The words “died of drowning” caused everyone present to move far away from Lu Yao’s corpse. With them moving away, Lu Ping and Xu shi were finally able to see Lu Yao clearly.
Xu shi furrowed her brow tightly and did not say anything. After a long time, she said to a palace servant at her side: “Would eunuch please go into the hall to call the Yao family’s eldest young master out.”
The servant glanced at Feng Yu Heng. Seeing that she nodded, he complied and left. As for Lu Ping, she stared at Lu Yao’s corpse and froze for a long time. Finally, a couple tears trickled down her face; however, she did not cry loudly and cause a scene. She just said something similar to the palace servants: “Would eunuch go into the hall and call out the left prime minister, Lord Lu.”
Another eunuch glanced at Feng Yu Heng. Seeing that Feng Yu Heng nodded, he quickly headed toward the hall.
It was a perfectly good Mid-Autumn Festival, and nobody thought that this sort of thing would happen. Feng Yu Heng asked Xu shi’s maidservant: “Where did you go when the madam and young madam fell in?”
The maidservant dropped to her knees while trembling in fear and said: “Young Madam said that the side of the lotus pond would be windy and cold, thus she had this servant return to the hall to fetch a cloak that madam had left behind. This servant went to retrieve it, and upon returning…”
Feng Yu Heng waved her hand and did not continue asking. She just heavily walked over to Xu shi’s side and squatted down, asking in concern: “Eldest aunty, do you have anything wrong with your body?”
Xu shi sighed and shook her head. She then coughed a few times before saying: “I choked on some water, which isn’t serious.” After speaking, she took a look in Lu Yao’s direction then quietly asked Feng Yu Heng: “Is there really no saving her?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded: “No hope, there’s been no hope for a long time.”
Xu shi did not say much else. In regards to Lu Yao, she did not have a single shred of feelings for her. Although the members of the Yao family were very kindhearted, they were not people that could be bullied easily. Xu shi was very clear that her falling into the water today was not an accident. She had been forcefully dragged down by Lu Yao. As for why Lu Yao would drag her into the water, this was something that she could not understand.
There were no major problems with Xu shi, and Lu Ping did not choke on the water, but the wound on her face was very hideous. The imperial physicians gave her the pain killer and anti-inflammatory medicine, but the blood would not stop flowing. Lu Ping’s face was covered in blood, and it seemed like the wound was getting deeper and longers. The imperial physicians were a bit frightened. Finally, they summoned the courage to disturb Feng Yu Heng, saying: “Imperial Daughter, the wound on this miss’ face is a bit troublesome. I hope that Imperial Daughter can help take a look.”
Feng Yu Heng frowned. While turning around, she said to the imperial physician: “This miss is the eldest young miss of the left prime minister’s manor. She is the sister of the drowned Young Madam Yao.” After she finished speaking, she took a careful look at Lu Ping’s wound. As she looked, her brow furrowed once more.
Lu Ping, however, consoled her at this time: “It’s fine. Let the scar grow a little bigger. That would be better.”
Feng Yu Heng did not listen to her and reached forward to press the wound. Lu Ping was shaken by the pain but heard Feng Yu Heng say: “The poison bug is still in the wound. How could it be like this? Do the bugs not let go after biting the person?” Even if she was a modern doctor, the longer she spent in this ancient era, the more she came to understand that there were many things that modern medicine could not explain. For example, the poisons produced by the people of the ancient era and the venomous bugs raised by the people of the South. Even if she was given time, she could heal the person with modern medicine, but the person’s life would often be lost during the delay. She asked Lu Ping: “You know the origin of this poisonous bug, don’t you?”
Lu Ping nodded, “It’s an aquatic venomous bug raised by the people in the South. After biting a person, it will remain in their flesh. In a situation where the victim is unaware, it will continue to bite until the wound cannot get any larger. But this sort of venomous bug isn’t much. As long as it’s pulled out, everything will be fine.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded and did not ask anything else. Putting in some strength, she immediately pressed down on the wound on Lu Ping’s face. Very quickly, a black bug came wriggling out. It looked all around then set its sights on Feng Yu Heng’s cheeks. It leaped out and prepared to take a bite; however, it did not expect that Feng Yu Heng would suddenly step to the side. The bug had come up empty but did not hold back its strength, as it continued to fly forward.
Without deviating, it happened to land directly on Lu Yao’s face. The bug did not care if it was a living person or a dead one. It was all too happy to have a new body. How could it care about being picky.
This sight was seen by everyone, and they all inhaled sharply. They watched as the bug ran roughshod on Lu Yao’s face, but Lu Yao was already dead. She could not feel any pain, and there was nobody that wanted to get rid of a bug for a dead person, thus they just allowed the bug to do as it pleased. Gradually, half of Lu Yao’s face became covered in wounds.
In the end, she was a dead person, and the blood no longer flowed. After chewing up half of her face, the bug lost interest. Crawling out of the skin, it began to look for its next target. At this time, Feng Yu Heng finally spoke up: “Capture that bug.” After saying this, she casually threw out a glass bottle, “Place it in there.”
The palace servants immediately set to work. The venomous bug that had only poked out part of its body from Lu Yao’s face was captured and thrown inside the glass bottle. The people looked at it through the glass bottle and saw that the bug appeared to be very unreconciled. It repeatedly rammed its head against the top of the bottle, seemingly trying to break the bottle to escape. Unfortunately, the glass bottle was sturdy. How could a little bug break it so easily.
Feng Yu Heng had the palace servant carry it bottle carefully. At this time, the left prime minister, Lu Song, was hurriedly coming from the direction of Heavenly Hall. Upon arriving, a palace servant immediately guided him to the location of the incident. As for the first thing to enter Lu Song’s eyes was Lu Yao’s corpse that had half of her face ruined.
He froze in place and was unable to speak due to shock. A palace servant was already giving him a rough account of what had happened. When Lu Song heard “It was the eldest young miss, Lu Ping, that had leaped into the water to save them,” he could not help but panic once more!
At this time, Lu Ping, who was still sitting on the ground in the embrace of a palace servant, weakly called out: “Father!”
Lu Song then rushed over toward Lu Ping. His face was filled with concern, as he looked at her face. On the other side, he had already given up on the second daughter that had lost her life.
“Father, there was nothing that daughter could do. At that time, there was nobody that knew how to swim. If daughter did not jump in to save them, second sister is good in the water and was fine, but if something happened to the Yao family’s madam, our Lu family could not bear that responsibility!”
Lu Song was angry and wanted to slap Lu Ping, but he also knew that what Lu Ping said was the truth. Although the Yao family’s rank was not high, they were crownless kings in the capital. If something really did happen to Xu shi from falling into the water with Lu Yao, his Lu family really could not do anything. But… but Lu Ping’s face…
“Father.” Lu Ping continued, “Daughter is just curious, why would a man-eating bug suddenly appear from a perfectly good girl? That bug bit daughter’s face. Daughter’s face… is it ruined?”
Finally, Lu Ping had begun to sob over her face. She no longer had the same resolution from before. To the people that watched, this was the appearance that a girl that had her face ruined should have. The earlier Lu Ping had most likely been dazed by fear. But there was also someone that was a bit more aware and could hear the important part of what Lu Ping had said earlier “The Lu family’s second young miss was good in water?” She looked at the dead Lu Yao and asked: “If she was good in the water, why did she not save Madam Yao and bring herself back? Why did she require someone to save her? When we arrived, the two had been soaked in the water for a long time!”
Once this came out, someone immediately nodded and expressed their agreement. The people began to discuss the matter of Lu Yao’s proficiency in the water.
The more Lu Song heard, the more dejected he became. He then looked at the glass bottle that the palace servant held, which contained the venomous bug. He was very close with people from the South, especially in the recent half a year. Under the guidance of the eighth prince, he had interacted a few times with the people that had been sent to the capital. How could he not recognize this bug. Lu Song was not a fool. When he heard that Lu Yao had died from drowning, he had begun to suspect. At this time, how could he not understand the cause and effect of this incident.
It was just a pity that he had miscalculated Lu Yao’s thoughts. He never thought that Lu Yao would try and pull Xu shi into the water then use this to draw out Feng Yu Heng. What he thought was that Lu Yao had always been petty and proud, especially after her mother died of illness, she could not get accustomed to Lu Yan becoming the daughter of the first wife, and she could not get accustomed to Lu Ping’s exceptional beauty. That was why, in Lu Song’s eyes, Lu Yao used this to ruin Lu Ping’s face. This matter, in the end, was a matter between the Lu family’s daughters. However, who knew that it would result in a mutual defeat.
He finally turned his head toward the already-dead Lu Yao; however, his expression was filled with disgust. As her father, he hated that he could not go up and step on her a few times. But with so many people watching, he could only control his emotions. Lu Yao had died, and Lu Ping’s face was ruined. Two of the Lu family’s cards had disappeared just like that. He hated, absolutely hated, that second daughter to death!
Finally, the Yao family’s six children also arrived at the lotus pond. The six people arrived then headed toward Xu shi. After a great deal of concern, they became certain that Xu shi was fine. Yao Shu then led the way and gave thanks to Lu Ping. After all of this was done, he turned his gaze on Lu Yao’s corpse.
Yao Shu was not a fool. When rushing in this direction, he had already heard the palace servant recount what had happened. At this time, he saw Feng Yu Heng standing coldly to the side. He understood that there were some things that remained hidden under the surface.
He walked over to Lu Yao’s corpse and looked down at the wounds on her face. He then took a look at Lu Ping. Comparing the two, as someone from a medical family, he immediately recognized that the two had the same type of injury. At this time, a palace servant handed him the bottle with the venomous bug. Yao Shu looked at it then turned to ask Lu Song: “Father-in-law, Lu Yao went back to her family home a few days before the banquet. This bug is something that comes from the South. Thinking about it, father-in-law should give this son-in-law an explanation, right?”
Lu Song snorted coldly, “What explanation can this prime minister give you?”
“Just explain the origin of this bug!” Yao Shu did not relent, “If father-in-law refuses to provide any evidence, that’s fine. Let’s just report this case!” After saying this, he turned to the servant at his side and gave the order.
The people heard everything. What Yao Shu ordered was for that servant to call the governor to the scene. Then officers would bring Lu Yao’s corpse to the government office to be tried.
Lu Song’s face turned green with anger, as he angrily said: “Yao Shu! This prime minister married my daughter to you. Now that the beauty has passed away, you actually don’t bring her back to the manor, instead sending her to the government office?”
Yao Shu, however, glanced at him and did not say a single word. Turning around, he helped Xu shi stand up then asked: “I’ve allowed mother to suffer a shock. Let’s return to the manor first. As for this banquet, let’s have grandfather ask His Majesty for forgiveness!”
After saying this, the six children of the Yao family helped Xu shi, Qin shi and Miao shi and began walking out of the palace. Lu Song was filled with anger but had no place to vent. He wanted to rush forward and drag Yao Shu back; however, he saw that Feng Yu Heng stepped forward to stop him, a gentle whisper coming from her pink lips: “Lord Left Prime Minister, this marriage, was it your miscalculation or was it your daughter that was too incompetent?”