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Chapter 261: Disgraced
After saying this, Lu Qing got up and walked outside, instructing the talisman guarding outside to heat up Zhu Yu's food.

Zhu Yu's gaze fell on the secret letter. Although she couldn't decipher the code written in musical notation, the incident just now was enough to surprise her.

When Lu Qing returned, she hurriedly pulled him to sit down: "You were transferred out of Lizhou, which is exactly what you wanted, but... you went from Commander-in-Chief to Commander of the Imperial Guards... was that part of your original plan?"

“Such details are naturally not in my plans. If I could predict even such minor matters, then your husband would be no ordinary man, but an immortal!” Lu Qing laughed. “It’s only half a rank. Whether it’s the Commander-in-Chief or the Commander of the Imperial Guards, they are still serving in the military. As for any real impact, it’s not that significant. At most, for the Situ family, it’s a shame that their son, who had a promising future, was suddenly demoted because of this.”

"You were so eager to win over the Situ family before, but now, although Situ Jing has been transferred, he has lost half a rank in his official position and has also caused the Situ family to lose face..."

Zhu Yu naturally knew that Lu Qing had previously written a secret memorial and had Chi Fuwei send it back to the capital to report to Emperor Jin about the events at the Lizhou camp.

She also clearly remembered how Lu Qing deliberately dug a pit in the Lizhou camp. She originally thought that even so, given General Situ's reputation, Emperor Jin would at most transfer him to a less "lucrative" place out of respect for the Situ family, even if Situ Jing was "unsuccessful in his dealings with the world".

In this way, Lu Qing's wish would be fulfilled, and the Situ family's reputation wouldn't be too tarnished.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Jin directly demoted Situ Jing...

Although it was only half a rank, Situ Jing was originally only a fifth-rank official, so this was like adding insult to injury.

"Isn't this perfect?" Lu Qing smiled, appearing extremely calm. This calmness wasn't a deliberate attempt to hide her unease; rather, it seemed more like a concealment of her inner smugness, preventing her true emotions from showing. "I've told you before about the biggest taboo that has always plagued the Situ family."

“I know they are loyal only to the emperor and resolutely refuse to join any faction, and they won’t try to curry favor with any prince before he officially ascends the throne.” Zhu Yu nodded, indicating that he hadn’t forgotten what Lu Qing had told him earlier. “But we can’t afford to make enemies either… uh… oh…”

As she spoke, she suddenly realized something, and her expression changed from confusion to sudden understanding. She looked at Lu Qing with surprise in her eyes: "This is exactly what you want! You know that in order to give Duke Yan enough face, he will not tolerate any meritorious officials' sons who do not associate with Duke Yan, except for Duke Yan's faction. Therefore, he will definitely handle Situ Jing in an official manner!"

However, no matter how official the matter is, General Situ's power is undeniable, and some face must still be given. So the demotion will definitely happen, but it's just for show. In the subsequent resettlement, the influence of the Situ family will still be taken into consideration.

Thus, everyone in the court knew that Situ Jing had been demoted because of the secret report by the Golden-Faced Censor. The Situ family and the Golden-Faced Censor were essentially sworn enemies; who would still suspect that Situ Jing and the Golden-Faced Censor had any private dealings?

"No one knows me better than my wife." Lu Qing smiled and nodded, acknowledging Zhu Yu's guess.

"Then where is Qinzhou...?" Zhu Yu asked.

“It borders Xinzhou.” Lu Qing dipped his finger into the tea in the cup next to him and roughly drew a few lines on the table. “Xinzhou is Lu Jun’s fiefdom.”

Zhu Yu raised an eyebrow, looking at the water stains on the table.

Honestly, Situ Jing's demotion is quite commendable. He's now far away from Shuo Di, where he hasn't yet cleared his name, and closer to Lu Chao, who is staying in the fiefdom of the Fourth Prince, Lu Jun.

"Do you want to know what else is in this letter?" Lu Qing asked after a moment of silence, allowing Zhu Yu to process the information.

Zhu Yu nodded hurriedly.

What a joke! Of course she wanted to know: "Is there anything related to us, or rather, to the Shuo Kingdom? Has Lu Zhang returned to the capital? Has Yan Shu's escape been discovered yet?"

“None of what you’ve mentioned is mentioned in this letter.” Lu Qing smiled and shook his head, noticing a hint of disappointment in Zhu Yu’s expression. “The fact that there’s no explanation for these things is exactly what we want right now.”

The lack of any explanation suggests that the person in question is unaware of the situation. After all, whether we are in Shuodi or Princess Yanshu has run away, these are significant events.

However, the letter didn't mention us, but it did mention something else, related to the Duke of Yan.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu immediately sat up straight.

Aside from matters closely related to them, what interested her most was news about the Duke of Yan's faction.

"A few days ago, a governor in the court could no longer tolerate it and risked his life to remonstrate, saying that the Duke of Yan was supporting his cronies, forming cliques for personal gain, suppressing dissent, and acting arbitrarily. If he was not restrained and punished, he feared that he would bring chaos to the court and harm the long-term stability of the Jin Dynasty."

Zhu Yu was genuinely surprised to hear this. This governor actually dared to impeach the Duke of Yan so bluntly in the imperial court; it truly felt like he was risking his life.

"So... what was the result?" she asked tentatively.

"None of the other civil and military officials present dared to agree to his words. The emperor was furious and rebuked the governor for his alarmist talk. He ordered him to be dragged out and beaten with twenty strokes of the cane, and then banished from the capital without even giving him time to recover from his injuries before leaving."

Zhu Yu blinked and frowned.

She knew that this matter sounded like another instance of Emperor Jin showing favoritism and protection towards Duke Yan, which inadvertently gave Duke Yan's faction even more confidence.

In the imperial court, no one dared to openly respond to the governor's advice, which seemed unsurprising.

But she always felt that things were not as simple as they seemed on the surface.

"Where was that prefect demoted and transferred after leaving the capital?" She found a key question here.

Lu Qing shook his head: "I don't know."

"Is it that we don't know, or that no one knows?"

"I don't know," Lu Qing replied.

Zhu Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of understanding in his expression.

"So, where is our Master Mo now? Is he still in Xinzhou?" Zhu Yu asked. Now that she had figured some things out, she had more ideas about the current situation, and her expression naturally relaxed a lot.

Lu Qing was not surprised by her comprehension. After Fu Lu brought in the food and placed it on the table, then went out and closed the door, he helped Zhu Yu serve the soup while saying to her, "He went to various academies and free schools to check and see if any talented students from poor families have been discovered in the past few years."