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Chapter 296 Making up for one’s faults
Around 7:45 PM, Fu Lu returned, bringing with him Wen Qiming, the Left Chief Secretary.

Wen Qiming seemed to have mixed feelings, a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

Zhu Yu was initially puzzled, wondering why he reacted that way, but he understood after hearing Fu Lu's explanation.

“Madam, there are also spies from the Pang family in that prison. When I went there, they were planning to poison the Left Chief Secretary’s food, trying to lie and say it was the Prince of Shuo’s order to make him commit suicide!” Fu Lu said to Zhu Yu. “I beat those bastards to pieces and locked them all in the prison.”

The Left Chief Clerk, having spent these past few days inside, has figured out who is loyal, and can now put them in charge of continuing the guard.

Wen Qiming, of course, knew Zhu Yu's identity by now. After Fu Lu finished speaking, he knelt down on the ground with a thud: "This humble servant greets Your Highness! If it weren't for you sending this officer to rescue me, I'm afraid my life would have ended up in that prison today!"
"My lowly life was given to me by the Princess; I will never forget her life-saving grace!"

“Chief Secretary Wen, there’s no need for that. Although you made a mistake before because of your own selfishness, you were still loyal to my father. That’s exactly what my father values ​​most, and it’s also what His Majesty values ​​most when choosing people.” Zhu Yu said to Wen Qiming with a smile, his attitude was exceptionally amiable, but he subtly surpassed Zhu Cheng in his words and also took advantage of Emperor Jin’s reputation.

Upon hearing this, Wen Qiming involuntarily straightened his back considerably.

"Wen Changshi, you have been by Father's side for many years. You should know who among Father's men is of one mind with him and who is colluding with the Pang family, right?" Zhu Yu asked.

“Your Highness is absolutely right!” Wen Qiming nodded hurriedly. “Your Highness is usually busy with affairs and may not pay attention to many things. In addition, he is kind-hearted and trusts his people. So when I noticed something in the past, I mentioned it to Your Highness a few times, but Your Highness did not pay attention to it.”

However, I've always been worried about those few people, so I keep a close eye on them and have a fairly clear understanding of their backgrounds.

"Then I'd like to trouble Chief Secretary Zuo to make a copy of these names for me," Zhu Yu gestured to an empty side room.

"Your Highness is too kind. I am humbled." Wen Qiming quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

The talisman led him there, and in no time, it returned with a list, which it handed to Zhu Yu.

Zhu Yu looked at the list. She wasn't actually very familiar with Zhu Cheng's men, so the names on the list were all unfamiliar to her, and she couldn't make any sense of them.

But she still examined it carefully with great seriousness, silently assessing the situation represented by the number of people.

Overall, the situation wasn't more pessimistic than she had anticipated, but it wasn't much more optimistic either.

"Chief Secretary," Zhu Yu pondered for a moment, then said to Wen Qiming, "Gather the reliable people secretly, but don't make any moves yet. Send a few spies to find out what the Pang family is planning, and then we'll decide how to deal with them!"

"Yes, Your subordinate will certainly live up to your expectations!" Wen Qiming quickly agreed.

"Chief Secretary," Zhu Yu sighed slowly, stood up, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect as a man, and said to Wen Qiming with deep emotion, "The stability of Shuo Kingdom and the peace of its people—I entrust all of this to you on behalf of my father!"

Wen Qiming seemed taken aback by her actions, hastily returning the greeting with a moved expression, and leaving with remarkably firm steps. It was clear that Zhu Yu had truly grasped Wen Qiming's mindset.

After he quietly left that night, he soon followed Zhu Yu's instructions, secretly gathering manpower and sending out several reliable spies. Within two days, he had a clear understanding of the movements of those who were closely connected with the Pang family.

Zhu Yu instructed him not to alert any prominent or important figures, but to start with the insignificant underlings, taking them down one by one, secretly imprisoning them, and keeping them under close guard, making sure not to alert anyone else in the process.

She was the one who interrogated those who were imprisoned.

Although the fake skin was torn off and Zhu Yu didn't know how to put it back on, she still carried the leather mask that Lu Qing had made for her with her.

No one in Shuodi knew the Golden-Faced Censor of Emperor Jin, and even fewer knew the "Chief Secretary Yu" beside the Golden-Faced Censor. Zhu Yu changed into men's clothing and put on a leather mask, so no one could tell her identity.

So Fu Lu was responsible for keeping an eye on Pang Yuzhen and Zhu Ning, the mother and daughter, to prevent them from doing anything stupid again. Miao Shi stayed with Yan Shu, and Zhu Yu was at ease. Accompanied by Wen Qiming, she ran around busily every day, interrogating the traitors who had been secretly captured and imprisoned day and night.

Although her initial plan was to capture some "leftovers" and minor characters, after extracting details from each of them and piecing together this seemingly insignificant information, Zhu Yu was able to extract some valuable information.

She then uses this information to decide how to proceed.

They worked like this for more than ten days. With Wen Qiming's help, Zhu Yu and the others quietly imprisoned those who were attached to the Pang family, and kept a close watch on those who should not be disturbed. Any unusual behavior could be dealt with on the spot.

I have never been this tired before. Some things can be done during the day, but others need to be done quietly at night.

Even though he could go back to the Prince Shuo's mansion to rest at night, he still couldn't sleep peacefully in bed.

Although she had a lot of trouble and effort on this side, she was relatively safe and things went smoothly. However, she didn't know what the situation was like on Lu Qing's side.

The note he had asked the shadow guard to give him contained only a few words; it wasn't convenient to inquire about the specific arrangements and plans behind it at that time.

While Zhu Yu felt that with Lu Qing's strategic planning and skills, there shouldn't be any problems, she still couldn't help feeling uneasy and couldn't help but speculate about the situation at the Wutie Mine.

This constant busyness left her feeling physically and mentally exhausted, but at the same time, every time she removed a "nail" that had been bribed and won over by the Pang family, she felt a sense of accomplishment she had never experienced before.

It was this sense of accomplishment that sustained Zhu Yu through each day.

At the same time, thanks to Pang Yutang's desperate gamble after discovering that his crimes had been exposed, he took away most of the people in the capital. With Wen Qiming's cooperation, Zhu Yu's supporters of the Pang family, who had been dug up from various places, were also imprisoned one after another, and other reliable people were replaced. Finally, he secretly and quietly brought the situation in the capital under his control.