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Chapter 233 Wild Dog
Lu Qing paused, then slowly sighed: "In my opinion, Lu Zhang is often caught in a situation where he has no choice in what he does."

Although he lacks a strong sense of self and is easily led by others, he is fundamentally different from Zhao Bi. He is not as decisive or ruthless as Zhao Bi.

Having been manipulated for so long, one can be considered to have some inherent kindness.

As for Zhu Jie… I had some impression of his words and actions before.”

Lu Qing's tone was filled with hidden anger, and Zhu Yu knew he was referring to Zhu Jie's undisguised offense and rudeness towards her.

“A person who always tries to please his maternal family, strives to prove himself to be a good candidate worthy of support, and does not hesitate to suppress his own brothers for this purpose, and is also arrogant, is naturally different from Lu Zhang.”

In my opinion, although Zhu Jie is ambitious, he lacks shrewdness. Not to mention whether he cares about the people of Shuodi, he does not even have the magnanimity that a regional king should have. He is just an arrogant, cold-hearted, and empty-headed fool.

Such a person is like a handy knife, best suited for using someone else to do the dirty work.

In contrast, Zhu Feng, though not flamboyant, is calm, meticulous, and always puts the people's needs first.

More importantly, he is not as stubborn as your father. Seeing him remain calm and composed during your bone examination today is the best proof of that.

Zhu Yu thought about it and agreed that Lu Qing was absolutely right.

Most people would be quite shocked or even frightened if they saw her examining corpses and bones. Although Zhu Feng was surprised, she was able to digest the shock afterward. From beginning to end, neither her eyes nor her words revealed any intention that Zhu Yu's behavior was contrary to female virtue.

This is truly remarkable.

If it were my father or Zhu Jie present today, they might have caused me some trouble.

Thinking about this, Zhu Yu suddenly understood: "So the reason you didn't give your father any face before was because the person you wanted to win over was never him?"

"My lady's words make me seem so scheming, it really hurts my heart." Lu Qing pretended to clutch his heart, then added, "As people get older, they inevitably become stubborn and it's not easy for them to change their minds."

Therefore, instead of expending all our energy trying to change him, it's better to help him make a wiser choice, which would be a win-win situation for both of us.

As they were talking, Fu Wen walked in from outside and bowed to Lu Qing, saying, "Master, Young Master Zhu has arrived."

"Please invite him in." Lu Qing nodded to Fu Wen. "Go and bring over dinner. Let Young Master Zhu dine with us in this tent tonight."

Fu Wen readily agreed, turned around and went out to invite Zhu Feng into the tent, while he strode off to fetch dinner.

Zhu Feng had changed his clothes before coming over, and now he was all clean and tidy. When he came in and saw Zhu Yu and Lu Qing, who had already changed their robes, he still politely greeted them first. Although Zhu Yu was his own sister, she had married the Prince of Xiaoyao, so he had to treat her with the respect due to her husband's family's status.

"Second Brother, you've had a long day. Please have a seat." Zhu Yu greeted Zhu Feng with a warm smile. In truth, she and Zhu Feng hadn't had much interaction in the past, and there was no real sibling relationship between them. However, Zhu Feng's performance these past few days had indeed been remarkable, and she also understood Lu Qing's plans, so she naturally wanted to cooperate. "I was just talking to Lu Qing about today's events, but he said he would wait for Second Brother to arrive before we could discuss it together. I had just finished speaking when Second Brother arrived!"

Zhu Feng was stunned for a moment.

Normally, the Prince Shuo's mansion has almost become Zhu Jie's "one-man show." Anything can be discussed between Zhu Jie and Zhu Cheng or with his uncle from the Pang family. It seems that it doesn't matter whether Zhu Feng is present or not.

Upon hearing that this carefree prince's brother-in-law had specifically waited for him to arrive before discussing serious matters, Zhu Feng was momentarily flattered. He had just sat down when he tried to bow to Lu Qing, but Lu Qing stopped him with a gesture of his hand.

"Alright, now that my second brother is here, can you finally tell me what you've been busy with today?" Zhu Yu turned to ask Lu Qing.

Lu Qing patted her head affectionately, as if to soothe her little mood: "Actually, I just wanted to wander around."

At first, I was just a little puzzled as to why, after entering Shuodi from the pass around Blackstone Mountain, which is closer to the capital, many able-bodied men had mysteriously disappeared, but when we got to Sunrise Ridge, a remote place far from the capital, nothing happened except for a few blacksmiths.

So I wanted to see if there was something special about this area that allowed the able-bodied men here to escape this calamity.

Unexpectedly, after taking a walk in the mountains, I discovered a large pack of wild dogs gathered in a ravine not far from here.

He paused here, his gaze falling on Zhu Feng, who looked utterly bewildered.

"Wild dogs?" Zhu Feng was very surprised. "I've been to this area a few times before when I was patrolling for my father. It's arid and barren, with no lush vegetation, so there aren't many small animals around. I've never seen a large pack of wild dogs."

“There were at least twenty or so wild dogs in that pack, but most of them looked emaciated. They were wandering around a country road in the mountain valley. It seemed that, as you said, they were starving and couldn’t find any food because there were no other small animals for them to eat.” Lu Qing nodded.

Zhu Feng became increasingly confused: "This is strange! This is clearly not a place where stray dogs gather, yet a large group of them have gathered here for no reason. Even though they are starving and emaciated, they are still reluctant to leave. Why is that?"
What exactly lures them here, and makes them linger, unwilling to leave?

This matter puzzled him, but Zhu Yu, who was standing beside him, already had the answer in his heart.

“The bones we dug up today… might be related to those stray dogs lingering and refusing to leave.” After making this connection, she felt even heavier. She took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and solemnly told the two people in front of her that she had discovered the bones were cooked during the day.

Although Lu Qing and Zhu Feng were already mentally prepared by Zhu Yu's solemn expression before she officially spoke, their expressions still changed when they heard the final conclusion.

Zhu Yu added, "And meat, whether raw or cooked, won't rot so quickly when buried under such hard, compacted soil."

Such clean, white bones...it's highly likely that the flesh had already been removed before they were buried.