Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 418 - 417: The Medicine Pot

Nanny Shi has been walking for such a long time, yet she hasn’t even taken a deep breath. Her stamina is completely at odds with her appearance.

"If you two young ladies don’t mind, you might as well stay here for a few days to recuperate, regain your spirits, and then plan your next steps. What do you think?" she said to Zhu Yu and Yan Daoxin.

Or rather, these words were really directed at Yan Daoxin.

Ever since she saw him, Nanny Shi’s eyes were akin to those of a robber seeing treasure, a demon seeing food, a thug seeing a beauty, a dog seeing feces... the same...

In general, she couldn’t peel her eyes away even a little, as if she was itching to keep them glued to Yan Daoxin’s face, her gaze filled with an undeniable longing.

Zhu Yu was somewhat worried about her reaction, considering that her and Yan Daoxin’s situation was now the complete opposite of when they were traveling outside.

Back then, Yan Daoxin was a genuine man, and she was the fake.

Now she was the genuine woman, and Yan Daoxin had become the fake.

If Nanny Shi were fixated on the "real" her, Zhu Yu wouldn’t be worried at all. But with Yan Daoxin beside her, she was like a star next to the bright moon, and Nanny Shi’s eyes couldn’t spare a glance for her! 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Who knows if Nanny Shi has sharp enough eyes to spot anything amiss.

Fortunately, Nanny Shi seemed so captivated by Yan Daoxin’s handsome face that she didn’t pay attention to anything else. After listening absent-mindedly to Zhu Yu’s polite gratitude, she watched them climb the wooden stairs and enter the room above. Only then did she wave at them before turning away with her people.

Once Zhu Yu and Yan Daoxin entered the room, they carefully listened at the door for a while to ensure no one was approaching. Only then did they quietly open the door a crack to peer outside.

No one was left guarding them outside. Unlike when they arrived, after entering the Little Mountain Building, nobody was watching them at all.

Apparently, Nanny Shi wasn’t worried about them sneaking out of the room!

Zhu Yu was a bit surprised. She closed the door again and turned around to check out the room. When she turned her head, she saw Yan Daoxin sprawled sloppily over an Imperial Concubine chair, looking half-dead.

This startled Zhu Yu, and her first reaction was to ask, "What’s wrong? Could there be something wrong with the tea and food from earlier?"

"If there were a problem, wouldn’t you notice?" Yan Daoxin weakly lifted his head to glance at Zhu Yu, "Besides, who am I? If there really were an issue, could I not taste it?"

"Then why are you like this...?" Zhu Yu found Yan Daoxin’s words reasonable, but looking at his current state, she couldn’t help but wonder.

"Just tired..." Yan Daoxin lay miserably on the Imperial Concubine bed, devoid of any celestial allure, as if he didn’t regard Zhu Yu as an outsider, "Why are you so good at enduring hunger?! We’re both equally without food and water, yet you could act in front of that old hag. I was only playing dead and nearly really passed out!

If not for the tea and dry food that the old hag gave having no issues, I might not have had to pretend and would have truly fainted there!"

"Men aren’t as good at enduring hunger as women, besides, I’ve gotten used to it..." Zhu Yu thought his pitiful state was rather amusing and casually replied.

"Gotten used to it?" Yan Daoxin looked at Zhu Yu in surprise, "Back at Prince Shuo Mansion, although I felt your father wasn’t particularly good to you, it seemed you two weren’t familiar, but it shouldn’t be so bad that he wouldn’t let you eat enough.

How did you get used to it?

Could it be... when Lu Qing married you, he wasn’t pleased to follow the Emperor’s orders, so he instructed the servants not to feed you, and later respected your abilities, thus treated you better?!

Let me say, if that’s the case, you must tell me, and I’ll write to Master, have him use his sword that slices through iron like mud to help you cut that scoundrel down!"

Zhu Yu certainly couldn’t say she was used to hunger because of past work, where shortage of meals was common.

She reached into her chest pocket and took out a small paper packet, opening it lightly in front of Yan Daoxin to reveal several preserved honey fruits inside: "Someone who secretly tucked this into my pocket before leaving, you think he’d do such things?"

Yan Daoxin grinned: "I was just joking. I know my junior brother’s temperament well enough.

Let’s put it this way, he’s not the type to lock someone up and torture them slowly. If he truly detests you, I’d believe he’d slash you directly rather than let you starve. He really wouldn’t do such a thing. But then, why are you used to starvation?"

"Isn’t it obvious? Women go hungry to maintain a slender figure; it’s quite common." Zhu Yu offered an excuse applicable across eras.

Yan Daoxin heard this, didn’t suspect her, but rather felt a bit disappointed as he shook his head at Zhu Yu: "I thought a woman with your skills and boldness would be free from worldly concerns, disdainful of such trifles!"

"Speaking of which, do you think there’s anything odd about this Little Mountain Building?" Zhu Yu didn’t want to continue that topic, fearing she might say too much and be unable to retract. She promptly changed the subject, "Earlier, coming here, there was a permeating scent of preserved herbal medicine along the way..."

"I took a close sniff of that for sure," Zhu Yu accurately anticipated his reaction, Yan Daoxin perked up, sat up swiftly, and said, "At first whiff, the scent wasn’t particularly peculiar, mostly ordinary herbs, general tonic aromas.

But if you distinguish carefully, there were some unfamiliar ones mixed in. They weren’t pungent, hidden among the other herbal scents. I couldn’t identify them exactly.

Leaving aside the scents I can’t identify, the sheer amount of herbal aroma in itself is peculiar.

Such a large wooden building, with all its twists and turns, yet everywhere is filled with the scent of herbs. It’s unlikely that everyone in this place is sickly and constantly needs medication."