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Chapter 310 Together to the Lan Kingdom
Perhaps because wielding a whip was too unfamiliar to Zhu Yu, she didn't pick it up quickly and couldn't get the hang of it after several attempts.

The long leather whip in her hand was like a cunning and treacherous snake, completely disobedient.

"Your strength is wrong. Let me teach you again!" Yan Shu waved her hand and took the whip from Zhu Yu's hand. "You need to use your waist to generate power. Your wrists and shoulders shouldn't be too tense. You need to relax them a bit so that you can control the whip freely in your hand."

Look, like this!

As she spoke, she flicked her wrist, and the whip flew out swiftly. The tip of the whip twitched and flicked against a tree trunk not far away before being quickly pulled back: "This is called 'Black Snake Spits Its Tongue,' a feint with the whip to distract the opponent."

Then she lashed out with the whip again, this time the tip of the whip lashed straight at the tree trunk over there, quickly circling it several times until it wrapped around the trunk, which was about the thickness of a person's neck.

“Like this,” Yan Shu turned around, the whip resting on her shoulder, and made a pulling motion, “if that’s a villain’s neck, with this back-and-forth pull, he won’t be able to breathe a single breath!”

Zhu Yu was amazed and was just about to praise Yan Shu when she suddenly heard someone clapping. She and Yan Shu were both stunned for a moment. Turning around, they saw Lu Zhang walking out of the house. He probably saw Yan Shu wielding her whip so elegantly as soon as he stepped out, and before he could even process what was happening, he couldn't help but clap his hands.

Yan Shu was taken aback. She didn't know Lu Zhang's identity, but she knew he was a Jin Kingdom person, and judging from his manner, he was a Jin Kingdom military general. Fearing that he might recognize her damned betrothed husband, and that it would cause trouble for Zhu Yu and the others if he recognized her, she quickly gave Zhu Yu a wink, hurriedly loosened the whip, put it back in her hand, and quickly went back to her room, slamming the door shut.

Lu Zhang was bewildered by Yan Shu's hasty avoidance, but his mind finally seemed to clear up a bit. He realized that his actions just now were somewhat abrupt and inappropriate, so he quickly stepped forward to Zhu Yu and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm. I just couldn't help clapping my hands because I saw how beautifully that girl used the whip..."

If I have offended her in any way, please apologize to her on my behalf.

"It's alright," Zhu Yu didn't know when Lu Qing planned to talk to Lu Zhang about this, so she could only give a vague answer for now. "General Yi, you've been working hard these days. Did we disturb your rest while we were out?"

"Sister-in-law, you're too kind," Lu Zhang waved his hand awkwardly, looking up at the sky outside. "I rarely sleep this long, please forgive me."

The two remained silent. Lu Zhang was naturally curious about Zhu Yu, but dared not ask rashly. Zhu Yu, similarly, did not intend to say much to him, so she simply greeted him and went back to her room.

Neither Zhu Yu nor Yan Shu came out. Lu Zhang wandered around in the courtyard for a while, but probably because he noticed that Zhu Yu and Yan Shu had chosen to avoid him, or perhaps because his wounds were still throbbing, he quietly returned to his room after a short while. After lunch, probably feeling really bored, he called Fu Wen and asked him to find a servant in the palace to bring him pen and ink to his room. After that, he never came out again.

Zhu Yu heard all of this clearly from inside the room.

She discovered that Lu Zhang's behavior was completely different when he was not with Duke Yan.

It seemed that when he was with the Duke of Yan, he would subconsciously try his best to please the Duke and do everything he could to adopt an attitude that would satisfy Zhao Bi. When Zhao Bi was not around, whether it was the time they had a chance encounter with him in Lizhou before, or this time, without the influence of others, Lu Zhang seemed like a naive young man who lacked composure and even confidence in his own words and actions, completely lacking the kind of boldness that one should have when standing alone.

When Lu Qing returned in the evening, Zhu Yu told him about what had happened during the day. Lu Qing smiled, seemingly not caring much.

However, the next day, he took Lu Zhang with him, saying that he could use him as a witness to see firsthand how Zhu Cheng diligently supervised the production of the batch of weapons that Jin Kingdom wanted.

In this way, Yan Shu and Zhu Yu can be much more at ease during the day.

Lu Zhang didn't seem very interested in things like supervising the manufacture of weapons. He only went out twice with Lu Qing before claiming that his wound was still aching and he didn't want to go out.

He didn't go out with Lu Qing, and he rarely showed his face. For several days in a row, he asked Fu Wen to help him get a lot of paper from the servants of the Zhu family.

At first, Zhu Yu thought he was planning to write a letter to the Duke of Yan or someone else to inform him, but he only saw the paper being taken in and nothing being sent out. Later, upon closer inspection, he discovered that the paper Lu Zhang wanted was large sheets of Xuan paper used for painting, which made him even more curious.

After staying there for more than ten days, Lu Zhang's injuries improved day by day and he was finally close to being fully recovered. Lu Qing and Zhu Yu also began to consider the timing of leaving Shuo Kingdom.

That evening, a soldier from the Jin Kingdom came to the Shuo King's residence and brought Lu Zhang important news—they had received information that a group of bandits, armed with black iron weapons, were roaming the area bordering the Shuo Kingdom, the Jin Kingdom, and the Lan Kingdom, burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities along the way.

Lu Zhang was taken aback and immediately wanted to set off, but after instructing the soldier to relay the message back to all the soldiers to prepare for departure, he hesitated again.

"I wonder if my brother would be willing to go with me?" he asked Lu Qing with some hesitation. "This matter is related to the Jie Kingdom and borders the Shuo region... I'm afraid that if I go alone, no matter what the outcome, some people will think I'm being biased."

"Didn't General Yi say before that if you really had rebellious intentions, you would immediately put righteousness before family?" Lu Qing neither agreed nor refused, but instead asked Lu Zhang a question.

Lu Zhang looked somewhat embarrassed: "That was indeed our initial plan. After all, rumors were rampant at the time, and I thought there wouldn't be any baseless speculation."

But now that it has been proven that King Shuo had no intention of rebelling, and that everything was the work of the Pang family, who even plotted to kill King Shuo, then perhaps there are other hidden stories in the Jie Kingdom as well.

My brother is coming with me; firstly, it seems more convenient in the northern region, and secondly, he can provide me with a witness.”

Lu Qing pondered for a moment and nodded: "Alright, it just so happens that the Lan people who colluded with the Pang family are of unknown origin. They escaped from Shuo before the Pang family could make any moves. I also wanted to go there to take a look."