HMIME Chapter 45: This Year Is Truly Full of Troubles

In the afternoon, while Chu Ya was in the court discussing matters, Bai Lu immediately took a floral cloth bundle and gathered up all the sinful things from last night, stuffed some rocks inside, tightly bound it with a red silk ribbon, and prepared to sink it into the lotus pond.

It was half past three in the afternoon, the hottest time of the day in summer. Dragonflies danced by the lotus pond, cicadas chirped in the trees, and the red carp swam around in the emerald-green water, splashing water with their tails.

It was quite lively, but there was no one around because it was too hot at this time. The sun could almost melt people, with only a few guards sporadically stationed in the shade of the wall.

This suited Bai Lu’s intentions perfectly. He walked to the lotus pond under the scorching sun, fiercely threw the bundle containing sinful items into the water, feeling extremely relieved. If possible, he wanted to throw Chu Ya in as well to feed the fish.

The lotus pond was lush with blooming flowers, and the lotus leaves were dense, covering most of the water surface. The bundle fell among the stems and leaves, but for a moment, it couldn’t sink.

Bai Lu found a bamboo pole, leaned on the white stone railing, stretched out his hand, and used the pole to push apart the dense lotus leaves, poking at the small bundle stuck among them.

As he poked, the small bundle slowly sank, and then… to Bai Lu’s astonishment, a corpse floated up slowly right before his eyes.

Bai Lu: “!!!”

Damn it! He had encountered dead bodies more times recently than finding money!

Bai Lu was quite courageous. He had seen all kinds of dead bodies, dismembered ones, highly decomposed ones; he had witnessed all sorts of scenes. So, even though he felt like the earth was crumbling inside him and was cursing loudly in his heart, he remained outwardly calm, not uttering a word.

He only felt his legs go weak, but he remained extremely tough.

Bai Lu held onto the railing, stabilizing his mind for ten seconds, took a deep breath, and used the bamboo pole to push the floating corpse towards him.

The body that drifted over with the water was already pale, with swollen fingers and face, wearing a gray linen short coat, tied with a black rope around the waist. This attire resembled that of a eunuch in the palace, but his face was so bloated from being submerged in water that it was unrecognizable.

Bai Lu called over a few guards from a distance and together they lifted the body onto the ground. Then, he sent someone to fetch Eunuch Li, the highest-ranking steward of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Learning from the past experience, before Eunuch Li arrived, Bai Lu roughly examined the corpse.

The eunuch had no visible external injuries, his skin was pale, the livor mortis was pale pink, and there were small white foam at the mouth and nose, characteristic of drowning. He was clutching a withered lotus tightly in his hand.

Before long, Eunuch Li arrived with a few attendants. Seeing the body, he immediately understood what had happened. “Ah, this is probably a case of accidental drowning. It’s quite common. Every summer, there are a few bold ones who accidentally fall into the pool while picking flowers. No matter how many times we warn them, it’s of no use.”

Bai Lu was suspicious, “Are you trying to fool me? I remember the water in the lotus pond was only up to my chest, how could someone drown?”

Eunuch Li sighed, “Young master forgets, it rained last night, and the water level rose. Plus, the bottom of the lotus pond is all mud, so when someone steps on it, they sink down, unable to stand. Those who can’t swim naturally sink.”

His explanation made sense, and Bai Lu couldn’t find any doubts.

As Eunuch Li said, there were many cases of accidental drowning in summer, and there was nothing suspicious about it. However, the sudden death of this eunuch, so close to the case of Lady Mei, was somewhat strange.

But perhaps he was just being overly suspicious and thinking too much.

Eunuch Li instructed the attendants behind him, “You two, take the body to the mortuary first. Lai Fu, Xi Ping, come with me to check the registry and see who this dead person is.”

Bai Lu’s heart stirred and he quickly said, “If the identity of this person is found out, remember to inform me.”

Eunuch Li promised, “Yes, young master, I will remember.”

In the evening, Bai Lu returned to the White Deer Palace and coincidentally met Chu Ya returning. He mentioned the incident to him.

Chu Ya remained calm, “Eunuch Li is right. There were two accidental drownings last summer, and one the year before. You should be more careful. Why did you go to the lotus pond today?”

“…,” Bai Lu immediately remembered the thing he had destroyed last time, feeling a bit guilty, and hesitantly said, “I didn’t do anything, just went for a stroll, it’s cool by the water.”

Chu Ya deliberately questioned, “The guards of the Bailu Palace said you left around one or two in the afternoon. Cool?”

Bai Lu, forced into a corner, had to admit, “Alright, I dare to take responsibility. I threw those useless things into the water.”

Probably afraid of Chu Ya scolding him, Bai Lu took the preemptive strike and accused, “Who asked you to mess with those things, shameless! It serves them right for being thrown away!”

Chu Ya didn’t get angry but laughed instead, indulging Bai Lu, “It’s alright if you don’t like them, throwing them away is fine. It doesn’t matter.”

Bai Lu looked at him in amazement, about to ask why he suddenly changed his attitude, but then Chu Ya’s tone changed, and he said with a smile, “Anyway, I had Shen Chuyun make three sets. You still have two more throws left after this. Throw them away and then continue making more.”

“…You crazy pervert!”

The next day, when Chu Ya was not around, Bai Lu gathered Geng Qing and his younger brother Er Hua and searched the White Deer Palace together, finally finding the two hidden ‘backup props.’

Here, let’s commend Comrade Geng Er Hua.

Unlike his tall and slender elder brother who was scheming, Er Hua was an honest and straightforward kid. As long as you gave him snacks to eat, he would work without complaint, following your orders without question. Letting him go east, he wouldn’t go west; asking him to stand, he wouldn’t sit; instructing him to chop enemies into pieces, he wouldn’t cut them into strips.

Thanks to him single-handedly lifting a solid wooden table weighing three hundred catties, Bai Lu found the last black lacquered gold lockbox.

He took out various items such as ribbons, soft whips, and jade devices from the box, wrapped them in cloth, and prepared to send them to reunite with their predecessors in the lotus pond.

Geng Qing, being knowledgeable, immediately recognized what these were. After looking around and confirming that there were no outsiders, he playfully nudged Bai Lu with his elbow and teasingly said, “I didn’t expect you to play so lavishly at night. You even used props. Oh, this rope looks really nice.”

Bai Lu glanced at him coldly and retorted, “Shut up, or I’ll throw you into the pond along with them.”

“By the way,” Bai Lu revealed without reservation the words of a tiger and wolf, “before throwing them away, I’ll insert some of these things into your backside.”

Geng Qing was shocked and hurriedly waved his hands, “No, no, no, I don’t have that kind of hobby!”

Bai Lu raised his voice, “Neither do I! It’s all that perverted Chu Ya’s fault!!”

He grabbed these things and walked towards the exit with great momentum. When he arrived at the lotus pond where he had ‘buried the body’ last time, he suddenly froze.

He saw the entire lotus pond filled with floating corpses…

Of course, they weren’t human; otherwise, Bai Lu would have been scared to the point of collapsing on the spot.

For some reason, all the koi in the lotus pond had died overnight, flipping over with their white bellies floating on the surface of the water. The lotus flowers next to them were all wilted, with yellowing edges on the leaves.

This scene was too eerie, as if the heavens were suddenly angry, and some kind of divine punishment had descended.

If it were an ordinary emperor from a feudal society, he would probably think this way, believing that he had done something wrong and incurred divine wrath, receiving punishment from heaven.

But Chu Ya was more of a materialist who trusted science. Although he had experienced the events of crossing over, that still fell within the realm of science fiction. Immortals and such were entirely fantastical. Not to mention Chu Ya, even Bai Lu, who enjoyed reading cultivation novels, didn’t believe in them.

So Chu Ya quickly ordered an investigation into the matter and found the reason.

“It’s arsenic,” Chu Ya explained calmly to Bai Lu. “Someone poured a large amount of arsenic into the lotus pond, poisoning the fish.”

Bai Lu was taken aback, “But why would…”

He suddenly understood, “To destroy the evidence?”

Chu Ya nodded, admiring Bai Lu’s intelligence, “You’ve become smarter recently. I disposed of Lady Mei a few days ago, claiming it was an accidental drowning, but those who have encountered arsenic probably sensed something was wrong. They must have been afraid, fearing that I would order a thorough investigation, so they preemptively poured all the arsenic they had into the water to destroy it.”

After saying this, he walked over to Bai Lu and kissed his face, deliberately asking, “So, does A-Bai prefer fake jade devices or my real ones?”

This person looked quite dignified and upright, but why was the inside yellow when cut open? He was truly a despicable scoundrel hiding beneath a veneer of respectability, a wolf in sheep’s clothing!

Bai Lu used to think he was a bit cunning, but now it seemed that this person was truly rotten to the core.

Bai Lu kicked him in the leg, sat on the chair angrily, and sulked for a while. After a while, he suddenly remembered something and hesitantly looked at Chu Ya, tentatively asking, “How do you plan to deal with those people?”

“Hmm?”

“Those who bought arsenic from Lady Mei, how do you plan to deal with them?”

Chu Ya smiled gently, “Firstly, even if they poured out the arsenic, it’s difficult to trace it back now. Secondly, they’re probably scared and won’t touch banned substances again in the future. Besides, the harem will be disbanded after a while, so we don’t need to worry about them.”

Bai Lu expressed doubt, “Really, are you so forgiving?”

The person who could execute Lady Mei using such means, would he spare her customers?

Chu Ya sighed, “I don’t need to deceive you.”

Bai Lu temporarily believed his words, and then remembered the matter of disbanding the harem mentioned earlier. It turned out that when Chu Ya said to wait a bit longer last time, he was waiting for an opportunity to deal with Lady Mei. Thinking that he was still angry at him for that matter, Bai Lu felt a bit embarrassed. You said a grown man should always be calculating this and that.

Just as they were talking, Eunuch Wang walked in with light steps. He whispered, “Your Majesty, young master, Li Zhongfu from the Ministry of Internal Affairs requests an audience.”

Bai Lu hurriedly said, “Oh, he’s here to see me. Let him in.”

Chu Ya glanced at him, “Since when did you get connected with the Ministry of Internal Affairs?”

“Didn’t we pull out a floating corpse from the lotus pond before? I asked Eunuch Li to inform me of the identity after he found out.”

“I see.” Chu Ya didn’t say anything more. Soon, Li Zhongfu came in, bowed respectfully first, and then slightly bowed his body to speak, “Reporting to Your Majesty and Young Master, the old servant has already found out the identity of the eunuch who drowned in the lotus pond yesterday. That person is…”