The live stream audience collectively gasped, all asking what had happened.
【Jianmengtianxia: How did a painting appear on the back after getting wet?】
【Shuaidebumingxian: This painting was probably drawn with alum, only revealed by rainwater. We learned this in middle school chemistry.】
【Zuipao Tianwang: Consort Mei drew such a painting on the back of the letter—wasn’t she afraid the emperor would discover it? If he did, wouldn’t the streamer be in danger?】
【Siji Bushache: I say Consort Mei is a white lotus. Just now she claimed the streamer didn’t care which family the Da Yong emperor came from, but she’s clearly trying to make the emperor suspicious of the streamer’s identity.】
【Hange Naizui Chuang Tianxia: Exactly. If this letter really reached the emperor, it would be a ticking time bomb for the streamer. Good thing the streamer was cautious.】
Those in the live stream who had previously defended Consort Mei instantly fell silent.
Lu Zhao sneered: Although Consort Mei had a face resembling her mother’s, she was, after all, someone else’s mother.
Wanting to have her cake and eat it too—what a clever scheme!
“System, do you still think Consort Mei is a good person?”
The system remained silent for a long time, rendered speechless.
Lu Zhao chuckled twice before asking, “Is there a skill that allows someone to instantly mimic another’s handwriting?”
The system timidly replied, 【No.】
Lu Zhao: “Useless. What good are you?”
The system whimpered.
The host was too formidable; it really didn’t seem to be of much use.
Either being scolded or on the verge of being scolded.
The system was almost driven to depression and cautiously asked, “Host, are you not planning to clear Consort Mei’s name and seek revenge for her?”
Lu Zhao: “I’m not as petty as you. One thing at a time—I’ll do what I promised her.”
After all, these two tasks were all gain and no loss for her. If she didn’t stir up trouble, how could she muddy the waters in Zhongdu?
Once again, the system, having been rebuked, could only try to curry favor. 【Ding, Side Quest ‘Gain Consort Mei’s Acknowledgment’ has been completed. The host has obtained one card draw opportunity. Will the host activate it now?】
Three cards of the same color immediately appeared in Lu Zhao’s mind.
The system reminded her again, 【Host, please choose.】
Lu Zhao lifted her gaze and looked at Consort Mei’s peaceful, serene face on the bed.
“Let’s wait until after the funeral.”
The system grew anxious. 【Why wait until after the funeral?】
Lu Zhao: “As you said, the probability of drawing an LV2 upgrade card is very low. So, I need to pick an auspicious time, burn incense, and bathe first.”
The system had nothing to say.
Damn it! With the host’s merciless nature, she still wants to pick a lucky moment to open a treasure chest!
While it cursed inwardly, Lu Zhao had already begun searching the room.
The live stream audience was curious about what she was doing.
After searching around without finding any usable paper, Lu Zhao could only sit back at the table, holding the letter near the oil lamp to slowly dry it. Once the painting on the back had completely disappeared, she folded the letter, tucked it back into the envelope, and resealed it with the wax seal intact.
The live stream audience was baffled.
【Huanwei Sikao: Why did the streamer put the letter back? Isn’t she afraid the emperor will notice something off about it later?】
【Zuipao Tianwang: Right! Even after drying, a letter that’s been wet will show signs of tampering. What’s the use of a perfect wax seal?】
【Jianmengtianxia: Why didn’t the streamer mimic Consort Mei’s handwriting and rewrite the letter to put back?】
[Shuaidebumingxian: What the person upstairs said – are handwriting styles that easy to imitate? Do you really think the streamer is all-powerful? Besides, Qiao Bing isn’t a dull person, he’ll soon notice the letter is missing.]
[Driver No Brake: Everyone stop arguing. Am I the only one who thinks the streamer isn’t bad at imitation, but just has terrible handwriting? Remember when the streamer and Brother Qiao Chi were politely deferring to each other about who should write the prescription?]
[Pacifier Conqueror: Hahahaha, the person above has revealed the truth! Streamer, write some characters for us to see sometime.]
The live stream audience seemed to have discovered a new continent.
[February Red: Damn, all-powerful streamer, you’re not actually terrible at writing characters, are you?]
[Bajiaolian: Streamer, write a few characters for us to see.]
The entire screen was filled with requests for the streamer to write characters.
Just when everyone thought the streamer would ignore them, the streamer quickly replied: [I’ll write for you all when I get the chance.]
Lu Zhao thought: An ugly daughter-in-law must eventually meet her in-laws. Anyway, she needed to practice her handwriting before returning to Zhongdu.
Moreover, she still needed to imitate Consort Mei’s handwriting to rewrite a letter and replace the one in her possession.
Urgent footsteps sounded at the door. Lu Zhao immediately stored the letter away, tucked it back into her sleeve, and moved to sit by the bedside. She silently kept watch over Consort Mei, her expression sorrowful and grief-stricken.
Soon, the door was pushed open.
Qiao Bing hurried in, his eyes scanning the room.
Lu Zhao turned to look at him, asking hoarsely: “What’s wrong?”
Qiao Bing suppressed his panic and quickly said: “Nothing, this humble official just came to ask the Seventh Prince how we should handle Consort Mei’s funeral arrangements?”
He couldn’t possibly say that he’d lost the letter Consort Mei had just given him.
That was a letter from Consort Mei to the Emperor – it must contain important content.
If it were truly lost, no amount of deaths could atone for his crime.
As he spoke, his eyes continued discreetly searching around the bed area. He then approached two steps closer and handed the burial garments to Lu Zhao: “This was the color Her Highness loved most during her lifetime.”
He had only discovered the letter was missing when he went to take out some silver, and had immediately turned back to search along the way. He had searched everywhere else – only this room remained unsearched.
Lu Zhao reached out to take the burial garments, saying sorrowfully: “My mother requested cremation. Since lighting fires in the city is inconvenient, we should encoffin her and carry the coffin outside the city to find a scenic spot for cremation. Call the maidservant who was attending earlier – give her some silver to properly prepare my mother. My mother cared about her appearance in life – we mustn’t be careless with this.”
Qiao Bing nodded, thinking to himself that he would thoroughly search the room after Consort Mei’s body was prepared.
Preoccupied, he turned to leave. Only after exiting did he instruct Qiao Chi: “Go to the side chamber and summon that maidservant to prepare Consort Mei’s body.”
Noticing his father’s troubled expression, Qiao Chi immediately lowered his voice to ask: “Father, what’s wrong? Have the Liangzhou Governor’s men caught up?”
Qiao Bing shook his head: “No!”
Qiao Chi looked puzzled: “Then why are you so alarmed?”
Gritting his teeth, Qiao Bing finally whispered a couple of sentences in his ear.
Qiao Chi’s eyes widened in surprise: “Lost? Where? You couldn’t find it?” He looked Qiao Bing up and down, so anxious he directly reached out: “Father, could you be mistaken? Did you perhaps put it somewhere else earlier?”
Qiao Bing firmly denied this: “Impossible, I specifically put it in my chest pocket.” As he spoke, he began feeling around his waist and sleeve pockets. If he couldn’t find it in these places, he would have to check inside his boots next.
However, when he felt his right sleeve pocket, his entire person froze.
The letter was actually in the right sleeve cuff after all.
He slowly pulled it out, his face filled with utter astonishment.
Qiao Chi exclaimed joyfully, “I told you Father misremembered, scaring yourself for nothing.”
Qiao Bing’s brows furrowed tightly: his memory wasn’t the sharpest, but he couldn’t have forgotten something that just happened.
He had definitely put the letter inside his robe.
His eyes shifted as he quickly reviewed everything that happened after obtaining the letter. After receiving it, the only people who had physical contact with him were his son and the Seventh Prince.
His son definitely wouldn’t have taken the letter, which left only the Seventh Prince.
His gaze crossed the threshold to look at the person inside the room – the Seventh Prince’s grief earlier had been genuine…
He lowered his head to carefully examine the letter in his hand. The wax seal remained intact, the letter inside was still there – everything seemed perfectly normal.
Was he overthinking things?
Author’s Note:
Due to ranking requirements, this chapter is a bit short. I’ll be sending red packets in the comments section. [Heart]
The next chapter will make up for the word count.