TGCFNM -Chapter 378 I Fooled Them

The next day, the weather was clear.

Early in the morning, a carriage was already stationed at the entrance of the Wan residence. Zhang Dong was brushing the manes of Zhuifeng and Xiao Hei nearby, while Xiao Hua and Su He were loading things into the carriage.

When Wan Sanjin walked over carrying a box of pastries, he noticed Su He’s toolkit inside the carriage and couldn’t help but stare at him. “You’re going out to play, and you still want to play with corpses?”

Su He rolled his eyes. “I call this ‘being prepared for unexpected situations.’”

Wan Sanjin clicked his tongue twice, shaking his head, then stepped onto the carriage first. After placing the pastries down, he came back down. “Xiao Hua, is the tea ready?”

“Yes, Master Wan, don’t worry,” Xiao Hua replied.

Wan Sanjin nodded and walked toward the main gate. Chu Ling was standing there, listening carefully to someone’s reply. Seeing him approach, she waved him over.

“What’s going on?” Wan Sanjin asked.

Chu Ling spoke quietly. “It’s about Zhao Linlang. Her mother isn’t as influential as before. Even if she wants to ask for a secret formula to conceive a son, she can only do it in secret. However, Zhao Linlang’s selection as a court maiden has been confirmed… Nowadays, the prominent families act cautiously, so the Shangguan family also hopes to have one of their own in the palace.”

Wan Sanjin looked at the person and asked, “Someone from Uncle Hong’s side?”

“It’s someone from the Wan family, Young Master,” came the reply.

Wan Sanjin smiled. “That makes sense. But Uncle Hong only reported these matters to you—didn’t he suggest any solutions?”

“Manager Hong said it’s up to Lord Chu to decide.”

Wan Sanjin glanced at Chu Ling. “Lord, what do you plan to do? Both of these are troublesome, right?”

Chu Ling nodded. They were indeed troublesome, and it was unclear when these two might stir up even bigger problems.

“First, there’s no secret formula in the world to guarantee a son. Plus, every woman’s constitution is different. If medicine is used recklessly, I don’t think the result would be good. So even though Zhao Linlang’s mother has some methods, she’s not a threat… She likely doesn’t plan to rely on this formula anyway. Her true support is the Shangguan family.”

Chu Ling spoke, recalling her experiences in Dongle City.

The Ghost Scholar reminded her from the side, “Lord, now that Xuanyuan Hong is imprisoned, and the Si family has quieted down due to their cover-up… I estimate these two families won’t sit idly by, and the other two families will not stand by either.”

Chu Ling looked at him. “Has the Nangong family made any preparations?”

“The Nangong family does have a candidate for the court maiden, but she doesn’t match Zhao Linlang’s beauty,” came the answer.

Chu Ling nodded. “If the four major families unite, it’s a force not to be underestimated, but the emperor will certainly be wary of such power… Tell Uncle Hong, just say—”

“There are unusual phenomena in the sky,” the Ghost Scholar said, looking up.

Chu Ling glanced at the clouds spreading like fish scales on the horizon, not quite understanding what was so unusual. “Tell Uncle Hong that there are unusual phenomena in the sky, which could be an omen. We don’t know what has happened recently to cause this…”

The man cupped his hands and immediately left.

Wan Sanjin stared blankly at the clouds. “Lord, what unusual phenomena is this?”

“It exists if you believe it, and doesn’t if you don’t,” Chu Ling said mysteriously, then quickly added under her breath, “I fooled them.”

Wan Sanjin gave a thumbs-up. “Lord, your trickery is truly masterful.”

Chu Ling raised an eyebrow proudly, hands behind her back, and strode toward the carriage. Wan Sanjin chuckled and followed.

After everything was packed up, the group climbed into the carriages.

Zhang Dong drove the carriage toward the city gate. Once they reached outside, the carriages of the two Shangguan brothers, the Nangong family, and Fu Qingyu were all still waiting there.

The others had probably left ahead.

Wan Sanjin greeted Chu Ling and then went to Fu Qingyu’s carriage. After that, all the carriages slowly started moving again.

The Zhuang Tianyou mentioned by Nangong Han was a student of the Canglan Academy. His grandfather had once served as the head of the Imperial Medical Institute, and his father ran a private clinic in the capital, catering to many high-ranking officials and nobles. So the family was very wealthy.

The villa that Nangong Han mentioned as a temporary resting place belonged to the Zhuang family.

Before they departed, Steward Liu had specifically told her this. The reason, of course, still had to do with that plague prescription…

Chu Ling had basically confirmed that the sudden outbreak of plague in Anma County was man-made. This meant it was troublesome for the Wan family, as they had to investigate the fleeing county magistrate from Anma, as well as the Huang family and others.

The county magistrate was found. The court reacted quickly, arrested him directly, and handled the matter.

However, the Huang family, who had dumped the corpses and caused the Ming Lake contamination—leading to the plague—mysteriously disappeared.

Even stranger, after the county magistrate was dealt with, the plague issue was immediately suppressed. There was no grand investigation, let alone compensation.

Yet the plague prescription, which originated from Chu Ling, did circulate.

This was not the Wan family’s doing. Everyone who received the plague prescription was grateful for Chu Ling’s selflessness, so her reputation among physicians remained quite good…

“Master, it looks like we’re here,” Xiao Hua exclaimed, lifting the curtain to look outside. She was immediately astonished: “Master, the lake is huge! The grass is so green, and there’s a big tree—it’s even flowering!”

Chu Ling also looked out curiously and saw the carriage ahead slowly stop at a spot. The passengers disembarked, and then it continued moving forward.

“It seems this is the fishing spot. As for the resting place, that’s further ahead,” Chu Ling said, lowering the curtain and sitting back down.

Once they arrived at the spot, Chu Ling got off first, followed by Xiao Hua. Su He had to go with Zhang Dong to drop off their things at the resting place, so he arrived a little later.

“Master, over here, over here!” Wan Sanjin shouted. “I’ve claimed the best spot. You can tell just by looking that big fish will bite here.”

Hearing this, the two Shangguan brothers and Nangong Han thought it over and then walked over.

Chu Ling looked at him disdainfully and shouted, “Master Wan, have you forgotten just how unlucky you are?”

Wan Sanjin’s happy smile froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered and yelled, “Today’s different! Qingyu is here with me, I’m not that unlucky.”

Chu Ling shook her head, openly showing she didn’t believe it.

Ghost Scholar slowly followed Chu Ling forward. After glancing curiously at the lake, he raised his fan and pointed in a direction. “Master, go forward. There are no fish over there.”

Bai Su asked curiously, “How do you know, Scholar?”

“Look at the terrain. That area is slightly higher, so the water is probably shallow. Fish aren’t foolish enough to swim upstream. Let’s move down… Yes, this spot is good. The big tree provides shade, and the ground is clean,” Ghost Scholar explained.

Chu Ling stopped according to Ghost Scholar’s guidance and exchanged a look with Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua looked at Chu Ling: “Master, we don’t have chairs or fishing gear. I only brought down our food; I didn’t bring any fish.”