Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!

Chapter 671 - 670: Half a Waist Card

It is evident that Big Beard holds the highest esteem among those guards. Although the legitimate grandson of Prince Lan tries to maintain his composure, his young face still betrays some delight, and he is momentarily taken aback upon hearing Big Beard speak.

"What suspicious points are there? Uncle Hu, feel free to speak." The legitimate grandson of Prince Lan quickly gestures to him.

"Young Master, though we’ve lived in seclusion here for many years, we are not entirely unaware of outside affairs. Our brothers have continuously been gathering information from various places in an effort to understand what’s happening outside."

Big Beard furrows his brows, lets out a sigh, "It’s been more than ten years, and the situation outside has worsened steadily. Lan Country was once so prosperous and peaceful, but now you can see deserted villages and displaced people everywhere, with large tracts of land forcibly taken for other purposes.

The Prince has been misled by others; it’s been so long, have you ever heard the court inquire about this matter?

Back then, when the Prince sent people everywhere to forcibly take land and expel farmers who had lived there for generations, no one inquired about this matter, nor did anyone intervene.

We even thought, if the court sent someone over, we might intercept them halfway and let the Holy Emperor know about the plight of Lan Country’s people, urge him to send troops to intervene, restore order, and rid the Prince of the treacherous people around him, returning Lan Country to its former peace."

But what was the result? Until now, it’s been more than a decade, and the court has never sent any officials to Lan Country, completely ignoring its people, letting the Prince act recklessly under the influence of treacherous persons...

Now the people of Lan Country are long unable to resist, resigned to their fate. Lan Country has become so desolate... why at this time has the court, which has always ignored us, suddenly sent a Golden-faced Imperial Censor?

This person has only a few companions; if the court truly wanted to intervene in the affairs of Lan Country, why would they only send this few people?

So I advise the Young Master not to trust the words of this person whose background is unknown; who knows what his origins are, and what his true intentions are."

His words make sense, Lu Qing and the others indeed are a bit few. Not to mention the court’s officials, even on larger estates in Lan Country, during rent collection, the number of stewards sent exceeds this.

Thus, even those who were momentarily filled with joy now curbed the eagerness in their eyes, and even the legitimate grandson of Prince Lan was momentarily dazed, with more than a hint of disappointment in his expression.

Lu Qing seemed unsurprised by such doubts, calmly fished out something from his chest, handed it to Rune, who walked over with a stern face and handed it over there, while casting a cold glance at Big Beard who had raised the question.

However, Big Beard had no time to pay attention to that cold glance at this moment.

Everyone’s attention was focused on the mark, or rather half a card, that Rune had just handed over.

Zhu Yu had seen it clearly from the side when Lu Qing took it out. It was given to him by Bian Yong at the "Black Inn" after borrowing a knife for murder, saying that if support or dispatch were needed in the future, this half waist card and a few secret signals would guarantee smooth passage.

She looked toward the legitimate grandson of Prince Lan, along with the group surrounding him, and found that their reaction to the half card was completely different from before.

Holding the broken half waist card, the legitimate grandson of Prince Lan looked rather puzzled, since this half waist card, aside from being incomplete, looked less exquisite and eye-catching in style and texture than the former "Golden-faced Imperial Censor’s" waist card.

Yet the guards who were originally full of suspicion towards Lu Qing had quite striking expressions upon seeing the half waist card — from initial confusion to subsequent surprise and finally shock, even a bit of delight.

"Young Master! Young Master!" After Big Beard and the brothers passed it around, he took the half card into his hand, examining it back and forth very carefully, and his expression changed from worry to joy, "What I said earlier was incorrect; this time we truly have hope!

Not only do we have hope, but the people of Lan Country finally have hope of returning to better days!"

This time the bewildered person was completely the legitimate grandson of Prince Lan; he looked at the joyful faces of others and quickly asked, "Why... why do you suddenly think this matter can succeed?

Earlier, weren’t you worried about the ’Golden-faced Imperial Censor’s’ identity being a fraud?"

"Young Master, there are things you are not aware of; if it’s an unknown ’Golden-faced Imperial Censor,’ indeed we can’t fully trust, but he took this!" Big Beard knew his Young Master wasn’t familiar with what they held, so he handed the half card to the legitimate grandson of Prince Lan, "This is not an ordinary waist card; this belongs to the men under General Situ!"

"General Situ...? Who is he?" The legitimate grandson of Prince Lan did not seem enlightened upon hearing this, still looking puzzled.

"Young Master, it’s normal that you don’t know as you were young back then.

This General Situ is renowned across the realm; in all vassal states, who hasn’t heard of General Situ’s fame!

Everyone knows that General Situ commands a strict army, whose soldiers are not only brave and skilled, but highly disciplined, adhering strictly to General Situ’s orders whether in combat or border patrol, never offending unrelated persons.

General Situ is loyal and brave, never moving a single soldier without the Holy Emperor’s order, and his subordinates are renowned for their valor, even the fiercest Jie forces must feel apprehensive before General Situ and his men, not daring to casually offend!

Therefore, if you have a waist card from General Situ’s army, it’s certainly impossible that the matter behind it doesn’t have the Holy Emperor’s mandate!

Moreover, with the assistance of General Situ’s men, our odds have increased several fold!"

"Really?!" The legitimate grandson of Prince Lan looked delighted. He had thought that arriving with a card from the Imperial Palace, sounding quite impressive as the "Golden-faced Imperial Censor," was already reassuring enough, but did not expect it would be connected to the even more formidable General Situ.

Thinking of the years spent hiding in the mountains, and the chaos heard throughout Lan Country during this time, the legitimate grandson of Prince Lan’s eyes grew slightly wet.

Holding back his excitement, he looked at Big Beard on the side, and after confirming with him, returned the two cards, bowing to Lu Qing: "In that case, we humbly invite Lord Imperial Censor to reside in our camp for a few days, as discussing many details in this desolate wilderness would be inconvenient."

[To prevent some of you from missing "Author’s Notes," here’s a little ramble: regarding extras, if there’s something you’d like to read, remember to leave a message for Moha in advance~ I’ll prepare early~]