Discuss with you

Chapter 384 The overall situation is the most important thing
After asking Fu Lu, Lu Qing wrote a reply to Lu Chao, handed the reassembled ingenious box to Fu Lu, and instructed him to be careful to avoid Lu Zhang's spies. Fu Lu responded and left.

After closing the door again, Lu Qing turned around and saw Zhu Yu resting his chin on his hand, staring intently at him.

He paused for a moment, then spread his arms slightly and slowly turned around in place.

Zhu Yu was caught off guard by his reaction. She paused for a moment, then burst out laughing: "What are you doing!"

"What?" Lu Qing looked innocent. "I saw that my wife was looking at me so intently, and I thought that as a husband, I should naturally be more considerate of my wife's thoughts, so I tried to find a way to let my wife see me more clearly."

"When it comes to pretending to be confused when you know the truth, you're probably unparalleled in the martial arts world, invincible." Zhu Yu laughed and took a deep breath, beckoning Lu Qing back to the table. After all, it wasn't convenient for her to raise her voice to talk to him about what was going to happen next. "I was just thinking about something, and I just couldn't figure it out."

Even my father knows that your grandfather and father were loyal to the Emperor from beginning to end and achieved great military exploits.

Although such a great disaster occurred overnight, and there are still various mysteries surrounding the reasons behind it, the contributions of your ancestors to the Emperor are undeniable.

It is said that the Emperor did not care about these things, but he took you in and raised you by his side immediately. After you were poisoned, he tried his best to send you to Shanqing Temple and ask Qiyun Mountain Man to save you.

But he said he was mindful of the past relationship between your ancestors... yet he's been using you all along. Rather than treating you as an adopted son, it's more accurate to say he saw you as a valuable tool...

This really doesn't understand me.

“I told you before, His Majesty is very deep in thought and quite suspicious.” Lu Qing wasn’t bothered by this matter, especially after learning that there were no traces of the Chi Fu Guards in the vicinity, which made him even happier. “In the past, he was always unsure which rumors I would believe, whether I would become his right-hand man or repay kindness with enmity, so he was always quite cautious and tested me at every turn.”

Now, although he and I have different paths and similar goals, it is still not enough to make him lower his guard.

These things aren't important; as long as the results we want right now don't conflict, that's enough for me.

He paused for a moment, then lowered his eyelids slightly: "I will also find out the truth about my ancestors."

However, there are priorities, and I must prioritize the overall situation.

Zhu Yu nodded. Although Emperor Jin's actions were somewhat disheartening, the current situation was much more optimistic than they had expected.

The next two days were the most relaxing two days for everyone.

The bloated and fat guards, along with the old steward, were all locked up together. The guards seemed to have only woken up once, then were given another dose of medicine and fell into a deep sleep again.

After two days, the old steward was so hungry that he could barely keep his eyes open. He lay slumped on the ground, and if it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he would have looked no different from dead.

Lu Yan's subordinates spent their days posing as guards inside the fortress, while the rest of them, like the real villagers, went out early and returned late to tend to the plants. Meanwhile, the real villagers remained in a deep slumber, waiting for Yan Daoxin to concoct a safe antidote that would not harm their lives.

Yan Daoxin was probably the busiest person in the entire fortress. However, he seemed particularly excited because the ingredients for the "hot soup" and incense included rare herbs that he had originally intended to find in Landi, which made him especially motivated.

The others didn't have much to do these past two days. Although they still needed to be vigilant at all times, the sense of security they felt was incomparable to before, as they were now surrounded by their own men inside and outside the fortress.

Even though she still had to sleep fully clothed, Zhu Yu felt much more at ease sleeping and felt more refreshed when she woke up in the morning.

During this time, Lu Yan went to the dungeon several times to check on the situation, wanting to move the corpses of his unfortunate tax collectors out, but Lu Qing dissuaded him each time.

Lu Qing advised him not to be impatient. There was no way to transport the people out in a big way right now. The cellar was cool and dry, and since the tax collectors had all died from excessive blood loss, their bodies would not easily decompose if left there temporarily.

Instead, they forcibly moved their bodies out. If they cannot be buried as soon as possible, given the current conditions, it will be extremely difficult to transport a complete body back to the families of these tax collectors to give them an explanation.

Lu Yan looked at his subordinates who had died tragically, his eyes bloodshot, his cheeks bulging, feeling like his back teeth were about to be ground to dust. But in the end, he listened to Lu Qing's advice and only ordered someone to bring some cloth to wrap the men up properly and temporarily place them in a safe place in the dungeon.

On the third day, Yan Daoxin finally made progress in finding an antidote.

After careful selection, he found an old man with completely white hair and beard, who was as thin as a rake, and decided to let him try the effects of the antidote first.

The reason is simple—if such a frail and elderly man can withstand the power of the antidote, recover his spirit, and not experience any terrible reactions, wouldn't it be even safer for others?

Zhu Yu easily opened the old man's jaw, making his mouth open. Yan Daoxin threw the pill in and patted and tapped the old man's chest and back. The old man's head trembled, and the pill was swallowed.

Zhu Yu helped the old man close his mouth again, staring at him nervously, not daring to breathe.

Although Yan Daoxin sat calmly to the side, his unconsciously shallow breathing revealed that he was just as uneasy as anyone else.

A moment later, the emaciated old man suddenly gasped for breath. He inhaled too deeply and choked, coughing violently. He slowly opened his eyes as he coughed violently.

Yan Daoxin quickly helped the man up, took the bowl of honey water from the person next to him, and carefully fed the old man some water.

The old man drank a few sips of water, his breathing gradually calmed down, he opened his eyes and looked at the person who fed him the water, then looked around, his cloudy eyes revealing a kind of bewilderment.

"I...I..." When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse, as if it had been rusty, perhaps because he hadn't spoken in so long. It sounded incredibly unpleasant. "Where am I? Who are you?"

(End of this chapter)