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Chapter 383 The real purpose
In the past, Lu Qing would definitely have asked Zhu Yu to go with her, as the silver whistle was always worn around her neck.

This time, however, Zhu Yu could only watch the talisman leave with a sense of unease.

They didn't dare to act rashly because they didn't know if there were other ambushes outside Fairy Castle. Even when the old steward begged for mercy and told them everything he knew, no one could guarantee that what he said was the truth.

Back then, we didn't have enough manpower to go out and conduct direct investigations. Now we have enough manpower, but those left outside are all Lu Zhang's people.

Although Lu Zhang has not shown any threat recently, and his lack of ambition and assertiveness has been evident in his actions, the shadow of the Duke of Yan is still behind him, so we cannot be complacent.

Therefore, Lu Qing arranged for Fu Lu to go out under the pretense of delivering some warm and concealing clothing to Lu Zhang's subordinates. In reality, he also took this opportunity to go out, firstly to find out where these people were hiding so that it would be easier to bypass them later, and secondly, to take this opportunity to find a discreet way to deliver the two letters to the Shadow Guard.

If the Shadow Guards have also been lurking around here recently.

Zhu Yu, filled with uncertainty and unease, followed Lu Qing closely, watching as he instructed Lu Yan's men to help Yan Daoxin act as servants delivering hot soup. After the villagers returned, they dutifully delivered the "hot soup" prepared by Yan Daoxin to each household.

Before long, the villagers fell into a deep sleep after drinking the "hot soup." Unaware of what was happening, they were all carried to a gathering place by Lu Yan's soldiers, who then took off their outer garments and put them on themselves.

Thus, the soldiers who had not been assigned the outer robes of the guards changed into the clothes of the peasants, lest the sudden return of the mysterious fake lord reveal their true identity.

"Your Highness, if we brothers take the place of those farmers and go to work in the fields tomorrow, won't we give ourselves away? We're all new faces!" A centurion, who was leading the group, asked with some concern as he tied his linen clothes with a cloth belt.

“It’s alright. Those farmers were all kidnapped and brought here to work. They’re not eating or drinking, and a batch of them will die of starvation soon. So they’re all unfamiliar faces, and there won’t be any flaws.” Lu Qing shook his head, not putting on airs in front of the centurion, and answered patiently.

Upon hearing this, the centurion felt reassured and quickly bowed in agreement. He then told his men to find a place to rest temporarily and wait for orders the next day to go out and "do farm work."

"You must also give instructions to the Second Prince's men." Seeing that Lu Yan's men had no objections, Lu Qing said to Lu Zhang, "Although we are outside the Immortal Fortress, we cannot be careless, and we must not abandon our posts. If there is any disturbance, whether it is an inside-outside attack, catching them like turtles in a jar, or mutual support and information sharing, we must play our role."

Lu Zhang nodded hastily, looking somewhat awkward.

Although Lu Qing spoke calmly, he was actually giving him a serious warning. His words were telling Lu Zhang that everyone had seen through his little tricks and knew what was going on, and that they were only refraining from exposing him because of their brotherhood.

So if his people don't want to be brought in to be used as well, then so be it. But they shouldn't just sit around doing nothing outside. Whatever the pretext, they should actually do the job well.

It was late at night when Fu Lu returned and told Lu Qing that he had handed over the small silver tubes to the shadow guards, and also gave him a familiar-looking mechanical box.

The letter inside the contraption was naturally written by Lu Chao. It wasn't long, but it concisely told Lu Qing about his recent situation.

After this period of selection, Lu Chao recruited a group of visionary young retainers, and the relationship between Lu Jun and Lu Chao also improved optimistically. However, Lu Jun was an extremely cautious person, and even though his attitude had changed significantly, he still did not budge. Lu Chao also told Lu Qing that Situ Jing had begun to make great strides in his new post, and had thoroughly governed the local military discipline.

He himself did not seem to hold a grudge against being demoted, and continued to work diligently and with great enthusiasm.

However, his father and brothers did not seem to be particularly open-minded. It is said that Mingli secretly had a lot of opinions about that "Golden-Faced Censor" and was not very satisfied with Emperor Jin's indifference to the past merits and hard work of the Situ family. He was also quite resentful about the fact that Emperor Jin was too harsh on the children of the Situ family.

However, these things are ultimately something that can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words.

The Situ family, after all, were seasoned veterans, and of course, they didn't say anything explicitly on the surface. Those things were left for others to deduce from their words and actions.

Lu Chao received news that Emperor Jin's condition seemed to be worse than before. He had been unwell several times, and once he almost staggered and fell headfirst into the hall after court, which greatly frightened the civil and military officials.

Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of the palace officials, Emperor Jin recovered quickly and was not seriously injured.

Lu Qing handed the letter to Zhu Yu for her to read, and then asked Fu Lu, "What's the situation outside?"

“The Shadow Guards haven’t dared to make any rash moves in this area, but according to their observations, there are no unusual signs at the moment,” Fu Lu said cautiously to Lu Qing. “There is one thing, though, that I specifically asked him about.”

During the time the shadow guards were secretly following us in this area, we didn't see a single trace of the Chi Fu Guards.

Zhu Yu looked up from the letter and glanced at Lu Qing.

Since they entered Shuodi, the Chifu Guards have not shown their faces again. Now that they have traveled to Landi, the Chifu Guards still have not followed.

You should know that even Lu Yan can come and go freely in this area, so how could the Chi Fu Guards around Emperor Jin be unable to keep up because they cannot leave the territory of Jin Kingdom?
Lu Chao and Lu Qing's "shadows" are still trying to follow them around, but the "shadow god" that Emperor Jin has secretly trained over the years has disappeared.

If before, Zhu Yu could only guess at Emperor Jin's thoughts without any basis, now that things have come to this point, she feels that the matter is clear enough.

Lu Qing may have been Jin Di's tool and pawn from beginning to end, and this has not truly changed even now.

However, they all seemed to have misjudged the true purpose of Emperor Jin in using Lu Qing as a tool.

(End of this chapter)