TGCFNM -Chapter 515 Testing in the Palace

Chu Yue returned to the pharmacy with a cold expression, supporting her injured arm. She rolled up her sleeve, held a dagger over the flame to heat it, and without saying a word, directly carved out the piece of flesh from the wound.

Throughout the entire process, aside from a low muffled groan, Chu Yue did not cry out once. It was only when she sprinkled the medicine on the wound that large beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

After finally bandaging the wound, Chu Yue exhaled painfully, braced herself against the table, and slowly sat down.

“Fu Qingyu, just you wait!”

In this life, no one could use her, and no one would dare betray her!

—

The next day.

News of Chu Ling’s injury quickly spread everywhere. It was said that she had gotten up in the night to drink water and accidentally tripped over herself, crashing into a bottle of poison.

Not only had the porcelain bottle cut her cheek, but the poison had also gotten on it. Her face had swollen up like a pig’s head and looked extremely serious.

Because the circumstances of Chu Ling’s injury were so bizarre, even the busy Lord Lu personally came to take a look, then shook his head and left.

That only made everyone even more curious.

From the palace, Eunuch Gao personally delivered tonics under the Empress Dowager’s orders—and, incidentally, came to take a look at Chu Ling’s condition.

Chu Ling did not disappoint expectations. She greeted him warmly with half her face wrapped in layers of gauze and the other half bruised purple and black, while also revealing a pair of pitch-black hands.

“By order of the Empress Dowager—ah—!”

Before Eunuch Gao could even finish announcing the decree, he suddenly shrieked, his voice cracking in fright. As he hurriedly stepped back, he tripped and fell straight to the ground.

Chu Ling hurried over “worriedly,” grabbed him, pretended she couldn’t pull him up, and then let go halfway.

“Eunuch Gao! Are you alright?” Chu Ling pinched her throat to sound shrill, wearing a strangely concerned expression.

Eunuch Gao’s eyes even welled up with tears. Waving his whisk frantically, he signaled the young eunuch beside him to help him up and quickly retreated several steps.

“Lord Chu, what kind of poison have you been infected with?”

“It seems to be a mixed poison. We haven’t found an antidote yet.” Chu Ling squeezed out half a tear pitifully. “I don’t even know if it’s contagious. I didn’t expect the Empress Dowager to still remember a nobody like me. This humble official is so touched…”

“Contagious?” Eunuch Gao nearly lost his breath.

Just as he was about to speak again, he noticed that Wan Sanjin’s hands—while serving tea—seemed a bit black as well…

“Men!” Eunuch Gao’s shrill voice seemed about to pierce the heavens. “Leave the tonics bestowed by the Empress Dowager for Lord Chu, and then return to the palace with me at once to report back!”

Seeing the young eunuchs speed up their movements, Chu Ling walked toward Eunuch Gao enthusiastically.

“Eunuch Gao, leaving so soon? Won’t you stay for a simple meal?”

Eunuch Gao raised his whisk forward, his face pale. “This old servant thanks Lord Chu for the kindness, but I must return to the palace immediately to report… Hurry up, all of you!”

“Yes, Eunuch Gao.”

Chu Ling looked at him somewhat regretfully. “Next time when you have time, Eunuch Gao, you must stay for a meal.”

Eunuch Gao forced a perfunctory smile. Once the items were all placed down, he quickly cupped his hands in farewell. When he left the Wan Residence, it almost seemed as though the wind was beneath his feet.

After everyone left, Steward Liu ordered the gates of the Wan Residence shut tightly.

“My lord, they’re gone.” Steward Liu walked back, unable to stop smiling. “They ran especially fast.”

“Hah, let’s see if I didn’t scare him half to death.” Chu Ling smiled smugly and turned toward the front hall.

By this time, Wan Sanjin, Xiao Hua, Zhang Dong, and the others had already started opening the gifts. For every one they opened, Su He recorded it. The valuable ones were kept to be sold for money, while those of average quality would be used to stew chicken soup.

“Sir, the Empress Dowager is far more generous than His Majesty,” Wan Sanjin said in astonishment. “These are all good things.”

Su He nodded. “And they’re actually genuine goods—no poison either.”

Chu Ling smiled. “Anything rewarded by the Empress Dowager and passed through official channels definitely wouldn’t have a problem. But what I didn’t expect was that Eunuch Gao actually delivered everything honestly, without making any little tricks.”

“He wouldn’t dare,” Ghost Scholar said firmly. “The Empress Dowager must have specifically given instructions, so he didn’t dare conceal anything or swap it out.”

At this moment, Bai Su walked to Wan Sanjin’s side. She lightly placed a hand over his shoulder and followed his movements, examining the items one by one. She couldn’t help sighing.

“Sanjin’s right. The Empress Dowager really is more generous than the Emperor.”

“Maybe the Empress Dowager’s phoenix treasury is richer than the Son of Heaven’s national treasury,” Ghost Scholar said as he also went over to take a look. “She actually sent this much?”

“Why did she send so much?” Cui Xi asked nervously. “Is it because she wants to fatten our young lady up before killing her?”

Chu Ling: “!”

Wan Sanjin also began to sense that something was off. He looked at Chu Ling with a strange expression and carefully examined her.

“Sir, even though you’ve entered the palace a few times and your case investigations seem pretty decent, it shouldn’t leave such a deep impression on the Empress Dowager, right?”

Chu Ling nodded. Definitely not!

“She really did send a lot,” Su He said while holding the inventory list. “Just lingzhi alone—there are three pieces, and they’re all top-grade. There are also seven ginseng roots, plus premium cordyceps and bird’s nest… Is our sir actually worth this much?”

Xiao Hua exclaimed in amazement, “So our sir is very valuable!”

Wan Sanjin suddenly shouted with a grave expression, “This is bad!”

Xiao Hua and Zhang Dong were startled.

Xiao Hua hurriedly asked, “Master Wan, what’s bad?”

“Everyone knows Bai Zhuoxing is one of the Empress Dowager’s people, and Bai Zhuoxing uses gu worms! So the Empress Dowager raising our sir might actually be to prepare a host for the gu!” Wan Sanjin said, looking at Chu Ling with heartache. “Sir, you’ve been treated as a container.”

Chu Ling: “…”

For a moment, she couldn’t tell whether Cui Xi’s words were more hurtful or Master Wan’s were more hurtful. But the result was the same—either way, she would end up dead…

Xiao Hua silently picked up the shortest ginseng root and looked at Chu Ling.

“Sir, we’re stewing chicken soup for lunch. Are you still drinking it?”

Chu Ling: “…Yes!”

Xiao Hua responded and went to the kitchen to prepare it.

Seeing everyone busy with their own tasks, Steward Liu also went to the kitchen to help. A little while later, Zhang Dong left as well.

Wan Sanjin and Su He gathered the unpacked items into a pile. They were wondering whether they should call Uncle Hong over to collect the goods when Wan Xing returned.

Wan Xing arrived covered in dust from travel. His face looked thinner than before, and his expression wasn’t as relaxed as usual. As for Steward Zhu, who had followed him the entire way, he looked even worse—he had practically lost a whole circle of weight, and the sharp lines of his face were nearly showing.

“Sanjin, Sir, what are you…” Wan Xing stopped mid-step when he saw the table piled high with top-grade medicinal herbs. He frowned. “Did you go rob someone?”

Wan Sanjin shook his head blankly. “No.”

“Young Master, this top-grade lingzhi—there’s none like this outside!” Steward Zhu hurried forward in alarm to inspect it.

“There really isn’t any like this outside. It’s from the palace,” Su He replied.

Steward Zhu’s face instantly turned pale with fright.

“Will the Wan family buy this?” Wan Sanjin said, picking up a lingzhi and beginning a serious introduction. “We guarantee these medicinal herbs are all top-quality from the palace, so the Wan family’s medicinal storehouse will have to offer a suitable price before we’re willing to sell.”

Wan Xing looked at Chu Ling’s miserable appearance, took a deep breath, and nearly choked on it.

“You… went to the palace to steal things?”