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Chapter 522 Elusive

After catching his breath, Eunuch Gao walked up to Lu Qing, put one hand on his waist, shook his head at him, and said helplessly, "Your Highness, you are confused! That place is hot and humid, full of snakes, insects and rats, and the local customs are strange. How could you have thought of going to such a place?"

And after all these years, don't you know what our Emperor is thinking? Among the several vassal states, although His Majesty is very wary of the militarily strong Jie state, he is most wary of the Brahma state, which likes to use witchcraft and poisons.

You went over there without even a word... and now you're involved in Brahma's death, having his nephew drag the corpse over demanding an explanation...

No wonder His Majesty was so displeased.

So please calm down and think carefully about how to explain this to His Majesty later.

Over the years, His Majesty has always been very fond of you. If you can explain this matter clearly, I believe His Majesty will not do anything to you.

Lu Qing listened silently to Eunuch Gao's words, turned her head to look at the shackles behind her, and smiled faintly: "Then I will take your good wishes with me, Eunuch Gao."

There was nothing inherently wrong with what he said, but the gesture of turning his head to look at the prison behind him before he spoke carried a hint of sarcasm.

Even a seasoned eunuch like Gao Gonggong was rendered speechless by his reaction, unsure of what to say. He was caught between trying to persuade him and not trying to persuade him, leaving him in an awkward situation.

"Eunuch Gao, you've had a hard day. Go back early; His Majesty needs someone to look after him." Lu Qing didn't need any reaction from him, so he nodded to him and turned to follow the constable inside.

Lu Qing remained calm and composed throughout, but the guards who escorted them into the detention center were not so calm.

Although this place is supposed to be used to imprison high-ranking officials who have committed crimes and are to be personally interrogated by the emperor, Emperor Jin has never actually imprisoned anyone here over the years, so it has basically always been vacant.

A group of constables who had never even seen a high-ranking official who had committed a crime were now tasked with guarding a prince who shouldn't be imprisoned here at all...

This really worried these people, and they didn't know what to do with these few people.

In the end, their leader made the decision. He found the largest cell for Lu Qing and the others, lined it with a thick layer of dry grass, and threw in a few quilts.

Even though it's a bit chilly at night this season, there's no need for a quilt.

But after all, he is a prince, a nobleman. He has been used to a life of luxury since childhood. What if he finds that even soft straw is still prickly and uncomfortable?
Not to mention him, even his close attendants are servants in his eyes, but they are people others can't even dream of befriending!

In other words, if they mistreated the Prince Xiaoyao during this period, and the Emperor's anger subsided and the father and son reconciled and forgave each other, then when they were held accountable for how they had mistreated the prince and committed insubordination, they would have no number of heads to lose.

Conversely, treating prisoners well isn't such a serious crime, is it?

So, with this in mind, in addition to the straw and cotton quilts, a messenger soon brought them clean water and cloths so that they could wipe themselves and wash up.

Although a prison cell is by no means a good place, it's much better than the prison van where I was confined a few days ago.

After eating the prison food brought over by the constables, which was clearly prepared especially for them, the group didn't say much and went to bed early. Lu Qing helped Zhu Yu spread more straw in a corner of the cell and added a cotton quilt on top, making it look like a soft cushion.

The other four were much more relaxed. Yan Daoxin laid out a cotton quilt in a corner of the cell and lay down fully clothed.

The talisman and the rune slept on the side closest to the cell door, and the two of them didn't even care about the thickness of the straw.

In the cell, Lu Qing couldn't get too close to Zhu Yu, so he lay down a few feet away from Zhu Yu without even using a quilt.

Zhu Yu lay on the soft cotton quilt, finally freeing both her arms and legs. To exaggerate a bit, with the cotton quilt in the palace under her, the straw-covered floor was even more comfortable than the bed in the small inn in the Brahma Kingdom.

She was also exhausted at the moment.

But for some reason, she just couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned, unable to drift off. Despite being extremely tired and irritable, questions kept popping into her head, keeping her restless.

In any case, the King of Brahma's nephew is a person from a vassal state. Even if he is not an envoy from a vassal state who has been summoned to the capital, meeting him in such a small place as the Southern Study is not quite worthy of the grandeur of the sovereign of the ruler of the world.

So why is it called the Southern Study?
Emperor Jin ordered Eunuch Gao and the guards to escort them to the cangue. They made no attempt to conceal their presence along the way and encountered many palace servants. By now, it's likely that many people inside and outside the palace know that Prince Lu Qing has been sent to a place like the cangue for committing a crime.

What this means will surely spark considerable discussion by tomorrow morning, with rumors and gossip flying everywhere.

From this perspective alone, it seems that Emperor Jin is very angry with Lu Qing for the trouble he caused this time and wants to deal with him severely without showing any mercy. Just the act of locking his adopted son in the shackles is enough to make people feel cold, and it is equivalent to throwing the "father-son" relationship of many years to the ground, without leaving any room for leniency.

But before they left the Southern Study, Emperor Jin told Lu Qing to reflect on his actions and think carefully about how he would explain them to him later...

Looking at it this way, it seems he's still trying to find a way out for Lu Qing, and is intentionally trying to protect him...

Zhu Yu turned over again, feeling somewhat irritated.

Emperor Jin's attitude towards Lu Qing was truly unfathomable.

The things he said about Lu Qing being the lucky star who brought him offspring were all things he told others, giving people the impression that this adopted son was very favored.

But it was he who bestowed the title of Prince of Erzi, secretly made him the Golden-Faced Censor, made him do things that offended people for him, and even had guards beat people out with sticks to create the illusion of caring for old ministers. In the end, he turned around and gave all of Lu Qing's credit to Lu Zhang.

Now, by using the cangue to "announce to the world," he makes people feel that Lu Qing is an outsider in his heart and is not truly treated as a prince. He also subtly reminds Lu Qing behind his back.

In addition, Chi Fuwei, who had been both an assistant and an informant, had been monitoring Lu Qing's every move, but after they entered Shuo Di, he never followed them again.

If the Shadow Guards could go to the territory of a vassal state, Zhu Yu would absolutely not believe that the Chi Fu Guards didn't have that ability. The only possibility is that their master didn't allow them to continue following them.

This person's thoughts are truly unfathomable.