My chat group is full of female losers

Chapter 324 I have an idea.

But how exactly should we do it?

Chu Lu tilted his head and pondered deeply, but the more he thought about it, the more something seemed off.

He turned to Qin Su and said, "No, I still don't believe that the female lead is smart enough to see through my trap. I suspect the plan has been leaked."

He stood up and paced around the hall, continuing his analysis: "It's not impossible. The Imperial Guards are everywhere, and there are so many of them. Given enough time, the female lead might get lucky and notice something amiss somewhere, grab someone, interrogate them, and find out the inside story."

Qin Su agreed: "That's certainly very possible. Then let's call everyone involved in the plan over and question them carefully. Even if he's been bewitched by the female lead, we can use the correction value to resolve that. If someone really is a traitor, we'll definitely be able to find him."

Chu Lu nodded and immediately sent someone to secretly summon them.

To avoid detection, the Imperial Guards would sneak into the palace in small groups under the guise of rotating shifts late at night, remaining undetected. Chu Lu interrogated them throughout the night, but the results were unsatisfactory; even with the use of correction values, no information was found.

Everyone behaved normally, their statements were consistent, and there were no flaws.

Chu Lu could only let them leave first.

When he was the only one left in the imperial study, he sat alone on the dragon throne and fell into deep thought.

"Qin Su," he thought to himself after a moment, "all the Imperial Guards responsible for carrying out the plan are fine. I can think of three possibilities. First, Chang Hong is ruthless enough to kill them to silence them after finding out the inside story."

Then Chu Lu held up two fingers: "Second, the traitor didn't come from these working Imperial Guards, but from a higher position."

"As for the third one," Chu Lu said with an awkward expression of disbelief, "that is, there was no spy at all; she saw through our trap."

“First of all, that should be impossible, right?” Qin Su said without thinking. “After all, you just interrogated everyone, and the number of people is the same as before the operation, not a single one is missing. If someone disguised themselves and impersonated another, they should have been exposed under the influence of the correction value.”

“Indeed.” Chu Lu nodded, then frowned, as if he couldn’t understand it. “That’s the higher-ups? But is that possible? I thought of this a long time ago, so I’ve been very careful. I’ve entrusted everything to Huo Qi and repeatedly warned him that the plan must be kept secret, especially regarding women.”

There were hardly any high-ranking officials to begin with, and with such tight security, how did that powerful female lead even discover and contact them? It's impossible.

Qin Su added, "Indeed. And even if she were lucky enough to make contact, I don't think she would choose to turn against the other side. Just like in shonen manga, the enemies you encounter always get stronger and stronger, so too will the female lead who attacks you definitely get stronger and stronger."

The stronger the female lead, the more extreme she becomes. These extreme female leads absolutely cannot tolerate any male involvement; they have no concept of self-interest or power dynamics. They will only choose to kill their opponent after interrogation.

"It's neither this nor that..." Chu Lu's expression became quite complicated. "So it really was seen through? But how is that possible? This doesn't make sense!"

Qin Su's expression was equally complicated. She opened her mouth silently, and finally said in a very strained tone, as if trying to comfort and convince herself, "Even a fool might have a stroke of genius. Three cobblers can outwit Zhuge Liang. Maybe... she'll suddenly become smart?"

Seeing that Qin Su had to admit it, Chu Lu could only sigh bitterly: "Alright."

"However!" But then he rallied again, "She might get lucky once, but she can't get lucky twice. At worst, I'll think of another way!"

"That's right, Chu Lu, that's the spirit!" Qin Su encouraged.

However, despite Chu Lu's aggressive words, he was in trouble almost immediately.

Since nothing else has changed, the only way to find Changhong is still through the nature of rumors. However, the previous plan failed, and even if Changhong is foolish, they will surely be on guard, so a similar plan cannot be used again.

Chu Lu racked his brains and came up with several plans, but they were all full of flaws and he couldn't even convince himself.

Several days passed in this way, and Chu Lu gained nothing.

Meanwhile, since the previous plan had failed, Chu Lu called off Huo Qi and his group's operations. Therefore, the only remaining rumors circulating in the city about Chang Hong were growing increasingly rampant.

In the streets and alleys, in teahouses and taverns, the indignant discussions of the people could be heard everywhere.

"Have you heard? The soldiers in Pingyang County are starving! The military rations allocated by the imperial court were intercepted by nobles in the capital on the way, who said they were going to use them to feed their dogs!"

"It's not just the military rations, the weapons are no good either! It's said that the imperial court is issuing nothing but junk! Those arrows are like tickling the enemy's armor, they can't penetrate it at all! The high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Works have embezzled the money for making the arrows, and are just using firewood sticks to trick the soldiers into going to their deaths!"

"And wound medicine! I heard that all our medicine has been sent to the surrendered generals of the Great Jiang Kingdom, supposedly to treat prisoners well! We can only watch helplessly as our wounds rot!" "Alas! This court is truly despicable! They've ruined the soldiers!"

"Come on, don't think those generals and soldiers are any good. I heard that General Li at the front is a complete coward! As soon as he heard the war drums of the Great Jiang Kingdom, he was so scared that he ran away with his gold, silver and valuables, along with his personal guards!"

"As for those scoundrels, the Great River Kingdom doesn't dare to fight them, but they dare to bully our people! Under the guise of requisitioning grain, they rush into the villages and loot whatever they can find, like a pack of starving wild beasts! They plunder all the grain and even kill innocent people to claim credit!"

"Beasts! They're all beasts! Where is His Majesty? Why doesn't His Majesty do anything?"

"Heh, he did it. He sent the Chiyan Army to reinforce him, but ostensibly to provide reinforcements; in reality, they were supervising officers carrying a secret order to seize his military power! He coveted General Chen's beautiful wives and concubines at the front and wanted to kill him!"

"How could this be?! Where is justice?!"

The situation in the capital has become extremely dire.

Inside the imperial study, Chu Lu looked rather disheveled after several days of deep thought, his eyes bloodshot.

Huo Qi quietly entered and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, what are your orders for summoning me here?"

"Did you find anything about the rumors in the military that I asked you to investigate a while ago?" Chu Lu's voice carried a hint of weariness.

Huo Qi shook his head: "Your Majesty, we have indeed discovered some rumors circulating in the army, but due to the unstable situation and the wavering morale of the troops, it is difficult to trace the source."

"Is that so..." Chu Lu sighed.

After several days of racking his brains without any results, he was beginning to consider giving up. He then thought about whether he could find Tian Shu before the enemy invaded, which would also solve the problem. Unfortunately, this path also led to a dead end.

Chu Lu sighed silently in his heart.

He waved his hand wearily: "That's none of your business, you can leave now."

"Yes." Huo Qi responded, turned to leave, but stopped at the door. He hesitated and struggled for a moment, then suddenly turned around and knelt on one knee.

"Your Majesty, this humble general has another matter to report!"

Chu Lu raised an eyebrow: "What is it?"

Huo Qi took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, the situation is extremely chaotic and the situation at the front is extremely dire! Our convoy transporting supplies was harassed by enemy cavalry, and most of the supplies were burned. We were forced to requisition supplies on the spot. The number of wounded soldiers in the front-line wounded battalion has surged, and the wound medicine is almost exhausted."

Not only are supplies scarce in all aspects, but unexpected events are also occurring frequently in the war. General Li, intending to lure the enemy deep into his territory, planned to feign defeat, but a mutiny broke out within the army, thwarting the plan. The whereabouts of the three thousand elite Chiyan Army troops transferred from Yunzhou remain unknown…

Meanwhile, panic gripped the capital, with rumors spreading like wildfire. Some said the court was withholding military rations and equipment; others said the general had deserted in the face of battle; still others said that you sent the Chiyan Army ostensibly as reinforcements, but in reality as military supervisors…

Chu Lu was initially uninterested, but by the end, he seemed to have been struck by lightning and suddenly perked up: "What did you just say? Say it again!"

Huo Qi was taken aback, not understanding what was going on, but still repeated, "This humble general is saying that there are rumors that the imperial court is withholding military rations and weapons..."

Chu Lu fell silent, his fingers resting on his chin, the thoughtful light in his eyes growing brighter. After a moment, he suddenly smiled.

"I understand! I have a plan!" He stood up, looking intently at Huo Qi. "Huo Qi, listen up, I have a new task for you!"

Late at night, inside the inn.

Changhong, who was resting with his eyes closed, was startled awake by a series of urgent private chat notifications.

She frowned and looked at it impatiently, but when she found it was Shen Yanchen, she immediately perked up.

She quickly opened the chat group and looked at the message the other party had sent.

Shen Yanchen: "The Emperor has made another move!"

(End of this chapter)