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Chapter 670 Half a Waist Token [Bonus Chapter]

It was clear that the bearded man was the most prestigious among the guards. Although the grandson of the Prince of Lan tried his best to remain reserved, a hint of joy could not be hidden on his young face. He was slightly taken aback when he heard what the bearded man said.

"Is there anything suspicious? Uncle Tiger, please speak freely," the grandson of the Prince of Lan quickly gestured to him.

“Young Master, although we have been living in seclusion here for many years, we are not entirely unaware of what is happening outside. The brothers have been collecting information from various places to try to know our enemy and ourselves.”

The bearded man frowned and sighed, "It's been more than ten years. The situation outside has only gotten worse. Lan Di used to be so rich and peaceful, but now there are deserted villages and refugees everywhere. Large tracts of farmland have been forcibly requisitioned for other uses."

Your Highness was misled by others, and so much time has passed. When have you ever heard of the court inquiring about this matter?
Back then, when the prince sent people everywhere to forcibly seize land and drive away the farmers who had lived there for generations, no one paid attention to the matter or intervened.

We even considered that if the imperial court sent someone over, even if we had to intercept them halfway, we would still make sure the emperor knew about the plight of the people of Lan, and ask him to send troops to intervene, set things right, and eliminate the treacherous people around the prince, so that Lan could return to its former peace.

And what was the result? More than a decade has passed, and the imperial court has not sent a single official to Lan, nor has it paid any attention to the people of Lan, allowing the prince to act recklessly under the influence of treacherous people...

The people of Lan Di have long been powerless to resist and have resigned themselves to their fate. Lan Di has become so desolate... Why, at this time, does the court, which has always ignored us, suddenly send some golden-faced censor?
This person only had a few companions. If the imperial court really wanted to interfere in the affairs of Lan, why would it only send such a few people?

Therefore, I advise the young master not to believe the one-sided story of this unknown person. Who knows his background or what he wants to achieve?

What he said made sense. The four of them, including Lu Qing, were indeed too few. Not to mention the ministers sent by the imperial court, even in the larger estates of Lan Di, the estate owners used to send out more workers to collect rent than they did.

So not only did those who were overjoyed just moments before now suppress their eagerness, but even the eldest grandson of the Prince of Lan was taken aback, his expression showing a hint of disappointment.

Lu Qing didn't seem surprised by the question. He calmly took something out of his pocket and handed it to Fu Wen. Fu Wen walked over with a straight face and handed it to the bearded man who had questioned them, while giving him a cold look.

However, the bearded man had no time to notice his cold glare.

Everyone's attention was focused on the piece, or rather the half-piece, that the rune had just handed over.

Zhu Yu saw it clearly the moment Lu Qing took it out. It was the one that Bian Yong had given to Lu Qing after he killed someone at the "black shop". He said that if Lu Qing needed support or was needed in the future, he could just use this half of the waist tag and those few words of code to move freely.

She looked at the eldest grandson of the Prince of Lan and the group of people surrounding him, and found that the reaction on the other side after handing over the half of the plaque seemed to be completely opposite to what it had been before.

The grandson of Prince Lan held the broken half of the waist token in his hand, looking rather puzzled. After all, aside from being incomplete, the half of the token was far less exquisite and eye-catching in terms of style and material than the previous "Gold-Faced Censor" token. However, the guards beside him, who had initially been full of doubt about Lu Qing, had very interesting expressions when they saw the half of the token—from initial confusion, to astonishment, to surprise, and finally even a hint of delight.

"Young Master! Young Master!" After the bearded man and his brothers passed the plaque around, he took the half of the plaque in his hand, examined it carefully over and over for a long time, and his expression changed from worry to joy. "What I said earlier was wrong. This time we really have hope!"

Not only do we have hope, but the people of Lan County finally have hope of living a good life again!

This time, the person who was completely bewildered and confused was the eldest grandson of the Prince of Lan. He looked at the happy faces of the others and hurriedly asked, "Why...why do you suddenly feel that this matter can be accomplished?"
Weren't we just worried that the 'Golden-Masked Censor' might be a fraud?

“Young Master, you are unaware of the truth. If it were some unknown ‘Golden-Masked Censor,’ we certainly couldn’t fully trust him. But he took this!” Knowing that his young master didn’t recognize what they had, the bearded man handed the half of the token to the grandson of the Prince of Lan. “This is no ordinary token. This is a token that only those under General Situ’s command possess!”

"General Situ...? And who is this?" The grandson of the Prince of Lan did not immediately understand after hearing this, and still looked puzzled.

"Young Master, you were young at the time, so it's normal that you didn't know."

This old General Situ is famous throughout the world. In every vassal state, there is no one who has not heard of the illustrious name of old General Situ!

Everyone knows that General Situ was strict in his military discipline. His soldiers were not only brave and good at fighting, but also had strict military discipline. Whether in battle or on patrol, they strictly followed General Situ's orders and never offended anyone unrelated to them.

General Situ was a loyal and brave man. He would never move a single soldier without the Emperor's order. His men were known for their bravery. Even the fiercest Jie army would be apprehensive in front of General Situ and his soldiers and dare not offend them!

Therefore, if one were to obtain General Situ's military token, it would be impossible to say that there was no imperial decree behind it!

Moreover, with the assistance of General Situ's men, our chances of victory have increased many times over!

"Is that really so?!" The grandson of the Prince of Lan was overjoyed. He had thought that the person who came with the plaque that was only available in the palace was a "Golden-Faced Censor" who sounded quite prestigious, which was already enough to give him confidence. He did not expect that now it would also involve the seemingly more powerful General Situ.

Thinking about the days he had spent hiding in the mountains for the past ten years, and recalling the chaos he had heard about in various parts of the Lan Kingdom, the eldest grandson of the Lan King's eyes gradually became moist.

He suppressed his excitement, glanced at the bearded man beside him, and after confirming with him, returned the two plaques. He then bowed to Lu Qing and said, "In that case, I would like to ask Your Excellency to stay in our village for a couple of days. Many matters are not suitable to be discussed in this desolate place."

[To avoid some readers missing the "Author's Note," here's a quick note: if there's anything you'd like to see in the side stories, please leave a comment beforehand so I can prepare accordingly.]