Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 237 - 236: New Discovery

The rune followed Zhu Yu out of the main tent, and the two of them rode two horses toward the less populated area.

To avoid attracting anyone’s attention, they only rode slowly and didn’t dare to gallop.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, there wasn’t even a shadow of a person nearby, let alone a faint sound of human voices. Only then did the rune finally couldn’t help but ask Zhu Yu in a low voice, "Second Master, where are we going to find someone?"

In the past, messages like these were always sent to the Chifu Guard, and when sending messages to the Chifu Guard, he could just go by himself. There was no need to trouble the lady to come all this way.

However, today the master did not hand him the Jade Whistle to summon the Chifu Guard. Now they were in Shuo Land, and he hadn’t noticed any Chifu Guards following around in the past few days.

Zhu Yu did not answer but instead tugged the reins to stop the horse and looked around.

They had just reached the edge of a forest, with secluded paths ahead and broad roads behind.

In Zhu Yu’s view, this was the perfect spot. The forest in front transformed into a patch of mottled shadows under the night sky, and even the bright full moon above couldn’t illuminate it distinctly.

If Lu Qing wanted his summoned Hidden Guard to conceal his whereabouts, this was an excellent choice.

And the wide-open, unobstructed path behind was a good escape route for her and the rune if some unexpected "in case" occurred, allowing them to flee quickly.

No one would be able to ambush the two of them in such an open expanse.

Although the rune was indeed strong and a master of martial arts, which Zhu Yu recognized, she herself was undoubtedly an actual novice in martial arts, a fact she was very aware of.

Having decided on this location, Zhu Yu took out the silver whistle hanging around her neck, hidden under her collar, and gave it a hard blow.

She expected to hear a distinct whistle, but all she heard was a weak, faint sound that quickly dispersed into the wind.

Unsure, Zhu Yu blew it once more.

"Second Master, no rush," said the rune, noticing the silver whistle in Zhu Yu’s hand and having a rough idea of what was happening, he told her, "Just wait a moment, they can hear it."

Zhu Yu nodded, resisting the urge to blow it a third time.

A gust of wind rustled the shadows of the trees, and the rune suddenly lifted his head, looking up vigilantly, and said to Zhu Yu in a low voice, "Second Master, they’re coming."

Zhu Yu also hurriedly looked up. Fortunately, her night vision had always been excellent, and she was habitually observant. Following the rune’s words, she quickly locked onto a shadow hidden among the branches and leaves.

The shadow’s gaze initially fell on the rune, then it noticed the silver whistle on Zhu Yu’s neck before it leaped gracefully from the branch, as lightly as a leaf falling from a tree.

The figure wore a black mask, and if not for the decent moonlight tonight, it would have almost blended entirely into the darkness, making it invisible.

He silently cupped his fists deeply to Zhu Yu in a bow, and Zhu Yu took out the letter from her arms and handed it over.

The man accepted the letter, cupped his fists again, leaped upward, and landed back on the high branches like a giant black bird.

Zhu Yu watched as he unfurled the letter on the treetop, relying on the brighter, unobstructed moonlight from above to quickly read Lu Qing’s instructions on the letter. Then he took out a flint from his chest.

Soon a sudden spark drew a short, orange arc through the once muddled black night sky before dissolving back into the darkness.

A wisp of light paper ash fluttered down, and Zhu Yu quickly dodged to avoid it going into her eyes. When she looked up again, the figure was gone from the treetop.

"Where... are they?" she asked in surprise. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"They’ve already gone, such impressive skills!" the rune couldn’t help praising, then turned to Zhu Yu and said, "Second Master, let’s head back too!"

Zhu Yu nodded, carefully stowing the silver whistle back under her collar, turned her horse around, and rode back to the camp with the rune.

On the way back, they didn’t want to disturb anyone, so they didn’t move quickly. When they returned to the camp, only Lu Qing was left in the main tent; Zhu Feng was already gone.

The rune, seeing that the food container on the side was still untouched, quickly took it out to warm it up again and returned it, placing it on the table for the two of them before retreating to the entrance to eat his portion.

"You’ve toiled hard on this trip, Madam," Lu Qing said, serving Zhu Yu a bowl of hot soup. "The night is cold, drink some soup to warm you up.

What kind of figure did you see tonight?"

Zhu Yu nodded, "Slightly taller than the rune, not as robust though. Everything else was covered entirely, couldn’t see anything. But when I handed over your letter, he reached with his left hand, should be left-handed."

Seeing Lu Qing’s knowing and somewhat satisfied expression, she raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Lu Qing didn’t wait for Zhu Yu to ask and directly told her, "The person you met tonight isn’t the same one who delivered the letter to me that night."

Zhu Yu was a bit surprised, but looking at Lu Qing’s reaction, he didn’t seem worried, which indicated it was a good thing rather than a bad one.

"Lu Chao once told me, to live freely, one mustn’t always be followed by someone else’s shadow," Lu Qing stirred the soup in his bowl with a spoon, "He always says, one’s own shadow is more reassuring. I just thought he was saying it casually. Although surprised last time, I didn’t have time to think much about it.

Now it seems he’s indeed managed it."

Zhu Yu was also quite surprised.

Although she fully agreed with this saying, around Lu Qing were always Emperor Jin’s Chifu Guard, while they obeyed his orders, every move would also be watched by others.

Simply replacing Emperor Jin’s people with their own is not something easily achieved.

Lu Chao must have been planning this secretly for a long time.

But thinking of this, Zhu Yu suddenly remembered something.

The last time the Hidden Guard appeared to deliver the silver whistle and Mechanical Box to Lu Qing was after they had already entered Shuo Land.

Before that, according to rune observations, Emperor Jin’s Chifu Guard had always been secretly following them until they entered the Li State’s camp, where they found no trace of the Chifu Guard around them anymore.

Even later, when Lu Qing wanted to send a secret letter as the Golden-faced Imperial Censor back to Emperor Jin, the rune wandered for quite some time before finally finding a Chifu Guard watching over that area.

So... this implies that Chifu Guard were not forbidden from entering Shuo Land, and if they wanted to, no one could stop them.

However, they dutifully stayed in Li State and, during the time Lu Qing and they left Li State and entered Huazhou and Shuo Land, never followed.

So the question arises.

What exactly does Emperor Jin want to do?