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Chapter 649 No survivors
Zhu Yu was taken aback. Other things were fine, but as long as she had some knowledge of them in the past, it shouldn't be difficult for her to make up a few stories to fool the couple.

But she really knew nothing about feng shui, metaphysics, or numerology.

However, when she glanced at Lu Qing beside her and saw that he looked calm, she felt a sense of relief.

Lu Qing looked at the other party with a slightly troubled expression, seemingly still hesitant, but quickly nodded: "Alright, it is fate that we meet here, and I am grateful for your care these past few days."

However, I am a junior member of the family, and my knowledge and skills in this area are far inferior to those of my elders. So, if I have said anything that is unpleasant to hear, please take it as a joke and don't take it seriously.

"Okay, okay, please take a look for us!" The proprietress was overjoyed when she heard Lu Qing agree and nodded repeatedly.

Upon hearing her words, Lu Qing got up and walked out, with the boss and his wife hurriedly following behind.

Zhu Yu followed along, mainly out of curiosity about what Lu Qing was up to.

Lu Qing walked around the courtyard, looking at the small inn from front to back, then strolled back inside, looked around again, and then took out a few copper coins from his pocket and scattered them on the ground.

The copper coins clattered and rolled all over the ground. Lu Qing bent down, frowned, and examined the distribution and orientation of the coins. He pondered for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.

"Honored guest, how is the feng shui here...?" The proprietress became nervous when she saw that he didn't speak. She nervously moved closer and asked cautiously.

"The mountain to the left resembles a green dragon spitting out a pearl, and the slope to the right resembles a white tiger carrying a treasure. The stone trough of the stable in the courtyard is like the heavenly water flowing from the stream, and the stone well in the back kitchen is like a cauldron overflowing with wealth."

"When you built this inn here, did you have someone specifically calculate your fortune?" Lu Qing said a few words in a daze, then turned to ask the innkeeper and his wife.

"No, no, really not!" Although the proprietress seemed to understand, she heard that Lu Qing's words were all well-intentioned, and a hint of expectation appeared on her face. "Back then, we were all fleeing from all directions. If we had the ability, we wouldn't have been unable to protect our own land and houses, right?"
We were the first two people to settle here, just to make a living. Later, as more and more people gathered, we thought we'd find something we could do to earn a living, so we opened this inn.

“I just cast a divination with copper coins, and the result is…” Lu Qing stroked his chin, “The Azure Dragon coils around the pillar, the White Tiger roars, the Vermilion Bird holds coins, and the Black Tortoise surges. Elm seeds fall like rain, bending the counter and replacing it with a golden bridge.”

This is very auspicious.

The innkeepers only vaguely understood what Lu Qing had said earlier, and they thought that things like the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise sounded incredible.

The last phrase, "Bending the counter to exchange for a golden bridge," sounded even more opulent, and the final conclusion, "Great fortune," made the two of them overjoyed.

The proprietress wanted to ask more questions, but Lu Qing raised his hand to stop her: "As the saying goes, heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. Many things should be left unsaid."

The innkeepers quickly stopped asking any more questions, hurriedly responding with thanks and not daring to inquire further.

After seeing them off, Lu Qing and Zhu Yu were finally able to go back to their room to rest.

Everything else was fine, but the ordeal in that little wooden building today, plus the journey back and forth, had really exhausted Zhu Yu. After a quick wash of her face and taking off her outer robe, she wanted to go to sleep.

Suddenly, a familiar bird song drifted from outside the quiet window.

She opened her eyes again as soon as she had closed them.

Lu Qing silently went to the window, opened it a crack, and quickly closed it again before returning with a familiar, ingeniously crafted box in his hand. Zhu Yu got up and sat down with Lu Qing by the oil lamp at the table. Lu Qing skillfully opened the box and took out the secret letter.

This time, the secret letter contained very little, just a small piece of paper with two short lines of musical score.

But these two short lines immediately turned Lu Qing's face cold. Zhu Yu was a beat slower than him, but he also quickly showed a look of surprise.

The secret letter only mentioned one thing—Duke Yan and his family were on their way back to their hometown to retire when, due to the large size of their caravan, they inadvertently attracted the attention of mountain bandits and were ambushed. By the time they were discovered, none of his family members, young or old, had survived.

A chill ran through Zhu Yu's heart.

Putting everything else aside, even if there were bandits setting up camp along the way, they wouldn't be acting without thinking, robbing every passerby they saw.

They won't rob the poorest people, because there's no profit in it.

They wouldn't rob someone who outnumbered them, since a conflict could be risky.

They wouldn't rob anyone connected to the government; that would be asking for trouble.

Unless they have a stronger backing, they don't want their entire village to be seized, so they'd better go as far away as possible.

Of these three situations, the family of Duke Zhao Bi of Yan State accounted for the latter two.

Any bandit with a modicum of sense would think twice before getting involved with such a large caravan, considering the appearance and attire of the accompanying servants and attendants.

In addition, bandits robbed people for money, not for any deep-seated hatred. If they encountered resistance and caused some deaths or injuries, that would be understandable.

Even if things go wrong, it's possible that someone with such audacity might abduct women and take them as wives.

But the entire family, including servants and guards, numbering in the dozens, were all killed. This was definitely not the style of bandits; it was both laborious and pointless.

Lu Qing remained silent for a moment, then silently placed the secret letter on the oil lamp and lit it, burning it into a small ball of ash.

His gaze remained fixed on the small clump of ashes, his expression seemingly calm, yet a hidden undercurrent of other emotions swirled within his deep eyes.

It has everything, except for pleasure and joy.

All signs indicate that Zhao Bi is related to what happened to Lu Qing's family more than 20 years ago. Although it is not hard to guess Zhao Bi's intention to get rid of Lu Qing's family, guessing it is not the same as getting an explanation from him.

Moreover, if it were oneself, such an enemy, if one wanted to vent one's anger to the greatest extent, would definitely want the other party to die by one's own hand or be involved in one's own scheme.

Now that Zhao Bi's entire family has become victims of someone else's knife, it's no wonder Lu Qing can't feel any joy.

Zhu Yu even felt that dying before confessing to the crime of murdering loyal officials was too easy for that old scoundrel Zhao Bi.

(End of this chapter)