CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 60: SCARS

The words of the eunuch made it very clear, only missing the gesture of extending his hand toward Lu Qing, palm up, waiting for his acknowledgment.

Yet Lu Qing seemed completely oblivious to the underlying implications, as if he hadn’t heard the eunuch at all. He reached out to take the reins from someone nearby, swiftly mounted the horse, nudged its sides, and the horse trotted away.

Zhu Yu observed the talisman in silence, mounting the horse as well. It seemed none of the three masters and servants intended to respond to the eunuch’s hints, so she remained silent, hurriedly urging her horse to follow, not daring to look back to see if the eunuch had left.

Before, she had never interacted with such people as eunuchs, never even seen them before.

Her father, Zhu Cheng, was merely a Vassal King, his status not grand enough to require a group of eunuchs to attend in his mansion; maids, women servants, and young male servants were enough.

On another note, the Shuo Country admired strong and robust men; even if one lacked martial skills, at least they should have enough strength to be practical, whether it was for blacksmithing or mining.

Someone like the eunuch earlier—rotund body, frail limbs, fair skin without facial hair, neither masculine nor feminine—would not be taken seriously by anyone from Zhu Cheng down to the commoners in Shuo Country.

Characters who were unwelcome from top to bottom naturally couldn’t survive on that land.

But even if she hadn’t interacted with them before, it didn’t mean Zhu Yu was completely unaware of such people like eunuchs.

In her inherent understanding, they were typical opportunists. Though not all lacked righteousness, such individuals among eunuchs were as rare as phoenix feathers, insufficient to count on ten fingers throughout history.

The rest were all sycophants, not to mention righteousness, they probably couldn’t even grasp the notion of "loyalty." Serving closely by the King’s side, they measured the various powers in the court and schemed for their own gain.

It was hard to say whether the eunuch’s words and actions earlier were biased toward Duke Yan’s faction, but at least he dared not offend them, clearly hinting at Lu Qing to show favor.

Such individuals, granting them benefits might not necessarily yield well, but ignoring them surely wouldn’t bode well.

Zhu Yu glanced at Lu Qing’s back; accompanying him to the palace today had truly unearthed much, filled her with confusion.

They turned and twisted for quite some time, finally reaching a secluded alley, entering a small courtyard where there was a carriage. Although small, it looked quite luxurious.

The rune efficiently harnessed the horses they rode to the carriage; Lu Qing helped Zhu Yu onto the carriage and found a long silk gauze hat inside for her to wear.

Donning the hat, Zhu Yu sat down, the white gauze shrouding her entirely, obscuring the black attire she wore, allowing her to remove the facial mask and breathe properly.

While the rune harnessed the carriage, the talisman wasn’t idle.

He fetched a jar of wine from somewhere, took a mouthful then sprayed it over the carriage canopy, repeating the process several times until the scent of alcohol permeated the entire carriage.

After finishing, the rune and talisman removed their black garb, revealing the clothing underneath, and bundled the black clothes as a cushion to sit on, driving the carriage away from the small courtyard towards the Prince Mansion.

By then it was already midnight; although Jin Country didn’t enforce a strict curfew, there wouldn’t be anyone wandering around at that hour. The streets were deserted, eerily quiet.

Halfway there, they spotted a patrol coming from afar. Seeing the carriage approaching, the leading soldier shouted: "Who rides in the carriage ahead? Why are you roaming at this late hour?!"

The rune and talisman kept silent, continuing to drive the carriage.

The leading soldier was about to reprimand further, but his companion chuckled, tugged his sleeve, and whispered: "No need to ask! You’re new here, never encountered this, naturally you wouldn’t know!

In the Capital, it’s already this late, and the only one who can still wander around in such a fancy carriage is our own Prince Xiaoyao!

I reckon he’s returning from a night of revelry; just smell when the carriage passes by us! If not overwhelmed by the scent of wine, I’ll give you a string of cash!"

Meanwhile, the carriage approached, indeed emitting a heavy scent of wine, leaving the leading soldier with a hint of disdain, smirking and letting the carriage pass without further inspection.

Zhu Yu too finally understood the intention behind the talisman spraying wine on the carriage earlier.

Soon after, they arrived at the Prince Mansion, where the gatekeepers, accustomed to their Prince’s unpredictable habits, opened the gate to let the carriage in, then closed it and returned to sleep.

Zhu Yu was utterly exhausted after traveling a hundred miles, then following into the palace, yet ironically felt wide awake.

Having shed his outer robe and freshened up, Lu Qing, upon sitting on the couch, found Zhu Yu at the table, gazing at him with wide eyes, like a cat sitting perfectly still.

"After all the fuss today, doesn’t Madam feel weary?" Lu Qing clearly noticed Zhu Yu’s intentions, yet deliberately scrutinized her from head to toe, raising his brows in jest, "Could it be that the moonlight tonight is so enchanting that Madam covets her husband’s charms?"

His mention of charm reminded Zhu Yu.

She got up and approached Lu Qing directly, pulling at the collar of his inner garment, revealing part of his back.

Initially surprised, Lu Qing soon understood as Zhu Yu began inspecting his back.

Although he understood, he couldn’t help but quip: "Ordinarily, I thought Madam was composed, but shutting the door makes you so impatient?"

Zhu Yu ignored him, staring at the half-exposed scars on Lu Qing’s back, momentarily stunned.

Though Lu Qing was the adopted son, he reportedly never had a nanny from childhood, being looked after by palace attendants, eventually sent to pray for blessings, living in the Daoist Temple without any luxuries.

Yet even without luxury, life shouldn’t have been this harsh, right?

Zhu Yu was shocked, seeing the three crisscrossed scars on his back, unable to recover.

The scars varied in length, the shortest less than a palm’s width, the longest nearly a foot; clearly old wounds, yet the raised scars revealed two truths to Zhu Yu.

First, the wounds were deep initially, perhaps even bone-deep, as only sufficiently deep cuts scar this way.

Second, the scars’ knotted formation meant Lu Qing received no proper medical care or attention after the injuries.

Repeated healing and tearing, with fluid seepage, led new granulation tissue to grow encasing scattered blood scabs, ultimately forming a pronounced scar.