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Chapter 604 Thinking about past mistakes behind closed doors
After a while of commotion, another group of soldiers arrived. Zhu Yu immediately recognized that the clothes they wore were those of palace guards.

The guards rushed over, first driving away the people surrounding the area, and then surrounding the women next to the prison cart.

The previous commotion fell silent in an instant. Everyone looked at each other, startled, wondering if the guards had come to protect the women of the Duke of Yan's household.

Just now, they were all indignant, hurling accusations and insults at each other. But now, seeing this situation, they were starting to feel uneasy.

Zhao Boce, who had been silent in the prison cart and wished he could shrink himself away, raised his head and quickly surveyed the situation outside when he saw a group of imperial guards from the palace. They separated him from the people who had been cursing so vehemently.

When he realized that the imperial guards seemed to be protecting them, a surge of courage welled up within him, and he immediately cried out, "Injustice! Injustice! I am innocent! Please help me report to the Emperor that I am innocent!"
Someone is trying to frame me, to use me to falsely accuse my grandfather! You must report this to the Emperor on my behalf!

"Shut up!" Zhao Boce was shouting loudly when the head guard suddenly turned to look at him and angrily rebuked him, "A convict shouting like this, what kind of behavior is this!"
"So, even now, you're not even going to leave your grandfather with the last shred of dignity?!"

Zhao Boce was surprised that the other party would suddenly scold him, and he swallowed back the words he was about to say. His face, which had been flushed, turned pale again.

The guard didn't want to pay him any more attention. Instead, he turned to the Duchess of Yan, who was still in a daze, and bowed to her respectfully.

Despite her respectful attitude, her words were anything but polite: "Madam, the Duke of Yan is currently imprisoned for embezzling tribute. At this critical juncture, as a member of the household, it is truly inappropriate for you to behave so disrespectfully outside."

His Majesty still cherishes the memory of the late Consort Zhao and His Highness Prince Yi, and has always treated the Duke's Mansion with leniency. However, the actions of these individuals today are truly unbecoming and have caused His Highness Prince Yi to lose face.

Therefore, His Majesty sent us to escort the ladies back to their residence.

From this day forward, unless there is a special reason or an imperial edict, the entire Yan State Duke's residence shall remain closed to reflect on its mistakes, and no one shall be allowed to enter or leave at will.

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and several guards behind him stepped forward and pulled up Lady Yan and the others who were stunned in place. They were almost escorted back to the Duke's mansion.

The onlookers were initially quite nervous, thinking they were in trouble, but when they didn't expect the guards to come and arrest them, they breathed a sigh of relief and boldly continued to follow the guards, wanting to watch the excitement.

The guards acted as if they didn't see the people following behind them, ignoring them and letting them follow.

Meanwhile, Zhao Boce's prison cart continued to move. He was almost limp inside the cart, but he couldn't fall down because of the small space.

Zhu Yu had no interest in Zhao Boce. She pulled Lu Qing along, mingling with the crowd, and walked towards the Duke of Yan's mansion. She watched as the palace guards rudely dragged several female members of the Duke of Yan's family along with long strides.

Those women usually only moved around in their own mansions, and when they went out, they always took a carriage. They had never walked much. Now, being dragged along by those strong and powerful guards, they stumbled and fell several times, only to be roughly pulled up by the imperial guards. Coupled with their earlier wailing and crying in front of the prison cart, they were covered in dust and dirt before they even reached the gate of the Duke of Yan's mansion. Their hair was disheveled, and even a couple of hairpins had fallen out.

Lady Yan was quite old, and with two guards supporting her on either side, she didn't fall down much.

However, this old woman had followed Duke Yan since she was young and had experienced far more than her daughter-in-law. At this point, she could roughly guess what the situation was like. At this moment, she looked like she had no will to live and let the guards drag her away without any other reaction. She just silently shed tears, and her eyes became somewhat empty.

They arrived at the Duke of Yan's mansion. The guards skillfully dispersed to guard several entrances to the mansion, while the remaining guards escorted the women to the main gate. They called for the gate to be opened, and before the bewildered gatekeeper could react, they roughly pushed the women inside, then closed the gate and quickly sealed it off.

Several sword-wielding guards stood in a row outside the door. The one in the lead looked around at the crowd and said loudly, "From this day forward, no one is allowed to enter or leave the Duke of Yan's residence without permission. Anyone who does so will be treated as an accomplice!"

Upon hearing this, the onlookers quickly turned and left, dispersing in droves, fearing they might be mistaken for accomplices.

Zhu Yu and Lu Qing also left in the crowd. After walking a while, they looked back and saw that the guards at the door were standing straight. With the seal on the door, anyone with eyes could see that something big had happened at the Duke of Yan's mansion.

After walking a little further away, Zhu Yu snorted: "That guy has finally reeled in the fishing line and is no longer going to give his old hero any face."

Today's commotion has clearly humiliated that scoundrel surnamed Zhao. Even if he manages to save his life this time, he'll never be able to climb back to his former position.

“We’ve probably seen enough of the excitement already. And whatever happens next is beyond our current circumstances, so there’s no need to waste time staying here.” Lu Qing’s voice came from behind his veil, sounding like he had already made up his mind. “We might as well set off sooner.”

"Hmm, that's great." Zhu Yu's heart skipped a beat, but she still managed to sound very relaxed. "It's so stuffy in the capital, I'm already tired of it."

When the two returned to Yunyin Pavilion, they also passed by the entrance of Zelifang.

When I passed by earlier, there were crowds of onlookers, officials and guards, and it was so noisy that I didn't pay attention. But now that the crowds have dispersed, when I passed by the Tze Lü Fang again, I saw the tightly closed gate and the signboard that was bent out of shape. It seemed that the place had only been closed for a short time, but it had suddenly become very dilapidated.

Zhu Yu looked at the once bustling shop, and the image of Gu Lingyun's death seemed to flash before his eyes again.

Gu Lingyun did so many things, both openly and secretly; she deserved to die.

Unfortunately, her death not only smeared the Duke of Yan, but also made it even more difficult to trace the strange fabric "Red Jade Fragrance".