Zhu Yu took the note and unfolded it in puzzlement, catching sight of the familiar musical notation. She looked at Lu Qing somewhat helplessly.

"Didn’t you specially jot it down before to understand it?" Lu Qing said with a smile, "Give it a try."

Zhu Yu indeed felt previously that every time she wanted to know what was written on the secret messages, needing Lu Qing to "translate" for her was somewhat frustrating. So, she half-jokingly mentioned learning how to decrypt the ciphers herself to understand the content.

Unexpectedly, Lu Qing took it seriously and bought musical sheets back to teach Zhu Yu one by one, including some special notations not mentioned in the books.

This time, he deliberately left the secret message, presumably to give her a chance to practice after a few trials.

Zhu Yu attempted to read the content of the secret message; she remembered the musical notes and their meanings, but when it came to the actual secret message, her efficiency was not high.

Luckily, after careful examination, she successfully deciphered the recorded content.

"Zhao Bocai is Zhao Bi’s legitimate grandson, right?" Zhu Yu felt particularly familiar with a name mentioned in the message, seeming to recall Lu Qing mentioning it in the past, though somewhat uncertain.

Lu Qing nodded: "He was the one always by Lu Zhang’s side wherever he went, you should have an impression."

When he brought this up, Zhu Yu remembered.

The deepest impression was on the day of Cao Tianbao the Great General’s birthday banquet, where Zhao Bocai seemed entirely unimpressive yet followed Lu Zhang, standing behind him with arrogance while others paid respects and flattered Lu Zhang, as if all the reverence was meant for him, as if he was the one who was beyond reach.

The Lu Zhang standing before him was merely a puppet, a clay idol for people to worship, while he was the "true god" behind the idol.

If not for Zhao Bocai’s conduct, his appearance and demeanor would hardly leave any deep impression on Zhu Yu.

"What... did he do?!" After seriously reading the musical notation on the secret message, Zhu Yu looked incredulously at Lu Qing, unable to help but suspect if she misunderstood the code between Lu Qing and Lu Chao, "Outside the Capital, he secretly raised a considerable number of government soldiers, and in secrecy accumulated many weapons and explosives?!"

"Yes, that’s what’s written here." Lu Qing nodded, took the note from Zhu Yu’s hand, pulled out the flint and burned the note to ashes.

"He must be mad?!" An expression of shock was irrepressible on Zhu Yu’s face, her eyebrows raised, eyes wide open, "No, the Capital itself lies in the Congzhou area; recruiting government soldiers and hoarding weapons here, what does that signify? Zhao Bocai, grown up in Duke Yan Mansion, should understand.

Such rebellious actions can’t be executed by him alone; given his lack of real power as Duke Yan’s legitimate grandson, the scale of this undertaking would be doubtful, not to mention that there’s no unbreachable wall, and with Duke Yan’s numerous ears, he couldn’t be unaware of this grandson’s external activities."

"Indeed, without Duke Yan’s acquiescence, Zhao Bocai couldn’t have such influence." Lu Qing agreed with her conclusion.

"What is that old fellow aiming to do?!" By now, Zhu Yu understood what the force behind Headdress and Shoes Workshop wanted to accomplish with this matter, "For all these years, hasn’t he been consolidating allies, eliminating dissent, controlling the government affairs, yet meticulously leaving no trace, no handle to create trouble, being extremely cautious?

What’s happening recently? Why are the actions so frequent and large, seemingly unrestrained?"

"Duke Yan is not a muddle-headed fool; having held significant power in court for so long is no easy feat, and he can grasp matters we can vaguely perceive." Despite this, Lu Qing remained cautious, "Given his character, if he’s permitting or arranging his grandson for such acts, it indicates something that has made him restless, worrying about failing to seize the initiative and lead the way, making subsequent plans hard to implement.

Regarding his motive for Zhao Bocai’s recruitment, there are many possibilities, but targeting him now means clinging to the worst, most unseemly reasoning he would find indefensible."

"No wonder, if that’s the tactic, anticipating the cloth’s final impact isn’t challenging. It’s to cement your worst-case scenario remarks, making them undeniable." Now Zhu Yu fully understood the covert arrangements of the forces behind Headdress and Shoes Workshop in the Capital.

However, she still couldn’t figure out one thing: "Then what role could He Min as a teacher possibly play in this?"

"Given their intent to stigmatize Duke Yan, merely having a few lads outside Headdress and Shoes Workshop extolling the fabric’s merits wouldn’t suffice." Lu Qing smiled slightly, his eyes cold, "I suspect the opponent isn’t from Jin Country, thus lacking skill in this aspect.

A piece of cloth might not spread word of mouth far and wide.

But what about nursery rhymes and children’s songs?"

Zhu Yu’s expression became one of enlightenment, nodding slowly: "He Min is a learned man, always teaching in rural areas, interacting mostly with village children.

Consciously composing some nursery rhymes, finding a way to disseminate them doesn’t seem difficult."

This trick of using nursery rhymes to stir trouble, Zhu Yu wasn’t unfamiliar with at all—like the stone men in the Yellow River, talking foxes, celestial books in fish bellies. These tricks aren’t new, but they remain exceptionally effective, never disappointing.

"Didn’t you instruct him today, is there still time?" Zhu Yu pondered and asked Lu Qing.

"There’s enough time; the clothes at the birthday banquet must first attract sufficient attention, then if nursery rhymes are circulated timely, the effect will be optimal." Lu Qing replied, his tone full of confidence.