Chapter 366: Chapter 139 Reward_3

At these words, Zhu Mao’s heart skipped a beat.

The Hongfang tufts were poisonous; therefore, the Hongfang Garden area had always been handled by He Xiu. He Xiu was timid and slow-witted, and there hadn’t been any problems over the years with the harvesting and cleaning of the Hongfang tufts. Until this year... This year, among the people harvesting the Hongfang tufts, there was an additional person named Lu Tong.

Lu Tong’s face did not break out in the brown toxic spots, which was just a pretext for his faultfinding. But to truly speak of it, whether Lu Tong had actually harvested the Hongfang tufts, and what had been done during the cleaning of the medicinal materials, no one really knew.

She couldn’t have truly tampered with the Hongfang tufts, could she? Zhu Mao was riddled with doubts and suspicion.

How could she dare!

With this thought, Zhu Mao made an immediate decision and abruptly stood up, "Report back to the Envoy, the medical worker who harvested the Hongfang tufts this year indeed increased by one person. It was different from past years." Turning his head, he called to a medical worker outside, "Someone, go and call He Xiu here!"

The medical worker left quickly, and it wasn’t long before he led He Xiu into the room.

He Xiu was checking the medicinal materials in the pharmacy when she was suddenly taken away by the medical worker. Her heart was uneasy, as she didn’t know what Zhu Mao wanted with her. As soon as she entered the room, before she could make out who exactly was there, she was met with Zhu Mao’s stern question, "He Xiu! You said the other day that the harvesting and cleaning of the Hongfang tufts were all done by Lu Tong alone, is that true?"

He Xiu was startled, still unclear about the situation; she hastily knelt down to argue, "Sir, what I said is absolutely true, Physician Lu never shirked her duties. On the contrary, when she saw me troubled by the tufts of the Hongfang flowers and having trouble breathing, she took over most of the harvesting of the Hongfang tufts and also took on the cleaning of the medicinal materials afterward."

She thought Zhu Mao was summoning her on account of Lu Tong’s laziness, so she immediately took all the credit onto Lu Tong’s behalf, unaware that Zhu Mao’s next sentence almost scared her soul out of her body.

Zhu Mao said, "In that case, the one who tampered with the Hongfang tufts would only be Lu Tong, right?"

"Tampered?"

The words He Xiu hadn’t yet finished were suddenly stuck in her throat, and she looked around blankly, "What tampering?"

No one answered her; Zhu Mao turned around, bowed low with respects to the two seated individuals, his tone was unusually serious, "Envoy, you’ve heard it all. The harvesting and cleaning of the Hongfang tufts were all handled by these two." He paused before he continued, "In past years, He Xiu alone did the work without mistakes, but thinking to increase the manpower in the pharmacy this year, I especially assigned another person to help in the garden. Little did I expect that this woman harbored evil intentions... This oversight is my fault."

Though his words seemed to be seeking punishment, every word and sentence cunningly shifted blame away from himself, surreptitiously extricating himself from the whole affair.

Shi Changpu, who had often taken the fall for his superiors, found this behavior particularly distasteful.

Looking at the medical worker trembling on the ground, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for someone suffering from the same plight.

Zhu Mao continued, "Miss Lu is currently in the Southern Pharmacy. If the Envoy wishes to mete out punishment..."

"Punishment? Who said anything about punishment?" Shi Changpu interrupted him.

Zhu Mao’s voice came to an abrupt halt.

Shi Changpu clasped his sleeves, deliberately taking his time as he walked over to He Xiu, looking down at her, he said amiably, "You just said, the cleaning and sorting of this batch of Hongfang tufts were all done by Physician Lu alone?"

He Xiu’s body trembled.

She was gradually coming to understand Zhu Mao’s words; this batch of Hongfang tufts sent to the Imperial Apothecary had problems. But what exactly Lu Tong had done, no one knew. She was inclined to cover for Lu Tong, but being of a timid nature and faced with the sharp gaze of the person before her, she ultimately did not dare to lie, answering honestly, "...It is indeed so, Doctor Lu was proficient in cleaning Hongfang tufts and not bothered by the tufts, and after seeing that the Hongfang tufts she cleaned were cleaner than those I had done, I did not stop her..."

"This batch of Hongfang tufts sent to the Imperial Apothecary was cleaned by Doctor Lu."

Shi Changpu let out an "Oh," nodding his head with profound implications.

Zhu Mao sensed something amiss in the atmosphere; this was not what he had expected, and he anxiously interjected, "Chief Physician Shi, what exactly..."

"Changpu," Qiu He, who had been silently seated, finally could not stand it anymore and interrupted with a frown of disapproval, "Stop teasing Medical Supervisor Zhu."

Only then did Shi Changpu turn around and reveal a sincere smile, "Well then, Medical Supervisor Zhu, in fact, we are not here to discuss punishment, but rather to confer a reward. This batch of Hongfang tufts that has been delivered has a potent medicinal effect, and the One Dream Pill made from it is much favored by Soft Consort. The Envoy came to the Southern Pharmacy to meet the medical practitioner who cleaned the Hongfang tufts."

"To have such formidable skill, this person must not be underestimated. Who would have known the Southern Pharmacy was such a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers?"

He was serious as he spoke, and finally, looking around, he asked, "Where is this Physician Lu now? Please bring her out to meet us!"

With every word he spoke, Zhu Mao’s face grew more rigid, and by the time Shi Changpu asked the last question, Zhu Mao stood still, like a statue eroded by the wind, looking extremely unsightly.

For a long moment, no one answered.

Just as Shi Changpu was about to show confusion, He Xiu, kneeling on the ground, suddenly prostrated herself and shouted, "Replying to your honor, I know where she is."

"Physician Lu is currently in the back courtyard’s Shennong Shrine, kneeling at the wall reflecting on her mistakes!"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read