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Chapter 671 Copycat
Lu Qing readily accepted the other party's suggestion. The eldest grandson of the Prince of Lan had someone carry the man with the injured leg, and a group of people walked in front of him. He, Lu Qing, and Zhu Yu traveled together in a carriage.

This decision demonstrated a great deal of trust, but the bearded man was still a little uneasy. In the end, he squeezed into the carriage as well, and the four of them filled the already small carriage to the brim.

Fu Wenfu was naturally not happy. He felt that it was barely acceptable for the eldest grandson of the Prince of Lan to ride in the same carriage as his master. But what was that bearded man? How dare he overstep his bounds and squeeze into the carriage? It was really unpleasant to look at.

Zhu Yu actually understood the bearded man's thoughts quite well.

They had worked so hard to protect their young master for so long, and now they were finally on the verge of expelling the treacherous officials and restoring order. If, at this critical juncture, Lu Qing and the others were to do something unreliable, all their previous efforts would be in vain, and all their hopes would be destroyed.

Although Lu Qing's probing and relentless pressure were all for the sake of a more secure future alliance, the process was indeed not pleasant for the guards of the Lan Prince's Mansion, including the bearded man.

In this situation, it's perfectly understandable that the other party would feel uneasy and want to protect their young master.

The grandson of the Prince of Lan was young after all. After confirming the two waist tokens, he basically lowered his guard. On the way to their village, he also chatted with Lu Qing and Zhu Yu.

This grandson of the Prince of Lan was named Chang Yu. His mother's family was also a well-known and prominent family in Lan. When the Prince of Lan arranged this marriage, it was to pave the way for his son to inherit the throne in the future.

However, after the Crown Princess was attacked and killed on the way, Chang Yu's maternal family seemed to have been greatly affected in the past ten years. They have kept a low profile and have not made any moves. Even after their daughter and grandson had an accident, they did not make any trouble.

The bearded man who insisted on riding in the same carriage with him for protection was originally the head guard of the Lan Prince's Mansion, named Lin Kun. For the past ten years or so, Lin Kun had also sent people to try to find out about the young master's maternal family. The information he received was that the young master's maternal family seemed to have encountered some kind of misfortune. Although nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it was as if the entire fortress had been sealed off, and they had no contact with the outside world.

Therefore, they were unclear about the situation of the Crown Princess's family and dared not make any rash attempts to contact them, so they have been observing until now.

"Your maternal family hasn't noticed anything unusual from the outside, but the entire fortress is sealed off and has no contact with the outside world. What exactly is going on?" Zhu Yu asked curiously.

Chang Yu was also a little unsure, after all, he had been rescued and hidden in the village since he was a few years old, and this was the farthest he had ever gone. He didn't know much about what was happening outside, and he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to explain it clearly.

He then turned his gaze to Lin Kun, signaling him to tell the Censor-in-Chief and his entourage about the matter.

Now that things have come to this, Lin Kun no longer intends to hide anything from Lu Qing and the others. Seeing that the young master has signaled to him, he said, "The Crown Princess's family's fortress is very large, with countless fields. Over the past ten years, we have found that the fields in that fortress are still cultivated, and people work in the fields every day, working from sunrise to sunset, just like ordinary farmers."

For more than a decade, no matter when we went to inquire, we never heard of anyone from inside the fort going out or interacting with people outside.

The Crown Princess's brothers and others couldn't get any information at all. Zhu Yu glanced at Lu Qing. Chang Yu and Lin Kun might not understand the situation, but the rest of them were much more familiar with it.

Isn't this what the fairy castle they stumbled upon before looked like?
It's likely that Chang Yu's maternal family suffered the same fate as Xianrenbao.

Lu Qing lowered his eyes, seemingly lost in thought. Seeing this, Zhu Yu didn't bring up the matter of Fairy Castle, but continued chatting casually with Chang Yu about other things.

Before long, they arrived at their village.

While the others escorted Chang Yu to see Lu Qing, about a dozen people remained at the village to guard the area. When they saw that their brother had returned, they rushed out to greet him. At first, they were startled when they didn't see their young master, but they breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the carriage behind him.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Fuwen Fulu calmly drove the carriage into the courtyard of their village, where the people then closed the gate they had made of sharpened wood.

The village where Chang Yu and his group were hiding was originally occupied by a group of bandits. However, when Prince Lan was still healthy, he sent people to wipe out the bandits, leaving only an abandoned village. Unexpectedly, these former guards of the Prince's mansion were put to use again.

Zhu Yu got off the carriage and looked around. The place was located on the back of the mountain, with complicated terrain and dense forests. Although the journey to the capital was not far, the presence of the highest mountain in Lan Di as a natural barrier made the journey more difficult.

This is probably the biggest reason why these people have been able to hide here safely for more than ten years without being discovered by Lan Wang's people.

Chang Yu and Lin Kun politely invited Lu Qing and Zhu Yu into their room to sit down and talk slowly.

Although neither of them knew exactly what Zhu Yu's identity was, seeing that Fu Wenfu was very respectful to her, calling her "Second Master" repeatedly, and that Lu Qing treated her as an equal, and that the two of them had a tacit understanding that they understood each other perfectly, they figured that Zhu Yu must be an important person. Therefore, they treated Zhu Yu with the same extra courtesy as they treated Lu Qing.

Before long, someone brought in some hot water, along with several plates of dried meat and meat chunks.

"In a place like ours, we don't have any tea or anything like that, so we can only offer you two some hot water to warm you up!" Lin Kun helped Chang Yu greet them, taking a plate of dried meat and placing it on the small table between the two of them. "This is dried meat that we dried ourselves. Don't worry, it's all from wild rabbits, sparrows, and the like. We just salted it a little. It can't compare to delicacies, but it tastes alright."

Zhu Yu nodded to him, took a piece of dried meat from the plate, and chewed it.

The jerky didn't have many spices added, but it was good because the blood was probably drained quite thoroughly, so it didn't have any fishy or gamey smell. It only had a light salty taste, but this also brought out the aroma of the meat itself, and it was very chewy.

Zhu Yu chewed on just a small piece for a long time with her cheeks puffed out, then sipped it with hot water and nodded: "It's really not bad."