My chat group is full of female losers

Chapter 333 The Truth
Meanwhile, in the imperial bedchamber.

A fleeting shadow flashed past the window out of the corner of his eye, and Chu Lu calmly asked in his mind, "Qin Su, has Xiao Luzi left?"

"They're gone," Qin Su's voice rang out immediately.

Chu Lu's lips curled up slightly.

—Very good, the net has been cast, now we just need to haul it in. Next, let's see what the powerful female lead hiding in the background plans to do.

Chu Lu lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and pretended to fall asleep, but his mind couldn't help but review the entire process of the plan.

After all, this plan had been in the works for a very long time.

It all began after his first plan against Changhong failed. For days, he racked his brains, reviewing every step, but couldn't find a flaw. Then Huo Qi came to report, detailing the rampant rumors in the capital and the rapidly changing situation on the front lines.

At that very moment, Chu Lu was suddenly struck by lightning, sensing something was amiss.

The rumors circulating in Beijing are extremely targeted.

It's so powerful it's almost like it was tailor-made for them. Changhong always manages to drop the most damaging rumors at the most crucial moments.

To do this, she would need to be intimately familiar with the battles on the front lines. But the problem was that battle reports were not circulated, and some reports were only accessible to a handful of people.

How was Changhong discovered? Chu Lu immediately knew the answer.

—There's a spy of hers by my side!

Once the thought popped into my head, I couldn't shake it off.

So he began to think about how to find the eye hiding in the shadows. He quickly came up with a very simple, even somewhat clumsy, but most effective method—to eliminate possibilities one by one using a binary search approach.

Only a handful of people had access to the battle reports from the front lines. Besides himself, there were only a few key ministers such as Huo Qi and Shen Shi'an, as well as a few messengers. It wasn't impossible to investigate them all.

Chu Lu remained calm and deliberately prevented one of the individuals from accessing each subsequent battle report. Finally, after intentionally bypassing Xiao Luzi and having Huo Qi deliver the report directly to the Imperial Study, Chang Hong's rumor-mongering campaign stalled.

The spy has been found.

When Chu Lu focused his suspicions on Xiao Luzi, he himself felt a sense of absurdity. He questioned Qin Su and confirmed that there was indeed a school of thought among female protagonists who impersonated eunuchs.

Upon learning of this, Chu Lu began to ponder how to turn this hidden spy into a pawn in his scheme to turn defeat into victory.

Directly capturing Xiao Luzi and coercing or bribing her? The risk is too great. No one knows if Changhong has left any hidden tricks up her sleeve; alerting her would be counterproductive. This can only be used as a last resort.

Therefore, the optimal solution is to turn the tables on them.

He wanted to use Xiao Luzi to make Chang Hong a puppet under his control.

Thus, a bold plan took shape in his mind. He intended to use Xiao Luzi to send Chang Hong a series of meticulously forged war reports, guiding her to create the rumors that Chu Lu wanted, and turning her all-powerful ability to spread rumors into a mouthpiece for him to mobilize the enemy and confuse his opponents.

The key to the plan lies in how to replace the real battle report without anyone noticing.

Chu Lu chose an absolutely reliable helper: Asheng.

This character was originally introduced into the novel by the original author as a popular internet meme, which is why his character design is so unique and his thought process is different from ordinary people.

This is precisely why he became the most unpredictable figure. Furthermore, his past victory over the female lead, Si Ren, makes his loyalty trustworthy.

Chu Lu only needed to send A Sheng to guard outside the city, intercept the messengers in advance, replace the reports with fake ones, and then let the messengers into the city. In this way, he could deceive everyone in the palace, including Xiao Lu Zi Shen Yan Chen.

As for the situation where the front lines achieve a great victory, but the rear believes it's a crushing defeat, can such a huge information gap be maintained? Chu Lu wasn't worried at all. In reality, absurd battle situations caused by information asymmetry are commonplace.

As the saying goes, "Battle reports may lie, but the front lines will not." Historically, there are even amusing anecdotes about generals who were reported dead seventy or eighty times in enemy reports, until the enemy was at the gates, and the enemy still thought victory was assured.

Therefore, this is entirely feasible.

Of course, the incident of arresting the wrong person was not part of the plan. At that moment, he genuinely believed that he had gotten lucky and had caught Changhong.

But even if he doesn't catch them, it doesn't matter. It won't hinder his plan, and it might even speed things up.

The dramatic scene of officials forcing the emperor to abdicate that just happened was part of his plan, or more accurately, the trigger that set the plan off.

Only by staging this play first can the core of his plan be maximized.

The core strategy is—winning hearts and minds!

Chu Lu believed that since they couldn't find Chang Hong's location directly through Xiao Luzi, they should give up and instead completely defeat her psychologically.

He fabricated the rumor that "a divine being in his dream bestowed a miraculous poison" in order to force Changhong to give up out of fear and subdue the enemy without a fight.

However, if such a statement were simply made out of thin air, the female lead, with her arrogance, would most likely not believe it. Therefore, before that, she must first experience a complete and utter defeat to destroy her confidence and make her anxious and insecure.

The pressure from officials to abdicate provided the perfect stage. Watching everything she had orchestrated be reversed at its climax, causing her to fall from grace, was enough to make her doubt herself.

Of course, this was a plan whose success or failure depended entirely on the female lead's mindset, and it was far from foolproof. Therefore, Chu Lu also prepared several backup plans.

If this psychological warfare tactic fails, he will not receive a notification of the change in the correction value—this indicates that Changhong has not given up.

Based on the behavior patterns of the previous female protagonists, at this crucial juncture where victory is assured, Chang Hong will most likely be present at the scene to oversee the operation and enjoy the fruits of her triumph.

At that point, Chu Lu would not hesitate to overturn the table. He would immediately seize Xiao Luzi and force him to reveal Chang Hong's location. If the latter refused, he would have Qin Su risk hacking into the chat group to confirm. Once the location was confirmed, he would immediately rush over. With such a close-range surprise attack, Chang Hong would have no chance of survival.

Having reviewed the entire plan in his mind, Chu Lu relaxed, with only one thought remaining in his mind.

Now, it's up to you which path you choose.

Just then, a faint cracking sound came from outside the hall.

Chu Lu suddenly opened his eyes.

"Be careful, there are people outside," Qin Su's warning rang out at the same time.

The next moment, a dark figure leaped in through the window like a black cat, landing without a sound. The newcomer was agile, clutching a gleaming dagger in his hand—it was Yun Que.

A fire burned in her eyes, not ordinary anger, but the flame of unwavering loyalty, fueled by sacrifice and devotion. Without the slightest hesitation, she leaped forward and pounced on Chu Lu on the dragon bed!
However, just as her dagger was about to pierce the bedding, Chu Lu on the bed twisted his body like a slippery eel, narrowly avoiding the deadly assassination attempt.

Yun Que's heart skipped a beat, quite surprised, but her hands didn't stop moving. With a twist of her wrist, the thrust instantly transformed into a horizontal slash, heading straight for Chu Lu's throat. She was experienced; if one move missed, she would immediately follow up with the next.

But Chu Lu was even faster than her. He didn't back down; instead, he reached out to meet her, his fingers bending and flicking the dagger precisely to the side.

With a crisp clang, Yun Que felt as if her wrist had been struck by a hammer, her entire arm went numb, and the dagger almost flew out of her hand.

——How is this possible? !
The lark's pupils dilated. This was absolutely not the skill of a pampered emperor! Such immense force, such precise timing—the difficulty was akin to embroidering on a galloping horse. This was a skill that could only be mastered through years of relentless practice!
Her mind was buzzing, but she didn't have time to think. She turned around and prepared to pounce again. But Chu Lu seemed to have seen through her. He suddenly arched his back and sprang up like a big carp that had come ashore. He jumped directly off the bed and kicked out with a back kick. It was a move called Tiger Kicks the Mountain. He struck first after the opponent's move and kicked Yun Que solidly in the chest.

Yun Que let out a muffled groan, flying backward and crashing heavily against the wall before landing on the ground. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she gritted her teeth and tried to get up.

Chu Lu had already rushed in front of her, kicked the dagger out of her hand, and then pressed her firmly to the ground.

My cheeks were pressed silently against the cold ground.

The lark struggled, but Chu Lu's hand remained motionless, as if cast from refined iron.

The lark gradually stopped, staring blankly at the palace gate in front of her.

—It failed? The assassination failed!? I...failed to betray the princess's trust?
Lark's face suddenly contorted, filled with deep regret and self-reproach.

"I'm such a useless piece of trash! I can't even handle something this simple! The princess entrusted me with such an important task, and yet... I..."

For a moment, the thought of biting off his tongue and committing suicide even crossed the skylark's mind.

But just as she was about to take action, Changhong's gentle, water-like voice and expectant eyes suddenly appeared in her mind—she must return safely.

The lark's eyes suddenly changed, and two inextinguishable flames ignited in its pupils.

—No, I can't die! If I die… what will happen to the princess? She'll cry! She promised to wait for me to come back, I promised her myself!

The will to survive, like a ferocious beast awakened, rampaged through her internal organs, devouring away all thoughts of despair and giving up.

With a roar, she unleashed incredible strength from her small body, managing to lift half of herself up. Her other hand moved with lightning speed, pulling the small ceramic ball from her bosom.

With her last breath, she raised her hand, ready to smash the thing to the ground!
Chu Lu was slightly startled by her desperate outburst, but it was only for a moment. What hadn't he, a man who lived a life of constant danger, seen?

Just as the clay ball was about to slip from his grasp, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he delivered a flying kick that struck the clay ball squarely in Yun Que's slender hand. With a crisp snap, the small clay ball was sent flying, tracing a weak parabola in mid-air.

boom!
With a muffled bang, the clay ball exploded in mid-air! The blinding flames instantly engulfed everything, and the shockwave that followed overturned the nearby tables and chairs, shattered the window paper of the palace, and sent dust flying down from the beams.

A violent shockwave swept across the ground, slamming down on the two of them. The lark on the ground felt a jolt, his sleeves fluttering, and his vision went completely white.

As her vision gradually returned, she stared blankly at the charred ground in front of her.

She murmured to herself, her voice filled with confusion: "How...could this be? Wasn't it...a smoke bomb?"

Chu Lu looked down at the dazed girl and instantly understood the whole story from her words. He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her: "It seems your master intended for you to ambush me and die together if your attempt failed. But he was afraid you wouldn't agree, so he deliberately deceived you. How pitiful..."

These words seemed to shatter the pillar supporting Yun Que's heart, causing her entire spirit to collapse.

—The princess…lied to me? She wanted me dead? Those gentle words, that loving gaze, were all fake?

A profound sense of betrayal overwhelmed her instantly, and Yun Que's eyes lost all their light, like a broken doll.

At that moment, the chat group system notification sounded in Chu Lu's mind.

[The correction value has been increased; the current correction value is 80 points.]

Huh? It worked?
……

On a high building.

Changhong looked at the latest message sent by Shen Yanchen in the chat group.

Shen Yanchen: "Yun Que's assassination attempt failed, and she has been captured."

"Tsk."

Chang Hong clicked her tongue slightly, her face expressionless. As if she had merely discarded an insignificant tool, she turned and left the high-rise without hesitation, disappearing into the night.

(End of this chapter)