Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!

Chapter 533 - 532: Becoming the Yellow Oriole

Lu Zhang clearly did not like hearing Lu Qing’s words, but when faced with Lu Qing’s question, he couldn’t open his mouth to refute.

Over the years, among the several princes, he knew very well why he was the most sought after and flattered by the powerful inside and outside the court.

Even Lu Qing, this adopted child, doesn’t count for now. Before him, there was Lu Chao, born of Emperor Jin and his wife, Empress Wang. Because his maternal family was long gone, no one cared about him either.

The reason Lu Ze received the privileges denied to many other princes was fundamentally because of his favored concubine mother.

His own mother had long been gone; if he hadn’t been by his maternal grandfather’s side since he was young, how could he have had such endless glory in front of people afterward?

Even including the praise and appreciation from Emperor Jin, Lu Zhang could not clearly say how much of it came from the heart and how much was to respect his maternal grandfather’s face.

As he grew older, some events, some signs, gradually made him uneasy and he often felt confused and reflective on whether he was overly dependent on his maternal family and whether he should start having some of his own ideas.

But seeing even Lu Ze growing up, and Emperor Jin delaying in appointing a Crown Prince, he was also afraid that if he rashly distanced himself from his maternal grandfather and his factions, he might make one wrong step, leading to more mistakes and losing the advantageous opportunity originally within grasp.

It was precisely this inner conflict that made him indecisive, and for this reason, Lu Qing’s question struck a nerve.

Seeing Lu Zhang looking down grimly without a word, Lu Qing spoke again, "You are blood-related to the Holy Emperor, and having grown up in the Capital by his side since childhood, you should clearly know what kind of person he is.

In his heart, there has always been a clear boundary between who is inside, who is outside, who is one of his own, and who is an outsider.

Although bloodlines can greatly influence whether one is considered an insider or outsider, don’t forget that besides that, one’s stance is also an important factor to consider."

Lu Zhang was taken aback, he didn’t expect Lu Qing to suddenly say such words to him, and couldn’t help but look over at him.

"You need to think clearly about one thing." Lu Qing didn’t give him a chance to speak and continued, "In the past, your maternal grandfather had the merit of supporting the Holy Emperor, this is indisputable, but their aligned interests at that time don’t guarantee eternal alignment thereafter.

Back then, the Holy Emperor feared the old ministers with extensive merits overshadowing him the most; it’s not necessarily different now."

Lu Zhang frowned. He originally intended to avoid these topics, but now couldn’t help but ask, "Brother, did you hear something over in Bhutan?

You weren’t originally someone who would say such troublesome things, why after returning from Bhutan, would you speak words likely to bring yourself trouble?"

Lu Qing did not answer his question but after a brief silence, spoke to Lu Zhang again: "You need to be prepared, backings, if available, are surely better than none.

However, the bigger the backing, if one day it collapses, those below will surely suffer the most.

So, you probably don’t have much time to hesitate on what to do."

Lu Zhang’s brows were tightly knit, his face showing a struggle tinged with pain, seemingly understanding well the meaning behind Lu Qing’s words and knowing Lu Qing wasn’t wrong, but the decision itself filled him with fear and pain even just thinking about it.

"Many things are laid out right before you, think about what you’ve experienced along the way, what must be faced eventually must be faced." Lu Qing sincerely added another sentence.

Lu Zhang looked at him quietly, then suddenly stood up: "It’s getting late, it seems there’s no point in staying here any longer.

I was actually worried, thinking my brother might be overwhelmed with depression, so I came to offer some comfort, seeing now that you seem more relieved than me.

If that’s the case, then I was overthinking it.

Brother, rest early."

After saying that, he turned around and lifted Yan Shu, who was crouching on the ground: "If you don’t leave with me, do you want to stay here?!"

Yan Shu glared at him, annoyed that this guy was taking out the unhappiness gained from Lu Qing on her, venting his frustrations.

But since this was in the Shackles Prison, she couldn’t argue with Lu Zhang, only reluctantly glanced back at Zhu Yu.

"Once you all return home, I must go to your place to visit you!" she said to Zhu Yu.

Zhu Yu smiled back at her: "I hope that day comes."

"It surely will!" Yan Shu quickly said, not wanting to hear any discouraging words.

Zhu Yu nodded with a smile: "Alright, it’s a deal!"

"Let’s go, keep your head down!" Lu Zhang reminded Yan Shu in a slightly irritable, low voice, then strode away alone.

Yan Shu somewhat reluctantly but daring not to delay, stealthily glanced back at Zhu Yu twice, lowered her head, and closely followed Lu Zhang away.

After they left, the prison returned to silence. Zhu Yu stood up, brushed off the straw clinging to her clothes, returned to her simple bedding, lay down, and stared at the ceiling.

After a while, she turned her head to look at Lu Qing, who was lying not far from her: "So... Lu Zhang doesn’t even know many of your matters, right?"

"Yes." Lu Qing nodded, "In this way, he is at most a cicada, neither a mantis nor can he become the oriole."

"In saying this, his trip tonight wasn’t in vain." Zhu Yu exhaled deeply, "You two... is it counted as a rather unique form of heartfelt communication?"

Lu Qing laughed, and after a while, said, "Sleep, this Shackles Prison is inside the palace, for Lu Zhang to come this way, he had to enter from outside the palace, no matter how secretively he acted, it can’t be hidden from everyone.

We might not know whether there will be any unexpected ’surprises’ awaiting us, when the time comes, we must be mentally prepared to deal with it."

Thus passed one night, and early the next morning, someone came to deliver meals to them, the footsteps louder than usual, coming outside the prison, taking the bowls and dishes out of the food box with heavier movements, echoing with clinks, waking the ones who were originally too lazy to get up.

"Prince, it’s me, here to deliver meals to you all!" The constable who came to deliver the meals smiled at them as they woke, "Quickly get up and eat while it’s hot, it won’t taste as good once it’s cold."

While speaking, he pushed the slightly more sumptuous food compared to usual through the gap under the bars one by one.