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Chapter 616 Stripping of Title
"So, you must be very happy today, right?" Zhu Yu sighed softly and reached out to take Lu Qing's hand. "The fact that General Bian was sent here this time is no different from giving us a reassurance."

"More importantly, this manor has turned out to be a blessing in disguise." Lu Qing and Zhu Yu have always had a tacit understanding and are on the same wavelength. They don't need to say many things directly, and they understand each other's thoughts. "If we hadn't happened to come here, those people might have looked for another opportunity to attack us."

This area will remain occupied by that group of bandits, and perhaps no one will pay them any attention, allowing them to rob passersby and harm other villagers within dozens of miles.

Or perhaps one day this place will suddenly be besieged by troops, who will continue their advance towards the capital under the pretext of 'pursuing the remaining enemy forces'... In that case, I'm afraid it will cause us a lot of trouble."

"So this is what they mean by 'good fortune comes to those who are blessed'." Zhu Yu looked at Lu Qing's relaxed brows, where faint frown lines were visible, in the dim light.

Ever since he entered the Shuo region to investigate the matter of black iron and weapons, he has frowned far too often.

"Alright, don't think about anything. With General Bian and his men ahead of us tonight, we can finally get a good night's sleep."

"They've arrived, so shouldn't we be setting off soon? Let's rest and recharge before we leave!" Zhu Yu gently rubbed between his eyebrows. "This time, there won't be that annoying little tail following us!"

That night, Zhu Yu slept more soundly and deeply than in the previous few days.

She had always been confident in Lu Qing's abilities and knew that none of the runes and talismans were to be trifled with. However, the enemy was in the shadows, while they were at most half-in the light and half-out of the light. There were only four of them in total, so she couldn't help but feel uncertain and feared that they would be outnumbered. She spent most of the night half-asleep and half-awake.

Now that she had General Situ's subordinates, she felt much more at ease.

Two more days passed, and the people were mostly settled in. They were all dressed in ordinary coarse cloth clothes and short outfits, and moved into other parts of the village.

Although without women, the elderly, and children, this place doesn't look like a normal village at all, it's still much better than everyone living together in that two-story building in the small inn.

It was clear that Bian Yong had already made arrangements, so Lu Qing decided to set off and continue on his journey.

Although the horses were still in good condition and the carriage had not been damaged, it had been under the watchful eyes of those people, making it too conspicuous to use.

Bian Yong had four horses brought over for them.

Zhu Yu wasn't good at judging horses, but she had heard Yan Shu talk about them a lot before, and now she could tell that although these four horses looked quite ordinary in terms of coat color, they were very sturdy and strong. They weren't fat and bulky, but they had great endurance and were good mounts for long-distance travel.

"Will handing these four horses over to us cause a shortage on General Bian's side?" Lu Qing was also very satisfied with the four horses. These kinds of military horses were extremely rare and hard to come by; they probably couldn't be bought for any amount of money on the market.

So even though he was very satisfied, he still had to exchange pleasantries with the other party.

Bian Yong smiled and waved his hand: "It's alright, General, please take it and use it."

I sent someone to deliver a message the day before yesterday, and I estimate that anything missing will be replenished soon. If the general ever passes by the estate in the future, and if you don't mind, please rest at my place and have a drink.”

After exchanging polite words, he casually took out a token from his pocket, broke it in half, handed one half to Lu Qing, and instructed him: "However, when the time comes, if the general and his party are traveling on the mountain road and encounter anyone, ask them if they know the Black Tiger Boss of the Tiger Head Gang, and ask them to produce the other half of the token to recognize him."

If you don't recognize them and can't produce their identification token, then please, General, kill them or behead them as you please.

If they can produce their identification tokens, General, you might as well ask them again whether the tricolor flag is still flying in the stronghold. If they are your own brothers, they will tell you that the tricolor flag cannot be hung until midnight.

Lu Qing nodded, put away the half of the waist token, thanked General Bian Yong again, and the four of them set off with their luggage to continue their journey.

This time, there was indeed no "tail" following them, so the four of them quickened their pace. To be on the safe side, they traveled at night almost all the time, and during the day they would find a bustling town to stay in, eat something, and rest for a while.

In just two days, they had completely left the area where the village had been occupied by bandits and were getting closer and closer to the border of Jinlan.

This time, they left the city at dusk and had only walked a few miles when they passed a small grove of trees and heard a bird call in the distance.

Zhu Yu immediately recognized that this was a code that only Lu Qing and Lu Chao's secret guards would use.

Lu Qing gave Fu Wen a wink, and Fu Wen followed the sound. Lu Qing dismounted nearby and helped Zhu Yu down as well. The three of them waited in the woods for Fu Wen to return.

The rune went quickly and returned even faster, bringing back a cleverly crafted box containing a secret letter, which it promptly handed to Zhu Yu.

Under Lu Qing's guidance, Zhu Yu has become quite proficient at disassembling and assembling the puzzle box after several practice sessions.

She sat cross-legged on the ground, touched the mechanism to open the box, and took out the secret letter sent by the secret guard.

Lu Qing sat down next to her on the ground, looking over her shoulder, and read the text written in rhythm with her.

Zhu Yu can understand it now, but she's not fast enough. This time the secret letter is exceptionally long. She carefully translates the contents of the paper in her mind, and the more she reads, the more apprehensive she becomes. After finally finishing it, she even finds it a bit unbelievable.

The secret letter informed Lu Qing and the others that the matter of Zhao Bi embezzling tribute had finally been settled.

Although Emperor Jin was furious and imprisoned Zhao Bi, saying he would investigate him thoroughly and show no leniency.

However, in the end, when all the ways Zhao Bi had embezzled public funds over the years were compiled and presented to Emperor Jin, the emperor still couldn't bring himself to be too decisive.

In the end, all the tributes that Zhao Bi had embezzled were carried back to the palace one by one from the Duke of Yan's mansion by Emperor Jin's men, registered and stored. However, apart from the fact that the return of the tributes was celebrated in the capital, making the Zhao family a laughing stock and a topic of conversation, Emperor Jin, out of consideration for the years of friendship between the emperor and his subject, and also out of respect for the late Consort Zhao, did not punish him. Instead, he issued an edict to strip him of his title and send him back to his hometown with his family to live out his days, and forbade him from ever entering the capital again.