"Lu Zhang... is he only just now thinking of distancing himself from his maternal family? Isn’t it a bit too late?" Zhu Yu asked with some doubt as he played chess with Lu Qing to pass the time. "For so many years, their mutual collusion has been obvious to outsiders!"

"It may not solely be for avoiding suspicion or cutting ties," Lu Qing replied, picking up a chess piece, and scanning the board before gently placing it in an empty spot. "When we were at Immortal Castle, we saw that although Lu Zhang appeared very majestic, with officials and soldiers at his command, in reality, those people didn’t truly follow his orders. They seemed to take commands from Zhao Bi rather, making Lu Zhang merely a puppet they pushed to the front.

Lu Zhang is not unaware of this; he just lacked the confidence to expose it before. After all, the situation was still uncertain, and he dared not easily push the big tree that was Duke Yan.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to comfort his grandmother just when the rumors started.

As for why he stopped visiting Duke Yan Mansion after the soldiers were arrested and escorted back, it’s evident there was something he was oblivious to before.

So, when the soldiers were captured and a variety of weapons were escorted back along with them, it probably made him suddenly realize some truths he hadn’t believed or hadn’t wanted to believe, prompting him to firmly cut ties."

Zhu Yu pondered with her chin in her hands: "Come to think of it, so many Zhao Family soldiers were escorted back to the Capital that day, and it took a long time to carry all the weapons away. Isn’t there something missing?

They say it’s best to capture the king before the thieves... Those Zhao Family soldiers were gathered outside the Capital, and Zhao Bi never left the Capital; I find it hard to believe there was no trusted supervisor on his side...

Is it true that Zhao Bocai has never been seen?"

As she asked, she looked up at Lu Qing, only to have him tap her on the forehead with a finger: "Playing chess with such a scattered mind."

He pointed to where he had just placed a piece: "Zhao Bocai won’t sprout wings and fly away, but if you keep being so absent-minded, you’ll definitely lose this round."

Zhu Yu followed his finger, frowned, swiftly examined the whole board again, smiled slightly, and placed a piece in another empty spot: "No worries. I’ve left a backup move here.

See, doesn’t this turn the situation around from passive to active?"

Lu Qing raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Not bad, not bad. Madam’s chess skills have improved rapidly. Given time, I might have to be careful, or I’ll inadvertently become the defeated general under you."

"I have no choice. I never had great ambition to improve my chess skills, but with nothing else to do... apart from contemplating chess, there’s nothing to kill time with..."

Just then, Fu Lu ran in from outside: "Master, Madam! Manager Liu just asked me to tell you that Zhao Bocai has been brought back. He’s just entered the city..."

"Let’s go, let’s go! Go and see!" Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu immediately stood up and went to her room to fetch her hat.

It was clear she had been extremely bored lately, especially after the Gu Lingyun incident, she couldn’t stay idle any longer.

Lu Qing silently chuckled, got up, followed her, and they hurried out the door without changing their clothes, fastening their hats on the fly.

Outside, it was bustling, but there was no need for Lu Qing to lift Zhu Yu up to see clearly because Zhao Bocai was being escorted back in a prisoner cart.

Different from the cart that once held King Fan’s nephew, this prisoner cart seemed much more rudimentary and uncomfortable.

The cart was upright, surrounded by a cage-like railing of wood and iron bars. The entire width and height barely allowed an adult man to stand in it, making turning around difficult.

Zhao Bocai was standing in that cart as it moved slowly through the street.

Since the cart itself had a certain height and the man stood tall inside it, even with the crowd surrounding it, everything was clearly visible.

Zhu Yu still retained a vague impression of Zhao Bocai, thanks to her ability to remember faces.

Otherwise, most people might have forgotten this unremarkable young man.

The only deep impression was his inexplicable air of arrogance, standing beside Lu Zhang and appearing even more imposing than Lu Zhang himself.

However, that air was gone now.

Zhao Bocai stood disheveled and in disgrace in his cart, wearing a set of leather armor that was clearly well-crafted and varnished black, with a gleaming finish. The chest plate, shoulders, and arm guards were adorned with heads of creatures resembling beasts made from Black Iron, about the size of walnuts, giving off an intimidating aura. If not for Zhao Bocai’s current pathetic state, it would have been an impressive armor.

"Look at his shoulder decorations," Lu Qing said softly in Zhu Yu’s ear.

Zhu Yu quickly directed her gaze toward Zhao Bocai’s shoulders.

The black leather armor with metal parts of Black Iron had initially obscured her view, but after inspecting it closer, she realized what Lu Qing meant.

The "Swallowing Shoulder Beast" or the "Kicking Court Beast" on military officer’s armor was typically tiger-like but not really a tiger, serving as a symbol of might, though difficult to identify.

But on Zhao Bocai’s shoulder, the beasts looked wrong, like... dragon heads?

However, upon closer inspection, Zhu Yu dismissed her initial judgment.

The beast heads on Zhao Bocai’s shoulders lacked the dragon horns, had eyes that didn’t bulge outward, and bore no scale motifs.

They weren’t dragon heads but rather those of a Jiaolong.

Though not a dragon, the rumored transformation into a dragon when a Jiaolong enters the sea conveyed ambition so blatant it couldn’t be dismissed even if one tried.

In front and behind the cart walked armed government soldiers wielding large blades, with such ferocity that the onlookers dared not crowd too closely, orderly making way.

Leading the procession was a person dressed in the government official attire of Jingzhao Mansion, striking a gong while walking, and shouting, "The eldest grandson of Duke Yan, guilty of six great crimes! One: secretly possessing three hundred Xuan Armors, Two: carving ’Mandate of Heaven’ on a Jade Seal..."

With every shout, the officer struck the gong once.

Whether it was the gong’s echo making hearts tremble or Zhao Bocai’s grave crimes, with each strike and declaration, the crowd outside drew in sharp breaths collectively.