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Chapter 726 The Tricolor Flag

Lu Qing appeared relatively calm, but she seemed more wary than before in the quiet woods.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed behind the tree in front and jumped out with a thud, startling Zhu Yu. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a man dressed in a brown-gray narrow-sleeved short-sleeved outfit, with two knives crossed on his back.

As he jumped out, he also drew the large knife from his back, staring warily at the four people in front of him, looking like he was about to rob them.

Lu Qing took out the half of the waist token, weighed it in his hand, glanced at the man in front of him, and looked around: "May I ask, brave warrior, do you still fly the tricolor flag in this village?"

When the man saw what Lu Qing was holding and heard these words, he slowly lowered the knife in his hand and replied, "The tricolor flag will not be hung until midnight."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qing smiled and nodded, "Is General Bian in the camp?"

The other party sheathed the knife, politely clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Yes, gentlemen, please come forward."

As he spoke, he whistled, signaling Lu Qing and the others to continue walking along the road, while he himself stepped back to the side of the road.

After Lu Qing and Zhu Yu took a few more steps forward, when Zhu Yu turned around to look again, the person from before had disappeared, clearly having hidden away again.

This skill in hiding truly impressed Zhu Yu.

As they walked further ahead, two people approached them from the road. They had clearly gotten wind of their companion's whistle and now knew that the people coming were their own. Their attitude was not particularly warm, but they were still polite.

The two men led them along a winding path, until finally, after turning a corner, a walled-up mountain stronghold suddenly appeared before them.

With someone leading the way, the gatekeepers didn't question them much, and the group went straight in. The two who led the way handed Lu Qing and the others over to the people inside, and then they finally arrived at a main hall that looked like a guest room.

The four people entered the room. Lu Qing and Zhu Yu removed the fake skins from their faces. Then they heard footsteps behind them. Turning around, they saw that the person who came was Bian Yong.

Bian Yong naturally recognized Lu Qing. Upon seeing him from afar, he quickened his pace and said respectfully, "Bian Yong was unaware of Your Highness's arrival and failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

"General Bian, you are too kind. I am still just a commoner and cannot bear the title of prince." Lu Qing shook his head. "When Prince Xu arrives in a few days, he will be a proper prince."

Bian Yong laughed as well: "Then let's still call him General Lu! General, you look travel-worn, where have you come from?"

"Qinzhou Camp." Lu Qing gestured to the talisman. "Situ Jing asked me to deliver a letter to General Bian."

Fu Lu took out a letter from his pocket and handed it over. Bian Yong quickly took it, unfolded it on the spot, and read the contents quickly. After reading it, he said to Lu Qing, "General Lu, rest assured, my brothers have never let their guard down."

The former shady inn is now our outpost. The rest of the brothers in the village train diligently every day, never slacking off.

Lu Qing nodded, glanced at Zhu Yu, and gestured to her with his eyes. Zhu Yu understood and said to Bian Yong, "General Bian, on our way here, we saw a troop of imperial guards heading towards Congzhou. They looked very strange, like puppets who had been poisoned even more deeply, like walking corpses, driven by others, with no other consciousness."

We are concerned that there may be changes in the situation in the prefecture and Runzhou. The mountain stronghold you are currently in is not far from either of these places, so please be extra cautious.”

Upon hearing this, Bian Yong immediately inquired about the number of people and their weapons from Zhu Yu. After understanding the situation, he didn't seem particularly worried: "With the manpower in the village now, we have more than enough to deal with these puppet soldiers."

Even if their numbers increase, we can handle it.

"Keep an eye on any unusual activity around you. I'll have to entrust this to General Bian and your men." Lu Qing said solemnly to Bian Yong, "Whether it's General Situ or Situ Jing, they are both in important positions now and may not have time to take care of this place later, nor may they be able to spare more manpower. So no matter what, you must be careful."

"Don't worry, we are all veterans of the battlefield. We are not afraid of death, but we will never shed blood or lose our lives needlessly!" Bian Yong answered decisively.

That night, the four of them settled down in the mountain stronghold. Although the food and provisions were not as plentiful as elsewhere, and the food was relatively simple, they were finally able to sleep soundly at night, which was already quite good for Zhu Yu.

Two days passed in this way. Early one morning, just as dawn was breaking, someone from the village came to report that two groups of people were fighting a few miles down the mountain, and it seemed that Xu Wang was among them.

Upon hearing this, Lu Qing immediately took the talisman and prepared to go out to check the situation. Bian Yong also hurriedly followed and ordered all the brothers in the village, except those who stayed behind, to immediately prepare and set off to meet them.

When Zhu Yu woke up, he found the surroundings unusually quiet.

The soldiers in this village get up early every day to drill. After all, the place is only so big, and even if they don't deliberately make any noise, the people in the wooden building can still hear them.

But not today. It's quiet outside, and you can't hear anything.

Zhu Yu was a little puzzled. She got up, dressed herself, and went to open the door. She saw Fu Lu pacing back and forth restlessly, looking worried.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Yu knew something was amiss as soon as he saw Fu Lu's expression. "Where's Lu Qing? Where did everyone else go? Why is the village so quiet?"

"Madam, you're awake!" Now that there was no one else around, Fu Lu no longer needed to call Zhu Yu "Second Master." He quickly went to greet him. "Early this morning, someone came to report that His Highness Prince Xu and his group were intercepted at the foot of the mountain, so you and General Bian led men down the mountain to meet them."

"How long have you been gone?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu quickly turned back into the house, asking as he went.

“It’s been more than two hours…” Fu Lu was clearly uneasy, but his duty was to protect his mistress’s safety, so when those people left, he consciously chose to stay behind. Now he was really anxious. “Madam… where are you going?”

"Wait for me at the door for a moment." Zhu Yu turned to look at Fu Lu and saw that his sword was already at his waist. He nodded to him and quickly went into the room.

She soon came out of the room again, still wearing the same clothes, but now she had a black iron dagger that Zhu Feng had given her when they were in Shuo Di.

The dagger was longer than a regular dagger, capable of both cutting and stabbing, and was extremely sharp.