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Chapter 5 Don’t support idle people
After a good night's sleep, when Zhu Yu woke up early the next morning, Lu Qing had already left. It was said that he was going to the palace to meet the emperor.

This is not surprising. Even without talking about the thanks after the marriage was granted, just the "misunderstanding" with the Second Prince Lu Zhang at the wedding banquet the night before really needed to be reported to the emperor, so as not to be passive if it was too late.

Zhu Yu didn't know whether, according to the rules of the Jin Kingdom, Lu Qing needed to bring his new wife with him when he went to see the emperor on the second day of his wedding. However, since he didn't ask her, she guessed that it was not necessary. She was happy to relax and walked around the house alone. As the new mistress of the house, she also needed to familiarize herself with her future living environment.

Zhu Yu soon discovered that in this huge Xiaoyao Palace, there were very few servants. There were only four maids in the inner house doing some cleaning and washing chores. Mother Zhao, who had been serving in the bridal chamber the day before, was one of them.

The situation in the front yard was similar. When Zhu Yu turned there, he happened to meet the steward of the palace. He learned from the steward that there were only about twenty servants inside and outside the Xiaoyao Palace, including cooks, grooms, and the two guards beside Lu Qing.

Since Lu Qing did not like to be served by others and preferred to do everything by himself, he had never bought a maid. The servants in the house, including the steward, were all sent by the emperor when he left the palace to set up his own house. Apart from that, Lu Qing had not added any servants over the years.

In other words, no one in Xiaoyao Palace keeps idle people.

Zhu Yu was very satisfied with this matter. She liked the freedom of living in a large house with few servants. She didn't like the feeling of having to be followed by several people wherever she went and being under the watchful eyes of others at all times.

When the wedding was first sent off, according to the rules of the State of Jin, the daughters of the princes who were granted marriage could only go alone, and not even a personal maid was allowed to accompany them.

This was also another smaller reason why Princess Shuo was reluctant to marry her own daughter to him. She was afraid that her daughter would get upset outside and have no one around her.

Zhu Yu didn't mind this at all. As a concubine's daughter who had never been valued, the maids around her were not loyal to her at all. Keeping them around would just mean having another pair of eyes staring at her.

However, she originally thought that after getting married, she would have to face a yard full of women of all shapes and sizes, but she never expected that there was not even one.

This King Xiaoyao seems to be somewhat different from the rumors outside, and is also different from what he imagined.

Zhu Yu sat on the stone bench in the backyard garden, basking in the sun and thinking about random things out of boredom.

There are many different opinions about the free and easy King Lu Qing, but they all involve the word "free and easy".

It is said that the scholars of Jin State are fond of elegance and refinement. Not to mention the nobles, even the literati who pride themselves on being self-disciplined, if they do not have a large number of wives and concubines, they will at least have a few singing girls and dancing girls at home to play the piano and dance to enhance their elegance.

It is rare to find a yard as clean as Lu Qing's, so clean that there is not even a young maid, let alone a beautiful woman.

Last night, he didn't mind seeing me dressed like a man, and even wanted to buy me a few more outfits...

Could it be...

Zhu Yu opened his mouth slightly, thinking that he might have thought of an incredible possibility...

A sudden shadow interrupted her wandering thoughts. Zhu Yu subconsciously raised her head and saw Lu Qing's face.

She stood up quickly. Just when she was lost in thought, she happened to run into the real person. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty: "Your Highness, you are back!"

"Hmm." Lu Qing glanced at Zhu Yu's inexplicable guilty look with a puzzled look, but did not ask any further questions. He motioned for her to sit down, and he also sat down on another stone bench, "There are no outsiders in the mansion, you don't have to be restrained all the time.

I don't stay in the mansion very often, so I don't have many staff. If there is anything you need, just tell the steward to do it."

Zhu Yu quickly shook his head: "No, this quiet and peaceful environment suits me perfectly."

Including the part where you don't often stay in the mansion...

After the question and answer, the two looked at each other in silence. Zhu Yu didn't want to bother to talk, so he simply lowered his head and played with the ribbon around his fingertips.

"His Majesty, after hearing what happened last night, expressed his willingness to believe the innocence of everyone in Prince Xiaoyao's mansion. He also asked me who I thought might be trying to frame me." After a moment, Lu Qing suddenly spoke again, his tone calm and composed, "What do you think, Madam?"

Zhu Yu hadn't expected him to suddenly ask her such a question. She was stunned for a moment, hesitating between being honest and playing dumb. She looked over and saw Lu Qing looking at her. Their eyes met, and Zhu Yu's plan to play dumb vanished instantly.

A person's expression, posture, and even voice can be cleverly disguised.

Only the eyes are hard to hide.

Lu Qing's eyes made her realize that pretending to be stupid in front of this person might not be a good idea.

What's more, as Princess Xiaoyao, who was in the same boat with Lu Qing, it was obviously inappropriate for her to behave so insincerely in front of her husband from the very beginning.

After a brief consideration, Zhu Yu said, "I only know that the poisoning was not done by the prince, nor by Prince Yi or Duke Yan."

“How come you see?”

"Your Highness won't do that because no one would be foolish enough to poison the heir to the throne at their wedding banquet.

Prince Yi would not do this because if he intended to accuse the prince of such a crime, he should at least clear himself more clearly. The wine pot and wine cup should not have passed through his hands. He should also use a real poison that can penetrate the intestines and leave the prince speechless. It would be more straightforward.

"Although what you said makes some sense, Duke Yan insisted last night that I wanted to poison the royal heir. Didn't you see it clearly? Why do you think this matter has nothing to do with him?" Lu Qing raised his eyebrows slightly and asked again.

"Because that was probably a foolish move by Duke Yan to take advantage of the situation. Although we don't know who set up the poisoning, he simply took advantage of the situation and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to suppress the prince.

If this was a plot set up by Prince Yi or Duke Yan, Duke Yan should be happy to see the prince propose to rescue the poisoned guard and find out the truth.

As long as that person wakes up and insists that he drank the wine that was originally meant for Prince Yi, the prince will be unable to defend himself.

But Duke Yan was very afraid that the guard would wake up, probably because all this was not their arrangement at all, and they didn't know who the real mastermind behind the scenes was.

If the guards woke up and turned around, saying that all this was ordered by Prince Yi or Duke Yan, intending to put the blame on the prince, then they would be the ones who would be unable to defend themselves.

So in my opinion, the subsequent reactions of Duke Yan and others should be the same as that of the prince. They still haven't figured out who is the mastermind behind this incident.

As for who the real mastermind behind this is, I'm new here and don't know anything about Jin State, so I can't give you an answer."

Zhu Yu's frank answer seemed to satisfy Lu Qing.

"What a coincidence! You and I share the same view." He nodded. "It seems that His Majesty has truly blessed me with a good marriage, giving me a wife like you, who possesses extraordinary vision and means."

"Your Highness, what are you saying? I was just quick-witted the night before. I don't have any more skills. I have no ambitions, and I'm no different from the other women in the inner palace." Zhu Yu heard the wrong tone and quickly expressed her feelings in a tactful way. "Please don't have too high expectations, Your Highness. I'm afraid I will disappoint you in the future."

Hearing her say this, Lu Qing stood up, brushed off the robe behind him, and without further discussion of the previous topic, he looked up at the sun above his head and said, "It's getting hot now, Madam, don't stay outside for too long, or you'll get a heat stroke.

Today, His Majesty specifically ordered me to take you to pay respects at the tomb of my clan members in a few days. I need to make some preparations these days and won't be home often. Everything in the palace is up to you."

After saying that, he strode away without any hesitation.

When Zhu Yu returned to his bedroom after listening to the advice, he heard Mother Zhao in the backyard say that Lu Qing had gone out of the house again.

As for where they went, seeing the embarrassed smile on Zhao's mother's face, Zhu Yu was tactful enough not to make things difficult for her and did not ask any further questions.

　This chapter has been slightly modified, but the changes are minor and will not affect subsequent reading
　　
　
(End of this chapter)