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Chapter 596 "The Traitor Within"

There were many officials on the street, escorting prisoners in pairs, walking past with serious expressions. The procession stretched as far as the eye could see, suggesting that there were quite a few prisoners to be escorted.

The prisoners being escorted by the officials were all dressed in the same clothes, all with narrow sleeves and short sleeves, black fabric trimmed with gray edges, and a piece of gray cloth on their chests with the character "Zhao" embroidered on it.

Zhu Yu understood what was going on as soon as she saw the surname. She looked closely at the people being escorted and thought their attire was a bit strange. They were supposed to be government soldiers, but they all had fierce faces, some even with scars. With that kind of appearance, no respectable family would want them, as it would be a loss of face to take them out.

But if they weren't soldiers of the government, then the character "Zhao" was embroidered brightly on their chests, as if they were afraid that others wouldn't be able to identify whose subordinates they were.

The officials escorting these people didn't walk very fast, enough for the onlookers on the roadside to see them clearly.

After the long procession passed, a group of officials followed closely behind. However, they did not escort any prisoners but instead followed alongside some laborers, supervising them as they carried weapons, shields, and other heavy objects forward.

So these weapons-carrying teams marched on for quite a long time.

Originally, when people on the roadside watched the prisoner being escorted, they just craned their necks to watch the spectacle without much reaction. At most, they would gossip among themselves about whether this "Zhao" was the same "Zhao" as the Duke of Yan.

And since they were in front of officials, they didn't dare to be too presumptuous, and they all whispered among themselves, not raising their voices.

When they saw the weapons behind them, the murmurs became uncontrollable, making the whole street noisy.

There was no way around it; even Zhu Yu was quite surprised, let alone ordinary people.

At first, the soldiers carried only some bound swords. Later, they gradually added shields, broadswords, spears, and even many powerful crossbows.

Zhu Yu looked at the crossbows being carried past him. Their texture and color looked very familiar—clearly, they were all made of black iron.

Her eyes were fixed on those things, as if afraid she was seeing things wrong, and her brows furrowed.

Previously, the black iron mines of Shuo Kingdom were robbed by the Pang family in collusion with others. In addition, a large number of blacksmiths from Shuo were kidnapped, imprisoned, and forced to help forge weapons.

However, some of those weapons had already been used to frame the Jie Kingdom, and others had been used to frame Cao Tianbao.

If it were simply a case of falsely accusing the Jie Kingdom and incidentally implying that the Jie and Shuo Kingdoms might have some secret collusion, it would be impossible to guess the identity of the person behind it. However, when Cao Tianbao was framed, Zhu Yu almost immediately ruled out the Duke of Yan.

After all, everyone knows that he and Cao Tianbao have always been in the same boat, and that Cao Tianbao, as a "pillar," is indispensable for the success of his ambitious cause.

Unless the Duke of Yan has lost his mind, there's no way he would do something like puncturing the very ship beneath his feet. So what's with these black iron weapons? Was he mistaken before, or was there a flaw in the Duke of Yan's plan that someone else was exploiting?

After a while, once the people carrying the weapons had all gone far away, Zhu Yu gently patted Lu Qing's arm, signaling him to put her down.

Now that there were no officials passing through the middle of the road, the people who had been crowding on both sides dispersed, and with the roadside less congested, there was more discussion.

"What just happened?" an old man with cloudy eyes and white hair asked the middle-aged man next to him, looking completely bewildered. "Where did they capture these bandits?"

"Uncle Huang, your eyesight is really getting worse and worse! If it really doesn't work, you should find a doctor to prescribe some medicine to help you!"

What bandits? Those aren't bandits, they're 'family thieves'!
"Didn't you see the huge 'Zhao' character on the chests of that group of people just now?" The middle-aged man chuckled and waved at him.

"Sigh, my eyes just can't adjust! Besides, even if my eyesight were good, I still wouldn't be able to read!" The old man surnamed Huang helplessly spread his hands, then asked, "You just said they had the character 'Zhao' on their chests? Could it be... that unapproachable Zhao?"

"Otherwise what?!" The middle-aged man chuckled at his words. "Are you suggesting I'm still that tofu seller Zhao's in Juezi Alley?"

"Huh?!" Old Huang exclaimed in shock. "Wasn't that a very important official? How... how come the officials arrested his men?"

"No matter how high an official you are, you can't forget who belongs to the world!" The middle-aged man curled his lip. "I heard that his grandson got into trouble outside. We don't know exactly what happened, but we know that today, with weapons and people being brought back, it looks like he's caused quite a mess!"

"What a tragedy! He's such a high-ranking official, how come he only knows how to behave himself!" Old Huang shook his head and sighed with regret.

The middle-aged man sighed, "Human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant! You could probably never find another life as rich and powerful as this one."

"Now look what's happened! It seems their good days are over."

"Could you two please say less?" someone overheard their conversation and leaned closer. "Haven't you heard the saying, 'Even a centipede with a hundred legs doesn't fall down when it's dead'?"
How powerful is that person? Even if we are just insignificant ants living in the capital, do you think we don't know?
"Maybe in a few days they'll escape unscathed and everything will be fine. You mustn't say anything reckless at this crucial moment. If word gets back to them, it could be fatal for a small family like ours!"

After his reminder, the two men realized it made a lot of sense, nodded repeatedly, and without saying anything more, quickly left.

Lu Qing turned her head to look at Fu Wen. Although the veil on her head covered her face and Fu Wen couldn't see Lu Qing's expression, she immediately understood perfectly, nodded slightly, turned around and disappeared into the gradually dispersing crowd.

"There's no more excitement to see, let's go back," Lu Qing said to Zhu Yu, and the two turned and entered the gate of Yunyin Pavilion.

With so many people around outside, taking the back path to the backyard would only make us more likely to be spotted. It would be better to just walk straight through the main gate. Once inside the Cloud Hidden Pavilion, their people will naturally help stop anyone with ulterior motives.