Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 188 - 187: Silver Whistle

Zhu Yu suddenly understood.

No wonder the relationship between Lu Zhang and Lu Chao was so familiar, yet outsiders seemed completely unaware of it.

She had always wondered how these two managed to keep in touch while avoiding everyone’s attention; now her confusion was finally resolved.

"Then what’s on this..." She glanced at the "music score," wanting to turn and look at Lu Qing, but her hair was still in Lu Qing’s hand, and the Daoist’s bun hadn’t been fixed yet, so she couldn’t move randomly and had to give up.

"The Chifu Guard has always been secretly watching me, while Mr. Mo has dispatched constables to watch the Chifu Guard," despite being within Shuo Country territory now, Lu Qing had to be extra cautious after that person found him the night before, adding more caution in his tone, "Unintentionally discovered that not all of those in the Chifu Guard are loyal to that figure; there’s one with ulterior motives.

Besides reporting information to that figure above, there seems to be another master.

Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t right, and they failed to catch the act, and that person preferred to die rather than reveal who their true master was.

So Mr. Mo had no choice but to replace the dead person with someone he trusted."

As he spoke, he fixed Zhu Yu’s hair: "For now, that’s the general sequence of events."

Zhu Yu touched her hair, finding the bun neither too loose nor too tight: "This is indeed fine..."

"Naturally," Lu Qing stood up to fetch Zhu Yu’s outer robe, "Back when I was at Shanqing Temple, I too had to wear the Taoist robe and tie the Daoist bun like Yan Daoxin daily, so I’m well-practiced."

"What I meant..." Zhu Yu had intended to say her earlier "fine" actually meant that there was now a true confidant within the Chifu Guard listening to Lu Qing and Lu Chao, which was a significant improvement from before.

But then she saw Lu Qing’s ears turn red from behind and suddenly understood.

Apparently, this guy had been distracting her the whole time, whether showing her the Mechanical Box or letting her see that secret note on the simplified score, it was all diverting her attention rather than something that had to be told immediately.

Apparently, at the moment of waking up, the one who felt a little at a loss wasn’t just herself...

Thinking of this, Zhu Yu suddenly wanted to laugh.

Just how many different faces does Lu Qing have that she hasn’t uncovered yet?

"Then how do they avoid appearing with their real identity, and yet you know who’s coming?" She decided to follow Lu Qing’s topic at this critical juncture to avoid exposing his unease, lest she end up being the one feeling awkward.

Lu Qing drew out the silver whistle from his bosom and tossed it to Zhu Yu, who instinctively caught it.

"Keep it safe with you," Lu Qing handed her the outer robe as well, "I’ll tell you when it’s needed.

This matter shouldn’t be taken lightly; after all, the person was just arranged to replace the previous spy, and for now, frequently summoning him might expose it, which is not favorable in the long run."

Zhu Yu nodded, knowing the silver whistle had to be distinguished from the Jade Whistle given to Lu Qing by Emperor Jin, and shouldn’t be easily discovered by others. This matter could only be safest between the two of them, so she quickly secured the silver whistle in her bosom.

"Where is Mr. Mo now?" she asked while putting on the Taoist robe and fastening the belt.

"With the Fourth Prince."

Zhu Yu understood.

Among the military generals wielding power in the court, Cao Tianbao undoubtedly belonged to Duke Yan, while General Situ remained uncommitted, with an undecided stance.

The others who weren’t attached to royalty partly depended on either General Cao or General Situ, and even if their positions weren’t firmly united, they wouldn’t dare to test easily for fear of startling the enemy and prompting their vigilance and defense.

The Third Prince, Lu Yan, and Fourth Prince, Lu Jun, originally chose to guard the borders for Emperor Jin, already indicating they weren’t under Duke Yan’s wing and had no intention of staying to assist Lu Zhang in his rise to power.

These two were indeed targets to try winning over, except Lu Yan had a fiery and impulsive temperament, and it was uncertain if his mind was as capable.

On the other hand, the cautious and careful Lu Jun was more likely to calmly assess the situation and weigh the pros and cons.

Approaching Lu Jun first was the right move. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The five people hastily set off, munching on some barley cakes, heading in the direction of the capital.

Along the way, although the closer they got to the capital, the fewer reports there were about half the strong men disappearing from villages as previously heard, it seemed the perpetrator also feared attracting Zhu Cheng’s attention and deliberately avoided the surrounding areas of the capital.

Though fewer people mysteriously disappeared near the capital, Zhu Yu still noticed something somewhat odd.

Shuo Country has always relied primarily on iron ore refining and weapon forging, possibly with more iron smith shops nationwide than eateries.

But as they headed to the capital, they saw very few open iron smith shops operating, many were tightly shut with no sound nor smoke from the chimneys.

This was quite strange; Zhu Yu finally decided to stop and inquire after passing through the third such town.

She stopped a passing man outside a closed iron smith shop: "Excuse me, Big Brother, may I ask why none of the nearby iron smith shops are open for business?

We wanted to find a smith to craft something, but couldn’t find any on this road. What’s going on?"

The man, confused when stopped by a young Daoist, sighed upon hearing Zhu Yu’s question and waved his hand: "It’s not just our town, even in the neighboring town, you won’t find an open iron smith shop!

We couldn’t even find a place to buy hoes or axes from a smith’s shop!"

"How could it be like this?" Zhu Yu frowned, "Could it be Shuo Country has always lacked smiths?"

Seeing their Daoist attire and hearing Zhu Yu’s naive question, the man naturally considered them travelers from outside and sighed, waving his hand: "Of course not, Shuo Country’s iron goods are famously excellent!

In the past, there were smith shops every three to five steps, at least five or six in a town was a given.

But within the last year or so, something unknown has caused many smith shops to close.

The locals claim they’ve found profitable ventures elsewhere and gone off to make big money.

Nobody cared at first, but who would’ve thought so many smiths would leave for fortunes, making it so now we have to travel dozens of miles just to buy simple farming tools!"