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Chapter 560: There Will Be Good Luck in the Future
After Liu Yueyao and her people left, the five people remaining in the courtyard felt much more at ease.

The talismans and runes were quite familiar with Lu Chao. Ever since they started following Lu Qing, especially during their time at Shanqing Temple, they were very clear about the brotherly relationship between their master and Lu Chao.

Lu Chao never put on airs in front of them, and he was no different this time. Seeing that there were no outsiders present, and knowing that the two brothers were always unwilling to overstep their bounds, he asked them to bring bowls and plates, and took half of each kind of food from the table and put it on another table to eat, including the fruits.

The only thing the two brothers refused to accept was the wine.

Lu Chao knew their concerns without needing to explain. In the past, Lu Qing had never lacked "accidents" around him. This only started to improve after he grew up, became more capable, and his runes and talismans became more powerful day by day.

It's not that no one has tried to scheme against Lu Qing anymore, but rather that they've had fewer opportunities to succeed.

Therefore, over the years, runes and talismans have always maintained a sense of vigilance, fearing any mishap.

"It turns out you have a good eye for people." Lu Chao watched the two brothers carry their food to another table and sat down, and then sighed to Lu Qing.

Lu Qing looked at him, then at Zhu Yu beside her, and laughed: "That's right, I don't have many other outstanding qualities, but I have a good eye and I'm good at judging people."

But you, looking at this table full of fine wine and delicacies, actually think that I ordered it to be prepared.

I think Master Mo has been a bit blind lately.

As he spoke, he glanced a few times in the direction where Liu Yueyao and her people had just left.

Lu Chao glared at him, picked up the pomegranate juice next to him, and poured some into the luminous cups in front of the three people: "I came here today specifically to visit you, so you'd better cherish this opportunity and not tease me. After all, it may not be so easy to sit together and have a drink like this again in the future."

Lu Qing smiled and didn't try to tease him any further.

"How is your injury healing?" Lu Chao asked.

"With Zhu Yu here, you've naturally recovered," Lu Qing replied. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here drinking with you today."

"Do you still remember when you were at Shanqing Temple?" Lu Chao was not surprised by this. Following Lu Qing's words, he suddenly brought up the old story. "I went to Shanqing Temple to rest and pray for blessings. It happened to be raining for several days. I was already feeling unwell and was in a particularly low mood. I missed my mother and couldn't sleep at night."

After you heard about it, you secretly brought back a small jar of cloudy wine from somewhere, saying you wanted to drown your sorrows with me.

“I remember, how could I not remember?” Lu Qing didn’t expect Lu Chao to bring this up, and immediately laughed. “Back then, you and I were still young, just boys, and we couldn’t hold our liquor at all, but we didn’t even realize it.”

The wine was brewed by a farmer down the mountain. It wasn't very strong at first, but it had a strong aftereffect. The two of us drank just one small jar and still got drunk.

The next day, when Master found out, he couldn't punish you, but he gave me a good beating instead.

Lu Chao also laughed: "Your master was really angry that time because one of the herbs in the medicine he prescribed for me was most incompatible with alcohol. The two of us secretly drank it once, which ruined the effects of the medicine for the previous days."

Looking back now, it's fortunate that the previous medicine's effects were ruined that time, forcing me to start all over again. Otherwise, I would have gone back at least a month earlier, and I might have suffered another ordeal afterward." Lu Qing sighed slowly, nodded, and then noticed that Zhu Yu was resting her chin on her hand, listening to their conversation with a slightly puzzled expression. Without waiting for her to ask, she took the initiative to explain, "Lu Chao's recuperation time at Shanqing Temple has been almost three months longer than originally thought."

During this time... there was a young prince in the palace, who was originally very much loved by the emperor, but unexpectedly he suddenly contracted a strange illness and died not long after.

"Then why do you think that if Lu Chao had gone back earlier, this person might be him?" Zhu Yu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It's because the young prince ate a rare fruit that was a tribute from a vassal state, and that's why he suddenly fell ill," Lu Chao answered for Zhu Yu. "Originally, my father wanted to leave a portion for me, but after waiting and waiting for me to return, he said, 'Never mind, I won't leave any for you. Just give it to the concubines in the palace.'"

Although the Imperial Pharmacy never officially confirmed that the deceased prince was related to the fruit bestowed by the Emperor, such rumors persisted in private.

"Which country sent that fruit as tribute? Did anyone else eat it and nothing happened to them?" Zhu Yu asked curiously.

"The items were tributes from the Lan Kingdom. After they were delivered to the palace, they were immediately distributed to various places. None of the concubines and palace servants experienced any adverse effects after eating them."

Zhu Yu nodded.

Even if she hadn't witnessed it, she'd heard about it before, so it wasn't anything new to her.

Regardless of the final cause of the young prince's death, and whether the Imperial Pharmacy officials knew the truth, this matter remained unsolved.

If it was because Emperor Jin left the fruits and vegetables from the vassal state to the Lu Dynasty, and they were stored for too long, causing them to rot and become poisonous, then of course this could not be said. After all, doing so would be tantamount to pointing fingers at Emperor Jin and saying that he was the culprit who killed the young prince.

The reason why Feng Yu was able to become the head of the Imperial Pharmacy was not necessarily because his medical skills were the best in the world, but it must be because he was the smartest among all the skilled doctors and knew how to assess the situation. Otherwise, no matter how many heads he had, there wouldn't be enough to lose.

If the young prince's death wasn't due to the fruit itself being poisonous, but rather because someone deliberately caused it...

Then the imperial censor dared not make any rash conclusions and made the result public.

After all, the reward that Emperor Jin left for Lu Chao would certainly not be in an ordinary place. Under such circumstances, how could an ordinary person have the opportunity to make a move?

If the person in the inner palace is involved, then this matter becomes Emperor Jin's family scandal.

If Emperor Jin really wanted to get to the bottom of this, he could have handed the matter over to someone else in another place, instead of simply having the Imperial Attendant look into it and that was it.

Feng Yu probably saw this point in mind, which is why he wisely kept quiet.

If Lu Chao hadn't ruined the medicine's effects by drinking alcohol earlier, he would have already returned to the palace. In that case, he would naturally have been the one to eat those fruits...

Zhu Yu looked at Lu Qing, then at Lu Chao, and thought that the two of them were really brothers in misfortune back then, and that they were really lucky to have made it this far.

"I'd like to propose a toast to both of you." Zhu Yu raised his luminous glass. "To your miraculous survival, and to the good fortune that awaits you!"