Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 247 - 246: Steady with the Knife

"From the moment we received the news to the time we set off for Li State, we only had the time during the journey. But over there, they had already prepared to ’welcome’ you, specially adding Lai Jiao related to Shuo Country. This shows that someone practically knew the news at the same time as you and immediately sent it out, otherwise they wouldn’t have had enough time."

Zhu Yu frowned, feeling a bit annoyed for only realizing this now: "At that time, we mentioned that adding Lai Jiao was optional, probably to drag Shuo Country into the water.

I thought the other party was simply targeting your identity as Prince Shuo’s son-in-law, and it was only today that I realized that maybe they had more considerations and even knew you would appear at Li State’s camp at that time, so they arranged all of this, making it impossible for you to clear your name.

After all, if this conspiracy succeeded and the matter was exposed, it would seem that Shuo and Jie Countries had intentions to collude in rebellion. If both are implicated, then the plot is complete."

After speaking, she looked at Lu Qing with a calm expression: "Have you suspected this for a while?"

"If no one in the Chifu Guard was serving two masters, Lu Chao wouldn’t have had the opportunity to ’substitute something inferior for something valuable,’ leaving me with my own shadow." Lu Qing seemed unconcerned, "This might just be what is meant by ’misfortune hides within fortune, fortune relies on misfortune.’"

"Who do you think is behind all this?" Zhu Yu asked.

"Whoever jumps around the most is who," Lu Qing laughed, "Regardless of how I speculate or reason, this matter cannot be exposed.

If I feign ignorance, it keeps them guessing, leaving room for maneuver.

Otherwise, if it’s exposed, the opponent will target me more directly, and reversing the situation would be nearly impossible.

Since everyone wants someone else to act carelessly, let’s see who becomes the prey and who becomes the predator in the end."

Zhu Yu squinted at Lu Qing, pondering his intentions, then shook her head: "No, starting tomorrow, I need to cultivate some rapport with Yan Shu."

"What are you planning to do?" Lu Qing was a bit puzzled.

"Not much, just to persuade her," Zhu Yu waved her hand at Lu Qing, reassuring him, "If we hadn’t encountered her, or if she had smoothly ridden away, we might have turned a blind eye.

But she happened to injure her leg, and we brought her back, so we can’t let her linger in Shuo Country for long. I also want to ask why she ran away from Prince Yi Mansion.

If there’s no serious reason, I’d still want to persuade her to return.

At times like this, Jie and Shuo Countries might be pushed into the spotlight at any moment, and now the Commandery Princess who was granted marriage secretly ran away from Jin Country and ended up in Shuo Country!

If this were to spread, it would be impossible to clear up."

After speaking, she seemed a bit worried: "Could this also have been someone’s intentional setup?"

Lu Qing laughed and shook his head: "Don’t overthink it. From the temper and personality of Princess Yan Shu we saw today, she doesn’t seem like someone who would easily follow a planned path.

Remember Lu Zhang’s wedding, how those Jie Country people were in the Capital? After the wedding, they disappeared.

They wouldn’t just appear for no reason, we talked about this before."

Zhu Yu, a little amused: "Looks like Yan Shu’s elopement might have been premeditated for a long time!

Indeed, initially it seemed difficult, but coincidentally, not long after the wedding, unexpected incidents involving weapons and bandits erupted. Lu Zhang, to avoid suspicion, asked to leave the Capital for a patrol and might not have returned yet, which inadvertently created an opportunity for Yan Shu!"

"You’re right, find an opportunity tomorrow to chat with her, try to clarify our questions first, and then we’ll adjust as needed." Lu Qing didn’t seem particularly worried, "If there’s someone behind all this, once Princess Yan Shu entered Shuo Country, it becomes unclear, so getting anxious wouldn’t help now."

"The border defense in Shuo Country really is a serious issue." Zhu Yu recalled how easily the group passed through the checkpoints before, and now with Yan Shu appearing in Shuo Country, it’s further evidence of lax defense.

After a peaceful night, Zhu Yu rose early the next morning and met Yan Daoxin, then returned to her room, locked the door, and took out the leather pouch Lu Qing made for her, selecting a long-handled Black Iron knife.

"That knife..." Lu Qing, of course, guessed what Zhu Yu wanted to do, but seeing her take out the tool from the leather bag, he still opened his mouth.

Zhu Yu understood Lu Qing’s concern and smiled as she lit the candle, roasting the knife over the flame: "Don’t worry, this one is brand new, never used.

No matter how reckless I am, I wouldn’t use a knife that dissected corpses on myself."

After the blade was heated until scalding, Zhu Yu removed the knife and extinguished the candle, but didn’t immediately act.

Seeing her delay, Lu Qing spoke: "Why not use a cloth to wrap your wrist, with some chicken blood on it, it would look the same."

"That won’t do, the performance must be thorough, otherwise if the cloth accidentally falls off, it would be counterproductive, even hazardous," Zhu Yu quickly refused his suggestion.

"Then..." Lu Qing glanced at the knife she held, not moving it toward her wrist, "I’ve trained for many years and know how to control my strength. If you can’t do it yourself..."

"Rest assured, I’m more experienced in controlling strength," Zhu Yu carefully felt the temperature of the blade’s back, "If I cut when the knife was too hot, I’d end up with an extra wound without the desired effect, it would be for nothing. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Hmm, this temperature is just right now."

Saying this, she applied stable pressure to her wrist, creating a cut.

Bright red blood seeped out but not excessively, not even showing signs of dripping down the wrist.

"I told you my hands are steady." Zhu Yu smiled contentedly, picking up the cloth next to her, she covered the wound and presented her wrist to Lu Qing, "Help me tie this cloth, not too tightly, it would be preferable if a little bit of the wound gets exposed accidentally."