The hem of a moon-white robe swayed, entering Zhu Yu’s field of vision through the gap in the white veil of the headdress. Even without looking up, she knew who was standing in front of them at this moment.

Lu Chao, accompanied by four guards, pulled Lu Qing and the others out of the crowd to a relatively quieter place by the roadside, surrounding them tightly, as if afraid they would try to force their way through.

Moreover, Lu Chao’s expression looked somewhat frightening, his brows furrowed, and his face even carried a tinge of gloominess.

"What are you doing?" Lu Qing frowned upon seeing this, asking with a tinge of displeasure in his voice.

"That is a question I should be asking you." Lu Chao seemed to be trying to lower his voice, but perhaps he was too angry, preventing him from successfully lowering his tone, "Do you think, after causing such a huge mess before, the reason you only suffered some physical pain is why?!

It’s all because Father cherished the father-son relationship with you for more than twenty years, and I also did my best to plead for you, otherwise today you wouldn’t be standing here, but would be in the West Market with Yan Daoxin!

Having narrowly escaped death, even if you don’t cherish your own head, can’t you at least think of Zhu Yu?!

She stood by you in the great hall, forsaking the opportunity to leave, is it just to be dragged down by your impulsiveness now and lose her head with you?!"

Lu Qing glanced at Zhu Yu, appearing somewhat conflicted, but in the end he steeled his heart, stepped forward, and showed through his actions that he didn’t intend to abandon the original plan: "I admit, asking her to follow me into danger is unfair to her, but Yan Daoxin is in such a situation because of me. I have known him since childhood, we studied under the same master, he is like my brother.

I had almost doomed him to a wrongful death, and you want me to watch his head fall, doing nothing?!"

"And what about me?!" Lu Chao seemed infuriated by his words, punching Lu Qing’s shoulder with such force that it made Lu Qing stagger, "Am I not your brother too?!

The day I begged my father for your sake, risking his anger, where does your current plan leave me?!"

As they spoke, the crowd on the street quickened their pace, chattering away, some even breaking into a run.

"Is this... is it almost time?" Zhu Yu was surprised, glancing at Lu Qing and Lu Chao, "Why so early?!"

"I have made up my mind; there’s no need for more words." Lu Qing frowned, pushing Lu Chao’s arm aside, "If I fail, I will take full responsibility. You intervening today will have no further consequence for you afterwards."

Saying this, he prepared to bypass Lu Chao to continue towards the West Market.

Lu Chao wouldn’t let him leave, immediately blocking the way again, and the guards behind him instantly barred Fu Wen and Fu Lu, who wanted to rush out with Lu Qing.

If it were Lu Chao, there might be some restraint, but in front of the guards, Fu Wen and Fu Lu were far less polite, mustering all their strength to charge forward, while Lu Chao’s guards also refused to back down; it seemed a conflict between the two sides was inevitable.

"Everyone, calm down!" Zhu Yu couldn’t watch any longer, hastily stepping in to stop them, "If you start fighting in the street now, attracting public attention, it’ll cause trouble for both sides!"

"It doesn’t matter." Lu Chao’s face was sullen, "Even if it blows up, I still have the moral high ground.

All these years, I’ve always regarded you as my elder brother. When you got into trouble this time, I did everything I could to protect you. If today you not only make me realize you never saw me as a real brother, but also regard my numerous efforts as worthless, then I can say I’ve done all I could for you."

On hearing this, naturally, Lu Qing’s face turned uglier, but he couldn’t have any violent reactions.

Lu Chao’s words were true; if things continued to escalate and attracted onlookers, once exposed, not only would his plan fail, but it would invite even greater trouble upon himself.

Previously, there would at least have been the status of a Prince to be stripped away. Now, the only cost he could pay for his action was his life.

"Step aside." Lu Qing almost gritted his teeth, his voice squeezed out through clenched teeth, "If today, because of your obstruction, I fail to save Yan Daoxin, I will never forgive you in this life."

"If Yan Daoxin dies, the person you shouldn’t forgive is yourself, not me." Lu Chao, at this time, had no longer any painstaking persuasion, he sneered, "After all, I wasn’t the one who took this action against his will.

I had done all I could for you out of brotherly affection earlier; now I can only perform my duty to stop you from causing trouble."

Lu Qing said nothing, trying his best to get past Lu Chao.

Lu Chao didn’t speak either, grabbing Lu Qing’s upper arm firmly, not allowing him to leave so easily.

They stood there at an impasse, one wanting to leave, the other preventing it, but due to the fear of drawing trouble, neither spoke or made any big move.

Zhu Yu was anxiously watching from the side, glancing left and right to see the populace on the street heading towards the West Market at an accelerating pace, many jogging now with not many people left behind, suggesting those intending to watch had mostly hurried over, leaving the street sparsely populated, with only a few vendors still attending to their stalls.

Fu Wen and Fu Lu quietly tensed their arms, their robust muscles almost bursting out of their cheap coarse linen clothes.

Lu Chao’s guards weren’t backing down either, staring coldly back, hands on their sword hilts, seemingly waiting for an order from Lu Chao to unsheathe their blades.

Before long, a commotion was heard from afar. Lu Chao slightly tilted his head, signaling a guard to go check it out.

The guard dashed off, and in the blink of an eye, sprinted back: "Lord, it’s from the West Market, the execution has ended."

On hearing this, Lu Chao’s brow relaxed, and his hand that had been gripping Lu Qing’s arm loosened.

Lu Qing was momentarily taken aback as well, then he shoved Lu Chao aside and ran towards the West Market. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Fu Wen, Fu Lu, and Zhu Yu closely followed suit. Lu Chao’s guards moved to intercept but stopped when Lu Chao gestured, with the master and the guards watching the four of them run into the distance.

"Still there?" Lu Chao kept his gaze at the end of the street, where Lu Qing’s silhouette had disappeared, and asked a seemingly unrelated question.

The guard beside him already understood, glanced sideways and shook his head, "Gone, they have already left."

"Then let’s go back too." Lu Chao’s face returned to its usual calm, nodded slightly, and walked with the four guards in the opposite direction down the street.