My chat group is full of female losers

Chapter 373 Leaving the Capital
Several days later, just as dawn broke, the sky began to lighten.

The people in the imperial city had already woken up. They busily got up, washed, changed clothes, and threw themselves into their work for the day.

Inside the Wuying Hall, the bright red candles illuminated the room as if it were daytime. This was the place where the inner court handled major military and national affairs, and an atmosphere of iron-fisted solemnity permeated the air.

Chu Lu stood in the hall with his arms outstretched, and several eunuchs were carefully dressing him in military attire.

Unlike the heavy armor worn by soldiers on the front lines, the emperor's military attire emphasized majesty and authority.

The eunuchs first dressed him in a bright yellow robe with cloud and dragon patterns that had tight sleeves, then put a sleeveless cotton armor over it, then tied a dragon-patterned breastplate around his chest, and finally fastened a leather belt and hung his imperial sword on it.

The sounds of silk rubbing against leather and jade pendants lightly touching sword sheaths echoed in the empty, silent hall. Chu Lu remained expressionless, his eyes as still as a deep well.

"His Majesty."

Huo Qi knelt on one knee and presented the commander's seal with both hands.

Chu Lu took the command seal; it felt cold and heavy in his hands.

"I entrust all matters in the capital to you," he said calmly to Prime Minister Shen Shi'an, who stood bowing to the side.

"This old minister will certainly devote himself wholeheartedly to guarding the capital for Your Majesty and await Your Majesty's triumphant return!" Shen Shi'an led all the officials to kneel on the ground.

Then, amidst the eunuch's loud announcement of "Proceed!", Chu Lu strode out of the main hall. Outside, the elite Imperial Guards were already lined up in neat rows.

The imperial road leading from the palace to the north gate was already packed with people, with the streets deserted as everyone emptied out.

It was a rare occurrence for the emperor to personally lead an expedition, and Chu Lu had won the hearts of the people by resolving crises on numerous occasions. As a result, the people of the capital spontaneously flocked from all over to pay their respects to the emperor.

"It's here! It's here! It's His Majesty's dragon banner!" someone shouted, instantly igniting the crowd.

"Look! It's His Majesty! How majestic he is, like a god descending to earth!" a young scholar exclaimed excitedly.

"In all my years, this is the first time I've ever seen the Emperor personally lead an expedition! With the protection of the immortals, His Majesty will surely achieve a resounding victory!" A white-haired old woman said with a devout expression.

Countless commoners spontaneously knelt down as the imperial procession passed by, shouting "Long live Your Majesty!"

Chu Lu sat upright on his tall horse, gazing ahead, seemingly oblivious to the thunderous cheers and applause that surrounded him.

But this wasn't due to arrogance; rather, Chu Lu, whose nerves were on edge at the moment, simply couldn't afford to pay attention to such trivial matters.

The army marched very slowly, as if each step was pounding on Chu Lu's heart.

Finally, the group arrived at the north gate.

"Your Majesty, please give the order to depart," Huo Qi said from the side.

However, Chu Lu did not respond. He looked around and, whether it was an illusion or something else, he felt as if space had frozen at that moment.

Despite being a grand and imposing departure ceremony, it was filled with a suffocating sense of oppression. The cheers of the surrounding people were shut out by an invisible wall, and their gesticulating movements looked like a pantomime.

Chu Lu's heart pounded faster and faster. He stared at the massive city gate before him, unconsciously tightening his grip on the sword at his waist. The seemingly ordinary city gate now appeared to him as if it were a colossal beast, its jaws wide open, waiting for Chu Lu and his companions to walk right into its trap.

Did the plan really succeed? Did Fei Wu really take the bait? Or is she currently lying in ambush outside the city gate?
The crimson cloak behind him fluttered in the wind. Chu Lu stopped thinking, slowly raised his hand, and ordered, "Let's go!"

At a command, war drums thundered and bugles blared. The army moved toward the city gate.

The wheels rumbled heavily over the cobblestones. With each step forward, Chu Lu's nerves tightened. He could feel his heart pounding, and everything around him seemed to slow down. He could even clearly see the veins bulging on the necks of the people in the distance, throbbing from their excited shouts, and the slight trembling of the armor plates on the nearby soldiers, as well as the trails of sunlight tracing across them.

Finally, he arrived at the city gate. A huge shadow enveloped him, and the light suddenly dimmed, as if he had fallen from daylight into dusk in an instant.

Chu Lu's breathing almost stopped, all the muscles in his body tensed to the limit, ready to deal with any deadly attack that might come from any direction. However, nothing happened.

The army passed smoothly through the city gate, and the blinding sunlight shone on him again. The official road outside the city was completely visible, and apart from the people seeing them off, there were no other suspicious figures.

The huge weight that had been hanging over Chu Lu's heart was finally half lifted.

He couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

The army did not stop and continued marching. After covering more than ten miles in one go, Chu Lu finally looked back.

The capital city was now just a blurry outline; nothing else remained.

He was completely relieved, and his tense body relaxed.

——Succeeded.

Chu Lu withdrew his gaze, looked ahead, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

He thought to himself that all these female protagonists were like this, born with amazing advantages, so they never worried about failure, and were inherently despicable and vicious, and loved to torture their enemies.

Therefore, rather than intercepting and killing him at the city gate, they preferred to wait half a month later, until the group leader, thinking he had succeeded, sneaked into the Buddha statue only to find that they had been waiting for him for a long time.

The Buddha statue traps they set up might not be very effective against others, but they were deadly to them.

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Meanwhile, inside a luxurious mansion in the capital city.

Fei Wu was lounging lazily on the soft couch when a handsome man knelt beside her, carefully peeling grapes for her and then feeding them to her with a fawning expression.

She already knew about Chu Lu leading a large army away from the capital, but she didn't care or pay any attention to it.

"Here, this is for you." She parted her lips slightly and fed a glistening grape to the man, watching his flattered expression as she let out a charming chuckle.

Just then, a notification sound rang in the chat group.

She casually clicked on it, glanced at it, and found it was Changhong and the Third Princess.

Chang Hong: "Minister, I apologize for bothering you. I have a favor to ask. I would like to return to Beijing."

Third Princess: "Me too."

Fei Wu raised an eyebrow, her slender fingers lightly tracing the cheek of the man beside her, and replied with interest, "Oh? What are you doing back here? There's no shortage of manpower in the capital."

Changhong: "No, that... Yun Que is still in the capital's prison. I want to rescue her."

Third Princess: "Me too, I'm going to save the Khatun."

Upon seeing this message, Fei Wu immediately understood.

She remembered that they had mentioned before that their followers had been imprisoned by the emperor for various reasons and had been separated from them.

A mocking smile appeared on her face.

The lackeys are quite important to the female lead, so it's truly incompetent of them to lose them.

However, she had no interest in making things difficult for them, so she replied leisurely, "Okay. Come and pick them up."

(End of this chapter)