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Chapter 551 The golden cicada escapes from its shell
Hearing Zhu Yu's words, Lu Qing smiled faintly and nodded: "This kind of thing can only fool those who have no intention of investigating carefully."

For those genuinely wanting to uncover the truth, it's riddled with flaws.

“But…” Zhu Yu frowned, looking somewhat worried, “Even if we could think of this, so what?”

You were the only survivor in your family back then, but you were just an infant and couldn't possibly remember anything.

Even if that person stood right in front of you, you wouldn't recognize them.

So even if we're absolutely certain that the other side found a scapegoat back then and pulled off a clever escape, wouldn't it still be futile?

Upon hearing Zhu Yu's words, Lu Qing gave a slightly mysterious smile, slowly stood up, and walked towards the bed next to her.

His injuries had not yet fully healed, limiting his speed and range of motion. He could only walk slowly inside. Zhu Yu quickly got up and followed, afraid that he might accidentally fall and ruin the injuries he had worked so hard to heal.

Inside the bed was a small bundle that Lu Qing had asked Zhu Yuwei to retrieve from the closet in the room when they arrived.

Zhu Yu didn't know what that thing was, only that it wasn't heavy or big. After getting it, he carried it on his back, and after arriving at Yunyin Pavilion, he casually placed it by his bedside and never thought of touching it again. Later, he forgot about it.

When Lu Qing took out the small bundle, Zhu Yu realized that Lu Qing was not taking any of the gold, silver, or other valuables with her, but insisted that she take this bundle with her.

This thing was kept by Lu Qing deep inside a cabinet in his bedroom, so it was really hard to find.

Thinking about it now, it's clear that this thing was unusual.

Zhu Yu sat down beside him with some curiosity, watching Lu Qing open the outer layer of the wrapping cloth, revealing another layer of brocade inside.

Upon opening it again, in the center of the brocade was a seemingly ordinary booklet. Lu Qing picked it up and handed it to Zhu Yu. Zhu Yu took it and carefully turned the pages of the slightly yellowed paper, reading them one by one. He discovered that it was actually a register, which recorded the names, ages, and other details of the servants in Lu Qing's grandfather's mansion.

Back then, the Lu family was quite large and wealthy, with a large number of servants in the mansion. The roster was filled with many names, some of whom were born into the family, while others were bought or given to them by others.

After flipping through a few pages, a name circled in red ink brought Zhu Yu back to his senses.

The circled person's name is Shi Chongyi. Judging from the name, you can tell that he is not a servant born into the household. After all, according to the rules of the Da Jin Law, in a large and wealthy family like the Lu family, servants born into the household must first take the surname of the head of the household. In order to distinguish them from the head of the household, they usually do not have a proper name. Instead, they use numbers to indicate seniority.

Just like in this roster, Zhu Yu saw several casual names like Lu Erzhu and Lu Sanbai at the beginning.

Below Shi Chongyi's name, there is a line of small print: "A palm-sized red birthmark on the back of the neck."

Zhu Yu flipped through the rest of the book, but there were no other entries with the same annotation as Shi Chongyi.

It seems that this Shi Chongyi is the servant who was not found dead in the house during the initial inventory, but was later found dead near the distant Jinlan border.

Since that's the case, the name "Shi Chongyi" now seems to have lost its meaning; the most valuable part is the description of the red birthmark on the back of his neck. "Where did this come from?" Zhu Yu finished flipping through the booklet, looked back at Shi Chongyi's page, closed it, and put it back on the brocade, asking with some curiosity.

“The last time I went to worship, this thing was placed on the offering table. I asked around but no one knew who put it there.”

At the time, I didn't know that there was a missing servant in my household. I just looked through it and found it was a roster. I also noticed the red ink markings on it, so I carefully put it away, thinking that maybe I could figure out some clues sometime.

Now we all know what this Shi Chongyi is all about.

Zhu Yu still remembers when they got married, Lu Qing took her to sweep the tomb. Although the ancestral hall was not as guarded and maintained as the imperial mausoleum, it was not a place that anyone could approach at will.

Similarly, the Lu family, who were wiped out overnight when something happened back then, were not like those city gates that one could come and go as one pleased.

So why did this booklet appear so precisely where Lu Qing went to pay respects? The answer to this question seems self-evident.

However, it is too early to say anything now. Lu Qing has to be careful even with the most basic movements, so it is impossible for him to leave the capital due to the long journey.

So the two of them put the matter aside for the time being and did not discuss it any further.

Days passed like this. Zhu Yu continued to change Lu Qing's dressings as usual, and Liu Yueyao arranged meals for him, including various snacks specially prepared for Zhu Yu.

Not only is Lu Qing recovering day by day, but even Zhu Yu, whose cheeks had been sunken from the ordeal, has regained her fullness and her complexion has become more rosy and healthy after this period of recuperation.

During this time, Liu Yueyao would come over every few days to tell them about what was happening outside.

After more than half a month, the story of the carefree prince being demoted to a commoner finally became tiresome and was no longer a popular topic of conversation. Gradually, no one mentioned it anymore.

There has been no news of Yan Daoxin, who was imprisoned on death row.

During this time, Lu Chao was busy with something and never came to Yunyin Pavilion, neither in the backyard nor in the front.

About ten days later, as the autumn wind grew cooler day by day, Lu Qing's back injury was completely healed. Under Zhu Yu's careful care, it did not leave many scars. It was impossible for it to be completely scarless, but it was much better than expected.

On this day, just as Zhu Yu was once again idly sitting in the courtyard, watching the withered yellow leaves sway back and forth in the wind, Lu Qing called her to the doorway.

"Would you like to go out for a walk?" he asked Zhu Yu. "It's getting cold. Liu Yueyao only bought you some thin clothes before. You should buy some new, warmer clothes."

Upon hearing that they were going out for a walk, Zhu Yu's eyes lit up instantly, but then dimmed again: "It might not be very convenient for us to go out now, right? Not to mention whether people will point and whisper about us, I know you don't care about that at all."

But if someone with malicious intent takes advantage of the situation and does something wrong, I can't risk it, especially since you've just recovered from your injuries.