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Chapter 710 Close Combat [Bonus Chapter]

After checking on the others, Lu Qing saw Zhu Yu sitting under a tree in a very bold posture, so he walked straight over to her and reached out to help her up from the ground.

“Don’t sit on the ground in spring. Now that we’re in Jin Kingdom, it’s not as warm as Lan Kingdom. The ground is cold and damp, and you’ll catch a cold if you sit down directly.” He grabbed Zhu Yu’s hand and tried to pull her up, but he could feel that she was obviously straining to get up, as if she didn’t want to.

"Don't pull, don't pull..." Zhu Yu shook her head, secretly glancing at the people in the distance, and said in a slightly embarrassed voice, "My legs seem to be chafed from riding a horse, and they are burning and very painful."

Lu Qing was taken aback. Zhu Yu had been traveling in a hurry recently and had worked very hard. She looked much more haggard. The fake skin on her face had become wrinkled because her face had become thinner, so she had to secretly reapply it at night.

He saw all of this and felt very sorry for them, but there was nothing he could do.

Unexpectedly, she rode the horse too fast and for too long, and her legs were blistered.

Lu Qing had experienced that feeling before, when he had just learned to ride a horse, and knew how uncomfortable it was.

He nodded silently, got up to get a cushion, walked to Zhu Yu's side and behind, bent down and wrapped one arm around Zhu Yu's waist, almost "lifting" her up. With his other hand, he quickly put the cushion on the ground where she had been sitting, and then gently put her back down.

Zhu Yu was startled by his actions, but she managed to swallow the exclamation that was about to rise from her throat.

In the escort team, only one old guard from the Lanwang Mansion knew that Lu Qing was the Imperial Censor of the Upper Kingdom. No one else knew that Zhu Yu was actually a woman, Lu Qing's wife.

Therefore, Lu Qing's actions just now were too ambiguous, and anyone who saw them would definitely become suspicious.

"Are you crazy..." Zhu Yu protested softly after Lu Qing sat down next to her, "I can get up and make my own mat. What if someone sees us like this!"

"It's alright. If someone sees us, just assume I have some kind of secret fetish." Lu Qing said jokingly, then sighed softly, "You've had a tough journey. Ever since you came to my side, I haven't let you have a single day of peace and comfort."

Zhu Yu thought about it and said, "Thinking about it, it's true! But compared to spending every day in the back courtyard surrounded by those zithers, paintings, and porcelain vases, life is much more interesting now."

People are so contradictory.

"Look at me now, I'm complaining about the hustle and bustle of traveling, but after a while, if I need to hide somewhere and not easily show myself, I might miss the freedom I had along the way."

Lu Qing subconsciously raised his hand, but just before it touched Zhu Yu's man-style hair bun, he turned it around and patted her on the shoulder. He was about to say something when he suddenly stopped, listened carefully to the sound, and then abruptly stood up.

"Stop the fire, and everyone be quiet," he instructed the few people who had just started the fire, intending to bake bread for everyone to eat.

The men quickly extinguished the fire, and darkness returned to the surroundings. Everyone remained silent, but on high alert.

Lu Qing carefully pulled Zhu Yu up from the ground, and the two of them moved behind a tree to hide.

"The sound of horses' hooves is a bit chaotic, there must be quite a few people, be careful and keep an eye on things," he whispered to Zhu Yu.

Zhu Yu nodded silently.

At first she couldn't hear anything, but soon she could indeed faintly hear the sound of horses' hooves. The sound was somewhat disordered, and there seemed to be quite a few people.

She glanced at the others with a hint of worry. The vast majority of these people were porters responsible for transporting goods to the Jin Kingdom. Apart from Lu Qing and Fu Wenfu, only two guards were reasonably skilled in martial arts.

The other party sounded like they had quite a large group of people. If there was nothing wrong with them and they were just travelers passing by, then it was fine.

But if something really happens and the two sides clash, the chances of winning are uncertain.

While she was pondering this, the runes and talismans that had been holding back silently moved closer to the two of them, their postures equally wary.

“Master, there are other people deep in the woods.” Fu Wen whispered to Lu Qing, “They were originally well hidden and made no sound, but now they’ve started moving when they hear the sound of horses’ hooves.”

"Let's wait and see," Lu Qing said, then glanced at Zhu Yu, "Talismans."

"Master, I understand." Fu Lu replied in a low voice without needing him to say anything more.

He had already etched this matter into his mind. Whenever he was out and about and any conflict occurred, his primary task was to protect his wife.

The sound of horses' hooves grew closer and closer, and Zhu Yu felt as if each clatter of hooves was striking his heart.

Suddenly, from afar, even someone with her ordinary hearing could hear a deep and resonant voice say, "Once we leave the capital, you all need to be on your guard and not let your guard down in the slightest!"

Immediately, many others echoed the same sentiment.

The replies were scattered and sounded a bit chaotic, but Zhu Yu knew the voice of the first person who spoke very well.

Cao Tianbao!
That voice definitely came from General Cao Tianbao!
Why did General Cao suddenly lead his troops away from the capital at this time?

In her memory, Cao Tianbao would not be easily sent away from the capital. The number of times he left the capital was as pitifully few as the number of times Situ Jing and his son entered the capital.

However, regardless of the circumstances, if the other party is Cao Tianbao and his subordinates, then there's no need to be overly nervous or worried...

But before she could catch her breath, a dozen dark figures suddenly sprang out of the distant woods. They moved very fast, and at their closest point they were only three or four zhang away from them, but they didn’t even glance at them. Their target was Cao Tianbao’s troops who were approaching from the official road.

"Master, what should we do?" Fu asked.

Lu Qing quickly made a decision: "Fu Lu will stay and guard Zhu Yu. Fu Wen will call the two guards and come with me to meet General Cao. The rest of you will stay here and guard the goods."

Fu Wen always obeyed Lu Qing's orders whether he understood them or not, so without saying a word, he quickly went over and signaled to the two guards. The four of them then headed towards the official road, ready to form a pincer movement with General Cao's troops.

Zhu Yu quickly instructed the others to remain vigilant around the goods.

Soon, the troops on the official road clashed, and the noise grew increasingly chaotic. Zhu Yu strained her ears to hear the clanging of swords, the cries of pain from the wounded, and the pounding of her own heart.

After a while, the noise on the official road gradually subsided.

A swift battle has ended.