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Chapter 436 "Overcoming the Strong with the Soft"

Just as Lu Jun had stated his position, Lu Chao asked for his help. Lu Jun, without hesitation, readily lent Lu Chao his troops.

Furthermore, Lu Chao didn't need many people; at most, he only borrowed a hundred. He also had someone arrange for these soldiers to wear plain clothes and disguise themselves as ordinary people.

This wouldn't make Lu Jun feel apprehensive, nor would it cause him any new trouble. Naturally, he was even more satisfied and hurriedly took advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate his sincerity with a straightforward attitude.

Zhu Yu breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that Lu Chao had brought a hundred elite soldiers in disguise to provide support.

Although Lu Qing and Lu Chao are only related by blood, their personalities are even closer than Lu Chao's true brothers born of the same father.

Both of them are the type who are meticulous, thorough in their work, and dislike showing off. Whenever they do something, they don't need to spend a lot of time persuading each other; they understand each other almost instantly.

This kind of discreet and understated support is exactly what Lu Qing wanted.

"So, Granny Shi and the others have all been caught, right?" she asked as she strolled slowly around the house, supported by Lu Qing.

"They've all been caught. We removed their jaws immediately, and sure enough, we found the medicine sac hidden in their molars, just like the ones we encountered before." Lu Qing nodded, answering Zhu Yu's question while also addressing another question she hadn't yet asked.

"Is the fake lord who escaped earlier hiding in the small mountain tower?" Zhu Yu hurriedly asked again.

Although she herself felt that during the few days she was inside, she could even walk out of the room on her own and wander around, and no one would stop her as long as she didn't try to leave through the main door. Such lax guarding didn't seem like they were hiding someone and afraid of being discovered.

But she still hopes to find that person as soon as possible, to find out who the mastermind behind this is, and what terrible conspiracy they are plotting.

“No, we’ve searched everywhere but haven’t found it. However, judging from Granny Shi’s attitude, she and the fake fortress lord should know each other.” Lu Qing shook his head. “No one in the small mountain tower is willing to confess so far.”

After all, this is Lan Di, so we can't really resort to any special measures.

In a few days, Lu Chao will set off to return home. He will escort those people back to the territory of Jin Kingdom and imprison them himself.

I believe Lu Chao should have a way to get those people to talk.

“Lu Chao… what ruthless methods does he have?” Zhu Yu felt that although he hadn’t had any real contact with Lu Chao in the past, he had met him quite a few times in Yunyin Pavilion thanks to Lu Qing.

Although Lu Chao's impression on her was not as that of a gentleman as he appeared on the surface, his temper was indeed much gentler than Lu Qing's, or to put it another way, he was kind and honest.

This may be related to their upbringing. Every step Lu Qing took involved choices between life and death, so naturally, in addition to caution, he also possessed a greater degree of decisiveness and ruthlessness. As the only heir left by Empress Wang, Lu Chao, even if others harbored malicious intentions, should at least have restrained himself. Several covert attempts to probe him failed, and as he grew older, his temperament became more indifferent, and his relationship with Emperor Jin seemed to become more distant, the schemes in the shadows seemed to have subsided.

Therefore, he became even more cautious and was willing to leave himself an out.

Therefore, Zhu Yu could hardly imagine that the group of well-trained thieves were all determined to die immediately if they failed. Even Lu Qing might not have been able to get them to talk, let alone Lu Chao.
Lu Qing was not surprised that Zhu Yu had such doubts. He smiled slightly and said, "You must have heard of the saying 'overcoming strength with gentleness'."

Those who aren't afraid of death are beyond my control, especially people like me. Falling into Lu Chao's hands, they're neither truly dead nor truly alive, and he doesn't know when it will end. He's very skilled at psychological warfare.

Zhu Yu nodded, feeling quite emotional.

It is said that the emperor is the Son of Heaven, so it is not an exaggeration to say that the royal family is a "dragon's den and tiger's lair".

Anyone who can survive and grow up successfully in such an environment without any external protection, regardless of their temperament or personality, is ultimately a ruthless person.

"By the way, what exactly are those ruthless Granny Shi and her gang doing, abducting those innocent girls like that?" Since Lu Qing had already asked, Zhu Yu had no interest in worrying unnecessarily. Instead, she asked about another important question that she had wanted to know but didn't have the energy to ask.

"Sit down, I'll tell you slowly." Lu Qing felt that walking around the room so many times was enough for Zhu Yu at this stage, so she helped her sit down on the edge of the bed. "The rumors we've heard before all say that the women chosen by Xiaoshanlou will be pampered until they are fair and beautiful, and then sent to high-ranking officials and nobles as concubines or even second wives."

However, once those women entered the gates of the small mountain villa, they were rarely seen afterward. Even their families only received generous dowries but never had the chance to see their own daughters.

“That’s true. That Granny Shi did tell Yan Daoxin and me that she was going to marry him off as a concubine.” Zhu Yu nodded. “But what kind of matchmaker would create such a complicated and vicious secret passage?”

However, I went outside the room a few times and no one stopped me. They didn't seem to care much about whether I wanted to escape.

This has left me a bit confused.

“They really don’t need to worry too much about the women left there to recuperate escaping.” Lu Qing sighed. “First of all, they have arranged several strong guards at the only convenient entrance. When you first went in, a woman who was still healthy couldn’t possibly get past those guards.”

As for the women who were brought in, once they started taking their specially concocted "tonics," they would quickly become increasingly fair and beautiful, but at the same time, their arms would become weak and their legs powerless. Forget about climbing so many steps; even just getting them to the main gate would be impossible without the high threshold, preventing any of them from escaping.

"They've ruined people by repairing them?" Zhu Yu was somewhat surprised. "They're becoming more and more beautiful, yet increasingly weak... then... wouldn't these women be..."

The thought crossed her mind, and her expression immediately changed.