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Chapter 324 Encounter on a narrow road

Just as Zhu Yu was about to repeat his question, the old man suddenly stood up and flicked his sleeves: "You've rested enough. Please feel free to rest here. There's no need to be so formal."

The others also stood up, nodded to them with friendly smiles, and then dispersed in twos and threes, returning to the middle of the flower field.

Before long, the leisurely singing voice floated in the air again.

Zhu Yu watched in surprise as those people happily went back to work, and Yan Shu beside her was also somewhat surprised.

“They must be living a very happy life here,” she whispered to Zhu Yu. “I’ve never seen anyone so cheerful while doing farm work.”

In the past, when people in our area were herding livestock, they would only occasionally shout a few times when someone was in a good mood or had been drinking.

This is truly the first time I've seen everyone so happy.

"Don't just talk about you, I feel the same way." Zhu Yu nodded with a wry smile. "Maybe that strange feeling I have, which I can't quite put my finger on, but just feels off, is because of this!"

If it's just one or two people, or a family, who happen to have some happy event and are therefore especially joyful, then this explanation makes sense.

But the farmers in that fort, men, women, and children—so many people, just living in the same fort, not one family—all looked so cheerful…

She stopped and listened to the singing coming from afar: "Even singing is so synchronized, with everyone responding in unison, it's very strange."

“They’re like a bunch of puppets!” Yan Shu nodded repeatedly. “Look at them working, they don’t seem to mind the sun, and their clothes are all neat and clean. They don’t look like farmers at all!”

And when it's time to rest, they all come over to rest at the same time, and once one person has rested, they all rush back to work. How can they be so organized!

“Puppets.” Zhu Yu looked at Lu Qing. “These people are like a bunch of little wooden puppets!”
I had a feeling about them that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and now that Yan Shu has said it, I finally know the right way to describe it!
They are like a group of marionettes, pulled by the same string, which is why they share the same joys and sorrows and act in unison.

I just find it strange. The questions I asked them shouldn't have been difficult to answer, right? But they seemed to be listening to something completely foreign to them.

Lu Zhang sat there, unable to get a word in edgewise. His gaze kept shifting between the other three people, as if they all had a clear idea of ​​what to do, while he was mostly lost and confused.

It seems that once he left the Duke of Yan's side, he suddenly lost his backbone. Whenever he encountered an unexpected situation, he would feel a sense of panic, fearing that he would not be able to handle it or that he might make the wrong decision, which would not only cause trouble but also lead to blame and reprimands.

This plunged him into an indescribable sense of frustration, and for a moment his mood was extremely gloomy, as if he were sealed in a thick layer of wax, unable to breathe at all.

Lu Qing remained silent, simply watching the others busy themselves. After a while, he said to the others, "There must be something strange here, but we don't have any reason to go and find out. We shouldn't do anything rash, so let's not act rashly for now."

"Let's go, it's getting late. Let's go back to camp and rest for the night. We'll set off tomorrow and see if there are any bandits after we get past this Fairy Fort area."

Zhu Yu and Yan Shu both expressed their agreement, and Lu Zhang silently nodded in agreement.

They got up and walked outside, while the farmers seemed completely oblivious, continuing to hum and chant as they went about their work. The group rode back along the original road, and after about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they saw dust rising in the distance ahead, and the noisy sound of horses' hooves was coming from their direction.

Fuwen Fulu quickly spurred his horse and stood in front of Lu Qing and the others, staring warily ahead.

The approaching army drew nearer from afar, their hooves thundering rapidly with no sign of slowing down.

The slanting rays of the setting sun shone directly down, blinding them so much that they couldn't open their eyes and couldn't make out what the person coming towards them looked like.

The talisman could only tell that the other side seemed to have quite a few people, so before they even got close, it shouted, "Who goes there?"

Leading the way was a man dressed in leather armor, resembling a military general. Hearing Fu Lu's loud question, he retorted loudly, "What a joke! I haven't even asked you who you are, where you come from, or why you're blocking the road, and you're already asking me questions!"

As soon as the person spoke, even though they couldn't see his face clearly, both Lu Qing and Lu Zhang immediately relaxed their brows.

“It’s Lu Yan.” Lu Qing knew that Zhu Yu did not know the Third Prince, who had volunteered to serve on the frontier long ago and stayed away from the troublesome capital, so she immediately told Zhu Yu to put her mind at ease.

Zhu Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

Although it's unclear who Lu Yan is aligned with, they are all princes, and their words and actions are still within a controllable and predictable range, which is much better than encountering some unknown forces.

When Lu Zhang heard Lu Qing explain the other party's identity to Zhu Yu immediately, he was slightly taken aback and quickly looked at Yan Shu.

Yan Shu had overheard Lu Qing telling Zhu Yu, and although she didn't know who Lu Yan was, since he was surnamed Lu, his identity wasn't hard to guess.

So she seemed quite calm at this moment.

Lu Zhang hesitated for a moment, then decided to add something to Yan Shu's explanation that Lu Qing hadn't mentioned earlier.

After all, they were a couple betrothed by imperial decree, and Lu Qing and Zhu Yu seemed to have such a tacit understanding. "Lu Yan is my third brother..."

Yan Shu pulled on the reins and circled around to the other side of Zhu Yu, keeping a distance from Lu Zhang.

Lu Zhang's unfinished words were stuck in his throat, and his expression looked extremely awkward.

He pursed his lips, somewhat annoyed, but couldn't vent his anger. He could only spur his horse forward, passing Lu Qing and pushing aside the two brothers, Fuwen and Fulu, to stand at the very front.

As the sound of hooves drew closer, Lu Yan, clad in leather armor, finally recognized who was opposite him. He frowned, about to speak, when he saw Lu Qing behind Lu Zhang, and his expression turned somewhat surprised.

“Brother…” Lu Yan was a straightforward person, and he couldn’t hide his emotions or thoughts, which were all written on his face. “How did you end up with him?!”