it onto him.

Didn’t you privately inquire before? The palace didn’t have this kind among the incense transported from Lan Country.

Particularly, the consort of Lu Ze—Princess Consort Duan had incense in her chambers with a scent very similar to that in Duke Yan Mansion.

Initially, Princess Consort Duan was offered to Emperor Jin by Zhao Bi, and she was his only connection in the harem then, so very likely the incense first reached Duchess Yan, then was passed into the palace, arriving at Princess Consort Duan.

If pursued one day, even the poisonous incense connected to Zhao Bi as a pathway into the palace, wouldn’t that mean an additional crime?

In essence, the calculation against Zhao Bi not only aimed to bring him down but also seemed to harbor an intent that he must perish, if this isn’t vengeance, what is?"