Unlike the vigilance of the talisman, Lu Qing rely knitted his brows slightly, listened intently to the faint sounds outside that even Zhu Yu couldn’t hear clearly, and then relaxed his brows, signaling the talisman not to be too tense.
Nevertheless, the talisman and Fu Lu only nodded, and their vigilant postures did not change.
It couldn’t be helped. Throughout their journey, they had no idea what kind of situation they might face. Although they could roughly grasp the other party’s intentions, plans could not keep up with changes, and who knows what interloper might suddenly appear.
This made it impossible for anyone to feel at ease.
After a while, the rustling noises outside gradually grew louder, and even Zhu Yu, with hearing considered decent among ordinary people, could hear them.
Then footsteps gradually approached the prison cart, followed by the jingling sound of keys. Afterward, the cart door was opened, and a refreshing night breeze blew in, bringing with it a coolness.
Outside the car door, in the night, Situ Jing’s face was stern, even sowhat gloomy. However, at this critical mont, seeing a familiar face inexplicably brought a sense of relief.
Lu Qing smiled at Situ Jing and nodded to him, "General Situ, it’s been a while."
"Naturally not as well as the Prince, but now it seems... that’s a different matter," Situ Jing gave Lu Qing a once-over, stepped aside from the doorway, and gestured invitingly, "I’ve prepared so refreshnts. Please disembark and join for a chat."
Fu Lu, upon hearing this, quickly glanced at Lu Qing, waiting for his instruction.
Lu Qing nodded to him and Fu Wen, and the two brothers imdiately relaxed, using their strength to break the ropes binding their wrists—despite Fu Lu’s robust figure requiring more rope than the others, at the mont it snapped, even Zhu Yu had the illusion the ropes binding them were just strips of paper.
One could imagine how hard it was for the brothers during the journey, enduring so much just to escape from ropes they easily could have broken, yet they dared not move a muscle.
When Zhu Yu redirected her gaze from the brothers who had already jumped down to help others dismount the cart, Lu Qing had already broken free of the ropes on his wrists.
He first exited the carriage, then leaned back inside, gently supporting Zhu Yu’s waist and knees, carefully lifting her from the cramped prison cart and helping her stand firmly beside it. Only then did he lower his head to untie the ropes on her wrists.
The ropes were ones Zhu Yu couldn’t break, but if Lu Qing grabbed her wrist and gave a strong pull, they would likely break.
However, doing so would surely hurt Zhu Yu, and after being bound with rough ropes throughout the journey, her wrist’s skin was already sowhat chafed.
Thus, Lu Qing chose the slowest but least harmful thod for Zhu Yu.
Situ Jing silently stood by, observing Lu Qing untie Zhu Yu. Back in Li State, he had already surmised Zhu Yu’s identity, so he wasn’t surprised at all seeing this.
Yan Daoxin was the last to crawl out of the prison cart. He looked sowhat speechless at Lu Qing, who was untying Zhu Yu’s ropes, pouting, "Heartless guy, only has eyes for his wife, can’t even see his brother."
He mumbled to himself, shaking his head, and walked over to Fu Lu, "Co on, help out."
Fu Lu was straightforward, pulling Yan Daoxin’s wrist with strength, instantly snapping the ropes.
"Those people..." Lu Qing said while untying Zhu Yu and glanced at the other side of the prison cart.
The guards from Fanwang Mansion were lying around in disarray on the ground, surrounded by the jars of wine they drank and the remnants of their food.
And encircling them were a large group of n in black night suits, all holding swords unsheathed.
Although these n weren’t in military uniforms, their posture and deanor indicated they were undoubtedly brothers from the army.
"Nothing serious, just so ordinary knockout drugs." Situ Jing answered with a nonchalant tone, glancing dismissively at the people, "My n noticed these individuals’ movents before you entered the border, found them suspicious and paid extra attention, after which they discovered you were the ones confined in the cart.
I couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on, considering these people’s skills couldn’t possibly contain you, sothing else must be at play, best to find a way to intercept and question.
So I figured since these people ca from Bhutan, and during their journey, they only dared sip so water and wine, gnawing on dry bread, as reported by scouts, being so coarse bandits without any discipline or rules. I arranged for a lively gathering with plenty of wine and food.
Sure enough, they dared not linger in the city, and upon encountering my arrangent, couldn’t resist.
The knockout drugs in the wine are those hunters use for bear hunting, very potent, and they probably won’t wake until tomorrow afternoon.
And as you can see, I arranged for so brothers to guard them; if any wake, they are to be killed without rcy."
Lu Qing waved his hand, "These people can’t be killed, they might be useful."
Although Situ Jing was sowhat puzzled, he still followed Lu Qing’s words and instructed the n to ensure no one woke up to notice anything unusual but without taking lives.
"Let’s move, I’ve prepared so food behind the big tree for you all, eat while we have a chat," Situ Jing glanced again at the prison cart, even though Lu Qing and his group appeared calm and composed, he could easily imagine how much suffering they endured in such a confined space.
Due to the special circumstances, behind the tree, Situ Jing had only laid out a cloth with so pastries and at.
Under normal circumstances, these wouldn’t count as delicacies, but after days of chewing on dry hard bread, anything else tasted incredibly appealing.
The five of them ate a bit on their own; only then did Lu Qing seize the opportunity to briefly and succinctly inform Situ Jing of their current situation.
Situ Jing hadn’t expected the other cart to contain King Fan’s corpse, to the point where his perpetually calm and stable expression shattered in surprise.
"And you’re just letting them march into the capital to face the emperor?!" He looked at Lu Qing, unable to believe it. Despite not being that close, their cooperation during the Li State military campaign convinced him that Lu Qing wasn’t soone easily caught off guard.
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