Chapter 67
The system's sobbing tone subsided in an instant, changing to a tone reserved for spectators: [Aren't you guys going to a banquet? How come someone died?]
How did he die? Was it a murder or an accident? Who died? What caused the riot?
This skillful switching and questioning posture left Chu Huan and the others speechless.
Weren't you just standing up for Chu Huan? Isn't this change a bit too fast?
Chu Huan didn't reply, but instead glanced at the sky: [Tong'er, has something happened to the Grand Tutor? Why hasn't he arrived yet?]
Old Master:!!!
Nothing happened to him, he was just busy eating melons and was delayed. When he heard that the system was going to eat his melons, he hurried in.
The morning class began, and everyone's happy melon-eating trip ended.
The system didn't get any free melons, and was filled with resentment: [The old master returned at a really bad time.]
Who said it wasn't? Everyone was filled with resentment; they were so close to being the cause of that riot.
Even the old master himself felt sorry for missing this opportunity, and he didn't know when Chu Huan would continue to eat this melon.
I hope the system has a better memory and can finish eating this melon as soon as possible so that he doesn’t have to keep thinking about it.
While Chu Huan and the Fifth Prince were busy studying the Four Books, today's report was delivered to the palace as quickly as possible through the Jinyiwei.
After reading it, the emperor shared it with Lin You: "Check when this happened."
Chu Ping and Wen Shi are the quickest to ask about this matter, but these two people definitely don't know all the details. The truth obtained through others' retelling may be biased and not necessarily reliable.
Lin You took the order and quickly sent people to investigate.
Many people fell into the lake in the autumn and winter, and someone died on the boat that day. This was a serious matter, and the Pacification Office must have kept relevant case files.
The only problem is that Chu Huan didn't say what year it happened. The Pacification Office has too many case files, so it will take some time to investigate.
The fastest way is to ask Chu Ping for the approximate time range first, and then conduct targeted investigations.
When Lin You went to the Ministry of Justice to find Chu Ping, the Minister of Justice was also there. He was discussing with Chu Ping how to get Chu Huan to come to the Ministry of Justice for a period of time - he was really envious of the system's ability to investigate cases.
Chu Ping quickly remembered: "That was two years ago."
"I remember it was a banquet hosted by the Third Prince. Many people attended, but only young people were invited because it was held on the lake. My wife was a little worried at the time, saying her eyelids kept twitching and that something bad might be about to happen."
"Later, my daughter was sent back soaking wet. That night, she fell into a coma with a fever and remained bedridden for over a month. The maid Qingzhu accused Chu Shu of pushing her, but Chu Shu denied it, and my wife was furious."
Hearing this, Lin You and the Minister of Justice glanced at Chu Ping.
Although he has two daughters, he cannot be modest and say that the younger one is the better one, but from the fact that Chu Ping called Chu Shu's name without hesitation, it can be seen that Chu Ping is indeed closer to and likes Chu Huan more.
Chu Shu had reasons to feel that her biological father was unreliable, although a large part of it was Chu Shu's own fault.
Lin You: "Was it really Chu Shu who pushed it?"
Chu Ping said matter-of-factly, "My daughter was bedridden and drowsy. When she woke up, she said Chu Shu had knocked her into the lake."
There were two eyewitnesses who confirmed that Chu Shu bumped into Chu Huan and caused her to fall into the lake, but whether it was intentional or unintentional, only Chu Shu herself knew.
Minister of Justice: "Has he been punished?"
As a superior in the officialdom, he should not be interfering in the family affairs of his subordinates, but considering Old Lady Chu's partiality, the Minister of Justice felt uneasy.
As expected, Chu Ping's face was embarrassed. "There were no other witnesses. Mother did not punish the maid because her testimony was not credible."
Lin You: “…”
Minister of Justice: “…”
They both believed in having both human and physical evidence to make a judgment. In this case, there was indeed no other evidence, but no action was taken, which was a bit unfair to Chu Huan.
——Chu Huan really had a close call with death, and the cold air entered her body, and she is still affected by it.
Jiang, the daughter of the Minister of Justice, lost a lot of weight using Chu Huan's scientific weight-loss method. Now she is cheerful and goes out often. Through Chu Huan, she got to know the Second Prince's wife and others. Recently, she had the idea of divorcing her husband and looking for a second life. She is about to have a brand new beginning.
Both the Minister of Justice and his daughter had received a great deal of kindness from Chu Hua, both in public and private. They couldn't help but say, "You're such a good steward..."
He didn't say much else, but Chu Ping could complete the whole thing in his mind, especially since Lin You also gave him a disapproving look as if to say: With your unfair way of doing things, it's a wonder that there's no fire in the backyard yet.
Chu Ping: "..."
He knew that the old lady favored Liu Yue's family, but the Chu family had always been a place where men worked outside and women worked inside. Men did not interfere in the affairs of the backyard, leaving them to their mother and wife to take care of.
Chu Huan was unconscious due to a fever at the time. There was no other witness except her personal maid Qingzhu. Chu Shu insisted on being pushed and cried, "Mother, will you be satisfied only if I fall into the lake with my sister?"
They had quarreled several times, and Liu Yue and Old Mrs. Chu cried at home every day. In the end, they wanted to jump into the river with Chu Shu, scolding Chu Ping for forcing them to die together, and forcing him to ask if it would count only if they were all buried with Chu Huan.
Chu Ping didn't want Chu Huan to be branded as someone who forced her family to death, nor did he want his family to be in turmoil all day long, so he agreed.
Wen took the opportunity to propose that they would no longer care about the affairs of Liu Yue, Chu Qi and Chu Shu, and that Liu Yue's family would stay away from Chu Qin and Chu Huan from now on. Chu Ping thought that Chu Huan had lost half her life, and that Chu Shu was in the wrong this time, so he agreed.
Old Lady Chu and Liu Yue were worried that after this incident, Wen would interfere with the marriage of Chu Qi and Chu Shu, and they hoped that Wen would not interfere.
All three parties agreed, and the matter gradually calmed down.
Chu Ping was questioned by Lin You and the Minister of Justice, and couldn't help but ask himself: Am I really unfair?
Lin You got the exact time and ordered someone to go to the Pacification Office to retrieve the case file, and soon brought the case file back to the palace.
After the emperor finished reading the case file, Lin You relayed Chu Ping's words one by one and began to predict: If Chu Huan was born in the royal family, her personality would be very similar to that of the emperor. If something happened, the emperor would definitely be biased for no reason.
As expected.
The emperor's face darkened. "If she were born into the royal family, I would never let her suffer such an injustice!"
Lin You had heard the emperor complain about the same thing several times, which was really regrettable.
The emperor cursed for a long time, and finally sighed: "It's been two years and she's still not fully recovered. What kind of doctor did you find in the first place? Let the Imperial Hospital take a look at her. I hope she doesn't develop a chronic disease that will shorten her life."
Lin You: "What's the reason?"
Today, Chu Huan just told the system that she was pushed into the lake, and not long after, the Imperial Hospital envoy came to take her pulse. Isn’t this too much of a coincidence?
Lin You was thinking: If Chu Huan was really ill, it had been two years. There was no need to rush and we could wait for two days.
The emperor was impatient and wanted to know the result as soon as possible.
He originally wanted to ask Jia Yi and Cai Gang to send the Imperial Hospital to check it out on the pretext that they had discovered someone had poisoned Chu Huan. However, in this way, the system might become curious about who poisoned Chu Huan and then discover that it was a fabricated story.
You have to use a reason that seems very reasonable and will not easily arouse Chu Huan's suspicion, such as asking for Ping's pulse.
The emperor and his concubines had the habit of having their pulses checked by the imperial physician every once in a while, which was also called "checking the pulse".
The emperor's health concerns the country and the people, so he is summoned every three days. The empress is summoned every five days, and other concubines are summoned every ten days to half a month to see if they are pregnant.
The princes and princesses would also ask for the emperor’s pulse to be checked. Now that the fifth prince has gone to the Chu family, this habit has not been abandoned.
The Emperor said, "This time, let the Imperial Hospital envoy check Xiao Wu's pulse and check on Chu Huan as well."
Lin You: “…”
After reading, he took the pulse as well. This... It was hard to tell who was the emperor's biological son, Chu Huan or the fifth prince.
However, this reason is indeed very useful.
After Lin You told the Imperial Hospital Director, the latter offered another suggestion: "Lord Chu will feel pain during menstruation, so you should go see a doctor during those few days."
Chu Huan had been away from the court for a long time, but the Imperial Hospital Director, out of consideration for her contributions, had always addressed her as "Sir." He also hoped that one day she would return to the court so that he could address her as "Sir" with more justification.
Lin You's expression was slightly odd. "Do you know which days it was?" Isn't this a very private matter for this little girl? How did the Imperial Hospital Envoy know?
The Imperial Hospital Envoy gave a polite smile: "I don't know, but you can know."
There are so many Jinyiwei waiting for the Chu family, let alone such a small matter, you can't even investigate it?
Lin You: “…”
I always feel that the positioning of Jinyiwei has begun to deviate.
They were the imperial lackeys who would arrest people, confiscate their homes and put them in jail at the slightest disagreement, and they were feared by the people of the capital. So what are they doing now?
Eavesdrop on the conversation between the girl and the system, find out when the girl will have her period, and work together to deceive the girl.
Lin You had a blank expression on his face and he started to doubt his life. Was it necessary to do such a wicked thing?
*
Chu family.
The morning classes were over, and Chu Huan and the Fifth Prince got up and walked around, moving their cervical spine and wrists to stretch their slightly stiff muscles.
In the past, the old teacher would leave after class and would not stay for dinner, but today she did not leave, which was a rare occasion.
Chu Hua pondered for a moment, thinking that this person might be thinking about the melon he hadn't finished eating before class, so she immediately invited him, "It's getting late, teacher, why don't you stay for a quick meal?"
The old master nodded reservedly: "You arrange it."
Ever since Chu Huan learned to make money, she built a small kitchen in her yard so that she could cook her favorite dishes.
There was still some time before lunch, so she hurried out to instruct Qingzhu to ask the cook to prepare a few dishes according to the old master's taste.
The fifth prince, who stayed in the study, brought out the wire mesh, a small teapot, and a small jar from the corner, placed them on the charcoal basin with ease, quickly boiled milk tea, and sprinkled a handful of peanuts on it.
Old Master: “…”
Looking at the skilled posture, it is definitely not something that can be developed in three to five days.
You ask why?
Of course, the Fifth Prince was surrounded by servants and didn't need to do anything himself.
"How long have you two been doing this?" How come he hadn't noticed before?
The fifth prince smiled shyly, "It started before winter even started, and it's been over two months."
There was no need to ask, the old master knew whose idea it was, and his face turned slightly green - he had read the books of sages all his life and never did such a thing in his study.
Thinking about the reason why Chu Huan was afraid of the cold, he automatically imagined why Chu Huan did this - maybe it was boring to always roast by the fire, so she wanted to find some fun for herself so that she wouldn't always think about unhappy things.
Thinking of this, the old master's expression returned to normal, and he warned: "Be careful not to burn the books."
Today, the old tutor was so easy to talk to that the Fifth Prince almost didn't recognize him. The Fifth Prince, getting a little timid, actually asked, "Teacher, would you like some milk tea?"
When Chu Huan came back after explaining all the details, she saw the Fifth Prince and the Old Grand Tutor each holding a cup of milk tea and drinking it face to face. The scene was quite harmonious.
She was confused for a second, [Tong'er, what's going on? ]
The old lady paused in drinking her milk tea and scooped up a roasted peanut, which was piping hot and fragrant.
It's really enjoyable to sit around the stove, make tea and eat roasted peanuts on a snowy day. If he hadn't been thinking about eating melon, he would have wanted to write a poem.
The system's confused cat head: [I don't know either.]
"In the past, you would cook as soon as the old Grand Tutor left. Maybe the Fifth Prince didn't realize today that the old Grand Tutor hadn't left yet? Anyway, as soon as the Fifth Prince invited her, the old Grand Tutor drank."
Chu Hua: [If I had known the teacher was so easy to talk to, why would the Fifth Prince and I have been sneaking around for so long?]
The fifth prince smiled slightly, hiding his achievements and fame.
He did this because he felt that if they were exposed today, the old master would probably not bother with them.
Now that he had a clear path, when the old tutor came in the afternoon, he could bring up the reason why the old tutor didn't mind, and the old tutor would definitely not say anything. He might even drink an extra cup of milk tea to compete with the old tutor.
Wouldn’t that mean you’ll have more tea-loving friends?
The system wasn't curious about why the old lady was drinking milk tea, and instead urged her anxiously: [Sister Huan, eat some melon!]
The old master pricked up his ears silently. This was the reason why he stayed here today, so he had to listen carefully.
The fifth prince poured Chu Huan a cup of boiling hot milk tea and picked out a few roasted peanuts for her: Come on, talk slowly.
Chu Huan took over: [Okay, okay, don't worry, I'll explain it slowly.]
[It happened in the autumn and winter of two years ago. It was a banquet hosted by the Third Prince, a great opportunity for young people to get to know each other. As the atmosphere was lively, someone suddenly screamed, "Someone's dead!", startling everyone.]
No one can resist the allure of gourds and curiosity, even if it's about a dead person. Some people are afraid to look, while others want to know. After the scream, everyone ran over, only to discover a corpse floating in from a distance.
[A highly decomposed corpse can lead to gigantism. Tong'er, have you heard of whale explosions?]
Which shocking revelation? Neither the Fifth Prince nor the Old Grand Tutor knew, and everyone else was also confused.
The system kindly explained to the uninformed: [After a whale dies, its body gradually decays, and a large amount of gas accumulates within it. Like a balloon that continues to expand, it becomes increasingly fragile and will explode immediately if punctured or cut open. This is also known as a "whale explosion."]
Whale explosions are very dangerous and must be performed by professionals. Otherwise, if you are not careful, the whale's internal organs could be thrown onto people. Not only would the impact of the explosion cause injuries, but the stench of the decaying body would also be very troublesome to deal with.
Chu Huan continued, "The corpse that floated across the water that day had already formed a giant."
At the time, the Third Prince said he wanted to retrieve the body and transfer it to Shuntian Prefecture after the ship docked. Someone was dispatched to retrieve the body. A whale's body will explode, but a human body won't, but it will escape.
The body was swollen and wearing very little clothing. After it was pulled out of the water, some parts of it were found to be loose. The scene was... horrified. Many people screamed, backed away, and pushed. Several people near the boat were knocked off the boat.
The system understood immediately: [So, when you fell into the lake that day and developed a high fever and passed out, it might not have been due to a cold, but rather a bacterial infection from the highly decomposed corpse?]
Chu Hua: [That’s not clear.]
Without modern testing instruments, who would know what exactly made her sick?
[Wait a moment, I'll check.] The system left a message, and returned only after Chu Huan had peeled a handful of peanuts.
Your illness may be caused by swimming in the cold weather, falling into the lake unexpectedly and getting frightened, or it may be caused by a bacterial infection.
[No wonder it took you so long to recover. Without antibiotics, you relied on your own immune system to get through it bit by bit. This is also the reason why the condition recurred and lasted for so long.]
[However, it doesn't mention what bacterial infection it was, probably because they didn't do any testing, so I'm not sure what the truth is. But what is certain is that Chu Shu didn't deliberately push you into the water.]
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